O .. \ «^ IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) ^ /^Z^^ 4 ^.4^ ^i^ 1.0 1.1 11.25 •tfui. 18 U lilM I ^ ^A Photographic Sciences Corporation <^^ <<«^ ^.4^ 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716) 872-4S03 CIHM/ICMH Microfiche Series. CIHIVI/ICMH Collection de microfiches. Canadian Institute vor Historical Microreproductionf / Institut Canadian de microreproducdons historiques i Tachnicsl and Blbliograp^'^ Not«s/Not«« tachniquas at bibliographiquas T t« Tha Instituta has attamptad to obtain tha baat original copy avaiiabia for filming. Faaturaa of this copy which may ba bibllogrcphically uniqua. which may altar any of tha imagaa in tha raproduction, or which may significantly changa tha usual mathod of filming, ara chaclcad balow. 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Additional comments:/ Commentaires supplimantairas; L'Institut a microfilm* la meilleur exemplaira qu'il lul a «t« possible de se procurer. Les details de cet exemplaira qui sont paut-Atre uniques du point de vue bibliographiqua, qui peuvent modifier une image roproduite, ou qui peuvent exiger une modification dans la mAthoda normale de filmage sont indiqute ci-dessous. I I Coloured pages/ Q Pages de couleur Pages damaged/ Pages endommagAes Pages restored and/oi Pages restaurAes et/ou pellicul '/ ' ,-^. i.ic/.. ■/■ ^. ,0^ 'W' ?^ r '■'-(>■ ■^ ^ittUrh.A A-^ SUBALTERN'S FURLOUGH DESCRIPTIVE OF SCENES IN VARIOUS TARTS OF THE UNITED STATES, UPPER AND LOWER CANADA. NEW BRUNSWICK, AND DIIRI NOVA SCOTIA, NO THK SUMMER AND AVTUMN OF 183!.;. E. T. COKE, lim'TBSAST OF Tin 45th RBOIMENT. WITH ILLUSTRATIONS. Waiiil'ring from cUrae to clime o\Mer%'ant stray'd, Their manners noted, and their states survey'd. Pom. LONDON: SAUNDERS AND OTLEY. CONDUIT STREET. Mncccxxxm. W^^- *.^ :.^ * lrn(fi/lh^< It/.y/ //rj/i ('ininit,- uti /•I KijiiiWt /':',i,-i' /rr/ti IV(.<,- K^^iiy?' , , , ' ' ''r-icB^ V//-./— M Kijiidi/te /:',i.'.' /i.in U'm.^/.,i,,ft,n ^-.-i :«■* ^'•»^ T-'" T n O M 8, J'RINTEB AND StRBROTVl-EH, K. ,VAn«,rK SQ, ABR, V TO HIS GRACE THE DUKE OF RUTLAND, K.G., €ifii Volumt IS BY PERMISSION DEDICATED, WITH SINCERE RESPECT, BY HIS grace's VERY OBEDIENT AND MUCH OBLIGED SERVANT, THE AUTHOR. PREFACE. Feeling dissatisfied with the various statements which h.ive issued from the press in such rapid succession within the last two or three years, respecting the United States, and being convinced that much yet remained to be learned relative to that part of the vast Western Continent, I came to the determination of avaihng myself of a short leave of absence from my military duties to cross the Atlantic, and inform myself more fully upon the subject. After travelling over 2000 miles of the most interesting districts, and ^nsiting the principal Atlantic cities in the United States, I extended my tour through an equal distance in the British provinces. As my only object in pubhshing the following narrative is to contribute, in however small a degree, to the knowledge already pos- sessed of those countries which are so fast rising into importance, I hope that I shall not lay myself open to a charge of presumption. The few sketches which accom- pany it were taken during the tour as faithfully as the as VI PREFACE. little time I could bestow upon them would admit, and are published with no other claim to merit than as serving to illustrate what I have attempted to describe. In the following unpretending pages, I profess only to give an unbiassed and impartial statement of what came under my own observation. My remarks are confined to those things which require but a short residence in a country; and, merely pointing out some of the most interesting objects and places of greatest historical note, I leave the full definition of Republican, National Re- publican, Federalist, Nullifier, Democrat, and all the other various shades and sects of the political world, to those who have made state affairs their study. I much regretted that circumstances would not permit a longer stay in so attractive a portion of the globe, and do not hesitate to recommend those who are at a loss how to kill time during the summer months to make a similar trip. If their expectations are not too sanguine, they will be amply repaid for the slight inconvenience of rough seas and rough roads, by not only becoming acquainted with an interesting people, but by the opportunity which will be afforded them of viewing some of the most stvt- pendous natural curiosities as well as some of the finest i^ecimens of art in the world. May 2, 1833. CONTENTS. CHAP. I. Sot sail from Liverpool — Emigrants on boiird— Man stowed away — Dr, Emmons's Fredonind — Make land— Pilot— Enter the Delaware —Run aground — The Pee Patch Fort— Delaware City — Quarantine Station— Mud Fort— Visit Philadelphia— Dear- born — Republican Tavern-keeper CHAP. II. Philadelphia — Hotels —Temperance Societies — Theatre — News- papers PAoe 1— t'l -4!) CHAP. III. Charitable Institutions — Penn, Vania Hospital —West's Pr.fnting —Alms' House — Museum - 1 lammoth — Major Andr6 —Ar- cade—State House— Academy of Fine Arts — Line-of-battle- ship— Water-works — Bridges — Fire and Hose Companies — United States' Bank CHAP. IV. Volunteers andMilitia— Sate of Stock — Railway — German Town — The Fire King — Peim's Elm-tree — Stephen Girard — Churches — Markets — Streets— Penitentiary 50—68 CHAP. V. Departur from Philadelphia — Steamers — Chesapeake — Balti- more— Monuments — Theatre — Cathedral — Merchants' Hall — Beam, of the Females — Notice at the Hotel — General RoM— I'^otle of North Point— Leave Baltimore — Coaches — BladensbiK^, Battle of— Arrive at Washington 69—86 n M i I ( ■ ^1" CONTENTS. CHAP. VI. p,oE. The Capitol— Mr. Adams's Speech — Destruction of Public Build- ings— Tripoli Monument — Member of Congress drowned — Attemptat Assassination — Mr. Law — Plan of the City . . 87—103 CHAP VI [. Alexandria— Museum — Mount Vernon — Washington's Tomb — Cieneral Jackson — State and War Departments — Captured Colours — Portraits of Indian Chiefs— Arsenal — Navy Yard- Georgetown— Ohio Canal— Falls of the Potomac 104—120 CHAP. VIII. Leave Washington — Musical German — Miserable Night— Blue Ridge — Winchester — Harper's Ferry— Manufactories of Arms — Descend the Potomac — Point of Rocks — Restless Night— Mississippi Captain — Railway— Cholera— Arrive at "now ^■'"•'^ iai-141 CHAP. IX. Day of Festivities — Description of City— Academy of Fine Arts — Niblo's Gardens — Witty Auctioneer — Clmrchcs — Negro Dandies— Yankee Story — Justice of the Peace — Sam Patch's Leap — Deserted City 145>_l(j(j CHAP. X. Mrs. Trollope — Captain Hall — Brother Jonathan's anger — Cor- rect English .^;^ . - CHAP. XI. Leave New York — Hell-gate — Newhaven— Indignant Lady — Regicide Judges — Yankee Nonchalance — Definition of" Yan- kee"— Hartford— Archers— -Fire- Churches tTT—iar CHAP. XIL Leave Hartford — Providence — College— King Philip —Not per- mitted to enter Newi^rt— Stage-coach Conversation — Yankee Wit — Arrive at Boston 188— 20> CHAP. XIIL Description of Boston — Washington's Statue — Museum — Fa- neuil Hall — Navy Yard— Bunker's Hill — Harvard College — ■'i CONTENTS. ix Mill-dam — Franklin — Leave Boston — Colonel Goffe — Beau- tiful Town— Ascend Mount Holyoke— Well-trained Horse — Upset in the Coach ^06—2^4 CHAP. XIV. Lebanon Springs — Shakers — Lecture — Mother Ann — Black Fiddlers — Troy — Schenectady College — Erie Canal — Driver thrown into the Canal — Falls of the Mohawk — In search of the Sublime 225_a43 CHAP. XV. Inquisitive Pot-house Keeper— Falls of Trenton— Shaking in a Dearborn — Whiiesborough Institution — Clergyman's Salary — Sunday Schools — Tuscarora Indians — Mail Bags — Names °^'''««"'» 244-a5» CHAP. XVI. Auburn Prison— Cayuga Lake— Ithaca— Falls — Violent Storm — .Toiirney of Disasters ggQ J73 CHAP. XVII. Seneca Lake — Fulton — Jemima Wilkinson — Revolutionary Grants— Geneva— Labourers' Wages — Rochester— Death of Patch — Patient Traveller — The Ridge-road — Lockport — Fine Works — Buffalo — Tribe of Indians 274—291 CHAP. xvin. Cross the Niagara — Chippewa Battle Ground — Old Squaw's perilous Descent— Loss of a Vessel — Walk under the falling sheet of Water — Levelling System — City of the Falls — Bridge over the Rapids — Burning Spring — Devil's Hole— Rapid Mode of Sight-seeing — Brock's Monument— Fort George . 292—314 CHAP. XIX. Arrive at York— Emigrants, miserable Condition of— Brandt- Lake Ontario— Kingston— Rideau Canal — Hulks— Lake of the Thousand Isles — Prescott — Meeting unceremoniously Dispersed — History of a Yankee Settler — Descend the Rapids — Irish Emigrant — Irroquois Indians — Montreal — Charcoal ^^^'°'' • iilo-m CONTENTS. CHAP. XX. Island of Montreal- -St. Helen's — Cathedral — Convent — Elec- tion Riots — Disaftbrtion of tlie French Canadians — Disturbed Night — Steamers — Quebec — Cape Diamond — Wolfe and Montcalm — Jesuits' Barracks — Singular Inscription — Falls of Montmorenci 333 — 348 Mi CHAP. XXI. Descend the St. Lawrence — Pleasures and Miseries of a Water Excursion — Yankee Pedlar — Night's Lodging — Journey across the Temiscouta Portage — Royal Mail — Brother Jona- than's Thorn — Hospitable Settler — Persevering Veteran — Narrow Escape — Cheating Landlord — Militia Captain — Grand Falls — Crowded Bed — Reach Fredericton 349—374 CHAP. XXII. Government House — College — Spirit of Equality — Lumberers — Quit-rents — Roads — Monsie^ i- Audubon — Militia — Dis- puted Boundary 375—386 CHAP. XXIII. Proceed down the St. John's — Improvements — Exported Timber — Falls of St. John — Bay of Fundy — Digby Strait — Anna- polis — Second-hand Coach — Garrulous Old Woman — Cape Blow-me-down — Windsor College — Furious Tides — Quality of Land — Mr. L^niacke — Napoleon — Calamitous Fire — Hali- fax 387—405 CHAP. XXIV. Races — Masoi.'^ Hall — Harbour — Citadel — College — Churches — Theatre — Prince's Lodge — Shiibenacadie Canal — Negroes , — American Forests — Mr. Prescott — Wellington Dyke — Learned Coachman 406—420 CHAP. XXV. Fog rising — Eastport — Cool Shop-boy — St. Andrew's Light- house — Rough Sailor — Interesting Discussion — Gale of Wind — Boston — Wallack — Discontented Yankee — Falls on the Spickot Crpek — Six-in-hand — Concord — Prison — Lake Win- nipiscogee — Fat Pnssoiigor — Lamp Trimming .... 421-- 4.>.t lO.VTENTS. XI CHAP. xxvr. HartlHt-Cold Weatl.er - Notch of the White Mountnins-De- stvuct.on of the ^Villey Family _ Avah.nches of Earth-Lnnd- lord 3 Distress - Disappointment- Ascend Mount Washington .136-446 CHAP. XXVII. Wet Morning- Weather-bound Travellers - Old Man of the Mounta.n-Coio„eland Road Surveyor -Montpelier- It Mo „ta.n. Burhngton-Foliticians-MurderofMissM'Cra - Drunken Coachman - Passage of the Hu J,«n - WesrPoC^t -M.htary Academy - Capture of Andr6- Arrive at New Vork-Bank,ofNewfoundland_La„datLiverpool 447-468 APPENDIX, No. I. Declaration of ludejiendence . APPENDIX, No, II. Certi/icate of Montgomery's Interment APPENDIX, No. III. Capture and Deatli of Andre . 469—480 481 483 lU m ■\ SUBALTERN'S FURLOUGH. CHAPTER I. Adieu, adieu ! my native shore. Fades o'er tlie waters blue. Hail Columbia ! BvRON. SONO. As nothing can be more uninteresting; to unprofessional readers, than a recapitulation of all the various changes of weather, the heavy squalls and gales, the more tedious long roUing calms, the dense fogs and dangerous ice- bergs (on the banks of Newfoundland), the passing sails, and, in short, the usual contents of a ship's log; I shall only briefly take notice of a few incidents connected with the voyage. After a detention of three days at Liver- pool, owing to contrary winds with rough and boisterous weather, the packet ship, in which I had engaged a pas- sage, hauled out of Prince's dock at dayUght on the morn^ B If'! 2 A subaltern's furlough. ing of the 23d of April, and stood down channel ; but it was not until the fifth day from that time that we were clear of the southernmost cape of Ireland: a foul wind possessed, however, one redeeming quality, by succes- sively displaying the fine bold coast of the Emerald Isle, and the picturesque mountains oi Wales. I had selected the Philadelphia in preference to the New York line of packets, and made some small sacrifice to accommodation and society, from a supposition that but few emigrants would be bound so far to the south- ward; knowing full well, from previous experience, the great inconvenience of a crowded steerage. I was there- fore much surprised to find that although a vessel of only 370 tonSj she was carrying out 146 passengers in that part of the ship. I had, however, no cause to regret the choice I had made, as I found myself in an excellent sea- boat with an active and experienced commander, who had already crossed the Atlantic seventy-six times \ no trifling recommendation to a pleasure-seeking passenger. The wea- ther, for the season of the year, was unusually boisterous, and the wind variable; blowing scarcely for twenty-four hours in succession from any one point of the compass : but having a good stock of provisions and pleasant society on board, it mattered \\^^\& to the cabin passengers (who were, with one exception, old sailors) which way the ship's head was ; but to the emigrants, an increasing gale was a source of great tribulation and alarm; the deck resounding ^vith their groans and prayers until it mode- rated. The captain and myself were walking upon deck one squally day, when seeing several of the steerage pas- sengers sitting on the fore hatchway, exposed to every sea which came aboard, yet at the same time apparently re- gardless of it, we had the curiosity to ask them, what A SUBALTERN S PURLOUOH. 3 )ciety (who the gale deck vode- Ideck pas- sea re- vhat they were doing there, and why not below in their berths ? " Why sure now, Captain," said the spokesman, an Irish- man, " and isn't it that we are waiting here, so that we wiU be ready to get into the boats, if the ship goes down ; for we know you wouldn't wait to call us." The weather itself was not more variable than their conduct: in a calm, the Welch and Irish kept the whole vessel in an uproar with their broils and fighting, which ever arose froi ". na- tional reflections ; and each man having brought a store of liquor on board with him, as part of his sea-stock, the combatants were generally more than half intoxicated; while in rough weather, the self-same parties would be leagued together singing psalms, in which they were as- sisted by the English and Scotch, who kept aloof during the storm of words and war of fists. Amongst the emi- grants, however, were many respectable farmers, who, with their families, were about to seek their fortunes in the New World; but the majority were artificers, and some few were men, who, if they could not make their fortunes, judging from outward appearances, could scarcely mar them. They were well equipped for the early com- mencement of operations in America, being burthened with no such heavy baggage as bedding, trunks, wives, children, or even a change of apparel ; and it was a matter of conjecture to many of us, how they could have pro- cured sufficient money for the payment of their passage. A man obtained a free one in the following, by no means uncommon manner : — ^The crew in overhauling the stores in the sail-room, a few days after we liad put to sea, dis- covered him snugly stowed away within the coil of a cable, and bringing him upon deck, he proved to be a great, broad-shouldered, ruddy-faced son of Erin, " a poor B 2 4» 4 A SUBALTERN S FURLOUGH. orphan," as he described himself, who having taken a drop too much of the cratur, had found his way into the sail-room by accident, and fallen asleep, when the ship lay alongside the quay, and that his provisions were in his coat-pocket, which, upon due examination, proved to con- tain only a solitary copper, and a dry crust of mouldy bread. Our worthy skipper put him in great bodily fear, by threatening to tie him up to the gangway, and after giving him a roimd dozen, to put him on board the first fishing-smack we met ofi" the coast of Wales ; but it was merely a threat in terrorentj as the following day he was duly initiated into all the rites and mysteries of Jemmy Ducks ; and afiter being invested with full power and com- mand over that very requisite department, he became a most important and useful personage. Some scoundrel, however, relieved him of part of his charge, by admiiuo - tering a quantity of oxalic acid, which carried off all our stock of grunters at " one fell swoop." A woman, also, with the tact of her own sex, avoided detection until we had been a month at sea, and was only then discovered through the impeachment of one of her fellow-passengers. She had gone quite on the opposite tack to the "poor or- phan:" so far from courting concealment, she had ever been observed to be cooking or loitering about the ca- bose, was the most noisy of all the females on board, and had once or twice even ventured upon the sacred limits of the quarter-deck. So proud a bearing blinded every person on board ; nor could any one have imagined, even when challenged with the fraud, but that she had paid her passage, so menacing and formidable an appear- ance she assumed, with her arms a-kimbo, and a contemp- tuous toss of the head. Although the captain keeps a sharp A SUBALTERN S FURLOUGH. look out (there being a fine imposed upon ships carrying a greater number of passengers than the law admits, ac- cording to the tonnage), yet few vessels sail from Liver- pool without carrying more than their complement. Sometimes an affectionate wife introduces her lord and master on board in the guise of a trunk filled with old clothes, or in crate, as her stock of crockery, in which he is half smothered, and tossed about most unceremo- niously, during the confusion attendant upon weighing anchor. Having anticipated a three weeks' passage, the few books I had brought on board were exhausted by the time we were half-way across the Atlantic; and as a last re- source, almost amounting to a fit of desperation, I ob- tained the loan of Dr. Emmons's " Fredoniad ; or. In- dependence Preserved," from a fellow- passenger, and toiled in a most persevering manner through at least ten of the almost interminable number of cantos (forty, I believe) which compose the work j but a series of gross libels upon the English nation, did not even possess sufii- cient interest to make amends for the rest of such a dry, prosiug composition ; and after a few days I flung it down in despair, preferring to pass my time in watching the fleeting clouds by day, and the moon by night, to volun- teering again upon such a forlorn hope. If the work was equally unprofitable to the author in a pecuniary line, as it was to me, in point of information, he must have de- rived very little satisfaction from his lucubrations. I never had the good fortune to meet with\any of his countrymen who had thoroughly perused the work, so could not ascer- tain their opinion of its full value as an historical one. Of its impartiality, any one may judge from the following extract (one out of a hundred), descriptive of an interview 6 A HUOALTERN 8 FURLOUGH. between the British General Procter, and Indian Chief Tecumseh, in which the former says, M.- " Brother ! our king-chief hath for you preparod, For erury icolp nn ample rich reward — Batter of those who bleed, their ikulli in sport, For we with tliem shall decorate our court At York, Quebec, at Kingston." The gold is yours, what sort soe'er you bring, — Such is the liberal promise of the king I There's no distinction of the price for kind — Sires, infants, motliers, virgins, lame or blind. Now, now's the oifer'd time to crush the brood. To broil their hearts, and eat their flesh for food.' >i • :,s Thrice happy indeed was I, when the green water once again making its appearance, showed that we were in soundings. The unusual length of the voyage had not only been rendered extremely unpleasant by the number, but also by the want of cleanliness in the steerage pas- sengers, some of whom would not even breathe the fresh air upon deck, in moderate weather. . > v'' • On a fine, mild afternoon — the first we had been fa- voured with since the shores of England had sunk into the waves — there was a cry of " Land a-head ! " from the fore-top gallant yard. Every one in an instant was upon deck, some for the first time during the voyage, and the rigging Wds covered with those who previously had not comawe to mount the ladder of the hatchway. Every eye was in vain strained to gain a glimpse of the long- wished-for coast of Amenca, and three cheers greeted the captain as he descended upon deck; the women crowding round him, dancing and singing, as though he had rescued them from some imminent danger. Many had certainly suffered much from that worst of all mi- series, sea-sickness ; and those who had seen better days, i A SUUALTEUN H KUIll.OUOll. f from tlie company they were obliged to keep in the steerage; where tlie small-pox and inflammatory fever liad broken out a few days after we had sailed from Liverpool, attacking many, and three or four persons fatally. The wind, however, which had been dying away for hours, now totally failed us, and it became a dead calm. So our sole employment consisted in watching the movements of the innumerable sloops and small crajfl which were rolling about at the distance of some miles; and which, whenever a slight air or cat's-paw crossed them, appeared as if concentrating to one point, their heads tending to some great emporium of commerce. Two exceptions to the above afforded much amusement. These proved to be rival pilot schooners, taking every possible advantage of flaws of wind and wet sails, but still making little progress towards the ship which each was striving to gain ; at last, however, our attention was attracted by a small black object, which appearing at intervals on the swell of a sea, was at first taken for a portion of the drift-wood which so thickly covers the Atlantic off the American coast ; but, upon examining it through a glass, was found to be a small cutter, pulled by two men, and in the course of an hour the victorious pilot stepped on board, having fairly outmanoeuvred liis opponent. Every one pressed close roind, asking him ten thousand senseless questions ; but he was a man of few words, and all the information we could reap from him amounted to—" that they had frost and snow in April j" and that "there was a war in Congress." Having de- livered thus much in a gruff tone of voice, he threw a bag of clothes from under his arm alongside the helm; and after passing a few minutes in looking up and scan- ning the rigging with a seaman's eye, lay down u})on a I 1 8 A hubaltbrn's purlouc ». hencoop, and, overpowered by his exertio.is to reach the vessel, was soon fast asleep. His appearance as a pilot was by no means prepossessing ; far different indeed from that of the hardy-looking race of the English Channel. He was a tall, gaunt old man, with shov Iders bent by the storms of some seventy years, and a face bronzed by the sun until it resembled that of a copper-coloured Indian. I really pitied him, as he tottered along the deck with one of his hands, which had been jammed between the culter and ship's side, to his mouth, and thought it high time that he was placed upon the retired Ust. The day being warm, he was attired in a thick white waistcoat, nankeen browsers, originally blue, and a yellow painted canvass hat. I should judge that the captain was as little pleased with the appearance of the man who had taken charge of the ship, as any one else; for after asking in a significant and dry tone of voice, "if there were any more pilots on board the schooner," he de- scended into the cabin. ' ' ' "■• ' - A hght breeze springing up at midnight, the following morning showed us the tops of the trees and headlands of the low coast of Maryland, suspended as it were in mid-air. After standing a few miles to the northward, by sun-set we made the capes of the Delaware. It was now the 25th of May, and the day, like the preceding one, was fine and clear, with a warm sun, the thermometer standing 90*^ in the shade : such a sudden change in the atmosphere, together with the low, flat shore, forcibly reminded me of scenes in the East — the entrance to the Bay of the Delaware resembling the mouth of the Hooghly or Iriwaddi rivers. The distance between Cape Henlopen, in Delaware, and May, in New Jersey state, is about fifteen miles. The coast near the latter cape A SUBALTERN H PURLOUOil. abounds with dangerous shoals and overfalls, and the navigation of the river is rendered very intricate through- out by numerous sand-banks. After paPaing between the two capes, the river expands into a noble bay about thirty miles long, and thirty wide, when it again contracts to a width of two miles, and continues so with little variation up to Philadelphia. On the Henlopen side of the bay a large breakwater was commenced a few years since ; but instead of the foundation being laid upon the " Shears," a shoal running parallel with the land, it was placed in four fathoms Wuter between the two ; thus, not only rendering the work more troublesome and expen- sive, but also contracting the harbour considerably, which has been formed into a receptacle for sand and mud, brought in by an eddy caused by this ill-judged plan. The pilot assured us that there was already less water by some feet than when the foundation was commenced. An officer of the American navy had recommended that it should be built upon the shoal^ but his plan was re- jected, and the present one, that of a civil engineer, adopted; by which, one of the finest harbours in the world appears in danger of being seriously damaged. The breakwater against the fury of the sea is to be a mile in length, with the upper end of the harbour pro- tected by an ice-breaker, so that vessels may ride in safety during the winter months: the latter was highly reqviisite, many ships having been lost through exposure to the river ice. Seven planks in the bows of the packet, in which I was at this time, had been cut through in less than two hours, three months previously, by the drifb-ice being kept in motion by the strength of the tide, and acting like a saw against them ; the vessel being only saved by running it ashore. The expense of this .■*-1 to A SIJUALYEHN M PUULOUOII. grent uiulcrtakiiig will be enormous, much of the stone retjuired in its construction being brouglit by sou from the Hudson Uiver quarries, 120 miles disUuit. Evening had set in before we fairly passed between the Capes, and at the distance of five miles the surf ci/uld be distuictly heard roaring against lienlopen. During the day, while our anxious pilot was asleep upon the booms, a boat was lowered to catch a turtle floating on the sur- face of the water, In as happy a state of forgetfulness as tlie old man himself; but the ship having too much head- way upon her, the boat could not again reach her, and we were under the necessity of awakening the pilot, to heave the ship to, which he most reluctantly ordered, venting his displeasure at the same time in a low inward grumbling. Not feeling very confident as to the safety of the ship under such a man's charge, I took the pre- caution of retiring to my berth at night without divesting myself of my clothes, thinking it more than probable that I should find it convenient to be on deck ere morning without much loss of time. My suppositions proved correct ; for about luvlf-past two o'clock I was awakened by a shght motion of the ship, and although it did not equal in force that of a heavy sea striking it, yet the grating of a vessel with all sail set upon a hard sand, produces a sensation which, when once experienced, will never be forgotten. All hands rushed upon deck in an instant; when, lo ! and, behold ! our worthy Argus was snugly stowed away in a corner, fast in the arms of Morpheus, while the vessel striking heavily for some minutes, finally fell over a little on its side, and remained immovea])le. At this time there were no fewer than three lights in a-stern on 1 sight, Caj) .g one rcctlv a-head. 1 never heard how the old man accounted i| A SUBALTERN 8 FURLOUGH. If' for running us a-ground — this, however, was no time for explanations; but the boats being lowered as quickly as possible, and soundings being taken, it was found that we were on the windward side of the " Browns," a dangerous shoal about twelve miles from land; and that so long as the wind continued from the present quarter, there would be no hopes of the ship floating ; and, if the sea rose, she would inevitably go to pieces. As day dawned, the ominous prospect of the head and bowsprit of a ship showed themselves above water, a few hundred yards distant, being all the visible remains of the " Can- ning" packet, lost two months previously. It was now for the first time, I heard a genuine Yankeeism: *'the ship's lost to all eternity," said the captain; "it a'int, I guess," drawled out the old pilot, giving the sentence at the same time a most inimitable twang, which even Mathews himself would have failed in producing. It was in vain that all efforts were used for three hours to get the ship off; it remained firm as a rock, excepting diu'ing the turn of tide, when it again struck heavily. Seeing no prospect of its being moved until lightened, the "star-spangled banner," reversed, was hoisted at the mast-head, while the passengers awaited the arrival of boats from the shore to carry them away. The first craft we saw was a sloop, which, laden with shingles, and steered by a negro, run close alongside of us. The fellow hailed us very coolly, with, " Have you a pilot on board ?" and being answered in the affirmative, he continued on his course without tendering any assistance: fortunately, however, we needed none; for the wind veering a point or two, and freshening with the flood-tide, we once more floated, and standing our course up the river, soon over- pp 18 A subaltern's furlough. ii took our black friend and his shingle sloop, at whom, en pitssantf a volley of abuse was fired. As we gained the head of the bay, and entered the contracted part of the river, we caught occasional glimpses of small villages and neat white cottages, scattered at intervals along the banks, which were covered with walnut, oak, and patches of pine. I was leaning over the side of the vessel, admiring the scene, but regretting that the clearings were so " few, and far between," when seeing a carpenter, a countryman of my own, similarly em- ployed, I asked him what he thought of the New World at which we had arrived. " Oh, sir ! it is a fine country ; only look at the timber." I smiled, as the old story of " nothing like leather" occurred to my recollection; and the worthy planer of wood continued to enlarge upon his opinion in a strain of encomium. He came up to me a few hours after landing, quite delighted with having been hired at a dollar per diem on the Ohio rail-road. The scene was, indeed, a most pleasing one. The clear bright atmosphere, which is unknown to England, dif- fusing a cheerfulness over every object, with not even a passing cloud to hide the brilliant rays of the sun, as they fell upon the thousands of white sails which covered the surface of the broad and noble Delaware; while, ever and anon, one of those huge leviathans of the deep, an American steamer, darted past, leaving a long train of white smoke firom its timber-fed furnaces. The whole presented a scene striking and novel to an Englishman. If there was any thing to detract from the beauty of the landscape, it was the perfect flatness of the face of the country, there not being a rising knoll, or single ridge to break the back-ground j nor could much be seen be- A SUBALTERN S FURLOUGH. IS yond the smiling verdure of the forest-crowned banks : it was a scene, indeed, at this moment, of life and sun- shine; but, probably, if viewed on a squally, wet day, wovild be thought tame and uninteresting enough. We hove to again towards evening to be boarded by an officer from a revenue cutter, moored in the centre of the stream ; and at dusk came to an anchor near a small island, where, at five o'clock the following morning, we buried a child which had died of the small-pox during the night; and then getting under weigh, arrived a-breast of Fort Dela- ware, or the " Pee Patch," built upon a low reedy island, which divides the river into two channels, and is an ad- mirable position for defending the passage. The works are of masonry, and very extensive; but the whole of the interior, including the barracks and light-house, was consumed by fire two years since, through the negligence, as was stated, of an officer reading in bed. No steps have yet been taken towards repairing it, great sums having been expended upon its construction only a few years previous to the above accident. The channel be- tween it and the main land is so narrow, that with a head wind and heavy squalls there was not room to work ship, and we were once more compelled to let go the anchor. Opposite to, and about a mile distant from the fort, is Delaware city, at the junction of the Chesapeake Canal with the Delaware. I went ashore for an hour at mid-day, and walked through the city, which is but a miserable straggling hamlet, with an inn at the landing- place, and one or two stores; at which a friend, who accompanied me, managed to obtain a few cigars, and some Lundyfoot snufF, though the storekeeper would not vouch for its being the true Irish — "it might be Yankee, and made at Boston, but he guessed not." The 14 A SUBALTERN S PIIRI.OUGH. canal appeared of noble dimensions, being sixty feet wide at the surface, and calculated for vessels with a draught of eight feet water. The inhabitants, however, told us it would not answer now so well as formerly, a rail-way having been formed five miles higher up the river in the same direction, on whicl: all the passengers travelled between Philadelphia and Baltimore. While we were standing on the side of the tide-lock, two sloops passed through, laden so high with enormous oysters, that the vessels' decks were on a level with the water; being fastened a-stem of a steamer, they were towed up the river at an amazing speed, for the gratification of the gourmands of Philadelphia. The cholera had broken out in England prior to our sailing, and rumours of its ra- vages had reached America some time ; and as, m jst probably, its effects had been much exaggerated, every one lived in the greatest dread of its appearing in the States. A gentleman, who was standing on the quay at Delaware city, welcomed my friend, and congratulated him upon his return to his native land; but the latter telling him in jest thi.l we had the cholera on board, he parted from us very unceremoniously, nor could all our assurances that it was only the small-pox, induce him to return and continue the conversation. The passengers were unfortunately prevented from quit- ting the vessel, on account of the small-pox having been prevalent on board, which (although the last case was dis- posed of) would probably subject us to quarantine for some days, unless we could manage to pass the Lazaretto before the 1st of June, on which day the quarantine flag is hoisted, and its performance rigidly enforced upon all infected vessels. It was now the 31st of May, and every one lieing anxious to avoid farther detention, the ship got A SUBALTERN 8 FURLOUGH. 15 under weigh with the flood tide et night j and after ran- iiing into the mud only once, from which it was again raised by the tide in h few minutes, it carried on all sail until past midnight, and anchored half a mile above the quaiantine station, nineteen miles from Philadelphia. The hospitals, with the storehouses, are very prettily situated within a picquet fence on the right bank of the river ; a small village adjoins, and the ground rising with a gentle acclivity from the water's edge for upwards of a mile, is covered with farms not too thickly wooded, but in many places assuming a park-like appearance. The country, from the town of Wilmington, the largest town in the state, containing about 12,000 inhabitants, twenty-four miles below, loses its dead flatness ; but the ridge, which runs pai'allel with, and at some distance from the river, does not exceed 200 feet in height. Throughout the day of the ] st of June it blew so heavy a gale of wind, that the ship drifted a considerable distance from two anchors, nor could the pilot venture to get under weigh. The following morning, during the ebb tide, several of us rowed one of the boats to a small island, towards which we had been drifting the preceding day, where a farmer had established himself. In landing, we found a sturgeon of about 120 pounds weight, which had been left by the tide in a shallow pool, and seized upon him for the be- nefit of the steerage passengers, who, like ourselves, were rather short of provisions, and to whom we thought a little fresh fish would be acceptable. But it was not until after hard struggling and battling, with much splash- ing and rolling about in the water, that three of us suc- ceeded in securing our prize, and lifting him into the boat. The farmer, also, selling us a lamb and some vegetables, we returned in triumph to the vessel, and 16 A NirnALTRRN N FUIILUIJOII. again got under weigh, pushing Mud Fort, situated on an island at the embouchure of tlie Schuylkill, a strong hold during the revolutionary war, and the scene of much hard fighting between the Hessians and Americans, in which the former were re])ulsed with considerable slaughter; but the fort was finally evacuated after a vigorous defence against the British, who lost the Augusta, line-of-battle ship, and Merlin frigate, which took fire during the action, having grounded at the sunken chevaux-de-frise, half a mile below the fort. The position is an excellent one, but the works are fast falling to decay. On the opposite side of the river is Ued Bank, the site of another old fort, abandoned on the approach of Lord Cornwallis; while in the centre of the stream are the remains of a large wooden battery, formed by piles driven into the bed of the river ; but, like the Pee Patch, it was set fire to and destroyed, by some fishermen cooking their provi- sions a few years since. The only vestiges of it now remaining are some rusty old guns, and blackened pieces of timber. From the lower end of another reach of the river, which extends for several miles from hence, we caught the first glimpse of the city — a shot-tower, and huge building in the navy yard, with a forest of masts approaching above the trees. The smart white frame- houses, with their green Venetian shutters and gardens, overhung by weeping willows, and' numerous peach orchards, on the Jersey side, with the large well-cleared grazing farms upon the Pensylvania bank, were evident proofs that we were nearing some great abode of men. One island particularly (the possession of which I _avied the owner), of about 200 acres, won by lottery ten or twelve years since, was remarkably beautiful, and quite studded over with cattle. ^r A HITHAI-TUriN S FrUI.OUOII. 17 'ITie tide failed us most, provokingly off Gloucester Point, at the upper end of the fine reach, just as we had rounded the land and came in full view of the city, at the distance of only three miles; tlie wind too, following its example, the ship could not stem the ebbing tide, and very reluctantly the anchor was let go within almost reach of the goal. • ' In the evening several of us landed, and hiring at a small inn one of the common four- wheeled open waggons of the country, called a Dearborn (from the inventor), proceeded over a road, which, though in the immediate vicinity of the city, was wretchedly bad ; the carriage, too, was as uncomfortable an invention as cov,ld be well ima- gined, there being but one narrow wooden seat, slung in the centre of the vehicle upon straps, v4th two rude wooden springs to support it ; upon this two of our party took up a position, while another, who volunteered to drive, sat in a chair in front, and two others occupied chairs in rear of the centre seat, while a little curly-headed negro was posted upon one of the shafts, where he sat grinning and holding on like a monkey, his dusky skin forming a charming contrast to an old gray mare which was to draw us. Our time being short, the whip was not spared ; so that we were whirled along, rolling and pitching about through thick and thin, and wherever a drain or deep water-course crossed the road, the carriage giving a heavy lurch, and all the chairs shooting forward with one con- sent, our volunteer coachman was nearly precipitated on to the. horse's back, and the two in rear of the centre seat, not hu . ing any thing to plant their feet firm against, were thrown on to the backs of those occupying the seat in front. It was, indeed, a broad caricature of " travelling in the south of Ireland," and we were right glad to gain c 18 A SUBALTERN 8 FURLOUGH. the outskirts of the city in safety, and abandon the uneasy conveyance, leaving it in charge of our sable attendant. ., While one of the party went to sound the ship-owners if we could remain ashore during the night, and until the vessel reached town, the rest of us (after walking about the dimly Ughted squares and streets, with which we were soon fatigued, our feet being tender from the little exer- cise we had taken of late) proceeded to an oyster-cellar, and there awaited our sentence with great calmness, dis- cussing the various merits of English natives, and Ame- rican oysters. The latter are so large, that one of our party, who had laid a wager that he could eat a dozen and a half of them, was obliged to cry, " hold ! enough !" ere he had arrived at the twelfth. At midnight our spy re- turned with the doleful tidings that we must return to the ship, and that on the morrow a medical man .vouiJ inspect it, and set us at liberty. To hear, was to obey; so without any more ado we retraced our weary steps, and found our little man of colour and his charge, the pale horse and Dearborn, most patiently awaiting our arrival. The road appeared to have grown either some- what rougher, or our charioteer did not steer so small (to use a nautical term) as before; but after running a wheel once or twice into the deep ditches, with which the road was flanked, he brought us again to the tavern-door by one o'clock, where the landlord, aroused from his slumbers, soon made his appearance at the bar. Every thing was strange to me; I might truly say I was in a New World; I had heard of American landlords, but, like the road, this man was beyond my conjectures. He came down stairs the very beau ideal of a dandy, with a tiny, little spiral hat, placed knowingly on one side of his head, gold studs, and broach at his breast,^ watch guard- \ A SUBALTERN 8 FURLOUGH. t$ chain round his neck, rings on his finger, with his nether man cased in a pair of red striped *' continuations ;" and, to crown all, he cursed and swore " like any gentleman." We inquired if the boat had been off for us, and were informed it had been, but had returned to the ship at ten o'clock, as he had told the crew he would fire a signal when we arrived. Thanking him for his kindness, we thought, as a recompense, we were in duty bound to call for sonrething to drink; and a considerable time having elapsed in carrying our good intentions into effect, and seeing no preparations making for firing his promised signal, one of the party asked him if he wovdd favour us by commencing operations. " Aye, aye," said he, " I told the mate I would fire a gun — I would fire a gun in anger when you came; but wait a bit, I'll take a glass myself first," and then with the most admirable sang- froid, he set about making a glass of port-wine sangaree, stirring the sugar about with a small circular piece of wood, to which a handle was attached, and which he twirled about in his white hands with great dexterity. Having quaffed this mixture off to our healths, and wel- come to America, he lighted a cigar, offering one at the same time to each of the admiring spectators, and then crossing his arms over his breast, a la Napoleon le Grand, he talked of passing events, and asked the news. Like old Hardcastle in the play, I said aside — ; ^ ' :^ > " This fellow's impudence really makes me laugh," and thought his cool assurance must arise from a wish to show off before strangers. I turned away from him, unable to repress a laugh, and, as bad luck would have it, unfortunately saw a dog lying upon the floor, which I stooped down to pat with my hands. Mine host no c 2 20 A SUHALTKRN S KURLOUGII. sooner saw this movement, then he was out from his bar in a. twinkling, holding forth at great length in praise of the animal, which, from his account, possessed all the various qualities of spaniel, greyhound, and pointer com- bined. " Aye, now, there's a dog for you— only look at him — ^look at his points — there's not a cleverer dog in the Union, I guess — he's half EngUsh; when I go out gun- ning, and shoot a rat or a squirrel, he'll bring it imme- diately — I would'nt take fifty dollars for him. A gen- tleman down here, the other day, offered thirty for him off-hand. Here, sir ! here, sir ! come here ! now, he down ! lie down, lie dow . . . n ! " Tlie dog leapt up, placing its fore paws on its master's person. "Aye, he's only frightened before company, but I would'nt part with him for a cent, less than fifty." And thus having, in his own opinion, established his dog's reputation, he at last com- menced the tedious operation of loading an enormously long-barrelled gun, respecting whose good qualities, also, we had to endure a long dissertation, while he was spring- ing the ramrod, and ramming down about iiiree fingers' deep of shot, with as much labour and flourishing move- ment as there is in loading a twelve-pounder field-piece ; and, finally, we had the infinite satisfaction of hearing Washington, or some such nobly-named dusky son of Afric, summoned, who received orders to proceed to the end of the wharf, and fire the long wished-for signal. Shortly afterwards the plash of oars reaching our ears, we bade our loquacious host a long and last farewell, having paid him two dollars and a half (IO5. 6d. sterling) for the use of his Dearborn and gray steed (" he would'nt be too hard upon us "), and by half-past two o'clock were once more in our snug cabin. The sun was high in the heavens the following day be- A subaltern's FCRLOUOII. 21 fore I awoke from strange and troubled dreams of oysters. Dearborns, landlords, negroes, dogs, and guns. A medical man coming on board as the anchor was weighing, said he was satisfied with the health of the passengers, and that we had permission to leave the ship, which an hour after mid-day was safely moored alongside one of the city wharfs, and we all stepped ashore with heartfelt joy, having been forty days from Liverpool. *«*•/ V'ft^n" ' ' *< t I •. .. 'if 1 2i A SUBALTERN H KURLOUOII. •I, f ' f . t CHAFfER II. Into one of the tweetest of hotels, Especially for foreigners — Where juniper expresses it's best juice — For downright rudeness, ye may stay at home. Byron. Philadelphia, the reverse of Lisbon, at first presents no beauties ; no domes or turrets rise in air to break the uniform stiff roof-line of the private dwellings. And, if I remember right, the only buildings which show their, lofty heads above the rest, are the State House, Christ Church (both built prior to the Revolution), a Presbyte- rian meeting-house, and shot-tower. The city, therefore, when viewed from the water, and at a distance, presents any thing but a picturesque appearance. It is somewhat singular, too, that there should be such a scarcity of spires and conspicuous buildings, there being no fewer than ninety places of worship, besides hospitals and charitable institutions in great numbers. In place, too, of noble piers and quays of solid masonry, which we might rea- sonably expect to find in a city containing near 140,000 inhabitants, and holding the second rank in commercial importance in North America, there are but some shabby A SUBALTBRn'h rUHLOUGII. ^3 wharfs, and piers of rough piles of timber, jutting out in unequal lengths and shapes, from one end to the other of the river front; and these again are backed by large piles of wood, warehouses, and mean-looking stores. On the narrow space between them and the water are hun- dreds of negro porters, working at vast heaps of iron bars, barrels of flour, cotton bags, and all the various merchan- dise imported or exported ; singing in their strange broken English tone of voice, some absurd chorus, such as, " I met a nigger" — (chorus all) " long time ago!" "I met a nigger" — (chorui all) " long time ago '. " "I say, where you going ? " — (chorut all) " long time ago ! " " Pull €iwa>, my boys" — (chorus) "yoh! heave — yoh!" or some such elegant strain. /.-j . . ' • Fifty paces hence, the stranger enters the city, which possesses an interior almost unrivalled in the world. On walking through the fine broad streets, with rows of locust or other trees, which, planted on the edge of the cause- way, form a most delightfid shade, and take away the glare of the brick buildings, he is struck immediately with the air of simplicity, yet strength and durability which all the public edifices possess, while the private dwellings with their neat white marble steps and window-sills be- speak wealth and respectability. The neatness, too, of the dress of every individual, with the total absence of those lazy and dirty vagabonds who ever infest our towns, and loiter about the comers of all the public streets, passing insolent remarks upon every well-dressed man, or even unattended female, impress a foreigner with a most pleasing and favourable idea of an American city. The river in front of the town is about a mile wide, but the channel is considerably contracted by an island which extends nearly the full length of the town, and conse- 24 A Hl'UALTEUN S KURLOUOH. quently renders the navigation more intricate. It is pret- tily planted with trees, and a ship has been run ashore at one end, and converted into a tavern, a house being raised upon the upper deck. It was quite a gala day, numerous steam-vessels and rowing boats, proceeding up the stream to Kensington (part of the suburbs), and we arrived just in time to see a large ship of fiOO tons burthen glide gracefully from the stocks. I was recommended by an American gentleman to an hotel in the principal street, where I was immediately ac- commodated with a room. It will scarcely be out of place to mention here, that the bed-rooms in the hotels in the United States are not, generally speaking, so large, com- fortable, or well furnished as those in English houses; but the establishments themselves, with regard to size and capacity for accommodating numbers, far exceed those in England. In America much comfort is sacrificed for the purpose of admitting numerous guests into the house : a private sitting-room, or separate meals, are scarcely to be had, and then only at a high price; and, therefore, as almost every one is under the necessity of dining at the table d'hote, a large hotel presents a scene of great con- fusion and bustle. At the one in which I resided during my stay at Philadelphia, there were about a hundred per- sons at each meal, and the majority of them being mer- chants, from the back settlements^, on their summer trip to piirchase articles for their customers in the west, lawyers and shopkeepers (or " storekeepers," as they term them- selves, a "shopkeeper" being only a retailer on a small scale), they devoured their meals with a most . stonishing rapidity ; and vanished instanter to their offices and coun- ters, intent upon business alone. I was lost in admiration, and nearly lost my dinner, too, the first few days I was A SUBALTERNS FURLOUGH. 25 ashore, in watching the double-quick masticating move- ments of my vis-d-vis ; I truly beUeve thaO one -third of the people had disappeared 'ere my soup was cool. A young man, who opens a store, if a bachelor, has seldom any other apartment than the shop he rents, while he boards and sleeps at an hotel, paying generally about 400 dollars (84/. sterling) per annum, if at a large and respect- m able one ; the beard for occasional lodgers being one and a half dollar {6s. 3d.) per day. It is not customary in most towns to make any extra remuneration to the waiters or other servants of the estabUshment ; but of late years, this bad habit, like many others from the mother country, has been creeping into the cities on the coast; and though the servants do not actually request any, yet they usually expect it: they are generally Irish emigrants, or half castes, if I may use an eastern term ; for though, during my stay in the United States, I did not enter less than n hundred hotels, I never saw a waiter whom I could ascer- tain to be a free-born American ; their pride not allowing them to fill such places. In country villages, where the attendants are females, I have frequently seen the one waiting upon me at the dinner-table, take a chair near the window, or the othe* end of the room, and read a news- paper until she observed I required any thing ; but during ray whole travels, I never knew a waiting-man take a similar liberty. The breakfast hoixr is usually from seven until nine o'clock, dinner at two or three, tea from six to seven, and supper from nine to twelve ; the table at each meal being most substantially provided. Even at breakfast there is a profusion of beef- ieaks. cutlets, mutton-chops, eggs, fish, fowls, Indian bread, flour bread, sweet cakes, cheese, sweetmeats, and a mess of other et ceteras ; but little wine 2() A subaltern's furlough. is drank at dinner, though spirits are placed upon the table without any extra charge being made to the consumers. Yet since the institution of the Temperance Societies, the use of ardent spirits amongst the higher classes of society has been almost laid aside. I have seen a range of well- filled spirit decanters placed upon the dinner-table before upwards of 1 50 people, and not a single stopper removed. The strongest proof, however, of the great decrease of the use of ardent spirits, appears from the following returns of the number of gallons imported into the United States during seven successive years. In Gallons. 1824 5,285,047 1825 4,114,046 1826 3,322,380 1827 3,465,302 1828 4,446,698 ,., 1829 2,462,303 1830 1,095,488 Many hotels have "Temperance House" inscribed in large gilded letters over the door or sign, as a notice that wines and malt liquor only can be obtained there. Like all other new institutions, the Temperance Societies had their enthusiasts at first. Abstinence Sof r- .^ emanated from them, the members binding themselvr r-, oi-ijik pure water only; and, in some churches, neither mdes nor females were admitted to the commimion unless they had enrolled themselves amongst the members of one or other society. All these bigoted absurdities are now softened down into wholesome and sound regulations. Wines are generally high priced, and not of the first quality, so that lUtle of any thing is drank during dinner. But in the old-fashioned hotels, where Temperance So- A SUBALTERN S FURLOUGH. 27 cieties have not any sway, the bar, during the intervals between meals, is besieged by a host of applicants for iced mint-julaps, brandy, egg-nog, gin-cocktail, rum and water, gin and water, port-sangaree, and all the various combinations and mixtures of liquors imaginable. When a foreigner (as was the case not unfrequently with myself) finds himself estabUshed for two or three days in such a house as this, he must summon his full stock of nerve and resolution to enable him to withstand the dense fumes of tobacco smoke, with which his apartment is fumigated, and to breathe an atmosphere strongly impregnated with the conjoined scent o/ the above mixtures. The intoler- able habit of chewing tobacco is very prevalent amongst the storekeepers, and lower grades of society, but I think it is almost confined to them j the very act of mastication itself (tremendously as it is here performed) is not half so offensive to the eyes of a foreigner as the results arising from it. In a country, however, where there is ostensibly no distinctive gradation of classes in the people, one must of necessity sometimes, as on board steamers and canal boats, mix with the canaille ; but I will bear witness that I never even then observed any impropriety, or, during the whole time I was in America, received the slightest insult from (what I will term) the lower orders, and to which individuals, and especially foreigners, are so subject in my native country. It is singular to see the footing upon which a landlord at an inn is with his customers — appearing rather to confer than receive a favour, by admitting them into his house. At dinner, he frequently takes the head of the table, drinks his wine, and asks those sitting near to take a glass with him ; chats, and laughs away, and sits longer afler the cloth has been removed than nine-tenths of his guests. 28 A SUBALTERN S FURLOUGH. Upon first landing, I was much struck with the per- sonal appearance of the people, as being tall, slim, narrow- shouldered, whiskerless, and narrow-chested, with high cheek bones, sharp, sallow features, and a slouching, re- laxed kind of walk. I think narrow shoulders and sharp features may be deemed characteristic of the natives of the Atlantic states; one never seeing any such sturdy, robust, rosy-faced, John Bull sort of people as Britain produces. Their costume, also, differs much, every man invariably wearing trowsers, and the lower orders being better dressed than people in the same walks of life in England. As it was summer, most people had white straw hats, with broad brims, the back part over the collar of the coat, turned up like a shovel hat, giving the wearer a most grotesque appearance; a great proportion of the young men wore spectacles, and weak eyes appeared very prevalent. The first evening I was ashore, I attended the Arch Street Theatre (the most fashionable one, the Chesnut, being closed), for the purpose of seeing Mr. Hackett, who was in high repute with his countrymen, perform the part of " Nimrod Wildfire," in the " Raw Kentuckian ; or. Lion of the West." The play is intended to censure and cor- rect the rough manners of the States west of the Alleg- hany mountidns, and delighted the audience exceedingly; though to me the greater part of the dialogue consisted of unintelligible idioms. Mr. Hackett possessed great tale...t for broad comedy; and I was informed that the effect of his performance in the West was such as to excite a strong feeling against him; and so incensed the "half-horse, half-alligator boys," "the yellow flowers of the forest," as they call themselves, that they threatened " to row him up Salt River," if he ventured a repetition of A SUBALTERN S FURLOUGH. 2J) the o]jjectionable performance. I was sony, however, to see rather a bad feeling displayed towards the old country. In various parts of the performance frequent allusions were made to circumstances which ought long to have been buried in oblivion ; and which could only tend to dimi- nish, or rather prevent, mutual goodwill. These allu- sions, which ever told agunst the English, were much applauded by the audience. The theatre is a fine build- ing, with white marble front, and columns of the same beautiful material, supporting a frieze of the Doric order ; and the interior arrangements are excellent. There are also two more in the city, superior in external appear- ance, and more capacious within than any of the nili^or theatres in London, and all are well attended. The 3d of June was so cold and rainy a Sunday, as to remind me of Washington Irving's description of that passed by him at the Uttle town of Derby j but here there were neither the " ducks paddUng about the inn-yard, the hostlers and post-boys lounging about the stable-doors, or the bells chiming for church." In vain did I stand at the window looking into the flooded street; there was not a coach passed by the live-long day, and but one peal of bells in the city, those at the old English Christ Church ; while the ringing of the sohtary bell at each of t^e other meeting-houses and churches of all denomina- tions, sounded more Uke a toll of the passing-bell, and added to the gloominess occasioned by the weather. As evening set in, I followed the example of the author of the Sketch Book, and took up a newspaper ; but reading only " molasses," " flour," " whiskey," " pork," " bagging and bale rope," or the not more interesting news of " the . President's speech has arrived in England, and a bitter pill it is for an Englishman to digest," &c., I turned over .so \ NDIIAI.TRRN H KtlRUOnail. to tho lulvortiNOinviitM, gonoriUly th« most nmu8inK pnrt of un Aiuvriciin impcr; u ruimwuy upprontico hoiii^ udver- tisud " US Cond ot' prcNMing down tlio IhhI in the morning, with a reward of one cent. (» hnU'-pcnny), nnd no chnrgos, olVcriMl ior his npprehenNion." Printers were cnutionod ngiiinNt n Hwindler, who wns thus desrrihed : — *' Ho stole \\\H trunk, ^0. out of nty Itouso lust night, nnd he hns gone nwny without paying the t4uU>r'N hill, or hiN hoard hill. — Said Rogers is nhout twenty-three years of age, has red hair, fair skin, and a large homely mouth ; the upper teeth jutting over very niueh. lie plays the flute, and makes some pretensions as a poet ! hut it is easy to see that he is a plagiarist. It is i)resumod tlmt editors intc- n'sted for the elHtfaeter of tlio trade, will give tho ahove a 'Vw insertimis. ^^Utimts. " John CiiOMWKLi.." The following morning 1 was engaged in passing what little haggage 1 had hrought with me through the Custom House, which was done witli hut little trouhle or vexation, as there were no inquisitive searchers who make it i point to pry into every writing-desk, dressing-case, and c.i. pet- bag. In tho evening I again attended tlio tlientro to wit- ness tho performajico of the " Uladiator," a Philadelphian tragedy, from tlie pen of Dr. Uird. Tho principal cha- n\ctcr was sustained by Forrest, the Uoseius of tlie Ame- rieati stage ; but I mtis quite unable to judge citlier of the nierits of the actor, or tJ»e play itself; for being ratlier late, tho house was so excessively crowded, and tlie gentle- men, witli scarcely an exception, wearing their hats in the dress circle, 1 could only obtain an occasional view of the stage. 1 at first attTibuted tlie latter to want of due iH?spect to the ladies, but atYerwards cr.ne to the more A SUIIALTKItN'H PlTRLOirOII. ill clmritttlilc conclusion, thnt it was un ancient custom be- qucnthod to thcin by tlieir Quaker forefathers. I caught one glimpse of the star of the night, and ho appeared to |)()sscss a fine figure, but farther, deponent knoweth not. An American gentleman told me that Forrest intended to cross the Atliiiitic, and introduce the "Gladiator" upon the English stage ; and that, if wc could only divest our- selves of national prejudices, he must succeed, for the play was so admirably written and so excellently per- formed ! But wlicn I asked him, a few evenings after- wards, to accompany me to see young Kean in the part of Ch)tcn, in Cymbeline, which he was performing for the benefit of an American actor, and was received by the audience in a most flattering manner, he declined in the following words: "No; I make it a point never to see any thing English, only what is truly American, per- formed." 3'2 A SUBAI/rKIlN S FUULOUGll. *,-», CHAPTER III. .■>,s* . I--- Tho' no proud gates, with China's taught to vie . <* . > (i ' ■ Rlajjnificently useless strike the eye: ._ . /, x^ WImt tho' no arch of triumph is assign'd " Tu laurellM pride, whose sword has thinn'd manicind ? ^ Lo structures mark the charitable soil For casual ill, maiin'd valour, feeble toil, " Worn out with care, inBrroity, and age, Tlie life here entering, quitting tliere the stage. Savage. I NOW commenced visiting all the public institutions. Of charitable societies the number is amazing; probably no city in the world, of the same population, possesses an equal number. It may be truly said, that it deserves its name, of " Philadelphia ; " there are upwards of thirty humane institutions and societies for the relief of the poor and orphans, besides above 150 mutual benefit societies, on the principle of the English clubs; being associations of tradesmen and artisans for the support of each other in sickness, each member contributing monthly or weekly a small sum to the general fund. Of the public institutions the " Pensylvania Hospital" is on the most extensive scale. It is situated in a central part of the city, near Washington Square, and was founded eighty- A HITBALTURN 8 FUKLOUOIf. 88 two years since, Benjamin Franklin being its greatest promoter. It contains an excellent library of about 7000 volumes; and it is calculated that about 1400 pa- tients are annually admitted into it, of which number three-fifths are paupers; the remainder paying for the advantages they derive from the institution. The build- ing occupies an immense extent of ground, and on three sides of it an open space is left for a free circulation of air : the west end of the building is a ward for insane patients, of whom there are generally more than 100. The necessary funds for the support ot the Hospital arc derived from the interest of its capital stock, and from the exhibition of West's splendid painting of Christ Healing the Sick, which produces about 5(K) dollars per annum, and is exhibited in a building on the northern side of the Hospital Square. The artist intended to have presented the original painting to this Hospital, but his poverty could not withstand the oifer of 3000/. made for it in England ; and it was sold with the proviso that he should take a copy, which was the one now exhibited here, and presented conditionally that it should be placed in a house of certain dimensions, and that the proceeds from its exhibition, being a charge of one shilling sterling for each person, should be added to the Hospital funds. The painting, which contains fift)'- eight figures, is about 16 by 9 feet, and with two small marine pieces, which he painted when a child, occupies a room in the second floor of a brick building, with the Ught admitted froni the roof. The woman who has charge of it has most probably been wearied by tedious visitors, for she did not even accompany me up stairs, but left me to admire its beauties without interruption. On the opposite side of the Hospital, in the gpen square, o 84 A HUBALTEHN H KITRI.OPOII. in a line statue of Penn, executed in England; and on the western side is the pubhc Almsltouse, with Infirmary attached, another huge pile of building, capable of con- taining 1600 inmates; but not being considered suffi- ciently extensive, and objections being made to its present situation, a new one is erecting on the rising ground at the opposite side of the Schuylkill river, capable of con- taining 8000. The institution is supported by a rate upon the people, and the average number of inmates is considerably above 1000. There were many lunatics in one of the wards, where I saw a man with most forbid- ding countenance feeding a poor girl who was chained to the wall, and her hands confined in a strait waistcoat ; but I was assured that such severe measures were but seldom, and blows never, had recourse to. The majo- rity of the insane patients were confined from mania- potu, their number increasing as the warm weather approached. I asked one of them, who appeared rather sensible of his wretched state, how he felt. His answer was, '*much better, but (shutting his eyes and conceal- ing his face on the pillow) I have such horrid dreams :" never was Shakspeare's " Oh, tlmt men should put an enemy into their mouths, to steal away their brains ! " more dreadftilly illustrated. The various wards appeared remarkably clean, and great attention was paid to theinmates. I was at first rather surprised to see a small tread-wheel in an out-building, which was however used only for grindir»g grain, and not as a mode of punishment. By thus taking advantage of the labour of some few able people, and of some mechanics in the workshops attached, part of the expenses of the institution are defrayed. Strangers are admitted to view the institution for A HiriiALTKIlN H FIIRI.OITUH. SS the (leaf and dumb, u sliurt distance from the almshouse, during certain days of the week, upon making application to one of tlie directors. It was only incorporated eleven years since, and endowed by a grant from the legislature, with an additional provision for the annual payment of i(>() dollars for four years, for the support of each child admitted, M'ith the provision that such annual payment should not exceed 8000 dollars (IG50/. sterling), the sum originally granted. The children, of whom there are about eighty, are instructed in various manufactures, and receive a good moral education. The Museum, commenced by Charles Peale, a private individual, occupies the two upper stories of a building called the Arcade, and contains an excellent collection of stuffed quadrupeds and birds; also the most perfect skeleton of a mammoth in the world; the few bones which were not perfect, or could not be found, being supplied by an excellent imitation in wood. TIic ske- leton was discovered in a morass in Ulster County, state of New York, in 1 "JDH, and was dug out of it after much labour and expense by the founder of the Museum, in 1801. Two paintings represent the machinery which was used for pumping out the water, and raising the enormous skeleton. There is a tradition respecting the animal as delivered in the terms of a Shawanee Indian, who described the terrific monster as follows: — "Ten thousand moons ago, when nought but gloomy forests covered this land of the slanting sun, long before the pale men, with thunder and fire at their command, rushed on the wings of the wind, to ruin the garden of nature — when nought but the untamed wanderers of the woods, and men as unrestrained as they, were the lords of the soil — a race of animals were in being, huge as the frowning D 2 S(i A HUUAI.TKUN H KUIILUIIOH. precipice, cruel as the l)luody panther, swifl as the descending eagle, and terrible as the angel of 'night — the pines crashed beneath their feet, and the lake shrunk when they slaked their thirst; the powerful javelin in vain was hurled, and the barbed arrow fell harmless from their side. Forests were laid waste at a meal, the groans of expiring animals were everywhere heard, ond whole villages inhal)ited by man were destroyed in a moment," &c. &c. The skeleton of an elephant which IS placed by its side, appears a very diminutive animal. Amongst the objects of curiosity are Washington's sash, presented by himself, an ol)elisk of wood from the elm tree under which Penn made his treaty with the Indians in 1680, and a manuscript poem of Major Andre's, written but two months previous to ' execution. It is a satire upon the failure of Gener '^ayne, in an expedition which he commanded for tne purpose of collecting cattle for the American army ; it is entitled the " Cow Chase," and the first stanza is almost copied literally from the old English Ballad of " Chevy Chase." He is very severe upon the American General, amongst whose captured baggage, he enumerates the following articles : " His Congress dollars, and his prog, Mis military 8))eeclie8, His Comstock whiskey for his grog, Dlock stockings and silk breeches." and concludes his Poem with a check to his satire — '' Lest this same warrior-drover, Wayne, Should catch the poet, and hang him." It is a singular fact that the militia-iuen who took the unfortunate Andr^ prisoner, were a party from the army under the immediate command of Wayne; his subsequent unhappy fate is too well known. There is A SITIIAI/I'KUN S Kl UKOUnil. .•i7 also an interesting gallery of 200 original portraiti, principally of those who signed the Declaration of Independence, and the officers who figured in the revo- lutionary war, during w'»ich period most of the likenesses were taken. The lower part of the Arcade, which was built for shops, has caused a severe pecuniary loss to the stockholders, wlio asked too high a rent for them in the first instance, so that not one-half of them were let, and the mania for visiting the building has long since died away. It is a beautiful structure, with marble fronts of 100 feet, and 1 50 deep ; costing, together with the ground, upwards of lfiO,00() dollars (34,000/. sterling). The State House, which has one front in Chesnut Street, and the other in Independence Square, is the most interesting building in the city, and, being more than a century old, bears some marks of antiquity: it occupies a great extent of ground, having the courts and public offices attached, lliere is a thoroughfare through the ground-floor from the street into the square, until 9 o'clock at night, when the gates are closed. On one side of it is the Mayor's Court, which was holding one of its four stated sessions at this time; and on the opposite side is the room in which the celebrated Decla- ration of Independence was drawn up, and which was read from the steps in front of the building on the 4th of July 1776. Some Goth in office modernized the room, for the purpose, as I was informed, of giving his nephew a job, and tore down all the old panelling and pillars which supported the ceiling, and substituted a coating of plaster and paint. It is a matter of surprise to me that the inhabitants ever permitted such a profanation, being generally so proud of their revolutionary relics 38 A SUBALTERN 8 FURLOUGH. and deeds of arms. Those who now havt^ charge of the building are busily engaged in discarding every indication of their predecessora' taste, and are restoring the room to its original state. At the upper end of it, there is a wooden statue of Washington — the work of a cutter of ships' figure-heads. The profile is considered excellent, and he is represented with his right foot upon the torn bond which cemented the colonies to the mother country. On the pedestal is the following inscription : " First in War, First in Peace, First in the hearts of his Countrymen. " It is intended to fill a vacant niche behind the figure, which formerly contained the arms of England, with a brass plate bearing the Declaration of Independence as an inscription. The building is surmounted by a tower, the lower part of which is brick; and the upper, of wood, was added in 1828, imitating as closely as possi- ble the original one, which, being much decayed, was taken down soon after the Revolution. I had a very talkative old man to show me over it, who was a per- fect match for any of our Westminster, St. Paul's, or Tower guides. The bell in the brick tower was cast in 1753, with the following inscription i^pon it, well speaking the spirit of the times, which did not, how- ever, burst forth until after the expiration of 20 years: — " Proclaim liberty in the land to nil the inlinbitunts tliereof — Lpvilicus, 25 chap. 10 'versc. By order of the Assembly of tiie Province .of Penn- sylvania, for the State House of Philadelphia." My old conductor rested one hand upon a supporter, while I was copying the above inscription, and then fa- voured me with a long dissertation upon the blessings A SUBALTERN S FURLOUGH. 39 of liberty, and an abusive tirade against the English, winding up his discourse with informing me that the bell was rung when the Catholics gained their liberty in the old country. He took me up to the wooden tower, and descanted largely on the fine mechanism of the clock j how many revolutions such a wheel performed in a minute, and the thickness of each bar in the works ; how, when he discovered a fire in the city, he tolled the bell, so as to inform the inhabitants in what quarter it was. One toll signified north, two south, three east, and four west; making a short pause between the tolls, as, one, and after a short interval of time, three in rapid suc- cession, signified north-east : the streets running towards the cardinal points, the situation of the fire could be easily ascertained by the firemen. Having then led me on to the outer gallery of the tower, and pointed out the various buildings in the panorama beneath, and after expressing his sorrow that the room where Con- gress sat during the greater part of the immortal strug- gle for freedom should have been mutilated, we parted. I attended the District Court, which was sitting in a large carpeted room on the second floor, to witness the trial of an information, filed by the Attorney of the United States, against goods landed without being mentioned in the ship's invoice. There were not more than twenty people present when I entered, and a counbcl, attired in a blue coat and black stock, was commencing his address to the jury : he possessed great fluency of language, and spoke warmly in defence of his cUent, an Englishman. On a marble slab, in a recess at the back of the judges' seat, is the follow- ing inscription to the memory of Washington's nephew : 40 A SUUALTKUN's tURLOUGlI. " This Tablut records the affection and respect " > Of the Members of the Philadelphia Bar, for BUSHllOD WASHINGTON, An Associate Justice of the Supreme Court ■' • V ?• of the United States, • ,,fl . ■] . alike distinguished For simplicity of manners ' i : And purity of heart, Fearless, dignified, and enlightened as a Judge, No influence or interest Could touch his integrity or Bias his judgment, A zealous Patriot and a Pious Christian.. He died at Philadelphia, On the 26th of November, A. D. 1829, Leaving his professional brethren A spotless fame. And to his country The learning, labour, and wisdom, Of a long judicial life." Independence Square, about 270 paces each way, is prettily laid out with walks and fine trees, and sur- rounded by a strong iron railing ; but Washington, the adjoining one, is both larger and a more fashionable promenade, being crowded between the hours of five and six in the evening with elegantly dressed females. The greatest objection to the manner in which all the squares are laid out is, that the grass is allowed to grow ; and, when I was in Philadelphia, labourers were making hay in them. In this, as in other instances, the Americans prefer profit to appearances, or even comfort. A statue or monument is shortly to grace the centre of Washington Square, which was a burial ground, or Potter's-field, as it is termed, during the time the yel- low-fever raged so violently in the city, at the end of the last century. The twenty -first annual exhibition of the Pennsylva- A SUBALTERN S FURLOUGH. 41 nia Academy of Fine Arts was holding in a spacious building constructed for the express purpose, containing a fine rotunda with dome, and several galleries for paintings and statues, or casts from celebrated busts: there are several specimens of Canova's and Chantrey's sculpture in the collection, which is extensive; but I was no judge of its value, nor could the catalogue which I purchased at the door, give me much infor- mation as to the sculptors' names. Amongst the paint- ings, were some by Salvator Rosa, Vandyke, Rembrandt, West, Shee (President R. A.), Leslie (R. A.), and a large one of " The dead Man restored to Life, by touch- ing the bones of the prophet Elisha," by Washington Alston; but the greater proportion of the remainder displayed little talent — the portraits were yo\ing and stiflF performances ; but I was probably more inclined to be fastidious from having so lately viewed West's noble effort; and left the gallery with a very mean opinion of American artists in general. The great hon, however, of Philadelphia, is the enor- mous line-of-battle ship, the Pennsylvania, which is on the stocks in the Navy-yard at the lower extremity of the city. I took advantage of the kindness of an officer in the American service, to walk over it ; and he also favoured me with its dimensions : — the keel was laid in 1822, and the vessel finished to its present state in se\en years; the timber being exposed to a free circu- lation of air for the prevention of dry rot; it could, however, be prepared for sea in six months. The shed which protects it from the weather is 27O feet in length, 105 in height, and 84 in breadth, with a re- servoir at the top of the roof, which can be filled with water by means of a force-pump, the city water-works 42 A SUBALTERN S FURLOUGH. throwing it within 15 feet of the summit. The upper deck is 220 feet in length, and no forecastle; the ex- treme breadth of beam 58 feet ; depth from spar deck to keelson, 44 feet, 4 inches ; and draft of water 27 feet, 6 inches. Her decks are 7 feet high, and from the orlop to the gun-deck is 7 feet 4 inches. The anchors were wrought at Plymouth, Massachusetts, and the sheet anchor weighs 10,171 lbs. When manned, she will carry a crew of 1500, including 120 marines, and from 140 to IfiO guns; but is rated at the former number, 70 of which are 32-pounders, weighing 61 cwt. each; 38 42-pound carronades of 27 cwt., and 32 42-pounders weighing 76 cwt. 1 qr. each. The spars for it are not yet made, but the main-mast will be 135 feet in height, and 44 inches in diameter ; and the extreme height from the keelson to the summit of the flag-pole, upwards of 300 feet : the guns were cast at Georgetown, near the city of Washington. Another shed near it contains a double-banked fri- gate of 6'0 guns, whose keel was laid in 1819, and could be fitted out for sea in forty days : the state cabins are panelled with mahogany and white maple; the gun carriages of white, and the principal timbers of green oak: both vessels are considered by the Americans as well-built, and the frigate as a perfect model. Much trouble will be experienced in launching them ; for, the stocks being situated in a bight of the river, the mud has collected in great quantities from the eddies of the tide, and dry land is forming quickly between the keels and the river. The operation of reclaiming a large space of land about two miles in length, by a quarter in breadth, adjoining the Navy-yard, wa? taking place at this time. It appeared that some speculating person /¥' A subaltern's furlough. had obtained a grant of it, much to the chagrin of the land owners on the river's bank, who considered that their title extended to low, instead of, as was decided by law, to high-water mark: the fortunate speculator thus gained possession of a great space of land, which before the lapse of many years will be thickly covered with houses. ."^f^rf .-} ',: ,r.",.;..„-:-^- -'-f.^.>;: /v-f-ii/'-'Yv:!'; at' The old hulk of the Siam, of 36 guns, a trophy dur- ing the late war, is moored alongside the pier near the frigate, though it can scarcely be kept afloat, and is quite unserviceable. The Navy-yard is small, compared to any of those in England, but considerable additions were making: the barracks in it will contain 150 men, and from 60 to 70 were doing duty there at this time; their undress uniform, a shabby-looking French gray, gave them any tiling but a military appearance ; their full-dress of dark blue is much neater, nor could I ever understand why it was not usually worn. A fine Marine Asylum is building near the road to Gray's Ferry, a short distance from the city, on a most capacious plan ; the front of it being little less than 400 feet in length, and a broad double verandah upon two sides. The scenery in the immediate vicinity of Philadelphia is tame and uninteresting, with the exception of one or two spots on the banks of the Schuylkill, where the face of the countrj'^ is rather more broken and abrupt ; assuming in some places rather a romantic appearance. Advantage has been taken of these by gentlemen who have laid out their grounds with good taste, and much improved their farms by adopting the English system of agriculture. The citizens are permitted to walk through the gardens at certain seasons of the year — a liberty 1l ^.. ... 44 A SUBALTERN S FURLOUGH. which to their credit is but little abused. The greatest lounge, however, for the inhabitants, appears to be the Fair Mount Water-works, upon the excellence of which they very justly pride themselves; and at last, having expended a million of doUars in experiments, they have discovered a plan at once economical and serviceable. All attempts having failed, at an enormous expense, to sUj-'ply the demand for water in the city, it was deter- mined to lay aside the use of steam for the introduc- tion of water power j and the present works were com- menced in 1819, by throwing a dam, 1500 feet in length, at an obtuse angle across the Schuylkill, so as to be less exposed to the force of the current. A mill 238 feet in length, containing several double forcing-pumps, is situated immediately below the dam on the left bank of the river, with a race-way to lead the water over eight wheels about sixteen feet in diameter, which can force nearly seven millions of gallons of water per day into the reservoir on the summit of a hill, 100 feet above the level of the river, and 50 above the highest part of the city. They contain nearly twenty millions of gallons ; and the present consumption of water does not exceed two millions, and in the winter months one mil- lion per day. The expenses of the mill are but four dollars (16s. 8d.), two men being sufficient to attend the works; while that of steam was 206 dollars per day, and did not raise half the quantity. The Corporation are improving the gardens attached to the works, by the introduction of fountains, statues, &c. They are a place of great resort for strangers, to whom the simple and ingenious machinery proves very interesting, and the gates are daily beset by a large assemblage of carriages. A wooden bridge of a single arch, of the enormous span 1'^ f i © s s 00 1^ m til. > '•>r •III' . '■ v.t,SKK5 . •*•«?» ectrtii? :i! yiu iMKidk'V^l Winter, ";;ur-;i' ''atio! ,*,4W!V' '#'. It* iiWii J, ,|J5.'" ; «Jf ? 1' ' ■^•t-; A HCUALTERN H FURLOUGH. 45 of 340 feet, crosses the Schuylkill in the immediate vi- cinity of the water-works; being fifteen feet narrower in the centre than at the abutments ; with a roof and windows at the sides, which are walled in, as a protec- tion against the weather; it presents a singular appear- ance to a person who has been accustomed to more sub- stantial but lighter- looking structures. There is a second wooden bridge nearly a mile below this one, with three arches and stone piers; a marble obelisk at one extre- mity of it states that the cost of its construction was 300,000 dollars (()2,500/.), and recounts the great hard- ships and fatigue the workmen experienced in laying the foundation of the piers : the length of the bridge, with its abutments, is 1300 feet; the space of the centre arch being 195, and the width of the road upon it 42 feet. One of the piers was commenced in the middle of winter, 800,000 feet of timber being employed in the construc- tion of the coffer-dam: the masonry of the pier was begun on Christmas day, 1802, and finished to low- water mark in 41 days and nights; though the foundation was on the rock at the amazing depth of 41 feet below the surface of the water; being, it is supposed, the greatest depth at which regular masonry has ever been constructed. Seven months were occupied in pre- paring the dam and repairing damages; the subaqueous work consuming in fact a great proportion of the ex- penditure. I had heard much of the expertness of the Philadelphia firemen, and feared I should be disappointed in my hopes of witnessing it. A few days, however, before I quitted the city, hearing the alarm-bell, I ran out, and, remembering the old man's instructions at the State House, took the requisite direction. Though I hurried as 46 A HUBALTKHN M Kl'RLUUOII. speedily as possible to the scene of action, when I arrived, upwards of fifteen engines and hose-carriages were in full play upon the fire, which had gained considerable head : but such an immense flood of water was poured upon it, that it was shortly extinguished. I afterwards walked to the house in which the carriage of the American Hose Company was kept, when some of the members very kindly drew out the carriage, and gave me a copy of the rules and by-laws they had established. It was decorated and painted in a most costly manner, and, with 1000 feet of hose, had been purchased for 1500 dollars (250/.), bearing the well-executed classical device of the car of Tydides and Nestor at the siege of Troy, as represented in Westall's (R. A.) painting, and the motto "non sibi sed omnibus." The other carriages were pU neatly painted and decorated in a similar rnaiivier. There are about thirty engine and sixteen hose companies; h\:t all ilie firemen, unlike those in other i^lcs, are volunteers, nnd defray the expenses of their engines from their own private funds; the first com- pany u the kind being established by Dr. Franklin. The hose formed upon the same spirited principle as the engine companies, M'ere established for the purjiose of supplying the latter with water in greater quantities than the old system of carrying it in buckets. Each carriage has a large cylindrical roller in the centre, round which the hose is lapped, with brass screws and joints at intervals of aboul 5^^ feet through its entire length. One end ia screwed into a :'reet plug, and the water forced through the i.cse to the engine, which can have a greater supply of water than required. The hose companies who arrive first at the fire taking the nearest plugs, lend their surplus hose to the last comers, who A 8UUALTURN H KUHLUirQII. 47 are thus enabled to bring the water frum ahnust any distance in the adjoining streets. There are about 100 members in eacli company, generally young merchants and tradesmen, amongst whom there is a great esprit d« corps, and anxiety to reach a fire before any other com- pany. Fines are imposed upon members who attend upon such occasions unequipped in their thick water- proof dress, and glazed hat, with badge upon it, or who leave a fire without permission from a director; and there are many other similar regulations. Each member also pays a certain sum ii])on his entrance into the company, and a small annual subscription. It was an interesting sight to witness the regularity with which the various companies moved rapidly through the streets at night to the ploce where their services were required, by the lights of numerous torches, and with the ringing of the large bells suspended from the cars j and, after the fire was extinguished, all moved away to their respec- tive station-houses, where the roll was called over, to ascertain the absentees. Such an enthusiastic public spirit is doubtless kept alive only by the constant call for the services of the young men; and every fire will tend to diminish it in some degree, an edict having been lately passed, by which a hea^'y fine is imposed upon any one erecting a frame-house within the limits of the city. The Bank of the United States (or, as the Americans term it. Uncle Sam's strong box) was commenced in 1819, after the plan of the Parthenon at Athens, omitting most of the merely decorative parts of the building; and is situated in Chesnut Street, the most fashionable street in the city. The building is entirely of white marble (161 by 87 feet), the porticoes at each end being sup- ■■ \; \ A SaBi^LTERNS FURLOUGH. ported by eight Doric columns, each 27 feet in height, and 4 feet 6 inches in dlituneter. When viewed by moon light, I think I never saw any thing more soft or beautiful. The banking room, in the centre of the building, is 81 by 48, and 35 feet in height, with a tesselated floor of Am^.^can and Italian marble; upon each side of it are rooms for the directors, engiavers, and copper-plate printers. The capital of the bank is 35,000,000 dollars, or rather iiore than 7i millions sterling, divided into 350,000 shares of 100 dollars each ; the Government being proprietors of one-fifth. It has twenty-two branch banks, distributed in various parts of the Union. Great consternation was created amongst the directors, during my residence in the country, by the promvdgation of General Jackson's v( -.o upon the bank charter, which will expire in 1836. The original charter was granted for twenty years; and a bill for renewing it from the 3rd of March, 1 836, had passed both houses uf Congress, but did not receive the assent of the President. His veto most fuUy laid before the people his reasons for taking so decisive a step ; some of the strongest being, that, " out of twenty-five miUions of private stock in the corporation, eight and a half millions were held by foreigners, mostly of Great Britain;" and that from two to five millions of specie crossed the Atlantic ever)' year to pay the bank dividends; that, out of the twenty- five directors of the bank, twenty were f^hosen by the citizen stockholders, — all foreign stockholders being excluded firom having any voice in these elections; that foreigners already possessed about one-third of the stock; and that the entire control of the institution would necessarily fall into the hands of a few citizen stockholders ; and the ease with which the object would A subaltern')* purlough. 49 be accomplished, would be a temptation to designing men to secure the control in their own hands, by mor^opolizing the remaining stock; and thup would there be the danger of the President and Directors being able to elect themselves from year to year, and manage the whole concerns of the bank, without responsibility or con- trol ; and that great evils might arise to the country from such a concentration of power, in the hands of a few men, who were not responsible to the people. Should the stock of the bank pass into the hands of foreigners, and the United States be at war with their country, their own funds would be used in support of the hostile fleets and armies. — ^The President then recommends a bank purely American, and thinks it would be expedient to prohibit the sale of its stock to foreigners, under penalty of absolute forfeiture; he says, too, that it is no argument in favour of rechartering the bank, "that the calling in iits loans will produce great distress; for, if it has been well managed, the pressure will be light in winding up the concerns; and, if badly managed, the severity of the pressure will be the fault of the bank, and it must be responsible ; and that, if it produce distress, it will furnish a reason against renewing a power which has been so obviously abused." From the day this veto was issued, the popular cry became, "Down with the bank, and no English lords, or monied aristocracy." i'vr -'•'^"■^"^^■i so V A subaltern's furlough. CHAPTER IV. t« No eye hath seen such bcarctows ! Coveatry with them, that's flat. I would not march through Shakspurb. ' <} 1 He feeds yon alma-house, neat, but void of state, Where age and want sit smiling at the gate ; Him portion'd maids, apprentic'd orphans, blest. The young who labour, and the old who rest. As he passed by Coldbath Fields, he saw A solitary cell — And the Devil was charm'd, for it gave him a hint For improving the prisons of hell. Pope. PORSON. The Philadeiphians, and I think I may include the Americans in general, have a great rage for playing at soldiers, and fondness for military display: scarcely a day elapsed on which I did not see either the Jackson Guards, Hibernian Greens, Washington Greys, Philadel- phia Blues, or some such named troops, parading with bands of music up one street and down another, until they had run nearly the gauntlet of the whole city, when they were dismissed. There was nothing objectionable in their appearance as volunteers, for all were particu- larly well clothed, with clean and neat accoutrements; and, as to stature, many were exceedingly fine-looking companies ; but although they could keep step in march- ing, diminish their front in a narrow part of the street, A subaltern's urlough. M and wheel to the right and left at the corners tolerably well, yet the words of command which were frequently given savoured but little of a military education, or as if much attention had been paid to the study of the evolutions. They have also a singular custom (certainly well adapted for keeping up a feeling of good will be- tween different States) of entire companies visiting each other; and they are frequently put to considerable ex- pense in providing for visitors upon so extensive a scale. I saw a company of the State Fencibles about seventy strong, with a negro band of music at their head, leave Philadelphia on a visit to some Boston troops at the distance of three hundred miles, where they would be most hospitably treated, and live at the expense of those to whom the visit was made. The Bostonians would probably in the course of the summer return the com- pliment in due form. It may be supposed that these visits create a great stir in the city 3 one company es- corts another into the place, and several others accom- pany it to see the different sights; their bands give the citizens a musical treat at the theatre; and the corps have more marching and parading, in a ten days' visit, than a regiment of the line would have to under- go in a whole month of peaceable times. When the State Fencibles embarked on board the steamer which was to convey them forty miles up the Delaware, the vessels at anchor, the wharfs, streets, and houses were filled with spectators, who, as the steamer pushed off, and the band struck up the national air of '' Yankee Doodle," gave three such exhilarating cheers that a per- son might have imagined the detachment was proceed- ing upon some dangerous expedition, instead of a feast- ing and sight-seeing visit to their brethren "down E 2 SS A SUBALTERNS FURLOUGH. East. ' These volunteer corps are composed of respect- able young men, who form themselves into companies, for the purpose of avoiding being called out to the militia trainings, which take place annually, and which are generally much more ludicrous than is represented even in England, and where the citizen soldiers learn more that would unfit them for actual service, in one training, than six months' severe good drill would break them of. The system is altogether deprecated by every rea- sonable man in the United States; and all exertions are made to cast ridicule upon, and bring it into dis- repute. One man will appear upon parade with a top- boot on one leg, a silk stocking on the other, and a broom-stick over his shoulder; while his rear-rank man has one arm labelled " right," the other " left," a wooden sword, a pair of green spectacles, and no coat. The ofl&- cers being appointed by votes, an ostler at a small tavern in Philadelphia bore the high commission of Colonel, and was carried about the country in a raree- show, as the gallant Colonel Pluck. A regiment also appeared in New York, clothed in every imaginable costume, from a bare-legged Highlander down to the turbanned Turk. Some poor man, however, had a greater martinet for a captain than is generally the case, and was ordered off parade to change his dress, and return properly equipped, " which order (to use the man's own words) he considered unmilitary and illegal, and there- fore respectfully declined to obey." For this act of insubordination he was tried by a court-martial, sen- tenced to pay a fine of ten dollars, and, in default thereof, to be imprisoned. He chose the latter alterna- tive: and from his place of confinement addressed a letter to the public, in which, after a statement of his 1 A SUBALTERN S FURLOUGH. 53 case, he thus describes his dress: — ^"It was proved to the Court that my equipments were strictly according to law— that I had an ordinary powder-horn, but which the Captain stated was too large for a musket— that my dress was as follows: — ^A gentleman's ordinary hair- cloth cap — a pair of common spectacles — an ordinary gray mixed doth coat, which I usually wore in the store in which I am (or I should say was) a clerk — ^a paper collar, instead of a linen or cotton one, and of the ordinary and usual size, and no larger — a common vest — a pair of brown drilling pantaloons, my stockings drawn over instead of under the pantaloons — and shoes tied with a string. The Court imposed a fine of ten dollars, which, considering to be illegal and oppressive, and knowing it to be unjust, I will not have extorted from me ; and, for so declining to surrender my right as a citizen, I am now imprisoned, whether legally or not may hereafter appear ; for I consider it virtually a law- less and ruthless violation, not only of my own, but of the personal rights and personal Uberty of every citizen of this State." It is rather singular that the Government have not long t^ince dispensed with such a system ; for, so long as it continues in vogue, they can scarcely hope to see any thing but mountebanks in place of ef- fective soldiers. The officers of the volunteer compa- nies are also elected by vote, and such as the following is a common advertisement: — " Jackson Guards — Attention .'—You will parade, completely equipped, to-morrow morning, at ten o'clock in front of the Napoleon House : each man provided with thirteen rounds blank cartridge. After parade, an election will take place for one lieutenant-colonel and one captain." S4 A SUBALTERN H FURLOUGH. On my way to the office of a rail-road, which was opened on the 7th of June, between the city and Ger- man Town, six miles distant, I witnessed a most extra- ordinary mode of selling the stock in some new bank. It was a scene worthy of St. Giles's or Billingsgate ; and such as I should never have expected to see in the quiet city of Philadelphia,, 'rhe manner in which it was disposed of was as follows : the sellers vere in a house, with a small aperture in a window-shutter, only suffi- ciently large to admit a man's hand, and through which he delivered his money ; but having received his scrip, after a lapse of some time, it was impossible for him to withdraw through the crowd of purchasers ; no one woidd make way, lest he should thereby lose his chance of ever gaining the window. The only plan then was, that one of his friends threw him the end of a rope, which he fastened round his body, and part of the mob, who came as mere lookers-on, dragged him out by main strength, frequently with the loss of the better half of his apparel. Many had, however, come prepared for the worst, by leaving their coats, shirts, and hats, at home. It was here that the strongest went to the wall, and various were the schemes adopted to keep possession. One fel- low had very knowingly brought a gimlet with him, and, boring it into the shutter, held on with one hand, while he fought most manfully with the other! A bystander told me that a large party had leagued together for mu- tual support, and taken possession of the window the preceding evening ; but that a stronger one attacked them in the morning, and drove them from their position, though not without several heads, arms, and legs, being broken in the aflray. It appeared, therefore, that the only chance a peaceable citizen had of obtaining any stock was A 8UBAL'"ERN S FURLOUGH. 55 to hire the greatest bully he could find to iight his bat- tles for him. This scene continued throughout three days; and, besides many severe and dangerous wounds which were inflicted in the contest, one man was killc' . In consequence, however, of this and similar disturb- ances, meetings of respectable citizens were held, to devise means to prevent a recurrence of them on like occasions; and, as an additional proof that they were ashamed of those proceedings, one of them expressed a hope "that I had not witnessed a sale of bank- stock." Pursuing my way to the rail-road, I overheard a bricklayer call out from his kiln to another at some distance, "I say Jem, Bob '11 have a blow-out to-mor- row." " Why ? how ?" " He's gone to buy stock, and he'll work his way amongst them, I know." I had been detained so long, that I did not arrive at the railway until two minutes past nine, and the car had started as the clock struck ; so I passed the two hours, until the departure of the next train, by walking out into the country. It was the first time I had well examined any American forming, which, to an Englishman's eye, appears to great disadvantage. To this efiect, the sub- stitution of zig-zag, or, as they term them, worm fences of dead wood, instead of the neat quickset hedges of English husbandry, does not a little contribute. Locomotive engines had not been introduced, and horse cars were substituted until the railway should be com- pleted, a single road only being at present finished; but many hundreds of workmen, principally Irish, were employed in laying an additional one: the castings were imported from England, and the chairs were firmly fastened into blocks of gray granite, the foundation being well secured by a trench of thirty inches filled with Mac- ^ A 8ITHAL.TEHN H FUIlLUimil. adamized stones, well rammed down; and where any rails appeared to give way, or start out from each other, those opposite were connected with them by a. rod of iron, and gravel overlaid. The highest embank- ment on the road was forty perpendicular feet, and the only very heavy work was the blasting a ridge of gra- nite, through which we passed, four miles from the city. The carriage ran remarkably easy, and, though carrying twenty passengers (and calculated to hold forty), the horse took it the six miles in forty minutes, the road rising thirty-two feet per mile throughout the distance. The usual contrivance of a lever to regulate the speed of the carriages was used, having a brush at the lower end for the purpose of sweeping the rail before the wheel. A busy scene presented itself at the place where the cars stopped, on the edge of a wood, half a mile from German Town. A large concourse of molasses- beer and oyster sellers had established themselves under the trees; several frame-houses were erecting for the sale of egg-nog and mint julaps; and land, which had been of little value a twelvemonth before, was now let- ting at half a dollar per foot, per month. German Town is a straggling place, three miles in length, and inter- spersed with gardens and orchards, which give it rather the appearance of a large village. It was here that Wash- ington experienced a repulse in his attack upon an Eng- lish division, in 1777' I walked through a large stone house, the property of Mr. Chew, which was the prin- cipal scene of action, and most gallantly defended by five companies of the 40th regiment, under Colonel Musgrave, against incessant attacks of an American column, under General Sullivan. It stands on a rising ground, about two hundred yards from the main road, and still bears A SUBALTERN 8 FURLOUGH. m marks of the light artillery, which was brought to bear upon it. I addressed myself to a man who appeared to have been left in charge of the house, by the proprie- tor ; but he answered me so coolly, and appeared so little inclined to give any information, that I tuiTied away, and commenced a conversation with his wife, who volunteered to show me through the building, and pointed out the grave of the English General Agnew, in front of the stables, near which lay also several ornamental statues, which had lost heads or arms during the fight. We were only thirty minutes returning to Philadel- phia, where a great concourse of people had assembled, to witness the arrival of the cars, it being the first road of the description which had been opened near the city. The Americans, particularly in that portion of the country which gives birth to the Yankees, have acquired a reputation for loquacity and inquisitiveuess, which does not extend to the Philadelphians, who appear rather to inherit the Quaker taciturnity; for, during the first three days I was at the hotel, not a single indivi- dual addressed a word to me at table. All were too busy to ask questions, or^ to pay the slightest attention to any one's wants but their own ; as they ate, so they departed in silence. At last, fearing I should lose the use of my tongue, I took courage on the fourth day, and made some common-place observation to a dark, stout man who sat next to me, and who always had an English-looking pointer under his chair. Judging of the master by his dog, I immediately decided he must be a countryman; but no! he could speak English but very imperfectly, and as he doled out to me a 'long story in pitiful accents, about his losing 1500 dollars the IP A SUBALTERNS FURLOUGH. preceding day, I knew him to be Monsieur Chabert the fire-king, having read an advertisement in the papers offering 500 dollars reward for the recovery of the stolen property. I went the same evening to the Masonic Hall, a room of noble dimensions, lighted by gas, from private works, to witness his performance; the attendance was very thin, and the audience appeared to take very little interest in his lecture upon the various qualities of poisons, and the impunity with which a large quantity might be taken, provided the antidote followed imme- diately; for all talked incessantly. They were more attentive when he commenced drinking the poisons, "massing red-hot bars of iron over his tongue, swallowing oil heated to 380 degrees, Fahrenheit, and burning a doak off his back, by entering a temple in which 300 cartridges exploded. Shouts of laughter accompanied the awkward attempts of some few aspirants to perform the same feats. The historical compositions upon many of the signs displayed over the small inns, in the suburbs near Kensington, were painted in no ordinary style, and numerous groups were introduced in the subjects, in quite an artist-like and classical style, such as in " The Landing of Columbus in the New World j Washington crossing the Delaware on the 25th of December 1776 : the Surrender of Lord Comwallis, and Penn's treaty with the Indians,' which was very near the spot where the elm-tree stood under which the treaty was made. The tree, which measured twenty-four feet in circumference, was Mown down a few years since, and a small marble obelisk now marks the spot where it stood. It is within thirty yards of the Delaware, and AHUHALTERNH FURLOUGH. 59 an inscription upon it gives the date of Penn's birth, and death, the former in 1644, and the latter in 1718> and on the other sides are — Treaty ground of William Penn, ond the Indian Nativea, 1683. 1/ "Unbroken faith." > Pennsylvania, founded ^ 1681, J by deeds of Peace. Penn's name is sufficiently immortalised ; but I think one slight shade is dravm over his fame, by his having deserted the infant city two years after the first house was built, and returned to England, where he died. Had his plan but been rigidly adhered to, there would have been none of those mean-looking houses on the water firont. By singular good chance, however, his original intention bids fair to be carried into effect. An eccentric, but public-spirited man, Stephen Oiiord, a wealthy banker, whose sentiments appear to have been in accordance with the founder's, having lately died, bequeathed an immense sum for the express purpose of beautifying the city. The history of this man, who died one of the wealthiest private individuals in the world, is very remarkable. It appears that he was bom at Bourdeaux, in France, about 1746, and at the age of fourteen sailed for the West Indies, as a cabin-boy. Thence he traded for several years to New York, as mate of a vessel ; and soon afl^^er settled in Philadelphia, where, at the conclusion of the revolutionary war, he CO A HUBALTEHN H PURLOlHIi. kept a small shop; dealing in old naval store , such as iron, rigging, &c. ; and his small frame-hou»c was situated on the same spot that the elegant mansion m which he died now occupies. At times he was engaged as a pedlar, journeying up and down the country to farm- houses, and disposing of groceries, and ready-made clothing, returning to the city when his stock was exhausted; and by degrees OMassed such a sum of money, that he ranked as one of the first merchants in the city. At the expiration of the charter of the bank of the United States in 1810, he established a private bank, the capital of which in a few years was augmented to five millions of dollars. From this circumstance, and from taking a loan of five millions during the late war, receiving 100 seven per cent, stock for 70, with a fortunate speculation in the stock of the present bank of the United States, his wealth increased to so vast an extent, that at his death it was estimated at fourteen millions of dollars (three millions sterling), the whole of which, with the exception of a few legacies to his brother, and nieces, amounting to 140,000 dollars, )ind small annuities to his servants, he bequeathed to the different charitable institutions, towards the improvement of Philadelphia, and New Orleans, and for the establish- ment of a college in the former city, for the residence and accommodation of at least three hundred scholars. In his will he prescribes the dimensions of the various rooms, and that the building " shall be at least 110 feet east and west, and 160 north and south; shall be three stories in height, and each story at least 15 feet high in the clear, from the floor to the cornice, and that it shall be fire-proof inside and outside, and no wood used except for doors, windows, and shutters ; the floors A aUBALTKUN-'a PI) RI.OUOH. (il and landings, as well as the ruof, to be covered with marble slabs, securely laid in mortar." For the building and establishment of this college, he bequeathed two millions of dollarN ; and the income of so much of it as remained unexpended was directed to maintain as many poor white orphans, between the age of six and ten years, as it was adequate to. It wab also ordered that they should be instructed in the various branches of a sound education, in the French and Spanish (not forbid- ding, but not recommending tl»e Latin or Greek) lan- guage; s; and it was stated, that he would have them taught "facts and things, rather than words and signs ;" and that after they had attained the ages between fourteen and eighteen, they should be bound out to suitable occupations, according to their capacities. He also eitjoins and requires that "no ecclesiastic, mis- sionary or minister of any sect whatsoever, should ever hold or exercise any station or duty whatevftr in the said college ; nor should any such person ever be admitted for my purpose, or as visitor, within the premises appro- Fffrnd to the purposes of the said college." But, in vnaki 'f : this restriction, he states that he does not mean tc ^a? V any reflection upon any sect whatsoever; but as t!>ef c is such a multitude of sects, and diversity of opinion flj .ng them, it is his desire that the tender minds of the orphan! should be free from the excitement which clash- ing 4ti(itrines, and sectarian controversy, are apt to pro- duce J and it is his desire that the instructors of the col- lege should instil into their minds " the purest principles ^ morality ; so that, on then: entrance into life, they may, from inclination and habit, evince benevolence towards thfir fellow-creatures, and a love of truth, sobriety, and industry, adopthig Hi the same time such religious tenets 62 A SUBALTERN S FURLOUGH. as their matured reason may enable them to prefer." If the two millions of dollars were insufficient for building the college, and maintaining as many orphans as might apply for admission, he left a farther legacy for that pur- pose. He also bequeathed half a million of dollars, the income of which was to be appUed exclusively for laying out a street, to be called Delaware Avenue, along the heads of the docks in front of the city, and for pulling down all buildings between it and the water, within the limits of the city; to remove all wooden buildings, and to prohibit any being built hereafter within the said limits : his intention being to make that part of the city correspond better with the appearance of the interior; and, in case the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania failed to pass the laws, with regard to the improvements he re- quired, before the expiration of a year from the time of his death, the whole bequest, excepting that for the col- lege, should revert to the United States for the purposes of internal navigation, " and no other." When I arrived in the city, all the necessary laws had been passed ; and a fine of 500 dollars was to be imposed upon any one who built a frame or wooden house withhi the limits. Preparations had also commenced for building the college, widening the s^^reets near the river, and in every way complying with he testator's will. The following Sunday I was more fortunate in the weather, and attended divine service at Christ Church, one of the neatest religious edifices in the city. But every thing appeared new and strange to me — there was no clerk, and the congregation read the responses aloud. The service, too, like the interior of the State House, had been modernized, and had been deprived of much of its solemnity, in my opinion, by 1>eing rendered into fiimi- V A SUBALTERN 8 FUBLOUGH. 63 liarly modern English. Emblematic of the country, every thing old was discarded. A gentleman, who sat near me, very deliberately rose from his seat, and walked across the aisle to the occupant of another pew, with whom he shook hands, sat down, and, after conversing with him for some minutes, resumed his own seat. I ought to state, however, that this was the only instance of such dis- reftpcctful conduct which came under my observation: the Americans in general being very attentive to their religious duties, and scrupulously respectful of the de- votion of their neighbours. The number of religious sects in Philadelphia is such, that Girard's college would have barely contained a representative from each deno- mination. There are no fewer than nine Protestant epis- copal churches; four Roman Catholic; nineteen Presby- terian; one Scots' Presbyterian; ten Methodists; three Reformed Dutch; six Baptists; five German Lutheran; six Quakers; one Free Quakers; one Covenanters; two German Reformed ; two Universalists ; two Synagogues ; one Bible Christian ; one Mariners' Church ; one Sweden- borgian ; ten Unitarians ; one Moravian ; one Menonists, or Dunkers; one Swedish Lutheran; one Mount Zion; in addition to these, the Evangelical Society have erected four in the suburbs. None of them are remarkable for their exterior beauty, but are generally so plain as scarcely to be distinguished from private dwelling-houses. The markets are excellent ; particularly one long range of buildings in High Street, up the centre of which it extends for about three-quarters of a mile. They are a perfect pattern of neatness, though not to be compared in grandeur or convenience to that at Liverpool, being merely roofs supported on brick pillars, with a single row of stalls on each side of the passage ; yet the most delicate w ii A SUHALTBHN 8 KURLOCMII. lady might walk at any time of day from one to the other end without inconvenience or annoyance. It is oonsi- dered the best beef market in the Union, and is well supplied with fruit and vegetables of every description, excepting Irish potatoes, a good bushel of which, coming direct from Europe, is considered no mean present. I think that I scarcely ever tasted a good potato any where south of New York. The costume of the butchers (white coats and aprons) is much cleanlier looking, and more be- coming, than the dirty blue of the English knights of the cleaver and hatchet. The regularity of the streets much pleased me upon first landing ; but, after I had gained some little experi- ence by a week's hard Vt'alking, I began to look upon them as rather monotonous, and to wish that there was more than a solitary crooked one. The city occupies the space of ground between Delaware and Schuylkill rivers, which are about two miles apart ; all the streets running from the former to the latter, due east and west, are, with the exception of High Street, named after various trees. There are but eight of them, and their names may be formed i;»to the couplet of Sassafras, Cedar, Chcsmit, Vine, Mulberry, Spruce, High, Walnut, Pine ; 'i ' , while those again which cross them at right angles, run- ning due north and south, are numbered from the rivers up to Broad Street, which divides the city into two un- equal parts, there being thirteen streets between it and the Delaware, and only eight between it and the Schuyl- kill. The city is consequently chequered, as it were, hke a chess-board, by these di>4sions and subdivisions; the squares (as the inhabitants term them) being solid, or > A HUDAI/riilllN H KCKI.OIJCIII. (55 l)locks of ])uildings. Tliis regularity, however, is very convenient for a stranger ; and, if he only knows the points of the compass, it is impossible he can lose liis way ; l)ut, without that, he would have as much difficulty in finding his hotel, as a mariner would in finding his port without knowing its bearings. It puzzled me a good deal at first ; for, if I asked any one the way to such a j)lace, the answer was invariably some such as " Go four squares higher up, and you will find it on the west side of north thirteenth, next to Sassafras." "Thank you," said I, "for tlic in- formation — west side of north thirteenth, next to Sassa- fras !" hovv concise ! I had then to box the compass; and, after a quarter of an hour's hot walking, began to despair of finding the spot; so, inquiring again, would discover that I was not to search for hollow squares ; but that, if I returned, I should find the place on the west side of north thirteenth, next to Race — " next to Race ! why I was told but a few minutes since that it was next to Sas- saflras." " Well, but they arc the same, I guess ; only Sas^fras is rather too long a nar^e." So running down the longitude of the city again, until I gained the required latitude of i;{ north, I bore direct down the street, and soon arrived at my destination ; thinking it strange that they should call a street Race, when races were forbidden by law in Pennsylvania. ., « „ 4. Though the exterior appearance of the houses exceeds those in EngUsh towns, from the bricks being painted red, and not dimmed by the black smoke of coal fires, while the windows are set off by the smart green Venetian shut- ters, yet the streets are but badly paved and lighted, and worse kept as to cleanliness. I have seen innumerable pigs running about, and rooting, ad libitum, in the most fashionable parts of the town; and have been obliged to ss- «6' A SUBALTERN S FURLOUGH. turn off the causeway into the road, with danger of being run over by a carriage or an equestrian, because it was blocked up with piles of merchandize and empty chests — as if the storekeeper to whom they belonged was proud of making a display that he was a dealer on a great scale. Day after day would those identical nuisances be in exist- ence, and tolerated by the citizens as a matter of course ; because, in fact, to them it was nothing uncommon — quite an every-day sight. The appearance of the two most fashionable squares is much marred by the position of a prison, which occupies nearly one side of each. But the most unsightly building, and that which is least irj accordance with the habits and sentiments of most Americans, as to its interior economy, is that Bastile, the Penitentiary ; the principles of which institution have been so ably described by former tra- vellers. For my own part, I could not Adew its lofty castellated walls and tov/ers, loop-holed windows, port- cullis, and ponderous iron-studded gates, without a shud- der at the fate of its wretched inmates. Whoever views the establishment will confess that the Americans have carried punishment for crime beyond even death itself. It is strange that they should hesitate to take away the life of man for any crime short of murder ; and yet should inflict perpetual solitary confinement as more lenient; condemning an unfortunate being to be for ever cut off from all intercourse with his fellow-crep^ures, debarred the use of any thing which might give excitement to his mind, and doomed to linger away year after year in a miserable existence, " Until just Death, kind umpire of mens' miseries. With sweet enlargement doth dismiss him." I asked the opinioit r-f a keeper who had witnessed the A SUBALTERN 8 FURLOUGH. ^ effects of this ystem, and his answer was, " I would sooner be hung twice over, sir." If ever the good citi- zens of Philadelphia may expect a visit fi*oni the shade of the venerable founder of their city, ! should imagine it will be to express his abhorrence at an institution worthy only of the best days of the Spanish Inqui- sition. It is said that Philadelphia possesses more real and ready capital, and that the merchants' speculations are more confined to the latter, than is the case in any other city in the States. The manufactures are extensive, espe- cially the warping-miils, of which there are upwards of one hundred in the immediate vicinity ; and, since wood fuel has become more scarce, a great trade has been car- ried on, up the Schuylkill and Lehigh rivers, with the coal mines, 100 miles distant. Though the coal in summer is seldom under seven dollars, and in winter upwards of eleven dollars, per ton ; yet it has almost superseded the use of wood, and the demand even exceeds the supply. It is of a hard quality, nearly as brilliant as glass, will bear turning, and emits very little pmoke : but that which is termed "anthracite" will not blaze or burn easily, unless English coal is mixed with it ; and this is imported in vessels from Liverpool as ballast. Mines have been opened only a few years since at Mount Carbon and Lehigh, and are daily becoming more lucrative and ex- tensive. Like all American towns, Philadelphia teems with " knowledge for the people ;" there being eight daily, one t^vice-a-week, and thirteen weekly newspapers ; seven monthly, and four quarterly puolications. Of the latter, the American Review is well edited. Altogether, I have seen but few cities with which it will ':\ 68 A SUBALTERN 8 FURLOUGH. not bear a comparison ; and, in my poor opinion, it is su- perior to all on the continent of North America. I could not spare time for more than a ten days' residence there j and, though during that time I did my best to satisfy my curiosity, I regretted to leave it without having seen all I wished. ?;? ^Af u^, , ', I •■ ^'■ A subaltern's furlough. 69 t ! CHAP. V. ) !' Boats, ships, barges r.iark the roughened stream : This way and that they different points pursue. So mix the motions, and so shifts the view. all's still, as 'ere began The fight ; for, when it did, they cheered and ran. Thus was Corinth lost and won. Savage. Him.. BvnoN. At six A. M., on the 13th of June, I embarked m one of the "Citizens' Union Line" steamers, and proceeded down the Delaware at the spanking rate of fifteen knots an hour. A few minutes after I had been on board, seeing a negro ringing a hand-bell up and down the decks, and having my eyes and ears open for every thing new, I walked towards him with the expectation of acquiring some valuable information j when, with the Stentorian voice of a town-crier, he sung out, " Gentlemen who wish to take breakfast, please walk to the Captain's office, and take tickets — also, pay their fare." There were from 150 to 170 passengers on board; so I in vain strove to penetrate the dense mass collected round the small sentry- box office, and therefore commenced inspecting the various 70 A SUBALTERN a FURLOUGH. barbers* shops, washing-rooms, dressing-rooms, and bar- rooms, with which the upper-deck was covered. In the forepart of the vessel, a man had opened a small shop for the sale of indelible marking-ink, with types arranged for stamping, which appeared to be in great request; while in the stern were a knot of poUticians discussing the merits of the tariff bill, and poring for the last news from Con- gress over the morning papers, which they had purchased from some of the little urchins who crowd the piers and vessels pi-evious to starting. I had, however, scarcely studied the various groups, or come to any fixed deter- mination who and what the principal orators were, judg- ing only from a physiognomical view of them, when I again heard the black crier and his bell, with a shriller and more decisive tone, screaming out, " Gentlemen a'int paid their fare will please walk to the Captain's office!" where I found nearly as great a throng as before; but, being more persevering in my efforts to pierce a crowd which '•eminded me of the stock-selling scene, I at last obtained three scrips (or tickets), — one for breakfast, to be returned when called for at table ; the second to be given on going ashore; and a third, I think, for the railway waggons, or the steam-boat in the Chesapeake. The American river steamers are noble vessels, and, the engines working upon deck, such ample accommodation is afforded, that between two and three hundred pas- sengers can sit down to breakfast in the cabin, which extends from stem to stern, excepting a small portion panelled off in the after part, which is held sacred to the ladies alone, " No admittance for gentlemen" being painted in legible characters over the door. The accus- tomed shrine of Bacchus, to which the gentlemen pay their repeated and enthusiastic devotions, is exposed to A SUUALTICRN S FURI.Ul'UII. 71 the gaze of all admirers at the forepart of their cabin. No man of course would be so unconscionable as to ex- pect any thing approaching to comfort at the table of a steam-boat ; so I should advise him to get rid of his meals as speedily as possible, just as he would of any unpleasant duty which must be performed ; and then let him breathe the fresh air again upon deck, where, if the beauties of nature have no charm for him, he can pull out his watch and count what number of revolutions the paddles per- form in a minute, or work tin; calculation of how many knots the vessel cuts through the water per hour. For my own part, I always preferred being on deck on a cold day, though a shower of rain might accompany it, to stew- ing below with 150 passengers; and used often to imagine what a hurry and scuffle there would be in the cabin, if the vessel "collapsed its flue" (as the Americans would say), or, in plain old English, burst its boiler. Touching at the various towns on the river's bank, to land passengers, delayed us for a few minutes; but we arrived at Newcastle, thirty-five miles from Philadelphia, in two hours and a half. Stepping at that place from the vessel on to the railway, we entered the several horse- cars, according to the numbered tickets we had received on board the steamer, without any trouble about the bag- gage, which had been placed in small cars previously to our leaving the vessel, and now followed us on common railway waggons. The road was but a temporarily built one, being (jonstructed of slabs of wood with a flat iron rod nailed upon them, to withstand the friction of the carriage wheels, the foundation l)eing formed of logs of trees laid horizontally, and scarcely substantial enough for the locomotive engines which were to be introduced upon it in the course of the summer. T\\e country through n A HUUALTEIIN 8 FURLOUGH. which we passed was very flat and uninteresting, with scarcely any signs of population, and the soil poor and wet. In two hours we arrived at Frenchtown, containing two or three straggling houses on the banks of the Elk ; where iigain entering a steam-boat, we proceeded down the river, which is so beset with shoals, that stakes and the tops of pine-trees were stuck upon them for the guidance of vessels. The country was still flat and devoid of beauty, until wo entered the Chesapeake, and the noble bay into which the Susquehanna pours its tributary waters ; when we caught a passing glimpse of Harford, some miles up the latter ; and a low distant range of heights made their appearance, almost following the course of the Ches- apeake. America may very fairly lay claim to having a more variable climate than England; for I often saw the thermometer range 30 degrees in twenty-four hours ; and upon this day the sun was so excessively hot, and the glare upon the white-painted deck so painful to the eyes, as well as to the feet, that I was obliged to take shelter below. In Philadelphia, two days previously, every one was sitting at the fire. When we quitted the Chesapeake, and entered the Patapsco at North Point (where the British army landed, under General Ross, in 1814), it was so broad, that objects on either bank could be but indistinctly seen. After running a few miles up the latter river, we got the first sight of Baltimore, situated on a series of heights at the head of a circular bay, with a runge of low blue hills in rear of it , and presenting a more picturesque appearance than Philadelphia, being interspersed with many domes, towers, and lofty monuments. Numerous pretty country residences, too, on the rising gi'ound in the vicinity, add much to the beauty of the city. In front of it, and about A SUBALTEKN M PrilLnUQIf. 78 three miles distant, is Fort M'Henry, on a promontory formed by the junction of another branch of the Patapsco. It was bombarded, during the late war, by the British fleet, who received a check there to their farther advance upon Baltimore, by the ship channel being choked up with sunken vessels. As the steamer passed, a small detach- ment of troops were at drill within tho works, which are not in very good repair ; but their use is to be superseded by an almost impregnable fortress (according to the de- scription given me), wliich is erecting upon the Rip Rap shoals, at the mouth of the Chesapeake, and at Fort Munro, on the mainland opposite, upon the construction of which immens*, sums of money have been expended. We arrived off the pier-head at three o'clock, having been nine hours on the journey from Philadelphia, ninety-five miles distant ; and showing a porter, at his request, " the location" of my carpet bag, I walked up to the City Hotel, considered the largest in the United States ; which, though containing nearly two hundred apartments, had not one single-bedded room vacant until the following day. Having bargained that I should be transferred to one on the morrow, and that my fellow-occupant for the night should be a peaceable man, I \Yalked out to view the lions of the city ; the very first being in the centre of a small square in front of the liotel ; namely, a white marble mo- nument, sixty feet in height, erected to the memory of those who fell in the defence of the city at the battle of North Point, and bombardment of Fort M' Henry. A double scroll entwines the fluted column, with the names of those who fell inscribed upon it; and in small ..quare cunipa'tments at the base are relievos representing the death of General Ross, and the bomliardment by the British fleet. Several strange nondescript animals — a ■ vfr^''^ , ^^m n, ^^^^H^^^^H IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) U. ^ ^^^ 1.0 1.1 1.25 IttlM 12.5 :^ 1^ 12.0 1.4 1.6 P: vl ^ •^ c %.>:'^ / Photogr^hic Sciences Corporation \ •SJ <^ V ^^^ 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716)972-4503 ■^^ ■X > 74 A subaltern's furlough. kind of half-lion half-eagle, occupy the angles of the pe- destal; and on the sununit of the monument a female figure, with a wreath elevated in her right hand, represents (as I imagined) Fame crowning the deeds of the slain. The Americans point to the monument as erected in cele- bration of a victory over the Enghsh, to whom they wiU never allow a particle either of honour or glory ; but their representatives, who fell back upon Baltimore so hastily from the battle of North Point, could tell them a far dif- ferent story. There is another fine monument erected upon the rising ground, a little to the north of the city to the memory of Washington, the only one for that par- pose, I believe, in the northern States. The bas-reUefs and other decorations are not yet finished, for want of the necessary funds. The original intention was, that the smnmit should be raised 200 feet from the ground, but it only attained the height of 178, including the colossal statue of Washington, 16i feet high. The whole exterior is of white marble, and has already cost 200,000 dollars. Though the day was yet excessively hot, I determined to ascend the column ; and being furnished with a lantern at a small house at the base, there being no loop-holes to admit light, I toiled with aching limbs up the tedious 228 steps, and for some tmie admired the extensive and fine view of the Chesapeake, and surrounding country. Being Sinclair's benefit night, I attended the theatre to witness the performance of ^'Englishmen in India." There ^ttbs but a thin audience, and they probticted t:he play in a most wearisome manner, by the frequent encores they demanded of every :ong. The news of the rejection of the EngUsh Reform Bill had been received two or three days in the city ; and also a rumour that there was to be a creation of new peers in order to carry the measure. A SUBALTERN 8 FURLOUGH. w Advantage was taken of this circumstance by some wag in the play, bearing the unromantic name of Mr. Tape, who received a long and boisterous round of applause for his ready v.~it: ''You must personate a Count," said Lady Scraggs ; "Oh, aye," said the knight of the thimble ; " one of the new batch of peers for the Reform Bill, I suppose, as Shakspeare says, ' It wants a thorough refom..'" Upon my return to the inn, I entered ray apartment most cautiously, lest I shotdd arouse the man of peace from his slumbers; but it was an unnecessary precaution; for, although he had been in bed three hours, he had not closed his eyes. I told him it was a great waste of time, and that he had better have attended the theatre, where he might have heard some excellent singing, upon which he informed me that he was a missionary from St. Kitt's in the West Indies, and was now upon his travels through the United States for the benefit of his health. He had landed only the preceding week at New York, and gave me a most deplorable account of rough roads, and half dislocated bones, which he had already met with in his journey. As I had every prospect of undergoing the same, I sympathized with him most sincerely; and we passed the time away until near dawn of day, expatiating upon the pleasure of speedy but easy travelling, and com- paring the respective merits of the East and West- Indies. The following day I visited the Catholic cathedral, a very gloomy, prison-like piece of architecture, and about which I had the bad taste to see nothing worthy of ad- miration, excepting the altar, a present from Frai.ce. The exterior of the buUding bore such marks of anti- quity, and of antique taste, thr>. I imagined it must have 7« A subaltern's furlough. been almost coeval with the first settlers; but, upon inquiry, was much surprised to find that it had only been erected eighteen years. The lowness of the dome, in proportion to the rest of the cathedral, and the great want of spacious windows, give it a very heavy appearance. Its extreme length is 190 feet, by 177 in breadth, while the height to the summit of the cross is only 127 feet. There are several paintings in the interior, presented by Cardinal Fesch to the late Archbishop Marshall ; and one, the Descent firom the Cross by Paulin Guerin, presented by Loxiis XVIIL, possessing considerably more merit than another presented by Charles X. of France, representing some scene in the time of the Crusades, from the brush of an unknown artist. A Unitarian churchy in something the same style of architecture, is within 200 yards of ^he cathedral ; but the American churches fall very far short of that appearance of solemn grandeur which is so striking in the religious edi- fices of the Old World, where large Gothic windows with stone muUions and small diamond panes of glass, have not yet g^ven place to two stories of smart window-sashes, with green Venetian shutters. There is no solidity about an American church, which is generally built of wood or red brick, in the style of English Dissenters' meeting- houses ; and surmounted by a light, highly ornamented spire of the former material, sometimes covered with gUttering sheet tin. The chancel fronts any point of the compass indifferently ; the organ occupies the eastern, and the altar under the pulpit the western end of the church, as convenience suits ; our scrupvdous English attention to their particular situation being viewed as a remnant of the superstitious ages. , The Museum, established by a brother of Peale of A SUBALTERN 8 FURLOUGH. 77 Philadelphia, contains but a paltry collection of paintings, with only a mc derate one of natural curiosities, which are not arranged with half that taste which distinguishes the one in that city. i > While walking through the Arcade, a fine building of two stories, both of which are well occupied by shops, some men were employed in pulling down and cleaning the stove-pipes. One of them went out with a large portion of the flue over his shoulder; following him to the entrance into the street, I stood there looking at a lofty shot tower opposite, and had scarcely determined which road I should next take, when another man as black as Erebus, or the cyclops of old, came up with a fathom of the stove-pipe over his shoulder ; and after gazing about for a moment or two, as if at a loc* for something, ad- dressed me (in making the necessary turn of his body to get a ftdl view of me, a cloud of soot shot firom his bur- then, nearly upsetting both me and my gravity), vith, "Which way did that gentleman go, sir?" I bjwed most politely, and, giving him the required information, we parted with a m'atual " good morning, sir." The Merchants' HaU, built by private subscription, has been a great failure with regard to the value of the stock. It is a noble building and of granf' dimensions ; the front being 255 feet by a depth of 140, having four stories, including the ground-floor. The great hall, where the merchants daily assemble, is 86 by 53 feet, and lighted from the dome, whose summit is 90 feet firom the floor. The sides of the hall are supported by coliunns of marble; each being a single block. An excellent news-room, cus- tom-house, and other public oflices, adjoin. It was only built ten years since, at an expense of 200,000 dollars ; but the origin^ subscribers have sunk most of their money, H \ A subaltern's rURLOUOU. from that part of the building which was constructed for letting out to shopkeepers and lawyers being unoccupied. The city contains upwards of 70,000 inhabitants, and possesses considerable trade, particularly in flour and cotton; every stream in the vicinity being sti^dded with mills. It is not quite so regularly built, being upon very abrupt ground, as Philadelphia ; but contains many excel- lent streets, and fine market-houses. Ample proofs, too, are given of its prosperity on the shores of the harbour, which resound with the dang of workmen's hammers em- ployed in the construction of numerous ships and steam- vessels. But I saw nothing more remarkable than the extreme beauty of the females : the appearance of the gentlemen did not strike me as any thing very extraor- dinary, rather the contrary ; for, if I were to give my candid opinion, I should say they were like the merchants' ex- change stock — ^rather below par ; but it is possible they might suffer some little from contrast to their fair towns- women. I do not remember, in any part of the globe, seeing amongst the females so much loveliness and beauty, as in Baltimore. It is true, they are rather more dressy than in other towns in the States; but they have good figures to set off; and I should strongly recommend some of the young men from other parts of the Union to at- tempt transplanting a few of them ; for in my after-travels I visited many places which, I am sure, stood much in need of them. I think, however, the American women generally, when young, though not possessing the English freshness of colour, are exceedingly handsome'; but (" the fairest still the fleetest,' as the song is), age, or rather the marks of old a,'^, creep upon them sooner than on the natives of more v^emperate climes. A large varnished and painted board, with the following A subaltern's purlouoh. 79 strange notice upon it, in g^t or yellow- painted letters, was fixed up against the wall opposite the window of my room, in a most conspicuous part of the hotd : — " Constantly on hand for the accommodation of travellers, on the most reasonable terms,. fine linen shirts, cravats, collars, show bosoms, silk stockings, gloves, suspenders, silk and linen pocket handkerchiefs, razor strops, patent Venus pomatum for dyeing the hair and whiskers without injury to the skin. Razors set in order. Best chewing tobacco." But this medley of pomatum and tobacco did not asto- nish me half so much as the following strange address in the news-room, to the visitors of the largest hotel in the United States : — " Five dollars reward for the discovery of the villain who cuts or tears the newspapers ! I " The third day after my arrival at Baltimore, I rode out to view the scenes of action in the vicinity during the last war; and, in twenty minutes, gained the heights to the eastward, which are yet scarred and iurrowed by the long chain of entrenchments and redoubts thrown up by the American army; and before which, when manned by 20,000 troops, the British force of 5000 halted on the 13th of September ; and, finally, retired to the shipping without attempting a reduction of the works. I know not what were the general sentiments of the American army col- lected for the defence of Baltimore; but a gentieman who served in it assured me that it was his firm opinion, if an attack had been resolutely commenced, their troops would have fled as on the preceding day. There can be no doubt that Baltimore owed its safety to the artificial bars which p ^ A SUBALTERN S FURLOUGH. had been formed in front of Fort M'Henry, and not to any gallantry of its militia. For it is evident that, could the shipping have gained the right flank of their army, not only would their entrenchments have been exposed to a raking fire, but a force would have been landed within them. Proceeding onwards for several miles through a thickly-wooded country, with only small patches of cleared ground, and a wooden shanty at intervals, I crossed the farm where the hard-contested action of the 12th took place, from which the Americans retreated in great dis- order to their entrenchments before the city. In a few minutes, I arrived at a small monument erected to the memory of the apprentice by whose hand General Ross fell ; who, rather unnecessarily, but courageously, exposed himself in a petty skirmish with a scouting party of the enemy's rifliemen. It is situated in rather a romantic spot, at an opening of the forest by the road-side, upon the place where the British general fell. There is an inscrip- tion upon two faces of it, stating that it was erected by the first mechanic volunteers to the memory of " Aquila Randall, aged twenty-four years, who died in bravely defending his country and his home." On a third side, " In the skirmish which occurred at this spot between the advanced party under Major Richard K. Hoath, of the 5th regiment, M. M., and the front of the British column, Major General Ross, the Commander of the British forces, received his mortal wound." And on the fourth, " How beautiful is death when earned by < Virtue ! " A 81IHALTUKN (i FirRMHTOII. m If the rifleman, as generally stated by even the Ame- ricans themselves, fired deliberately from behind a tree, where he had posted himself to await the general's so near approach that there was no possibility of his aun failing, I think the latter part of the inscription might as well have been dispensed with; for I cannot see what honour should accrue, or praise be awarded, to any man for a deed which was but a sharlc ];etter than cold-blooded assassination. I left Baltimore in the afternoon of the 1 5th of June, and travelled, for the first time, in an American coach, which I found to be a very clumsy piece of mechanism and little calculated for the ease or comfort of .passengers. This is, in a great measwe, a necessary consequence of the bad state of the roads, which are as yet quite un- formed, and more uneven than the bye-lanes in England. The coachman (or " driver," for he would feel quite offended if you hurt his dignity so much as to address him by any other title, in the United States), very unlike one cf the English firaternity of the whip, was dressed in a pair of light-coloured trowsers, with shoes and stockings, without coat or waistcoat, but (being a melting summer's day) in his shirt sleeves, and a white straw hat turned up behind, as I have before described. He drove most furiously over every thing, rough and smooth alike. Rail- ways, ravines, and water-courses, which cut up the road in countless numbers, were no impediments ; he dashed on at a surprising rate, over rough stones and tottering bridges that would have cracked every spring in an English car- riage, and caused its coachman to deliberate some time before he even ventured over them at a foot pace. An American driver allows his hcrses to ta\e their own time in ascending a hill, so that they only move some little ; V 82 A aUBAIiTERN 8 PITRKOUOH. but, be it ever so steep, not a passenger, for a moment, dreams of relieving them :>f his weight, by walking. To make up for this loss of time, he descends the hills (to use his own expression) "with all steam on," which usuaUy terminates in a full' gallop at the bottom, and not unfirequently in an upset. He takes the right of every carriage he meets, contrary to the old English stanza of, , " The rule of the road is a paradox quite, As the carriages jog it along : If you go to the left, you are sure to go right, But, if you go right, /ou go wrong." There is one recommendation, hoTruver, to the " drivers," that they expect no fees from their passengers. Having some consideration for the lives and limbs of travellers, they have no seats upon the roof of their coaches, but the body is so capacious as to afford ample room for thrfe seats, or nine people ; the centre seat moving on a hinge in the middle, so as to be pushed back when the door is opened. The body is slung upon two immensely thick leathern springs, running under it from the fore to the afler axle-trees ; but they give the coach so much play, that, in crossing a water-course, or any slight hollow, it pitches down so heavily, ii> * the driver's footboard strikes the wheel-horses on the back ; on which occasions a cor- responding movement is made by the passengers within. There were but two besides myself, and they had taken possession of their places before I entered ; so I had only the choice of either riding with my back to the horses, or to them ; and, wishing to take advantage of their society, I preferred the former. But, although accustomed to the rolling of a ship, I found it utterly impossible to retain possession of my seat ; every pitch of the coach sent me with force on the centre one, and sometimes nearly over A SITBAKTERN S FURLOUGH. 8S it into my fellow-travellers' laps, being checked in my course only by the broad leathern belt which crosses the centre of the vehicle for the passengers in that part to lean their backs a^^nst. Nor was it until after much manoeu^Ting that I managed to secure myself. After I had travelled a few hundred miles, I became more accus- tomed to the motion, and discovered that the heavier a coach was laden the easier it went, and that to be wedged in between two fat old ladies, or gentlemen, was a great desideratum in a long and rough journey. The road passed through a dull, uncultivated country, with not even a straggling village for upwards of twenty miles ; and the few houses we passed were mostly mise- rable-looking log huts, inhabited by negroes, whose chief occupation appeared to consist in threading with a plough between the stumps of trees, to turn up the soil amongst the rows of Indian com. The coach turned off the road about fifteen miles from Baltimore, and wound its way through the mazes of the forest. Looking out to ascertain the cause of such a detour, I saw the branch of a tree laid across the road, and, a few yards farther, a broken-dowp wooden bridge, with a solitary black at work repairing it. At the village of Rossburgh the scenery became more varied, hill and dale intervened, and several fine farms began to show themselves. On the left of the road, near Bladensburgh, was an English-looking mansion, vdth lodges at the entrance gate, the grounds laid out with good taste, and every thing, even to the very rul fences of the fields, betokening an opulent and good practical farmer. I was informed it was the property of Mr. Cal- vert, a descendant of the Lord Baltimore, who received a grant from Charles I., in 1632, of a tract of country on the bay of the Chesapeake, which he named Maryland, in ■ - ■ O 2 84 I \ K A HITHAI/rBHN H KUKLUITGII. honour of Henrietta Maria, and of which state Baltimore is now the capital. His brother, Leonard Calvert, the following year, being appointed Governor of the province, left England with about 2()0 planters, and settled on the northern bank of the Potomac. This farm comprises nearly 2000 acres, and is in a higher state of cultivation than any I saw. Descending the hill, we entered the small village of Bladensburgh, which does not contain more than two brick and but few wooden houses, which are scattered and almost concealed amongst the trees, with the excep- tion of one small street, through which the main road passes, and at the end of which it crosses the eastern branch of the Potoi lac by a wooden bridge. Here was fought the action which, in 1814, decided the fate of the capital of the United States. The road from Nottingham, by which the British army under General Ross advanced, joins the Baltimore road at the village : by some strange error, the American commander neglected to destroy the bridge, or even to dispute vigorously the passage of the British troops across it; but, after some slight skirmishing, and the discharge of two field-pieces, he awaited their forma- tion and attack upon the rising ground and farm-house on the opposite side of the river. Hence his forces fled with the greatest precipitation; the sailors alone, under Commodore Barney, attempting, by a spirited re- sistance, to retrieve the errors of the day. This action is a subject of jest amongst the Americans themselves, who facetiously call it the Bladensburgh races; and a Washington poet has lately celebrated it in the following terms : THE BATTLE GROUND. " And here two thousand fought, three hundred fell. And fifteen thousand fled ; of these remain i'-^ Tlip three where Barney laid them, — they sleep well. A NirilAI.TRRN H FI7Rfody of the house, and occupies the space between the columns and the wall, the full extent of the semicircle. Over the speaker's chair is a large statue of Liberty, and another (what it was intended to represent I was at a loss to discover for several days) is opposite to it over the entrance door. A full-length portrait of La- fayette, with the American standard and a copy of the Declaration of Independence, decorates one side of the House ; and it is intended to place one of Washington on that opposite. About 150 members were present when I entered, and the coup d'ceil was remarkably imposing and magnificent. I had not formed the slightest conception that I should have witnessed any thing so grand, and it struck me as exceeding in splendour any thing I had ever seen. The subject before the House was either trifling or very uninteresting, to judge from the whispering and talk- ing of some members, and tlie incessant rustling of letters, books! , and newspapers, kept up by others. It was in vain that I strained my powers of hearing to the uttermost; I could not arrive at the pith of a single speech. The building is evidently ill calculated for sound, a speaker's voice being entirely lost in the vast expanse of dome. An attempt was made to rectify this fault, by hanging drapery between the marble columns, but it has been of very little avail in confining the sound ; and the only pro- ject which is likely to answer would be by having an arti- ficial roof, or a glass dome, which would not detract much from the appearance, suspended a few feet above the level of the strangers' gallery. I was sitting in the gallery one day, during a discussion as to whether the house should make a grant for defray- ing the expense of printing the debates, and, not think- ing it particularly interesting, opened my note-book, and A huhaltekn's ki;rlouoii. 9H commenceil a sketch of the scene hefore me. 1 had not heen long thus occupied, when a man, placing himself be- side me, said, " Can you take it down as fast as they speak ? " " Much faster," said I ; "I write short-hand exceedingly well." I thought him blessed with a very dull genius, or that my sketch must be a very wretched one ; but, nothing daunted by his rem k, proceeded with my pencil as far as sketching in the figure which had puzzled me so exceedingly before, from my not being able to gain a front view of it to see what it represented ; when, by one of those singular pieces of good luck which sometimes occur to travellers, the mystery was at once unravelled. Mr. Adams (the late president, who had re- sumed his seat in the House of Representatives) rising to address the speaker, I took down his speech almost ver- bto^lnxj and as he had a clear voice, and the House was called thrice to order, I ascertained that it was to the following effect : — " He wished that the resolution now before the House might pass; for he considered it the only parUamentary, or rather, he should say, congressional history of the Union ; for, in time of profound peace, the record of the proceedings of the two Houses of Congress is almost in fact the history of the nation. In Great Britain, a recent publicrtion of the parhamentary pro- ceedings formed a work occupying nearly 200 volumes, each as large as those of thu work in question : in Great Britain, whose people sometimes were accused of not feeling the same powerful interest in the concerns of their government which the Americans did, so much interest was excited by this publication, that it sustained itself. Surely, if there was any thing in which the example of England should have weight with them, and if there was any thing in the British House of Parliament worthy of I 9i A STTBALTRRN'D PtmLOUGII. imitation, it was the spirit with which they appropriated money fur the purpose of printing the debates. He sin- cerely hoped gentlemen would have some regard for their posterity, and furnish the means which should enable them to leam what their forefathers had said and done. He wished to ask the Speaker what was the meaning of that beautiful marble statue over the clock at the entrance of the^House. — Why, it was the Muse of History in her car, looking down upon the members of the Home, and re- minding them that, as the hour passed, she was in the at- titude of recording whatever they said and did upon the floor — an admonition well worthy of being remembered. The reporters, at the sides and in rear of the Speaker's chair, were the scribes of that Muse of History ; and the publication now in question before the House was the real, he might even say the living, record of that historic muse; and he concluded by trusting that the same spirit which incited them to make the grant for erecting that statue would now urge them to pass the one before the House." I afterwards heard that the statue was designed by an Italian sculptor, who died since in Washington : the Muse of History is represented with a book and pencil in the attitude of writing, and standing in a winged car (the clock forming a wheel) which pas'jes over the surface of the globe. The Senate House is of the &ame shape as that of the Representatives, but smaller ; being only 74 feet in length by 42 in height. Upon entering the light strangers' gallery, which, supported by iron pillars, runs round the circular part of it, the following notice posted on the door met my eye and excited a smile : — • " Gentlemen will be pleased not to place their feet on the board in front of the gallery, as t/ie dirt from thfitn falU upon Smatrvt' /teadr." A RUBALTERN 8 PIJRLOUOil. Wf The air and demeanour of the senators struck me as ' rather more aristocratical than that of the members of the other house. During the time the Houses are actually sitting, a flag flies upon the summit of tlie dome over each wing ; and, if either adjourns, that flag only is struck. Adjoining the Rotunda on the western front of the Capitol is the Congress Library — a room of about 90 by 35 feet, and calculated to contain upwards of 20,000 volumes. At present it has about 13,000, which have been collected since 1814, when the small library of 3000 was destroyed. 'ptidet hec opprobria nobis, Et dici potiiisse, et iion potuisse refelli! " There are two busts of eminent Americans by Persica and an old portrait of Columbus in it. From the outer balcony there is a fine prospect of the broad Potomac, and the rising ground with Arlington House (the property of Mr. Custis, related to the Washington family) on the oppo- site bank ; the mall, the navy yard, and the towns of Alex- andria and Georgetown in the distance. Tlie basement story is occupied by various courts, oflices, and bar-rooms. The total cost of the building was 2,596,500 dollars (540,000/.), and it covers one acre and a half of ground, and 1820 square feet; the length of the front being 350, the depth of the wings 121, and the height to the top of the centre dome 120 feet. The exterior, although of white freestone, is painted white; which tasteless pro- ceeding is explained by the following extract from the Travellers' Guide : " Captain Hall, in his Travels, speak- ing of the Capitol, says, *By some strange perversity of taste, however, for which I never could learn to whom the public were indebted, this fine building has been covered with a coating of paint.' He should have been I !)(i A NIMIAI.TKKN N KltHI,or(ill. I 'i^ told that the |minting wun to liidu the Hnioko oemRioiied by the conflnf^rntioii mIiIcIi Huocecded the rapture of tiie city by the Uritish troopN in IHM." The Editor sliould have added thnt Hritinh troops would never have been f^uilty of such exccNHeN, and tliat thiN act of neverity on their part would not have happened, if the American army which invaded Canada utidor (Jcneral Harrison, in \H\'2, had not wantonly dcMtroycd by fire the Moravian village on the 2()th of (Jctober ; and if Ucneral M'Clure had not, at the end of tho foUowing year, burnt the whole town of Newark, sparing no jjrivatc |)ropcrty, xmder the pretext of secu-ing the American frontier. The Dritinh, on the contrary, respected private property, and destroyed oidy public buildings, in retaliation for this gross breach of the laws of civilized warfare. Yet the circumstance aUnie of the British flag o( truce having been fired upon as it entered Washington, and the General's horse killed, was sufficient to justify almost any steps, in addition to putting to death every one in the house whence the shot proceeded, os also razing the building to the ground. At the summit of the steps on the western side is a fine monument erected to the memory of the officers who fell at IVipoli in 1801. There are several allegorical figures round the column, which are described in part of the in- scription on the pedestal: — " The love of Rlory inspirrd tlu'in — Painp Ims crownod llicir Hcods — History rncorda the ovciit — The rhililrrn of Cohimbia admire — and Coininprco laments their full." It stood, until verj' lately, in the navy yard, because (as was said) Congress would not give it so conspicuous a situation at the Capitol as the naval officers expected. I was glad to see that they had shown the good taste, at the time of its removal, to efface the insciiption of A RUBALTRRn'm PURLOtrAtl. n ** Mutilated by the British in I HI 4," which had occupied n proniiiifltit place upon it for ao many years. The mutila- tions, in the first place, were very slight, the head of a figure and a few letters of the inscription being broken off; whereas, had the British troops been bent upon destroy- ing the whole monument, a few blows from the but-end of a musket would have shattered the greater part of it to pieces immediately. The little injury which it sustained arose, no doubt, from the same spirit of mischief which has defaced so many of the statues in Westminster Abbey and the public edifices in England. It must have escaped the notice of the illiberal authors of the inscription that, 8o long as it remained, it was but a memento that their capital liad once been in the possession of foreign troops ; whether this, or the knowledge that it was a gross libel upon the British nation, prompted the withdrawal of it, I know not. During my stay at Washington I frequently attended the debates, and had to pass many a tedious hour in at- tempting to follow the rhapsodies of some ambitious young lawyer, who had got possession of the floor, and made a speech of almost interminable length, wearying out the patience of every member in the House. He would pro- bably afterwards send it to the press, and distribute it in pamphlets for the edification of his constituents. On my expressing surprise that such a proser was not forthwith coughed down, some one near me said, " Every one is at liberty here to speak as much as he pleases." Since the meeting of the first Provincial Congress, up to the pre- sent period, no session had been so stormy as this one ; nor had such acts of personal violence, arising from debates, been committed upon the members, one of whom had been caned in the public streets, and another shot at with a II 98 A SI.'IIAI.TKIIN S I'URLOUtni. pistul as he was y flat between it and the Potomac. Mr. Law, an English gentleman, speculating upon such a result, erected a square of houses to the south of the Capitol, and some few were rented in the first in- stance ; but the tide of populatioii turned in a different direction, and settling in the low ground along the Penn- sylvania Avenue, between the president's house and the Capitol, Mr. Law's houses were soon abandoned, and be- came a heap of ruins. He first settled in the States thirty years since ; and, marrying a niece of Washington's, was quite an enthusiast, and lost a large fortune in promoting the growth of the city. Washington certainly exhibited fewer symptoms of pros- perity than any town I visited in the Union. There wsis none of that bustle ^vhich is always attendant upon a thriving place ; and the long straight streets, with a few idlers strolling about in them, betokened a place fast fall- ing to decay. At the present rate of increase in buildings, fifteen centuries will scarcely suftice to fill up the original A SITBALTERN S Krlll.Oljnil. 9') plan, which was on a great and magnificent scale ; but the situation, in a mercantile point of view, is decidetlly bad ; the river is but just navigable for vessels of moderate burthen up to the city, 300 miles distant from the sea? and Baltimore, so close in the vicinity of the city, and of much easier access, engrosses all the trade of the sur- rounding country. The present population of Washing- ton, including men of colour, is estimated at 20,000, though I should not have judged it at more than two- thirds of that number. The ground which is cleared from forest, and upon which the plan of the city was traced out as foUov's, is 14 miles in circumference. There were to have been five broad streets from 120 to 160 feet in width, and from .S^ to 5 miles in length, called Avenues. " So called, as beinp void of trees, Like Lncus from wo liglit." and named after different states diverging from the Capitol, which is near the centre of the intended city ; several more, named in the same manner, were to branch off from the president's house, 1 h mile north west, and from an open space 1 mile east of the Capitol, as other centres. These avenues generally run from N. E. to S. W., and from S. E. to N. W., and are intersected l)y streets running direct to the cardinal points; those north and south being num- bered from I to 30, and those east and west according to the letters of the alphabet ; but, as the numbers com- mence from each front of the Capitol, it is necessary they should be defined by their bearings per compass from it : thus, A street north; A street south; 29 street east, 29 west. Nearly all the present buildings are along the Pennsylvania Avenue, in which the president's house is situated, and which is the only one in which any trees are planted. The district of Columbia, in which the city li 2 I rv I' II 100 A SUBALTERN S FURLOUGH. is situated, is a ten-mile square, under the immediate direction of Congress, having being ceded to the United States in 1790, by Maryland and Virginia, and the site of the city fixed upon a peninsula, formed by two branches of the Potomac. In 1784, an ordinance was passed by Congress, appointing commissioners to purchase the land on the Delaware, in the neighbourhood of the Falls, for the purpose of erecting public buildings for the reception of Congress, and the officers of government; but the southern states had sufficient interest to prevent this ap- propriation of funds, which required the assent of nine states ; and so many conflicting interests were brought into operation, whenever the subject was discussed by Con- gress, that no motion designating a more central place could succeed. New York had been earnestly supported ; but at length those in favour of Philadelphia and the Po- tomac entered into agreement, by which it was stipulated that Congress should hold its sessions in that city for ten years, during which period bxxildings should be erected on the Potomac, to which the government should remove at the expiration of the term. Thus v/as a small majority created, by the representatives of Pennsylvania and Dela- ware having united with those who were favourable to the Potomac; a bill, which was brought before the House in conformity with their arrangement, was passed ; and Washington, during his administration as president, fixed on the place which should become the capital of the United States. From its situation no one would ever imagine it to be a healthy place ; owing to the great exha- lations from the low ground during the excessive heat of summer : yet it appears, from Elliott's history of the ten- mile square, that "the average number of deaths in a year is as 1 to 53; while in Europe it is as 1 in 28, A SUBALTERN S FURLOUGH. and in large cities 1 in 23. From the same returns, bi- lious fevers and consumptions caused one-fifth of the mortaUty. A fi-iend of mine, speaking to a shopkeeper in the city one day, said, " You must be very dull here when Congress has adjourned ?" " Oh, no !" answered he, " Not so dull either ; we have plenty of fever and ague to keep us stirring." But, after letting off this Uttle flash of Ame- rican wit, he acknowledged that there was but little bu- siness until winter, when the city was all life again. An attempt is now making to counteract the bad effects of the marshy ground, by excavating a broad canal up the course of the Tiber creek, from its junction with the Potomac, near the president's house, until it nears the garden of the Capitol and then re-enters the eastern branch of the river by two mouths, one near the navy yard and the other at the arsenal. The excessive heat of the summer must always render the city an unpleasant residence during several months. The thermometer fre- quently stood as high as ninety-six degrees in the shade at Gadsby's hotel: the members of Congress might daily be seen crawling along the Pennsylvania Avenue towards the Capitol, w^ith umbrellas to protect them from the powerful rays of the sun, at ten o'clock ; and, though re- ceiving eight dollars per day {\l. 14«.), their places were not sinecures, the House only adjourning for an early dinner at two o'clock, and then sitting again until sunset, and once until nine at night. One or two days before I left the city, the sergeant at arms absconded with a con- siderable sum of money he had drawn for various mem- bers of the House of Representatives, who had been in the habit of allowing him to fill up blank checks with their signatures attached, for their daily allowance of eight dollars } and, in most instances, he had overdrawn the 15 ifl ,8' 141 'I 102 A 8I7UALTERX 8 KrilLOUGH. sum due. No money being found in his possession when arrested at Bladensburgh, the members determined not to 1)6 losers by him, and passed a resolution that the amount he had failed to pay over to them should be made good out of the contingent fund of the House. Having described the city of Washington as it is upon paper, I will now attempt to give an idea of its actual state. Let the reader fancy himself standing with his face to the west on the summit of the Capitol hill, a slight eminence, probably 60 or 70 feet in height, crowned by a large and magnificent building with three domes, the centre one considerably higher than the other two. Im- mediately under him is a terraced garden, and beyond that, on the other side of a broad road, is another filled with young trees of every description the country produces; while a long and wide street, planted with four rows of tall Lombardy poplars, runs directly from him in a north- westerly direction, expanding into a small town as it re- cedes into the distance. To his right, is a continuation of the eminence upon which he stands, until it is skirted by the dark line of forest two or three miles distant. In his rear, along the sides of the Bladensburgh road, is the same broken ground, but partly cultivated. To his left, a small and rugged street runs from the Capitol gates in a southerly direction over the hilly ground, and at the dis- tance of a mile and a half are seen the large sheds of the navy yard. Rather more to the south, but at the dis- tance of two miles, near the Potomac, is the long brick building of the penitentiary, with the arsenal in rear of it. On the open ground between them and the Capitol are the ruins and gable ends of some houses. A canal filled with water in some parts, and in others only partially ex- cavated, winds towards him from the river, across which A SUBALTERN 8 FURLOUGH. 103 the remains of a wooden bridge, a mile and a quarter iii length, are to be seen. Such is Washington ! Upon the whole, it has a desolate appearance, which is increased by the land marked oui, for its site being entirely destitute of trees, and only here and there (excepting where the pre- sent town is situated) are scattered houses, each standing isolated, as if requiring some support on either side. The inhabitants, and Americans generally, fondly flrtter them- selves that it will some day vie in splendour with ancient Rome. The only comparison it bears at present is with the modern city, in the ruins of the Potomac bridge, and Mr. Law's houses. The scene altogether is described most forcibly by a French lady, who likened it to a town gone out on a visit into the country. 101 \ A RIJIIALTBRNH FUltLOmil. I >' r -v.: '(, M' CHAPrER VII. So jieucuful resUt witliout a stone, u nuiiie. Tho full of witters! rnpid ns the li^lit Tlio ttnuhing mnss foiinis slmking the nbyss. I'OPK. Byron. Early on the morning of the 21st of June, I took the steam-boat, and glided rapidly down the broad " river of Swans" (as the poor Indians termed the stream), to Alex- andria, in the district of Coluhibia, seven miles below the city, but on the "Virginian side of the Potomac. It con- tains about 8000 inhabitants, and, like most American towns of moderate size, has a museum, which, however, it is rather difficult for a stranger to find, being |ilaced in the dark upper story of an old brirk man'-.ion, where some excellent specimens of natural history are seen to very little advantage. The museums in the States are generally good, but the owners (one and all) possess a strange taste for collecting such a quantity of trash and childish trifles, — as pieces of old shells, signal and Congreve rockets, grape- shot, &c., fired from the British squadron, under Captain Gordon, at the White House, a few miles below the town ; jackets of volunteers stained with blood, hovresacks of sergeants of marines killed in action, &c., — that it is I A HUHALTERN H FUKLOUOli. 105 quite a labour tu search for what is really worthy of notice. There arc several relics of Washington's; such an his military canteen, mason's dress, and the red satin robe in which he was christened, preserved with the greatest cure ; as also two of his original letters, one of which, writtei) a month before his death, was penned in a fine bold hand. The old man in charge of the Museum pointed out two colours taken from the British during the Revolution; one from the Hessians, at the battle of Trenton, and the other belonging to the 7th Fusileers, surrendered by Lord Cornwallis at Yorktown. There was a labelled paper on each, the first bearing " Alpha" the latter " Omega" He said that Washington had presented them thus to the Museum, as the fruits of his first and last victory. As the old man was in his own castle, I did not like to ques- tion the veracity of his statement; but I think he must have judged from my countenance that I was rather scep- tical. Having hired a horse, I proceeded on my journey to Mount Vernon, the burial-place of Washington. The guide-book told me that " the road to it was uninhabited and difficult to trace ;" but setting forth on my pilgrimage, and travelling over a sandy, poor country, I managed tolerably well for the first few miles ; until, arriving at the meeting of four roads, I was at a complete non-pluSy there being neither sign-post nor living being from whom I might gain further information. Trusting to my horse and good luck, I rode on at a brisk trot for several miles, when, meeting a woman, I discovered that I had taken a wrong road, so struck off «», once into the forest; and after losing my temper ten times, and my road twice as often, by an hour after mid-day I arrived at the lodge-gates of Mount Vernon. KM) A SUBALTERN 8 FURLOUGH. '1 1i U : I > V t' I was obliged to adopt this inconvenient method of tra- velling, as the steam vessels from Alexandria, which pass withm 200 yards of the house, are not permitted to land passengers, on the plea that great depredations were com- mitted amongst the trees and gardens. The proprietor certainly does not appear to encourage pilgrims to the tomb; the road through the grounds from the lodge to the house being, if possible, worse than the highway, and running for a considerable distance up a deep ravine, and over the rough stony bed of a winter's torrent. It was much the fashion, during my stay in America, for the Volunteer Corps and " Republican Associations of young men," to make a pilgrimage to the tomb in a body; and the middle and southern States, who never allow an opportunity of having a laugh against their Yankee brethren to escape them, say, that the order forbid- ding steamers to land their passengers arose in conse- quence of a gentleman cutting so many walking-sticks from the sacred ground that, upon his return to Boston, he made a good round sum of money by retailing them at a dollar each. The hous' was originally built by Lawrence Washing- ton, a brother of the General's, and received its name out of compliment to Admiral Vernon, in whose expedition he had served. He was succeeded by the General, from whom (having no children) it descended to his nephew Bushrod Washington, the judge, and from him to his nephew John Washington, who died three days prior to my visit j in consequence of which, I did not request admission. I heard that there was nothing interesting within the house, excepting a small fragment of a jug, bearing a likeness of the General, which is considered the most striking ever seen ; the most singular part of the A 81.TBALTEUN 8 FURLOUGH. 107 story being> that the jug was made in England by a com- mon potter who had never visited America. The house is built of wood, two stories in height, the exterior stuccoed in imitation of stone: a portico, supported by square wooden pillars, extends the full length of the front to- wards the Potomac, and the roof is surmounted by a light wooden tower. The situation is a very pretty one ; but scarcely any thing has been done by art to add to the natural beauty. The grounds are laid out in a tasteless style, and kept in a slovenly manner, high coarse grass growing up to the very door. The Americans possess generally but little taste for ornamental gardening, or at least make no display of it ; for I seldom saw a cottage, or even a respectable-looking mansion, with any thing Uke a flower-garden attached to it. When the judge possessed the property, it consisted of more than 3000 acres of land ; but, the law of primoge- niture being abolished, it was divided amongst his ne- phews; so that there are now but 1200 with the house; and, although the General has been dead only thirty-two years, the estate has passed into the hands of the third generation. The late proprietor has left two sons and a daughter, so that the estate will be again divided, and must eventually dwindle into nothing. It is much to be regretted that the government do not take some steps either to keep the property entire in the family, or pur- chase it for the States in general. Surely if any spot in America deserves protection more than another, it is the tomb of the father of the countryo Application was made by Congress for permission to remove the body on the centennial celebration of Washington's birth-day (22d of February, 1832), in order to bury it with great pomp in the Rotunda of the Capitol ; but the late proprietor I OH A HUIIALTRRN H KiritLOITOII. would not accede to it, stating, as his reason, that it had })een the dying request of his grand-uncle to be buried at Mount Vernon. A fine sloping bank descends from the house nearly to the Potomac, when it becomes more abrupt, and is so thickly covered with trees that the river is not visible from the house. On the l)row of the abrupt part of the bank is the vault in which the General and other mem- bers of the family were originally buried. The coffins were removed a twelvemonth since to another vault two or three hundred yards more inland. Both vaults are of plain brick, and on the original one there was not even any inscription, and but a weak wooden door to close the entrance. It was situated in the midst of a cluster of oak-trees, and several red pine and cedar grew on the top of it. The present vault has a small tablet of stone, in- scribed " Washington Family ; " and underneath, " I am the Resurrection and the Life, saith the Lord; he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live j and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die." That the nation have never erected a monument to the man who was their idol while hving, and whose memory is still so revered amongst them, is ever a subject of surprise and reproach among foreigners. The Ameri- cans say, in their defence, that the city of Washington, with its public buildings, is alone a sufficient monument ; and that the only proper testimonial of respect to his name is the affectionate remembrance of the people. It must be remembered, however, that two days afler his death Congress passed a resolution, unanimously, " that a marble monument he. erected by the United States at the city of Washington, that the family of General Wash- ington be requested to permit his body to be deposited A HIMiALTRRN S FURLOUGH. WU under it^ and that the munument be so designed as to cuinracmorate the great events of his military and political life ; " to which Mrs. Washington consented, saying that, " taught by the great example which I have so long had before me never to oppose my private wishes to the public will, I must consent to the request made by Con- gress." Judge Marshall, in his "Life of Washington," says, that the Resolution, although it passed unanimously, had many enemies ; that the party which had long consti- tuted the opposition to his administration declared its preference for an equestrian statue, which had been voted by Congress at the close of the war, sixteen years pre- vious; that the division between a statue and a monu- ment was so nearly equal, that the session passed away without an appropriation for either ; and that those who possessed the ascendancy over the public sentiment em- ployed their influence to draw odium on the men who favoured a monument, and to represent that measure as part of a general system to waste the public money. When I arrived at the cross roads on my return, I found a gentleman with his servant in the very dilemma in which I had been situated in the morning. He was quietly awaiting the arrival of some one who could give him information, and asked me which was the road to Fredericksburg, about sixty miles distant. , I advised him to trust to his horse, as the Knights errant of old had done, as I could ill direct him. The President's house at Washington, containing some finely proportioned rooms, furnished in a republican style of plainness, is situated on a slightly elevated ground, laid out in walks and gardens. The building is of free- stone, painted white, for the same reason as the Capitol. Although it would be a large house for a private gentle- I I INT " ' ' PI ?i':! . S IK) A HITHAI/rRIlN H l-'l? RI.OUUII. I ^' man, »till a more mngniHcent one might have been erected fi)r the executive of a mighty nation. Many of the coun- try residences of EngHsh commoners far excel it in gran- deur of appearance. I passed several agreeable hours there in company with General Jackson, the President, Mr. Hayne of South Carolina, who has since so distin- guished himself as Governor of that state, and some few others of the great politicians of the day. The President is a tall, hardy-looking veteran, apparently sixty-fivo years of age, with a head of strong bushy hair. His voice is loud, and, when excited, he possesses considerable fluency of speech, rather too much interlarded with strong asseverations. The Tariff Bill formed the chief topic of conversation ; but he was unable to cope with the power- ful eloquence of Mr. Hayne, his more youthful antagonist. At a short distance on either side of the President's house are largo buildings occupied by the State and War departments. In the former I was gratified with a sight of the original copy of the famous Declaration of Inde- pendence.* Some of the signatures, owing to the process of taking off fac-similes, had been so much injured as to be almost illegible. The document is now carefully pre- served within a glass case, and no one permitted to touch it. Washington's commission as commander of the Ame- rican armies, b< aring date 1 9th of June, 1 775, as also the various treaties made with foreign powers, are shown with the greatest readiness by the gentlemen who have charge of them. In one of the rooms are the presents which public functionaries, or officers of the navy and army, have received from foreign courts, and which, by law, they are compelled to deliver over to the American govetiiment, who retain possession of them for no earthly purpose that • Vide Appendix I. A SITDA^TBRNH PURLOUOII. Ill I could conceive, except impressing foreigners with the unfavourable idea that the government was suspicious of the integrity of its pubhc ser\'ants, and had so mean an opinion of its Representatives as to imagine that they could be bribed by a paltry sword or gold snuff-box ; for there were no more valuable presents amongst them. Tlie matter would appear in a much better light if the government, following the example of the East-india Company, were to compel its servants to return the presents bestowed upon them to those who presented them ; and foreigners might then be spared being imbued with what are, probably, erroneous impressions. Numerous blue and red painted canvass bags, about the size and shape of a pillow, suspended from the ceiling on one side of the office of the secretary of the navy, with " Peacock," " Macedonian," " Boxer," " Frolic," and va- rious other such names upon them, attracting my atten- tion, I had the curiosity to inquire what were the contents of such a singular collection of titled bags, and was in- formed that they were the colours of British vessels cap- tured during the late war. I shrugged up my shoulders, and thought I had penetrated too far into the sanctum sanctorum of the war department. There is another very interesting collection of strange names and portraits of the Indian chiefs, who to the number of 100 have been sent at various times as delegates from the tribes in the west. They were painted by Mr. King of Washington ; and are, I was informed by a competent judge, faithful likenesses of the red men of the forest, who are so ra- pidly disappearing before the march of civilization and encroachment. To a foreigner, they are particularly in- teresting, as he may travel many hundred miles through the United States without seeing an Indian ; or the few 1 i vfi lu A MltllAl.TKIlN H KUIll.OUnil. * 1 lin inuy pert^hiuiru hw, dwolling within Uio hoiiiulnrioH of civilizutiuii, nro n dcKunornte, (lisNi|)iitc(l race, uiul huld in (MinUMupt by such warriors un tho " Stahher," " the Spar- row timt hunts nm he wjilkvS," " tho Spoon," " Sloepy eye," " tho Hour whoHO scroiuns nmko tho rocks tremble," " HuHulo," nnd various others, as represented on canvass in tho Indian dopartment. Tho grent attention paid to a travoUcr, and the nmdiness witli wliieh ho is 8h(>wn every tiling worthy of notice in these departments, and, in fact, 1 may say every where else in tho States, is tnily gratify- ing ; particuhirly as it arises from a spirit of courtesy, no tax, as is too frequently tho case in England, being levied upon the purse. Tho arsenal, upon tho tongue of the peninsula, is now but a mere dei)6t for ordnance stores, the works having been levelled since tho war, when their inutility was sn fully proved by tho British landing from tlio Patapsco, marching U])on and taking Washington from the rear; tho American troops being compelled to abandon the works which had been thrown up to dispute the passage of tlie Potomac alone. It was in disabling tho guns on tho nunpartj) that Captain Frazor and many more of the Hritish foire were blown up, from a piece of wadding accidonhilly falling into a dry well, in which tho Ameri- cans had placed the contents of their magazine, trusting that it would escape the observation of the invaders. The oftioor in charge kindly accompanied ine through the va- rious store-rooms and armouries. They contain models of the French and Englislx licld-pieces, with tumbrils, &c., complete — the English being made by request at Wool- wich ; but the Frouch system had l)een approved of, and will be adopted in the American ser^'ice, on account of the uniform size of the ammunition-waggons, and a trilling 11 A 8UUALTRRN M f Ulli.UUnil. li.i (lirtvreiicc in sonu*. otlusr rcspcjit. The American tieUl- picces arc of ca^'^.-iron, the Nrnallest calibre being eight poundN. The few spccitneiiH I saw of brass were very faulty, and honeycombed in the casting ; the metal also is too expensive, being from 20 to 25 cents (lOrf. to 1«.) per pound. Many of the iron guns were also defective. Thirty-two 42-pounder8 had arrived two days previously from the foundry at Georgetown, and many were very roughly and imperfectly cast: the weight of each was H(>2'1 pounds, and the cost about 5 cents, or 2 id. per pound, wbich makes the price of a single gun dfil dollars, or J)0/. sterling. They were intended for the fortresses, which arc erecting at the mouths of all the harbours, along the extensive line of coast of the United States. As an inland war can scarcely ever be expected, the expoiditure upon military works is along the sea-board, for which purpose large grants of money arc made every session of Congress; but, with only the present foundries at work, many years will elapse before a sufficient supply of heavy artillery can be provided for those fortresses already finished. In the armoury there were dOjOOO stand of arms ; the muskets averaging the great price of 1 2 dollars (r»0 shillings) each, Knd the rifles much more. The latter were upon a principle I had never before seen ; diflFering considerably in their construction from the Knglish, which I thought they excelled ; the soldier being capable of firing five or six times per Piinute with them. The use of a ramrod, except for cleaning, is entirely dispensed with, the barrel of the rifle having a patent breech, or receiver, about six inches in length, which, by touching a small trigger under the stock, is opened at its upp'" / end ; and the necessary load being placed within the bore, it is im- mediately closed again by a sUght pressure of the hand. 114 A SUDALTEUN S FURLOUGH. In other respects, it is similar to the common English rifle, excepting that the barrel is full as long as that of a musket. The American light troops carry powder and ball flasks suspended across their shoulders in place of a cartridge-box, and the process of going twice through the motions of loading must retard the firing. White were about to give way to black leather belts, which were to be worn by all descriptions of infantry. The artificers employed in the department were principally citizens en- gaged for a limited period ; and though Congress had lately passed a bill for forming an entirely military establish- ment, great difficulty was experienced in finding men vvho would enlist, when they could obtain equally high wages by daily labour elsewhere. The navy yard, half a mile from the arsenal, is upon the eastern branch of the Potomac, and on a larger scale than that at Philadelphia. It contains various sheds and storehouses, foundry, saw-mill, and two large sheds for ship-building, under one of which a vessel of 48 or 50 guns was in an unfinished state. The channel, as in the Delaware, becomes shallower yearly by the increase of mud ; nor is there now sufficient depth of water for the launching of any such vessel as the Columbus, of 74 guns, which was built in this yard a few years since. I saw a schooner at anchor off" the pier, constructed upon a prin- ciple which has, I believe, been tried, and failed in Eng- land ; namely, without knees, and entirely of thick planks laid in tiers over one another, each successive tier being placed at a different angle from the preceding one, so as to strengthen each other. This vessel was called the " Experiment," but had failed in realizing the expectations of the builders: it carried 12 guns, and had just arrived from Norfolk navy yard, near the mouth of the Chesa- A SUBALTERN 9 PtTRbOUOH. 115 sa- peake ; some knees were subsequently added, but the naval officers entirely disapproved of the whole construction. Georgetown, higher up on the banks of the Potomac, and only divided from Washington by the inconsiderable stream of Rock Creek, was formerly a place of some im- portance, but of late years has felt the effects of Baltimore on its commerce, which has now dwindled into insigni- ficance. On the margin of the river, scarcely any thingj is to be seen but long rows of desolate dwellings and empty warehouses, with their window shutters moaning in the wind, as if over the fallen prosperity of the town. It contains a population of little less than 10,000, and is prettily situated on a series of heights, at a fine bend of the river. Its interior streets are well laid out, and con- tain some very good private residences. The College, whose members generally profess the Catholic religion, is an ancient pile of building, with a large library, and some good paintings. The students were chaunting ves- pers, with rather a sweet-toned organ, as I entered the chancel. Within the distance of half a mile there is a large academy for young ladies, attached to a convent, which however my unhallowed foot was not permitted to profane. The school bears a very high character, upwards of 200 girls attending daily, many of whom are taught gratuitously. There are also nearly 100 boarders, of the most respectable families in the neighbourhood, for whom there is a regular charge. I proceeded several miles up the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal (which enters the Potomac here by four locks from the rising ground), on the 23d of June, in one of the packet-boats, which ply daily upon it, and found the travelling most delightful : I was the only passenger, and there was a neat, well-furnished cabin about 50 feet long I 2 i4 AG A subaltern's furlough. il' by 14 broad. We were drawn l)y three horses at the rate of fives miles an hour, a huge negro riding on the last, and driving the other horses l)efore him with a long whip, which he flourished and cracked most adroitly. The boats calculated for carrying merchandize are near 100 tons bur- then, and will carry between 900 and 1000 barrels of flour, the freight being at two cents per ton per mile. The canal is six feet deep, and sixty wide at the summit. It was commenced on the 4th of July, 1828, with the in- tention of connecting the waters of the Ohio and Chesa- peake rivers, by uniting with the Pennsylvania and Ohio Canal, near Pittsburgh, in the former State ; when its entire length will be 361 miles, having a lockage of more than 4000 feet. The government subscribed 200,000 dollars towards its construction — a mere trifle to the estimated expense of 12 milUons; and, as far as I could understand the merits of the case, it appeared the work could not proceed much longer unless an additional grant was made, to which the policy of the present ministry is opposed ; contending, as they do, that each State should manage its internal improvements without making any demand upon the funds of the general government. About twenty-six miles of the line were finished at this time ; but, unless the prospect brightens, it is supposed that half a century will elapse before any dividend can be paid, the expenses at present being fi-om 6 to 7000, and the receipts not ex- ceeding 27,000 dollars p r annum; an insuflicient sum to pay the interest of the expended capital. The traffic will of course increase as the line of canal becomes opened in the interior of the country ; but at this time there were no signs of prosperity. In a distance of thirteen miles we did not meet a single boat. The canal runs parallel with the river, varying from ten to fifty feet above its level j A HUB/VLTERN 8 FURLOUGH. 117 and, in some places, has encroached upon it, by strong embankments being thrown up where the ground was too rocky and high to admit of easy excavation. In other places advantage has been taken of the course of ravines, in which the tops of submersed trees just make their appearance above the surface of the water. The contrast between the works of art and nature is exceed- ingly fine. The canal flows smoothly and placidly along, with not a ripple upon its bosom; while the broad Po- tomac, separated only by a narrow pier, is seen far be- neath, rushing fiercely in a wild and tumultuous roar over a rough bed of rocks, and whirling along large trunks of trees with tremendous violence. The musk-rats occasion a deal of mischief by boring holes from the river j and these, if neglected, soon become serious breaches in the embankments. The engineers had fallen into a trifling error in forming the sloping sides of the canal of earth ; so that the rapid motion of the boats had occasioned the water to undermine the towing-path. The river was formerly rendered navigable, by short canals being formed round the rapids by means of locks; but such a mode of conveying produce was subject to many inconveniences and delays ; the draught of water in other parts, during hot summers, being frequently insufiicient for heavily laden vessels ; and, in heavy freshets, boats were endangered by floating masses of timber or sunken rocks. The proposition of rendering the Potomac navigable, ori- ginated from Washington himself, who saw the vast ad- vantages the State would derive from it ; and, from con- tinuing a canal to the Ohio, that it would divert the produce of the west, which at present floats so many hundred miles down the Mississippi to New Orleans, into the Atlantic states. When once carried into efiect, it will lis A HUHALTERN S FURLOUtitl. I if no doubt produce a reaction of trade in favour of George- town and Alexandria ; by which they will become two of the greatest ports for the exportation of flour in the Union. The course of the canal is through a pretty and romantic country, the banks of the river being bold and well wooded. We arrived at the Great Falls, sixteen miles from Washington, in less than four hours, having passed through twenty locks, the average passage of each being two minutes and a small fraction. I had heard the distant roaring of the mighty waterfall for some minutes before the boat stopped ; and, as soon us it received a temporary check at a lock, I sprang ashore, sketch-book in hand, a young lad, belon^ng to the packet, crying out, " Shall I show you the way, sir ? I always go with gentlemen, sir; " at the same time running to accom- pany me. " Get away with you," said I, half angry at the intrusion, and alarmed at the very idea of my first view of a cataract being destroyed by a young urchin in- terrupting my reveries and feelings of ecstatic delight, with such sentences as, " There's more water comes over in a freshet, sir ! '* — " The Virginia side is the best one to see it from, sir." The little fellow was, however, I believe, half frightened, for he shrunk back at my blunt refusal of his company, and I saw no more of him at that time. Throwing myself down the steep embankment of the canal, I floundered on through pools of water, tumbled over lumps of rock, regardless of rattle-snakes and other reptiles, scratched my hands and face, tore my coat amongst the bushes, and, hurrying under an alpine bridge thrown across a ravine from one projecting rock to an- other, without scarcely deigning a passing glance at it, or any thing else, I rounded a point, and came in full view of the great and grand object which alone occupied my A 8UBALTERN 8 FURLOUGH. 119 thoughts. Prom the feelings I experienced at that mo- ment, I could imagine the sensations of awe and delight with which the weary pilgrims first gain sight of the lofty minarets and domes of the prophet's tomb at the holy city of Arabia. In a moment the troubles of the past and care for the future are alike forgotten ; the perils and pri- vations undergone in their long and arduous marches over the burning deserts are at last fiilly compensated. But once in my previous life do I remember experiencing such pleasurable emotions — ^when, after an absence of some years in a foreign land, the dim blue line of my native country appeared rising from the main. I raised my hands, and uttering some exclamation, stood gazing in silent and indescribab j astonishment for some minutes. I found that subsequently I viewed Niagara with less inward feelings of awe and delight. The rush of water was greater, and every thing was upon a more sublimely magnificent scale ; but the Potomac had partly prepared me, and I had already formed some indistinct idea in my imagination of what I should see : but of this I had not the slightest conception. I am but ill at describing scenery, and may, therefore, be excused for merely taking notice in simple terms, of what the Americans would designate as the " location of the Falls." The river gradually contracts to a width of 700 or 800 feet for some distance above the rocky bed of the Rapids, over which it foams and roars most terri- fically ; until, gaining the edge of the precipice, it shoots over in a white sheet into a troubled abyss beneath ; and rushing furiously along between two narrow perpendicular walls of rock for the distance of a mile, again expands into a broad but rapid channel. The country in the immediate vicinity bears the appearance of having been once con- i. lift n" ■ 'f. '■' lit 120 A SUBALTERN S FURLOUGH. !• vulsed by volcanic eruption; as if the huge rocks had been thrown upon one another by gigantic efforts of nature ; every thing seems to have been subjected to some almighty agency. It was now the middle of summer, at which time, I believe, the Falls are seen to the best ad- vantage, the water being purer and the rocks in the river not entirely concealed from the aHcw. During the autum- nal floods, or the melting of the winter's snow, when the waters rush in one vast sheet of foam over the whole breadth of the chasm, they may present a more terrific- ally grand and fearful aspect, and be more calculated to inspire awe ; but certainly not so beautifully picturesque as during the summer's sunshine, when nature appears in her mildest and serenest form, and the prismatic hues of the rainbow are seen glistening in the white mist which rises from the pure and limpid stream, as it gUdes over the rocky shelves. After passing two hours in admiration, I returned to the packet, and, as the sun set, arrived at my quarters in the Pennsylvania Avenue. ■ii-U\\\:l t: \i..,',i- '■'■ WOil.y...' iKJ(t •■ .■! J A subaltern's furlough. f , . . ; ■i>; ' ■ \ . 1 •, --i.' ■ 1 ' ' ;). • ^,,- '■ " ■•' i^^ ■ ; , ' ;, ■ •■' if-;- <)-■ . 1 i ' » ■ I 1 " :; CHAP. VIII '' ■ ! 121 .; 'iti.i; M I ■'' ■•■•,, '■■•/, ... Ill ■.!■. ind Carrier, — I tliink this be the most villainous house in all London road for fleas ; I am stung like a tench. lit Car. — Like a tench 7 by the mass, there is ne'er a king in Christen- dom could be better bit than I have been since the first cock — SuAKSPEAnE. Through roads abrupt, and rude unfashion'd tracts. Blackmore. .^^.! On the 26th of June I again crossed the Potomac to Alex- andria, and travelling in the mail over a heavy, sandy, and hilly country, until near sunset, entered the pretty little village of Aldie, situated amongst the hills. We were now in Loudoun county, and at the same time observed an im- provement in the soil: the crops were heavier, and the ragged worm fences gave way to substantial stone ; but as yet I saw nothing like good farming, or any buildings equal to those in England. In addition to the little dis- appointments I experienced from this appearance of the country, I had the misfortune to be troubled with a gar- rulous, fat old German, who had been in the States above half a century, and bored me with long prosing histories of the battles of Brandywine and Yorktown, interspersed Avith anecdotes of his commander, Lafayette. He was now seventy-eight years of age, and boasted much of his I II II 1:^2 A NllllAI/rRllN N KUHMIItrill. Ixidily NtroiiKlli : \o prove timt of \m lun^ll, lio prodticcd u l)u^l(v|iorn from it.s lonthor cnNO, and lilcw a lihiNt liotit loud and Ntrong, wliicli I wan no inroiiNidcrato ntt to ap- prove of. The old gcntUMuan'N vanity being tlatterey liintN reNpeeting xoreneNN of lips, injury to lungs, head- aehes, ikv., wore n»>t «)nly entirely thrown away, hut umde the nuittur no niueh worse, that I was fain to put up with the annoyanee until our arrival at the small town of Mid- dlehurgh, when I was happily relieved from him. It was late in the evening before we reaehed our journey's end ; St), Ho»>n after supper, requi'sting U» be Nhowii to my njorn, I was, to my intinite surprise, ushered intt) one containing four beds, three of whieh were adready occupied. Being heartily fatigued, what from the abominablo ruad, and tlio old man with his bugle-horn — and as tho coach was to start again at four o'clock in tho niorning>-I was tlte less inclined to be very particular ; so, as a sailor would say, " turned in," though not without shrewd suspicions that 1 should not bo tho solo oocupimt, having, as I was recon- noitring, caught a glimpse of an enemy retiring under cover of the pillow. Never was pt)or mortal so tormented ! 1 wi\s fairly driven from my post, and walked down stairs iK'.fori'. three o'clock, to await the arrival of the coach, n\uttpring a rtquiesc.at in pace as 1 passed the restless bodies of my companions in misery. The dirty inn at Middleburgh will certainly not soon be erased from my memory'. ' From Woodville, a few miles farther, where there was the only \nneyai*d I ever saw in the country, to tlie Blue A MiriiAi/rKiiN H KiriiiiOiiaii. 123 llidgfl th» Ncoiicry wtiH deliKlitful. Wu met mniiy Dutch fiirmorN with their honvily-hulcn Hour wng^diis, and nuw groups of others cookii)|; their victuuiN under the treeH ))y the road aide, ull appeariiiK the happieHt uiid moNt con- tented hein^N imoginahlo. Leaving their farms upon the hanks of the Hhenando, which waters part of the valley of Virftitiia, they proceed with their load of flour for the Alex- andrian market, and, carrying their hatchets and provisions, pass the night in their waggons. Thus avoiding ull ex- penses, excepting the half dollar for tolls, they dispose of their load, and with clear profits forthwith return home. Having hreakfasted at the inconsideralile village of Paris, we commenced the ascent of the Blue Ridge, which is easy, and not exceeding a mile. I had accustomed my- self some little to the jolting of the vehicle, and had, therefore, taken my seat outside with the coachman, that I might enjoy the prospect to greater advantage. While praising the appearance of the cultivated and highly fertile vale lying between the Ridge and the North moun- tains to him, he remarked that, " for his part, he preferred the hills, and should like to live upon them for some time ; for he was fond of hunting, and intended quitting his present work, so that he might get some hounds, witli a good horse, and have some sport ; there was also plenty of gunning on the mountains' side." ' . - . Tliis low chain of hills, which in England would be con- sidered diminutive, has acquired its name of the Blue Ridge, from presenting a deeper shade of that colour than hills do in general; but, when travelling across them in summer, one would be led to imagine it arose from the vast quantity of blue thistle which flourishes upon them in II most extraordinary manner ; patches of many acres in extent were so densely covered with the light blue flower. ill, Hi'^E tf:'!.. if* ttf4 A SUBALTERN H FURLOUGH. 1 that the verdure was quite imperceptible. But when 1 pointed it out to the sporting coachman as a strong symptom of slovenly farming, he endeavoured to con- vince me that a new era in husbandry had commenced ; it having been most satisfactorily ascertained that the thistle, so far from impoverishing, as was generally sup- posed, improved the soil. >' ' I A few miles after our descent, we arrived at the ferries across the Shenando ; but the water being low, forded the stream, where it was about three feet deep, and a hundred yards wide, into Frederic County. The villages scattered along the banks are far from healthy, owing to the heavy rains swelling the river, and leaving vegetable matter to decompose upon the ground when the water recedes to its summer channel: the inhabitants at this tin* ere suffering much from the scarlet and bilious fevc ..le former had carried off thirteen slaves from one gentle- man's estate in the course of a few weeks. This, which is however considered the richest tract of land in the vale, is in the hands of great landed proprietors: the extent of the fields varies generally from twenty to thirty acres, and produces fine crops of every description of grain ; the term "com" is applied to Indian com only. Until aware of this distinction, I had been guilty of some slight mis- takes in stating, to farmers' inquiries, that com grew in England, and was commonly in use. Ten miles farther brought us to the town of Winchester, containing about 2500 inhabitants, and distant seventy-five miles from Washington. Its dirty streets, with stepping-stones for foot-passengers at the crossings, presented no inducement to remain a night; but the coach proceeding no farther upon my route, I was compelled to wait till late the fol- lowing day, when I again started, and at th^ small town A HlTHAI/rKllN'M PlTRl.OUOII. 125 of Smithtield, where the coach stopped to change Iiorses, met two gentlemen who had just been overturned in their carriage; and, after rolling down a precipice, had most miraculously escaped with their lives. They com- plained bitterly of the exorbitant demand of five dollars made by a waggoner for carrying the remains of their carriage fifteen miles. Truly, it was no wonder that it was shattered to pieces ; for the mail, in which I travelled, could not exceed a foot's pace over the limestone ridges, projecting two feet above the level of the road ; and some of the hills were so steep, that it was a matter of great thankfulness we safely gained the summit of them, or that the heavy vehicle in the descent did not crush down the horses. I should much have e joyed the society of a gentleman with whom 1 travelled on the Chesapeake and Delaware railway, who said, that "he did not at all approve of so easy a mode of conveyance — for he re- quired exercise." He would certainly have met it here to his heart's content. After eight hours' hard jolting, we gained the hills above Harper's Ferry, thirty miles from Winchester: the road had for some time continued on their summit; and as we reached the brow, previous to descending, the last gleam of day was just gilding the woody tops of the opposite mountains. The town, as it lay far beneath, could be but indistinctly seen in the shade cast over it by the towering masses of rock with which it was encircled ; but which rendered more vivid the bright flashes of a rapid succession of tremendous quarry blasts, as the echo was reverberated amongst the hills and rocks, like the great artillery of heaven. The white lines of the two impetuous streams, the Potomac and Shenando, rushing together from nearly opposite directions, like mighty giants struggling for mastery, unite into one 126 A SUBALTERN S FURLOUGH. i i r f \\ channel in front of the town, aud thus force their passage through an opening in the hills. A band of music was playing upon Camp Hill at the entrance of the town, where the tents of an itinerant circus were pitched ; aiid the bells beneath us giving notice to the workmen that the labours of the day had ceased altogether, rendered the scene impressively striking. Having been furnished at Washington with introduc- tory letters to G. Rust, Esq., in charge of the government establishment for the manufactory of arms, he kindly ac- companied me through the numerous shops and forges, which give employment to more than 300 men, though the greater part of the work is performed by machinery. The different processes of turning the gun-stock firoro. the rough wood, were performed in less than five mimites, and those of fitting the lock and barrel upon it occupied but two more. The test for the baj'onct appeared unne- cessarily severe, and so many failing in it, the price of tlie musket is rendered much greater, than if one, which might be sufficiently satisfactory, was substituted ; it con- sisted in fixing the bayonet on the muz7,le, with a twelve- pound brass ball attached to the breech of a gun-barrel, then placing the bayonet horizontally in two holes just fitting it, and nearly its length apart, where it was left for about two minutes, the entire weight acting upon the bayonet, which, if unbent by this trial, was turned round and put to the same test upon the other sides. The barrels were well finished, and made of iron from the State of Connecticut, a distance of 256 miles ; but the brass bands, which fastened the barrel to the stock, gave the musket a heavy clumsy appearance. Not only was the barrel and other iron-work bronzed, but even the bayonet also. In the arsenal, under the charge of an old English i A SUBALTERN S FURLOUGH. 127 sergeant of marines, who had served under Nelson, were a hundred thousand stand of arms, finished, and packed for sending to the various arsenals in the States, and for dis- tribution amongst the militia. The present American rifle, which I described as having seen at Washington, as also the machinery in use at the rifle manufactory at Harper's Ferry, were the invention of Mr. Hall, who is the superintendant of the estabUshment, in which near a hundred workmen are employed. As, in the musket manu- factory, much of tho work is performed by machinery, one man through the medium of it being able to rifle thirty barrels per day. There is one turn in nine feet, so that each barrel, being longer than that of the English rifle, has about one-third of a turn. Mr. Hall showed me a new invention, a specimen of which he was busily engaged in finishing for inspection at Washington. It consisted in screwing a short but narrow bayonet to the end of a highly tempered steel ramrod, which, when drawn nearly out of its socket, was firmly secured at the muzzle of the rifle by a sliding ring; and thus formed a weapon eight feet in length. I did not at all approve of it, for it ap- peared too slight a defence against even the parry of a sword, which caused it to bend immediately ; but the intel- ligent inventor was very sanguine in his expectations of its being generally adopted ia war. Every thing connected with both establishments was carried on with great exact- ness and neatness. The town will soon rise into considerable importance, not only from the attraction of the natural beauty of its scenery, and the large manufactories, but also from the circumstance of the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal running by the side of the Potomac, which is crossed by a bridge of 700 hundred feet in length, opposite to the town. I 138 A SUBALTERN 8 FURLOUGH. walked for some distance along the line of their operations, and never saw a more laborious undertaking, than the blasting and excavating at the foot of the hills, which are nearly 800 feet in perpendicular height. Wherever it was practicable, piers have been formed in the river, so that a considerable extent had been reclaimed from it. A trial came on, during my stay at the town, respecting damages claimed by the proprietor of a small house which occu- pied the space between the river and rocks, so exactly in the centre of the line of canal, that there was not room for it on either side. The owner did not lay his damages at the intrinsic value of the house (and the lot upon which it was built was but a mass of rock, upon which he could not even form a kitchen-garden), but upon the great loss he should sustain from not possessing such a piece of ground when the canal was completed, and the jury as- sessed the damages accordingly, and at least, at four times the value of the property. Upon tue face of the bare rocks, 400 feet above the bridge, the inhabitants of the town have formed an imaginary likeness of Washington ; bat it required a greater stretch of fancy than mine to trace any thing like human features upon it. , = m i. ti^j There being no conveyance in the direction I wished to proceed, I stepped into a large flour-boat about to descend the Potomac, and for some distance darted over the rapids with amazing velocity. The river is rendered particularly dangerous, and almost innavigable during the summer season, by the innumerable reefs of rocks which cross it in every direction, making tlieir appearance some feet above the surface. An experienced pilot is therefore required, who, in the freshets, takes his station at the helm astern; but in low water, in the bow. The river being excessively low, we had a pilot at each end of the A SUBALTERN S FURLOUGH. 129 boat, so that it threaded the most difficult parts in gallant style, rubbing the keel occasionally a little upon the summits of the rocks beneath the water. The load was only forty barrels when we left the town ; but, after pass- ing the most precipitous and narrow rapids, we ran in- shore again, and took on board an additional number of thirty from some waggons which had brought them by the road from Harper's Ferry, and again proceeded rapidly down the transparent stream, with romantic scenery on either bank, until we struck with a most vio- lent shock upon a sunken rock, which, taking the boat in its centre, made every plank and barrel quiver with the blow. All hands immediately set to work moving the cargo into the bow ; but, being still immovable, the Cap- tain of a Mississippi steamer, a passenger on board, re- commended the crew to go into the wat«r and attempt to raise it from the rock Msath levers, stepping out of the boat himself to give them the necessary instructions. No sooner had his feet touched the bottom of the river, and he had quitted his hold of the boat, than the powerful current, washing him fairly off his legs, earned him for a considerable distance down the stream, with his head bobbing up at intervals, like the float of a line when a fish is nibbling at the bait. At every re-appearance of his head above the foaming waters, he " roared him," not as Shakspeare says, '•■ As gently as any sucking dove," but more hke a young elephant, and excited shouts of laughter from the crew, who were too much amused with the scene to make any attempt at rescuing him. Being very short-sighted, and his spectacles becoming dim from the water, it was no easy matter for him, after discovering K ?s' 1*!|; 130 A SUBALTERN 9 FURLOUGH. our position, to regain the boat ; when his ardour was so cooled that he did not recommend any more experiments. The application of levers failing, we had recourse to the simple method of placing some loose planks that were fortunately on board across the stream, and holding them firmly between the boat and some of the rocks, so that, acting as a small dam, they raised the water, and the boat once more floated. But, soon after, running a-ground again in the shallows, we had the prospect of passing the night in that situation, until an empty boat, on its way down the stream, took us ashore at the Point of Uocks, nine miles below Harper's Ferry; in performing which distance we had been nine hours, and toiling hard most of the time in an excessively hot sun. A town rises in America with an almost talismanic ra- pidity. Immediately some new line of canal or railway is projected, or a clearing commenced on the banks of a navigable stream, a tavern makes its appearance upon a spot where it is imagined the traveller will require a "drink;" this is followed by a saw and grist-mill, a store or two, post-office, printing-press, and bank. To use their own expression, "everyone goes the whole hog;" the fireshets probably carry away the mill, or the bank breaks, and the owners "clear out," to commence their speculations afresh elsewhere. Where sixty days since had been a complete wilderness, was now a scene of bustle and confusion : a town was fast rising from amongst the bushes; the streets were marked out, and a tavern, several stores, and upwards of fifty houses, were already inhabited. The fortunate proprietor of the ground had sold every other lot for a trifling sum, and retained the remainder in his possession, letting it upon short building- leases; also calling the place after his own unromantic A SUBALTERN S FURLOUGH. 131 name, and superseding the much prettier one of " Point of Rocks," to which indeed it owed its rise. The Point is the end of a range of rocky hills, which opposes a firm barrier to the advance of the Baltimore railway and Chesa- peake Canal ; which have both the same object in view — that of communicating with the Ohio. By much blasting, and enormous expense, there would be barely room for either of them to pass between the Potomac and the Point ; but both arriving at the same spot frpm drfFerent direc- tions, and nearly at the same time, each claimed the right of priority in taking possession of the narrow passage. The canal proprietors made an offer so to compromise the matter that, by each diminishing the respective widths of their lines of communication and making a joint ex- pense of reclaiming some space from the river, there might be a passage for both. The railway proprietors, however, objected to it, and laid an injunction upon the canal to discontinue their works until the case had been tried in a legal court. After a law-suit of two years, the verdict was given against them, and the canal engineers were now busily engaged in removing the Point of Rocks. Some bores had been worked to the depth of 13 feet, so as to undermine 1000 square yards of rock, which would be blown up as a grand salute on the 4th of July, to the celebration of which it now wanted only three days. I could not ascertain how they intended to proceed with the railway; but it was stated that the rival company would not object to renew its original proposition. It is most probable that the canal will not extend beyond Cumberland; the company's funds being nearly exhausted ; though the public seem impressed with the advantages to be derived firom the original project being carried into execution. The Alleghany Mountains are a natural barrier K 2 1.12 A SUHAI.TEKN 8 KURLOUOIi. between the Western and Atlantic States ; and the former vrill become daily more independent of, and distinct from, the latter, which may end in a separation, unless mutual intercourse- and commercial commimications are kept up by such undertakings as those alluded to. I thought the inns at Harper's Ferry very shabby, both externally and internally, though one was kept by an ex-member of Congress,, and major of militia; but the one at the Point of Rocks, being in its infancy, was less prepared for the reception of numerous guests than any I liad seen. From the accommodation with which I had met since my departure from Washington, I had enter- tained no expectations of any luxury above a single bed, in probably a crowded room ; and a wash in the morning without glass, soap, or towel, at the pump or horse- trough in the public yard. Upon inquiring if I could be accommodated with a bed, I was therefore perfectly satisfied with an answer in the affirmative, qualified with a regret "that their mattresses had not yet arrived from Baltimore." I soon became heartily tired of seeking for adventures in these out-of-the-way places, where all the arrangements were infinitely worse than in an English pot-house. The owners of the taverns were usually men whose sole recommendation consisted in shooting well with a rifle, and bearing a commission (something higher than a subaltern's) in the militia. My landlord at Har- per's Ferry excelled in invariably striking a quarter of a dollar (which is about the size of an English shilling) with a single ball at thirty paces distant. In justice, how- ever, to the honest innkeeper at the Point of Rocks, I am bound to say, that, in the hurry of my departure, I left a coat hanging up in the bar-room, and, after a journey of 3000 miles, found it neatly packed up and directed to my A SL'UALTERN S FURLOUGH. i3;i uddress at the hotel in New York, where it had been lying for upwards of four months, though I had long despaired of ever seeing it again. After a delightful swim in the clear Potomac, and wearied with the day's hard labour, I requested to be shown up stairs, when I was again ushered into a room containing six beds, all of which were to be doubly occupied : the house, too, being built of wood, had become so heated during the day, that the fire-king him- self could have scarcely endured the temperature. This was rather too much for a pleasure-seeking traveller ; so, walking down stairs again, I stepped into a car w^hich I had observed during the day upon the railway, and found my boat companion, the Mississippi Captain, had already taken possession of a comer, in search, like myself, of a cooler atmosphere. The railway was continued down to the water's edge close to the Point of Rocks j and we were much disturbed during the night by a man moving the car in that direction. My fellow-occupant, still having I sup- pose the recollection of the rapids strongly impressed upon his mind, jumped out of the car half awake, up to his knees in a pool of water, and, fancying himself in the Potomac, floundered about in it to my infinite amusement. Some time elapsed before he gained the firm ground again, when, turning round, he checked my laughter at once by saying, " Really I beg you ten thousand pardons, but I was in so great a hurry that I could not find my boots, so put on your shoes ; however, I will have them dried for you again." They were not, however, completely dry again for three days. This incident destroyed my night's rest so thoroughly that at three o'clock I set out, in com- pany with a gentleman whose acquaintance I had formed merely by chance the preceding day, and who had very kindly obtained a horse for me in the neighbourhood. We 134 A SUBALTERN S FURLOUGH. rode for some miles on the towing path of the canal, close to the placid and mirror-like surface of the Potomac, which presented a delightful contrast to the rough turbu- lence of the many miles of rocky torrent above the Point. We passed by the quarries from which the columns in the Capitol at Washington were cut, and for some distance through part of the estate of the fine old patriarch, Charles Carroll, of Carrolton, who, at the age of ninety-six, lives in the full enjoyment of his faculties, revered and beloved by his countrymen; being the only survivor of those daring men who, in l77^j risked their lives and properties by affixing their signatures to the Declaration of Inde- pendence.* ' • At the mouth of the Monocacy River, which pours its waters into the Potomac six miles from the Point of Rocks, we arrived at a splendid aqueduct, considered su- perior to any thing of the kind in the States, thrown over the former river by the Canal Company. It is built of a hard white granite, and consists of seven segment arches, the span of each being 54 feet, with a rise of 9 feet in the arch, and the entire length, including the wings, 509 feet. The water upon the aqueduct is 6 feet in depth, and the towing path 8 feet broad, with a strong iron railing on the outer side. The entire work will cost 125,000 dollars (26,000/. sterling). The first contractor took it at seven dollars per perch, the second at eleven ; and both failed in the performance ; the third and present one has it at eleven dollars and fifty cents (2/. 8s. sterling). Two hun- dred yards beyond this is a beautifiil piece of workman- ship, over the Little Monocacy, of a single oblique arch of twisted masonry. • Since writing the above, I have seen a notice of his death in the public prints. A SUUALTERN 8 FURLOUGH. i;ir> After partaking of a scanty breakfast, upon my return tu the Point of Rocks, I proceeded to Baltimore, fifty miles distant by the railway, which crossed the Monocacy some miles from its embouchure into the Potomac. The whole Une of road bore the appearance of having been but slightly surveyed previously to laying down, and as if finished hastily, in order to compete with its rival : some of the curves round the hills, and along the course of rivulets, were such as to entirely cut off all hopes of being ever able to establish a rapid conveyance by the introduc- tion of locomotive engines. The inclined planes were very precipitous, two of them being about at an elevation of 1 in 50, where a tunnel of half a mile wovdd have avoided the hill. The rails, being laid also upon wood, are too un- stable for such a purpose, and liable to be affected by severe frosts. Much dissatisfaction was expressed by many of the passengers, who could not obtain any thing stronger than water to quench their thirst at the various places where we stopped to change horses, from either the owners of the houses or the proprietors of the railway being sub- scribers to the rules of the Temperance Society. There was great sameness in the scenery, until we crossed the Blue Ridge, where it became more diversified and picturesque, especially near the flourishing town of Ellicott's Mills, in a most romantic dell on the Patapsco River, whose margin was occupied by numerous extensive cotton-mills, scattered over an extent of several mileS) giving the country quite an Enghsh appearance. The manufactories were prettily situated amongst the trees on the banks of the river, which were ornamented with clean white cottages and gardens, backed by huge masses of dark granite. Several fine bridges have been built across 18(> A SUBALTERN 8 FURLOUGH. I the ravines and streams between this place and Baltimore. One over Gwynn's Falls is a single arch of 80 feet span, and 40 in height; and another across the Patapsco of 4 arches of 55 feet span each : but, although furnished with such admirable materials, their masonry is much inferior to that used in similar works in Europe. The main object in America appears to be, to finish the job in hand in as short a time and as economically as possible. Several of the principal engineers complained to me fre- quently of the mistaken economy which they were com- pelled to pursue, and of the rapidity with which they were obliged to proceed, without being permitted to con- struct the work in such a manner as to reflect credit upon themselves. The " deep cut " and embankment near the city have been stupendous undertakings, the former being nearly a mile in length, and its greatest depth 70 feet, and the latter of about the same length, with its greatest width 190, and elevation 56 feet, the heaviest and best finished section of the road being from Ellicott's Mills to Balti- more. I was only eight hours and forty minutes on the journey from Baltimore to Philadelphia, a distance of ninety-seven miles (sixteen of which were performed by horse carriage on the Chesapeake and Delaware Railway) : a material im- provement in the speed of travelling on that to which I had been obliged to submit. Much against the advice of se- veral friends (the alarming news that the cholera had broken out in New York having just arrived), I proceeded on my journey the following morning, the 3rd of July, wishing to be present at the celebration of the " glorious anniversary," which was, I understood, kept up with more pomp at New York than elsewhere in the Union, imagining that a few scattered cases would not check all I I A SUBALTERN 8 FURLOUGII. 137 festivities. I was rather surprised to find so many pas- sengers on board the steamer in which I embarked to proceed up the Delaware ; but, the news having arrived at Philadelphia only late in the evening, it was not generally known. As soon as the report, however, began to spread through the vessel, our numbers diminished considerably at each place where we touched ; many being intent upon returning home, and others intending to remain where they landed until the account was corroborated by the arrival of a vessel from the infected city. A Virginian lady, who had two pretty daughters in charge and was upon her way to the Northern Springs, burst into tears and cried most bitterly when the unwelcome information was imparted to her, and left us at the first small village wliere the steamer touched, fully determined upon returning forthwith to her native State. The banks of the river are low, and very unhealthy during the " Fall" (as the Americans invariably term the autumn) ; but some pretty little villages are scattered upon either bank, more especially those of Burlington and Bristol, nearly opposite to each other, eighteen miles from Philadelphia : I have seldom seen two such tastefully laid out little spots. The houses are very neat and above the common order, with gardens attached to each, extending to the margin of the river, which is ornamented with large and graceful weeping willows, whose branches kiss the watery element. The tower of a summer-house, in the domain of Joseph Buonaparte, at Borden-town, where the ex-king of Spain, or, as he is called in the States, the Count de Survilliers, resides, is seen from the deck of the steamer ; and six miles farther on the left bank is Trenton, the capital of the state of New Jersey, containing about 4(X)0 inhabitants, and the termination of the steam navi- 1r ||1 138 A RirnALTFRN H KirRLOITOII. gatiun, there being u succession of rapids immediately above the town. A singular kind of bridge of five arches, and '200 feet span, is thrown across the stream; these arches are roofed in, and from them is suspended a flat bridge, whoso principal beams rest upon the piers of the other bridge. Hie carrittges and passengers cross the river on the lower one; but the upper arches give the appearance of there being one bridge built upon another. The town, at the commencement of the Revolutionary war, was in the possession of a party of Hessians and Fjnglish, who were suri>rised, and 1 ()()() prisoners cap- tured 1)y Washington, on the 2(>th December, 177<»' He crossed the Delaware on Christmas night, when the se- verity of the weather had subjected his army to almost incredible surferings. It was the first signal victory gained by the Revolutionists, and, occniring when many consi- dered theuiselvcs engn-^otl \n a hopeless contest, gave them a confidence which ensured uUirr«atc .sii-jcess, and was soon followed by tl ^/artial surprise of an English division at Princeton, tea miles farther. The main road crosses the field of aolion, on t^e high grounds at Stony Brook. Upon our arrival at Trenton, nine coaches were drawn up at the pier to receive the passengers from the steamer, and set off in their regular order (I had the misfortune to be in No. (i), and, keeping within a few yards of each other over a sandy road, such immense clouds of dust enveloped us, that it was only at intervals I gained a glimpse of the country through which we travelled. The College at Princeton, founded in 1738, L' rather a fine old building, and we enjoyed en exle;isive view over the long flat which extends towards the ocean, during the few minutoi! we remained to change horses. This part of the country, aud the state of New Jersey gener- % A HirnAI.TKIlN M KITRLOUnil. IHI) ally, is celebrated for its cider, and very extensive peach orchards, farmers having accumulated large fortunes by the growth of them. We passed many upon the side of the road nearly twenty acres in extent, and every tree loaded with fruit. The soil also, being light and sandy, is admir- ably adapted for the growth of apples and flax ; but the cultivation of flax ha." much decreased of late years, there being now not an eighth of the quantity grown which was some few years since exported from New York, so entirely has its use been superseded by cotton. The country also bears the appearance of being longer settled and more liighly cultivated than more to the south. Twenty-six miles from Trenton we arrived at New Brunswick, a town consisting (with probably two or three exceptions) of wooden houses ; and we hailed with joy the sight of the smoke of the steamer, which lay in the Raritan River awaiting our arrival. Half suffocated with dust, and parched with thirst, we jumped on board, every one scrambling for a whisk brush, a glass of brandy and water, or a wash-hand basin. We here added greatly to our numbers, by the acces- sion of 200 Irish labourers from a railway in the vicinity, who were all proceeding to celebrate the Declaration of Independence, and in less than an hour scarcely one of them could boast of retaining his sober senses ; when the deck presented a scene which would have done credit to Donnybrook Fair. One poor fellow slipped overboard as we were putting off from the quay at New Brunswick, and lost his passage; for, the steamer not stopping its engines, he was obliged to struggle to the shore in the best manner he could amongst the cheers of his country- men. Man (with an exception or two, in such people as Leander and Lord Byron,) is always an awkward kind of \ 1 10 A SUBALTERN S FURLOUGH. i >■! animal when in the water, but I thought this one, w'th a large hat over his eyes, and bundle under his arm, of whirh he in vain attempted to retain possession, and but an ordinary swimmer, a most ludicrous and singular object. For several miles after leaving New Brunswick, we proceeded up the Raritan, through some extensive salt marshes, where numerous people were busily employed in mowing. The river took most extraordinary curves through it, and, being exceedingly narrow, the vessels we were meeting appeared as if moving upon the dry ground, and those which were by the course of the stream three or tour miles astern as if approaching from an opposite direction, only a few hundred yards distant. Perth Am- boy, thirteen miles farther, is a bathing-place of some note for the New York fashionables ; and sometimes de- signated as their Brighton. It possesses an extensive and safe harbour, beuig situated at some distance from the open sea, on a bay of the Atlantic, formed by Staten Island (fifteen miles long and eight wide) on the one side, and by the Continent on the other. The opening view of the Bay of New York, with its numer- ous vessels, batteries, and spires, is most magnificent. There is no rich back-ground, or lofty hills, or any single object which of itself is striking. It is the tout ensemble which is so pleasing. We saw it to the greatest advantage, with- in an hour of a mild and glorious sunset, when the placid surface of the bay was covered with almost innumerable sails, and the several islands, with their clean snow-white forts and batteries, were reflected upon its bosom as upon a mirror, and land and sea alike were tinged with a light and mellow haze. Numerous broad estuaries and rivers branch off from the bay, intersecting the country in every direction, which is sufficiently free from forest, and its A SUBALTERN S FURLOUGIF. 141 graceful undulations are richly diversified with beautiful villages and extensive fairos. The spot whence we caught the first sight of the city was opposite to the Merchants* Marine Asylum, on the island — a building erected, as its name denotes, for the reception of the v/om-out sailors of the merchant service; the superfluous fiinds, which are extensive, are most laudably appropriated for the provision of the widows of captains who have been subscribers to the institution. The site seems admirably well calculated to soften down the rigours of declining old age; as the veterans may enjoy a most delightful prospect of the city, and its forests of masts, with every inward and outward bound vessel ; as also the views of Elizabeths-town and Newark, at the upper end of the Sound. Within twelve hours from our leaving Philadelphia, we landed at New York, a distance of ninety-four miles ; and, after under- going as much annoyance from the officious attentions of hackney-coachmen and porters as one would in the streets of London, I at last arrived in safety at the City Hotel, in Broadway. ! 142 A subaltern's furlough. M • I I I CHAPTER IX. Another plague of more gigantic arm Arose ; a monster never known before Rear'd from Cocytus its portentous head : ' ' This rapid fury, not like other pests Pursued a gradual course, but in a day Rush'd as a storm o'er half th' astonish'd isle, And strew'd with sudden carcases the land. and here the Fates Were kind, that long they linger'd not in pain ; For who surviv'd the sun's diurnal race Rose from the dreary gates of hell redeem'd, Some tlie sixth hour oppress'd, and some the third. Frantic with fear they sought by flight to shun The fierce contagion — o'er the mournful land Th* infected city pour'd her hurrying swarms. In heaps they fell, and oft one bed they say The sick'ning, dying, and the dead contained. AnMSTBONO. Dogberry — First who think you the most desartless man to be constable I ist Watch — Hugh Oatcake, Sir, or George Seacoal ; for they can read and write. Shakspeare. Thk morning of the 4th of July was ushered in with none of those noisy symptoms which usually proclaim the cele- bration of some great national festival, processions and A SUBALTERN 8 FURLOUGH. m: festivities of all descriptions having been discouraged by the board of health. The public prints echoed the same directiop^, and strenuously advised the people not to as- semble in crowds, which would rather have a tendency to encourage the advance of the fatal enemy they so much dreaded. The order, therefore, respecting a general parade of the troops was cancelled, and during the day there was but one insignificant civic procession ; and a few ill-dressed and worse-drilled volunteer artillery, who were bent upon firing a salute, paraded through the principal streets with a band of music and brigade of guns, carrying their noisy purpose into execution at mid-day, in an open square on the margin of the bay. A crow^d of boys of all shades of colour, with a few '^hildren of a larger growth intermixed, assembled upon the trottoirs, firing off guns, pistols, and crackers, to the imminent peril of the eyes and limbs of the peaceable citizens of New York. Although this last species of annoyance had been strictly forbidden by the public authorities, it was a law " more honoured in the breach than the observance j" and was publicly persevered in throughout the entire day and greater part of the night, without any efforts being made to check it. A few sons of Old Erin, with negro or two, might also be seen keeping a holiday ; and, at the hotel, I overheard a party (of what country I know not) who were taking a glass of wine two hours after the rest of the table d'hote had dispersed, singing — " Here 's a health to the King, God bless him." In the evening I attended the Park Theatre, the Dniry of the United States ; its front was brilliantly illuminated, and decorated with a large transparent painting of Wash- ington. The bills of the performance were headed in large m ,ffiiL h I 144 A 8UHAI.TEUNS FURLOUGH. characters with "Liberty or Death;" and tlie Glory of Columbia, a drama with miserable dialogue and plot, was performed as an introductory piece to a series of national songs and farces, seasoned, of course, with some hard blows in the shape of abuse at John Bull. We had "Yankee Doodle," and "Sons of Freedom," twice en- cored ; and the orchestra played Washington's March, and General Spicer's March, " Hail Columbia," and " the Star- spangled banner," at least half a dozen times each j every patriotic citizen appearing to think himself in duty bound to attempt keeping time, whether or not he had any ear for nmsic, by stamping upon the floor of the box with his feet, so that let the music be what it would I could scarcely hear a bar. It is said that seldom a day elapses without a fire in New York. This day there were not fewer than ten. At one which I witnessed, four or five houses were de- stroyed, and a fireman was killed. Most of these conflagra- tions, I heard, had their origin from squibs or crackers : and thus ended the 4th of July. So many Americans had spoken to me of the grandeur and magnificence of Broadway, some even asserting that no street in London was superior to it, that I felt very much disappointed, and think that the same comparison might have been more justly drawn with Liverpool. The shops in it certainly cannot vie with those even in the latter town ; but, in the numl)er of equipages. New York excels it, and far outvies London, or any English town, in its hackney coaches, which are so reniarkaljly neat, and even handsome, that a foreigner might be well excused for imagining them to be private carriages. Broadway is throughout the day thronged with gay vehicles and equestrians, and a perpetual stream of that convenient but li A subaltern's furlough. 145 ^< 11 comfortable London carriage, an "omnibus," not the least remarkable thing about those in New York being that (though every man affects to despise titles and rank) they are all named " Lady Clinton," " Lady Washington," " Lady Van Renselaer," and others as strangely incon- sistent. Sometimes, too, servants in half livery may be seen sitting on the box of a carriage, whose door-pannels are ornamented with a crest. This street is about three miles in length, and eighty feet in width, extending in nearly a straight line from one end of the city to the other. The streets are clean for an American city; but the ap- pearance of the cholera had caused the corporation to exert themselves in attending more closely to the cleanli- ness of them. Some wag observed, in one of the public prints, that the scavengers had actually dug down to the pavement in one or two places, and that the city was cleansed tho-roughly. »« v'^' s "s Manhattan Island, on which the city stands, and which is formed by the Hudson, the Harlaem, and East rivers, with the bay on the south, is fifteen miles in length, and from two to three in breadth. The Old Town, near the bay, much resembles an English one, but the northern part of it is as regularly laid out as Philadelphia or Wash- ington, and numbers about eighty-seven streets. The wharfs are similar to those of Philadelphia, but not quite so ragged, and extend much farther up the east than the Hudson, or North River, as it is generally called, thus de- priving the great discoverer of the honour of giving his name to the noble stream. On the south-west point of the island, overlooking the bay, is a fine public promenade, of firom 500 to 600 yards in length, and 150 in breadth, prettily laid out in walks, and planted with trees. In the evenings it is generally crowded with citizens, who as- L ^ ^ m l\ ! 146 A SUBALTERN S FURLOUGH. semble to derive the benefit from a pleasant breeze off the water, or listen to a band that frequently plays in the Castle garden, which is connected with the walk by a wooden bridge, upon which, and along the whole extent of the public walk, may be seen various Cockney anglers, of most persevering dispositions. The former promenade is called the Battery, from having in the olden timss of the Dutch settlers, or during the Revolutionary war, nrounted a few guns; and the Castle garden in a similar manner possesses no garden, nor could it ever have pos- sessed one, being a modem stone fort, with twenty-eight embrasures, built upon a solid rock, which appeared but a short distance above the water^ This being an unprofitable kind of investment of funds has been let by the Corpora- tion to a publican, who hi^s converted it to a much more profitable use, charging sixpence sterling for admission, and giving a ticket, so that the visitor may enjoy a stroll upon the upper platform of the fort, admire the view, and then call for a glass of some liquor at the bar, for which he is not charged any thing. The Battery, nevertheless, is the most pleasant promenade in New York, and far excels any thing else of the kind in America. Governor's Island, about three-quarters of a mile distant in the bay, has a lai^e stone circular fort, with three tiers of embra- sures, and is calculated for more than 100 guns at its western extremity. When I entered it through the small wicket door, I was nearly upset by a quantity of half- starved pigs, which rushed grunting up to me, as if at- tempting to gain the exterior of the fort^ and compelled me to make strenuous use of my walking-stick. The interior was little better than a stye, and in a most unfinished state. In the centre of the island, a small quadrangular fort is connected with the circular one by a covered way. 1 1 A SUBALTERN S FURLOUGH. 147 with barracks and military stores in the interior. Vast numbers of workmen were employed in facing the works with granite ; and the whole island forcibly reminded me of Washington Irving's happy description, as "resem- bling a fierce Utde warrior in a big cocked-hat, breathing gunpowder and defiance to the world." Though these works may not enhance the attractions of the scene, they do not, like the numerous poplars on the island, mar the beauty of the noble sheet of water ; and, if those who hold dominion over the island possessed any love for the picturesque, they would grub them up root and branch; for certainly, to quote the above ingenious au- (;hor again, they do look "like so many birch-brooms standing on end." On Bedlow's and Ellis's Island, as also at the Narrows (the entrance of the bay from the Atlantic), are most formidable batteries, nearly all of which are at present upon the peace establishment, as I did not see a single gun mounted, and only a few, without carriages, upon the circular fort on Governor's Island. Of the public buildings, the City Hall, containing the Supreme Court, Mayor's Court, and various public offices) situated in the park, a fine and handsome square, is the most remarkable ; and, being fironted with white marble, has a beautifiil effect when seen through the forest-trees in the park. The building is upwards of 200 feet in length, with a dome and tower surmounted by a statue of Justice. A rough stone pris >n on the right, and a building on the lefl used as a cholea hospital during my resi- dence, occupy one side of the park : this last appeared, from its large portico in front, and style of architecture, to be a church. The Merchants' Exchange in Wall Street (the Lombard Street of London) is a fine edifice, of thc; li 2 n V 14b A 8UUALTEUN 8 PURLOUOII. same material as the frunt of the City Hall. The 1)ase- ment story is occupied by the Post Oilice, and above it the Exchange, 85 feet in length, 55 in width, and 45 in height to the dome, from which it is lighted. The greater proportion of the other buildings in the street are in- surance offices, banks, and exchange offices. With regard to the charitable institutions, I can say nothing, the cholera raging so violently in some of them that it would not have been prudent to have visited them ; and strangers were refused p Omittance to the prisons for fear of im- ))arting the disease to the inmates. In the Academy of Fine Arts there was scarcely any thing which could im- press one with a favourable idea of the advance of the pictorial art in New York. The portraits were all stiff", unnatural productions, devoid of all life, and evidently from the brush of very young artists. The architectural designs, too, of which some few were displayed, were but poor and void of taste. Colonel Trumbull, some of whose efforts in the art decorate the Capitol at Washington, and who is the president of the academy, also exhibits his paintings, many of which are historical, in a separate exhibition. They are rendered particularly interesting by containing nearly 250 portraits of persons distinguished during the revolution. The rest are miniatures, and copies from celebrated artists, painted by Colonel Trum- bull when studying in England. The American engrav- ings show a great harshness and indistinctness of touch, which must ever be the case where so little encourage- ment is given to the art. One of the principal booksellers in Broadway assured me he found it exceedingly difficult to dispose of a few copies of the annuals which are got up in Boston ; the demand being only for the English. Scarcely any of the literary sketches or illustrations in the A subaltern's furlouoii. 149 former are original : the few contributions which can boast of being truly American are such as would not find a place in any British magazine. The only good specimens of lithography I ever saw in the States were by Pendleton of New York. . : . ' The Museum in the park contains some excellent spe- cimens of natural history, very well arranged. Although it cannot vie with Philadelphia in displaying such a mon- strous skeleton as the mammoth, yet it may be said to have a mammoth turtle, — such indeed as of itself would almost furiiish sufficient soup for a lord mayor's feast. It was caught off Sandy Hook, within fifteen miles of the city, by some pilots, and weighs 1000 pounds. Niblo's Gardens, in imitation of those at Vauxhall, were a great attraction to the citizens, and the arrange- ments were most admirably conducted. There was an excellent band of music, and a good display of fire-works the night I attended, with a much greater assemblage of people than I should have expected. A panorama was exhibited in one part of the building, where the visitors assembled for hearing the music. It represented the struggle of the Greeks for their liberty, and the battle of Navarino. The owner, or showman, informed us that it had been exhibited in Leicester Square; but I much doubted whether he treated his audience in London with the lecture upon the blessings of liberty with which he thought fit to favour them in New York. He represented to us in the most glowing terms and bombastic language, with the tone of a man who acts in the same capacity in a menagerie, " how the English had no right to enter the bay of Navarino ; that they were the first peace-breakers ; and, had the officers commanding the batteries at the en- trance of the bay been but for a moment aware of such an T'll'l \%\ 150 A SUOALTERN 8 FURLOUGH. intention, they would have instantaneously sunk the whole fleet." At the Bowery Theatre, which holds the second rank in the histrionic world in New York, but which in the external appearance and elegance of its interior excels that in tlie park, I saw Miss Vincent, a young American actress of great promise, perform in Goldsmith's play of " She stoops to Conquer," and the " Maid of Milan." Her talents were of a higher order than those of any Ame- rican actress I saw in the country. • i."..'*!^ .. I was mucli amused with the familiar manner in which an auctioneer, who held sales of books and prints every evening in some room', in Broadway, spoke of the execu- tive, and men in author* v, when he had occasion to make mention of their I wniled away many an idle hour in listening to his wit, and the quick repartees from some of the assembled cro^^d. One night, when he had some biographical works to dispose of, the follo^^ ing scene oc- curred. " Here," said the wag, bringing out the Life of Jackson, " who'll buy old Hickory?" — the name by which the President is generally called, from the hard wood wliich they say he rivals in toughness. " I'll give a cent for it," said some one ; " you shan't," answered the other, " I'll not let it go for twice that; I'd sooner keep it my- self:" at last it went for a quarter dollar. The next work he brought out was the Life of Clay ; " Come ! here, they ought to go together, who'll bid for our next would-be president ? he shall go for two cents." " Will- be president!" said a rough voice out of the crowd," " twenty-five cents." " Take him, then, Mr. Cash, he's yours — he's not worth half that — you'll stick in the mud before you have waded half through it." The churches in New York are handsomer edifices than A HUUALTERN 8 FURLOUQII. 151 those in the southern cities I visited, and contain some interesting monuments. St. Paul's, in the park, is one of the finest in * e States. In the interior, there is a tablet in the chancel to Sir Robert Temple, baronet, the first consul-general to the United States firom England, who died in the city ; and one to the wife of the British governor of New Jersey, who died during the revolution from distress of mind, being separated from her husband by the events of the time. In the yard, also, there is a large Egyptian obelisk of a single block of white marble, 32 feet in height, erected to Thomas Emmet, an eminent counsellor at law, and brother of the Irish orator who suffered during the rebellion. When I visited New York again, some months afterwards, one front of it was em- bellished with an emblematical representation of his for- tunes. Though it was in an unfinished state, and the canvass had not been removed from before the scaffolding, I coidd catch a glimpse of the representation of a hand, with a wreath or bracelet of shamrock round the wrist, clasping one with a similar ornament of stars, and the eagle of America sheltering the imstrung harp of Ireland. Mr. Emmet had emigrated to the States, and settled in New York, where he had acquired considerable reputation many years previous to his death. There is also another monument near it under the portico of the church to General Montgomery, who fell in the unsuccessful attack upon Quebec in 1775« This monument was erected pre- viously to the declaration of independence by the Congress ; and in 1818, when his remains were removed from Quebec to New York and interred at St. Paul's, another tablet was added recording the event ; though at tJie time great doubts were entertained whether they actually were the general's remains which were exhumed. The matter was, ■'■■i I ■:'• '),i 1.12 A BUHALTBilN H FUKLOIMIII. however, Mubscqueiitly Hct at roHt lu7oii(l n duubt, liy th< puhii(Miti(>ii of a (lertirtcnte* drawn up by the person wh«) had aetually buried the {general in the Hrst instance, and who was then livinj^ in Quebec at a very advanced age, being the only survivor of the army which served under Wolfe. Hiere is a very handsome monument near the centre of tlie church-yard, erected l)y Kean of Drury Lane Theatre to Cooke the actor. Trinity Church, which is also in Hroadway, was the oldest in the city, having been ori- ginally built in 1 (>}>(>, but destroyed by fire eighty years ailerwiu'ds, although from the circumstance of a monu- ment in the church-yard of 1 (>!)!, it appears it was used as a burial ground some time previously. Though not c;ontaining much above an acre of ground, by a moderate calculation, not fewer than ii()0,()(M) bodies have been buried in it. Of late years there have been no burials, and weeping willows with various trees have been planted, which in time will make it ornamental to the city. In one corner are the ruins of a moimment, erected but six- teen years since to Captain Lawrence, of the American navy, who fell defending his ship, the Chesapeake, against Sir P. Broke, in the Shannon. His body was taken to Halifax in Nova Scotia, and buried there with all the ho- nours of war, the pall being the American ensign sup- ported by six of the senior captains in the royal navy then in the harbour. But the Americans immediately after sent a vessel with a flag of truce to apply for the removal of the body, which being granted, it was reburied in IVinity Church-yard, and the present monument, no lasting memorial of his country's grief, erected upon the spot. It is a most shabby, economical structure, built of brick and faced with white marble. The column, of the / \ • Viili> Ai)i)pn.li\ ').. A Ml UALTIfllN H KURI.OUOil. 153 Coriiitliiuit order, \h broken Hhort, with part of the cnpitul lying ut tlic Imsc of the pedeHtul, cmhlcinutie of hin pre- mature death. Owing to the Hummit being exposed to tlu; wcuther, the ruin has gnitied admittniue into the iu- U lior of the briek-work, and lins given the eolumn a eon- HideraMu inchnatiun to one side. Some of the marble front also, with two sides of that of the pedestal, have fallen down and exposed the shabby interior. Surely sueh u man deserved a monument of more durable mute- rials. That the Americans, however, were not unmindful of the respeet paid to his remains by the British, appears from the following part of the inscription upon the mo uunient : — " His bravery in action Was only (M|iialled liy his mixlosty in triiimpli. Anil his iiiii(rnanimity to thu vamiuiNlifd. In priviitc hfc He wa8 ii K^'ntl*-'!"'!" "f tl"-' *"oM ^'cn'-roiis and t>nilcarui<,' aclinowl>'d^(!(l was his public worth Thai tliu whul<' nation iiiuurncd his loss, And the enemy r.onlenili'd with his countrymen Who most .''jtihl honour his remains." There is a monument n*ui tt ; o the memory of General Hamilton, who had r. ci m'IJ- distinction under Wash- ington, and ranked 'i.iii;h as a .^tcsrnan. He was killed in a duel by iV^:;t'' Bur le Vice-president of thu United States, w'nu ... j . ing in New York. The in- scription is as follows : — To the lUMmory of Alexander Hamilton The ( irporati.n of Trinity Church Have erer(i il this mr when the American army received so terrible a defeat from the British and Hessians under Cornwallis and Clinton, still remain upon the hill in the rear of the navy yard j and the marsh where so many were smothered in the retreat is seen from thence near the bay upon the right. Situated in a similar manner on the opposite side of the city, and across the Hudson, is Hoboken, a particularly pretty spot end great promenade and lounge for the citizens. They assemble here in great numbers, the gardens being taste- fully laid out in walks, to stroll about and to enjoy a ride upon a circular rail-road devised by some ingenious person. It is built upon frame work, raised thiee feet from the ground. The carriages which run upon it are so con- structed that those who sit in them, by turning a handle in front of the seat, keep the carriage in motion, when it it is once set off by a shght push, and urge it along with great rapidity ; being allowed to travel three times round it, three-quarters of a mile, for a shilling. However, it was a pleasure which I thought dearly earned, and very A SUBALTERN S FURLOUGH. 155 fatiguing to the arms, for those who are ambitious of speedy travelling. There are a double set of rails, and only two carriages, which take contrary directions, so that a sluggish man cannot be run over. Hoboken being in New Jersey, and out of the jurisdiction of the city," affairs of honour are generally settled under a high bank, some distance above the landing-place, where General Hamilton fell. Upon my return on^ day from this place to the city, I met a procession of several hundreds of African blacks, parading through the streets, with music and banners of their different trades and societies. The majority of them appeared to be true worshippers of Bacchus : the sailors carried some models of small vessels of war, while their band, rolling about in front, attempted to play the "British Grenadiers." All wore a yellow sash across their shoul- (Jers, and those at the head of the column, apparently the officers of the Society, were upon horseback, and equipped in frock coats, blue sashes, yellow or blue satin trowsers, making their steeds caper about, and " Witching the world with noble horsemanship." Of all dandies, the negroes in America are the most into- lerable ; a fashion, to come up to their idea of taste, cannot be too outrS ; let it be ever so ridiculous, they adopt it immediately. When I was in New York, striped trow- ser!i, kid gloves, three or four feet of guard chain for the watoh, and gold-headed canes, were the " correct thing ; " with two-thirds of the sable countenance concealed by the well-starched collar of the shirt. On Sunday afternoon, when the streets in all the cities appeared entirely given up to the African world, it was a high treat to witness the switching of canes and important strut of tlie one sex, and the affected dangling of parasols and reticules of the it:
  • prison), and joking him upon the loss of his clam supper. The Justice appeared to have less to do with the husiness than any one else ; until some one called out, " Let the squire cross-examine him." "Aye do cross -examine him^ squire." reiterated fifteen voices ; and the squire, accord- ingly, peering over the top of his spectacles, let fly a volley of " Who are you ? " " what 's your trade ? " " where are you from ?" " what l)rought you to this town ?" " where (Hd you get that note ? " " what 's your name ? " and other questions, with such amazing volubility, as if he was re- solved to confuse the prisoner with the very weight of tljem, concluding by saying, " Well, I move that this fellow be committed," and that we make up the dollar for the boy." Silver coins to the amount were immediately thrown upon the table Ijy the l)y-standers; and the squire, smiling complacently, threw himself back in his chair, with his eytis fixed upon the ceiling, quite overcome with the exertion of the prisoner's cross-examination. One man re- marked ihuT, "he had better dismiss him, for the dollar woiild stand the state in 200 dollars to prosecute." The wooden -legged man also took a most prominent and active part in tlie jokes and gil)es upon the prisoner, saying, "You richly deserve three years in Sing-Sing!" " So do you, if every rogue had his deserts," answered the man. " Very likely," said the first; "and, if I go there, I shall make special appUcation to be put in the same cell with you and I will then give you a good flogging." Soon after another party came in with one of his accomplices, a^jainst whom the first turned evidence, and was therefore ad- mitted to bail ; but, not being able to furnish it, the squire permitted him to go away on his bare promis'^ that he would return the following day, and the other culprit was delivered over to a guard of citizens, who volunteered I; ill I >'/ *(• i'JUm 1(10 A SUBALTERN S FURLOUGH. their services for the night. Although throughout the scene was ridiculous in the extreme, there were still some traits highly creditahle to the Justice and by-standers, especially in the spirit with which the collection was made for the boy, and the readiness with which they all prof- ferred to take charge of the prisoner until the morning. The town already contains nearly 10,000 inhabitants, and is increasing most rapidly ; there are at present nearly thirty cotton-mills, iron and brass foundries, in the upper part of it, with gardens so tastefully laid out, and the banks of the river kept so neat, and ornamented with weeping willows, as to compensate for the broken bridges and dirt of the lower pare of the town. It is estimated that each new mill brings an increase of 1000 to the population ; and two more were building when I visited the place. It will ere long be the Manchester of those parts, and one of the largest manufacturing towns in the Union. They have already the advantage of a rail -road and canal to transport their goods to New York and Philadelphia; and much machinery is made for exportation to the southern markets. The Passaic River is very romantic in the immediate vicinity of Patterson; but, upon inquiring where what are called the " Grand Falls" were to be seen, I was much disappointed to find that they were actually in sight, and very unimportant, the stream being diverted on three levels for the supply of the mills. There were but about 100 gallons per. minute falling over a precipice of 70 feet into a dark and narrow gulf, over which a bridge has been thrown. Souiv^ ^ew years since, an American, of the name of Patch, leaped from a spot very near it into the chasm beneath, with the intention, as was stated, of com- mitting suicide j but, finding himself without injury in the A SUBALTERN S FURLOUGH. I4t waler, he made from that time a trade by taking a similar leap from most of the falls in the States ; and at length met his death, in 1829, by striking against some sunken rocks at the falls of the Genesee, in the town of Ro- chester. The water power which these falls afford is so valuable as to produce an income of 25,000 dollars per annum to the proprietor. Having ascertained that I could not obtain any other con- veyance to Easton, on my route to the coal mines, than a heavy canal boat, which would not arrive in less than three days, although only sixty miles, I returned to New York, notwithstanding the alarming accounts of the increase of cholera, on the 1 2th of July. The city bore a very different appearance fi'om that which it presented when I had landed ten days previously, or even when I had departed for Pa- terson. At that time only the timid had fled to the watering places on the sea-coast, or the Catskill Mountains on the banks of the Hudson. Since then, every one who could afford means appeared to have followed their example. The public gardens and thontres were closed, and in many streets entire rows of houses were ucserted, their late oc- cupants having fled from the dreadful pestilence. A steam- vessel on the Hudson carried away 700 passengers at one time, and yet refused to take many who were anxious to escape. The gay shops in Broadway were closed by half past eight in the evening ; the facetious auctioneer had no audience ; and only a solitary individual was at intervals seen hurrying down the street, as if upon some urgent bysiness. The bustle of Wall Street had almost ceased, and trades'-people of every description complained that bankruptcy must certainly come upon them, if the general panic continued. The vast shoals of travellers Avho had been hurrying towards the north, to escape the more un- M m M if:' 1: H \62 A SUBALTERN S FURLOUGH. healthy climate of the south, were met here by a more dreaded enemy than even the yellow-fever, and had all returned to their homes, or betaken themselves to the springs in Virginia. The hotels were comparatively empty. The earl and countess Belmore had arrived from Jamaica for the express purpose of travelling through the United States ; but after making a stay of four or five days at the hotel, and one short excursion up the Hudson, they proceeded to England by the first packet which sailed. The Americans, I had frequent occasion to observe, are an easily excited people, and even destitute of that moral courage which is so requisite in times of personal or na- tional calamity. The panic and excitement upon this occasion were much augmented by the daily prints, which, not content with merely taking notice ot cases in round numbers, mentioned every alarming incident they could possibly collect ; and even the names, the streets^ the num- ber of the house, and the medical men who attended the {tatients, were duly inserted. As an instance of the extra- ordinary dread entertained of the malady, a respectable printer in Philadelphia committed suicide by taking a quantity of laudanum ; and said to those around him, who were attempting to save his life, that all efforts would be fruitless, and, if the physicians prepared an antidote, they could not make him take it ; that " he had heard the cholera was in Quebec, and, being thoroughly convinced that it would spread over the whole continent of Ame- rica, he liad c^me to the determination of not suffering an attack of it himself, or seeing his wife and children die before him." Unfortunately, too, a great schism pre- vailed amongst the medical men, who were either jealous of each other's practice, or disagreed in the views they took of the disease. The board of health refused to pub- A SUB iLTERN 8 FURLOUGH. w lish the reports of cases sent in by an eminent practitioner in the city, who had proceeded to Quebec upon the first appearance of the cholera there, to ascertain the nature of it. This so incensed him that he withdrew his name from amongst the members composing the board ; and, others refusing to make any returns, an order was issued by those in power that any medical man who did not make a return of cases should be fined forty dollars. It was hoped, too, that the fear of this penalty would act as a check upon the quack doctors (or steam doctors, as the Americans call them), who flocked into the city frora all quarters, and put in practice the system from which they derive their name — ^hot-baths and cayenne pepper for every complaint, from a cold and sore throat to the yellow-fever. The same difference of opinion pervaded even the acts of Congress, who, ever jealous of the Pre- sident's authority, could not come to any decision about appointing a day of fast and humiliation. The motion had been made to apply to the President to order a day ; but it was rejected, some members contending that the Pre- sident had no right to order a fast, and that the observance of one was optional with every one. The President, in an- swer to an application from the Committee of the Genera! Synod in New York, for the appointment of a general fast, said, " I am constrained to decUne the designation of any period or mode as proper for the pubUc manifesta- tion of this reliance. I could not do otherwise without transcending the limits prescribed by the constitution for the President, nor without feeling that I might in some degree disturb the security which religion now enjoys in this country, in its complete separation from the political concerns of the general government. " It is the province of the pulpits, and the state tribunals, M 2 « - ■•I '•:'>'>' M'li!' Tlic flying rnmours gathered as they roU'd, Scarce any tale was sooner heard than told ; And all who told it added something new, And all who heard it made enlargements too ; In ev'ry ear it spread, on ev'ry tongue it grew. Thus flying east and west, and north and south, News travelled with increase from mouth to mouth. PoPB. Satire lashes vice into reformation. Drvden. ni\ Mrs. Trollope states, in her " Domestic Manners of the Americans," that much angry feehng was excited throughout the United States by the appearance of Cap- tain Hall's travels in that country; probably but little imagining that she herself as an authoress should give such umbrage to the republicans, and that the gallant Captain's works should sink into comparative insignifi- cance before her lashing pen. It was during my resi- dence in New York that her first publication was reprinted, and the commotion it created amongst the good citizens is truly inconceivable. The Tariff and Bank Bill were ali'^e forgotten, and the tvig of war was hard, whether the " Domestic Manners," or the cholera, which burst upoa IGS A SUBALTER>f's FURLOUGH. them simultaneously, should be the more engrossing topic of conversation. At every corner of the street, at the door of every petty retailer of information for tlie people, a large placard met the eye with) " For sale here, with plates, ])omestic Manners of the Americans, by Mrs. Trollope." At every table d'hAte, on board of every steam-boat, in every stage* coach, and in all societies, the first question was, " Have you read Mrs. Trollop : ?" And one half of the people would be seen with a red or blue half-bound volume in their hand, which you might vouch for being the odious work; and the more it was abused the more rapidly did the printers issue new editions. I never could ascertain the reason why the American edition appeared without the name of its publisher : whether it arose from the fear of subjecting himself to serious con- sequences for printing a work which spoke so unfavour- ably of his country, or that he was ashamed of publicly acknowledging the preface, in which he laboured to prove that Mrs. TroUope and Captain "All" (as he was face- tiously pleased to write the name, as being the true English pronunciation) were one and the same person, — an opinion which soon gained ground, and I was assured by many intelligent people that there was not the slightest doubt but " that Captain Hall had written every word of it ; Mrs. Trollope might probably have furnished notes for it, but certainly nothing more ; no one who had read the two works, and observed the great similarity of expression and opinions, could for a moment doubt the author's identity, and every one was well aware that he had been sent out by the Quarterly Review." Never were two poor authors so abused: every newspaper for two months teemed with some violent remarks, and personalities. A SUBALTERN 8 FURLOUGH. IGO which were substituted tor refutations, thus apparently verifying the yvAice of the saying, that " Blunt truths more mischief than nice falsehoods do ;" ncT was this kind of criticism confined merely to editors of daily newspapers j but even people who had some pre- tensions to literary talent fell into the same error. Mr. Dunlap, in his late history of the American stage, confi- dently states that Captain Hall was the author of the work in question; and Mr. Paulding, who ranks high as an author amongst his countr^rmen, in his late novel of " Westward Ho ! " exerts himself, as much as possible, to hold up Captain Hall to the ridicule of the Americans, merely because he differs in opinion from them; forget- ting that " 'Tis with our judgments as our watches, rrone Go just alike, yet each believes his own." Though the extract I allude to is long, yet I transcribe it, as serving two purposes ; one to show the soreness of the Americans, and the other to give a specimen of -the Western provincialisms. "Well, then. Captain, if he won't sing, suppose you tell us another story," quoth Cherub Spooney. " Ay, do now. Captain ; tell us the story of the strange cretur you picked up going down the river," said another. "Ah! now do, Massa Cappin Sam," quoth Blackey. "Well, I'll tell you how it was. We had hauled in the Broad-horn close ashore to wood j wind was up stream, so we couldn't make much headi^^ay any how. Bill told the nigger to cook a few steaks off Clumsy — that was what we called the bear I shot the day be fore. Well, while we were a-wooding — " " That story 's as long as the Mississippi," said one. 'I If I'l'i m V.' m 1 V ii IS tS'i 170 A SUBALTERN S FURLOUGH. " Shut pan, and sing dumb, oi I'll throw you into the drink," exclaimed Spooney. " Why, I heard that story before." •' Well, supposing you did, I didn't, go on, Cap- tain." " Well, as I was saying, Spoon, the nigger — " *^ I tink he might call 'um gemman of colour," muttered Blackey. "The nigger went to cook some bear while we were wooding, so that we might have something to go upon. When we came back, what kind of a varment do you think we started in the cane-brake ? " " I reckon an alligator," said Blackey. " Hold your tongue, you beauty, or you shall smell brimstone through a nail hole," cried Spooney; "go a-head, go a-head. Captain." " Well, as I was saying, we started the drollest varment, perhaps, you ever did see. Its face was covered with hair, like a bull buffalo, all but a little place for his eyes to see through. It looked mighty skeery, as though it thought itself a gone-sucker, and calculated we were going to eat it, before we killed it; but we carried it aboard the Broad- horn, and took compassion on the poor thing. I slapped it on the back, and told it to stand on its hind legs, and I wish I may run on a sawyer if it did'nt turn out to be a live dandy." "Had it a tail?" " I'll wool lightning out of you. Bill, if you interrupt me." "That's actionable in New Orleans." " Ha, ha, ^vrhoop ! wake snakes — go a-head, go a-head, and don't be so rantankerous," shouted the audience. " I swear, if he once gets my tail up, he'll find I'm firom A SUBALTERN S FURLOUGH. 171 the forks of the roaring river, and a bit of a screamer," said Captain Hugg. " Well, go a-head — go a-head, — teU us about the dandy — ^ha ! ha ! ha ! I should like to have seen it when it stood on its hind legs — ^what did it say ? " "Why, I asked what they called such queer things where it came from, and it sud Basil; and that the Cap- tain of the steam-boat had put it ashor^ because it insisted on going into the ladies' cabin. — Well, some of us called it summer savory, some catnip, some sweet Basil, and we had high fun with the cretur, and laughed till we were tired. And then we set him on a barrel forked end down- wards." " Yough ! yough ! yough ! " ejaculated Blackey, burst- ing into one of his indescribable laughs. " No laughing in the ranks there — throw that nigger overboard, if he laughs before I come to the right place, and then you may all begin. Well, then, I began to ask him all about himself,' and he told me he was a great tra- veller, and that he had been so far north that the north- star was south of him ; and then he asked me if I knew any thing of naArigation and the use of the globes. " To be sure I do," said I, " aint they made for people to live in?" Then he inquired if I ever heard of Herschel, or Hisshel, I forget which, and I told him I knew him as well as a squirrel knows a hickory-nut from an acorn.** " He's dead," said the queer cretur. " No, no," says I, " that won't do, there 's no mistake in Shavetail, you may swear. I saw a pedlar with some splendid sausages made of red flannel, and turnips, go by our house, and I changed with him some wocden bacon hams. He comes from Litchfield, where Herschel lived, and iV^ ■till «'.'fi mk Tt; 172 A SUBALTERN 8 FURLOUGH. didn't say a word about it. Here he made a note in his book, and I begun to smoke him for one of those fellows that drive a sMt of a trade of making books about old Ken- tuck and the western country ; so I thought I'd set him barking up the wrong tree a little, and I told him some stories that were enough to set the Mississippi a-fire ; but he put them all down in his book. One of my men was listening, and he sung out, " Well, Sam, you do take the rag off the bush, that 's sartin ; " and I was fearful dandy would find out I was smoking him, so I jumped up, and told Tom a short horse was soon curried, and I'd knock him into a cocked hat if he said another word, and that broke up the conversation. *^Next morning we stopped to wood a little below New Madrid, and the dandy who seemed one of the curiousest creturs you ever saw, and was poking his nose every where, like a dog smelling out a trail, went with me a little way into a cane-brake, where we met a woman living under a board-shed, with four or five children. Dandy asked her if she was all alone ; she said her husband had gone up to Yellow Banks to look for better land. Then he wanted to know what she had to eat, and she said, nothing but sweet pumpkins. " What, no meat ? " said he. " No, nothing but sweet pumpkins." Well," said dandy, " I never saw any thing half so bad as this in the old countries," and then he put his hand in his pocket, and ga\ j her a pickatlon. " Thank you," said she, " as I am a living woman, I 've tasted no meat for the last fort- night — nothing but venison and ynld turkey." The d — 1 you ha'int," said Dandy j and wanted to get the pickatlon back again. What a wild-goose of a fellow, not to know that « A SUBALTERN M FURLOLGH. m nothing is called meat in these parts but salt-pork and beef. He 's a pretty hand to write books of travels," said Spooney. *' I wish I may be forced to pass the old sycamore root up stream twice a day, if I'd give the Mississippi navi- gator for a whole raft of such creturs." " But what did you do with him at last, Captain ? " said another. • " Why, I got tired of making fun of the ring-tail roarer, and happening to meet the steam boat Daniel Boone, Captain Lansdale, coming down stream, just as she had smashed a broad horn, and the owner was sitting on the top of it, singing. ** Hail Columbia, happy land> Ifla'intruin'drilbe ," I persuaded the Captain to let the Dandy come on board again, on his promising to keep out of the ladies' cabin — So we shook hands; and "I wish I might be smash 'd too if I wouldn't sooner hunt such a racaoon than the fattest buck that ever broke bread in old Kentuck." This is but a mild specimen of the bitter feeling which was exhibited against the gallant Captain; and I sincerely give it as my opinion that neither he nor Mrs. Trollope could with safety make their personal appearance again in the United States. Never was there so extremely sensitive a person as brother Jonathan. He lashes himself into a violent rage, if any one doubts that his own dear land is not the abode of all that is estimable. Mere approval will not do for him ; it must be the most unqualified approba- tion ; and he thinks he is in duty bound to consider any national reflection a personal insult, and to resent it accord- ingly. Thus it has ever been in his wars with England, A "( H' 174 A SUBALTERN S FURLOUGH. which were carried on with greater animosity than any of our continental struggles. Thus, also (to descend to minor affairs), can alone be explained their conduct towards Kean, Anderson, and others, where the whole nation resented wliat was only a private quarrel. Although I should not wish to identify myself with Mrs. Trollope's opinions and sentiments, inasmuch as she evidently is a writer who, in drawing a tolerable likeness, has given a broad caricature of the Americans, and most unjustly impressed those who have not visited the United States with the imagination that no gen- tlemen are to be met with there, yet I must think her " Domestic Manners" will do good amongst a certain class of people. The effects h^ji even begun to show themselves before I quitted the country ; and I record the following anecdote, in order that, if these poor pages ever meet rhe eye of the witty and much abused authoress, she may con- gratulate herself on having already worked a partial reform. When Miss Kemble made her first appearance at the Paik Theatre in New York, the house was crowded to excess : and a gentleman in the boxes, turning round between the acts of the play to speak to some one who sat in the bench behind him, displayed rathe more of his back to the pit than was thought quite orthodox. This was no sooner observed than a low murmer arose amongst the insulted part of the audience, which presently burst forth into loud cries of "Trollope!" TroUope!" "turn him out," "throw him over," &c.f and continued for several minutes, accom- panied by the most discordant noises, until the offend- ing person assumed a less objectionable position. I will bear witness that I have frequently seen as much want of decorum in our theatres as I ever did in the American ; and think that our bar-rooms and ordinaries in country A SIJBALTBRN 8 PURLOUGil. 175 : inns, and passengers on a stage-coach, might with as much justice be taken as samples by which a foreigner might form his estimate of English gentlemen as the inmates of steam- vessels, canal-bonts, and lodging-houses, should be of American gentlemen. That the Americans generally have many unpleasant customs, no sensible man in the country will deny ; and if ringing the changes upon to- I>acco chewing and smoking, dram-drinking, and spitting, perpetually in their ears, will be of any service towards working a reformation, no English traveller will ever spare them; and no man could have more strongly expressed his abhorrence of such filthy habits than I did during my sojourn in the States. Though the long extract I have given from Mr. Pauld- ing's work should be considered as a good specimen of western provincialisms, yet not an American, let him be Yankee or Southerner, from the banks of the Hudson or the Mississippi, but flatters himself that he speaks more correct English than we illiterate sons of the mother isle. If you ask a Canadian in what part of the globe the purest French is spoken, he will reply, " upon the shores of the St. Lawrence," and assign as the reason for such being the case that a patois was introduced in the old country when the canaille gained the ascendancy during the Re- volution of 1792, and that the correct language falling, with the princes and nobles, Canada alone, which has not been subject to any such convulsions, retains the language in its original purity. Incredible as it may appear, I was frequently told by casual acquaintance in the States, " Well, I should have imagined you to be an American, you have not got the English brogue, and aspirate the letter h, when speaking." And once I was actually told, by a fellow-passenger in the stage-coach from Alexandria m ft' m \7(i A SUBALTKRN S PURLOVOII. to Winchester, " Really I should never have thought you to be from the old country, you pronounce your wordr so well, and have not got the turn-up nota!" This same " tuni-up nose," somewhat approaching to the pug, is, I find, one of the characteristic marks of an English- man in American eyes ; and they apply the term " Cock- ney " as indiscriminately to us as we do that of " Yankee" to them. Whatever may be their opinion of the manner in which we natives of Great Britain speak the mother- tongue, I can affirm that the nasal twang, which Americans of every class possess in some degree, is very grating and disagreeable to the ears of an Englishman. ' ... 1 '■■'■■ ii 1:1 .»> J "1 . I ;f , r »' ) A (tUUAI.i'UKN'il KUULUUUII. hi if I. ', ■• • ' ■•' ;i ' ; ; CHAP. XI. i . Lady Charlotte. I wntit nnnc of ynur cxplanttiunii — (scornfully.) GaRRIL'K. Taking advantage of a bright morning sun, so that I might enjoy a view of surrounding objects, I embarked on board the Superior steam-vessel, on East River, for Newhaven in Connecticut. I departed firom New York rather sooner than even the unhealthy state of the place would have urged, being fearful that if I remained there many days longer an opportunity would not occur of leaving the city, as many steam-vessels had discontinued making their usual trips, from the long quarantii imposed upon them in some ports, and from the decrease in the number of passengers. The most conspicuous objects on the banks of the East River are the two large stone build- ings of the Almshouse at Belle- Vue, which contain firom 1200 to 1500 inmates. Amongst them the cholera was making most frightful ravages, principally owing to the impaired constitution of the patients ; and at this time upwards of thirty were dying daily. A sliort distance further a penitentiary is erecting upon an island, for the cr finement ui prisoners under sentence of two year? or a L 'S period, it is a very narrow, long, i ■m ;|fi % l/H A SUn.VI.TERN 8 FURLOUGH. I tasteless piece of architecture, with two wings so closely studded with innumerable windows (no broader than the loop-holes of an old castle) hs to give it a most ungraceful appearance. Its future occupants were busily employed in its construction ; and were closely watched by an overseer, who was pacing to and fro, upon a lofty wooden platform, lest any one should attempt to escape into the bushes. Opposite to the upper end of the island are some hand- some country residences on the mainland ; and also the entrance to Hell-Gate, or, as in this age of refinement it is called. Hurl Gate. It being ebb-tide, the water was rushing with great violence over the Hog's Back and Gridiron, and boiling and tossing about in a furious trou- l)le in the Pot and Frying Pan. These eddies have been most aptly named, and were to be distinguished at a great distance : tliey act in part as a guard against the entrance of vessels into the harbour, end batteries were also erected some few years since on the point of land v hich form the gate to niake the pass more secure. The depth of water is ample, as two French ships of war, when blockaded by the British off New York in 1810, made their escape through the gate into the sound. It is a dangerous and intricate navigation for sailing craft at all times of tide, and part of a small vessel was visible above water when we ran through, and was lying on some huge masses of rock in the centre of the gate. It is in contemplation to exca- vate a canal across the peninsula, from Pot to Hallet's Cove, of sufficient depth to admit Une-of-battle ships ; the estimated expense being about 1 50,000 dollars for a canal of 28 feet in depth and 1.S7 in breadth at the top. After running thirty miles amongst innumerable islands, and keeping along the continental shore, the sound be- came so broad that Long Island was but indistinctly seen. A SUBALTERN S FURLOUGH. 17» Having touched at several small towns, we arrived at Newhaven, eighty-six miles from New York, in six hours and a half. The town, having some high bluff rocks rising at the back of it, is situated at the head of a bay of con- siderable extent, which affords an excellent shelter from the sea, and a small battery, dignified with the appellation of Fort Hale, occupies a point about two miles up the bay. When within half a mile of the pier, the steamer was boarded by a health officer, who expressed himself satisfied with the Captain's word that there were no cho- lera cases on board ; so, being permitted to land, I pro- ceeded to an hotel in a large square called the Green, about three-quarters of a mil" in circumference. It has three churches in a line near the centre of it, and at a short distance in another line a state house (which is almost a fac simile of the Philadelphian ba.ik) and a Me- thodist chapel ; while the opposite side of the square is occupied by the lai'j»e brick buildings of the Yale College. The square, as also the streets of the town (which contains 11,000 inhabitants) are planted with fine elm trees, which keep them, however, exceedingly wet and dirty. The col- lege has fouA houses for the lodging of the students, two chapels, and a Lyceeum (in which are the recitation rooms), and possesses an excellent library'. It was commenced in 1 700, by the recommendation of eleven of the principal ministers of neighbouring towns, who had been ap])ointed to adopt such measures as they shoidd deem fit for the regulation of a college. Its first commencement was held at Saybrook in 1702, and removed to Newhaven in 1717- The Hon. Elihu Yale, Governor of the East India Com- pany, being its principal benefactor, his name was bestowed upon it. It is considered one of the best colleges in the N 2 ^•'''i'k ISO A Mi'llALTKUN N ITHLOI'llll. StutoN, mxl tVoin I'oui* to five hiitidrcd younfr men Ntudy nt it Tho (Jrocn wnn usc A HniAi.TRiiN N Krni.ni'dii liriilKCN, whirh roniiuct th« two towiiN ; wlioro the iitrimni in roiiNiilcrahly ('(intnu'tcMl hy the |)i(>rN which hnvo hroti Ihniwii out, hui iinnirthiUcly nhovc (horn it (>x|mii(lN tiKiiiii into n lino cove or hay of htilf n mile in width, witii neut. houNON ciH'iri'liiiK •!• 'I'he town, eontuitiin^ hetwoen l«»,(M)() nixi l7«y Willintn Coddingion ill l(i:iH ; Hii(i ill !(>(>:{ n royiil rhnrtcr wnw granted to them l»y (MinrlcN 11., which gdvernti the ntniv. to thi« day, there hciiig no written coiiHtitution an in the other Ntaten of the Union. The election for governor was taking place during tlie time I wun in the State, and the voting wom vM voce. The Mtreets of tlio town arc kept very clean, and the private dweUingN are generally remarkably neat and elegant. The Arcade \h alno a handNomo Htructure, nearly JftO feet in length, with two frontN supported by six intiNNive coluniiiN of granite, the 8haft of each ])ciiig a Mingle block from '22 to 21 feet high. The interior con- HiHts of three tiers of Hhopn, and the balconies are pro- tected by a highly onmniental iron baluntradc. During my stay in Providence, a Htcamer arrived from New York with passcngcrN, who had not been allowed to land at Newport on the sea-coast, nor would the autliori- ties permit them to enter I'rovidencc, unless they per- formed (quarantine three days ; but gave them full permis- sion at the same time to land elsewhere on the river's banks, on condition that they did not enter the town in less than ten days, which if they set aside, they would be subject to a heavy penalty, whereas I had entered by land without any questions being asked, or any one appearing to trouble himself about the stage-coach passengers. The road from Providence to Bristol, at the head of the Nai'aganset Bay, is through a pleasing open country ; but the crops every where appeared exceedingly poor : many indeed were scarcely worth gathering, and would appa- rently not yield more than six bushels per acre. The principal produce of the land in the immediate vicinity of Bristol was onions, which are shipped off in vast quanti- l M 1 I Si a ! ■;!^ 1 jf y? 1 I'l ' 1 11 4'^ li; % \v I})2 A SUBALTERN 8 FURLOUGH. ties to New York and other large ports in the States. Though the day I travelled between the towns was a fine hay-making day, yet the road was thronged with the farmers who were riding in to vote for the governor's election. It was one in which great interest was taken, there being three candidates for the office (one of whom was supported by the Anti-masons) ; and, it being requisite that the successful one should have a majority of the whole number of votes, the two former elections had failed, and I saw afterwards by the public prints that even the third, and, I believe, the fourth, had also been unsuccessful in appointing one. Two miles below Bristol, the passengers cross from the mainland to Rhode Island, over an arm of the bay three-quarters of a mile wide, in a ferry-boat, Avorked by four horses, who tread upon a horizontal wheel which is connected with the paddles, and impel the boat rapidly through * water. It wps blowing rather fresh, and, there being a c nsiderable swell, the poor animals could with great difficulty keep on their legs. A short distance to the left of the Ferry is Mount Hope, a conical hill, with a small summer-house on the summit. It was there that King PhiUp, of the Naraganset tribe of Indians, a brave and intrepid warrior, fell, through the treachery of one of his own tribe, who guided Captain Church with a detachment of soldiers to his place of encampment in 1676. He was a most inveterate enemy of the whites, and at one time seriously endangered the very existence of these colonies. After his death resistance, with any prospect of success, was perceived by the Indians to be hopeless, and the tribes on the shores of the Atlantic, one by one, submitted to the sway of the English. During the three years' war waged by Philip against the A SUBALTERN S FURLOUGH. 198 colonies, the flower of their strength had fallen, " Every eleventh family was houseless, and every eleventh soldier had sunk to his grave." The island is hilly, but all the ground is in a state of cultivation, and there are many large and excellent farms scattered on the sides of the road. The one which had attained the highest state of cultivation was the property of an English gentleman, who had been settled there only a few years, and had chosen a pretty retired spot, near the water's edge, for his house and gardens. Twelve mUes from the Ferry, we arrived within sight of Newport, on the opposite side of the island ; it is situated on the side of an eminence rising gradually from the head of a circular bay, which affords a most capacious and excellent harbovir. Just as we arrived at some old-fashioned and dirty, but picturesque, windmills at the entrance to the town, a rope stretched across the road, with a sentry box at one end of it, and two citizens on guard with larse pine sticks in their hands, brought us to a halt, and one of them began to cross-examine me (being the only passenger) with the air of a man " Drest in a little brief authority," as to where I came from ; and, upon hearing I had quitted New York six days previously, he informed me that I could not enter Newport until I had been ten days absent from that city. All my remonstrances that I had travelled through two entire States, and visited the principal towns in them since I had left it without any objections being raised, were of no avail. He proffered me a Testament, saying, he shoxUd have no objection to pass me in, if I would take an oath that I had been absent the length of time required ; which begging to decline doing, I had no o , ftt' ♦fS: 194 A SUBALTERN S FURLOUGH. alternative but to jump off the coach, which immediately proceeded into the town. The citizen sentry then produced a dirty scrap of paper on which he requested me to write my name and place of abode. I then sounded him, to discover whether he would allow me to walk through the town for the purpose of seeing it, promising that I would return again in three hours ; but the law of parole was quite unin- telligible to him : he was obstinate and faithful to his trust, saying that, for his own part, " he did not fear me : he would as soon sleep with me as not ; but the inhabitants — old an.d young, men and women, were tamationly fright- ened." I thanked him for his good will, and began to reconnoitre the outskirts of the place over a stone wall which flanked the road : but I suppose he imagined I had some intention of skulking in during the night; for he hinted slightly that there was a penalty of 100 dollars if any one was discovered entering the town privily. A crowd of men and boys had begun to collect by this time, and, thinking it more than probable that they might hunt me down as they would a mad dog, I began to retrace my steps towards Bristol. After proceeding a mile upon the road, I turned across the fields to an old redoubt on the summit of a hill, which overlooked the bay, and sat down to admire the scene, the beauty of which might probably have been heightened from the circumstance of my not being allowed to take a closer survey of it. It had been a kind of promised land to me from the time I had quitted New York ; and I huJ thought with pleasure of treading over the spots which had been the scenes of so much real as well as fictitious life. The town appeared calculated for 6000 or 7000 inhabi- tants, and built round a circular bay, fronting the south- west, the houses rising in amphitheatrical form from the ■ \ It A A SUBALTERN S FURLOUGH. J 95 water up to the summit of a range of heights, which skirted the bay at a quarter of a mile distance, while, on the various points and headlands, the lofty white columns of the light-houses reared themselves on high, and every commanding position was covered with dark frowning batteries and forts. The distant hills on the opposite side of the bay were dimmed with that light base so peculiar to southerly winds in a warm climate, and, over and above them, might be seen the dark blue waves fading away in the distance, until both sea and sky were blended into one. The very redoubt upon which I had taken my station had been in turn possessed by contending armies; and every foot of ground, as far as the eye could reach, had been severely contested. It was here that the British army, under General Pigot, might have been captured, but for the want of energy on the part of the French Admiral D'Estaing, who failed to co-operate in the attack of the American General Sullivan in August 1778. The same bay, too, had been the principal scene in the " Red Rover," one of Cooper's most interesting novels ; and now there were two vessels lying at anchor in it, which, though probably not possessing so much attraction as the Rover's ship and the Bristol merchantman, were by no means devoid of interest. One of them was a packet ship which had sailed from New York only a few days previously, boimd for Europe, with a cargo of cotton, and many passengers ; but had taken fire at sea, and put into Newport for assistance. Arriving there after the cargo had been on fire twelve hours, the inhabitants, with the same feeling of humanity which induced them to arrest travellers in their progress l)y land, would not allow a single passenger to come on shore, though there had not been any symptoms whatever of disease on board, but solely because they had not been O 2 : i If m It! m r I w IU6 A SUBALTERN S FURLOUGH. ten days absent from New York. They had, however, 1 must dp them the justice to say, sufficient good feeUng still remaining to attempt extinguishing the fire, and, several engines being put on board lighters, six feet of water was thrown into the hold, the passengers being rescued from the suffocating heat by a brig which received them on board. A few days after, a steamer arrived from New York for the purpose of towing the injured vessel back again to port ; and, her fuel being exhausted, the crew were not allowed to land at Newport for a fresh supply. To this conduct, that at Newhaven may serve as a set-off, where the gates were open to every one, and the ladies, with that charitable feeling for which American females are so distinguished, sent upwards of 1200 suits of clothes, in addition to a sum of money, for the use of the poor people at Montreal, in Lower Canada, upon the first breaking out of the disease in that city. It appears to be the intention of the American Govern- ment to render the harbour impregnable. Fort Adams, which is building upon a point of land, and conr "cted with the town by a narrow neck, was commenced five years since, and is likely to take three more to finish it, though 300 workmen are kept in employ : the annual expenditure upon it is nearly 100,000 dollars. Fort Woolcott is situated upon an island in the centre of the harbour, between Fort Adams and the town. There is another fort upon Rose Island, a short distance above the town, at the entrance to the Naraganset River; while a fourth occupies a rocky point called the Dumplings, at the entrance to the bay, opposite to Fort Adams. The town is a fashionable watering place for the southern people, there being a most extensive and beautiful beach upon the opposite side of the neck to that upon which the town is built, and having A SUBALTERN 8 FURLOUGH. 197 the additional luxury of a fine sea breeze, which sets in during the summer months from about nine in the morn- ing until sun-set. The surrounding country is rather devoid of trees, a complaint which a traveller will not often have to make in America, but so many are rising up round the pretty re- sidences in the vicinity of the town that in a few years it will be a most attractive place. After making one or two almost ineffectual attempts at talcing a sketch of the town, against which I believe there was neither pain nor penalty attached, I again rose, having rested myself for two hours in gazing upon the scene, and, regaining the road, proceeded on my journey, almost wicked enough to wish that the cholera might pay the inhabitants of New- port a visit, in return for their inhospitable conduct to travellers, and those who were seeking a place of refuge. After a hot walk of six miles, I arrived towards sunset at a small tavern on the road-side, where I could obtain a supper and a bed. The following morning, the 19th of July, I took the coach, and proceeded through the village of Portsmouth (where some coal mines had been worked the preceding year, but which were closed again, the produce being only a sort of anthracite, or worst description of coal) to the N. E. ex- tremity of the island. Keeping along a narrow neck of land, which is overflowed at spring-tides, we crossed the Seaconnet to the mainland, by a pier 600 yards in length, with a draw-bridge in the centre for the navigation of ves- sels into Mount Hope Bay. To guard the pass, a small block-house and breastwork have been thrown up at the Rhode Island end of the pier ; and the heights above the small village, at the opposite side, are covered with old revolutionary redoubts. After ascending these heights, a I. (■;*.. % I ':■} 'it 198 A SUBALTERN H FURLOUGH. splendid view presents itself of Mount Hope, the nu- merous creeks and rivulets of Naraganset Bay, the town of Bristol, with many villages and white cottages inter- spersed amongst the trees, the country for a distance of fifty miles being varied with every kind of landscape. From the Seaconnet, we passed through a broken and uninteresting country, to the small town of Tiverton, where are manufactories of printed calicoes; and a few miles farther to Fall River, another manufacturing place of flourishing appearance. By the time we had arrived there, the heat of the sun was so oppressive that I sought shelter from its rays within the coach, and placed myself in the centre seat opposite to an elderly and a young Quaker, as the former was saying, " Young men can be convinced — their opinions are not yet formed — they have no preju- dices, no conflicting interests, to contend with. But old men like me are quite the reverse j they have formed their opinions, and will not change them, neither will they listen to the voice of reason, and I truly think there are not twelve old men in Fall River who rank on the anti-slavery side." In expectation of hearing something interesting, I paid particular attention to the following conversation : — " More than that,'' said the young man. " Not more than twelve decided opponents to slavery," answered the other. There are plenty of thy lukewarm characters — men who, if thou ask them the question direct, will say, ' let it be done by degrees ; not while we live.' Now, go to a school of children, say 100, and represent slavery to them in its true light ; they will all cry out, * let it be abolished im- mediately;' but thy old men say, *Oh! it is as with a drunkard, if he abstain from drinking too suddenly, he will surely die : no ! it must taper off" by degrees, as it were." * A subaltern's furlough. 199 as " Well, and they are right in havmg their own opinions upon the subject," said a i^harp-featured, dark, ard aged, but fiery-looking man, who sat next to me, " aid not submitting to the sentiments of every itinerant preacher they hear." " But they know nothing of slavery ; now, I have seen plenty of it." "Where?" " Why, in Maryland, in Columbia, and in Virginia." " But have you seen it in Carolina ?" « No, I have not." " Then you know nothing about it, nor have you any idea what slavery is." " What ! its miseries and horrors ?" " Miseries ! No ! — its pleasures and its happiness." "Pleasures?" " Yes, pleasures ; they are much happier and more con- tented than you and I ; they have not half the cares and anxieties we have. Have not we our families to care and provide for? And these negroes, too, require and enjoy protection ; they are a poor helpless race of beings, who do not possess sufficient natural sense to take care of themselves; witness those who were manumitted after the revolution, and those again of Colonel 's, just above here; are they not wandering about, the greatest rogues and vagabonds in the State, without attempting to earn a livelihood ? " " Pho ! all men were created equal ,- and they have the same claims to freedom "s we have." " No, Sir, as one star above diiFereth from another in splendour and magnitude," said a httle, shrill-toned old woman, with a face like a dried cabbage, in the rear, " so do mankind on earth ; some men are created witli abun- 0' ^i aoo A 8UUALTEHN S KURLOUOil. 5|: il dance of talents, and others with noiie ; there's for you, Sir!" " No, Madam, we all sprung from one man, we are all of the same family : no one was born subject to the other, and the first man doubtless was black/' " Black ! " reiterated half a dozen voices at once. " Copper-coloured, thou shouldst say," said the young Quaker. " Heavens, black !" screamed the old lady ; " how is it, then, that they are so much changed ?" " Why, Cuffee says * dat, ben Cain kill de brodder Abel, de massa cum — an he say, ' Cain, whar you a brodder Abel ? ' Cain say, * I don't know, massa.' He cum gin an say, * Cain, whar you a brodder Abel ? ' Cain say, ' I don't know, massa ;' but the nigger kno'ed all de time. Massa now get mad, cum gin, peak mity sharp dis time, * Cain, you nigger, whar you a brodder ? ' Cain now get fritin, and he turn all over pale as a sheet ;' but I know not, madam, nor do I pretend to know, nor to be able to explain the true reason." " They are poor helpless beings," said the old woman ; ** they require protectors and have them." " A nigger i& a nigger," said the dark man — " Aye, a ni^er 's a nigger," said the Quaker, " and a hog's a hog, but a man need not be black to be a nigger." " Fleecy locks and skina of jet " Do not forfeit Nature's claim : Skins may differ '' " Oh, you may talk and preach," said the black man, *' but it's of no use ; all your logic and philosophy are qvute lost upon me ; my opinion is formed, and you know no- thing about the matter. I have lived at Charleston four- teen years, and had as many as eleven or twelve vessels oil A SUBALTERN 8 FUULOUOII. 201 the coast of Africa, purchasing and selling slaves, so 1 ought to know something about it." The Quaker was evidently struck dumb at this, and gave a kind of involuntary shudder ; no one uttered a word, but all looked hard at the slaver, and even I scanned his coun- tenance closely. I fancy myself (as do many others) something of a physiognomist j but my scrutiny produced nothing, for his features betokened neither cruelty nor any vicious propensity. The dead silence was at last broken by the old lady saying to the last speaker, whose counte- nance she had been examininr; over my shoulder for some time, " Are you Mr. S ?" « Yes, Ma'am !" " Ah! how do you do ? Many's the dollar's worth I have bought of you. Don't you remember Miss , that used to be ? It is thirty-five years since we met j' and the old crones renewed their recollections of days long gone Ijy. The Quaker sunk back in his seat, and leaning his head against the coach mused for some minutes, when the con- versation flagging he rallied again with — "But, friend, I have made converts in every town I have visited — " " Converts ! aye, you might make converts for any thing now ; such is the march of mind that every one thinks himself wiser than his father, and any thing now, however mad or absurd the scheme may be, is eagerly swallowed. Why, you might convert one half the human race to mur- der the other, if you would but propose it: any mad scheme finds numerous converts. A few years since, at Bristol here, a man was considered worse than a heretic if he was not a Mason, and now, such is the change in peo- ple's sentiments, and Anti-masonry is carried to such a pitch, that they would cut every Mason's throat for a mere trifle—" 4 ' i m 1 i '!! I' 202 A SUBALTERN 8 FURLOUGH. " I have heard as much upon the other side of the ques- tion," answered the Quaker, " and with some truth I be- lieve" (alluding to Morgan*). This was evidently touch- ing upon a tender point, for the dark man did not say any thing. The Quaker now addressed himself to the young man, saying, "Thou hast read Qamsin's work on Colo- nization?" ^ ; . . . « No, I have not." " They might as well give them arsenic at once as send them there," again commenced the slaver. " Aye, now I like to converse with thee upon a subject on which both agree — " " I never substitute theory for practice, nor talk about things I do not understand — ** " But thou wast talking of Liberia, Friend !" " Well, I said it was murder to send the negroes there : the settlement is located on the worst spot of the whole coast of Africa ; they are poor helpless beings, and when they arrive there they are not inured to the climate, and * William Morgan was a printer, residing at Batavia in the state of New York, and published what have been called the secrets of masonry, being him- self a member of tliat society. A short time ailer the appearance of his pamphlet he was missing, and nothing certain respecting his fate is known to this day. It was ascertained, upon the trial of some suspected persons, that ho had been carried away by force from his house during the night, and was subsequently confined in a block-house within the fort of Niagara, on the American shore of Lake Ontario. As might be expected, a great excitement was created throughout the States, and in some places even acts of personal violence were rommitted upon the Masons, who were accused of having mur- dered Morgan. In every part of the Union anti-masonic societies were formed ; there are now anti-masonic newspapers, anti-masonic almanacs, and even anti-masonic candidates for the high offices of president and governors of states, the only ground of pretension these candidates possess for filling such offices being that they are opposed to Masonry. Many Masons re- nounced the society of which tliey were members, and the number^ of those people who have arrayed themselves on the aide of the anti-masonic party is such as now to form a powerful political engine. A HUBALTERN M FURLOUOH. 203 die by thousands." The Quaker here took out his tablets and said, " Friend, thy name ? " " Why, Samuel 8 , of Street, Boston, opposite the . All Boston know me as well as they do the old spire—" « Well, Friend, I want— " " Oh, I don't care what you want — " " I want the privilege of addressing a letter to thee upon the subject of colonization, for thy answer — " " I'll answer you, I don't care ; I have been amongst forty priests at once. I belong to the good old church, but I don't believe all they want me : I dont' think there's so much misery in this world as they say — " " But some people give such accounts of the colony." " Aye, to gull the New-Englanders out of their mo- ney-" " And to make slavery more secure by getting rid of the Free Blacks." We should now have had another storm,^ but, unfortunately, a turn in the road brought us in sight of a large steamer with a quarantine schooner alongside, lying in the river beneath us, which immediately changed the conversation. The slaver inveighed most bitterly against the New Yorkers for running up and down, spread- ing the cholera through the country, " for nothing could ever convince him that it was not contagions. In the East Indies, however, they thought nothing of it ; for the Cap- tains of ships had told him that they had been attacked two or three times by it in Calcutta, but always came clear off by keeping a bottle of brandy and some laudanum at their bedside, and taking a dose when they felt the attack com- ing on, and continuing it at intervals until cured." Al- though I knew he was labouring under a false impression with regard to the cholera being thought lightly of in Cal- i i! if « at" l.{ (I J.: Vi m I I w la '^- 201 A 8UUALTUIIN H FURLOUOII. i: ! cutta, and differed with him in upiniun as to coiitugiun, I deemed it prudent not to make any ohservotion upon the latter part of the subject, l)eing so lately from New York, and only remarked that, " such being the case, how would the Temperance Societies retain their influence over the people, if they formed an idea that brandy would cure the disease ? " The little old woman sprang up sharply, *' A man came to me the other day with a book, and asked me to aflix my name. I said, no; I will nut sign my name to any thing I do not know ; he told mc to read, and I looked into the book, and found it was a Temperance Society Register; oh, sir, said I, I thank you, I know what is good for me without being dictated to ; and if I felt thirsty, and some spirits and water were standing near me, I should think it cruel to dc1)ar myself a draught. 1 am seventy-two years of age, and old women, like me, require a stimulus, and my own good sense will tell mc when I have taken enough : I gave it him in short-hand, rU warrant you." We had now arrived at the pretty town of Taunton, and, changing coaches, I was deprived of a company which had afforded me much amusement, and, thinking it a good specimen of coach conversation, noted it down while the baggage was removing. My fellow-passengers were now much the reverse of the last : immediat iy we had left the town, they all leaned back in their seats, and closed their eyes. Once only did the slaver, who still accompanied me, endeavour to breal the dead silence by observing that " we should now keep on the turnpike the rest of the journey ; " but, no one answering him, he also followed the general example, and I, though- there were nine inside passengers, having se- cured a seat near the window, renewed my examination of the surrounding country, or M'atchcd the dark roUing A irnALTERN S FURLOrOII. 205 clouds of a ^atlicring thunder-storm. Tlic road wc tra- velled wns certainly excellent, and no wonder, as the wliole country wns covered more or less with stone, and the walls of the inclosures made immoderately thick (from 4 to 5 feet) for the purpose of ridding the ground. Tliere was, indeed, a sufficient quantity of rock upon the land to jus- tify a piece of wit by a Yankee who, some few days after- wards, was a chance traveller with me over the same de- scription of country. After gazing for a length of time in apparent astonishment at the thick M'alls and the mass of hard materials whicli covered every acre, he said, with an air of well-feigned simplicity, " Well, I wonder where they could have got all the stones to build such thick walls." " Why, from the fields to be sure," said a surly old farmer. " La ! did they indeed ? " answered the other ; " really I should never have missed them." To me this was some- thing new J but judging from the faces of my fellow-tra- vellers, and the Yankee's failure in attempting to create a general laugh, it was not original. The country was woody and undulating, increasing in picturesque beauty and popu- lation as we approached Boston, where we arrived at half- past seven : and I considered myself especially fortunate, as so many people had fled from New York to this city, in obtaining room at the Tremont House, the finest and best-conducted hotel in the United States. The building itself is not inferior in beauty to any in Boston, and the reading-room is well supphed with not only the principal American and Canadian newspapers, but also European and American publications, of which I could never get a sight in any other hotel in America. 4 ' m 20(i A SUBALTKRN 8 FURLOUGH. CHAPTER XIII. Alliens of Italy SOTHEBV. The city of Boston is built upon a peninsula, which is joined to the mainland by a very narrow neck on the southern side ; it contains about 70,000 inhabitants, and vies with any of its southern neighbours in the situation and beauty of its public and private dwellings. In 1630, at its foundation, the Indian name was Shawmut, which was changed to Trimouniain, from the three hills upon which it is now built ; subsequently it received its present name, in honour of a minister who emigrated from Boston in Lin- colnshire. Upon the other sides of the peninsula, com- munication is kept up with the mainland by several strong wooden bridges, varying in length from 1 500 to 3500 feet, and on its western side by a pier of solid materials 1 ^ mile in length, and above 80 feet in width. The bay is a most magnificent one, F.nd equals that of New York, but in a different style of b iauty. The Boston bay is on a much more grand and extensive scale, containing 75 square miles, and studded with more than 100 islands and rocks, the only ship channel being between Forts Warren and Inde- pendence on Governor's and Castle islands. The land i 44''-'^'''"v° -1 ■i Y: © ■:■ -J 'Iff ■*#^' ^i^f;i t >*v S06 \ \ A\ Si;»AJ..TERN a fVnhOVGH, tSU.'i r r. :i,^ Atluirf! of I till v! SoTHEBV. M TnR city of Boston is- Iniilt upon a penjnsuja, which is ^md to tht* mawJftrid }.tv a *e"rr rt^tS'';^ iH«:., -ii"; Uie-. imf^m-p; -ivU: i\<^>rh :«iiu?.it ;^^^.4 ■ m(rj,'nUtiV:9, Htld iC.SiiMllM'^2*^' ^*^^^>**''^5^*' In tf;3(). at ' ^ mrm *fe> W.ft*.vj!.;->jtt -^itkit was ;,■ ' ■ ..- -v-v. --.- -i-.' i'^'^i'-'trf tine ite« i«ids 'ifh-S!;^ wliidi .. .^«>w built: suhst^^iSiKiU;! ,*ii 5s#e«Hv«;4 rtspr«:>,setit nr'W.c, i!\ honour of a laijiister tvIki eiaii^ftiiHl jrom Boutori in. I>in colnsbire. Upon the otlicr sides of tlie poninsuJa. covs!- nxunjcatson m kt-pt up with tlic raaJQland l)y suvvai*! .stron-j; wtj^nkm feil% -'t^ in \<»ntrili trom 15 tq ;t/«< Oftd ab'-jvifc ':«* ii^^^i m ttidfiv. 'Hie lu-y ia s, a^v>si magnincnut out", afit! equa'n tiuit o**" New Vvfik, i>t>t -n a ilifferent style of bi-.'wUy. Thf IV.^tv^ bay i.s on ?> i;ri(,li more gnrnd and e.xt«^fl;sivo scc,U% c».»«t'im£ng /S square uj-.k-v pnd stadded -with umtv, iitan ("0 jsil.ands and V')c'f •.. the v*«H ndiiip cViannel being Ijfi'^'.'-cji Forts Wr.rreti ,\iii- hide- jl^i«*J*:?4«6: oii Goyemor's and Castle isUnds. Thf, laud ^: \- ^'^,»wJ&a>aii>»«- i I ■■e> «. w\ m hvM m 1 U:%^ i A SUBALTERN S FURLOUGH. 20? which almost encircles the bay is high and cultivated, and numerous towns a;id villages are scattered over it. When entering the harbour from sea, I think it much more beautiful than New York. The city rises in a much prettier and more showy form upon its three hills, and the whole is surmounted by the lofty dome of the State House. But then there is no view from any part of Boston to be compared with the bewitching one from the battery in . New York on a still summer's evening. As to literary character, it is the Athens of the western . world ; the number of its literary publications is very great, being 6 newspapers daily, 4 three times a week, 8 twice a week, and 16 weekly j 2 weekly magazines, 2 semi-monthly, 11 monthly (principally reUgious), 4 every two months, 5 quarterly, and 1 semi-annually; and 4 new-year annuals; — in addition to which the British Quarterly Review is reprinted. As an historical spot it ranks far above all others in the west, having been the birth-place of American Independence; and, the city having arrived to maturity before that event took place, it more resembles an English one than any other in the States. I had become rather weary of straight streets, which, though in some respects convenient, are tiresomely monotonous to a stranger, and was glad to be once again walking in those of a description I had been most accus- tomed to. The environs are more pleasing also than those of Philadelphia and New York ; the country being inter- sected with delightful rides, every one of which affords some fine view. The " common" in which the State House is situated is an open park, containing 75 acres of broken and abrupt ground, with a promenade and double row of fine trees round it. It was reserved in perpetuum by the first settlers mm 11^^ la 208 A SUBALTERN S TURLOUGH. for a parade-ground, or other public purposes, and is sur- rounded upon three sides by elegant private dwellings and several churches, the fourth side being open to a wide bay. There is a fine drooping old elm in the centre of it, near a serpentine sheet of water, which the inhabitants are taking every possible pains to preserve, by binding the large, broad, spreading branches, and connecting them with each other by strong belts and bars of iron. Tlie State House, at one corner of the common, is on elevated ground, 30 feet higher than the street, from which a broad flight of steps leads to the great hall of 50 feet in length and breadth, and 20 high, which, with the treasurer's, ad- jutant, and quarter-master general's offices, occupies the lower story. In a. building attached to the basement story is a marble statue of Washington, executed by Chantrey at a cost of 15,000 dollars (3100/. sterling), and consi- dered, by those who knew the original at the time of life it is intended to represent, a most striking and admirable likeness. The fig-ure is concealed by the Roman toga, supported over the breast by the left hand ; while the right> pendent at the side, holds a scroll ; it is placed upon a high pedestal, which (proh pudor !) is surrounded on every side by the stains of squirted tobacco juice. It is well that a strong iron railing prevents visitors from approaching with- in less than seven feet, or the statue itself would be barely sacred firom such a filthy pollution. The second story con- tains the fine and spacious Representatives', Room, and Se- nate Chamber j from the dome, which is 230 feet above the level of the sea, a most extensive view presents itself of the beautiful harbour and surrounding country. The exterior of the building, at a distance, is a striking object ; but, upon closer inspection, it is found to be constructed merely of the common brick, painted white. The entrance being A SUBALTEUN S FURLOUGH. 309 througli an arched front, 'which supports a colonnade of Corinthian columns, extending 94 feet, the full length of the centre of the building, has a handsome appearance, but the two wings, 40 feet each in length, look extremely bare, and might be much improved in architectural beauty. The Mason's Hall, on the opposite side of the Common, is a fine granite building, with Gothic windows and towers ; and the Park Church near it has a highly ornamental and light spire. The New England Museum, which I had heard was the best in the States, contained a very poor collection; every thing in it appeared mere trash, excepting a Venus by Canova, two paintings by Vernet, and one by Opie. The Americans have a singular taste for wax figures in their museums ; I haa seen them exhibited at New York, but should have given the Boston people credit for posses- sing better taste. In this museum they were most wretched compositions, and some of them disgusting subjects. One represented a man (who had been lately executed for the crime) in the act of murdering another as he slept in bed. Others were " Queen Caroline of England," the " Princess Charlotte," " Siamese twins," &c.; and another was absurdly ridiculous: it represented the Goddess of America weeping over the tomb of Washington, upon which was an inscription, telling every reader, " whether an American or not, to behold with reverence and regret the tomb which contained the remains of the truest pa- triot, the best relative, and the kindest friend." The tomb was no Tiiore a model of the one at Mount Vernon than it was of the mausoleum of Hyder Ali at Seringapatam ; and the goddess had such a rueful dirty countenance, from the damp which had caused the dust to collect in long streaks upon it, like the stripes of a zebra, that it was next p III t.;: I m i;C 1? !. I i \ I 21U A SIBALTKUN S FrUi.OLrfill. to an impossibility to look at the figure without bursting into a fit of laughter. This same goddess, too^ appears a great favourite in the Museum, as there was a large daub of a painting in one of the rooms, representing a female in the attitude ' of holding a cup to an eagle which was hovering over her head, with the following inscription : " The goddess of America giving nourishment to the bald eagle, trampling the key of the Bastile under foot, and the British fleet leaving Boston," aliout which the light- ning is playing, and shivering the topsails of the men of war in a most terrific manner. The Faneuii Hall is an interesting old building, from the circumstance of its being the place where Hancock, Adams, and other revolutionary orators, addressed the populace and excited them to take up arm^, after a small party of British soldiers had fired in their own de- fence upon some citizens, who (to quote the words of the American biographer) " had assailed the troops with halls of snow and other weapons ." The original building, com- menced in 1 7 40, was the gift of a gentleman of the name of Faneuii to the city of Boston, but was partially de- sti'oyed by fire twenty years after^vards, and repaired in 1763. The lower story is now occupied by shops, but the hall is still in use for public meetings. Between it and the bay is the Faneuii Hall Market, .530 feet in length, and 50 in width, built entirely of granite, upon ground reclaimed from the sea. The interior is divided into 128 stalls of most capacious dimensions, each furnished with a large sash window, and kept remarkably neat and clean ; some e\'en had smartly framed prints and other decora- tions in them. They are also divided according to the fol- lowing order: — 14 for mutton, lamb, veal, and poultry; 45 for beef; 19 for pork, lamb, mutton, and poultry; A SUIJALTERN f* FURLOUGH. 211 4 for butter and cheese; 19 for vegetables ; 2 for poultry and venison, and 26 for fish. The cellar story is occupied for stores and provisions, and the second ground story for two great halls, the centre of the building being sur- mounted by a dome. On each side of the'^ market-house, at (»5 and 100 feet distant, are two fine rows of excellent shops, uniformly built of granite, and, being of the same length as the market, they present a remarkably handsome appearance. In rear of the Athenceum, which contains a well-selected library of 27,000 volumes and a collection of medals amounting to about 15,000, is the Gallery of Fine Arts J the lower story of the building is occupied by the Medical Society's Library, and the philosophical apparatus of the Mechanic's Institution ; the upper by the exhibition of paintings, in which there are two very fine venerable heads of Washington and his wife, by Stuart, the only original portraits of them by that artist in America ; they are upon plain canvass, and considered striking likenesses, but the pictures are in a very unfinished state, the figures not being even traced out. In the Navy-yard, which is at Charlestown (built on another peninsula, connected with Boston Ijy bridges, and containing 7000 inhabitants), a most excellent Dry Dock is constructing. It is the only one in the country, and is formed of hewn granite upwards of 300 feet in length and 80 in mdth ; the chamber intended for line-of-battle ships to lie in is 200 feet in length, by 18 or 20 in depth. It has double gates, an outer one being required to break the motion of the sea. Two line-of-battle ships and a large frigate were drawn up under cover of the sheds, and three other vessels of war lay alongside the pier. The vessels on the stocks were in the same state of forwardness as those at the other Nav)'-yards, and could be prepared for p 2 ,:■ i 'r. V ,nV i Vt'i f I 2lil A srHAl/n'MlN S KI'IILOIUII. Ij II sea in u few weeks. Not a workman was employed about any of the three linc-of-battlc ships and four frigates which I saw on the stocks at Washington, Philadelphia, Brooklyn, and Charlestown, though much work was in progress con- nected with other branches of the navy. Within a short distance of the Navy-yard is Breed's Hill, upon which the memorable battle of the l7th of June, 1775, was fought; and generally known by the name of Bunker's Hill, which lies half a mile to the north west, at the entrance of the nar- row neck of the peninsula. Being sixty feet higher than Breed's Hill, it was the intention of the American general to defend it ; but the officer entrusted with the cliarge of the troops, through some mistake, led them to the one on the point of the peninsula, within range of the British batteries upon Copp's Hill in Boston. The redoubt which they threw up during the night, being attacked the follow- ing day by the royal troops under the command of Ge- nerals Howe and Pigot, was carried with great slaughter, after a most determined resistance on the part of the re- volutionists. In the redouljt, on the summit of the hill, and on the spot where General Warren fell, a monument was commenced on the 1 7th of June, 1825; the corner stone was laid by Lafayette, but was subsequently taken up and relaid, the foundation not being deep enough to resist the action of the frost. For the last three or four years no farther progress has been made, though the entire side of the hill is covered with the requisite materials ; want of funds is the reason advanced for not finishing it ; but a stranger would imagine that such a city as Boston might in itself contribute more than the requisite sura : at present it is but a monument of the inhabitants' want of spirit. The design is upon a grand scale ; an obelisk of granite, 50 feet in diameter at the base, and 220 feet in A SIHALTKIIN H I'URLOl'GII. 2i;{ height. No one would wisli to deprive the Americans of the honour of their victories; but I never met one yet who did not claim Bunker's Hill as a splendid triumph over the British arms. In arguing the matter, I always referred them to their own histories of the war, which have the candour to acknowledge that the provincial- ists retired from the position, after making a resistance even longer than prudence admitted. The works of the Americans to this day prove how ably they blockaded the town, and a series of strong redoubts and entrenchments may be easily traced for a distance of fifteen miles, from Dorchester Heights on the margin of the Bay to Winter Hill on the Mystic River. Two miles from Charlestown is Harvard College, which was founded in 1637, and took its name from its first great benefactor, a minister, who bequeathed nearly 800/. to it. The general cuurt of Massachusetts had appropri- ated the sum of 400/. towards its commencement in 1630, and the small but pretty town in which it is situated was called Cambridge, from many of the colonists having been educated at that university in England. It is more richly endowed than any other in the States, and, having property to the amount of about 600,000 dollars (125,000/.), is considered the most efficient for its purpose. A consider- able income is derived from the bridges leading into the city, the proprietors of some of them being bound by their charters to pay a certain annuity to the college for the loss of the income derived from the ferries, which were its property. The halls, six in number, stand within an in- closure of eight or ten acres, thickly planted with trees. The university is a fine granite building, and of more modern date than the rest, which are of brick, and have rather an air of antiquity, arising from the thick wooden window sashes '■> '\ i'i i 111 : ' ' i;. '. ■ ; ! \ ■" I •111 !. ft m m 214 A HI UAM'EIIN H KDHLOIUir. NinuU 8(|unrc panes of glasn, the mimcruuH uttioH, and ruut* nunnounted by a wuudun balcony, or platform and railing. The mill-dam across Charles River's Bay is one of the most interesting objects near Boston ; it is a continuation of Beacon Street, wliich forms one side of the Common, and connects the city with Brookline. The pier is of solid materials, and 1 i mile in length, cutting off upwards of GOO acres of land over which the tide formerly flowed, ond by which means a great water-power has been ob- tained. A second dam has been thrown at right angles from it to a point of land in Roxbury, dividing the 600 acres into two reservoirs of rather unequal proportions ; and several mills have been erected upon this second dam, whose wheels are kept in motion by sluice-ways from the upper reservoir. The long pier in the upper ref 'oir is furnished with six puir of floodgates, which, mo'\ 'pon easy pivots, are opened at high water by the force of the tide, and close again at the ebb. The lower reservoir is also furnished with similar floodgates, which open at low and close at high water. Thus, the mills have a fall of 14 feet from the upper reservoir (which is replenished every tide) into the lower one, which lets oif the waste water at the low- est ebb. Charles River, also, flows into the upper reservoir, and supplies it so abundantly that when I was at the floodgates about half-ebb a vast quantity of superfluous water was rushing over them. The cost of the pier was 350,000 dollars (73,000/.), but does not appear to be very profitable stock, there not being more than twelve or fourteen mills, although there is space for one hundred upon it, and it has been finished eleven years. The Tremont Theatre, immediately opposite the hotel, and a very ornamental building, had closed for the season when 1 arrived ; but, the fanaticism for which the New A NI'DAI/I'BUN H FiniLorriii. M '; Euglandcrs were tbrinerly so barbarously notorious hav- in;; Hofteiied down to true religious principles, the town now supports two or three theatres, though the first was built only thirty-six years since. Even at the present day such innocent amusements are forbidden by laV/ in some of the States, west of the Alleghany Mountains. One afternoon seeing a funeral enter the Granary Burial- ground, adjoining the Tremont hotel, so called from the pubUc bread store having formerly stood there, I followed it, and, walking up to a lofty granite obehsk surrounded by trees, discovered it was to the memory of Dr. Franklin's parents; it bore the following inscription : — FRANKLIN. " JuiiiAH FiiANKi.iN, and Abiaii Ins wife, lie here interred. Tlipy livptl lovinj^ly together in wedlock >>>> years, niid without an estate, or any painful eniployment, by constant labour and honest industry, maintained a large family comfortably, .iiid brought up thirteen children ami seven grand-children respectably, sn, from this instance, reader, lie encouraged to diligence in thy railing, and distrust not Providence. He was a pious and prudent man. She a discreet and virtuous woman. Their youngest son, in filial regard to their memories, places this stone. J. F. born 1655, died 1744, JE. 89. A.F. — 1667, — 1752, — 85. The original inscription having been nearly obliterated, a number of citizens erected this monument as a mark of respect for the illustrious author. MDCCCXXVII." Turning round, immediately I had copied the above, which could not have occupied me five minutes, to my great sur- prise the funeral party had disappeared, and the gates were again locked ; so I had no alternative but to climb the wall, and leap down some six or seven feet into the street, my sudden appearance in it astonishing some of the passers by. ■ ■'■;i,' i 'ii: if a J16 A HrUALTKIlN .S KIMtliOl'OII. i^ Tlio nrnteriuls for building ut BoHton are excellent, there being altnust inexhaustible quarries uf granite at the small town of Uuincy (the birth-place of two of the Presiilents of the United States), about nine miles from the city, The day I left the city, a melancholy accident occurred to a party of four gentlemen from the Trcmont hotel, upon the inclined railway connected with the quarries^ by the chain to which the car was attached suddenly ))reaking when it had arrived within a short distance of the summit: the carriage descended with amazing velocity until it struck some obstacle at the bottom, by which they were all thrown out with such violence that one was killed upon the spot, uiul the limbs of the other three were severely fractured. Bratde Street Church, where 1 attended service, was oc- cupied as a barrack during the siege, and Governor Han- cock's name, who was one of its benefactors, is inscribed upon two of the corner-stones of the tower, with the uute of 27th July, 177-' <-^"c of the inscriptions bca.'s the marks of having been nearly erased by the bayonets of the British ; and a nine-pounder shot still remains in the tower where it struck, close to one of the windows. It was tired frtmi the American lines the evening before the city was evacuated, and evidently intended for General Gage's quarters, which were in a house opposite the church. Boston is often called '" the paradise of clergymen," and never ilid a i)lacc possess such a proportion of churches ; including Charlestown, it has not fewer than sixty ; their style of ai'chitecture is generally neat. Tri- nity Church, which has not been long built, is a handsome and substantial editice, and King's Chapel (or the stone- church, as some of the republicans call it), in which the British Governor's pew still remains, more closely approach the English style of places for sacred worship than any others 1 snw. A HUUALTBUN 8 FUilLOUOU. 217 The huapitalii and charitable Hucieties ure very numerous. One of the latter is very creditable to the British inhabi- tants of the city : it was estabUslied for the purpose of giving advice to emigrants upon their arrival in the coun- try, and to render pecuniary assistance to those who may require it, or have been reduced to poverty by the failure of their enterprise. Though established only fifteen years it has givenVelief to more than a thousand British subjects, the funds being created by annual subscriptions of two dollars and upwards. The Massachusetts General Hospi- tal, which was commenced about the same time by private subscriptions, is a fine building near one of the Charlestown bridges, and its interior economy well arranged. The origin of the hospital was the bequest by a gentleman of a large sum of money, which was added to by a general sub- scription throughout the state, and so far exceeded the amount required that the committee built a lunatic asy- lum at Charlestown with the surplus. Several of the pri- vate subscriptions amounted to from 1000 to 5000 dollars, and one even to 20,000. Leaving Boston on the 25th July through Brighton and Newton Lower-Falls, and to Westborough, over a fine sheet of water by means of a floating bridge, I arrived at the pretty town of Worcester late in the evening. The road ran through a country of rather improved fertiUty, and every stream was taken advantage of by some manu- factory. Engineers wero also busy along the whole line of it in surveying and marking out a railway which was pro- iocted from Boston to Albany, l(iO miles, and thus a con- nected line of communication would be opened between Lake Erie and the Atlantic at Boston. From Worcester to Northampton the road passes through a fine bold coun- try, but rocky and difficult of cultivation ; the high lands lii ;> :| m m ¥% \4 ifl ii( lit- ! ;'^!i ii 218 A SUBALTERN H FtJULOITCi II. and sides of the hills being set apart for pasture, and the valleys and along the banks of the rivulets, where the soil was of a more fertile quality, for the growth of grain. This State, with Connecticut and Pennsylvania, has the reputa- tion of being better fanned than any other ; the average produce being firom 25 to 30 bushels of Indian com, and from IS to 20 of wheat. It struck me that the schools were much more numerous than in the other States I had visited, every district and village possessing one, which generally occupied a spot on the road side ; the children were also remarkable for their decorum of manners, bowing and making curtsies to the passengers as the coach passed. I observed tlie same respect paid to well-dressed people in most parts of the New England States, and also in the western part of the State of New York. In the first code which was passed by Connecticut in 1639, six years after the first settlement of the colony, it was ordered that every village of fifty families should maintain a good school for reading and writing ; and the same law is also established in Massachusetts. We had a charming view of the fine country, with Am- herst College upon an eminence, from the summit of a hill a few miles before arriving at the village of Hadley, where the regicide judges lived after their retreat had been dis- covered at Newhaven. It is related that when the village was attacked, during Philip's bloody war of 1675, it would have probably shared the fate of Brookfield and other towns through which we passed on the road from Boston, but for the timely appearance of a venerable stranger, who by his skill in military tactics and encouragement to the troops repulsed the Indians. His immediate disappearance after the retreat of the enemy induced the superstitious inhabitants to consider that he was their guardian angel, A SUBALTBllN S FURLOUGH. 219 and had been expressly sent to their assistance. It was Colonel Goffe, who, in the emergency of the case, had ven- tured to leave his place of concealment in the cellar of the minister's house. Between the village and the Connecticut River, two miles distant, are rich and beautiful meadows, unconfined by fences, but well planted with fruit trees, and being over- flowed by the spring freshets, which leave a deposit, the land is as productive as any in the State. A wooden bridge, half a mile in length, crosses the river into the prettiest of American towns, Northampton. Nowhere did I see such beautiful villages as in New England, of which Concord in New Hampshire, Worcester, and Northampton, rank pre-eminent. The situation of this last is a charming one, in a rich country, upon a noble river, and steam navi- gation to the ocean. The streets are imlike any thing English. Frame houses possess a neatness and cleanliness of appearance which it is impossible to impart to our heavy town abodes j and, as the material of which they are built can be moulded into more elegant, forms, the American houses are generally ornamented with light balconies and porticos, supported by columns of the Doric or Corinthian order. I thought Northampton the most delightful and enviable place I had ever seen ; it is the very realization of a " rus in urhe," the streets being so thickly planted with trees of a primeval growth that their boughs are almost interwoven across the road, and the neat private dwellings and shops beneath them appear like a series of cottages and gardens. The town has been settled nearly 180 years, and contains above 2000 inhabitants. On the opposite side of the river, which is crossed at South Hadley by a horse ferry, two miles distant, is Mount Holyoke, IO70 feet above the level of the rivey, and a favourite resort of If: <:li ,.^^1' If m : fi: '^ If? y I 220 A SUBALTERN 8 FUHL.017GII. travellers and parties of pleasure. Seven carriages, filled principally with ladies, arrived at the foot of the mount at the same time as myself. The road winds along the side of it through a dense forest of trees, until within 400 feet of the summit, where it is necessary to dismount and clamber over rough loose stones and logs of wood for the remaining distance. But the scene which bursts upon the spectator's view, as he steps upon the bare black rock on the summit — a scene of sublime beauty, of which but an inadequate description could be jconveyed — amply repays him for his trouble and fatigue. A more charming day could not have been desired : it was one of those clear Ame- rican atmospheres which are unknown in our own hazy clime, with just sufficient light floating clouds to throw a momentary shadow over parts of the rich vale, which lay spread out beneath in all the various hues of a quickly ripening harvest. Innumerable white houses, and spires of churches, were seen scattered amongst the trees and along the banks of the smooth but rapid Connecticut (up which a solitary steamer was slowly creeping), which river in its fantastic and capricious windings returned within a few yards of the same spot, after watering two or three miles of the vale — or, after being concealed at intervals by the hills and woods, would again appear with its silvery sur- face gUstening amidst the dark foliage ait the distance of many miles. These objects, and, above all, the high and rocky mountains, contrasted with the smiUng valleys, al- together formed one of the most magnificent panoramas in the world. Places 160 miles apart from each other were distinctly visible. 1 soon recognized the bluflF rocks near Newhaven, at eighty miles distance, though only 400 feet in height, and could easily trace their rugged and bold outline upon the clear horizon. A SillJALTERN S FCBLOirOH. 2Jl I had carried my pencils and sketch-book up with me ; but did not even presume to take them from my pocket. So, after having feasted my eyes for the space of an hour, I went into the small frame house which is on the summit, for something more substantial. The occu- pant, or rather tenant, as he pays a rent of 100 dollars per annum for the spot of ground, might be an old sailor, from the extravagant price he charges for refreshments; but, in my opinion, his money is well-earned, as he ascends the mountain daily from the village at its foot. The table in the room was covered with a number of books, mis- named albums, in which every visitor, who has been either in a sentimental, witty, or meditative mood, has thought proper to record the workings of his mind, which were generally bombastic descriptions of the view, winding up with a moral lecture. I sympathized deeply with one poor poet, who had departed from the usual line, with "Ofjreat Olympus, fair Northampton's prido, How hot it is to travel up thy side '. Hail mighty mount, grand beacon of our sphere ! I wonder how the d — 1 1 got here ! " But many Smiths and Thompsons, more ambitious of transmitting their names to remotest posterity, had with laudable zeal engraven their names upon the hard rock. The descent is even more difficult than the ascent, being so precipitous. When I regained the spot where I had tied my horse, and found it quietly standing there, I could not but admire the complete manner in which he was trained. Aniving at the skirts of the wood, and imagining that, from this point, I could take a good sketch of the rich vale, with Northampton, and a fnountain in the back- ground, I dismounted, and, placing the bridle over a post in the fence, sat down upon the grass, and commenced the II W •M ( iv I*' '■ r. IS i: 222 A SUBALTERN 8 FURLOUGH. preliminary operations ; but, hearing a noise, I turned round and perceived that my well-trained steed, which evidently had not been accustomed to this second part of the day's performance, had broken the bridle, and was galloping off at full spe«.d. Gathering up my pencils and rubber, I pur- sued, and at last succeeded in driving him up into the angle of a worm-fence, where he took up a most impreg- nable position, defending it as resolutely with his heels. To add to my discomfiture, some ladies with whom I had been conversing on the summit of the mountain came down at the moment I was busily engaged in reconnoitring the ground, prior to making an attack to the best possible advantage ; and, seeing them laughing heartily, I felt myself in honour bound (lest they should imagine that I had been thrown) to walk up and explain the merits of the case to them. After much manoeuvring, I succeeded in securing him, and, tying the bridle on with my handkerchief, re- turned to Northampton without the intended sketch. Proceeding west, the road passes through a mountainous and only partially cleared country, with fine groves of noble hemlock, which appeared to be fast diminishing in number from the bark being .used for tanning leather. We were fiv; hours and a half upon the road from Northampton to Worthington, though only nineteen miles. From Pitts- field (where an agricultural show lite been established upwards of twenty years, and takes place annually in Octo- ber), the road ascends a hill of considerable height. Being formed on the side of the hill, the foundation on the outer edge is made with trees laid close together, covered with earth, and no protection for a carriage against falling over the side, but some weak rails, generally composed of small trees laid horizontally in the fork of others fixed upright in the ground, forming a very inefficient fence against the A SUBALTEftN 8 FURLOUGH. iia precipice close to which the coach passes. I congratu- lated myself upon arriving safely at the summit with a fine view of the Catskill- Mountains in the distance, and the village in the valley of Lebanon, two miles beneath us. The road was, however, even more steep than on the side we ascended; and having a heavy load on the coach, and as usual in America no slipper on the wheel, we de- scended the hill with such frightful speed that, whirling round a sharp turn (where the road too had an inclina- tion outwards), the vehicle lost its equilibrium, the pas- sengers screamed out, and over it went. I would not at the moment have given half a dollar to insure all our lives. I saw the tops of the trees far below, and thought nothing could save us from perching amongst their boughs. The rails gave way with a crash, when I was surprised by a sudden and violent shock, occasioned by the coach falling on the friendly stump of a tree which checked us in our course. The vehicle in part overhanging the precipice, carpet bags and mail bags, trunks and hat boxes, were to l)e seen rolling down the hill to the depth of 150 feet. Regulus of old could not have had a more uncomfortable descent in his barrel than we should have had, if the coach had been two or thrde feet farther on either side of the stump. There were eight passengers of no light weight inside, and I was one#of those who were undermost. A strong voice called out, above me, " Never mind, there's no one hurt." "Thank you," said a smothered tone, " but there a'int 'casion to speak for me, I guess." As soon as I could extricate myself from the confused mass of arms and legs, and scramble out of one of the windows, I began to shake myself to discover what broken limbs I had; but finding only a sprained thumb, ditto leg, and one or two contusions on the ribs, and that none of my y(m A subaltern's furlough. companions were much more injured, I began to searcli for my baggage. We had just raised the shattered coach again, when some people who had seen it upset from the Lebanon springs gaUopped up, expecting to find half the passen- gers killed; in an hour more I was in the Columbia hall hotel. :.)•.:,■).»? i i A subaltern's furlough. 225 CHAPTER XIV. By your priesthood, tell me what you are ! DONNF At Manchester, in England, this burning truth began, When Christ made his appearance in blessed Mother Ann. A few at first received it, and did their lusts forsake, And soon their testimony brought on a mighty shake. For Mother's safe protection, good angels flew before, Towards the land of promise, Columbia's happy shore ; Hail thou victorious Gospel, and that auspicious day When Mother safely landed in North America! " Memorial to Mother Ann." The company at the Lebanon springs during the season is made up of the same kind of people as at Cheltenham, or any of our fashionable watering places. Some come to get rid of their daughters; others to get rid of their complaints ; others, again, to avoid the sickness of the south ; and the rest are composed of travellers, fortune-hunters, pleasure- seekers, and the odds and ends of society. The Shaker's village, two miles distant, proves, however, a great attrac- tion. On the 29th of July, I attended their Sunday meet- ing, which was held in a large building by the road-side, containing a finely proportioned room of 80 by 60 feet, Q 22(1 A SUBALTERN H FURLOUGH. with arched ceiling, well calculated for sound, and a beau- tifully white floor, with scarcely a knot upon its surface. There were two doors in the front of the room, the gentle- men visitors entering at the one and the ladies at the other; while the members of the Society made their appearance separately also, the men by a door at the south and the women by one at the north end of the building. Elevated seats for the visitors occupied one side of the room, a rail dividing the two sexes. I sat very impatiently for three-quarters of an hour before the Society assembled, when they occupied two rows of benches facing each other, a slight opening between two boards in the floor forming the boundary line. The men were dressed in drab coats, quaker fashion, but with a rolling collar, old-fashioned dark waistcoats reaching as low as the hips, and gray trowsers of striped cotton or linen, tlic hair cut short in front and allowed to grow a considerable length at the liack of the head ; the women in white gowns, with large muslin caps which concealed their profile, and high- heeled shoes. Both sexes entered with a singular kind of springing step, as if walking upon the toes. The total number of members, including two people of colour, might have been 250, of which 130 were males. Amongst them were 30 or 40 children from ten to fifteen years of age ; the rest were from thirty to seventy : but I scarcely observed any who appeared between those two periods. Most of them entered without their coats, and, the day being warm, all had their waistcoats unbuttoned, so as to display a clean long white neckcloth and shirt, with a narrow piece of green riband encircling the arm above the elbow. The service commenced by the whole society rising and removing the benches to the side of the room. Both sexes then advanced towards the line of demarcation A subaltern's furlough. 227 in a close column, showing a front of 1(» by 8 deep, but in oblique lines, so that the feet of the two people on the in- ner flank were witliin a few inches of the boundary line, while those on the outer were six paces apart. An elder, stepping out, addressed tliern in a few words, standing with his back to the wall, his feet upon the line, and fronting the open space between the two parties. He spoke in so low a tone of voice that I could scarcely catch the import of his words, but understood him to say that "they had assembled there to pray," and recommending " suitable exercise ;" when, resuming his place, the members sang a hymn, moving their feet in time with the air, which was a strange composition, equally unintelligible and monoto- nous as an Indian chant at the feast of the Mohorum, or a Burman boat song as I have heard it on the Irawaddi, to which it bore no slight- resemblance. Wlien it was con- cluded, they knelt in silence for a few minutes, and, after rising, another elder addressed us, saying, " He trusted we should behave with propriety and decency, as decent l)eople ought, and recollect that we were in a htjuse of worship, though we were not believers of the same faith : " an address, indeed, that was much required ; for I could not divest myself of the idea that we were in a theatre, and, had any one set the example, I have but little doubt there would have been a boisterous round of applause. In truth we were but mere spectators : none took any part in the service, but remained as immovable and atten- tive to the proceedings before them as they would if view- ing any novelty in a place of public amusement. The rest of the men now divested themselves of their coats, hang- ing them upon pegs in the wall, and each of the women laid the white handkerchief she had held in her hand upon the benches ; indications that they were about to set to in Q 2 n t . « 'i I. 'W i ua y 328 A 8UDALTKRN t) FURLOUGH. good earnest. Two rows of about forty persons stood with their backs to the wall, the remainder forming a column fronting them at some distance. The former party struck up a lively air with some words attached to it (all that I could distinguish were, " I will be truly good," fre- quently repeated), and the latter commenced dancing in correct time, advancing three steps ; then balancing three, and retiring again, advanced as before, turning round at intervals in the tune in a style which a quadrille dancer might even be proud of. The singers throughout the time kept their arms close to their bodies, with the lower part of them projecting out, and moving their hands up and down (I hope I shall be excused for making an absurd but striking simile) like so many kangaroos standing upon their hind legs. Upon the whole, it was a most singular scene: old and young were dancing away without their coats, as if it had bciv ? matter of life and death j while the room, containing not fewer than six or seven hundred people, was hot to rr^flfocation. Though the women exerted themselves most laboriously, t>iey were (owing to their dress, I presume) as p?le and ghastly as so many shrouded bodies or living corpses, — an appearance they wished to assume, I should imagine, as not being very inviting to the eyes of " the world's people," as they term us old-fashioned folks. I overheard one of a party of young men sitting in rear of me, who could not at all contain themselves, say, "he had seen an Egyptian mummy look handsomer than any of then^ " I could not, however, agree with him upon that acore ; for there were two or three pair of very pretty dai'k e> es, wf Ji some finely-formed features. One young giri, in particular, about eighteen or twenty yeiirs of age, who paid much more attention to the spectators thaa to her devotions, A tUIlALTEiiM H FUllLOUOII. 2'2i) would doubtless have been weU pleased to regain her former place in the world. She was in the last row of females, so that no one could overlook her motions ; and all the young people were similarly disposed of. Those who formed the first row, and who were confronted face to face with the men, were the oldest and ugliest of the party : a dangerous post like this was not assigned to young people, with jiuch eyes as interpreters, an elopement having occasionally taken place, much to the dismay of the elders. A respectable, middle-aged man, who had received the visitors and shown them to their seats with great civility, took no part in the performance of the above ceremonies, but passed his time in observing the effect such a singular show had upon the audience. After the Society had finished their first dance and song, he came up directly in front of me, and said " he had seen two or three young men talking and laughing, as if they were in a theatre or ball-room." All eyes were turned instanter in my direction; but, fortunately for my credit, the speaker particularized them, and I discovered they were the "Egyptian Mummy" party. He continued his lecture by telling them, " if they wished to laugh, to walk out upon the floor, and allow every one to see them ; if they had any thing to say, let every one hear what it wasj that the rest of the visitors had behaved respectably and with propriety, and had his thanks for so doing ; but that, for these young men, they conducted themselves worse than heathens, who have some respect for the religion of others ; that they deserved reprimanding, and that he re- primanded them accordingly." The young men looked much abashed, and took an early opportunity of retiring. The Society afterwards formed a column of five in front, with fourteen members in the centre of the room, who i 'llr ^1 M ' ,1 m (.!^i I 230 A SUBALTERN 8 PUBLOUQII. sang some words to a tune like "Yankee doodle," the column stepping off at quick time, and marching round the room as correctly as any well-drilled battalion, chang- ing step when necessary, and, if any one fell out in front, his place was immediately occupied by some one from the rear. Tliey beat time by moving their hands Up and down as before described, clapping them in certain parts of the tune. After thus marching round several times, they baited, and, the inner files of two facing about, a brisk j jr was struck up, and they moved off again in diflferent direc- tions, circling round the room, halting and singing in the slow parts of the airj then quickening their pace almost to a run at the more lively parts. Altogether I scarcely ever saw so difficult or so well-performed a field-day. They had been evidently well drilled, or they could not h;.ve acquired such skill in manoeuvring; for there was such a series of marching and countermarching, slow step, quick step, and double-quick step, advancing and retiring, forming open column and close column, perpendicular lines and ol)lique lines, that it was sufficient to puzzle and confound the clearest head of the lookers on. After a hard hour's work, the first speaker, who had re- quested us " to behave with decency," again came forward, and spoke to the following effect: "Friends, I wish to say a few words to you. No doubt what you have seen to-day appears vastly strange — a mode of worshipping the Almighty altogether new to you ; and I am not sur- prised that it should appear strange, *The way of the Lord is foolishness with man/ I asked your attention and good conduct before we commenced ; some few have not behaved well — far from it indeed, Ijut I am not even surprised at that. They probably despised us and laughed at us in scorn and derision. We, however, are satisfied ; m A SUBALTERN S FUBLOUGH. 231 we well know that we are in the right path, that the Lord is pleased and is reconciled v/ith us. Works speak for them- selves, and the tree is known by its fruit; we therefore fear not the taunts of men. There are, however, so many sects, so many various forms of reUgion, so many crying out * this is the right way,' and * this is the right way,' that those seeking the truth scarcely know which way to turn ; but if you wish to be saved, if any of you feel you have need of salvation (and ' the physician is only required by the sick') it is here only to be found — this is the only true path j amongst these oaly, these the true disciples of Christ, who follow his glorious example in taking up a daily cross, and denying themselves the things of this world. I have no doubt some of you despise us, and that all of you profess to be religious, and all nearly determine upon repenting of your sins, and leading a new life ; but day after day is this hour of reformation put off. It is delayed lime after time until some more convenient opportunity. We desire your happiness, we pray for your good, but we cannot flatter you — not one of you will he saved, unless you abstain from the lust of the flesh, all sin and worldly de- sires, and shun the eye, the pride of life — the eye, the pride of life." — ^The speaker here became quite violent, stamping with his feet, and holding out his clenched hand while he repeated the last sentence, looking hard at the lady spec- tators. " Whence arises all sin, all deadly and barbarous wars ? — whence this sickness which now desolates the land ? Let those, then, who wish to be saved, forsake those things which separate the soul from God. Cease to do evil, and you will learn to do good ; imitate us in taking Christ for a pattern, and you will then assuredly find salvation." His address lasted about twenty minutes, and was de- livered with great energy; but he was an illiterate man, >," mi\ § m % 232 A SUBALTERN S FURLOUGH. and could scarcely speak correct English — evidently la- bouring, too, under great difficulty from want of words to express himself, and his whole discourse abounded with tautology. I was rather alarmed lest he should observe me taking notes of his lecture ; for, had he only cast eyes upon me, I should have received no gentle reprimand. After another song, the meeting broke up, having lasted an hour and a half. I had some conversation immediately afterwards with one of the elders, who appeared a sensible well-informed man. He stated that the Society at this village consisted of 600 people, but that not more than a third ever at- tended service together, excepting once a year, when all assembled. In answer to my inquiries, he said that they had received an addition of 100 members Mathin the last two years, many of whom were EngUsh. I had observed two very stout, ruddy faced, farmer-looking men, who, he said, had only just arrived from my native country. One was the very prototype of Friar Tuck, and it would be a considerable time before he exchanged his fat cheeks for the long demure face of the rest of the Society. The other danced round the room, swinging his hands about, and bellowing at the full extent of his voice, as if he was still tripping it at some English village wake. 'Tis said "there is nothing new under the sun;" but it seems strange that such fanaticism should exist with so much zeal and good religious feeling. The village is remarkable for the neatness and cleanli- ness of the houses. The school is well conducted, and the children educated in it generally possess a superior education to those elsewhere. After acquiring the age of maturity, they are under no obUgation to remain with the Society, but are free to return to the world ; nor are they A SUBALTERN 8 FURLOUGH. 2S3 allowed rashly to enlist under the banners of " the be- lievers," but must seriously take the matter into consi- deratior., and even undergo a noviciate of some months, when, ii' still of the same opinion, they are admitted and enjoy the same privileges as the other members. At any time indeed they may withdraw, but cannot claim any compensation for the time they may have worked upon the lands of the Society, nor, should they have thrown property into the common stock, can they reclaim it, though none that have as yet withdrawn have gone away empty-handed. The principal rules of the Society are celibacy, noii-interference with politics, peace with all man- kind, and paying to every man his due j nor will they be answerable for the debts of any of the Society, or admit any one as a member who has not honestly discharged all his pecuniary debts. No one, except in case of sick- ness or infirmity, is allowed to become a burthen on the Society j but all must work, and all property is in common, the fruits of their labour being thrown into a general fund. The women are employed in knitting gloves, making fancy ornaments, and spinning, while the men follow various trades, the goods being exposed for sale at the trustee's office : every article is of the best quality, but the price is exceedingly high. The woman who sold me what few things I bought used as many persuasives as the most experienced shopkeeper in England, with th«} true "will you look at this, sir? — this is an excellent article," and " these gloves wear remarkably well ; you had better take a pair, sir." They possess about 3000 acres of well-culti- vated land adjoining the village, and extensive gardens for rearing seeds, which produce a considerable income, being in great demand throughout the States. The So- ciety is governed by two elders of each sex, elected by the i mi i ;i i! i}\ J 234 A SUBALTERN S FURLOUGH. !li members. Their duty is to give information to candid inquirers, and to admit those who desire to unite them- selves to the Society; also occasionally to preach the gospel. The entire body is divided into families from 80 to 100 members each, who again appoint two elders as their head, whose duty it is to manage the temporal con- cerns of the family. Their houses are large, commodious, and substantial brick buildings, four stories in height. The Society is also divided into three classes: 1st, those who do not assent to the rule of celibacy, but re- side at a distance from the village with their own families, attending worship, and otherwise conforming to the rules. 2dly, Tliose who are members, but can return to the world's people whenever they think fit; and 3dly, those who, vowing to remain members in perpetuum, have en- tirely given themselves up as followers of the faith. They all live in a remarkably comfortable manner, even well, in the sense of the world, with whose people, however, they will not eat in comi)any; but, when some of them rode up to the springs in a car, they showed that they possessed a taste for the good things of this life, as well as the rest of mankind, by sitting down, taking a glass of brandy and water, smoking, and conversing cheerfully. Two or three backslidings liave occurred amongst the young members, who have eloped, proving they were not invulneralile to the shafts of that little urchin Cupid; and I shrewdly suspect that many others would not be at all backward in following the same example, did l)ut an opportunity occur. The sect, however, gains ground consideralily, and there are not fewer than 5000 Shakers in the United States, though it is but fifty-nine years since Mrs. Lee, or " Mother Ann," as she is called, emigrated from England. She was a native of Manchester, and married to a black- A 8UDALTKRN S FURLOUGH. 285 smith in that town, and is considered the founder of the sect, though several people had formed themselves into a Society following the same mode of worship as early as 1747. She was an illiterate woman, una])le either to read or write. The cruel persecutions she suffered in England, on account of her religious opinions, induced her to emhark, with her husband and others of the same per- suasion, for America, in 1774, where she established herself, near Albany, twenty-five miles from Lebanon, removing to the latter place some few years after, and dying in 1784, in her forty-eighth year. Lebanon is now the head of the Shaking church. That such a sect is not well cal- culated for a young and tliinly-inhabited country is self- evident; for though by their sobriety, good faith, honest and upright conduct, they set an example to the rest of mankind worthy of imitation, and most of their regu- lations are founded upon highly moral and admirable principles, yet others are fallacious, and the argument upon which they rest is altogether untenable. They hold that the millennium has commenced, and that all the human race is to be extinct by conforming to their first great precept of celibacy. Without such a fundamental rule, indeed, such a Society could not long exist. Professing to be close imitators of Christ, they are far from it. The Saviour of the world went about doing good, exposing Himself to the ingratitude of those He served, and at last, for their sakes, suffering an ignominious and painful death; while they, who pretend to take Him as a pat- tern, lead an easy and comfortable life, and seem chiefly occupied in adding to their virorldly riches, while their charity is bounded by the chain of hills which encircle their settlement. That such a Society should exist for a day, in the present intellectual state of the world, is truly mm»m''mmmm 236' A SUBALTERN S FURLOUGH. astonishing; but *'nil admirari" appears to be the motto of common sense. The Society is composed chiefly of ignorant and illiterate people, and of many who have been disappointed in life, and have thus withdrawn themselves from the rest of mankind, unable to bear up and strive against the adversities of their lot as true Christians. The temperature of the water at the wells is 72° Fahren- heit; it is pleasant to the taste, and, being devoid ot almost every medicinal quality or saline taste, is used as common beverage. From chemical analysis, two quarts are said to contain grain. 1.00. 0.75. 1.50. 0.57. Muriate of lime . . Muriate of soda . . Sulphate of lime . . Carbonate of lime It boils up in the gardens of the hotel in sufficient quantity to supply the requisite baths, and is afterwards used for setting in motion the wheels of three manufactories. I was much amused by seeing a large party of ladies and gentlemen, fresh arrivals, assemble round the spring one evening, tasting the water and passing their opinion upon its merits, some even refusing to put the glass to their lips, fearing the effects of a draught, when they had been taking plentiful potions of the same at the dinner table. The evenings were usually passed in dancing except on Saturday, the Sabbath commencing with some of the New Englanders at sunset on the preceding day. The band consisted of two negroes playing on violins, and a third upon a bass. The leader of the sable trio (a barber, by the bye, composing part of the establishment of the house) acted as a kind of maitre du ballet, crying out " Ba- lanciey !" — " tan your patners !" — " La's shen !" and other A 8UHAL.TKRN H FUHKOrGH. 237 jargon, utterly unintelli^ble even to those who were ac- quainted with the figure of every quadrille. The ladies' dancing was a composition of walking, running, and shuf- fling ; the gentlemen acquitted themselves as well as gen- tlemen gerictaUy do. I overheard one, who prided himself a good deal on his manner of twirling round the room, say that he had " the best waltzing master in Paris, last winter." Amongst other resources for killing time at the springs, nine-pins bore a prominent part. I accompanied some gentlemen to the alley one day for the purjiose of playing, when, our number on each side being unequal, one of the party (a young collegian from Newhaven) invited a gentle- manly-looking man to join us in a rubber ; he consented to play a single game after some hesitation, and came off winner. At dinner I heard a voice familiar to my ear say, from behind my chair, " What will you take. Sir ?" and turning round saw our friend of the morning acting in capacity of waiter ; he certainly possessed a more intellec- tual countenance than two-thirds of the people at table. Feeling myself sufficiently recovered to undergo the dislocating motion of the road, and all my acquaintance at the springs taking their departure, I also stepped into the coach on the morning of the 1st of August, and, being the only passenger, imagined I should have a quiet, easy jour- ney, but soon found myself egregiously mistaken. There not being sufficient weight to steady the vehicle on its clumsy springs, it was tossed to and fro like a ship in a gale of wind. We passed through the small manufacturing towns of Nassau and Al\ >a. Some singular signs in the latter attracted my attention j one especially, of " Miss Simms, Tailoress" emblazoned in large characters upon a I I mmmm 238 A SUnALTKRN M FUllLOUGII. board against the house-side, struck me as a novel mode of a lady earning a livelihood. The entrance to the city of Troy, twenty- five miles from Lebanon, through an excavated rock, which forms part of the classically-named Mount Ida, is exceedingly pretty, ■rhe city, containing about 12,000 inhabitants, occupies an alluvial ])lain of some extent between the mount and the Hudson iliver. Having some spare time, I walked through several of the streets, and visited the Episcopal Church, which has a very tasteful Gothic tower: one of the prettiest specimens of r. .chitecture I saw in the United States j but the body of the church, not being built in unison witli it, gives the edifice the air of a piece of patch-work. An elegant and large Court-house was comi)leted, with the exception of its portico, in a street adjoining the church ; but it bore too strong a resemblance to the United States* Bank ut Philadelphia, of which I had since seen so many fac-similcs, to have many charms for me. The building was entirely of white marble, and modelled after the tem- ple of Theseus at Athens. The gallant " Trojans," as the inhabitants call themselves, were partaking of the New York panic, and leaving the city in crowds, on account of a few cases of cholera being reported. The river, which is about a quarter of a mile wide, is crossed by a horse-ferry to the village of "Watervliet, where " Mother Ann" originally established herself; and a few miles farther the road passes the houses of some married Shakers, belonging to the Niskayund settlement, three miles to the st)uth-vvest. From this place to Schenectady the country is dull, uninteresting in point of scenery, and devoid of habitations ; but now, having gained the banks of the Mohawk Iliver, a rich alluvial soil pre- A SIJBALTKIIN S KIMthOUOII 231) seiits itself. There is but little worthy of notice in the town, excepting Union College, on an eminence near the road from Troy. Only two large buildings, forming part of what is intended, are at present erected; but several more are to be immediately added, and, the adjoining grounds being spacious, it promises to l)ecome a pretty spilt. The college has been very lil)crully endowed by the State to the amount of ;i()0,()()() dollars, and the numlier of students at this time is about 200. Ur. Nott, the Presi- dent, is not only a good classical scholar, but an excellent and persevering mechanic. Some of his inventions have cvcji gained a considerable name in England, ajnongst whi(!h is an improvement in hot air stoves for heating cathedrals and large buildings, lie has expended also large sums of money in experiments upon steam-vessels ; several of which are constructing upon his plan of having twenty small boilers, instead of two or four large ones, and arc considered safer than those generally in use, and equally swift. After passing two hours in Schenectady, I entered the packet boat on tlie Erie Canal, and proceeded at the rate of four miles an hour, on a line parallel with the Mohawk. This immense work, which connects the waters of the Hudson with those of Lake Erie, was com- menced in 1817, at the suggestion of De Witt Clinton, at that time Governor of the State of New York. It was then looked upon as a visionary scheme, and called in derision "Clinton's big ditch;" yet, notwitlistanding con- siderable opposition, he succeeded in carrying his project into effect, well knowing the inestimal>le benefits which wovdd arise, and the enormous revenue which would ac- crue to the State from its construction. It was not, however, finished until eight years after its commence- ment, at an expense of a million and a half steriing; I It ,Lt' 240 A SUnAI/rEUN's purlouoii. but the income already arising from it is 250,000/. an- nually, and, in four years hence, the stock will be re- deemed. It is 363 miles long, 40 feet wide at the top, 28 at the bottom, with 4 feet depth of water, and a slight in- clination of half an inch in a mile from the lake, which is 5f>8 feet higher than the Hudson. The packet boats, as on the Chesapeake and Oh"o Canal, arc large and well fur- nished with excellent sleeping berths, and the charge very reasonable, being only three cents {lid.) per mile, break- fast and dinner being provided on equally moderate terms ; so that the travelling is rendered more agreeable and al- most as speedy as upon the rough turnpikes. I varied my mode o ■. travelling by leaving the boat some- times at the locks, r.nfl walking on, being able at a mode- rate pace to keen ?,-hc. i of it. Upon arriving at the first lock, we found more than twenty boats waiting for their turn to pass through ; but all were obliged to give way to our vessel, which, paying a higher toll, claimed priority of passage. The legality of this preference did not, however, appear to be at all comprehended by the passengers in the other boats, nor did they submit to it without murmuring, thinking (as they said) that all boats " were alike free and equal." We had only ten passengers, although there was ample accommodation for forty. Having walked several miles along the towing-path during the day, I was in a sound sleep soon after taking possession of the berth al- lotted to me. The locks being 90 feet in length and 1 5 in breadth, and the boats 80 by 14, some little inconve- nience arises to those people who are not sound sleepers, from the impossibility of steering the boat to such a nicety as to avoid striking heavily against the walls. We xpe- rienced an hour's delay during the night, from the horses of a vessel a-head of us breaking loose, and galloping down A SUBALTERN 8 FURLOUGH. 241 upon our train which, throwing their driver head foremost into the canal, followed the example of the others by breaking the tow )pe and scampering off, leaving the man rolling about, half stunned, in the water. In the morning we had a dense fog, not uncommon on the banks of the Mohawk, and which, as is frequently the case elsewhere, was the forerunner of a very hot day. The country through which we passed was pretty well diversified with hills and rich meadows of Indian corn on the banks of the stream, n id the farmers were every where employed in reaping or cradling* the grain on the uplands. As the canal approaches the Little Falls of the Mohawk, fifty miles from Schenectady, the scenery improves, and has some claims to the picturesque. I had heard so much in praise of it that I stepped out of the boat at the first lock, half a mile from the village, not only for the pur- pose of viewing but of sketching some of this far-famed scenery, and walked past it all, momentarily expecting to come upon something excessively grand and sublime, so much had I been deceived by exaggerated description ! Although very pretty, no part of it can vie with Matlock in Derbyshire. There is one bend in the canal which winds round the rocky mount, and under some dark bleak, impending crags, with the noisy torrent of the Mohawk washing its base, and the spires of the village churches with a fine aqueduct visible through the excavation, which would form a pretty sketch, but nothing to warrant the • A term used for mowing the wheat with a scythe, which has five pieces of wood projecting from the shaft, so as to form a frame similar to a person's fingers at the back of ti » scythe : this cradle retains the straw after it is cut hi the same position as when growing, wliich, being thrown on the ground with a jerk, lies with all the ears in one direction, and ready for the binder; loni; prartii'o is required to use the rradl. expertly. U l[ \ v-^ m ^4:2 A 8U0ALTBRN H KURLOUGII. i: overdrawn descriptions given me. Having to pass through five locks in succession, we had time to cross the aque- duct to the village on the opposite side of the river, which is becoming a manufacturing town of some importance, from the great water-power afforded by the Falls. Its progress and prosperity have been considerably re- tarded for some years, owing to the most valuable and useful ground being the property of a geiitleman in Eng and, who did not dispose of it until last year, whe>' it was purchased by a company, who are proceeding rapidly in the construction of numerous manufactories. Large pieces of rock in the river here present a singular appear- ance, from being worn perfectly hollow and round like a caldron, the shell or rim, as it were, being reduced in many parts to a few inches in thickness. Other rocks are bored through in circles with as smooth a surface as if they had been chiselled or worked out with an auger. These effects are supposed to have been produced by small pebbles having lodged in an orifice in the rock, and been agitated by the eddies and force of the current, until they increased the opening sufficiently to admit larger stones, which, in process of time, formed these singular excavations. From the Little Falls, the canal passes through Her- kimer or German Flats, a fine rich tract of country, with farms varying from 150 to 200 acres, at about 100 dollars per acre, yielding from 25 to 30 bushels of wheat, or from 60 to 100 bushels of Indian corn. At Frankfort, a few miles further, it does not exceed from 20 to 50 dollars, the soil appearing rich and fertile, but in a poor state of cultivation. The farming of the Dutch on the Flats forms a striking contrast to that of their slovenly neighbours. A SUBAL.TBKN il PlTRLnuOII. 218 At this last village, " the long level" commences, the canal ruiniing a distance of sixty-nine miles to the town of Sy- racuse, without a single intervening lock. At five o'clock in the afternoon we entered Utica, eighty miles from Schenectady, having been twenty-two hours on our journey, and stepped from the canal into the United States hotel, where we were accommodated with excellent rooms. V) ii ii H ; 244 A SUBALTERNS FURLOUGH. CHAPTER XV. oil ! what a Fall was there, my countrymen ! Shakspgare. Having hired one of the four-wheeled carriages known at Philadelphia as a •'* dearhorn," in the eastern States as a " carryall," and in Utica as a " waggon," a friend (Mr. B.) and myself started at eight o'clock on the 3d of August upon an excxirsion to the Trenton Falls. The road being rough and mountainous, and the day excessively hot, we pulled up at a small tavern, eight miles from the town, to give the horse some water. While I was holding the bucket, mine host came out, and, after looking on quietly for some time without tendering his assistance, he ob- served that we " had better let the beast stand in the shade a minute or two until it becane cool, and then it would proceed more cleverly on the journey." I under- stood him immediately, and, determining to accept the challenge, led the horse into the shade of the house, when the following conversation ensued, much to the amuse- ment of my companion, who did not at first comprehend our host's manoeuvre. Landlord. " You are from the southward, I guess." Myself. " No — from Utica." A SUBALTERN S FURLOUGH. 245 " Aye, but you don't keep there, I reckon." ; " No, in the southward." " Aye, I guessed so ; but whereabouts ? " " Oh ! south of Washington." "Ah! pretty sickly there now?" " No, pretty smart." " But there's tarnation little travelling now ; last fall this here road was quite unpassable, but now I have been fixing it myself, expecting company, and no one comes." " You will have them all here when the cholera panic has subsided a little." " I don't know that j I heard a gentleman, who had been in the south, say the other day that there was very little money there now ; the southerners would'nt care a fig for the cholera, they'd clear out tarnation soon if they had plenty of money to spare j a'int it so ?" I had now put one foot on the step of our vehicle, but mine host was not yet satisfied, so he foUowed me up with — " But you are going to the west, I expect ?" " Perh^s we may." " Aye, you came down the canal." « Yes." "That's fine travelling; that's what I likej you push along so slick, there's no chance of getting one's neck broke as there is aboard those stages on the rough turn- pi1:es ; if the boat sinks, one's only up to one's knees in water. You'll see the Falls?" " We are going there now ; which is the way ? " So, re- ceiving the necessary directions, we wished this true speci- men of an American pot-house keeper good morning, and drove on, subsequently finding his parting words pro- phetic. Though the Yankees are so notoriously inquisi- tive, yet tliere is nothing disrespectful in their manner ; IM I I; '1 ■ '*♦ 1 f ill 2Ui A HirUALTKUN N 1 -ITULnunil. ri nor (lid 1 ever feel nimuyed by their aNking surh prying questions, gcncrnlly leading f hem " considcralily on the wrong trail," as thoy would say, or else, having satisfied them, eommeneing a cross-examination, to whieh they always subnntted with good grace. After a pleasant ride of fourteen miles, we arrived at the hotel, a short distance from the village of Trenton, and proceeded immediately to view the Falls, which eom- meneo within 200 yards of the house, though entirely concealed from it by a thick intervening forest. To see them to advantage, it is necessary to descend a rocky pre- cipice nearly 100 feet perpendicular, into the ravine along whieh the dark stream winds its course. Scarcely any thing can bo conceived more grand or picturesque than the first view of the surrounding objects after the visitor has gained the rocky, and, at this season, dry bed of the winter's torrent. I have seen many falls, but none pos- sessing such a variety of scenery or diflering so much in the formation of the cataract as these ; and of their sub- limity but a very faint idea can be conveyed from de- scription. The impetuous rush of water during successive ages has worked a bed for itself tiirough a ridge of lime- stone rocks, which extends from the Mohawk to the northward as far as the St. Lawrence; but in several places it aj>pears to have encountered a reef of harder materials, which has been able to withstand the force of the torrent. There are several of these ledges, occupying an extent of about two miles, over which the stream is precipitated. Of these the High Falls are the finest, being 101) feet in height, includiri"- a small intervening slope, which breaks the perpendicular fall, and, dividing it into two cataracts, renders it more picturesque than if falling 1" 'Mie unbroken sheet. 'I I A SUDAI/rBUN'H PtniLOIJOII. 1^47 . The Americans possess a most singular taste for marring the beauty of every phice which can boast of any thing like scenery, by introducing a bar-room into the most romantic and conspicuous spot. Consequently there is a little white, painted- wooden shanty perched upon the very brow of the High Fall, from which all kinds of liquors arc distril)utcd to the Yankee admirers of nature, after they hav i. From the cells we proceeded into an open square, formed by the keeper's house, prisoners' apartments, and work- shops, where a part of the convicts were employed in stone-cutting, and making an addition to the building of another five-story row of cells, to be erected in the place of a wing constructed upon the old principle of confinr ing a certain number of prisoners in one large room, by which means they had free intercourse with one another, a system found very injurious to their reformation. It 262 A SUBALTERN 8 FURLOUGH. was almost impossible to imagine ourselves in a prison amongst a set of hardened desperadoes, when walking through the shops where they were working with an ala- crity and attention to their business which were truly sur- prising. Every trade has its own particular shop, with one keeper as a superintendant ; and here the good effects of discipline are seen. In tlie blacksmiths' shops, for instance, were forty or fifty athletic men wielding their sledge hammers with the power of the Cyclops of old, and all armed with weapons which, in one minute, would shiver the strongest barrier to atoms ; yet only one super- intendant was with them, sitting at his ease upon a chair ; and not any instance is upon record of an attempt at making a forcible escape. The prisoners are not allowed, upon any pretence, to speak to one another, and only on business to a turnkey, who can easily observe if any con- versation takes place, as they are generally placed with theii* faces in the same direction. The weavers were the most numerous body, there h^'ing nearly one hundred sitting at their looms in a row, and forty tailors, whose occupation is considered the most unhealthy, from the position requi- site for the performance of their work. They are not per- mitted to look at any stranger who enters the room ; but I observed several squinting at us out of the comers of their eyes when the keeper's back was turned. The most superior specimens of workmanship, of every description, a.e turned out of these shops, and are contracted for by merchants and - store-keepers residing in Auburn ; a sys- tem most injurious to the industrious mechanic, who can- not make a livelihood in the vicinity of the prison, being imderworked by the convicts, whose labour is contracted for at various sums from 25 to 50 cents (one to two shil- lings) per diem, the tailors at the former sum ; those trades A 8UBALTBRN S FUKLOUOH. 263 which derive Assistance from a saw-mill, turning-machinei &c., which are worked by water (introduced from a stream that washes the southern wall of the prison) at SO, tool- makers at 40, and blacksmiths at 50 cents a day. A few invalids and convalescent convicts are employed in wind- ing at 15 cents. There were only two stocking makers, who were employed solely in working for the convicts. | The contractors are no'^ e^en permitted to give any orders to the workmen, and any instructions they wish to give are through the mechanic turnkey who superintends each shop. In any instance where the latter may not be acquainted with the trade, the contractor may give the necessary directions in his presence. The looms, jennies, tools, &c., appeared throughout the prison in the highest order, and business was carried on in each shop in a more workmanlike style than without the walls. The moining work commences at six o'clock in summer, breakfast be- tween seven and eight, dinner at twelve (half an hour being allowed for each), and the labours of tlie day cease at six in the evening. The prisoners, bemg formed into as many companies as there are galleries of cells, are marched to them with the lock-step in the most orderly manner, each man inclining his face towards the keepers who accompany them, so that he may be observed, if he attempts to speak. As he passes through the mess-room, adjoining the kitchen, he stoops slightly, and taking up his supper, without breaking the line of march, enters his cell for the night, being locked in by the turnkey of the gallery. The mess-room was particularly dean, with platters and tin cans neatly arranged on wooden tables, so narrow that the convicts sit only on one side of them, with their faces in the same direction. They are waited upon by some of their fellow-prisoners; and, in case any m '2(i4 II A SUBALTERN S PUnLOUOU. une has more food than he requires, he raises his right hand, when a portion is taken from his plate and given to some one who elevates his left hand in token he has insufficient. The rations are ample, being 10 oz. of wheat, 10 oz. of Tndian meal, 14 oz. of beef or 12 of pork; with 2ft bushels of potatoes to every hundred rations, and half a gill of molasses per man, which is added to the mush, a kind of hasty pudding made of Indian meal, and boiled in coppers. The cooks were employed at this article of food when we visited the kitchen. I tasted some, and should imagine it to be very wholesome and nutritious. The bread was heavy and sad, but it had a good flavour. If a convict is unruly, or discovered speaking, he receives summary punishment, by having a certain number of stripes with a cane on his back. Such a measure is, how- ever, but seldom required. A false wall or passage /ound each room, with slits at intervals, through which a keeper may look unperceived, and where he stations himself if he suspects a convict, acts as an excellent check upon any conversation. I peeped through them into various shops ; and the prisoners were busily employed in dead sUence, when the keeper was at the distance of 100 feet. ^ ' y. The work appears to induce much to their health, there being only six in the hospital, out of 667 prisoners ; and a few days previously there had not been a single patient. Visitors are not admitted either into the hospital, which is in an upper story of the prison, or into the women's apart- ment, who are all confined together and work but little, as no compulsion could be used towards them, and, as to talk- ing, all the art of man could avail nothing for its preven- tion. Altogether the prison is a most interesting sight, and should be visited by all travellers. A considerable revenue now arises from it to the State, so that convicts, instead of # A SUBALTERN 8 FURLOUGH. 265 being an expense as formerly, are here a profit. Many! who enter without any trade are taught one, by which, when released, they may gain an honest and ample liveli- hood; and numbers who have been sent into the world again have thoroughly reformed their former vicious hatiits. We saw one poor man, a sailor, who had become deranged since his imprisonment, and after a partial recovery was allowed to do what he pleased with regard to work. He had made several large models of ships, which stood in the square completely rigged ; and another man, who had the use of one hand only, employed his time in carving rude figures of the most grotesque kind, afterwards gilding or painting them. No one, in short, was allowed to be com- pletely idle. The Government frequently pardons those who appear to have been misled, and by their conduct show an inclination to become good citizens ; and only for very serious offences are any sentenced to imprisonment for life, the majority being for periods of five and sevei:> years. The entire establishment is superintended by a governor, called "Agent and Keeper," with a salary of 1000 dollars, a deputy keeper at 600, and the other keep- ers 350 each ; about forty officers are employed as keepers, turnkeys, guards, i&c. When the prison is open for the admission of visitors (which was the case always until the appearance of the cholera in the State), 25 cents (one shil- ling) is charged for each person. The keeper said that the convicts felt deeply the loss of their chewing tobacco, which is not permitted within the walls of the prison, and to which exceiUent regulation much of the cleanliness is owing. From the inspector's report it appears that " the frequency of pardons ht:s arisen principally firom the want of room in the prison, by the rapid accumulation of convicts ;" and it is much to be regretted that ten or twelve acres were not :l! I V 2G'(i A BUUALTERN fl PURLOUOH. enclosed within the wall in place of three or four, so that the building might be increased to any extent. I think the steady and excellent behaviour of the prison- ers may arise, in a great measure, from so many of them being confined for a short space of time, two-thirds being sentenced to a period not exceeding seven years. There is a Sunday school, which those only attend who wish it ; and they are instructed gratuitously by the young men of the town and the Theological Seminary. The Chaplain takes opportunities of visiting them in their cells after divine service on that day, also in the hospital, and whenever time will allow, to afford them religious instruction, and give advice with regard to their future conduct. One of the main objects to be gained is to wean them from intem- perance, a habit which the prison discipline has entirely eradicated from most determined drunkards, who have thus been restored to the world as sober and industrious men. By comparing the returns from the Auburn prison with those furnished by other penitentiaries and gaols in the Union, the salutary e£fects of the system above detailed over that practised where solitary confinement night and day is enforced without work, and over any other mode of punishment as yet devised, have been most satisfactorily proved. If I might venture to propose any amendment in the system, it would be to make a larger pecuniary allow- ance than the present one (two dollars, I think) to the liberated prisoners; as instances are on record of men having been guilty of theft, a few days after their dismissal, from actual want. The village of Auburn itself is tastefully built, within two miles of the Owasco Lake, whose outlet washes the prison wall. Its rapid rise is somewhat retarded by the quantity of work turned out by the convicts ; yet at the same time a A SUBALTERN M rURLOUOH. 2(i7 large sum of money is necessarily in circulation amongst the contractors for furnishing rations (which are at the rate of about 21 dollars (4/. 7«'6<'0 per annum, each prisoner), and for payment of the articles received from the prison, which are retailed at a great per centage. i^ I Proceeding to the village of Cayuga, situated near the nortliem extremity of a lake of the same name, we em- barked in a steamer which plies upon the lake, and crossed to the opposite side, touching for some more passengers at a village connected with Cayuga by a bridge exceeding a mUe in length, over which the western road passes. The extreme length of the lake is 40 miles by 2 at its greatest breadth. The scenery is tame and uninteresting, until towards the southern end, when it assumes a more pleas- ing appearance, the banks becoming high and craggy in some places, and in others cultivated to the water's edge. But throughout there is an overpowering qxiantity of dense forest, with an intervening space of eight or ten miles be- tween vUlages. For the last few miles, the face of the country presented a singular appearance, being broken every hundred yards, or thereabouts, with narrow and deep ravines, formed by the heavy rush ^( water from the hills in the spring of the year. In some, the rock was rugged and bare ; in others^the grass had sprung up again, or, where the ground more easily yielded to the force of the torrent, there were long and heavy undulations, like the swelling of the sea. At the head of the lake, entering a coach again, after a drive of two miles across a plain which had once formed part of the lake, we arrived at the pretty town of Ithaca, containing 8300 inhabitants, surrounded on three sides by hills varyir from 600 to 800 feet in height, with their slopes and summi .'u\\;^'i-n'-u>'t iW! )nQ O'"' ' ) 274 \. A SUBALTERN H FURLOUGH. J ^.'f -•^i.'V, CHAPTER XVII. •.- - 1 Tbe souk of Umiren after their death Lucian affirms to he metempsychosed, or translated into the bodies of asses, and there remain certain years, for poor men to take their pennyworth out of their bones. ^ , Pbacham on Blazoning. Such guides set over the seveial congregations will mis'each them, by in- stilling into them puritanical and superstitiov j principles. Walton. You take a precipice for no leap of danger. And woo your own destruction. SHAKSPBaRE. On the morning of the 10th of August, embarking on board a steamer, we left Watkins, Jeffersonville, Seneca Head, or Savoy, as we heard the small village, where we had passed part of the night, severally called. Though commanding a much finer situatibn than ^^Jiaca in every respect, with a canal running past it which connects the water of lake Erie and Seneca with the Susquehannali River by the Chemung Canal, yet there are not above twenty frame-houses in the settlement, arising from the mistaken policy of the proprietor of the land, who will scarcely sell a rood under a New York price ; whereas, if he gave away every other lot for building upon, the in- creased value of the remaining lots would make him more than an adequate return. The head of Seneca Lake, like A SUBALTERN 8 FURLOUGH. 276 that of Cayuga, is black marsh overgrown with bull-rushes and reeds. Several large streams with fine water-falls enter it a few miles from the village, of which the Hector^ 150 feet in height, and those at the big stream Point 136, are the most worthy of observation. We considered ourselves fortunate in meeting with a gentlemanly, well-informed person in Captain Rumney, an Englishman, the proprietor of the *< Seneca Chief," the only steamer which plies upon the lake. He pur- chased the right of steam upon these waters for a mere trifle, from ex-govemor Lewis, to whom it had been sold by Fulton, who possessed originally the exclusive right of steam nayigation on those inland waters of the State of New York which did not interfere with the interests of neighbouring States, as the Hudson does with the communication to Vermont and Lower Canada. This charter was granted to Fulton for a term of thirty years, six of which have not yet expired ; before the lapse of that time the present possessor may expect to realize a considerable fortune. The profits arise principally from towing the Erie Canal boats to the different ports hi the lake, the traffic on which will be much increased by the Chemung and Crooked Lake Canals, now nearly completed. The chai^ for towing vessels from one to the other extreme of the lake, a distance of forty miles, is six dollars, and is performed in a few hours. At Rapely's Ferry, a few miles down the lake on the western bank, are the remains of a pier from which the celebrated Jemima Wilkinson proved the faith of her fol- lowers. She had collected them for the purpose of seeing her walk across the lake, and addressing them, while one foot touched the water, enquired if they had faith in her, and beUeved she could reach the opposite shore in safety ; T 2 i A 'J76 A 8UBALTEHN « FUULOUtill. for, if they had not faith, the attempt would be vain. Upon receiving the most earnest assurances of their belief that she could pass over, she replied " that there was no occasion then to make a display of her power, as they believed in itj" and, turning round, re-entered her car- riage, and drove off, to the chagrin of thousands of idle spectators, and to the astonishment of her numerous disciples. Captain Rumney, who was acquainted with her during her life-time, described her as a tall, stately, and handsome woman ; but of rather a masculine appearance. In her costume she much resembled a clergyman, having her hair brushed back, wearing a surplice and bands, with a Quaker's hat. She was a native of Rhode Island, and during the Revolutionary war formed an attachment with a British officer, who subsequently deserted her. In conse- quence of this merciless treatment, she suffered a violent attack of fever, and for some days lay in a deep trance, though the medical men affirmed she might have easily roused herself from it had she only the wish to do so. It is supposed that at this time she was engaged in laying the deep plot which was so successfully carried into exe- cution on her recovery, by stating that, "Jemima Wil- kinson having died, the angels in heaven had disputed who should enter her body, and visit the earth as the Universal Friend of Mankind, — as the Saviour of the World; that she (now calling herself an angel in Jemi ma's body) had been appointed to fill the body of the deceased, and was come upon earth to preach salvation to all. Many believed in her, and, a sect being, soon formed, she quitted Rhode Island, and settled near Crooked Lake, a few miles to the west of Seneca, where her followers, some of whom were men of mdependent for- tune, purchased a large tract of land for her; the deeds of A SUBALTERN 8 PURL0(7GH. 277 her farm being drawn up in the name of Rachel Mellon, a relative who inherited the estate after Jemima's death, six years since. Upon all her plate, carriage, &c., the letters U. F. (Universal Friend) were inscribed. She observed the Jewish Sabbath, but preached on Sundays to the numerous visitors who were attracted to her house by mere curiosity. She was well '^rsed in the Scriptures, and possessed a remarkably retentive memory | but, in other respects, was an illiterate woman. The creed of her sect is the Metempsychosis; but since her departure the number of believers has considerably diminished, the pre- sent head of the Society, Esther Plant, not having suffi- cient tact to keep them united. In Jemima's life-time, so jealous were her disciples of due respect being paid to her that no answer would be returned to enquiries after " Je- mima," but only if designated as the " Friend." All the points of land in the lake (save one, which has a singular bush formed by the hand of nature into the exact representation of an elephant) are occupied by small villages, which possess excellent harbours, during heavy gales up or down the lake, and have above 20 fa- thoms of water within 30 feet of the shore. This one exception is the property of Esther, who will not part with it upon any terms. The entrance to the Crooked Lake Canal is at the village of Dresden, a German settle- ment, eight miles west of which is Jemima's house. On the opposite shore in Seneca County is Ovid, situated on a pretty eminence, overlooking the water; also Lodi, Brutu!>, and various other classically named places. These names, it appears, were bestowed by the Government on townships, distributed among the Revolutionary soldiers, and which extended originally over a large tract, from the borders of the lake, almost as far east as Utica. The I I I 278 A subaltern's PURIiOUOH. veterans were soon, however, overreached, and induced to disposo of their lands to some scheming and designing specubitors, who resold them most advantageously to the present possessors, persons of respectability; and the same land which would not then bring a dollar in the market will now produce from 25 to 40* and even 50 per acre. The soil is a strong loam, and well adapted for wheat. Seneca is, however, an Indian name, although it might naturally be supposed to have the same origin, in imitation of antiquity, as the neighbouring towns of Mara- thon, Fharsalia, Homer, Virgil, and Cassius. The scenery upon the lake closely resembles that of Cayuga, being un- varied and uninteresting; the water is, however, beau- tifully clear, the pebbly bottom being visible in a calm day at the depth of 80 feet. Being principally supplied by springs, the ice upon it never becomes so thick as to im- pede the navigation; during the severe frost of 18SI, a thin sheet formed on some parts, but was broken up by the first light breeze which ruffled the water. ■>"ivi • From Canandaigua, we travelled over a hilly and sandy road, running parallel with the canal, and under its great embankment over the Irondequoit Creek. This immense work, for a distance of two miles, averages a height of seventy feet above the plain across which it is carried. The banks being chiefly of sand, great caution is necessary in watching and puddling any small crevices which may appear. Two years since, the water forced its way through the embankment, and, rushing down upon the road and plain beneath, swept away every thing which opposed the fiiry of its course. The lesser sand-hills at this time pre- ^ A 8UBALTBRN • PURLOUOH. 281 lent evident marki of the furious torrent which pasted over them. At sunset, descending a hill, we entered upon a flat, marshy plain, on which the town of Rochester is situated. It has more the appearance of a town in a new world than any I visited, and nothing can be more miserable than its appearance from a distance. An open space has been merely burnt in the forest, and the town has been run up without any attempt at getting rid of the innumerable stumps of trees, which even make their appearance in the outer streets of the place. It is, in truth, a city in the wil- derness, and cannot be healthy, so long as it is surrounded by such dense, dark forests. The trees in America are not felled so that the stump remains level with the ground, as in England, but according to the convenience of the wood- man, who generally strikes ihe trunk about three feet from the root. Where a thick forest has thus been cut down, the desolate appearance the face of the country presents can be scarcely imagined: — ^large bli ; rr- We now entered upon the famous " Ridge-road," which extends for eighty miles, from Carthage, near Rochester, A subaltern's furlough. 285 to Lewiston on the Niagara River. From the circum- stance of its running pardlel with Lake Ontario, at the distance of six or eight miles, and its elevation above it being about 100 feet, with a gradual inclination towards the water, it is supposed to have once formed the southern boundary of the lake, and to have been thrown up by the action of the waves. Being formed of sand and fine gravel gives to that opinion some foundation ; and that such banks can be formed by the action of the sea is very evident upon many parts of the English coast. From having been always referred to the Ridge-road, when I found fault with American highways, I expected to travel upon a perfect level, instead of upon a road broken, as this is, by frequent abrupt and deep ravines. From this time I was told that I ought to see one somewhere far back in the west, several hundreds of miles distant in the Ohio country, which was not inferior to any Macadamized road in Great Britain ; but, as my curiosity never carried me so far away from the Atlantic as the Alleghany Mountains, I can only speak of those highways over which I did travel, not one of which would have escaped an indictment in the old country. In some States, as in New York and Connecticut, turnpikes are frequent ; but this collection of tolls did not tend visibly to the improvement of the roads. The gate is generally formed of a hurdle, or a long narrow frame with numerous vertical bars, which is drawn up in the manner of a portcullis by ropes into a roof biiilt across the road, until the traveller has passed. There is no attraction in the scenery to lead a person upon the Ridge-road, being carried through a flat and un- interesting country, with only a narrow strip, never exceed- ing a mile in width, redeemed from the surrounding forest. In no part of our journey were the waters of the lake ^i mi 286 A SUBALTERN 8 PURLOUOII. visible, though but so few miles distant. Settlements, however, are forming rapidly, and, from the clouds of smoke which hung over various parts of the forest, it may safely be predicted that not many years will elapse before the thick veil will be withdrawn. Three miles from Lockport, we left the Ridge, and entered upon a rough, shakin;^, " corduroy" road, a new species of rail- way they might call it, being formed entirely of split trees and rails laid across the road, without any regard to level or disproportion of size, and a most sovereign con- tempt for any thing like repairs. Such a wretched apology for a highway ought to have immortalized its inventor's name, in place of being called after the coarse cloth which it resembles in grain. The man, at least, deserved a patent for having discovered a most excruciating mode of dislo- cating bones, and an easy method of breaking the axle- trees of carriages, combined. We proceeded at a marvel- lously uncomfortable, slow, foot pace over this corduroy, until, crossing ihe Erie Canal, we entered the village of Lockport, which, like Rochester, or most places on that line of communication, has sprving up in almost a day. The greater part of the village is situated on the summit of a hill, over which the canal is carried by means of five locks, each containing 16 feet water, and raising a boat 12 feet. As the ascent of a boat through such a succession of them would much delay those on the point of descend- ing, both loss of time and confusion have been avoided by having a double row of locks, side by side. These being principally cut out of the solid rock, and well finished off with substantial masonry and iron-railings, may, with the great embankment over the Irondequoit Creek, be con- sidered the most arduous undertaking between Buffalo and Albany. After having surmounted the locks, the excava- A SUBALTERN 8 FURLOUGH. m^ tion through the solid rock extends for upwards of twoi miles. The surplus water of the canal supplies several mills with a powerful stream, one, too, which will never fail, the canal itself being fed by lake Erie. The mills return the water to the canal again below the locks, and thti clear current, which flows at about a mile per hour, renders the Erie Canal very different in appearance from our muddy works of the same description in England, which are so often unnavigable, from a scarcity of water in the reservoirs. There is a singularly constructed wooden bridge, composed of a series of platforms of open frame- work, one above the other, below the basin at the foot of the locks. It extends over the canal from one side of the ravine to the other, at not a less height than 80 feet from its foundation, and 60 above the level of the water, and at a length of about 300 feet. Having visited all the objecta of curiosity in the village, not excepting the saw-mUls, we took the packet-boat at a quarter to eleven o'clock, and in fifte^i minutes more had passed through ihe locks. A fine, dear, full moon, ren- dered the numerous lamps about those works quite useless, but its charms were not suSciently powerful to induce us to expose ourselves to the nightrair and heavy dewj by remuning on deck until^ the boat had emerged from the excavation of the mountain ridge. ■•' ? ^ At daylight, on the 14ih, we passed through the Tonne- wanta Creek, up which the canal had taken its course for several miles ; and by seven o'clock arrived at the village of Black Rock, where it enters the harbour formed for vessels trading upon Lak« Erie. In company with another gentleman, I left the boat a mile below the village, and walked leisurely along the towing-path, diverging from it at Black Rock, and passing through the principal street. ' r !«« 288 A SUBALTERN 8 FURLOUGH. Being on the frontier, it suffered during the barbarous and retaliatory warfare of 1812, but has again sprung up into a moderately-sized place, schooners and small brigs being built there for the navigation of the lakes. The canal keeps along the bank of the river to the town of Buffalo, three miles distant, where it communiti^ates with Lake Erie, having passed through an extent of country from its entrance to the Hudson not less than 363 miles. Buffalo is a thriving, bustling town, handsomely and well built, and daily increasing in number of inhabitants. It was supposed to have received its death-blow during the last war, but one house escaping the conflagration; it rallied again, however, upon the laying out of the canal, and has now a population of about 8000, and ere long promises to outstrip Rochester itself. Its situation, though having one front upon the lake, is far from agree- able, the surrounding country being flat and uncultivated. So low indeed is some par*- of the town that heavy wes- terly gales raise such a swell on this vast inland sea as to cause a considerable inundation, frequently proving de- structive to the property on the margin of the water. During the morning we visited the Seneca tribe of In- dians, who, to the amount of 700 or 800, possess a large tract of land of an irregular form, but containing about 100 square miles, to the S. E. of the town, upon which their farms and woods closely verge. The school in the mission-house, four miles from Buffalo, is an object of great interest. It consists of from thirty to thirty-five boys and girls, between the ages of eight and fourteen, the greater portion of whom are maintained at the mission- house by the Society, the parents scarcely contributing any thing towards their support. The instructress in- formed us that some of them now and then brought a few A SUBALTERNS FLiALOUOH. 289 provisions and some clothing, but nothing more. We heard the first class read the nineteenth chapter of St. Matthew, without any previous study, each scholar (there being eight in the class) reading two verses until the chapter was concluded, aften;\'ards spelUng and defining the most difficult words in it, in a manner which would have reflected great credit upon English children of the same age. Their mistress said that she invariably found them intelligent, willing, and apt to learn ; but their coun- tenances appeared to me very heavy, and far from being indicative of sense. They are allowed to converse with each other in the English language only, and have been christened after the most approved American manner. In the first class, there were Phoebe, Letitia, Maria, and other awkward creatures, with similar romantic names; and two clumsy-looking lads, of fourteen years of age, with faces as round and flat as a Cheshire cheese, were known as James and Edward, though I should imagine their distinctive titles amongst the tribe would be " Sleepy- eye," and " Owl." The mission has been estabUshed nine years ; and, though there are but fifty church-going people amongst the tribe, yet it is equally divided between the Christians and worshippers of the Great Spirit, the latter of whom are steady opposers of the mission and will never cross the threshold of the house. The tribe (which since the death of their celebrated warrior, " Red Jac'ket," has been governed by a kind of oligarchy of chiefs) is di- vided, according to t^eir religion, into two distinct parties, which, though associating but little, yet live upon good terms with each other, having the same influence and an equal voice in the councils and management of the public affairs. All the Reservation is common property ; but, if any individual ears and encloses a tract for the purposes of V m \. 290 A SUBALTERN 8 FURLOUGH. cultivation, no one can interfere "with that farm so long as he tills the ground ; for the time being, it is to all intents and purposes his own. Many of the tribe are honest, in- dustrious farmers j we saw several of them with their squaws riding to town on horseback, and in the common American carriole, or carry all. But the majority are indolent and in- temperate, suffering much in winter for want, of clothing and provisions, and being generally supplied with the ne- cessaries of life by their richer and more sensible brethren, some of whom, even were they of the " pale faces," would be considered men of small but independent for- tune. The Church, situated near the Mission-house, is a neat wooden edifice, with accommodation for about 250 persons. The psalms and prayers are printed on one page of the book in the Seneca and on the opposite in the English language. The members of the church marry according to the established forms. We now proceeded to a house in the village (which is scattered widely over the country), for the purpose of making some enquiries respecting their treatment of the cholera, which had already appeared with fatal eflfects amongst many of the Indian tribes. A party, amongst whom were several women, were sitting at the door busily employed in picking greens for dinner, despite the great outcry raised against vegetables at this time. The females, upon our approach, immediately rising, entered the house, while I entered into conversation with a heavy, dull-look- ing man. He spoke English, and was a thorough Yankee, guessing I came from the East, and reckoning that it was considerable sickly in New York. When I came to the point, however, and wished to discover the cholera remedy, he referred me to a fine, Roman-nosed, curly-headed A SUBALTERN 8 FURLOUGH. 291 man, who did not understand English, and put my ques- tions as an interpreter to him. Tliis man pointed out some herbs which grew wild in every direction, saying that they boiled and then administered them as a broth to the patient, wrapping him afterwards in blankets, and producing great artificial heat in his body by means of hot stones, &c. This treatment had met with wonderful suc- cess, there being only eleven deaths out of one hundred cases, a much greater proportion of recoveries than amongst the " pale faces." I tasted the herbs, and found one to be the wild camomile ; the other was hot and pun- gent to the taste, and fiery as Cayenne pepper. The houses in the village were similar to those of the Ameri- can labouring class, and the " Indian Hotel " was quite a respectable-looking edifice, and doubtless well attended. As in many other instances, I had formed very erroneous ideas of the personal appearance of the red men of the woods, imagining them to be noble-looking warriors, of fine stature, with countenances of the Grecian or Roman cast; but I found them more like the dark and vengeful Malay. A French gentleman, one of my fellow-travellers, had evidently formed a similar opinion ; fui when I pointed out to him a female of the tribe, who, with her papoose (infant) slung across her shoulders, and in her person resembling a moving bundle of old clothes, was walking past the hotel in Bufifalo, he enquired with the greatest ndiveU to what sex the person belonged, and, upon my in- forming him, exclaimed, raising his hands with astonish- ment, " Oh ! la malheureuse ! la malheureuse ! " '.Vf- :, Tfl;'. l)-i? ,(7 I ■ 1 .n-ut'M IJ 2 JVJ A SUBALTERN S PrRLOUGII. •I.i r: ■:>,()'. -*< ;■■». V i,.y ;, ■V»| Ti-' , ' »•' ^ 'i'u • »fi!' "f •: CHAPTER XVIIi. '•<*t"(f "'I'!'' !•.. -'.I SoTHinr. Or under shadow of the cataract, i, ' With deep and dread delight, Stand where Niagara's flood wears down the mountain tract. LXX. And mounts in spray the skies, and thence again Returns in an unceasing shower, which round, ' With its unemptied cloud of gentle rain, ' i ] , Is an eternal April to the ground, ■.;,,,'.. ,v ' Making it all one emerald : — how profound ^ ' . The gulf! and how the giant element ".■; : . < 1 1'' From rock to rock leaps with delirious bound, ^ >. 'j Crushing the cliffs, which, downward worn and rent With his fierce footsteps, yield in chasms a fearful vent. LXXI. To the broad column which rolls on, • • . ' • • • • • * • • « S Childe Harold. Cant. IV. In tiie evening, taking a carriage, we drove to Black Rock, and, crossing the violent stream of the Niagara to the little hamlet of Waterloo by a horse-ferry, stepped ashore into our own good king's dominions. I really felt quite at home again, for what reason I know not : I had expe- rienced nothing but civility and attention in the United States ; yet here we were at a hop, step, and a jump in another land. Every thing denoted a different country ; A SUUALTKKN tl KUllLUUOU. 293 tlie first signs we saw over the public-house doors were " the Crown," " the King's Arms," with other loyal superscriptions, and the first steamer which dashed past us was the " Adelaide." It was truly a relief to my ©yes after the many and various Eagles I had sojourned at, and the divers " Citizens' Union Line " Bteam boats in which I had travelled. We proceeded down the Niagara River, which flowing out of Lake Erie at Buffalo with a rapid descent, and varying from 500 yards to two miles in width, empties itself afler a course of thirty miles into Lake Ontario at Fort George. It was a mild and agreeable summer's evening, and, without viewing things with a prejudiced eye, I certainly never enjoyed a journey in the States so much as this one, and never travelled on a road, not excepting even the famous Ridge-way, to be compared with it. The bridges were strong and well built, the road level and free from corduroy and ruts, running the whole extent of our ride parallel to the river, without any fence interven- ing between us and the water, but flanked on the other hand by well cleared and cultivated grounds, and neat old- fashioned cottages. Of all our party, seven in number, probably I did not the most enjoy the scene, yet to me it was truly delightful, — one of those few which men are per- mitted to enjoy. Two hours' drive brought us to Chippewa Battle Ground, when I paid my respects to the field by walking over it, with the last true account of the action in my hand, to ascertain the position of the contending armies. While looking out for some mound or brief monument (of which there was not even a single ves<'ge), erected to the memory of the numerous brave who fell on the hard-contested day of the 5th of July, 1814, I saw the light white cloud of spray rising from the Falls of Niagara, Mi I 294 A HUBALTBRN's rURLUUGH. beautifully gilded by the declining sun. Battle Ground, King's Arms, and well-cleared country, were alike for- gotten, and, throwing myself into the carriage, I leaned back, keeping my eyes as intently fixed upon the white pillar of spray as the Mussulman does his penetrating gaze upon the new moon. Twenty minutes more took us past the bold and beautiful Rapids to the Pavilion Hotel. My French friends, true to their national feature, were noisy in exclamation and other tokens of surprise, joy, and astonishment; the English, characteristic of their coun- try, spoke not a word; but, not the less feeling the beau- ties of the prospect, gazed on the magnificent scene in silent admiration. As I could almost pardon the Parsee for adoring so splendid a phenomenon as the rising sun in all its eastern glory, so could I excuse the red man of the woods for his devotion at the Falls of Niagara. How much more noble a deity than the muddy, slow, sacred stream of the Ganges ! Probably we could not have been introduced to ^uch a scene at a more favourable time; a brilliant rainbow was dancing in the spray, as it was agi- tated to and fro by the light evening breeze, and, even while we looked on, the last rays of the sun, as it sunk Tjelow the horizon, tinged the vapoury mist with a hue no artist could imitate. The snow-white wreaths of water, as they rusited over the broad ledges of rock with furious violence, for a mile above the Falls, contrasted with the dark blue surface of the still calm current above, and the vivid green sheet as it shot forth firom its dark bed over the tremendous precipice into the foaming abyss below, presented a scene which it is the good fortune of but few to see, of still fewer to appreciate, and whicli none can well describe. I have read many accounts and descrip- tions, seen innumerable prints and sketches of the Falls I I lii m 1 1 I \ A SUBALTERN 8 FCRLUUGH. am of Niagara; but not a single one over gave me the remotest idea of their stupendous magnificence. I should say to all those people who possess the means of gratifying their admiration of the works of nature, " If you wish to form an idea of the noblest sight in the creation, cross the Atlantic, and, seeing, judge for yourselves." Towards midnight, when nought was heard but the thun- dering of the mighty cataract, T. walked out and stood on the bank for some time, looking at the awfully grand scene beneath me, which is equally sublime when viewed by tl ,? soft and silvery but indistinct light of the moon as during the brighter rays of the meridian sun, and is certainly more calculated in the former case to inspire a feeling of awe. Upon me the scene made a deep and lasting im- pression. Retiring to my bpd, I dreamed of strange events, of vast waters rushing through my ears, of drowning people, of leaping fearful cataracts, and such a dreadful medley of perils by flood and field that I was well pleased to find myself, at break of day, snugly and safely lodged in a warm bed and secure house. After breakfast the following morning I walked out to explore the Falls more minutely, the preceding evening having afforded but a superficial v'iw of them; and, pro- ceeding a few paces from the hotel, I arrived at a zig-zag path, which led down the steep and wooded bank to the level of the river above the Falls, which is about 150 or 200 feet belrw the surface of the surrounding country. The river's banks are between 15 and 20 feet high, firom Buffalo to the village of Chippewa, when the rapids com- mence and pass over a series of falls with a declination of 60 feet in a mile, until they res a. the grand cataract, where the perpendicular descent on the Canada side is . 158, and on the American 164 feet. An island of consi- 296 A SUBALTERN S FURLOtJGII. derable extent divides the river into unequal portions, the Canada or Horse-shoe Fall (so called from its shape) being 1,800 feet in length, and the American but 900. The river, for some distance before arriving at this spot, takes an easterly direction, when, the Fails being passed, it suddenly diverges at right angles and pursues a north- erly course towards Lake Ontario. The formation of the Horse-shoe can be very naturally accounted for by the greatest rush of water being in the centre of the river, and by attrition wearing away the rock, so that the Falls are slowly retiring towards Lake Erie. In pro- cess of time, some 10,000 years hence I suppose, by a moderate calcvdation, the upper lake will be drained, and a succession of rapids only will intervene between Hiiron and Ontario. The last time any quantity of rock gave way was about two years since, when nearly a quarter of an acre fell from the centre of the Horse-shoe, with such a tremendous crash as very sensibly to affect the ground upon which the hotel stands, and the cottages in the im- mediate vicinity. Neither the heavy autumnal floods, the melting of the winter's snow, nor breaking up of the ice, make any sensible difference in the colour or quantity of the vast body of water which flows down from the upper lakes. To fall into the rapids at Chippewa, or venture within a mile of the great cataract in a boat, is considered by the 'peasantry almost inevitable death. Many instances are on record of men and boats being carried over it, from attempting to cross the stream too rashly within the sweeping influence of the rapids. Nevertheless 'tis said, and I have heard it gravely asserted by some people (though they were not eye-witnesses certainly), that an old squaw once ran the gauntlet of both rapids and falls in her birch canoe, and rising again, amongst the bubble A SUBALTERN 8 FURLOUGH. 297 and foam of the boiling ^ ^ aa, she shook her long dishevelled locks awhile to discover whereabouts she was, and then swam ashore unscathed, untouched ! But — " Credat Jiidteus Apella, , Non ego." She must have been one of the witches of old, taking a bath or a jaunt in her sieve for pleasure. - ; ] Had we but arrived a few hours sooner, we should have witnessed the destruction of a schow, which, laden with a horse, twelve hogs, two or three sheep, and a dozen cords of wood, had struck against the pier, in making the en- trance to the Chippewa Canal, and springing a leak be- came unmanageable. The crew, immediately perceiving their danger, threw themselves into their canoe and ef- fected their escape ashore. The horse, it was said (with the same instinct that prompted the bears who leaped from a schooner three years since, though it was intended they should pass the Falls for the innocent amusement of some thousands of American spectators), sprang overboard and swam ashore. The vessel, with the unfortunate ani- mals left to their fate, was carried over the centre of the vast Horse-shoe, scarcely a vestige of the wreck ever re- appearing. I walked for a mile along the beach in search of fragments of the vessel, but did not observe any of its timbers exceed six feet in length, although many of them were nine inches in thickness, and in no instance was there any portion of two planks still connected. The only sheep which appeared again above water, and which was driven ashore perfectly dead at the Ferry, nearly half a mile below the Falls, was dreadfully mangled. The bones of its legs were broken and even crushed, as if they had been placed in a vice ; but a hog, which lay near it, showed 298 A SUBALTERN S FURLOUGH. no outward signs of injury, and only bled profusely at the mouth. The wood which has passed the Falls at various times has been collected in the small rocky inlets, and at the head of the backwaters, with the edges rounded off per- fectly smooth by the incessant tossing it received before it floated out of the attractive power of the Falls. Even the natives of the stream do not appear proof against their influence, as numerous dead fish are always to be found on the sides of the banks near the Ferry. The grandest view of the deep gulf into which the river descends is from Table Rock, a large projecting slab on the Canadian side, formed by the under stratum, which is of a soft, substance being washed away. Two guides live within a few paces of it, and each has erected an enclosed spiral stair-case, from his wooden shanty down the side of the rock, to the loose shelving bank 80 or 90 feet beneath, along which there is an easy path to the foot of the cata- ract. Having with two of my fellow travellers expressed a wish to walk behind the faUing sheet, we were provided with oil-skin dresses, having first divested ourselves of our usual apparel. Our new garments were by no means the most comfortable which could have been devised j they had been made for men of all sizes, shapes, and dimen- sions, from Daniel Lambert down to the " anatomie vi- vante ;" and I was some time arranging matters, so that I might have a cuance of retaining possession, when the furious hurricane should inflate them like the bags of iEolus. The shoes had evidently visited the water two or three times daily for the last half-dozen years at least, and, having been as often exposed to the sun, had become nearly as hard and inflexible as sheet iron. To crown all. A HUBAL.TEHN S VURLOUOtl. 299 we had each a girded hat, and, thus equipped, we descended the staircase, and, gaining the sloping bank, descended for 70 or 80 paces under the overhanging rock, until within a short distance of the dense cloud of spray, and dark semi- circular entrance, when a council of war was held with regard to ulterior movements. The day was stormy, and inclined to rain; the wind blew in strong gusts up the stream, making the waves to curl up in wreaths of foam, and cast such a dismal gloom over every thing around us as to render the appearance of our undertaking far from inviting. One of the party backed out, asserting that his lungs were weak, and a friend had told him " there was a difficulty in breathing behind the Fall," so that he would not attempt to explore the dark recess : a second said that he " decidedly wovdd not go any farther, that there was nothing whatever to see, and that mere braggadocios only went behind, so that they might talk about it afterwards." I was thus left in the minority, but, as FalstafP says, " Honour pricked me on," and, being resolved to see all that was to be seen, I boldly told the guide to lead the way, and, with a caution to keep my head down, we entered the thick mist, boring our way slowly through it in the dark. The path was at first over a narrow ledge of rock, only a few inches in breadth, and affording but a very insecure footing; the guide however grasped one of my hands firmly, while with the other I took hold of the rough projections in the rock. The wind, which equalled a tornado, blew the water against my face in such torrents that I could scarcely see; but I felt no difficulty in breathing. After proceeding 30 or 40 feet behind the sheet of water, the wind moderating a httle, the water descended in a more perpendicular stream, and my surprise almost amounted to disappointment when the guide stopped, and said we 300 A subaltern's furlough. If i; I i f had arrived at " Termination Rock." I scarcely credited that we had advanced 1 50 feet, and made an attempt to pass the ne plus ultra, but found it utterly impracticable, the rock becoming too abrupt to afford either a footing or a firm hold to the hands. Until this point the path is about 25 feet above the level of the water, and the base of the curve, between the great body of the falling sheet and rock, is about 40 feet. The guide here told me to look up ; but the water dashed with such impetuous vio- lence against my face, and the light shone so dimly through the watery medium, that I made the experiment but thrice. While I amused myself with shouting at the extent of my voice, the guide was making the best use of his time in securing a qua. tity of the eels which abound amongst the loose stones. I could scarcely, however, hear myself; so, despairing of having any effect upon the ears of my friends in the open air, I rejoined them but a trifle wiser than when I entered, and felt rather hard pressed for an answer to their oft-repeated enquiries of " Well, what did you see ?" and their jests upon my half-drowned appearance, as I stumbled over the stones, pumping the water out of my shoes at every step, and my hair adhering to my cheeks in long straight Unes. Having resumed my habiliments, the following certificate was handed to me, so that here- after no one might venture to doubt my prowess : " This may certify that Mr. Coke, British Army, has passed behind the great falhng sheet of water to Termina- tion Rock. Given under my hand at the office of the General Register of the names of visitors at the Table Rock, this I5th day of August 1832. " John Murray." % A SUnALTERN S FURLOUGH. 301 And on the reverse, as the medallists would say, the fol- lowing exquisite morceau : — ' " Niagara Falls." The following was suggested by paying a visit to the " Termination Rock," 1 53 feet behind the great falling sheet of water at the Falls of Niagara, on the 6th of August 1828:— . " Look up! look up! the spray is dashing— - Roaring waters foaming sweep ; O'er our heads the torrent's clashing, v Hurling grandeur down the steep. Oh, wcrtal man \ beneatli such splendour, Ho trifling, empty, vain, and poor! Prepare then. Sinner, to surrender All thoughts unhallowed or impure. - ' ' Tremendous is the scene around us ; , ■ , Oh, mark how wild the waters ring ! Terrific columns, bright, surround us : Grand are thy works, O God, our King. Dat'id M. Day't Print, Buffalo. Two days afterwards, those gentlemen who had deserted the cause on the previous occasion proposed to pass in rear of the Fall, and, wishing to ascertain the appearance of it in a clearer state of the atmosphere, I accompanied them, and was much gratified with my second trip. The vast curved sheet over head now looked beautifully white and glaring, presenting an eifect similar to that of the sun's rays upon ground glass, which render surrounding objects dim, and is too dazzling to gaze long upon. The smiling green verdure of the banks, with the deep blue sky re- flected on the smooth surface of the river in the distance, and the brilliancy of the American Fall, seen through the thick spray at the entrance of this watery cavern, formed 302 A SUBALTERN 8 PURLOIJOII. a strange contrast to the turbulence of every thing within. Though there was scarcely a breath of air without, yet the wind blew in the same heavy gusts behind the Fall as on the preceding day, and, upon our return to the atmosphere, we were pushed out by the force of it so rapidly as to im- press those persons standing without with the idea that we were escaping as rapidly as possible from the Fall. I might be said to be scudding before it under bare poles ; for, the guide's wardrobe being too scanty for our party of four, each of us was under the necessity of dispensing with certain por- tions of the requisite dress j and it fell to my lot to obtain only a pair of the afore-mentioned torturing shoes, a hat four inches less in circumference than my head, and a short frock coat of oil-skin, and thus equipped, ' The company of speculators intend erecting grist-mills, store-houses, saw-mills, and all other kinds of unomamental buildings, entertaining the most sanguine hopes of living to see a very populous city. The die then is cast, and the beautiftil scenery about the Falls is doomed to be destroyed. Year after year will it become less and less attractive. Even at this time they were surveying and allotting, and proprietors were planning one front of their house upon the Falls, the other upon Lundy's Lane, and meditating the levelUng some of the rock, so as to form a pretty little flower-garden. It would not much surprise me to hear, before many years have elapsed, that a suspension bridge has been thrown across the grand Horse-shoe to Goat Island, so that the good people of Clifton may be the ^•l I I • \ :ioi A SUBALTERN H FLTKLOUail. better enabled to watch the pyramidical bubbles of air rising from the foot of the cataract. Tis a pity that such ground was not reserved as sacred in perpetuum; that the forest trees were not allowed to luxuriate in all their wild and savage beauty about a spot where the works of man will ever appear paltry, and can never be in accord- ance. For my own part, most sincerely do I congratulate myself upon having viewed the scene before such pro- fanation^had taken;'place. The small manufacturing town of Manchester (what a romantic name and what associ- ations!), upon the American Bank, at present detracts nothing from the charm of the place, the neat white- washed houses being interspersed with trees and gardens; but when once the red and yellow painted stores, with their green Venetian blinds, tin roofs, and huge smoking chim- neys arise, farewell to a great portion of the attraction Niagara now possesses. ' A ferry-boat, half a mile below the Canadian Fall, crosses to Manchester, landing the passengers within fifty yards of the American one, where the water is precipitated over a flat perpendicular rock 300 yards in breadth. The prosperity of this village has been much retarded by two causes, one from its liability .to destruction, being a fron- tier settlement j and the other — ^by no means an uncommon cause in the United States, — the extravagant price de- manded by an individual, the great proprietor, for a grant of the water privileges allowed by the Rapids. Two or three hundred yards from the bank above the Ferry, and at the entrance to the village, a wooden bridge has been thrown over the Rapids to a small island on which there is a paper mill, and connected with Goat Island, which is of considerable extent, and divides .the two falls. Truly the men who were employed jn the erection of this bridge 3h at sir of ci- te o- ji- lts ed ut sir n- )n 11, ty id lie eo n- )n e- nt or id sn is of lie ?e s, ^4 K ivttxi.'unti 4 «^.M.t.^i^ *it\ M\'. 9 G A t .--^ i II '^ ..\ I- iniiKt huvf b**** .« fuli ;^i*i»ctiskin ot Ho;a«V* «*•» lttp\*x, tor a lUiHT p...".^|(aiii ?u!*utiori couljk«iii»*i'i» foot wouUl jiri'inpiuti' him infn fho Uapuht, *Mno{" W "^ouid pass with t>io npitlity t.l lightninitc "vw the 1' wiw t't'.iistmcteil at the expense «ii U'VW.'Kai \t^««»ru'Hii oCiwi uf disttuo- tiVM, tlorixi^ the luic ww y,ji .>|i)>t:ani iMx-sHkk axd ftrinly sjrtlated.- Tt»« piorm a>f. . -^^aii* hy ii wuocU'.n iVainP or ^ i;. xr«-^/ii^ .'w,-i»-*i .'' ■"< Itapula. ' ;iy !ru?>ni«v tv '-yfiwfv i *l*'i/V-»?'>s *»'*'^'f*'tt» w» it-"* pr««t--»it situatioti t)i« KajjhI^ ntti!«!*>t the ic«« harmW**. Vi» Iwf; u^ it ^.>f» H arri *'*»«» »i> l-,w iw {lie biidf^r {.i'iiit l«*jM4, ... iiiKM.«ii if, to a posi- •iou on Uic oripositc side, from wliich the Canadii>.n Fall is Hifc.cn to fipxat ri.ivan1«jj^t;. Anor.hor platform ilitr it tian visaKoely he cnliod ft hridgc) liais been ciMistrucU-d iiiir?ii sniu*. JclanilitJil masses ut' stout', railed the Tfirrhfvin Hucks, which t->»'Und ivito *Vi st«^ftm ni'Arlv .'^(K> feft, and t.<"» tlw; ry-ry ver;;? ul" the t::u»ft::u'*. J he pifttif.«fm poji-f-ti* 1,1 w i^wB «ijd can Unjk down rv,*'/ n wliiit a slight thread wo 'vere trusiing ouvsiiVvt"*, Aarf tii§ i'k«»x <>t" the sliige iK'vtig ovorliaiunced '^y ou*" ^vy^iri.i, #;id 'jf>#aM«nu C4 aJi ioto tht OHJara<>h «ihI it:* n^c-,' v?»l, p^^.^^ ^IU«aS£v...i..*tM-KiSfflE,v.»i.*^iiL;: i w ,<,* %<^ v![fev ?t^ •^ft'>:- \ A SUBALTERN S FURLOUGH. •: :;^; must have been in full possession of Horace's a$ triplex, for a more perilous siti'ation could scarcely be imagined. A slip of a workman's foot would precipitate him into the Rapids, whence he would pass with the rapidity of lightning over the Falls. It was constructed at the expense of General Porter, an American officer of distinc- tion, during the late war, and appears strong and firmly situated. The piers are of loose stones, confined together by a wooden frame or box, and the floor of planks twelve feet in width. There was one erected previously at the upper end of the island, and out of the great power of the Rapids, but it was continually subject to injury from the drift-ice, whereas in its present situation the Rapids render the ice harmless, by breaking it before it arrives so low as the bridge. Goat Island is thickly covered with trees ; but a road has been formed round it, and across it, to a posi- tion on the opposite side, from which the Canadian Fall is seen to great advantage. Another platform (for it can scarcely be called a bridge) has been constructed upon some detached masses of stone, called the Terrapin Rocks, which extend into the stream nearly 300 feet, and to the very verge of the cataract. The platform projects 12 or 1 5 feet beyond the last rock, so that a person standing at the end can look down into the foaming abyss. The situa- tion apparently is not a very secure one, for the end is utterly unsupported, being merely upheld by the superior weight of the timber upon the last natural pier. A large party of us walked to the outer extremity ; but observing upon what a slight thread we were trusting ourselves, and the idea of the stage being overbalanced by our weight, and launching us all into the cataract and the next world, occurring to our minds, we soon retreated to a more secure position. |i I i i I k — > ■ I 306 \ A SUBALTERN H FURLOUGH. It has been estimated that upwards of 100,000,000 of tons of water pass the Falls in an hour, of which at least two-thirds fall over the Horse-shoe. The centre of this Fall is particularly grand, the water falling in so thick a body that it descends nearly 50 feet in an unbroken sheet of the most vivid green. At the upper edge, where it begins to descend, the dark thin ledge of rock over which it is precipitated is distinctly visible, and gives the water in that part a beautiful and deep blue tinge. The noise of the Falls is not near so stunning or so loud as the descent of so large a quantity of water might be supposed to pro- duce. Some writer (Captain Hall, I believe) has compared it to that of the surf at Madras ; the similarity of sound struck me, but I thought the roar of the waves breaking upon the sandy beach, even in moderate weather, much greater than that of Niagara. 1 have heard the former in calm evenings at the cantonment of Poonamallee, a dis- tance of fourteen miles ; but vhe krtter was very indistinct at nine or ten. My bed-room at the hotel was only 400 yards distant from the river, and I thought the noise of the Falls, at night, much resembled that of boisterous and windy weather, and just sufficient for producing a most soporific effect upon me. Frequently I sat down upon the banks of the stream with my eyes closed, racking my brain in vain to discover what the sound of the cataract did really resemble. When the wind was blowing from the Falls towards me at the distance of two miles, it was like that of a vast quantity of flour-mills at work, or large mani^factories in the immediate vicinity. And then it appeared as if numerous carriages were driving at a furious rate along the road, and more than once I started up on my feet to ascertain who were coming. At times the noise would rise and fall as if the water were affected by some A SUBALTERN S FURLOUGH. 307 gust of wind or a heavy swell ; the next moment the sound of machinery, and again the surf at Madras, would appear before me, and not unfrequently it would resemble the sound of a common waterfall, with which, probably, every one is well acquainted, but which almost any one would find it difficult to describe. Although Patch, of fall- leaping celebrity, has generally the credit of leaping these Falls, he is entitled only to that of having descended from a platform at an elevation of 120 feet near the staircase upon Goat Island into a backwater of the river. There is a spring under the bank, within a few feet of the edge of the Rapids a mile above the Falls, the water of which emits gas in such quantity as to flame out to the height of three feet when a light is appUed. A small wooden building has been erected over it, and, upon open- ing the door, there is a powerful rush of air, not very agreeable to the nasal organs of the visitor. The water boils up out of the ground into a barrel, where there is a tube eighteen inches in length, to the end of which the light is applied. The boy who makes a livelihood by showing it took the barrel up afterwards, to prove that no deceit was practised, and tried the experiment upon the water, which burned for half a minute and then expired. The same kind of springs are very common along the small lakes and near the village of Canandaigua in the State of New York. Being bent upon seeing all the lions at Niagara, we enquired what next was worth seeing, and, hearing of a place having the awful designation of the Devil's Hole, we procured a guide, and after a hot walk of a mile and a half arrived at a turn of the river. By dint of hard scrambling, and lowering ourselves by the roots of trees, wc succeeded in gaining the foot of the steep bank, when i' I ! M«l t it.i X 'J *: ' 1 V 308 A SUBALTERN 8 FURLOUGH. we stood before this modem entrance into Pluto's domi- nions, expecting that we should find an equal to the far-famed one in the Peak of Derbyshire, — that we should be wafted over subterraneous rivers, be half, or probably wholly, stifled by the foul air, and encounter various dens of rattlesnakes, or receive the hug fraternal from a party of bears. The guide, saying, " Follow me," crept forwards on his hands and knees into the dark and narrow chasm, with the rest of the party close in his rear. Afiter proceeding for a few feet, we M'ere brought to a dead halt, and found ourselves in a small cave of about 20 feet square and 5 or 6 in height; but in no part could any one of us stand upright. One of the party asked, in a melancholy tone, if that was all ; and, being answered in the affirmative, we made up for the disappointment of not visiting the infernal regions by making the cave re-echo with our peals of laughter, and returned to the hotel, despatching half a dozen new sight- seekers to visit the Devil's Hole. The Field of Battle of Lundy's Lane is in the vicinity of a small village one mile from the Falls, and was the scene of the hardest contested action during the late war. A burial ground has been formed and a church is in medi- tation upon the rising eminence where the British artillery was posted, and where the bodies of those who fell were buried. The remaining portion of the field was pur- chased after the conclusion of the peace by an officer who was present in the actioii, and who now resides there. The whole of this part of the frontier is a fine and fertile country ; but, owing to its long settlement and sad mis- management, the soil has become nearly exhausted. I did not see any part of America which I should prefer as a residence to that which lies between Lakes Erie and On- tario. It is much sought after by retired officers, and the A SUBALTERN S FURLOUGH. 309 better class of emigrants. The majority of the company at the hotel during my stay there consisted of families lately arrived, who were making purchases in the vicinity. If the settler seek society, he may meet a continued stream of his countrymen on their pilgrimage to the most stupendous natural curiosity in the world ; and, if he wish retirement, he may have it in perfection, for the attention of all travellers is so entirely engrossed by the one grand object that they trouble not themselves with making visits, or intruding upon those who have settled down within hearing of the roar of the cataract. ! Eveiy one with whom I had previously conversed upon the subject most carefully impressed upon me that I shoxild be disappointed with the Falls. Like a good philosopher, therefore, I had prepared myself to meet the disappointment with calmness and resignation, recalling to my mind all the penny prints I had seen in my child- hood, representing the pine tops, the bare rocks with a solitary goat or an Indian perched upon a promontory, and a smooth sheet of water rolling over the side of the said rock. The result was that I gazed upon them hour after hour, in the bright glare of the noon -day sun, the soft light of the moon, t^he sombre haze of the storm, the mild and lovely serenity of a summer's eve, with renewed and increasing admiration. I condemned those who had told me I shoidd be disappointed as having no taste, and found fault with every living and dead author for not having suf- ficiently praised them. But I soon discovered that I could not succeed any better in description than in delineation of the scenery upon which the full power of my poor pencil was in vain bestowed, and all my labour was lost in at- tempting to give a representation which might impart to my friends some faint idea of the stupendous grandeur of ! II I ill lii' "/ ' ;no A iiUBALTBRN 8 FURLOUGH. the scene. The more a person gazes upon the Falls, the more lie admires them. New beauties appear with every change of wind and every passing cloud. In a damp and calm atmosphere, when the spray ascends like a dense fog to the height of 500 or 600 feet, and mingles with the clouds, the scene differs more than one who has not witnessed it can imagine, from the appearance on a clear, sun-shining, n: Id-day, when only a light mist rises and curls gracefully like the smoke of a distant hamlet, or as the sun verges towards the western horizon a beautiful rainbow is seen dancing in the spray, or when a strong breeze allows it to rise for a few feet above the upper level of the Fall, and then sweeps it along within a few feet of the earth, it sprinkles the traveller, at the distance of half a mile, with a bounteous summer shower, m ^^ms^^^^n:^^xl My time was so limited that I could spare only four days for Niagara, during which time my eyes were scarcely fit for any other object but the Falls, and I parted from them with as much regret as if bidding farewell to an old friend, frequently turning round, when advanced many miles upon my journey, to gain a last glimpse of the light pillar of spray. «►# io,4Ta^vi«Bmf s^^^ ') " What an idea Mr. must have formed of them !" thought I, musing as I moved onwards. He was an old fellow-traveller I had met by chance at Buffalo, and, seeing him step into a coach after breakfast, I had the curiosity to ask him where he was bound to. " To the Falls," was his reply. " And how long do you intend staying there ?" — " I shall return in the evening;" and verily I met him eight hours afterwards half way back to the hotel from which he had started. He had hurried down to Man- chester, 11 miles distant, peeped at Goat Island, pulled across the Ferry, toiled up the zig-zag road, peered over A SUBALTERN 8 FURLOUGH. 311 ^s^f*^.l Table Rock, and, throwing himself into another coach, hastened back by the Canada shore, and could now enjoy the satisfaction of telling his friends that he had seen the Falls, or use the laconic words of the Roman, *Weni, vidi." «wr| i(mai. An hour's drive brought us to Queenston Heights, upon which there is a monument of freestone 130 feet high, with the following inscription over the entrance door : — ..:.„ ...a:;.;_-i. ^-^a . " Upper Canada _'; - ; lias dedicated this monument to the memory of the late Major-General Sir Isaac Brock, K.C.B., Provisional Governor, and Commander of the Forces in the Province, whose remains are deposited in the vault beneath. Opposing the invading enemy, he fell in action, near these heights, i'i Miv on the 13th of October 1812, ^^^.^ Jif:«?aff «|l in the 43rd V ear of his age, , ' «, ffWi^ revered ^d lamented fetp«-atf,^« VH/Jg^; ?i-f^;; by the people whom he governed, ri^-^s;,* fv|>yj^ and deplored by the sovereign . . , j ,(.*■. j^ whose service his life had been devoted." We obtained a fine view from the summit of forts George and Niagara, with the vast expanse of blue waters of Lake Ontario, and York (the capital of Upper Canada) on its northern shore. Part of the scaffolding above the upper gallery has not yet been removed, it being intended to place some time or other a statue of Sir Isaac on the pedestal at the summit. The spot where he fell is near three poplar trees at the back of the village ; he was shot while leading on his troops to attack the Americans, of whom a small detachment had crossed the river during the night a short distance above the Ferry, and succeeded in ascending the heights, where, surprising the British sentry, they lay in ambush until the main body effected a landing opposite the village. The British army moving V' I HI 2 A SUBALTERN 8 FITRLOUOH. forward to attack the latter were warmly received, at the same time that their rear was guned by the party from the heights. In this attack the British commander fell, and with him the position, until the arrival of a reinforce- ment from Fort George, seven miles distant, under Ge- neral Sheaffe, who attacked the enemy in their position on the heights so impetuously that the rear of a column was pressed by the front over the precipice to whose verge it had retired. Numbers met a terrible death by being dashed against the rocks, or, falling stunned into the river, 300 feet below, were lost among the eddies. The ferry- man told me that some few gained the American shore by swimming, but those few must have been powerful men who could stem such a stream, divided as it is between its natural course and the backwater which runs up with nearly as much rapidity on the Canadian side as the stream flows towards the ocean on the American bank. The vil- lage of Queenston is a miserable-looking place, but pre- vious to the conflagration in 1812 was of some import- ance ; the inhabitants, however, taking warning from their misfortunes during that period, removed to more distant parts of the province, where they might hope to retain more peaceable possession of their property. •-> Lewiston, a mile from the Ferry, on the opposite side of the river, though not possessing so fine a situation, pro- mises to become a flourishing village ; but presenting no object of interest, excepting the remains of Fort Gray upon the river's bank, I recrossed the Niagara, and ar- rived by sunset at Newark, Fort George, or Niagara (as it is severally called), at the junction of the river with Lake Ontario. The first mentioned was the original name, but it was changed by law in 1 798, and of late years has been more generally known as Fort George by the military and A SUBALTERN fl PURLOUOH." 31.1 Niagara by the provincialists. As the Americans have a garrisoned fort of the latter name on the opposite bank, it creates much confusion and occasions frequent mistakes amongst travellers. Crossing the common, a crown re- serve which is used as a race-course, my eyes were once again greeted with the sight of St. George's banner, and the athletic figure of a Highland sentinel, pacing to and firo on the broken ramparts of a fort near the entrance to the town. A few minutes brought us to the best hotel, where, though the landlord used his utmost endeavours by civility and attention to render us comfortable, yet still I could not resist drawing secret and inward comparisons between the American and Canadian hotels — comparisons, indeed, which were far from favourable to the latter; and I began to find my British prejudices in favour of the in- fallibility of every thing Canadian already wavering. The town occupies a pretty situation on the mar^n, and about twenty feet higher than the lake, which has so much encroached upon it by the waves undermining the banks, that batteries which were thrown up but a few years since, as near as possible to the margin of the water, for the laudable purpose of anno3ang-the enemy's fort on the op- posite peninsula, have now nearly disappeared. The common above the town is intersected with the breast- works and redoubts of the English and Americans, as each party alternately had possession. The most exten- sive of them, dignified with the appellation of Fort George, contains some low wooden decayed barracks ; and another below the town, in a still more mouldering state, is named Fort Mississagua, firom a tribe of Indians, the ori^nal possessors of the tract of country between it and Fort Erie, thirty miles distant. These works, which are now rapidly crumbling into dust, and possess but the shadow V ff I 5 4 I if passed into the hands of the British by the conquest of Canada in 1 759, was ceded by treaty to the United States in 1794, and restored to them after the peace of 1814. A long spit or bar of sand, running out from it into the lake, compels vessels bound up the river to pass under the guns of Fort Mississagua, which completely commands the entrance. The following day being Sunday, I attended service at the Scotch and English churches. As the former had been commenced from the foundation within only a few months, the interior was in a very unfinished state ; but the congregation was large, and I was much struck with the fine soldier-like appearance of two companies of the 79th Highlanders, who attended in their full costume. There having been a death by cholera in the hotel during the night, I was anxious to leave the town imme- diately ; but, no public conveyance travelling on the Sab- bath, I was necessarily detained until mid-day on the Mon- day, when embarking in a steamer I crossed the Lake, and in five hours entered the harbour of York, the capital of Upper Canada. w-i i.us: fer rs A HUUALTEUN M FURLOUGH. M5 L,...v..,.. CHAPTER XIX. From this place the navigation down the river St. Lawrence was rendered extremely difiicult and dangerous, by a great number of violent riffs or rapids, and falls, among which he lost above fourscore men, fnrty-six batteaux, seventeen whale-boats, one row galley, with some artillery, stores, and ammu- nition. Smollstt. The old Indian name of York was Toronto, and it was so called from the circular bay upon whose margin the town is built I but the same rage and bad taste for modernizing the names of places has spread over the Canadas as in the United States. The first objects which meet the eye upon approaching the bay are the miserable barracks and mud fort upon the left, Gibraltar Point and Lifjht-house on the right, and the large building of the new Parliament House in the town, about a mUe distant from the fort, in front. Tlie town, containing between 8000 and 9000 in- habitants, is situated on low ground, which rises gradually as it recedes from the lake, but attains no great elevation. The streets are straggling and ill paved, but the greater proportion of the private houses and shops are of good substantial masonry. The public buildings, with the ex- ception of Government-house, which in point of external appearance is little superior to a cottage, are plain and i !l M: I 11 •fi.lt. ■•rtrr • )•]-] .'41 ..tt;, ■?■ 1 316 A SUBALTERN M KURLpUOil. r excellent, and the English church, when completed, will be a tasteful and ornamental structure. The new Parliament House, a spacious brick building, was in an unfinished state, and had been appropriated for the purposes of an hospital during the prevalence of the cholera, of which cases were daily landing from every vessel that brought emigrants from Montreal. It was truly melancholy to see some of the wretched objects who arrived ; they had left England, having expended what little money they pos- sessed in laying in a stock of provisions for the voyage and payment of their passage across the Atlantic, expect- ing to obtain work immediately they landed in Lower Canada. Being deceived in these prospects, they became a burden upon the inhabitants of Quebec, or the pro- vincial government. Forty-five thousand emigrants of all classes landed in tb"! city during the first three months of the season, and the fate of many of them was miserable in the extreme. Nearly '"very heirlland of the St. Law- rence Wj ' occupied by an hospital, tenanted by numerous sufferers. Those who had some small funds, and intended settling ii; the lanf ' belonging to the Canada Company, were forwarded to the Upper Country in the following manner. The emigrant who purchased not less than 200 acres in the scattered Crown Reserves, or 100 acres in the Huron Tract, received a passage to the head of Lake Ontario, upon depositing with the Company's agent at Quebec a sum of money equal to the price of liis con- veyance to the head of the Lak'.. After he had fixed upon his land, he showed the receipt for ^is forwarding- money to the Company's agr at at York, and it was taken in pf>rt payment of his second instalment, the Company allowing the purchasers of their lands to pay by six in- stalments in five years, and jj;iving tliem a right to occupy the lots after payment of the first instalment. A 8UBALTICRN 8 FURLOUGH. 817 The situation of York is far from an inviting one, the inhabitants being subject during certain seasons to the fever and ague, caused by the marshy ground which lies close to the town and around the head of the bay. It is almost to be regretted that a better site could not have been chosen for the capital of an increasing country. Though a n^ore central position than Kingston at the foot of the lake, yet in no other respects does it equal it. The bay is too shallow to admit vessels of even moderate bur- den, and in time of war it is always exposed to the incur- sions of American gun- boats, and the town subject to be sacked, as in 1813. Some years since it was proposed that the capital of Upper Canada should be on the borders of Lake Simcoe, and a water communication be opened with Montreal by means of the shallow lakes and Rideau Canal ; but I believe all thoughts of removing the seat of Government from York are now entirely laid aside. The land in the immediate vicinity is poor and cold, but be- comes more fertile as the distance from the lake increases, and good farms are abundant towards Lake Simcoe, and on the sides of the road called Young Street. The place is however only in its infancy as yet, and said to be in- creasing rapidly, though the comparisons between it and Buffalo, the last American town I had seen, and of a very few years' growth, were much in favour of the latter. There are no places of public amusement, and the chief diversion for the young men appeared to consist in shooting mus- quito hawks, which hovered plentifully about the streets and upon the margin of the bay in an evening. Upon these occasions the sportsmen made their appearance, equipped in shooting jackets, and attended by their dogs, as if prepared for a 12th of August on the moors of Scotland. 8 II i! )! t ! if !i « :i ii- 318 A SUBALTERN B FURLOUGH. I found nothing here to make a longer £>tay than three days desirable, and was on the point of proceeding to Burlington Bay, for the purpose of seeing the head of the lake, and visiting Brandt, the celebrated chief of the Six Nations of Indians, who possess a larf f^ reservation there, when an officer, who had just arrived from Brandtford, informed me he had seen a man dying of cholera in the chief's house the preceding day.* Being in a bad state of health myself at this time, and uncertain of obtai:lng me- dical assistance there if required, in company with a friend I embarked in a steamer, and arrived at Kingston the fol- lowing morning, after an unpleasant voyage of twenty hours, over a short, dancing sea, which I found by far more disagreeable than the long swell of the Atlantic. The town and uncomfortable inns were crowdcu to excess, owing to the assizes and the Bishop's visitation occurring together ; nor was it without great difficulty that we succeeded in obtaining a sleeping apartment upon the ground floor of the principal hotel. Justice appeared to be distributed and the representatives of the law to be attired in the same plain and simple manner as in the States. We saw the sheriff dressed in plain clothes, but with a cocked-hat, queue, and sword, walking through the streets to the court-house, with a judge, undistinguished by dress, upon either side of him. The to\m, which contains about 5000 inhabitants,, lies upon the margin of an arm of the lake, with the Navy-yard upon the opposite peninsida, formed by this inlet, and the • Brandt (or Tekanehogarij as he was sometimes called) was carried off by the same disease a few days after I left York. He liad distinguished himself upon several occasions during the last war with the United States, and was a polished, well-informed man. His habits were those of a European, and, in his earlier days, lie had resided for some time in England. His father's name has hecn immortalized in " Gi'rtrude of Wyoming." ' A SUBALTERN 8 PUBLOUGH. ;ii9 entrance to the Lake of the Thousand Isles. By the Indians, an old oncampraent which they had upon the spot where the town now stands was called Catarakwi. When the Frencli became lords of the soil, they erected a fort, and named it Frontenac, in honour of the Governor of Canada, and both were in turn ousted by the English ; and Kingston, during the late war, being the great naval depAt for the fleets upon nhe lakes, it was a Ijusy flourishing place, but declined with the peace. It may now however expe- rience a re-action from the Ridcau Canal communicating with the lake here, and be again restored to its former pros- perity. This canal continues up the inlet of the Bay until it reaches the first locks at the mills, five miles distant : the masonry and the whole workmanship connected with them are much superior to those upon the Erie or Chesapeake and Ohio Canals. The total number of locks between Kingston and Bytown, upon the Ottawa River, 136 miles distant, is 47; vheir length about 140, breadth 33, and depth 16 or 17 feet. Dams, upon a very extensive scale, have been had recourse to tliroughout the line of canal, instead of excavations as in England. Where such works have been thrown across marshes, or the Rideau River, in order to swell the Rapids and form a na\'igable stream, so vast an extent of stagnant water (in one place 10,000 r.cres) has been created as to render the settlements in the vicinity exceedingly unhealthy. I saw many of the workmen at the milly who were perfectly helpless from the marsh fever they had cauglit. These large inundations, however, in a few years will destroy the drowned forest, and a quantity of valuable land may then be reclaimed by small embankments. The whole work was completed at an expense to the Imperial Government of 700,000/. In the event of war with our neighbours, it will be found iiivalua- i II i'ii ' pi 1 pi H J 320 A SUBALTERN 8 FURLOUGH. ble for the transportation of military stores and troops from the lower to the upper province, without being sub- ject as heretofore to captures from the American force upon the St. Lawrence, or to running the gauntlet of the batteries upon their bank of the river. Like the Erie, in the State of Nevi' York, it will also encourage settlers along the whole line, as an outlet is now opened for the produce of their farms. Two steamers were at this time continually running between the Ottawa and Ontario, and the traffic of heavy boats also appeared considerable. Several large hulks of vessels of war, built during the last war to cope with those of the Americans on the stocks at Sackett's Harbour, and which were never launched, are now fast falling to decay in the Navy-yard at Kingston. A seventy-four had been sold two or three months pre- viously for 25/., and a few days before our anival a heavy squall of rain, accompanied by lightning, had split the St. Lawrence of 120 guns down the centre, and, the props giving way, the vessel broke into a thousand pieces, cover- ing the ground all around with a heap of ruins. Ere long the remaining four or five frames will meet with a similar fate, as they are in a very advanced state of decay, partly owing to the want of proper care, and being run up hur- riedly and of unseasoned timber. There is also the Com- modore's House (his flag, by the bye, was at this time flying on a cutter stationed in front of this squadron of hulks), and some fine marine barracks in the Navy-yard. The ground rises abruptly in rear of them, and forms a shelter to the capacious bay in front of the town. On the summit of this elevated land a fort of considerable extent was repairing ; it occupies an excellent position for defend- ing the entrance to the harbour and the narrows of the St. Lawrence. The new Barracks in the town are also fine A SUBALTERN S FURLOUGH. 321 substantial buildings enclosed liy a loop-holed wall, and erected at the opposite extremity of the bridge to ilic marine barrack. The land in the vicinity of Kingston is rocky, and in fiivourable seasons makes but a poor return to the farmer : there was even on the 25th of August, the morning upon which ve quitted the town, so severe a frost as to out- down many of the vegetables. Grand Island, 24 miles in length, extends from Kingston to the village of French- town, where the lake of the Thousand Isles commences. These isles are of every intermediate size, from a small barren rock three yards in diameter, with a solitary pine growing out of a cleft in it, to one of seven miles in length partially covered with a cold soil. Although the scenery, in those parts M'here the river from being contracted amongst the islands for some distance suddenly expands again into a broad lake, is rather pretty, yet generally it is very tame and uninteresting, the banks being low and thickly covered with pine, and bearing scarcely any symptoms of civili- zation. Brockville, upon the English bank, .50 miles from Kingston, is the prettiest town and situation I saw in Upper Canada. It is on the side of a hill, rising gra- dually froii the St. LaM'rence, with the Court-house and three churclies on the summit, and the principal street running parallel with the water ornamented with a fine row of trees. The country on the bank below the town becomes better cleared and cultivated, with pretty hamlets and farm-houses, which are well opposed to the dense dark forests on the American shore. We arrived at Prescott, T^ miles from Kingston, early in the evening; but the inn was in so dirty a state, and the whole town presented such an uninviting aspect, that we M'ere induced, in spite of the necessity of subjecting Y ^^ l\ i ,• i M 322 A SUBALTERN 8 FURLOUGH. t: our baggage to the scrutiny of a custom-house officer, to cross the river to Ogdensburgh, immediately opposite, in the State of New York, where we found a comfortable hotel. This town, which much differs in cleanliness of appearance from its Canadian neighbour, contains about 1200 inhabitants, and is situated at the mouth of the dark marshy waters of the Oswegatche, which, flowing from the Black Lake, eight miles distant, unites here with the deep blue St. Lawrence. The remains of the barracks, originally built by the French, and occupied by the British prior to the cession of the town in 1796, but burnt in the subsequent war, are seen on the point of land formed by the junction of the two streams. ' i > i^ V.j -ov *■ -f .v Prescott contains firom 800 to 1000 inhabitants; and being the head of the small craft navigation from Montreal, and the foot of the sloop and steam navigation with Lake Ontario, much business is carried on in the forwarding of goods and travellers, and a vast deal more in the smu^ling line. Endless are the disputes and broils on accovmt of the seizure of a steam-boat which plies between the two towns every ten minutes for the convenience of passengers, who are not unfrequently well supplied with contraband goods. Broad cloths and English goods of every descrip- tion being much cheaper in the Canadas than in the United States, the summer shoal of Yankee travellers unite plea- sure and business in their tour to see the Falls of Niagara and the fortifications at Quebec, by ordering their stock of apparel for the year at Montreal, thus evading the fron- tier duty. Many of the mercantile houses in Prescott and Ogdensburgh are connected. I had some conversation with a storekeeper who sat next to me at the table d'h6te in the latter town, and^ walking into a warehouse in Pres- cott the following day, found him busily employed there. A SUBALTERN 8 FURLOUGH. M& He said he had another establishment on the opposite side of the river. Fort Wellington, a mud redoubt of considerable strength, is half a mile below Prescott. There is a large and strong block-house in the interior, but the bomb-proof barracks have fallen in under the great pressure of earth upon the timber roofs. Dviring the time the last war was so un- popular, in certain parts of the United States, that meet- ings of a favourable tendency to the British took place in many of the principal towns, a numerous party of the inhabitants assembled at Ogdensburgh for the purpose of drawing up a remonstrance against the proceedings of the American government. The force in Fort WelUngton, not aware of the circumstances of the case, and observing a large crowd assembled about a house in which the meeting was held, fired two or three shot amongst the traitorous orators, who speedily dispersed, postponing their discus- sions upon the subject sine die. The weather had now begun to be rather chilly, and we passed the evenings in sitting with our host, who was an original in his way, over the wood fire. He was a native of one of the New England States, and migrated early in Ufe, as one half of the young men do in that part of the country. '* As soon as he knew the points of the compass," to use his own expression, he "cleared out from his native village, and bore off to the westward to pioneer his way through the woods." Chance brought him to the banks of the St. Lawrence, where, finding there was an opening, he established a tavern, and realized a small fortune. After the lapse of some years, he revisited the place of his birth ; but the appearance of every thing had changed. Scarcely any one knew him ; all his old schoolfellows, with the exception of one in each family, V 2 in 324 A SUBALTERN S FURLOUGH. « to look after the old folk," had gone off into the Ohio country, and, in two hours, having satisfied the curiosity of every one, he determined upon returning to his old , haunts. My friend putting several questions to him re- specting elections for president, senators, and state repre- sentatives, for two good hours "by Shrewsbury clock" did he hold forth upon the constitution. My head was still running upon what he had said about Fort Welling- ton so uncivilly dispersing the meeting at which he was present, and the French barracks at the mouth of the Oswegatche. Once or twice I made an attempt to gain some more information upon the subject, as being more in my way, but all my efforts at putting in a word and changing the subject, when the old man stopped to take breath or cough, were received with " Stop a bit — I'll tell you — I a'int got through yet ;" and, truly, at last I began to despair of his ever getting through. My friend's atten- tion to his lecture, and the compliments he paid the old gentleman, so warmed his heart that he produced some beer (a most vile composition), than which, he said, " there was not better in the old country." I tasted it ; and my friend, imprudently recommending it, could not escape without finishing the tankard, mine host encouraging him the while, with " a'int it good ? — ^you a'int finished it yet." After a detention of two days we succeeded ir meeting with a bateau, which was proceeding down the St. Law- rence, a mode of travelling we considered preferable to a heavy coauh over a bad road. The boat had arrived the preceding evening at Prescott with fifty Irish emigrants, after a passage of 8i days firom Montreal, and was re- turning with a cargo of 100 barrels of flour from the Cleveland mills in Ohio, which, after payment of a duty of one dollar per barrel, at the Coteau du Lac, where it A 8UBAL.TERN 8 PUIILOUGII. ;i25 crosses the frontier, is rated as Canadian flour, and finds its way to England in British vessels. The bateau was a strong-built craft, from 40 to 45 feet in length and 7 or 8 in width, and, being heavily laden, so much preparation was made by nailing skirting -boards round the bulwarks to prevent the spray damaging the cargo that I imagined we had embarked upon rather a dangerous undertaking. We set sail, however, with a fine, ten-knot, westerly breeze, and dashed through the water at a spanking rate. The crew consisted of four men to work the oars, when their use was required in « head wind, and a captain or steers- man, who guided the boat with a long and broad scull. They were all French Canadians, lively as usual, and polite in their attentions. Though good sailors and navigators, they are but clumsy seamen in fresh water even ; and in making sail, which consisted of a main-sail «only, with the foot of it stretched along a boom, a haul-yard or rope of some description becoming jammed in the block, our captain lay out upon the yard-arm to set it free. His rig differed much firom our notions of what a Jack Tar's dress shoidd be, being a brown frock-coat which reached to his knees, coarse gray trowsers, a rusty old hat upon his head, and his feet encased in a pair of Indian mocassins. The whole complement of navigators, captain included, were longer in setting our solitary piec€ of canvass than it would have occupied the crew in reefing topsails on board of a man-of-war. Our steersman bore the character of being the steadiest and most able pilot upon the river, having been ace istomed to the navigation of it for twenty years. He took the vessel down the first Rapid with sail set, which is considered rather an unusual thing, and so very slight was the inclination of the water that we began K^ 32G A SUBALTERN 8 FimLOUnil. to think, if such were the far-famed Rapids of the St. Law- rence, that the whole affair was a complete bugbear. Passing sufficiently close to Crysler's farm on the left bank to see the riddled gable ends of the cottages^ and the extent of the position where the American army were re- pulsed in Noveniber 1814, when on their march to Mon- treal, we approached the Rapids of the Long Satdt. Our sail was stowed snugly away some time before we came in sight of the white breakers, and, as soon as the bateau dashc* into the heavy swell, it evidently became a difficult matter to guide it. The steersman had laid his hat upon the deck, and his lips moved as he muttered a prayer to some favourite saint, whilst eveiy nerve was strained in the guidance of his helm, as if the sUghtest deviation from a narrow track would subject us all to destruction. Upon the summit of every wave, the boat gave a bound for- wards ; the centre of it, yielding to the shock,* rose and fell with the motion of the waves, and, when it entered an eddy at a bend in the river, the foil power of the oars was required to prevent it broaching to, when we should have inevitably been lost. The descent on the Canadian side of the river cannot be made, excepting for rafts of timber, and the only channel is by the terms of the treaty thrown entirely into the hands of the Americans, the islands being divided, by each power taking the alternate one; the island in this place lies between the Channel and the British shore. With an unsK^lfol or timid pilot, the descent of the Rapids would be a perilous undertaking, as any chance of safety by swimming would be hopeless ; and for real pleasure one descent is quite sufficient. If I were ever to travel down the course of the St. Lawrence again, I should take the land conveyance from Prescott to A SUBALTERN S FURLOUMIl. 327 Cornwall, though I never enjoyed myself more than during the five hours I was on board the bateau this day, and we outstripped the coach two hours and a half in the journey of fifty miles. We saw a steam-vessel which was oif the stocks and nearly completed at Prescott, for the purpose of running down the smaller Rapids, and constructed upon a novel principle. The vessel was of great length and extremely narrow in the beam, with six long cylindrical boilers, and the paddles astern, on the supposition that in ascending the stream they will propel the vessel quicker than paddles on the sides, which might retard its progrf tss, by being opposed to the fidl power of the current. Fvmr rudders were placed equi- distant on the stern, so as to give the steersman more command over the vessel in the violent eddies; and, if the experiment answered in the smaller Rapids, it was intended to attempt the passage of the Long Sault. #y)^.-;»/> vui-^c avd;.?!: -r.-'-i, a, j3ii:>i<; •?i.While strolling about at Cornwall, which lies a little inland, we by chance fell in with a well-dressed Irishman of the farming class, who had been in the country only two years. When he landed (to use his own words), " he had not a tenpenny to bless himself with," but hired himself out as a labourer at eight dollars per month ; and as the winter set in, being an athletic man, he soon became an expert limiberer, and earned from 15 to 20 dollars in the woods, in felling timber upon the Crown lands. He had, by being frugal and temperate, managed to lay by so much money that he had now purchased a farm of 150 acres near Williamstown, some miles in the interior, with aiv agreement that the whole of the purchase-money should be paid in two years. He was like all Canadian farmers, very independent, in one sense of the word, being his own baker, butcher, tallow-chandler, cider-brewer, sugar-boiler, M :i28 A NUHALTKIIN tt Ft' IlLOirOM. soa])-inHker, and, in short, a complete jack of all trudcs. I never met a man so delighted with his prospects ; and he seemingly attributed all his good fortune to not having been encumbered with a wife and family when he was in less prosperous circumstances. After passing a most miserable night, tossing about in a heated room, ana disturbed by the whipping and scream- Uiir of children, and the scolding of mothers, we embarked on the morning of the 28th of August on board a steamer, at that most uncomfortable of all hours a-board a ship, — five o'clock, when the passengers are all asleep in the cabin, the crev, are washing and swabbing the decks, and a thick cold mist rises from the surface of the water. Tlie boundary \w between the British territories and the United otates runs on the verge of the village of St. Regis, where the Irroquois tribe of Indians have a large settle- ment, a few miles below Cornwall, and just within the Canadian frontier. Their priest, a French Canadian, came on board and accompanied us to Montreal : he was a sen- sible, well-informed man, and told us, in the course of conversation, that he was a native of Quebec, and had never been out of the Provinces, though he intended visit- ing Europe the ensuing season. His whole tribe, 800 in number, were Catholics, and, with the exception of 70 or 80, much addicted to drink, their mode of hfe (being employed in the arduous work of transporting goods up the river to Prescott) rather encouraging their natural in- clination for spirituous liquors. The cholera had been raging amongst them violently, eighty of the tribe having died in a very short space of time, the priost performing the duties of surgeon in addition to his own. He was evidently a worthy man and much esteemed by the tribe ; All the Indians we met upon the road and even in the streets A HuiiAi/risiiN H nrRhotroii. 3l»;) of Montreal, 8ixty miles distant, saluted him by touching their hats and smiling with pleasure when they saw him. Througiiuut the country every one spoke in high terms of the exemplary conduct of the priests during the preva- lence of the disease. The Irroquois have a second village at St. Louis of five hundred inhabitants, within a few miles of Montreal, and tliere is a third of four hundred farther down the St. Lawrence. We were informed by the priest that during the war of 1812, and the two en- suing years, the tribe took an oath at the altar, before entering the field, that they would not commit any cruflties upon their pnsoners, nor even scalp their ene- mies when dead, and that in no single instance was this sacred pledge broken. They had bestowed one of their significant, fine-sounding names upon him, the pronunci- ation of which I in vain attempted to learn, but the inter- pretation of it was, "The man who carries the work;" that of his predecessor in the pastoral duties had been "the rising moon," from his eyes being generally fixed upon the heavens. At the village of Coteau du Lac, at the lower extremity of Lake St. Francis, we took coaches through a flat but well-cleared country, with a continued street of French settlers' houses on the road side. At the Coteau Rapids there is a fort of considerable extent ; and a few miles further are the Cedars, the prettiest Rapids on the St. Lawrence, where a detachment of General Amherst's army was lost through the unskilfulness of the pilots, when moving down to the attack of Montreal in 1 JGO. A canal is now excavating for the purpose of avoiding these Rapids, which are more dangerous than any of the others, the water being shallower. As w e passed them tlie wreck of a bateau was visible above the surface. At a point of 1 i ' M ' |t ^^ 1:1 HiV i f.;- !■! HDO A HUHAIiTERN H FURLOUGH. land below the Cedars we again embarked in a slcanicr, andj proceeding through Lake St. Clair, passed a fort erected during the late war by a Convent at Montreal in a spirit of loyalty. It appeared to be kept in excellent repair, and formed a pretty object upon a headland of tiie smooth lake. A cross erected on its summit betokened its present unwarlike occupation, and accordingly we found it now the residence of nuns. At the village of Lachine, on the island of Montreal, we again landed, and took coaches through a densely-populated country, and on that account more closely resembling Europe than any district I had seen in America. The suburbs of Montreal are much like those of a French town, and crowded with small taverns with seats and trees in front of them. Signs are suspended across the street, upon which all the good things that may be obtained within the house are recounted, and inscriptions in both languages attract the traveller. One or two dispensers of caf<^ and eau-de-vie have soared higher than their neigh- bours, and posted up some such couplet as the following :-— " Belfast Hotel. '- Good morning, friends — Come in and rest — there's yet a chair, As you can have refreshment here." The city, when viewed from the low range of hills upon which the road is formed, has much the appearance of a European town. The approach to it from Lachine, nine miles distant, is exceedingly fine, the city being backed by the broad St. Lawrence and a bold mountainous coimtry ; but, upon entering it, we passed through such narrow and filthy streets, that it seemed to me sufficient to account for the dreadful mortality which had taken place firom the cholera. Every seventh person had been cut off in the A HUHALTEKN H FUHLOIKUI. 381 course of a few weeks, and every one seen in the streets showed by his dress that he wus mourning the loss of a relative or a friend. At the time the disease was raging with the greatest violence, there being from 170 to 20() deaths daily out of a population of 32,0(K), n stranger entered the city, in his appearance almost reseml)ling an Indian Faquir. [lis beard had been unshorn for weeks ; his attire was tattered, and but httle better than tliat of a common mendicant. He carried several small eases sus- pended from his neck, containing hog's lard, maple sugar, and charcoal, witli which he proclaimed he would check the fiiry of the disease, and exposed himself wherever his assistance was required without receiving any remunera- tion. Many of the people looked upon him as being de- ranged, and held him up to ridicule ; but others, who had seen whole families of their dearest friends swept off in a single day, were anxious to catch at any thing which bore even a most distant chance of cure along with it. Whe- ther from ha''nng faith in these his simple medicines, or that they u< .ually had some effect, I know not, but tiiey grew so in*<* rry • c *.hat, when I arrived at Montreal, the " Charcor l»i'.'.Ujr ' (as he was called) was esteemed by some a.'- '/O Lj^ ■-'!?»< their guardian angel. 1 saw along leii^r F. d 'sseo ' him, signed by nearly two hundred peo^.!,: v!'c^ ^" lad attended, and who did not hesitate to say that tliey eoimldered him as sent by Divine Power to Iheir assistance. He was now residing in an eminent practitioner's house, and still attended persons without making any charge for his services, only wlioever required them paid for »he hire of a carriage, his practice being too extensive for a pedestrian. I never could ascertain, nor could any one, I believe, have informed me, whence he came, who he was, or any thhi^ Hhout his previous life. 1 1| 332 A SUBALTERN 8 FURLOUGH. There were, of course, ten thousand surmises, but the general opinion appeared to be that he was an American, from one of the New England States, and had been resid- ing among the Indian tribes for many years, until accident had informed him of the dreadful pestilence raging in Montreal. ; ( :(-■■■• f»ji w • ■ .\f* i- ■^'^l *"i " *J-?1V/ T ■' • |»? J I I 7 ,':il:r5*.^i •«';/;(;} r, •:,: • -t- ■ : .:■ •: .1.1 . ^i'-; hu i"i[mJ*:f3vjT/i 0^! ilmi'-fr ^hr/r M,i'-ii,.-':'> hH'- '.if'.><* >: vi- ■■ O'-i^'^ ■;•;■■ "■!.; ^•ji'y ;j) '^►(i^ii'-.tv- '■'?•;''> ■ -* s'i -i-S^y-f- ':'(.;!-!,.;-•■'., ■ ;'. <. iiS:li!-! nnt- ■''■■ ¥.'- '.-.''■'■yA '■ !j.,^i-.;r' > ' >(! !• ! /J '.(t "if.' -1 ■•(-,■ ? ;j>-y rS'S !^.!\' ,i (---Jl * , A SUBALTERN S FURLOUGH. 333 CHAPTER XX. M 1 I ; ,1 The death of General Wolfe was a national loss, universally lamented. Ei'ave above all estimation of danger, he was also generous, gentle, complacent, and humane : the pattern of the officer, the darling of the soldier. ,--.. Smollett. A death more glorious, and attended with circumstances more picturesque and interesting, is nowhere to be found in the annals of history. Belsham. With less of good fortune, but not less of heroism, expired the equally gallant Montcalm. Marshall. The island upon which Montreal is built is about 32 miles In 'ength and 7 in breadth, and formed at the junction of the Ottawa, or Grand River, which divides the Upper fi'om the Lower Province, and the St. Lawrence. The black waters of the former river do not mix with those of the St. Lawrence even at the city, which is ten miles below the union of the two streams ; but a distinct line or boundary between their waters can be seen at a considerable distance. This circumstance gave rise to the old Indian saying of, "As soon shall the waters of the Ottawa mix with those of the St. Ijawrence as the blood of the red man with that of the pale faces." The river in front of the city is nearly two miles wide, but the depth is > 11 mu \ II Hi, 334 A SUBALTERN S FURLOUGH. only sufficient for brigs and ships of small burden, of which but a very few lay in the stream at this time, though more mercantile business is transacted here than at Quebec. A noble quay extends for some distance along the margin of the water, and, being constructed of good substantial materials, is a great ornament to the city ; it was only just completed, from the design of Captain Piper I believe) of the Royal Engineers. The prettily wooded island of St. Helens, two miles in circumference, lies opposite the town, lliere is a small fort and barracks at its lower extremity, which must, how- ever, have been constructed only for the purpose of dis- puting the passage of the St. Lawrence, as the rocks rise so closely behind some of the buildings that a moderately active man might leap without much exertion on to their roofs, or a small party of riflemen might subject the garrison to great annoyance. It is the grand dep6t of artillery and military stores for Canada; and, judging from late cir- cumstances, such an establishment is much required. The 15th regiment of foot were encamped amongst the trees, having been withdrawn from their quarters in the city in consequence of the cholera having made such havoc in the ranks ; and, though at this time only half a mile distant from their barracks, not a single case had occurred since their residence in the island. The mountain from which the city derives its name rises about 7^0 feet above the level of the river, and two miles in rear of Montreal. The summit and half way down its sides are covered with forest, but the base is occupied by some neat houses, with gardens and orna- mental grounds. ' i... . The city possesses some fine public buildings, of which the Catholic Cathedral is probably superior to any thing of t \- A SIIHALTERN » FITULOITGH. SH5 the kind on the whole American Continent, or any struc- ture of the 19th century. The funds failed before it was completed ; the tower, therefore, and some of the exterior ornamental work are unfinished. It is of dark grey stone, and built after the Gothic style of architecture. The di- mensions of the interior are 255 by 130 feet, and it is capable of containing 1 2,000 people, there being two gal- leries on each side of it. The vaulted roof is supported by eighteen columns, stained in bad imitation of marble, and, with great want of good taste, has been chequered with alternate black and white stripes, which detract much from its beauty. At the south end, there is a large stained window, representing the ascension of our Saviour, but in my opinion executed in too gaudy a style to be pleasing : bright greens, and yellow, which are the predominant co- lours, neither have a good effect, nor do they throw a soft and mellowed shade over the body of the church. I was shown through the Convent of Grey Nuns by a garrulous veteran of the 29th regiment, who had joined his corps in Canada in 1785, and the Hospital in 1791, having lost his left leg by accident. His recollections v.f England were indeed very faint ; he had an indistinct idea that it was not so well wooded as America, that turnpike roads were more general, and that the population was rather thicker upon the ground, but nothing farther. He asked me if 1 was acquainted with Mr. Walter of London, and Mr. So-and-so of Liverpool ; and, though by his own ac- count he was a native of some village in Herefordshire, I overheard him telling one of the nuns that he came from the same town as myself and was well acquainted with my family ! The Hospital or Convent (for it is known by 1)oth names) is situated between the St. Lawrence and a deep, dirty creek, over which a stone arch was erecting, so i M m iy 9m A SUHALTERN S FURLOUOU. as to cover it in, the prevalence of the cholera ha^-ing been partly attributed to the unwholsome effluvia arising from it. It is a large heavy pile of building, and has been much augmented of late years ; the Chapel was also now en- larging by means of funds transmitted from France, and, when I entered it, the fat old superior and two of the sis- ters were planning improvements, assisted by a host of carpenters and masons. All religions, sects, and nations, are alike admitted ; and but lately the representatives of nine different nations were within its walls. Every room was neat and clean, and the inmates appeared as comfort- able and happy as infirm and uged people could be. In- cluding from fifty to sixty orphans, there were i^o fewer than 300 inmates; but a striking difference was apparent be- tween the care and attention paid to the legitimate and illegitimate children : they were not only in separate rooms, but tlie former were far neater in their personal appear- ance, and bore evident symptoms of ])eing lietter cared for than the «/H)ers, who it would seem were supposed to have less power/id claims. A considerable income is derived from the sale of little fancy articles made by the nuns, of whom there are nearly thirty, and by the children, every visitor purchasing a few, for which he generally pays well without scruple, having been witness to the excellence and benefit of the institution. Though I visited it as early as half past 1 o'clock, I found old and young sitting down at well-covered dinner tables. The Catholic is the prevailing Religion in the city, a.»d the Seigniory of the island is held by the clergy of that church, from which, with a heavy per centage upon the transfer by sale of all real estates, a large revenue is de- rived. Tliough so many Englisli and Scotch reside in the city, the French language is very generally spoken, and but V, A SUBALTERN 9 FURLOUGH. 837 few of the natives of the lower class speak the English fluently. The shops are very excellent, and I never saw in one place so many for the sale of clothes, the entire street of Notre Dame being occupied by them. The Market- house is not only a shabby, but a dirty building ; at the head of it is a monument erected to Nelson, about thirty feet in height, surmounted by his statue, with an inscrip- tion and relievos upon the pedestal. Adjoining it is the Place d' Amies, a levelled platform on the side of the hill upon which the city stands. Its length is about 300 yards, and breadth 100, and is a fine promenade, but no orna- mental buildings front upon it. One side overlooks some fields, and the others are formed by the rear of the gaol and some common private dwellings. The Hotels are excellent, and the British American, where I resided during my stay at Montreal, is very comfortable — in fact, the finest house for the accommodation of travellers in the Canadas. A person is there relieved from witnessing the disagreeable habits so common in the United States ; the habits indeed of the Provincialists differ but very little from those of the old country. At the time of our arrival, the Court of King's Bench had opened, and the trial of two British officers (Colonel M'Intosh and Captain Temple of the 1 5th foot) was taking place, for firing upon a mob during election riots in the month of May, by which three men (French Canadians) were killed, and several wounded. The coroner's jury could not agree upon any verdict, and bills were submitted to the grand jury, charging the officers with murder. They were finally honourably acquitted, and received public thanks from the Governor-General for llieir conduct during the election. There was indeed little doubt that, but for the praiseworthy conduct of the magistrate who called the z .{38 A SjrnALTERN S FITRLOrGII. troops out iq)on that occasion, the city of Montreal would have been subject to similar scenes which have taken place elsewhere, when a mob has gained the ascendancy. There appeared, I was sorry to see, a most violent ill-will existing between the French and English settlers, which was car- ried to an extraordinary pitch on the side of the former, who in their pubUc meetings did not hesitate to accuse the British Government of sending^ a torrent of Protestant emigrants " to wrest their native country from them, and" (to quote the language of one of their orators) " to obtain the disposal of a property which ought to serve as an outlet for the industry of the Canadian youth, and as an asylum for their posterity." But he yet hoped " that they might preserve their nationality, and avoid these future calami- ties, by opposing a barrier to this torrent of emigration."' A resolution to the same intent was passed at a meeting held at St. Charles's, at which opulent and influential persons, who had filled high and honourable posts in the colony, took a lead. The Montreal Herald, an able and well-conducted paper, in noticing the proceedings of this meeting, says of the above resolution, " This uneasiness about the uncultivated lands arises from the anxiety of a party (who have long lived upon the delusive dream of one day reverting to France, or being able to revolutionize Canada) to arrest emigration, and thus prevent the settle- ment of those lands by British subjects, which must of course strengthen the hands of the Government, and for ever dissi})atc the ridiculous idea of ' La nation Cana- dienne.' " At this same meeting the British were also ac- cused <•. having introduced the cholera into Canada; or, in the words of the resolution itseu (the 13th), "That England will, in any case, have to justify herself, for having suffered so considerable an emigration at a time I A SUBALTERN 8 FURLOUGH. iiSU when she was under the frightful influence of the cholera, which by this means has been introduced into this colony, the climate of which is the most healthy in all America, and has covered it with mourning and desolation." In its remarks upon this subject, the same paper says, " It is impossible not to be struck with the impious pre- sumption, and reckless disregard of truth, which to serve the hostile views of these leaders, and excite the prejudices of the people against the new population, dares to charge the mother country with the wilful introduction of a pesti- lence from which the All-wise Disposer of events has not exempted these provinces or this continent, and which has been felt with more or less severity in almost every part of the habitable globe. The resolution, though puerile, is important, from showing how far these demagogues pre- sume on the ignorance of their followers, and the mon- strous fabrications they dare to palm upon the deluded and ignorant people, as serious and irrefragable truths." I must confess that the little I saw and heard of the French Canadians impressed me with very unfavourable opinions of them. In the full enjoyment of their own religion, civil laws, and political rights — burdened by no taxes of any description — with free trade, and England's protection, they were dissatisfied and discontented. Not the slightest wish to improve the state of the country was any where visible ; l)ut every public undertaking of any importance was the work of too kind a step-mother. I do not view the circum- stance of their forming themselves into volunteer corps, at the breaking out of the late war, as originating in pure loyalty to their sovereign, but rather in a desire to defend their own property, and liecause they would prefer being the spoilt and indulgetf children of England to falling under the dominion of the United States, which would z 2 -'*; 310 A SUnALTERN 8 FURLOUGH. shortly inundate them with a torrent of speculators and enterprising men, as well as lay a few taxes upon their shoulders. I had crossed the frontier with the expecta- tion of finding one of the happiest and most loyal nations in the world ; but, as far as my judgment went, found it far otherwise. To me the Canadians appeared utterly devoid of that spirit of enterprise which distinguishes the English and American settlers ; and, though three-fourths of the inhabitants of Lower Canada (or nearly 300,000) are of French descent, they are almost confined to the original settlements, along a narrow strip on the banks of the St. Lawrence, where they have impoverished the soil by their slovenly system of farming. Leaving Montreal at eight o'clock in the evening, I lost a view of the scenery below the town, and of Sorell at the mouth of the Chamblee or Sorell River, where the Go- vernor-General usually passes some of the summer months. But the recollection of our two hours' stay there is well impressed upon nty memory. It was about midnight when we arrived, and the few passengers (only sixteen in number) had early retired to their berths. The vessel was scarcely moored alongside the pier ere I was awaked from a sound sleep by the violent screams of some poor man whom the crew were carrying ashore, just attacked by the cholera. I had been suffering much the preceding week from an illness which at one time threatened to take a dangerous turn, and had not yet recovered from the effects of it. I shall never forget the misery I endured the re- mainder of that night; I threw myself off my cot, and walked the upper deck in the cold night air, while the screams of agony still rung in my ears, and paced up and down until dawn of day, by which time I had mustered up all my stoicism, and was prepared for any event. A A 8U0ALTEKN M FUULUUOH. i naturally good constitution, however, in a few days enabled me again to undergo almost any fatigue. The steamers on the St. Lawrence, between Montreal and Quebec, are superior to those even on the American waters which had so much surprised me. The " British America" and " John Bull" are fitted up in a magnificent style, and are complete floating drawing-rooms. The di- mensions of the latter are on the grandest scale, being 188 feet in length by 70 in breadth, the wings included, and about 1 200 tons burden. Its name is well merited, having towed six vessels, two of them of 350 tons, from Quebec up to Montreal, at one time. The traveller may really experience something like comfort on board of them, there not being the crowd of passengers, nor the scramble for meals, to which he is so accustomed in the States. The country below the town of Trois Rivieres, at the mouth of the St. Maurice, becomes more diversified, af- fording occasional views of rising hills below Quebec, and long streets of houses with white roofs and walls, which, when first seen at a distance on the lofiby banks of the river, may be easily mistaken for a large encampment. The French settlers usually paint the roofs white, as tending to preserve the shingles of which they are constructed, and also to repel the heat of the sun's rays. I have seen many washed in this manner from the foundation to the ridge-pole, and the chimney painted black; I always thought they bore a close resemblance to a negro woman decked out in her best bib and tucker. After passing the mouth of the Chaudiere River, over which a fine bridge of one arch is thrown, and entering Wolfe's Cove, the ship- ping and fortress of Quebec begin to open out firom behind a promontory ; and few places can boast of so magnificent an approach. The bold craggy rocks of Cape Diamond, !| 11 i: li; <(■«' 312 A 8UBALTBRX B FURLOUGH. I' crowned with the impregnable fortress, stand in bold re- lief against the sky ; numerous ships lie at their anchorage in the broad and smooth river, 350 feet beneath, between the citadel and point Levi; and in the distance a lofty range of blue hills form a fine background to a level and thickly-popi^ted country. For some time the old and picturesque buildings only of the lower town at the water's edge are visible ; nor \intil within the distance of half a mile from Point Levi does the upper town, with its nu- merous glittering spires and convent roofs, begin to show itself on the opposite side of the citadel, or the more pro- minent object, the castle of St. Lewis, the residence of the Govemor-Qeneral. It is supported upon the edge of the precipice by large buttresses imder the foundation of the outer wall of the building, and almost overhangs the houses at the margin of the water. But all these favour- able impressions are dispelled upon entering the dirty narrow streets of the lower town ; nor was it until after much perseverance that we obtained accommodation of a very indifferent kind in the upper town. The principal hotel had been closed, without any consideration for the comfort of a few travellers, as soon as the cholera broke out, the landlord finding that be was a loser by keeping the establishment open. The capital of Lower Canada occupies the tongue of a peninsula formed by the jimction of the St. Charles with the St. Lawrence, and contains upwards of 20y000 people. The upper town is encircled by a strong wall nearly three miles in extent, with batteries at intervals, and is entered . by five gates, the principal one firom the harbour being at the summit of a steep and winding road up the side of the rock' The lower town is built in some places upon piers, and land reclaimed firom the river ; in others by under- 1^ - ■ ^\A k bold re- aDchorage I, between oe a lofty level and 3 old and he water's of half a bh its nu- n to show more pro- iidence of xe edge of idation of hangs the Be favour- the dirty until after idon of a principal n for the era broke f keeping igue of a arles with K) people, arly three is entered being at de of the )on piers, ly under- ^■1 ai a 'A cffl 13 ill Ilk' I! w IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 9. 1.0 1.1 IAS 128 12.5 ■so "^~ M^H ^ l'.25 IIUII.4 ^U^ 6" Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WIST MAIN STRf ET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14SS0 (716)872-4S03 wmm '0- ' M' A SUBALTERN H FI'RLOL'OH. 343 tauning the base of Uie robk. Instuioes have oconrrsd (one daring my reaidehce hi Ameiica) is within a few paces of the foot of the inclined plane, and his remains were interred, until 1818 (when they were re- moved to New York), near the gate of St. Lewis. The Jesuito' Convent, which reverted to the Crown some years since, is now occupied by a regiment of infantry, and makes an excellent and capacious barrack. What was the fathers' pleasure-garden in olden times is now the parade ground. In other respects it appears to have undergone very little change (except with regard to its occupants), being surmounted by the old spire, and retain- ing the strong iron-studded gates, with the sacred devices upon them. On the opposite side of the market-place is the large and ungraceful building of the Roman Catholic Cathedral, where I attended one day at the performance of high mass, but was glad to make my escape again into the open air, such a dense crowd was thdre in every part of it. As in Montisaij the Cawholic clergy possess an exten- sive property in Quebec. The seminary which adjoins the Cathedral occupies, together with its garden, seven acres of ground in the upper town, the Ursuline Convent pos- sesses as much more, and the Hdtel Dieu even as much as twelve; so that, what with the citadel, convents, A BUBALTERN S FUHLOUOU. 845 churches, harracka, and open squares, the populauon of the upper town is reduced to a mere cipher compared with its extent. The old parliament-house, situated near the ^te leading from the St Lawrence on the eastern side of the town, was formerly the residence of the Catholic bishops. It is a crazy old edifice, and much requires the support of a new wing, which is now erectbg. Within a few yards of it, over the door of a shop, opposite the post-office, is the rude representation of a dog gnawing a bone, which it holds between its fore-paws. The whole bears the marks of having at one time been richly ^ded and ornamented. Upon the same tablet b the following inscription :—- Je suis un Chien qui ronge \'ob-~ En le rongeant je prend mon •. '^poa— Un terns viendra, qui n'est pas venu— Que je mordrai qui m'aura mordu. 1736. For the solution of these enigmatical lines I was obliged to an officer in the garrison of Quebec. The story is., that some ninety or a hundred years since a Mr. PhiUibert, a merchant in the city, and Mr. Bigot, a gentleman at the head of the financial department voider the French govern- ment, were not upon amicable terms. The latter em- braced every opportunity of oppressing the other, who, not possessing sufficient influence to have his complaints against his powerful enemy redressed, took the above poetical means of preferring them. Mr. Bigot's cause was soon taken up by an offic(T of the garrison, who plunged his sword through Mr. Pl^ilUbert's body as he was descending the hiU, and made his escape to the French settlement of Pondicherry in the East Indies, where he in turn was killed in a duel with the brother of Mr. PhiUibert, I r mmmmmmm \ >i 346 ^ A subaltern's VtTllrLOUGII. who had left Fnnoe for the purpose of avenging the murder of his brother. Although there is little of interest in Quebec itself, yet the surrounding scenery is suffident to compensate for any loss. In company with two English gentlemen, I made an excursion on the let of September to the Falls of Mont- morenci, about seven miles from the city. The road crosses the St. Charles River over a long wooden bridge, and be- comes execrably bad as soon as the outtddrts of the lower town are passed, although a continued line of houses and small ^farms extend the entire distance. The hills which run parallel with the river, at the distance of ten or twelve miles, ~fbrm the boundary of the narrow belt of cultivation. Putting jur horses up at the small French inn on the banks of the Montmorenci, we walked down to view the Falls ; but with what far different feelings from those with which we had visited Niagara three weeks before ! We had been told every where in Quebec of the Falls of Mont- morenci, and consequently considered ourselves, as tra- vellers, in duty bound to visit them, though, had each of lis spoken the candid truth, we should have said we had seen quite sufficient falls of water to satisfy the taste of any moderate man. And really Niagara, the great climax of every thing gnund in a cataract, gives one a sad distaste for all future sights of that description. No one, unless he is blessed with the happy talent of forgetting things as soon as he has seen them, should venture near another fall for at least a twelvemonth after he has seen that at Nia- gara. If he does, it is ten to one that he annoys his friends who act as chaperons upon the occasion, by show- ing the most perfect indifference, or something even ap- proaching 10 sovereign contempt, at the sight. At Montmorenci the Fall itself is every thing: there are A SUDALTKRN S FURLOUOII. 847 no gnmd accompaniments. The water shoots in a sheet about 120 feet broad over a preoipice to the depth of 240 feet, and then rolling onwards a few hundred yards unites with those of the St. Lawrence. The banks on each side of it are smooth and precipitous, with their summits crowned with trees, and a mill is perched on high upon the verge of the Fall. There is, however, a fine viev of Quebec, and the isle of Orleans which forms the eastern side of the noble harbour, from the junction of the rivers. One of my companions and myself thought proper to ford the Montmorenci below the Falls, where it is 1500 feet broad, to the ruins of a large saw-mill upon the opposite side, for the purpose of ascertaining the depth of water and forming some idea of the difficulty of the heroic Wolfe's enterprise when he stormed the French batteries under a heavy fire. In twenty-five minutes we gained the opposite bank, having narrowly escaped being washed off our legs several times ; but our wounded feet, (owing to the sharp edges of rocks), with cramped and stiff legs for the next forty-eight hours, gave us ample cause to repent our undertaking. The mill, which was the most extensive in the province, had, by some strange accident or neglect, been consumed by fire a few months previous, though a sufficient body of water could have been thrown upon it to have almost washed away the entire building. A broad and deep water-course conducts a powerful stream from above the Falls along the summit of the bank until immediately above the mill, when it rushes down an inclined plane of 300 feet in length, with amazing power upon the wheeb. From it, conductors were so arranged as to lead the water throughout the building in case of necessity, but all appeared to have been of no avail in staying the destruction. Several acres I ii V. 348 A 8UBALTBRN 8 VURLOUOH. of ground were covered with the timber which hiul been prepared for exportation. Wolfe's Cove also was so densely covered with it that it was like one huge raft; and, notwithstanding thiity or forty vessels were taking in, it made no perceptible diminution. I \ ■:# A STinALTBRx's F'TRLOITOH. S49 »*k ^."j- -t3 fJfMJ ,-iBj-, qii; JlU -B'li .h: m Previous to the appearance of the cholera, a steamer pHed between Quebec and Halifax in Nova Scotia, ])ut, owing to the long quarantine imposed upon vessels arriving at the latter port without a Bill of Health, the proprietors declined making any furtlier trips until Quebec should be pronounced free from infection. This was a most unex- pected impediment to the tour I had meditated through the Eastern provinces, and the uncertainty of the length of voyage in a sailing vessel was such that I came to the resolution of making an overland journey through the dense forests, or paddling myself in a canoe down the rivers into New Brunswick. My time, too, being very limited. 350 A aUBALTSRNa FURLOUGH. it was necessary that 1 should either pursue that course or lay aside all thouglts of seeing any thing further of the British Provinces. My friends attempted to dissuade me from the undertaking, on account of the lateness and un- healthiness of the season, and the weight of a hair would almost have turned the scale, when I fortunately became acquunted vrith Mr. Reid (a gentleman from Georgia), who having much the same object in view as myself, we agreed to make the journey in company. Having, thtre- fore, laid in a small stork of provisions, a bottle of lau- danum, a whole box full of op?um pills, with a suitable quantity of eau-de Cologne aiid eau-de-vie, as a precau- tion against the cholera, we set sail with a light westerly breeze down the broad St. Lawrence at mid-day on the 3d of September. As the weather appeared settled and pleasant, we preferred taking an open pilot-boat to tra- velling in a carriage over a hundred miles of rough road, and at considerable additional expense, the owner of the land conveyance having the conscience to demand fifteen dollars (3/. sterling) per diem for the trip. Being ebb tide, we glided rapidly past the isle of Orleans, where those huge floating masses of timber, the Columbus and Baron Renfrew, w <« put together, and, by the time the flood had set in, were thirty-eight miles firom Quebec ; when, not having sufficient breeze to stem the tide, we came to an anchor. The sun had set some time, but it was a mild and pleasant evening, with a bright moon shin- ing overhead, and every star in the heavens so clearly reflected in the smooth mirror upon which we lay that indeed we should have been insensible to the charms of nature, had we not been delighted with our situation. Thinking that music would well accord with the time and place, I produced a flute from the depths of my port- A 8UBALTMKN*8 rURLOUOH. ail I I manteauj and having in my earlier days learned the gamut, " God save the King," " the Britiah Grenadiers," and a quiek step or two,.&voured my oonipanion and the pilot with a so^o. Thov^h, probably) not equalling the strains of Orpheus, it had some effect upon the crew of a schooner which lay at anchor about two cables' length ab^m of us. A deep and hoarse voice immediately hailed us across the water to come a little nearer to themy followed, when we spumed their invitation (rather rudely, I must confess), by a most authoritative order " to strike up * Hearts of Oak,' or they would board va." Now, having no ladies in our company, as was the case with the old story of Dr. Young and the guardsmen upon the Thames, we had no plea for consenting; so sounding " Britons, strike Home," we boldly defied them to mortal combat. Not knowing, however, with what force they had to contend, they contented themselves with saluting us with a broadside of most mellifluous se»>phraseSy and firing at intervals half a dozen rounds of small arms, well loaded with powder. Although the night was so lovely, I cannot say thut we by any means passed a comfortable one. The boat having no deck, and being too narrow in the beam to admit of reclining at full length on the thwarts, we were obliged to sleep in a sitting posture on the bottom, with the back of our heads against the edge of a seat, and ao> cordingly each of us awoke in the morning with a neck as stiff as that of a raw militia-man in his patent leather stock upon the 5rst training day. Getting early under weigh,' we beat slowly down against a head wind, and passed the quarantine station off a rocky island 45 miles firom Quebec. A drizzling rain coming on at mid-day, and increasing to torrents, accompanied by a heavy gale towards sunset, : 8M A aUBALTBRN i ruRLOiroii. 'i rendered us in a most miserable plight. The river was now ten miles in breadth, and, a heavy sea rising, my com- panion became very unwell. The pilot soon followed his example; and I, not doubting but that it must be the cholera, busied myself in searching for the laudanum, brandy, and opium piUs, which, as is ever the case when things are most required, were not found until the whole contents of my portmanteau had been turned out upon the wet deck. All my fears, however, respecting cramps i in the legs, and other alarming symptoms, were quite un • necessary. " Parturiunt montes ; nasoetur ridiculus mus ;" the upshot of all was — they were only troubled with that very common complaint, or rather, I should call it, worst of all miseries — sea-sickness I A thick fo^ coming on at dusk, with flood tide, the pilot informed us that, not knowing whereabouts the land lay, he dare not venture to run in-shore on account of the rocks, and that we must pass another night on board ; and the prospects of such a night, too ! For some minutes we eindeavoured to prevail upon him to run on ; but, finding i^ he would not hazard any thing, we began to make the ne- cessary preparations for weathering it as well as possible. I drew on two pair of browsers, a seal-skin cap and hat, two coats, and a seal-skin jacket, with hood like that of an Esquimaux, which I had purchased at Quebec ; and, as the anchor was again let go, quietly sat down, and most patiently endured the pitiless peltingsof the storm. At intervals, during the night, I fell into a slight doze, but by degrees the heavy pitching of the boat would cause my head to strike against a thwart, or touch the bottom of the vessel, in which the water was now from four to six inches in depth, and awake me — ^for the purpose of going through the same motion again at the expiration of another quarter A AttllALTEllN H PURLOUOII. 858 of an hour. When tlie ni(trning dawned the weather had not m(Klcrated in the slightest degree; but with heavy hearts and drenched clothes we again got under weigh. For my own part I was so encumbered with the weight of my heavy apparel that, had the boat swamped, I should have gone to the bottom like a lump of lead ; my compa- nion, being an indiiSerent sailor, could scarcely raise his head, and the only active service I could perform was to sit at the bottom of the boat, wrenching the rain out of my cap and jacket, or take a turn at baling out the water. And, when this last occupation had ceased, the three of us huddled ourselves into the stern-sheets, about 4 feet by 3i, for mutual warmth; and with chattering teeth sat there, for all the world like so many tkipping fowls upon a perch during a shower of rain. We did not make the land round Kumouraska Bay, ninety miles l)elow Quebec, until we had been exposed to the full fury of the storm for twenty-four hours. In an- other hour we landed, and were soon comfortably stowed away in a little French inn, busily employed in overhauling our wet portmanteaus, and inspecting tY i state of our stock of provisions. The report upon them vas about as follows : the biscuit and salt had dissolved in the water ; the cheese required a place in the oven fer-^n hour or two ; the meat had been rolling about at the bottom of the boat throughout the night; my companion's claret- coloured over coat, which he had bought at a slop shop in Quebec, was three shades lighter; and the notes and sketches I had been taking the preceding day were no bad representation of the state of the heavens during the storm. The uncertai f y whether we could carry our baggage througVout the ^ »umey had oeicurred to us before leaving 1:1 ; ; I l£ A 354 A SUBALTERN 8 Ft.TRLO(JGH. i Quebec, and we had resolved to leave it, if anywise cum- bersome, with some villager, retaining only sufficient clothes to fill a knapsack, which we could ourselves carry. Upon enquiring at Kamouraska, we met with a Yankee pedlar who was returning with his cart to the States, and would travel 55 miles upon the same route as ourselves. He volunteered to carry our trunks for four pounds, with a proviso that we shoidd walk by his side ; alleging at the same time that it was impossible to perform the journey under thvee days. " We might have seen roads," he said, "but we had never seen die Temiscouta Portage;" arid, as to making a bargain of us, he wouM not carry the port- manteaus for twice the sum, if his own business did not compel him to go that way; and, furthermore, as the track was very dreary, he wished some pleasant company. Fortunately we had no occasion to close with this disin- terested offer, a by-stander offering to furnish two carts for the same sum, affirming that one co \ld not carry the two stuall portmanteaus. The chagrin of our Yankee firiend at losing so good a bargain was very evident, not- withstanding all his assurances that his only desire was to see us safe to the end of the journey, and prevent our being imposed on. He took his leave of us, saying that the man who offered to accompany us neither knew what he said nor what he was undertaking; and, finally, that we should not travel the 55 miles agreed upon under four days, and that the flies in the woods would bite our ears off, if we did not tie them on with a strong handkerchief. We also experienced much difficulty in replenishing our commissariat department, and could obtain only a loaf of bread and a cold shoulder of mutton — a short supply for seven days, which we calculated our journey would last. But our severest loss was not discovered until we were i i A SUnVLTEIlN S FURLOUGH. 355 on the point of starting ; tlie pilot had appropriated our whole stock of brandy, consisting of two bottles, to his own use. mnt^ ■'mem On the fith of September, with two guides^ to whom the cart belonged, we pursued our route down the course of the St. Lawrence, the road passing along a narrow and thickly settled belt of ground, which had apparently once been in the channel of the river, judging from the nature of its soil and a rocky range of hilb running parallel with it on the outer side of the cultivated lands. The scenery was strikingly fine and bold, and numerous ships, tacking to and fro with an adverse wind, rendered it a most enlivening scene, until our arrival at the Temiscouta Portage, nineteen miles from Kamouraska, when we struck off to the south- ward, and ascending some high ground for ever lost sight of the St. Lawrence. The road was, however, still passable, and, though our progress was but slow, there was nothing as yet to warrant the pedlar's alarming accounts ; while the log huts, though presenting a most miserable exterior, wotdd at least shelter us from the threatening storm. When the rain, however, began to descend, and night set in, we made several fruitless applications for admission : one said there were too many of us ; anotlier referred us to his neighbour a little farther on ; and a third had a sick person in the house. At last we bade adieu to enjoying a night's rest within doors, and approached the dark and apparently impenetrable wall of the tall forest, when descending a small ravine, with a riwdet at its bottom, we spied out an- other log hut, though scarcely distinguishable amongst the blackened stumps. Considering it as our last hope, we made so pathetic an appeal that we were all admitted. The tenement was but a very small one, and occupied by an old couple of about sixty winters, with their niece, 2 A 2 iy\' Is; 11^ V n \ SSG A SUBALTERN S FURLOUGH. i about fifteen years younger. The room into which we were ushered was scarcely seven feet to the ceiling, and blackened by the smoke of years. A s>traw mattress and a blanket occupied one comer of the room; the square iron stove, two chairs, a couple of stools, und an old wooden shelf, with an oil-skin hat, and a lamp suspended from the haft of aknife stuck into a crevice between two logs, formed the rest of the furniture. But it was amply crowded when the horses had been suitably provided for, and the seven of us were assembled. After enjoying a cheerful chat over the fire for some hours, and attending to the gesticula- tions of our host, who, as he sat on a comer of the bed with a thick red Kilmamock ?ap upon his head, related anecdotes of his life to a group which would have fur- nished a fine study for any of the old Dutch .^rtists, we were shown into a room containing a single bed for the accommodation of Mr. Reid and myself, who went din- nerless and supperless to bed, lest our provisions should fail us when most required. At daylight the following morning, after an early meal -upon our bread and mutton, qualified by a draught of cold water, we prepared for another day's fatigue, tendering some trifle by way of remuneration to our hostess for the night's lodging. We had some difficulty in prevailing upon her to accept it, and, wh^sa once accepted, the old lady in the warmth of her heart would insist upon cram- ming our pockets with wood nuts< With many expressions of thanks and wishes for a good joumey from the worthy couple, we crossed the small stream (the Green River, I think), and entering the forest lost nearly all semblance of a road. The trees had been certainly cut away, so as to a£ford a passage from six to nine feet in width, but the stumps had been left standing, and, where a marsh was to A SUBALTERN S KUBLOUGH. 357 to Le [o be crossed, that horrible invention " corduroy" had been resorted to. Frequently a decayed timber gave way under the weight of the horses, which floundered up to the top of their backs in black wet soil. In other places the road was floating on the surface of a deep pond ; and then for a mile or two we had some little variety in clambering up hills over huge masses of rock, or stumbling up the bed of a torrent. Now and then, indeed, cutting away the wiml- falls (as the Americans term the trees which are blown down by a gale of wind) afforded us a short respite from the jolting, but during that time we had to ply our axes unremittingly. Mr. Reid had taken charge of the first cart, and, the Canadians walking alongside of us in their large mud boots, for some time I attempted to derive ad- vantage from my companion's misfortunes, and leam to steer clear of them, but generally found myself deposited in a much deeper and worse hole, or brought to a stand still by a large piece of rock ; so, despairing of bettering my condition, I calmly awaited the shock, and setting my- self well against it in my seat, and compressing my ?'.ps, I plunged into the midst of every thing up to the axletree, with my loose portmanteau tossing about, and flaying my legs at a most anmerciful rate. The self-same abominable flies, too, the Yankee had so glowingly described, added to the pleasures of the journey by tearing pieces of flesh from our v.ars, as though each of them had been provided with a pair of the best Sheffield forceps. Having endured this patiently for three hours, during which time we had ad- vanced just so many miles, we could bear it no longer, and dismountir.g we proceeded on foot. By mid-day we an'ived at the river St. Francis, a small stream which is involved in the boundary question between Great Britain and the United States, where we met the royal mail upon m «H I' 358 A SUBALTERN 8 PURLOUOH. its way from HaliflEuc. The letter bagi wtre fastened uport a dray or low sledge drawn by a single horse, which was moving quietly along, cropping what little grass grew by the road-side. The guard, fifty yards be^ind, was taking it equally leisurely, amusing himself by blowing through his tin horn and listening to the echo of the unmusical notes he produced, as they resounded amongst the distant hills. The meeting was unexpected on both sides, and as he came suddenly round a turn in the forest, raising his hand to salute us, he slipped over a stone, and fell upon his back in a mass of mud and water; but rising again immediately, with the most enviable unconcern, he stood up to his knees in it, answering our numerous queries. He travelled over the road, or seventy-two miles, once a week, without meeting a human being in three months, and I will bear witness he had no sinecure. ■i^At three o'clock we reached the first hut, where the guides proposed passing the night, but the interior was in such a filthy state, and so crowded by a large family, that I preferred trusting to the weather in the woods, and, as an inducement to proceed, urged the possibility of arriving at a farm house upon the lake, fifteen miles farther. The Canadians willingly assented ; so once more we toiled away over the rough hills, gathering the bilberries, nuts, goose- berries, strawberries, and other wild fruits, which ^ew in abundance on every side. Partridges too crossed the path frequently, almost within reach of our sticks, with the. greatest impunity; for never were there such peaceably disposed travellers in the woods before : we had not even a pistol, gun, tinder-box, or, as Sheridan says, " a single bloody-minded weapon" with us. Throughout the day we were journeying in a kind of no-man's land. The British Government claim it partly by A SUUALTKIIN 8 KUULUUGH. I * the right of possession (which, as every one knows, is nine points in law), and have the credit of having expended at various times within the last dozen years upwards of 1000/. in forming this road (which is the only one between Quebec and Halifax) out of an old Indian hunting path* A traveller has some difficulty in accounting for the expen- diture, unless he comes to the conclusion that it has been sunk in one of the marshes, or frittered away upon a corduroy. The United States claim the debatable land by right of treaty (which same treaty each party construes according to its respective interests), though it will be evident to any one who will refer to the map that brother Jonathan wants to possess it merely in order that he may serve as a thorn in the side (to which indeed the form of the tract in question bears a strong resemblance) of the British provinces, thus cutting off the direct route to Quebec, the key of British North America in time of war, dividing the lesser provinces from the Canadas, and pro- tably erecting fortifications upon a frontier which would extend within thirteen miles of the St. Lawrence. The intrinsic value of the land is next to nothing, and can be but insignificant to a nation already in possession of 1,205,000,000 acres of land, or 2,000,000 of square miles. Three hours after sunset the guides, who were a-head, hailed us with the cheering sound of '^ une bonne espe- rance !" This was followed by a charge of several cows, which, rushing past, were greeted also by us as a happy omen. Scarcely more exultation could nave been expressed by Xenophon and the 10,000 Gieeks of old, when the ocean again displayed its broad waters to their view, than was by us when we saw the light surface of the Temis- couta Lake lying far beneath us. But a few miniates before we had held a council of war about bivouacking in the i \v V 3«0 A SUBALTfiUN S FURLOUGH. woods, the want of the requisites for striking a light, and a sprinkle of rain, alone causing us to persevere in our jour^ ney, which came to an end by eleven o'clock, when we arrived at Mr. Frazer's house and farm, after eighteen hours of most fatiguing toil, over twenty-four miles of ground and through forest where we could never see twenty yards from the road, the only object worthy of notice being the majestic hemlock trees, or the branches of the pine, with long streamers of green moss hanging from them. Although the hospitable owner of the house had retired to rest some time, he rose. immediately upon our knocking, and gave us a hearty welcome, with a cup of excellent tea, and a .shake-down upon the floor. He told us he had lived there nuie years, Lut the land was poor, and he was so tired of his soUtary life that he intended to leave liis farm and retire to some property he possessed on the river Du Loup, situated in a district of which he nns Seigneur. He fvimished us, the next morning, the 8th of Septem- ber, with two canoes and a man in each, and, parting with our Canadian guides, we paddled down the lake until we arrived at the residence of Mr. Frazer's next and nearest neighbour, six miles distant. We presented him with some late newspapers, and his wife in return soon pro- vided a comfortable breakfast. The settler, when we ar- rived, was sitting at the window, poring over an old num- ber of the Sailor's Magazine. He had served twenty-four years in the 49th regiment, phd three years in a veteran battalion, when, receiving his discharge, he was settled with several other soldiers on the borders of the lake and upon the portage, to keep open a line of communication with the St. Lawrence. All the others, despairing of making a livelihood after the first two or three years, when A SUBALTERN H FURLOUGH. 361 their rations of flour were withdrawn, had migrated to some more populous and promising country. Sixteen years had expired since he landed in the thick forest, on the spot he then occupied, with his wife and two boys. He said that for the first twelvemonth he much felt the loss of his barrack-room society ; but, setting to work with a good heart, he built a log hut, which was now occupied as a pig-stye, and persevered in clearing the ground until the seventh year, when disease attacked his cattle, and carried off every head. This so discouraged him that he quitted the place, and returned into the inhabited part of the country, but soon 4gain visited his old farm and com- menced anew. From that time every thing had gone on in a flourishing manner. He now possessed nine cows and a hundred acres of cleared land, and vfM perfectly happy and contented. His sons were grown up men, and were mowing a few acres of grass, but the com was yet green and did not appear as if it would ripen before winter. It did not, however, seem at all to concern the worthy veteran, who said " he must hope for the best." I asked him how he disposed of the produce of his farm, and his answer was that " his farm did not yield any thing more than would provide his family. Butcher's meat they did not require, and were well satisfied with salt pork and vegetables." His maple sugar was most excellent, and he had made 4()0lbs. from 800 trees the preceding year ; but the land in the vicinity was generally poor, and upon the headlands (to use his own expression) " there was not enough to feed a mouse, though there was a good farm here and there away from the lake." He was a true Corporal Trim : in the first instance, he fought the battles of Chippewa and Lundy's Lane, for my edification, upon the white hearth-stone with a piece of charcoal, but, finding II / ■ V 362 A HUBALTERN 8 PURLOUOU. niy undivided attention was bent upon iomething matt substantial, he transferred the scene of action to the break- fast table, where he most gallantly carried the heights of Queenston upon the top of the loaf of bread, and stormed Fort Erie through the spout of a tea-pot. He talked with the greatest pride of having served in tlie same regiment with Lord Aylmer and Sir Isaac Brock, regretting much that the former was not at home when he made his bien- nial trip to Quebec for his pension during the summer. To show, however, his esteem for him, he had a large pro- clamation respecting the cholera, and the performance of quarantine, with the signature of the Governor-General, nailed up against the wall of his house. f Wishing him success, we again pushed on, lashing the two canoes together and keeping dose tmder the lee-shore, there being so fresh a breeze that we were several times in imminent danger of being swamped, from the firequent strong gusts of wind which swept down the valleys between the high lands with which the lake is skirted. In the widest parts, the lake does not exceed a mile and a half in breadth, and is about twenty-five in length. After entering the narrow and rapid stream of the Madewaska River (the outlet of the Temiscouta Lake) we glided swiftly along between undulating and beautiful banks, the hills rising from 100 to 500 feet in height, and covered witli every de- scription of forest tree, but touched only here and there with the dark foliage of the pine, while, at the very margin of the water, the white trunks of the birch were most prominent. We rested an hour at mid-day for the purpose of dining, our table and couch being one of the veteran's hay-cocks, in a cleared spot of ground twenty miles from his house, the first open space we had seen since quitting it. Ten miles farther we heard the merry chattering of some children, A SUOALTBllN 8 FURLOUGH. 368 3J n [6 !S evidently Irish, from their accent, and, rowiding a point, found a parcel of little urchins in high glee throwing peb- bles and sticks of wood at another who was angling in a most artist>like manner, as he floated down the stream in a bark canoe. In the background, a party of five or six newly-arrived emigrants were sitt*' g round a fire super- intending the cooking department, their log huts being in an unfinished state. Tlie ground for the space of an acre was covered with the smoking trunks of trees, and black- ened logs, and here and there the murky skeleton of some decayed giant of the forest was gradually consuming away as it retained its erect position. From this small settlement there were partial and new clearings for an extent of five or six miles, when the thick forest again closed in upon the river. About eight o'clock we were moving along with in- creased velocity, having passed over several Rapids most gallantly, and shipping but a small quantity of spray, when I heard a hollow roar a-head, which I was well aware must arise from some cataract, and hinted to the boatmen that they had better keep a sharp look out a-head. They, however, not pleased I suppose at being dictated to by a greenhorn in such matters, ran on in the same course, until we could not well make the shore, and had a good chance of taking a leap over son:e falls of 12 or 14 feet, had not a rock 20 or ,S0 yards above them luckily intervened, and brought us up with such a shock as nearly to throw Mr. Reid out of the bottom of the canoe, where he lay fast asleep, into the water. I was on the point of throwing myself in to swim, when I observed that our head-way was stopped, and after some difficulty we succeeded in gaining a little inlet formed by a rock on the verge of the Falls. Taking out our baggage, we carried it as well as • 'I 864 A HUOALTKIIN H FURLOUGH. th($ canoes over the rocks to the level below, and, again 8t«;ppi.*g in, were in a few minutes at the settlement of Mad'iwaska at the confluence of the Madawaska and St. John's leavers. It was formed by the Acadians, after their expulsion from Nova Scotia about the year 1 7^4, and is situated in a pretty and rather fertile spot, but with no regular village. We could obtain some tea and beds at a small inn, the landlord of which also filled the twofold occupation of grocer and retailer of rum ; but, as elsewhere upon our journey, there was no butcher's meat, not more than half a dozen travellers visiting the settlement in the course of the year. When we arrived the landlord was superintending the erection of a grist mill, some miles distant; but his son rode ofl' and summoned him to attend his guests : and, before we had dressed in the morning, a tall, dark, but sanctified and clean-shaved man, walked into the room, and announced himself as our host and humble servant to command — Simeon Abair by name. After the creation of many difficulties upon his part, he agreed (as the Rapids were too dangerous to attempt paddling ourselves down the St. John's) to provide us with a canoe and man for 5^., as- signing " harvest time" as the reuson for making so exorbi- tant a demand. As he would not abate any thing, the money was paid him ; but upoo proceeding to the river, to which, as we subsequently remembered, he hurried us, without allowing the boatman to approach, or even to speak to us, we found a little cockle-shell which would have filled and swamped in the first cat's-paw or a slight summer shower. Protesting that I would not run the risk of my life and loss of baggage for a distance of 150 miles in such a cratl, sooner than lose such good customers he furnished us with a more capacious one, and we proceeded on our course down A HUUALTRRN 8 KURLOUail. Sii& tho St. John's. Twu days nilcrwards, wo hod the curiosity to enquire of the boatman whether he had been paid for the trip ; he said, " Yes ; that he had I'cceived 3/." Tlie sight of the man's features, when informed of the sum tho landlord had charged us, was worth the other 2/., and we could not forbear bursting into a hearty laugh as he told us, with the most piteous face imaginable, that ho ** sliould not have so much cared if any one else had cheated hin^i but that the landlord was his godfather;" that ho had said we were fati-^ed, and wished not to be annoyed by seeing the boatman, but would make a bargain with him ; and " that, though he had made a good thing of it, he . could screw only 'M. out of us." Had not our time been so valuable, scarcely any thing would have given both of us so much pleasure as returning an'* ducking the old bear, making him refund the money, and then handing it over to our honest hard-working boatman. Our canoe was a log one, 24 feet in length by 3 in breadth, so that with our baggage, and three heavy people, its sides were within four inches of the water. As we floated along, numerous fair damsels, at work in the fields on the river's banks, waved their large black hats to our boatman, or gave him innumerable commissions for ri- bands and other finery to be purchased at the capital. Although he answered *' oui, oui," a hundred times, yet still, ail he paddled along, there was a last request, until we were so distant that nothing but an indistinct murmur reached our ears. The day was squally, with heavy showers of rain, so, coming in sight of a respectable-looking farm- house, about twenty miles below M adawaska, we pulled in shore and landed, for the purpose of seeking a few minutes' shelter from a heavy storm which was threatening to burst over us momentarily. Upon entering the house we found i .1(Jrt A NirilAI/rRHN H KiniLOIHlll. 1 half a dozen laon aiul women nioHt earnestly engaj^ed in discussing a substantial dinner, and drinking tea at the same time. 'Die whole party were crowded round a little table where there was just sufficient space for them to squeeze their elbows in, while a rear rank, or a corps of reserve, was formed often or twelve hungry-looking young children, whose countenances expressed the greatest anxiety to be called into action. Although we took our seats on a bench fastened to the wall, with the usual salutation, not the slightest notice was taken of us by any of the party, so intent were they upon the subject before them ; nor was any offer made about partaking of their cheer, though we were drenched to the skin, and might reasonably be supposed to have no distaste for the good things we saw upon the table. At intervals we heard one of them addressed by the title of Captain, and I must acknowledge, though I had seen many strange captains in the United States, I had never before been in the presence of such a libel upon a military rank. The noble commander had a face as round and as red as the rising moon, with little gray eyes protruding from his head like those of a boiled lobster; a few white hairs scantily covered a forehead whose capaciousness would have puzzled Spurzheim him- self, and his rotundity would have even put old Falstaflf to the blush. Our boatman wishing to consult him upon some military matter, he waddled down to the water's edge with us after the shower had passed over, and laid down the law in the most direct terms. As we proceeded on pur voyage, the boatman informed us that he carried a musket in the captain's company in the militia, and had been called out on duty the preceding year to check some aggression of the Americans; but, not having received any remuneration for his services, his captain had given him I \ HirilALTRUN ri KirRlinCfill. Mi7 the rcquiHitu dircctioiiH fur obtainiiiij it liy makiiif; nppli- catiun at Frcderictun. Excepting the Intuly arrived Irinh upon the Madawaska liiver, thcHU were the first British ■ettlcrM wc Imd seen since leaving the veteran'^ huuNC upon Temiscouta Lake, and from this specimen wc were almost justified in forming but a mean opinion of the New Brunswickers' hospitality. Twenty miles fnrtlier brought us to the Great Fulls, where we again landed, the Portage conmiencing at the rather dangerous vicinity of about 1 TiU yards above them, the influence of the cataract being very evident upon canoes which must cross the river to gain the entrance of the Portage, situated in a small circular bay. The surfa(!c of the river is perfectly smooth and unbroken until it gains the very edge of the rock, when it is precipitated 70 feet in a sheet of amber-coloured foam into a narrow and rocky channel, not exceeding 35 in breadth, down which it boils and bubbles for the space of half a mile, and then expands into its original width of about 150 yards. There is a tradition, though seemingly not a very probable one, that several canoes of Mohawk Indians, who had attacked a tribe near the source of the river, and massacred all, excepting two old squaws, were (accompanied by their prisoners) floating down with the current at night, and were to a man dashed to pieces over the Falls, of whose existence they had not even the most remote idea. The squaws aware of the circumstance perished witli them, not wishing to rurvive the destruction of their tribe. Sitting upon the rough crags on the margin of the cataract, we made a late dinner upon the last remains of our shoulder of mutton, sacrificing the well-picked bone to the shades of the old squaws and the Grand Falls. The river banks, formed of a hard rock, with light covering m € m a«8 A SIJUiVLTKIlN H KUUI OUdll. Ill of soil, exceed lOU fpctiii height uhovc the Fulls, niid more than 200 hnlf n mile below them. The man wlio conveys the boats across the Portage* earns a good livelihood by his two-fold occupation of farmer and boat-carrier. Our cinoe, witb the baggage in it, was drawn along a winding road on a sledgo by two oxen, and launched again into the water half a milo below for a quarter of u dollar. Timber was formerly drawn up on the level of the bank, and then launched again into the water down an inclined plane, but this system was soon abandoned as too expen- sive, and it is now allowed to shoot the Falls, which in the freshes but little injures it. For seven or eight miles the current carried us on with great velocity over the " White Rapids," the " Black Rapids," and a series of others, all sufficiently dangerous to encounter ^I'ithout a skilful pilot, and we landed at dusk near a all log hut, the first we saw after leaving the Portage. The banks had continued a hundred feet in height, and covered with a dense pine forest, but we fre- quently passed groups of woodsmen bivouacking by their fires at the water's edge after their day'.^ labour had ceased. Throwing part of the baggage over my shoulder, I walked up to the hut, through whose small window the bright light of the wood fire could be seen blazing cheerfully, and knocking at the door walked in, and found a family of * Owing to tlie immerons rapich on the river St. Jolin, tliese portages or carrying-places are frequent. The Eastern Provinces, more especially New Bninswick, are so intersected with streams, whose sources are in the immediate vicinity of each other, that the whole country may be traversed by means of them with very little difflcuUy: and, in short, the rivers are the highways of the province. The Grand Temiscouta Portage is of an extraordinary length, being thirty-six miles over a mountainous country, and very little used, except liy casual travellers, but some of the navigable streams arc within two miles of each other, yet flowing in opposite directions. \ A SUnALTBRN S PmLOUOII. 360 late of of !th. ept of seven, who wclcomctl mc most hospital)ly. My compa- nions following me, we joined the circle, and, after enjoying a bowl of excellent milk, asked the settler's history. He had been a comrade of the veteran upon the lake, and had been settled there at the same time, when his nearest neighbour lived at twenty miles' distance. Ho had now one within six miles, but considered it no advantage, and would rather that people did not settle so near to him, as he should then have no funr of quarrelling. Part of his house had been washed away by the freshets during the spring of the previous year, and, although it was 20 feet above the level of the river, the water had stooil C* feet 5 inches in his kitchen, which was the only room he had remaining. This summer, too, the bears had destroyed I '.i sheep and 4 hogs of his stock, Ijut he had yet 2.) sliecp remaining, and two cows. The only neighbours, however, he did not appear, in any manner, to approve, were the Antericans, whose boundary was within five miles. He said tlmt he had been over amongst some of them lately, and told them that they had better be silent uiion the subject of the boundary question now, for tliat New Bruns- wick had a governor who had just been most satisfactorily arranging the same kind of a dispute in the East Indies. As the night was advanced, wishing to obtain a few hours' sleep, I threw my wet great coat upon the floor before the blazing hearth, as the most comfortable berth I could se- lect ; but the settler's wife would so positively insist upon Mr. Reid and myself taking possession of the only bed in the room, upon which, she asserted, " she had just placed new blankets for our express comfort," that I was compelled most reluctantly to relinquish it, while the settler and his son went out and sought n night's rest amongst the straw in the stable. I had heard from tlie 2 11 I ' J III Hf, V. m f'i 370 A SUBALTERN 8 FURLOUGH. boatman on the Madawaska River that the house was not celebrated for its cleanliness, and a sight of the bed con- vinced me that there must be very substantial reoscns for its fame having spread through a hwidred miles of nearly uninhabited country ; so I walked out of the house with the intention of sleeping in the open air, and thus avoid giving any affront to our hostess, but the mist rose so thick and cold from the water, and remembering the story of the bears, I thought it more prudent to undergo a night's tortures within doors. On returning into the house, I found my friend already between the far-famed blankets : the boatman had taken up my comfortable po- sition on the hearth ; the children were lying upon a bcil at the foot of ours, and the settler's wife sat in a chair watching the fast dying embers. ! was somewhat puzzled to discover how Mr. Keid had contrived to turn in ; for I had no idea of risking myself otherwise than in my clothes, and, after considerable manceuvring, took an op- portunity, when the settler's wife turned her head, to spring in, and strongly intrench myself up to the chin between the coverlid and upper blanket. My friend had taken up a similar strong position, and was almost choked with at- tempting to smother his laughter. We were not such old soldiers, however, as to outmanoeuvre the enemy in this manner ; for swarms of light infantry poured down upon us in every direction ; and most stoically did we l)ear their attacks for the short time wc were awake, but the fatigues of the d^y soon caused us to be unconscious of every thing that was passing. Towards morning I was awaked by some heavy weight upon my feet, and, at first, took it for a visit of the night-mare ; but arousing my senses a little, and feeling it move, I was convinced it must be one of the children ; so out of gratitude for our accommodation I could \ A SUBALTERN S FURLOUGH. 371 not remove it, but endured the evil, until rising to depart upon our voyage I discovered that it was a large black dog which had favoured us with his company, »'''•-; '>'^-"^" > Two hours brought us to the mouth of the Aroojstook River, and Stobec, a small Indian village on the opposite bank. Landing where we sa^ a bark canoe drawn up on the beach, we fortunately met a staff officer, who had been up the Aroostook to check some aggressions of the American lumberers in the forests on the disputed terri' tory, and was now on his return to Fredericton. We proceeded in company through a fertile and from thi^i time well-inhabited country, with fine bold scenery at every turn of the stream, and at night arrived at Wood- stock, about sixty miles below the Falls and half a mile from the river, where we found a comfortable little inn, kept by an American. The division of the counties, which had only lately taken place, had not been publicly stated more than three or four days, and Woodstock, which had formerly been in the county of York, was now the capital of the new-formed county of Carlcton. At present, it is but a small village, though doubtless, ere many years have passed, it will be one of the most considerable towns in the province, being situated in the most fertile part, and already possessing a large agricultural population. Per- sons anxious for posts under government, and to estal)lish themselves with the earliest foundation of the town, were flocking in from all directions; no fewer than three sur- geons and four attorneys had already arrived, though there was neither fee nor food for one of them. The small and formerly quiet village had already divided opinions and clashing interests, and numerous littie jealousies and bickerings had arisen. It is a straggling place, settled partly upon a creek near the river, and partly upon the 2 n 2 i *s 372 A SUBALTERNS FURLOUGH. high ground where the inn was ; so each party wished to establish their own spot as the site of the capital, and derive the advantage of hiving the public buildings there. The evening gun, from the American garrison of Houlton, only five miles distant, can be distinctly heard at Wood- stock; and, as we were descending the river on the 11th of September, we caught a glimpse of Mar's Hill, upon which the boundary monument has been erected. Large as the St. John's River is, it is rendered utterly unnavi- gable by the numerous rapids, where, in many places, the depth does not exceed three feet. The beach every where was strewed with fine timber, which had been left by the falling of the spring freshets, and which could not now arrive at the port of exportation before the ensuing year, and flat-bottomed provision -boats can with difficidty reach Woodstock on the 3rd day from Fredericton. The scenery throughout the St.* John's is of a superior order to the generality of that in America, and becomes bolder and more beautiful as the river nears the ocean ; but the land decreases in fertility in an equal ratio every succeed- ing mile below Woodstock. The Falls of the Pokeok at its junction with the St. John's, seen through a wooded and rocky chasm, and an Indian village with some fine drooping elms upon a bold undulating country a few miles lower down, are exceedingly picturesque objects. .. ^, ■. With the exception of Woodstock, it cannot be said that there is any settlement which can come under the denomination of a village between the Green River and Fredericton, a distance not short of 220 miles. In many parts, as at Madawaska, a narrow riband of farms extends along the banks of the St. John, and stretches back from a quarter to a mile inland. Three or four tribes also of Indians- have their strange-looking collection of bark-built A SUBALTERN S FURLOUGH. m wig-wams huddled together upon the headlands formed by the junction of the Tobique and other tributary streams: the chief's house is usually disti:p^shed from the rest by having a flag-staff alongside of it, or the roof being rather more elevated. The costume of the females struck me as much gayer than that of the tribes I had pre- viously seen in the Canadas. Their dress here was gene- rally of brilliant and gaudy colours, with their black hats encircled by a broad silver band. The men, who appeared to subsist chiefly upon fishing in the summer season, had the same heavy and forbidding countenances I had ob- served amongst the Seneca and Irroquois tribes. I was informed, however, by officers of the army, and agents who had superintended the annual distribution of pre- sents from the British government to the tribes upon the borders of Lolce Huron, that fine athletic warriors of the Sac and Fox tribe of Indians, with noble features, used to attend upon those occasions with one side of their face painted sky blue, and the other chequered with vermilion and bright yellow ; but all whom I saw fell very far short of the natives of Bengal and Pegu both in stature and countenance. At ten o'clock on the night of the ninth day from our leaving Quebec, we arrived at Fredericton, 350 miles distant, rejoiced beyond measure that our fatiguing expe- dition was at an end. The cramping attitude of sitting crouched at the bottom of the canoe for sixteen hours, during four successive days, without being able to change that position, lest the heavily-laden and frail vessel should capsize, was irksome and overpowering in the extreme. But, when our troubles and vexations were over, us usual we laughed heartily at all our adventures ; and, taking it all in all, I may fairly say that I enjoyed this journey \ i Id Ji I 374 \ A subaltern's furlough. more than any other portion of my travels on the conti- nent of America. Our provisions had been rather short, and the bread on the 4th or 5th day became so excessively sour, from alternate wet and exposure to ihe sun, that it was unwholesome as well as unpalatable, and began to affect us seriously. Nor had our night's rest been sought upon couches of the softest and most fleecy down j but, in the enjoyment of good health, other matters were of trifling moment, and soon consigned to oblivion. " *i t '.,1 1 ■ '■ :i--^\A- ' J- J • ■,■ ^.- . :>'■ ^■'^': : ,■4 -ji "■ ,*.'?^ V'dV 1 *-i '," ■ ' ■ • ■ , .. 'l-,. .'■•- -.^cfi. V-^ .1 , ^' -r ■: ■ ^- .' '' '« •- - ■-, . , ' ''»■' : ' -i ' :--0'. <';J ^vv":! ;.:Ui v^. y'Jiii i'v.''. ; -.:■-; -j-y} 't'':'. '■■'■ , ' ' _: --'■'-' ] ' ' • J , ,-k .\ , ; ,' ":.. ■;■ ■''., -,, • '■ tion of settlers than their Highland brethren, who, like the French, satisfied with a mere existence, care little about the improvement of their farms. Tho late order for colle(;ting quit-rents ap[)eared to givo universal dissatisfaction amongst tho old settlers, who wore far from l)eing thankful for having hold gratuitous posses- sion of their lands for fifty year^i. They even hinted at refusing to pay them, acknowledging, however, that his Majesty had an unquestionable right to collect them, but asserting that they were mentioned in their grants merely for form's sake, and, at tho time those grants were made, it was never intended that the collection of them should 1)0 carried into execution. Tho quit-rents, too, bear only slightly upon men of largo property, the option being al- lowed of paying two shillings per 1U() acres per annum, or of purchasing out by paying fifteen years in advance } so that for tho trifling sum of 15/. a landed proprietor may become possessor of 100<) acres of land, which previously wore held under tho crown. Tho casual revenue which is expended in roads atid other public works, and derived principally from the sale of crown lands and timber, must be fast decreasing, and the collection of the quit-rents, with- out pressing heavily upon any one, will sustaiti it for some time. Until the arrival of Sir Archibald Campbell, the M m 880 A SiniALTRRN 8 PURLOITOII. present Governor, no part of the world could have \ws- scssed so few :*nd such bad roads. Since Iiis arrival, how- ever, the " Royal Road" has been surveyed, and several miles of it are already completed ; the intention being to extend it on the opposite side of the river to the Grand Falls. By the course of the stream the distance is 180 miles, which will be shortened 10 miles by the new road, and, at the same time, not only tend to the rapid settle- ment of the interior of the country, by throwing open a mercantile line of communication, but in time of war will be of incalculable advantage as a military road to Quebec, with the broad stream of the St. John's, a natural protec- tion against any sudden inroads from the American fron- tier. Most of the allotments upon the sea-coast have been occupied many years, and the occupation of those upon the banks of the principal rivers followed. Tliey ai'e generally of a narrow frontage, so that each occupant may command water navigation ; but some extend to tlie rear as much as five or six miles ; and the 2nd and 8rd occupations from the river are even now filling. The best crown lands are at this time selling at three shil- lings, and the general average of crops is about eighteen bushels of wheat per acre. The winter being of longer duration than elsewhere, winter wheat is not sown; the soil, however, yields the finest potatoes in North America, which give the name of Blue-noses to the New-Bruns- wickers, from the small eyes or excvescences with wliich they are covered, and they are exported to the United States in vast quantities. The province as yet (owing to the dense forests) has been very imperfectly explored, but it is known to abound with cod, slate, freestone, and gra- nite ; it also produces some small quantities of various ores. Its climate is dry and particularly healthy, excepting about A filinAliTRllN S IMTni^OTrOII. 'AH\ the const of the Bay of Fuiuly, where, from tlio continued foj;!^, tlic inhabitants arc said to bo lia1>lo to pulmonary complaints. During my ten days' residence at Fredericton I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Audubon, the celebrated ornitho- logist, who, with his sons, was searching for additions to his laborious undertaking. He had only been fortunate enough to meet with one rather rare bird in the province ; and I am afraid he would not add many subscri1)ors to his valuable but expensive work. His original drawings were certainly much more beautiful and spirited than the English coloured engravings. His time appeared entirely given uji to the performance of what ho had undertaken, and in the pursuit of which he has expended a considerable fortune. His manners are very mild, and he has a prepossessing and benevolent countenance, with a sharp eagle eye and prominent features. The militia were called out for three days' training, and the battalion which assembled at Fredericton lOOO strong M'ns composed of fine athletic men. Only 200 of them were armed, and about the same number had cU>thing and accoutrements. There was also an African company, who Imd decked tl emsclvcs very gaily, anu carried the only drum and fife in the field. They appeared quite proud of their occupation, not being exempted, as in the United States, from the performance of military duty. The pro- vince could, in crse of emergency, furnish 20,000 men (but, unfortunately, there are neither arms nor clothing for one-tenth of that number), and six troops of yeomanry cavalry. The Fredericton troop made an exceedingly neat and clean appearance, l)cing well clothed t ad partly armed ; and in active service, in such a country as New Brunswick, would prove of very essential utility. In cose of immc- i If 11 ik 'V'i ■I 'j 4 382 A SUnALTBRN 8 FUBLOUG!!. diatc aggression from their neighbours, the province must for some time be intrusted to their care alone, there being only six weak companies of regular infantry in three dis- tant detachments, with a frontier of 200 miles in extent, and a province of 22,000 square miles in charge, while the Americans have two garrisons close upon the boundary line (at Eastport and Houlton), and an excellent military road nearly completed to Boston. The New^Brunswickers have already given ample proof that they are well qualified as soldiers to undergo any hardships and privations. During the last American war the 104th regiment was entirely raised in this province, and made a march unparalleled in the annals of English history, and only equalled by that of the Russian campaign in 1812, through the extensive fo- rests to the Canadas in the depth of a severe winter. No troops ever behaved better in the field, and the corps was nearly annihilated at the storming of Fort Erie. Many Americans settle in the province, and are always the most enterprising and money-seeking men j many too are pre- vented naturalizing by an oath of allegiance, or some simi- lar form, which the law requires to be taken in a Protestant church ; and, being considered as aliens, they pay a fine of thirty shillings in lieu of performing militia duty. That one party at least iii the United States care little for embroiling themselves with Great Britain, in order that they may have a pretext for invading her colonies, may be gathered from the following paragraphs in the American Quarterly Review of June 1832 : "If then a war should ever again arise between the United States and Great Britain, the policy of our country is obvious — the Acadian Peninsula must be ours at all hazards, and at any cost of blood or treasure. Were this once gained, the rest of the colonies would fall almost as soon as we might please to summon A SirnALTERN H PUnLCUGII. .183 them" " For this purpose, n fortress, capable of sustaining a siege until it could ])e relieved, should be erected upon the upper valley of the St. John's" (which is debatable ground) " and connected with the settled country by a military road and a chain of fortified posts." " As Americans, we cannot fear the final result of any contest that may arise. The relative strength of the two countries is continually changing, and becoming more and more favourable to us." This language, which savours so strongly of confident assurance, arises from a discussion upon the boundary in dispute between the State of Ma'ne and New Brunswick. The article proves ow fully alive the Americans arc to the value of the disputed ground, as an annoyance in a military point of view to their rival, which has already been almost cut off from the protection of the Ganadas by concessions of the British Government, who have ever lost by treaty what they gained by the sword. It is u difficult matter to glean the full merits of the case, each party so pertinaciously adhering to its own interested statement. So far back as the treaty of llyswick in 161)7, when the boundary line was attempted to be settled between Acadia, then under the dominion of the French, and New England under that of the mother country, an undecided question arose respecting the true river St. Croix, each party maintaining that stream to be the correct one which threw an additional tract of country into its territory. The same question was mooted with equal results in 1 7H3, when time had wrought a wonderful change upon the face of affairs ; that which had formerly been New England was now a free and independent state; and that which had been a French settlement was now New Scotland, paying allegiance to Great Britain. In the treaty of London, in 1794, the 5th article directly stated, "Whereas doubts '^•1 m il 1 J if i! 384 A SUBALTERN » riTRLOUGII. Imve arisen wl»at river was truly intended under the name of the river St. Croix," that question should be referred to the final decision of commissioners. " ^ . ^ • Again, in 1814, an article was framed in the treaty of Ghent, agreeing upon commissioners being appointed to survey the boundary line which had been described in former treaties. At this time the question might have been decided; the resources of the United States were exhausted, and they would gladly have made peace upon any terms, now, that tranquillity was restored upon the continent of Europe, England could turn its undivided powers against her more implacable enemy. Fat the high-minded British Commissioners yielded too easily to American chicanery, and, granting what could not be proved above a century previous, permitted a stream to be called the St. Croix, and that 1)raneh of it the main one, which at once deprived them of the strongest argu- ment in their favour, and, to use the expression of a nautical man with whom I was conversing upon the sub- ject, "Now, they have let fly the main sheet, and are snatching at the rope's end." No person endowed with common sense could imagine for a moment, upon inspection of the map, that the British Commissioners, in the treaty of 1783, would have consented to the territorial posses- sions of the United States approaching within thirteen miles of the St. Lawrence, and so deeply indenting into the British provinces. The Kennebec, to the westward of the present St. Croix, was the national boundary between the English and French in the 1 7th century, and it is affirmed by many that the Penobscot was the original St. Croix. In the commission, dated September 1763, ap- pointing Montague Wilmot, Esq., Captain-General and Governor of Nova Scotia, the western boundary of that A HUnAf/rRUN 8 FimiiOirOll. :iH5 province is described ns having " anciently extended and doth of right extend as far as the river Pentngonet, or Penobscot ; " and the whole country to the eastward of that river was in actual possession of the British at the treaty of I78;i. De Monts, the celebrated navigator ordered out by Henry IV. of France, in 1(»03, to explore the coast of Nova Scotia, had the honour of giving name to the river where he wintered, which has been the subject of so mucli controversy. It is not probable that such an experienced seaman would risk his vessels amidst the drift ice opposite the present town of St. Andrews, when so many safe harbours were scattered along the coast to the south-west. The boundary line is defined in the late treaties as passing up the centre to the source of the St. Croix ; thence due north until it strikes the highlands, which divide the waters running into the Atlantic Ocean from those which join the St. Lawrence ; thence along the said highlands to the north-western most head of the Connecticut River, and down along the middle of it to ihe 4,')th degree of north latitude. The commissioners differed so materially in the determination of these highlands (upwards of 100 miles in a direct line) that, in conformity with the treaty of Ghent, reference was made to the King of Holland, as umpire, who decided the matter to the disapprobation of both parties, giving the British so much of the territory as would include the mail road from Quebec to Halifax, and to the Americans a fortress built by them within the British frontiers near Lake Champlain, the most vulner- able point of the State of New York. At this very day the settlement of the question appears as far from adjust- ment as it was a centurv since. The United States would no doubt lay aside all claims, were an equivalent in the long- 2 c m iff ";S i; :i- 38G A suualtbr:; a furlough. sighed-fur free navigation of the St. Lawrence offered to them. Maine has committed various acts of sovereignty upon the debatable ground within the last few years in granting lands, allowing her citizens to lumber upon the Aroostook River, and even opening a poll on the St. John's, a few miles above the Madawaska settlement, die several candidates for magisterial offices addressing the people from a cart. Soon, most probably, the American standard would have been flying upon the ramparts of a fort had not, fortunately for the British interests, Sir Archibald Campbell arrived from England at this critical period to assume the reins of government, and, with that firmness and active decision which are so characteristic of him, proceeded in person upon a tedious journey 400 miles in extent and seized s«''me of the aggressors. The principals absconded into Maine, and the authorities of that State interceded for the remission of the punishment justly awarded to those who were capttired. The intrinsic value of the few thousands of square miles involved in dispute is trifling, but they are inestimable when viewed with re- gard to the future prosperity and retention of the British provmces. n> i>n:ui■i/\^>.l■ «*■;.•. .■..vi;j.,uj, •v..wiiJ iv> jii\ji.i,iiiuji';i.' MJ /-h;.;U :iiij il'i <'' ■JJil'J '•■■!. '■-■• ('■( ..il-Vtl.t 1 M.'!'. -) i i.-i> rt-il' ^r. i: ;:.','.. i.'ii >'> A. <-L !,/i:t ^iT jLjiiil .■ .■: U 'Jj'.:viV -T . jl";_'.i ,v P I. '.,1 :-,L-)i'.' ■ ■.^■■1.. \. ■-■'-.I ' . t ;' 'J ?i' •■.,.■■•' ,', i.^ii;;; ., , 1,1 ' , ;■.'' I ■. . I' . .;'C ,:^ - ; ' . '-i Ml ■.■_■'.' :'ii^ .■:. t :,. -...n . .iji^'niU -'I .'•!_;;. "■ •' ■'-■': ■ >!;l :/••( ^.■^>>r., i .'-}:;-■{ - ',fcj i,' :m:''?' 11 -. . , ' J I -■ I ■'''■■-'- <■- ' •■ ■'.).'■; i..\i ' . .'1,? ;.' '-V''- ■(.'l^.iJ'f i- - .1. 'm. i , /I. (■ 'i-i!.' :: ' i- .;(",> <" ' ■•■'< 'U i " .' ' ..-'■■'.'' . ■-. \' ;.■ •,'i;.fi Mfl. ;. :r ' .J .ri/^r;.. >' ■ • -IS ' '..1 ' .(■■'..:.>■! Jj •!■• I I. ' . I I A SlMlAI/rEUN a PURIiOUOII. 387 ,.•(- ,,) rill.. 7">:. I' ■" I'i '.I-' 1 ■ :ii(i'!f ■ 1 ) ■; ■ ■ ■ ' ,■' :* >4 ■. ._ 1 .I'i"e. I ■' y. .;!'(. .-, ^,,/V CHAPTER XXIII. It is a most beautiful country, being stored throughout witli many goodly rivers, rcplenislied with all sorts of fish. ; ) < Spenser. {> . i{f^ Keep me ^mpany but two years, .... , Thou shalt not know the sound of thine own tonsuc — ' '' Farewell. •rt.^., ' • ..'.>* «r,;> ^ ^f. :,,..,.^- ,,., Shakspeahe. wilnH A little fire is quickly trodden out, . < ■ • itv *.; -niT ,^^jt Which, being suffered, rivers cannot quench. Ibid. . - <: i,"!.r;/ , :.i-! \i'n ; vi' -««■*.*;, On the 22d of September I embarked in a smaU steam- boat in company with Captain C, an old Burman friend, whom I was so fortunate as to find stationed at Fredericton, and who kindly offered to accompany me on a short tour through the province of Nova Scotia. We proceeded down the beautiful river St. John (which received its name from being discovered by De Monts on the 24th of June, 1604, the day of St. John the Baptist), and thirty miles below Fredericton passed the embouchure of a small ri- vulet, which forms an outlet to the waters of the Grand Lake and its numerous tributary streams. At Newcastle, and on the borders of the Salmon Bay, at the upper end of the I.4ake, coal has been found in abundance ; but that 2 c 2 in im 'I 888 A SUBALTERN 8 PURLOUOil. liitherto discovered is of an inferior quality, and the works, for want of demand, are on a very limited scale. After crossing the mouth of the Kennebekasis River and entering Grand Bay, which is interspersed with nu- merous islands, we were enveloped in a den c fog, and, landing a few miles farther, at the Indian village a mile above the Falls, proceeded on foot into the town of St. John. For three days it had been obscured by fog, while with us all had been sunshine and heat, the fog not ex- tending more than ten miles up the river. During the first day we saw nothing of the town beyond the curb- stones of the pavement, or the steps up to the doors of the houses ; but a heavy shower of rain, which came on while we were groping our way through the streets in search of the barracks and thoroughly drenched us, dispelled the fog, so that the following morning the sun rose bright and clear. The town, containing nearly 1 1,000 inhabitants, is built upon a rocky and irregular promontory, formed by the harbour and the river which here empties itself into the Bay of Fundy. The principal streets are broad, well paved, and neatly laid out, with excellent private dwell- ings, and some elegant stone public edifices. The corpo- ration in a most spirited manner are laying out large sums of money in beautifying and levelling the streets, though much to the inconvenience of private individuals, whose houses at the bottom of some hills have been blocked up by these improvements to the attic windows, so that a passer by may peep into the first or second story. On the summit of the hill again 20 feet of solid rock have been cut away, leaving the dwellings perched on high, and allowing the occupants a view of little else save sky and the occasional roof of a lofty house. The barracks, a fine extensive range of buildings, with some small batteries A subaltern's furlough. 3H9 overlooking the sea and commatuling the entrance to the harbour, occupy an elevated and pleasant situation in front of the town, whence in clear weather the opposite coast of Nova Scotia can be seen across the Bay of Fundy. Every thing about St. John's presented the air of a flourishing place, and numerous vessels were upon the stocks in the upper part of the bay, whtjre the tide rises to tlie height of HO feet. In point of commercial import- ance it is the capital of New Brunswick, and upwards of 100 square-rigged vessels enter the port annually, export- ing more than 100,000 tons of square timber. From Mi- ramichi more than 300 vessels sail with even a greater quantity of timber than from St. John's ; and from St. An- drew's, which ranks as the third sea-port, from 150 to \ 70 vessels with 2.'>,000 tons of timber. In addition to these there are several minor ports, and from the whole collectively about 11,000 seamen are employed in the trade of the province. It appears by returns made in the year 1 824, when the trade was rather brisker than at pre- sent, that ,S24,260* tons of square timber were exported firom the various sea-ports, exclusive of spars, lathwood, and deals. St. John's possesses most of the lumbering trade from the western coast of Nova Scotia, and, the duties upon English importations being lighter than at Halifax, it absorbs much of the traffic which would other- wise flow to that city. This and the adjoining province of Nova Scotia, under different regulations, might have been still greater nurseries for British seamen than they are; their interests upon several occasions have been neglected by the mother country, who, by the treaty of 1783, granted to the United States participation in the fisheries, and a general permission to take fish at the distance of a * Cooncv's History of Part of Now Brunswick. 11 hi SI 14 # 1:^1 If m v» v; m ' 890 A SUBALTERN 8 FURLOUGH. cannon-shot from the coast. This permission has been much abused by their frequently running in-shore at night, entering the bays to set their nets, in many in- stances forcibly preventing the British fishermen from carrying on the fishery, and destroying the fish by throw- ing the offal overboard, while the provincialists carry it ashore. These rights they forfeited by the war of 1812, but the renewal of them at the peace was strangely per- mitted, with the most injurious effects to the colonies. The immediate vicinity of the town, and for an extent of some miles up the river, is such a mass of rock, covered •only here and there Witli stunted pine, as almost to deter any emigrants from penetrating into the interior, or at least to give them a very poor opinion of their adopted country. The only rich or fertile tract I saw was a narrow strip of land about a mile in width, running between two ridges of rocks away from the bay, and which had been reclaimed from the bed of a river or large inlet. By some people it is imagined to be the course of the St. John's previous to its bursting through the ridge of rocks which create the Falls. The opening through which that river passes is in the narrowest part called the ''split rock," and not more than 40 yards in width ; a quarter of a mile higher up the stream is a second pass, from 150 to 200 yards wide, above which the river expands into a capacious bay. The great rush of the tide is such, and it rises so rapidly, that the water at the flood is some feet liigher below the split rock than above it, and renders it impassable, except at high water, iTor half an hour, and the same fall is formed at the ebb tide, when it is again passable for the same time at low water. Boats frequently venture too far, not aware of the time of tide, and are lost in the whirlpools and eddies ; one, containing three men, had been lost the rP f1- Jh)t l*fi ''itM eh»'«ri\ 'Vhi' iMfWn irvtn lUrnti Tt'M-y liroisv !»K * m:i^ iipjiosi^d 'iv ^^^■■ i:ai4U'ivVk': . ;i^,f,:- we "|»a-:..>!t-tt udi ii* 'bt, . ?<%•.,■:. , h,,f j'r.<.0 .^^ Il>ci!;s; h;v;h ;ii)(! r';cii., ,■: wti , vOtvUci^l btv^iSr ■ .t!'-j fin? Sihct' t.?f fco the iti».h>HU" ill '. n.sU'rly galfs), aof! «•,<.. rul ;■ r iUa in f(-nx Ml' 'iierh* -|n' »'-..f».Mi', *>< -ru !i. I u/.^ '•( • !iil lijrht- niJfl h}r.'i':»i !..-; j!>; .,; - ■ ♦ fcckj' [>!<'' !}'ii <■• i. •( f ■. ii, ; emJuonccs, r-'?'.n :i ml- •. ^ , . the \l\xy (A' Fi'i.a \n tiv't' fuhVf-. **' if n-' ijr' lH;{'iy. fia it in* Aruii^ >i*iv i-.... ' » msic in "widUi w-ll* ;> :•> wt-^ L-U' *or u ve':'.{!'.l fri N fi ,\.\ o.i^t ,". Uc-»» i ■ t -, 1 r ^ 1 Amcncuji ^-.niu uiii ,\), ! ..» v ■nijsh ufA •,' 1*1 1 i-A "h 1 ^ ^^A 1 « M >:( 'M I?* ^;^ t A SUBALTERN S FUHLOUOH. 391 day before we visited them, the most powerful swimmer not being able to gain the shore> The noise from them can be distinctly heard at the distance of some miles, and the harbour, a mile below them, is covered with floating froth a foot in thickness. A few years since an engineer of&cer proposed undermining or blasting the rocks, which vary from 50 to 100 feet in height, and thus opening a passage for the free admission of the tide ; but the project was opposed by the landholders some miles above the town, who represented that the river would thus be dndned and rendered too shallow for navigation. Leaving St. John's in a steamer on the 24th, with the sea as smooth as a lake, but the vessel rolling heavily, we passed out of the beautiful harbour by Partridge Island (the quarantine station at the entrance, which, being high and rocky, is an excellent breakwater and shel- ter to the harbour in easterly gales), and steered for the Nova Scotian coast, forty miles distant. The lofty heights in rear of the city, the various Martello towers and light- houses on Partridge Island and the headlands, the batteries and barracks rising upon a gentle acclivity from the bar- boar, with the ruins of old Fort Howe frowning from a rocky precipice over the city, which is built upon several eminences, form a picturesque scene when viewed from the Bay of Fundy. In five hours we entered the strait of Annapolis (or Digby, as it is frequently called), which is about a tliird of a mile in width, with high lands from 500 to 600 feet in height upon either shore. A violent tide rushing through it into the bay of Fundy renders it next to an impossibi- lity for a vessel to beat against a heal wind into the Basin of Digby, one of the finest summer harbours on the American continent, and in which the whole British navy I ilfc: i I, ^f 5 K^ ; 'I 1 ■• l,|iK IW i '"^* Si\ 'i'::;!l ■■'*; ,..''! ^mimmmm S9a A SUBALTERN 8 FURLOUOU. might ride with safety. Were batteries thrown up at the entrance of the strait, the passage would be rendered utterly impracticable at any time. In winter, however, it is rendered unsafe from the vast quantities of ice which drift down from the AnnapoUs River. Several wigwams were erected upon the sandy beach by the Indians, who, with their rifles, assemble throughout the summer for the purpose of shooting porpoises in the basin ; and, by after- , wards disposing of the oil which they extract, they manage to make a tolerable livelihood. We saw several paddling about in their canoes, who appeared very expert, and were informed it was no uncommon thing for them to kill at a single shot. The basin is also celebrated for its chickens (a species of herring) ; but of late years their number has considerably decreased, owing to the numerous wears, which destroyed the young fish. The small town of Digby, which owed its origin to the fisheries, is prettily situated on a light gravelly soil at the water's edge, about three miles from the entrance of the strait. After passing ah hour or two there, we pursued our course iip the basin, which for its whole extent is divided flrum the Bay of I<'undy by only a narrow chain of hills, between whose base and the margin of the basin there is a strip of about a mile in breadth of well-populated and cultivated land. Near the head of the basin, at the influx of the Moose River, are the remains of an iron foundry which was com- menced in 1825, by the AnnapoUs Mining Company, with a capital of one hundred shares of 100/. each, and after- wards increased to double the amount, but failed through improper management, and is now mortgaged for a tiifling sum. Theie was a fine field open for their undertaking, nearly all the minerals throughout the country being re- served by the Crown, and granted for sixty years by the A SUBALTERN S FURLOUGH. 398 late Duke of York to Messrs. Rundell and Bridge, who have only opened some coal mines at Pictou on the northern coast of the province. We arrived at Annapolis, situated ten or twelve miles up the river of the same name, early in the afternoon. Though formerly a town of so much note, it has now dwindled down into a place of inconsiderable importance, not containing more than 1300 inhabitants. From the year 171^) when Nova Scotia was ceded finally to Great Britain by the treaty of Utrecht (which took place two years after the conquest of the country by General Nichol- son with the forces of Queen Anne), until 1 749, it was the capital of the province, but in that year the seat of govern- ment was transferred to Halifax. From the first explor- ation of the country in 1603 by De Monts, who built a fort there and named it Port Royal, until 1712, it changed masters eight times, having been restored to France by treaty every successive time it was taken by the English. The old fort is yet extant upon a point of land formed immediately below the town, by the junction of a small stream with the Annapolis river, and is occupied by a detachment of infantry from Halifax. An old block- house, and a square brick building within the ramparts, bear such outward signs of antiquity that one might almost imagine them to be coeval with the original French settlers. The principal part of the town nins in one street, parallel with the river above the fort; but to the eastward of it, on the land side, there is a continued succession of neat private residences for nearly a mile, all of which have gardens prettily laid out, and even quickset hedges. These last immediately attracted our attention, being the first I had seen in North America, though, at this time, I had I 394 A SUBALTERN S FURLOUGH. I travelled 2500 miles in it. The orchards are extensive and numerous, much cider being made in this part of the f province, and I could have fancied myself in an English village, had it not been for the negroes with whom the street swarmed, and whom I should never have expected to see in such numbers so far to the north. On the morning of the 25th of September we left Anna* polls, pursuing our journey to Bridgetown, fourteen or fifteen miles distant, where we crossed to the right bank of the river and followed its course over a poor and exceed- ^ ingly light soil. The township of Ailsby, fifteen miles in length, produces only a crop of rye and Indian com in three or four years, and then lies by for pasture for a length of time. The day was stormy, with heavy rains, and the coach only a second-hand American one, with " Western Mail, New York, and Hoboken," upon the doors ; neither was it water-proof, the canvass curtains hanging down in long shreds, and flapping to and fro with the wind. The horses too were poor specimens of the Nova Scotian steeds, three out of the four being lame ; the coachman however was perhaps one shade more professional in his appearance than those in the States. I attempted to kill time by reading Bulwer's Eugene Aram, but was incessantly inter- rupted, when devouring one of the most interesting chap- ters, by a prosing Uttle woman eighty years of age, with snow-white hair, rosy cheeks, bright black eyes, and a set of teeth which would not have disgraced a Brahmin. She was the very picture of good health, but most unfortu- nately my neighbour, and apparently took a great fancy to me, as the full benefit of her colloquial powers was be- stowed upon me in some such interesting conversation as A SUBALTERN S FURLOUGH. 395 " Aye, these barrens are very dreary, but you will soon come to the settlement : — now there's a pretty intervale— this is a poor territory." Near the village of Ailsby we passed in sight of Cler- mont, the pretty country residence of the Bishop of Nova Scotia, and a few miles farther entered the Cariboo Swamps. It is the source of two rivers, the Annapolis and Com wallis, which rise within a few paces of each other by the road-side, and flow to the ocean in opposite directions, one emptying itself into the Basin of Minas and the other into the Basin of Digby. It was formerly a favourite hunting ground of the Indians, but few of the animals from which its name is derived are now to be found in any part of the country. -•-" ?'• •'■- .■■•'.■-'-■■ '-■•."•>■ •■>■** -t^^- -.'.^i-i '.^: r Every one forms some ideas of a place before he visits it, and mine were fully realized throughout this day's jour- ney. After leaving the swamp we entered dense forests of pine, unvaried by a soUtary habitation for many miles, and the few small clearings were plentifully covered with Nova Scotian sheep, alias large black stones ; but at Kentville, where we passed the night, the country assumed a more fertile appearance, and our road continued within sight of the large prairie and rich dikes of Comwallis and Horton. A long range of hills, from 1000 to 1200 feet in height, com- mence just beyond the village of Gaspereaux, which derives its name from a poor description of herring which run up a small stream in shoals during the spring, and are caught in such vast quantities that the fishermen frequently allow the poor people to take them away gratis. They also form a considerable article of trade with the West Indian islands. The rivulet winds up rather a pretty and fertile valley, twelve miles in length, between the village and the mountains, and has its source from a lake at the head. ; f s i m W ^:« A SUnALTERN 8 PITRLOUOII. The view of Cnpe Blomidon, or Blow-me-down (as it is now significantly called, from the heavy gusts of wind which prevail off its bluff point), with the Basin of Minas and the opposite shore, is a fine and extensive one when taken firom the high part of the Horton Mountains over which the road jiasses. For the first time in America, I saw a drag-chain used in their descent, but the road was excellent; and though closely packed with eight people inside, and only two seats, we travelled the ten miles in an hour and ten minutes. - Making a circuitous route of six miles in twenty, we crossed the Avon, about 1 80 yards wide, and arrived at Windsor to breakfast. If a bridge were constructed across the river at this town many miles of mountainous country would be avoided. We were informed that one was in meditation some years since, and that the abutments of it were actually commenced, but the work was abandoned for some unknown reason. A long wooden pile of build- ing, with a flat roof, occupies an eminence one mile from the town, with twenty-five windows in each story, which, consequently, might be reasonably supposed to be a cotton mill ; but, not being in the vicinity of any water, I came to tlie conclusion that it was a barrack : my loquacious neigh- bour however set me to rights by informing me that it was the college. It certainly exhibits a strange architectural taste, though quite a modern building, the institution hav- ing been founded only thirty years. At this time there were twenty-one students, who are eligible at the early age of fourteen, on account of young men entering upon busi- ness so early in life. They are required to wear the cap and gown, but little attention appears to be paid in this respect to the rules of the college. I saw some very un- academically-dressed young men in green sliootuig jackets, A SUDALTBUN S FURLOUGH. m stonding at the hotel door, smoking cigars and surveying each passenger as he stepped out of the coach. The cnly mark of scholastic garb they wore was the square cap and tassel ; and one of them crossed the street with his gown folded up and carried under one arm and a large stick under the other. The qualifications of the president are, that he must have taken a degree either of M.A. or Bachelor in Civil Law at Oxford, Cambridge, or Dublin. There are twelve divinity scholarships attached to the college by the Society for Propagating the Gospel in Fo- reign Parts, each scholar enjoying 30/. per annum for seven years. The object being that people may be in- duced to educate their children for the ministry of the Church of England, there are also four scholarships of 20/. tenable only for four years. At the foot of the hill upon which the college is erected is a large substantial stone building, used as a preparatory academy. It was built at an expense of 6000/., and has also twelve divinity scholar- ships of SO/, attached to it, which arc held either for seven years or until matriculation, and, as well as those at the college, are nominated by the bishop and appointed by the society. Windsor, equally with every Nova Scotian town which I visited, impressed me favourably with the province. The streets are clean, and the houses have a respectable and pleasing appearance, superior to the Canadian villages. The town is situated upon the margin of the Avon, where it is 11 00 feet broad, and is the great port for the exporta- tion of gypsum, of which nearly 100,000 tons are carried annually to the United States for the purposes of farming; but it is very little used in the province as a manure, either not suiting the soil, or being improperly applied. The whole face of the surrounding country is scarred with (^ \4 \i M k M:i 3J)8 A SUBALTERN 8 FURLOUGH. quarries, and the lofty banks of the river St. Croix, a few miles distant, are composed of the same mineral, and are nearly as white as the cliffs of Dover. It does not lie in a compact body, but is intermixed with red and blue clay. Aflter exportation, it is ground fine in a mill and scattered over the land by the hand in about the proportion of five bushels to the acre, answering well upon a dry sandy soil, and showing a dark mark upon the grass, which springs up in the parts where it has been scattered. It is also said to prevent that bane of the fanner, the rust in the wheat, which are supposed to be occasioned by the thick fogs of Nova Scotia. When we arrived at Windsor and walked to the piers, where the vessels were loading with gypsum, the bed of the river had a most singular appear- ance. As far as the eye coidd reach, only a thick bed of vellow mud was visible, and the keels of the vessels were 40 feet above the level of a small firesh- water brook, which flowed in a narrow gully through it. The height of the tide increases in an unaccountable manner as it approaches the N. E. along the whole coast of North America. At New York common flood does not average more than 5 or 6 feet ; at St. John's it is from 20 to 25, at Windsor about 35, and, increasing in rapidity as the basin becomes nar- rower, it rises near Fort Cumberland and Truro to the astonishing height of 75 feet in the spring tides. The cap- tain of a vessel assured me that he had cast anchor in twelve fathoms' water in Chignecto Basin, and had walked round his craft at low ebb. The crops throughout our journey appeared in a most deplorable state; in many parts they were yet green, though it was now the 26th of September, and some were entirely destroyed by the frost, which had been capricious in the extreme : one field was probably quite destroyed, and A A SUDALTBUN'8 FURLOUGH. 399 the farmer at work cutting it for winter fodder, while the next was yet in a flourishing state. Owing to the lateness of the spring, and the early September firosts, it seemed probable that the farmer's yearly labours would receive but a poor return. Winter wheat is not sown in conse- quence of being liable to be thrown out of the ground at spring by the effects of the severe frosts in winter, and spring wheat is raised with difficulty in some parts of the province. The crops in good upland vary from IG to 25 bushels.* The other grains, however, grow well, oats yielding 25, rye IG, and barley 20 bushels. Indian com produces from 25 to 30 bushels, but it requires long heat, and the climate of Nova Scotia is too treacherous to be trusted long with impunity ; this year I do not recollect seeing above two crops which promised to repay the farmer. The land is admirably calculated for potatoes, an average produce being 200 bushels per acre ; and the ro- tation of crops, after breaking up the green sward, is to commence with oats, followed by potatoes the second and wheat the third year, when again potatoes, then wheat, accompanied by clover and Timothy seed. Few farms are divided into fields which receive a prescribed treatment in turn, but remain in grass until the failure of the crops in- dicates the necessity of change ; wheat and oats are gene- rally sown in April, Indian com between 10th of May and 5th of June, barley and buck-wheat 1st of Jvme, and turnips 10th of July. Mowing usually commences the last week of July, and reaping the same time in August, but this season the hay was not stacked as late as the 9th of October. The following return was made a few years since under authority of the local government : Quantity of land in Nova Scotia, exclusive of Cape Breton, 9,994,880 • Halliburton's History of Nova Scotia. f >i k 400 A flUDALTERN 8 PITRLOUOII. I acres, of these 6,ll!),J)3}> have been granted, but 1,781,2}):^ have been escheated, leaving at the disposal of the crown 5,(>5G',283 acres. Of the above quantity three parts is prime land, four ditto good, three inferior, and two incapable of cultivation : this is exclusive of lakes and land covered with water. The horned cattle are well shaped ; but the horses, though hardy, are of a mixed Ca- nadian, American, and English breed, and have fallen off of late years. When the Duke of Kent was governor of the province he used his utmost endeavours, by the im- portation of several Arab horses, to introduce a good breed, and partly succeeded; but since then the best horses have been drained oif by purchasers from the States. New Brunswick produces a superior breed in swiftness and beauty. A celebrated horse in that pro- vince, some few years since, took a sleigh upon the ice from St. John's to Fredericton, a distance of 7^> miles, in six hours and a half. A useful pony, rivalling the Shet- land in diminutiveness, and varying from 5/. to ^L in price, is in common use amongst the young people of Nova Scotia. It is imported from Sable Island, an almost barren sand, 35 leagues from the coast, upon which a few ponies of a larger breed were landed many years since as food for shipwrecked seamen, but, their numbers increas- ing too rapidly for the extent of herbage, many have been withdrawn, and a humane establishment has been insti- tuted there at an expense of 800/. per annum. From the same return which is quoted above it appears that the cultivated land in Nova Scotia amounts only to 1,292,009 acres, though the first crop after clearing the ground al- ways repays all expenses of labour and purchasing seed, the expense of felling and clearing away the wood being from 25 to 30 shillings per acre; for cutting, heaping, A aUIIALTBKN 8 KDilLOUOIi. 101 burning and, fencing, 3/. I observed that here, as in the States, the sickle was but Uttlc used, tlic cradle scythe doing its work more expeditiously. We changed our coach at Windsor for one of larger di- mensions, and, the Halifax races commencing the following day, we had an addition to our party of half a dozen lawyers and attorneys returning from the circuit to enjoy the gaiety of the capital. My prosing old torment contrived to place herself beside inc again, and, after congratulating me upon the vicinity we had preserved, she transferred her little grand- daughter from the centre seat, where her bonnet was crushed into every possible shape but the one the maker did intend, to a place upon my knee. What with the child, the old dame's vexatious garrulity, and fifteen inside passengers upon a hot day, I was almost worked into a fever, and was therefore happy to escape when we stopped to change horses, and walk up the Ardoisc Mountain. This moun- tain derives its name from the slate with which it abounds, and which appears upon the surface in every direction, but the monopoly of Messrs. llundell and Bridge laid an injunction on a quarry which was opened a few years since. The circumstance rather reminds one of the fable of the dog in the manger ; for the material would be in great de- mand for builtUng, and soon supersede the combustible shingles which at this time are in general use. Tlic road continues over high ground, after gaining the summit, passing between many lagoons varying in size from 20 to 40 acres, which afford excellent trout fishing, and have some good land near tliem. One farm especially, the property of Mr. Jeffries, Collector of Customs at Halifax, was quite a treat to a traveller who had Ijcen so long ac- customed to see nothing but a most slovenly system ol It displayed much l)etter management than agriculture 4 f m 401 A SUllALTBRN M PUKLOUflll. that of his near neighbour, Mr. Uniackc, lato Attorney General, whose farm and house were erected upon such a barren spot, and so much money had been expended upon the estate, that, to use a fellow-passenger's expression, " for every stone he had picked up he had laid down a dollar." Each house is prettily situated near a small lake, with un- dulating and well-clcarud grounds, laid out in gardens and with quickset hedges ; they had also planted several hundreds of English oaks in the hedge-rows, which ap- peared to bo thriving tolerably. The same fellow-pas- senger related the following anecdote to us, respecting this unproductive farm. The oiiginal proprietor was taken prisoner during the war of the Uevolution, and marched under suspicion of being a spy to Hulifax, from the op- posite o.:tremity of the Province. On his route to the capital, he requested permission of the escort to rest him- self f(-r a few mincfe? upon a stone by the road-side (which, in corroboration of the veracity of the story, was pjinted out to '5"5)j and, while sitting upon it, he said that if eve: he was so fortunate as to acquire his liberty, and gain on r. dep .'ndent fortune, he would pur- chase t^e land upon which it lay. In process of time his anticipations were realized, and, purchasing 5000 acres of that rocky country, he expended nearly 25,000/. upon them. He was spoken highly of as being a charitable man, and giving employ to numerous workmen. The house now bids fair for becoming a mass of ruins, the present possessor not admiring so unsociab'?. and desolate a place. A deep dell was shoM'n to me by the r'^.id sido as being considered very similar in appearance to the valley in which Napcleon was buried at St. Helena. " Very like a whale," said I. There was certain' y a valley, but there A HUnAl.TERN 8 PITRLOIJOII. U)A ere tho likencfis ended; a rapid rivulet rushed through the bottom of it, but the water was scarcely visible through the stunted underwood which clothed the sides of the ravine. Tho adjoining clearings produced a crop of oats, above which the innumerable stumps appeared thick and crowded as men upon a ohess-lioard, and a few miserable wooden shantys completed the scene. The observation, however, produced an animated conversation, the fourteen insides giving their opinions upon the ci-devant emperor's character at one time, and forming a Dutch concert in all the various modulations of voice, from high tenor to a deep base. The attack was commenced upon me by my old plague as follows : " My heart always swells when I hear Boney's name mentioned ; and I think he died of grief— for you know you feel your heart swell when you are sorry for any thing, and his heart was very large when he died — I somehow think he died of pining." I was troubled at this moment with a most violent cough. " I think he died of taking snuff," said an elderly man, suiting the action to the word. " And that gave him a cancer on his liver, I suppose," observed a third. Being thus happily relieved from an answer, I left the worthy trio, assisted by the full chorus of eleven, to battle it out by them- selves. There certainly ought not to be any apology required for a man committing suicide in the twenty miles after passing the Ardoise Mountain, nor any fog necessary to disgust him with life if compelled to take up his abode in such a country. A new line of road had been laid out some two or three years previously, and, nothing being expended upon the repairs of the old one, we had to jolt al)out most unmercifully over huge rocks and deep water- courses. It was well, indeed, that we were packed so 2 D 2 %■ to I A aiTHAi-TEHN s Krni.onoii. close, and lind not mucli sj^ace for pitching to and fro. Our road lay througli the leafless forest, which uas con- sumed in the summer of 1825, at the same time as the awful fire at Miramichi in New Brunswick, whith spread over six thousand square miles, destroying towns, human beings, wild beasts, and even the natives oi the streams in its devouring course. Nothing can exceed the desolate appearance of the country over which it swept ; the trees either yet remain, hardened by the fire, in their npl iral position, and casting a wintry gloom over the few green shrubs which are creeping up again at intervals beneath them, or have been consumed by internal fire, leaving only a mere shell or skeleton. It is a singular fact that in most instances where the forest has been consumed by fire a different growth of wood springs up from that which the ground formerly produced; thus a hard timber is fre- quently succeeded by a soft one, and maple or birch shoot out from amongst the roots of the pine. The quality of the soil is nevertheless generally known by the growth of the timber ; black and yellow birch, with elm, ash, hemlock, or maplcj are certain indications of a rich soil. A small growth of white birch denotes a thin cold soil, and pine a dry sandy ground : though this rule does not always hold good, as strips of pine are frequently found in the l)est land. Night had sot in by the time we had arrived within ten miles of Halifax, and I, allowing my head to sink down upon my breast, breathed hard, and affected sleep, for the purpose of avoiding the old lady who was by far a greater plague to me than ever the old man of the sea was to Sinbad the sailor. But all this ruse de guerre was of no avail : " I am sure you will never wish to travel with such an old woman again," said she ; " most sincerely shall I A subaltern's KUnLOUGII. 105 pray for it," groaned I ; and my evil genius persevered in describing the Bedford Basin upon whose margin we were now travelling, and related " how the French admiral and fleet scuttled themselves and went down with colours flying in the presence of the English, sooner than surren- der," and how the mast of the admiral's ship was yet visible above low water on a calm day. I was mute, but ever and anon peered out, and squinted through one eye to the right and left, in hopes of seeing the long-wished-for city ; but there was only the white light water of the basin below, or the dark outline of houses at intervals on the right, with the roaring stream of the Sackville, as it de- scended over its rocky bed from the chain of lakes we had passed during the day. I almost shouted with joy when the exclamation of '' tlicrc is the city-dell " (citadel) broke from her, and we entered the streets just as the vivid flash of the heavy gun from the ramparts, and the numerous bugles and drums of the garrison, announced that it was eight o'clock. ! ' 1:1 tOfi A SUDALTEUN S KURLOIJOII. CHAFfEll XXIV. And bad the nimblest racer seize tlic prize. I sometime lay liere in Corioli, . he used me kindly. Vain transitory splendour ! could not all Reprieve the tott'ring mansion from its fall ? Obscure it sinks. Pope. Shakspeaul. Goldsmith. I HAVE seldom witnessed a livelier scene than the Halifax race-course presented on the 27th of September. The day was remarkably favourable j not even a passing cloud ap- peared to plead an excuse for not forming part of the show. By mid-day the city had poured forth all its in- habitants, both horse and foot, who were either grouped upon the ramparts or brow of the citadel hill, or listening to the military bands who played between the heats on the plain below. The scene was rendered more enlivening by the numerous gay uniforms of the rifle brigade, 8th and 96th regiments, which, with detachments of artillery and engineers, composed the garrison. The races had been set on foot by the (jtticcrs of the army and navy upon the A SUBALTERN S FURLOUGH. .or station, many of whom carried off the palm of victory in competition with professional jockeys. They were more suitably equipped too for running a race, according to an £rglishman's notions of dress, than the provincialists, who cut rather an outrS appearance riding in their shoes and loose trowsers. Many of the races were well con- tested, and the sports were kept up with great spirit for three days. A captain and subaltern became ^eld officers on the course, owing to the treachery of the ground which gave way under the horses when they were making nearly their last spring to gain the winning-post. A midshipman merited by his perseverance what he could not gain by the ileetness of his steed, as he ran for almost every stake, from the cup down to the saddle and bridle. The grand stand consisted of a few pine boards loosely tacked together, and was altogether a most frail and tottering erection, and prior to trusting one's life in it, it would have been a matter of prudence to have insured it. We had one or two false alarms of " coming down,' from boys scrambling upon the roof, or gentlemen of heavy weight venturing upon the floor ; but, the generality of the ladies preferring to witness the races from their own carriages, the show upon the stand was limited to about a dozen or eighteen people. All hii hs for the sale of spirituous liquors were prohibited near the course, but the law was evaded by the proprietors of contiguous fields letting them for the erec- tion of tents, which proved of some service in attracting all those who had an inclination to be disorderly away from the peaceable portion of the assemblage. We dined at the public ordinary the same afternoon, held in the Mason's Hall, a room of noble dimensions, but rendered gloomy by the ceiling being painted in most deplorable taste of a deep black colour, varied here and \i 1*1 4-1 •108 A 8UUALTERN S MIULOUGil. n 1 1 hero witli n streak of white, a compass, a rule, an eye, and other strange devices of the craft. I could compare the j;cncral effect only to that of a storm about to burst over the heads of the company, antl it certainly much marred the beauty of the Indies who attended the ball in the same room the following evening. The cup, which had been made at New York, was produced after the cloth was re- moved for presentation to the winner, a citizen, and I believe the only one who entered a horse for the races. The peninsula upon which Halifax stands is formed 1)y the harbour, called Chebucto, and the north-west arm, which branches off at Point Pleasant, three miles below the city (the entrance being guarded by redoubts and Mar- tcUo towers), and runs almost parallel to the harbour, approaching within a mile of Bedford Basin. Melville Island, where the American prisoners of war were confined, is situated under the rocky and lofty wooded bonk a short distance from the entrance, but only a few old houses and a mill now remain upon it. The harbour is about 1 (i miles in length, and from Ij^ to 2 in breadth, terminating in Bedford Basin, wliich would alone furnish a safe anchorage for the whole British navy, the entrance to it not exceed- ing 800 yards in width, when it expands to a nt)l)le sheet six miles by four. The approach from the sea is well pro- tected l)y the fortifications at York Point, some miles below the city, and George's Island opposite the lowest extremity of it. M'Nabb's Island of 1100 acres, purchased a few years since for lOOOA, protects the shipphig from the fury of the Atlantic. The peninsula rises rather abruptly from the water, the streets being laid out parallel with the harbour from north to south ; but they are much confined by the citadel on the summit of the hill, and the crown reserves around it. The city is consequently much com A HiniALTBRN M FUllLUUUil. 109 )>rcsso(l ill width, and uccupies only a narrow strip of land, being a1)out two miles and a half in length by a quarter of a mile in width, and all the cross streets are inconve- niently steep, but the corporation were as actively em- ployed as at St. John's in leveUing and making them more commodious. The buildings are nearly all of wood, there not being more than 1 50 stone houses out of 1 (>0(). At the last census, in 1828, the population was li,-!;!!) souls, the increase since the peace being but trifling. During the war it was the great British naval deprtt of North America, and the dock-yard establishment ^ave life and employ to the city ; but a few years since a great portion of it was transferred to the Bermudas, as being central between the North American colonies and the West In- dies, and the harbour not being liable to be closed by the ice during the winter months. There are great objections, however, to Bermuda, on the score of the climate, which destroys more naval stores in one year than PlaUfax would in half a dozen. The admiral and commissioner divide their time of residence equally between tlie two stations, and were on the point of saiUng for Bermuda when we quitted Halifax. The citadel, which is raised upon an old fort of smaller dimensions, will not be completed for some years; the work is carried on chiefly by the soldiers of the garrison, who receive dd. per diem extra while employed during the summer mouths. The position is a commanding one, and a fine prospect is afforded from the ramparts. The bar- racks at present occupied by the troops are of wood, with very little to recommend them, except some fine mess- rooms, and a library instituted by Lord Dalhousie, when Governor of the province. A fire would prove of infuiitc service towards beautifying the city, by destroying both i ' (.1 410 A HUHALTEUN'R PtTHLOITGII. them and n great proportion of the private dwelling- houses. Those even which are built of substantial mate- rials are principally of the shaley iron-stone rock of which the peninsula is formed, and which contains such a quan- tity of the ore that it oozes out in long streaks down the walls, and gives them a most lugubrious and prison-like appearance. Some of the pul)lic edifices are of a hand- some freestone, and the Province Building, as it Is called, situated in an open square, surrounded by an iron railing, and the interior prettily planted with locust-trees, would not disgrace the capital of Great Britain. It contains rooms for the Council, House of Assembly, and all the provincial offices. Its external dimensions are 1 40 feet in length, 70 in width, and 42 in height ; but the colonists do not appear to feel much pride about the grandeur of it, and their approbation rf it is smothered in complaints of the extravagance of the cost. They have another source of lamentation in Dalhousie College, which occupies one end of the parade, where the guards mount daily, and which was commenced in 1820, but not completed for want of the necessary funds. It is, also, a handsome free- stone building, but unoccupied. Part of it, from humane motives, had been fitted up by the Governor as a cholera hospital, as well as the levee room at Government House ; but fortunately neither of them was required. The latter is situated near the lower extremity of the town, but rather too near a burial ground. There are only two churches of the Protestant episcopal religion, St. Paul's and St. George's, the latter a plain circular wooden edifice, bearing a close resemblance to the CoUseum : besides these, the Catholics and dissenting sects have six chapels. The number of places of pul)lic worship, in proportion to the number of inhabitants, appeared far less in the British A HI7DALTBRN N FUUhOUGII. Ill provinces than in the United States. On the banks of the river St. John, the great turnpike of New Brunswick, and along which much of the population is scattered, there was barely a church in every SO miles ; and though on our route to Halifax they exceeded in number those in the sister province, yet still they were comparatively few to those in the States. The provincialists are exempt from all tithes, the ministers of the Church of England being supported by the Society for Propagating the Gospel in Foreign Parts, from which they receive an annuity of about 200/. sterling (nearly 250/. currenc)). The Society also allows 25/. for each new church, and one was pointed out to me which had been actually erected for that sum. In addition to the twenty-one clergymen thus paid, they have also many schoolmasters and catechists in Nova Scotia, upon salaries from 15 to 20 and 30/. per annum. The followers of the church of Scotland are the most numerous of the various denominations in the province, there being by the last official return 37,225 ; of England, 28,G5!) ; of Rome, 20,401 J Baptists, 19,790, and only three Jews, who, as the American saying is, are no match for any one in Yankee land, or the countries north of New York. We attended the theatre one evening to witness the performance of " Simpson and Co.," and the " Poor Sol- dier j" but almost took alarm at the box-office, which was in a damp comer on the ground floor behind a green cur- tain, where we received some dirty play bills, not broader than the riband of a lady's bonnet. The interior of the house well correspond; d with it. We managed to obtain seats in the front box, from which an active man might have almost leaped over the people's heads in the pit on to the stage. Altogether it was much like performing in a sentry-box: we were so close to the performers, that a 4 m .« i ■rf m I. J 412 A subaltern's purlouoii. !l darkened eye-brow or rouged cheek could be easily de- tected, and the promptor's voice was heard in every sen- tence; yet, spite of these objections, the good citizens were flattering themselves that Fanny Kemble would ex- tend her engagements from the States to the .capital of Nova Scotia. The house was very thinly attended, but the heat was so oppressive that in half an hour we were glad to beat a retreat to our quarters, where I was again, for the second time during my travels, confined to my bed by indisposition for two days, but was happily surrounded by military frier Js, who soon set me on horseback again. I gave the band-box of a theatre the full credit of inducing if not of producing my indisposition. We enjoyed many pleasant rides towards Point Pleasant, and the pretty private residences near the city, and passed an entire day in visiting Rockingham, where Prince's Lodge, formerly the Duke of, Kent's country seat, is mouldering into dust, and in making the circuit of Bedford Basin. The road winds prettily along the margin of the water through a thick grove of birch and forest trees, crossing innumera- ble rivulets which pour their tributary streams into the basin from the rocky and but thinly inhabited country with which it is surrounded. The lodge is a large wooden building six miles from the city, without any claims to architectural beauty, and, from its numerous large sash windows, may be likened to a conservatory or a lantern, there certainly being a greater proportion of glass than timber in the front. The grounds have beon laid out taste- fully, and the situation is exceedingly beautiful, overlooking the broad expanse of the basin, from the edge of which it is about 300 yards. After the Duke's departure from the province, the property came into the possession of Sir John Wcntworth, the Lieutenant-Governor, who allowed € . , ' V 0. * le- jn- f ;ns ■ •*-,■ !( * * J N It ♦^ i .1 M ^ >^ .4 '■'J \'.,\ •• ♦'!; If »-' 4.1.1' hulum staff. iS'i t : ni' '.ttruufhJis rcniaiuj' ; t.lit' I.M Imji^ii i{; in fliv? nio.st diml)!,- •i-iivfesjtcd a tvi-sli to soi llif ' rd>^ f«r(!!., ■ tliO hi.-.;«' '•!(•')(";' '■''\^--f ■',, - ,:. ,. Mivili m;.i'. a'V isivst ''ff ;,i-,t' .^iu,--' , :*. M 1 . . .'f . ii:nl iiilty C'ji'i.try ivi till vl!iu;^v "j l>;u"uuiiii'v i;-. !i,*- *>j ;vi mIo siiii- :)i |i:c liurljoi.. Tin. ;::!.';!;<: t..u': i!j.- <,'anul, wlarh was (Ir-Mfin;(i fv.r the prr,:.K-L' of' rotJiiect^i!;.; tlio Ikt.siii ««l '\|i li*?^ -villi tiic l»;'rli .ur, .-j,. :! ?!i\is iijvttti(.i.i pnrt of (In- Ji.iiii' . * fire wt'.sJei'i !'»\V(i.s i'i lit' in'o'v irvc' ironi "rt. Jt*iit>'5 i'iliK^tv, Ti;.' i)r'f:,;r ' /•■' .,1 1 .a '.■ >\' ••: '•m ;.r;:iw; I'-C tlTitm' Vi-i'.rk \\-i-. , , ■•'/■ , ;',*' • ,., ,• ; ' -.>,;!?'. i''iif;ili. ;"!ii.'.l >'>0 (.• ! ■• \!,;«; -.j- t, . -,,- , . •ontliu; i'MtiT rv r ... ...*■,._! '-,,=• , ,,; , • . r !• wid;ii, U) .nlvc t!;,ir sU"!U\ :-. ',;- ; ' • • U. -iHu thu^ save t,:^-;ii - 1 : ^lii; ■■.■■id. >_'■' . :■.-- .:. - 1-- ,^!Mt. I'iif^ !i ijiHiatir-.; ,>!_ .;..^ :■ -. uv. 'iCr.:;' : ■ ' '■M;.L. of if^.t •'''.. UHci f -1 r\ , a,v ,',,■ ; , ,- -..., ..,,< ii f''i' I'lr^i .-.''■''i.mi , ■ . i;i,. f .» 'f if tr i ji 1-. V t i h % ^ }t V i .', '_■)»!! A HDOALTRKN H FURLOrOII. 4{A it til fall into its present ruinous nnd forlorn state. Not a vestige of the double tier of verandahs remains ; the balcony and parapet railing are hanging in the most doubt- ful sitspenae ; and, when we expressed a wisii to see the interior, tlie old soldier in charge said that he would not insure us agaiiist either vanishing through one of the floors or being buried under the falling roof. The ohi guard- house has been converted into the stables of a cotnfortuble inn, the scene of many garrison pic-nics nnd citizens' Sun- day parties. We continued our route to the village of Sackvillc, at the head of the basin, thrct- miles farther, where tinTC is a small military post for the apprehension of deserters ; and struck into the forest by a bridle patii, over the same rough and hilly country to the village of Dartmouth on the oppo site side of the harl)our. Tlie Shubenacadie Canal, which was designed for the purpose of connecting the Basin of Minas with the harbour, and thus diverting part of the trade of the western towns of the province from St. John's in new Brunswi<;U iins its commencement in rear of the village. The origiiial cstMuatc of the expense of finishing the entire work ',.«. 7.i,0i'!'/,, the canal being .'53 miles in length, and 60 ot in -vidi^ at the surface, with sufficient depth of water lor ve«-sel^ <.>i eight feet drnught. The locks were to he H./ tbc^ in Ict'jUi within the chambers, and 19i feet in Avidth, in oru i mot steam boats might tow vesnels of considcable burden iNHti Halifiix into the Bay of Fun- dy, and thus save them tlie long circuit of a dangerous coast. The ha;islalure at the commencement made a grant of 15,0()0/., an " , « . r - (• J » 1. ' I s' i "> • A SUBALTERN S FUUL.OUOU. 421 ,'10 ,' 'i}}' CHAPTER XXV. God's benison go with you, and with those That would make good of bad, and friends of foes. ' How calm, how beautiful comes on The stilly hour, when storms are gone ; When warring winds have died away, And clouds, beneath the glancing ray. Melt off, and leave the land and sea Sleeping in bright tranquillity I ShAKSI'KARK. Neither good Christians nor good arguers. MOORB. ATTERBURr. .t-iny-i i- I 'i/iJ K With feelings consequent on separation from a compa- nion whose sentiments so exactly tallied with my own, and whose society had made this part of my expedition so pleasant, I bade adieu to St. John's on the morning of the 10th of October. The weather was in melancholy harmony with my feelings; for when I entered the steamer the sky was bright and clear, with a fresh south- easterly breeze, and only a dark hne like that of a bold and distant coast to be seen low down upon the horizon ; this gradually increased to a bank of clouds, its upper extre- mities tinged with yellow by the morning sun, and then by degrees approaching us more rapidly, and in huge rolling -i m. i'J2 A 8nilAL.TKRN 8 KUULOUGII. masses, it shortly enveloped us in a dense damp fog. The sun, however, gaining the ascendancy, gradually broke through thin portions of it with a dazzling light, and in forty or fifty minutes the whole was carried away to lee- ward l)y the heavy and increasing gale. I had never before witnessed this, the usual approach of the fog from the banks of Newfoundland. After a run of sixty miles along an iron-bound coast, wc arrived at Eastport, in Maine, one of the United States. The approach to it is pretty, the channel winding amongst numerous rocky islands within the British lines. There is a house upon one of the last of these islands (if a small barren rock, 100 yards in length, deserves such a name) which was erected at a gr€&t expense by one of the re- venue officers. Midway between it and the town is the boundary, an imaginary line running through the centre of the river St. Croix and part of Passamaquoddy Bay. The first object, which is supereminently apparent from the deck of a vessel, is the huge star-spangled banner, which, rivalling a ship's topsail n capaciousness, floats above the red roof and glaring white walls of the barracks, on a rocky hill overlooking the town. The town itself is quite an American one, containing 2000 inhabitants and four places of public worship. The streets as usual are regularly laid out as per compass and rule, and most of the private houses white as the driven snow. The landing-place is the most inconvenient that could have been devised j we arrived at low water, and the vessel's deck was conse- quently some twenty fecst below the level of the quay; whoever wished to land was therefore under the necessity of clambering up a perpendicular, slippery, and wet ladder, with staves eighteen inches asunder : even one or two of those were missing, so that the scaling of it was utterly A dlTUAUTRUN M FUKLODUII. 123 impractica1)le for a lady, and a gentleman would find it no easy task. There were two parties, the ascending and descending, who wished to gain possession of it; a fat, choleric New Brunswicker, who had been terribly aifected by the gale, volunteered to pioneer the way for the rest of us, and by dint of perseverance once arrived half way up the ladder, when he received such a thump on his head from the heavy heel of a porter, who was descending with a trunk, that he rejoined us by that rapid mode which sailors call "hand over hand," and then awaited patiently until the long stream of passengers and their baggage had reached the quarter-deck in safety. As soon as I set foot again on the land of calashes,* politics. India-rubber shoes, and vile rocking-chairs, I entered a bookseller's shop, which made a far greater dis- play than any I had seen in Montreal, Quebec, or Halifax, supplying not the immediate neighbourhood only, but a great part of New Brunswick with literature. The care- less, tooth-pick manner, however, so characteristic of his countrymen, with which the young gentleman behind the coui,ter, with a forage cap set carelessly on one side of his head, answered one or two of my questions, and then walked away to make his dog open the door for the amusement of some children, was quite sufficient to dis- gust any man who might entertain even more charitable opinions of the Americans than myself. He was doubt- less aware that I had just landed from the British pro- vinces, and so thought fit to treat me with what he con- sidered a specimen of repu])lican sany frnul. I observed tliat there was a more bitter feeling existing between the two nations along the wliolc extent of frontier than in the * Loose bonnets, of a li^jht green or dark blue colour, worn by Aiiwriran ft'nnili's. 121 A 8UBALTBKN H PURLOUOII. I ^ interior of tlic two countries, though nearly onc-tliird of the inhabitants on each side of the boundary line made a livelihood by carrying on a smuggling trade with the otlier. If loyalty to England consists in hatred to America, I would then give the Canadia:is, and the borderers of New Brunswick, the full credit of being superabundantly sup- plied with that very excellent quality. The town, which was taken by the British and kept in possession during the last war (the principal American trade during that period being carried on at Lubec, a few miles distant on the main land), is situated upon the southern end of Moose Island, four miles in length, and connected with the continent by a bridge at the northern extremit3\ The harbour is an extensive and safe one, extending many miles up Passamaquoddy Bay, and land- locked by the numerous islands. Some salt works have been established near the town, and conducted so as to evade much of the duty by importing the mineral from England, vi^ St. John, and boiling it in the States, the duty upon the coarse mineral being comparatively small to that upon English salt. There is also a foundry fur the melting of scrap or old iron, conducted upon some- what similar principles. Neither sailing-packet nor coach departing for the south-west during the ensuing twenty-four hours, I pro- ceeded in the steamer to St. Andrews, a sea-port of con- siderable importance on a peninsula of New Brunswick, thirteen miles from Eastport. The scenery up the bay is fine and bold, the Shamcook Hill rising in rear of the town to the height of 1100 feet, the only paper-mill in the pro- vince being situated upon the small river which flows near it, and bears the same name. When we arrived within two miles of the town, the tide was half ebb, and, the 51 A SUBALTBRN ^ FURLOUGH. 126 Tiight being Rturmy and dark, the steamer ran its keel deep into the mud. After renmining tlicro sufticiently long to exhaust all our stock of patience, we took to the boat, and, landing upon the beach near a light-house, sought our way, drenched with rain, and covered with mud, to the hotel. The light-house (lucus a non lucendo, again!) shows no light, the establishment necessary for tr.nming lamps, watching, &c., putting the third port in New Bruns- wick to the expense of 80/. per annum, which was deemed too extravagant a sum for the benefit of 300 inward and outward bound sail annually, was accordingly reduced, the light being removed to another situation, 300 yards from the point against which it is intended to warn mariners. The present beacon is merely a common lan- tern placed in a pigeon-box bow-window, protruding from the second story of a house, where its dim rays are exhi- bited at an annual contract of 15/., though it can barely be distinguished from the light in any other window in the town. The steamer had reached her customary anchorage ground during the night, but was high and dry at the usual time for sailing, having drifted from her anchors by the heavy gale. The rain still continuing to pour down, I resolved to return by water to Eastport, in preference to taking the American coach from Robbinstown, opposite to St. Andrew's j and, having a few hours to spare, I walked through the town despite of the storm. It is one of the neatest in the provinces, contains from 1 500 to 1 800 in- habitants, and has a considerable trade with the West Indies. As the name would almost imply, the population is chiefly of Scottish descen , but the influential people of every class were absent at Fredericton, subpoened as 'itoi IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) ^ 1.0 1.1 |iO """'" ■■■ itt 1^ 12.2 2! ISA "" L25 MIIU lid 6" 7 ^'S ^ «»' '/ /^ Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WIST MAIN STRCET WEBSTIR.N.y. 14580 (716)872-4503 'V" «^ 426 A SUBALTERN S FUKLOUGH. witnesses in a trial of libel upon a revenue officer by the editor of a newspaper. While busily engaged in taking a sketch the morning after my return to Eastport, the blue Peter and loosened topsail of the Portland packet by chance caught my eye. Leaping fence and ditch, I soon gained the inn, where I found the landlord bustling about in sad distress at my absence, the Captain having already sent twice in search of me. In a few minutes more I was on board tiie " Boun- dary" schooner of 150 tons, with 45 passengers, and seven- teen of that number in the small cabin. Our skipper was a hale, weather-beaten, healtiiy-lookiiig sailor, a native of New Brunswick, but a naturaUzed American, so that he might be qualified to command the vessel. He was quite an oddity in his way; I asked him one evening, for want of something better to talk about, when I came upon deck, whether he thought we should have any more wind during the night. '* I shall be able to tell you more about it in the morning," was his gruflF reply. In less than five mi- nutes a lady tottered up the hatchway, ''Will it rain. Captain ?" " You had better apply to the clerk of the wea- ther, ma'am ; he's able to tell you more about it than I," said the rough old tar. Standing out of the bay by Qrand Manan isie, we found a heavy head swdll upon the sea from the gale of the preceding days, which caused the usual commotion amongst the fresh-water sailors. Our little vessel, however, cut her way gallantly through it until the second day, when, the weather moderating., she glided gracefully and smoothly upon her course. AU the passengers were again aUve; the gentlemen congregated in the cabin, discussing the well-worn and hackneyed subject of politics, and the merits of the several candidates A SUBAL.TSRN 8 FURLOUGH. 4«7 for tjie presidential chair. Jackson, Clay, and Wirt, were in turn abused, and, the morals of all being called into question, the argument somehow or other branched off at a tangent, auJ; settling down into one upon religion, con- tinued with but little intermission for ten hours, and was resumed with as much vigour the following day. All the disputants were very conversant with the Scriptiires, but I was so uncharitable as to doubt whether such knowledge had not been acquired more for the sake of religious dis- cussion than through any pure religious feeUng. As were their tenets, so were their scriptural readings, varied and numerous ; the pros and cons followed in rapid success' i, and apt quotations were at every one's fingers' ends. The ladies, in number five pr six, most of whom were young and pretty, passed the evening with their cabin door open, sin^g with good voices, in fidl chorus, " the Death of Sir John Moore," " L-a-w, Law," and several English and Scotch ballads. Their stock being exhausted in an hour or so, like the gentlemen in the morning, they were then " seized with a religious qualm, And on a sadden sung the hundredth psalm," in which one gentleman attempted to join them, his voice chiming in at intervals, ever a bar in rear or advance of the rest, with a most ineffable twang, producing a sound approaching nearer to that of a cracked trumpet at a pup- pet-show than any thing I can imagine. The remaining nine gentlemen, proof against the charms of the syrens, were arguing the merits of various kinds of tooth-picks ; whether metallic, goose-quills, pins, chips of wood, or the point of a jack-knife, were the best; cfter a warm disserta* tion upon so interesting a subject, the palm was awarded to the chips of wood, the singing gentleman, with an upper 428 A subaltern's furlough. row (by his own acknowledgment) of false teeth in his head, vowing he would " give 1000 dollars for a handsome . set." On Sunday the 1 4th of October we were off Manegin Isle, the scene of action between the " Boxer" and " En- terprise" in 1813; and the passengers, having requested a Nova Scotian Calvinistic preacher to favour us with a discourse, had all assembled upon the flour barrels with which the deck was covered. ^1 heavy squall coming on, when every one was wrapt in deep attention, nearly threw the schooner upon its beam ends, and dispersed the meeting in a most ui^ceremonious manner ; some rolling away to lee- ward, and others down the companion ladder, did not make their appearance again until we arrived in port. The wind freshened to a stiff gale off-shore towards sunset, and ra- ther unfavourable for making Portland Harbour, where the Captain intended touching to land a part of the passengers, including myself; but the others, who were bound for Boston, ascertaining that it was a fair wind for that port, - proposed carrying us there and defraying our expenses back to Portland. All agreed to this arrangement except- ing myself, who would not consent to being taken a cir- cuitous route of 200 miles when the vessel was within three miles of its destined port, and merely to please a party of people to whom time was an object of no import- ance, and who would not put themselves to the slight inconvenience of a few hours' delay to please me. After holding on fo • about an hour, and perceiving that the general opinion must be that I was both obstinate and unaccommodating, I relented, and agreed to proceed to Boston; but, when the deputation applied to the rough old seaman, he answered, to my infinite satisfaction, that " he had never spiled for Portland without making it." The A SUBALTERN S FURLOUGH. 429 wind however hauling still more a-head, and a short high sea rising, into which the schooner plunged so heavily that she could only carry the foresail, while she made as much lee as head-way, the old skipper was reluctantly obliged, two hours before midnight, to bear up for Boston. Running along the coast, in sight of numerous light-houses (there b{Bing seventeen in a hundred mUes), in nine hours we entered Boston Bay, after a long passage of three days from Eastport. Having seen all the lions during my previous visit, there was nothing to detain me beyond one day, which I passed in strolling about the city. Washington's statue was en- circled as filthily^ as ever, and the city guards were march- ing about as before in their strange half-cavalry half-in- fantry uniform. One novelty there was, — the Tremont Theatre was open, and I attended to witness Wallack's performance in the " Brigand" and " Rent Day." The last time I had seen the former, was in the Amateur Theatre at Calcutta, where the characters, with the exception of that performed by the " Star" of the night, were much better sustained, and the scenic arrangements altogether superior. There were many incongruities, such as a young man apparently twenty-five years of age, dressed as a dandified ruffian, talking of his acquaintance with the old steward twenty-seven years before. I never saw the character of an English peasant properly dressed or personated by an American actor. Of our yeomen they make idiots, and of our servants insolent clowns. When a talented performer appears upon the American boards, he shines alone, un- supported, aad the piece goes off dull and irksome during his absence fiom the stage. Greater suppoit is certainly given to the drama in America than in England, and still it can boast but of one or two able native perfirmers. Some ' 430 A SUBALTERN S FURLOUGH. of the scenery, from the brush of a Mr. Jones, possessed considerable merit, and I thought the interior of the house superior even to those of New York and Philadelphia. The ladies, of v/hom there was a very large attendance, paid a complimentary tribute to Mr. Wallack'3 excellent acting by displaying a long line of white handkerchiefs, which were constantly applied to their eyes ; but the male part of the audience showed no outward and visible signs of approval, and ar. Englishman entering the house at the close of some beautiful scene would have almost imagined that it met with their disapprobation. Walldng into the capacious and finely-carpeted saloon, I read a notice over the door, " respectfully requesting gentlemen not to wear their hats in it." Mine was in my hand immediately, but, not seeing another individual of the sixty or seventy per- sons who were present conforming to the rule, I resumed mine forthwith, for the sake of uniformity. Early the following morning I passed through Stoneham and Reading ; and, walking on as was my custom, in hopes of seeing something worth sketching, while they " shifted horses," I fell in company with a man who was proceed- ing in the same direction. After answering his queries, whence I came, whither I was bound, and passing a few cursory remarks upon the cholera and the weather, I cross- examined him with regard to the quality of the soil, and what kind of a harvest had been gathered dming my absence. One of his answers was unique and descriptive. "Why, Sir, turn a goose into a ten-acre lot of it at spring, and it will come out at fall thinner than it went in ; it could not get its bill between the stones to pick up the grasshoppers, and there are plenty of them." The country certainly did not pro- mise much, but the apple trees were weighed to the ground with the overpowering load of fruit. We crossed the rapid A SUBALTERX M FURLUUGH. 431 and shallow stream of the Merrimac, nearly 200 yards in width, three miles beyond Andover, where there are the fine buildings of an extensively patronized theological se- minary. At the village of Methuen, seven miles farther, I walked to view some falls on the Spicket Creek during th^ time the letters were sorting, and was well punished for breaking the vows I had made not to look at any thing in the shape of a cataract for another twelvemonth, so sur- feited had I been with them. ITpon a moderate calcula- tion, about a hat-fiill per minute contrived to escape over a rocky ledge thirty feet in height, from a dam which diverted the main body of the stream to two large grist mills. We had six-in-hund throughout our journey over tolerably good roads, with a light load, and I never saw men more expert at their business than coachmen on the 260 miles road between Boston nnd Burlington. It was rather amusing to witness the manner in which they restrained the horses when descending a steep hill, wrapping the reins of the leaders round their arms up to the elbows, using their feet to those of the wheelers, and then, leaning back on their seat, with the whip thrown upon the roof of the coach, they tugged away with both hand and foot. By sunset we arrived at Concord, the capital of New Hampshire, situated upon a light sandy soil on the western bank of the Merrimac, which is navigable for boats to Sewall's Falls, a few miles higher. The town, containing about 2000 inhabitants and five churches, consists of two streets running north and south, each more than a hundred feet wide and a mile in length, with a row of large drooping elms on each side. The houses are of a pretty style of architecture, with double verandahs supported by light colonnades, and may vie with those of Northampton on the 432 A SUBALTERN 8 FURLOUGH. I It Connecticut River. The State House, a fine granite build- ing with two wings, the roof surmounted by a light tower, dome, and globe, with a prodigious golden eagle to crown all, is situated in the centre of a grass square 155 by 100 paces, with iron railing in front and rear. I never entered one of the State capitals but I found some additions or alterations making in the prisons, and, though not a Howard, I generally pryed into all. The Americans have an excellent system of admitting visitors to these institu- tions, upon payment of a trifling sum, usually a shilling sterling, which is sufficient to keep away mere idlers, the incurious, and the old accomplices of the prisoners, and to produce an income from which salaries are allowed to ex- tra keepers, whose time is occupied in attendance upon visitors. In the Concord prison, sixty males (five of them for life) were confined, and one female, who, according to the keeper's account, was a more troublesome and muti- nous subject than all the rest togethei^. It was conducted partly on the Auburn system, but fell far short of it in inte- rior economy and indeed in every other respect : the chops, cells, and kitchen were not equally clean, nor were the prisoners under the same discipline and good management. When at work, the prisoners are allowed to converse upon subjects connected with their trade, the keeper acknowledg- ing would be an improvement if total silence could be in- sisted upon, but stating that some communication between them was indispensable (at Auburn, however, it is not permitted). The articles which they manufacture are not disposed of according to contract, but by the warden, with the same injurious efiects to the industrious artisans in the neighbourhood as at Auburn. Tlie trades were few, being shoe-makers, blacksmiths, carriage-makers, and stone-ma- sons : these latter were employed in erecting an additional ~^1 A SUBALTERN S PURLOITQII. 4M wing to the prison, to contain three tiers, or 120 of the honey-comb cells in use at Auburn. Heretofore, from two to eight prisoners have been confined during the night in a large, badly- ventilated cell, with a solid iron door, and a narrow loop-hole to admit a breath of air and ray of light. This free intercourse in their cells has been the cause of several attempts to regain their liberty. The use of the lash has not been introduced, the refractory being punished by solitary confinement ; but, when the latter is adopted to the extent of the Auburn system, it is difficult to see how the former can be dirpensed with, or, if so, what will be the means used to keep up the necessary discipline. From Concord we waded, on the 18th of October, through eighteen miles of white sand, to breakfast at the village of Sandbomton, leaving the Shaker settlement at Canterbury three or four miles to the right. Some of the houses were similar to many I had observed in the British provinces, being built without any foundation, and merely resting like a large ^;>x upon the levelled ground, or on a piece of rock at each angle, and, from all appearances, very liable to be blown over by the first heavy gale. Such a fate had befallen one I saw in Nova Scotia, which was literally topsy-turvy. The road was carried over the apex of every sugar-loaf hill between the manufacturing town of Meredith and Centre Harbour upon Lake Winnipiseo- gee, when a circuit of half a mile would have taken it upon nearly a dead level. The latter village is situated at the western end of this lake with the long name. The sheet of water is twenty-three miles in length, and varies from two to five in width, and is so studded with islands as to warrant the assertion of the country people that there are as many as there are days in the year. The dominion of the sovereign of some of them would not however extend over 2 F K ' i. 4S\ A 8I7BALTRRN M FURLOUGH. more than five square feet of solid rock, nine inches a1)uve the surface of the water. A steamer was upon the stocks, intended for the navigation of the lake ; and it was in con- templation to form an inland communication with the tide- waters and Connecticut River, hy Squam Lake, two miles to the north-west. Baker's River, and a chain of ponds. It is 472 feet abj}ve the surface of the Atlantic, and 272 above the Merrimac, at the junction of their waters. A magnificent view is said to be afforded from the summit of Red Hill, 1500 feet in height, three miles from Winnipiseo- gee, but ti e icenory was too wooded and had too great a sameness for my taste. The road circled it)und the base of the hill, Vrhich appeared at a distance, with the sun shining upon it, like burning lava, so brilliant were the autumnal tints of the trees. Dense forests of pine stretched far away upon every side and at the base of the Sandwich mountains, 3000 feet in height, whose summits were tliickly enveloped in clouds. The narrow stream of the Bear Gamp, with which the road ran parallel, was choked up with masses of timber which had been cut the preceding winter, and, floating down towards the Saco, had been left by the falling of the waters. In many places, for the dis- tance of a quarter of a mile, we could not obtain a glimpse of the b./eam, such a perfect and solid bridge had been formed over it by the logs. Heavy rain set in at sunset, and, to add to our misfor- tunes, we were detained two hours at a small inn near Tam- worth for the Dover coach, which brought an addition of a fat gentleman, who, weighing af, least twenty stone, occu- pied a third of the interior of the two-horse vehicle in which we were to proceed. When our coachman saw his new passenger squeezing himself edge-ways out of his late conveyance, he exclaimed, with a shrug of his shoulders, A aiTBAM'RRN H FTTttLOrCIII. 1H5 in great astonishment and alarm, " My eye ! a'int he a burster ? it might well ))e late ; we shan't see the end of our journey this night." Preferring exposure to the roin to being crushed to a mummy with five insides upon two seats, I took my place with the coachman, who found it no easy task to steer us safely between the large stumps which lined the narrow opening, misnamed a road, through tha forest of Norway pine. The darkness of the night was rendered more gloomy by the thick foliage of the trees ; so, while the coachman attended to the intricate naviga- tion, he requested me to " fix" the lamps, the oil and wicks being of so bad a quality as to fully occupy me in trim- ming and snuffing throughout thirteen most dreary miles. After twice breaking down, both of which accidents were placed to the credit of the fat man and his carpet bags, we succeeded in reaching Conway, seventy-three miles from Concord, by half-past nine o'clock, after a fatiguing and rough journey of eighteeen hours. •.•?.: i"/" 1'V .'inT sfor- 'am- of a icu- in his late ers, . . . ■! . -' » ■■■ ; '.:• I's-'i,'- ; r: ■.',■''■:■'- 1. :.'■.; .],•{< ■; ,•'.. '(;■>}>■■ ;•■ -:■_. : ','- <'. . ■.•'■'■■ ,.i,'j;'/}> Mitrrra cft h's'.'i {■> !.'•)....:, V ) \-\-\U .• J.. .•■,)'■',> '■■<■>■ :'■* 1 C'-^r^.r.h ,-;.jHl»1^fI .ill '- .i\ '•.!';, ,' .'; f'-i'*!';''!'' ' ''': '••'• ''.':'■> ^' ■' ,7* .'^ i''''^ K'f'l •:.., ..^ .i.,;i-,<(,i .;!>,'■-• ■:'■'- ■'•' !'■: ' :; !'■ ;;' "''■■v.-rv! Iri's^vn^T ' ' •'■ :-,t .-: •i'iT'n'>?Ti''][ .f*i'".'! ■-■'' t'. >.■::■, . r-' ■2 !•• 2 4S« A 8i;baltern 8 puRLOuoir. • « I ■ .1 ' ' . • • T: *'■»! . ,.f <:•;-:■ 'I ' ( •'... Kill? Tii.'t lit*' V f i. ■; 1 r V J ;v|! CHAPTER XXVI. And from the hideous crash distrocted flies ' *' Like one who hears his dying intent's cries. Near, and more near, the rushing torrents sound, And one great rift runs through the vast profound. Swift as a shooting meteor, groaning loud, ' Like deep-rolled thunder through a rending cloud. *•(: Ibid. U(.' Has nature this rough naked piece designed To hold inhabitants of mortal kirn! ? ■ » •'■ : • ' SaVAOE. I, ' The year was now so fast upon the wane, the days shortening, and the weather so intensely cold, that it re- quired no small stock of resolution to enable one to desert a warm bed at a quarter to three in the nioming, and en- counter a keen north-wester. In four hours we arrived at Bartlett, sixteen miles from Conway, when I walked out with my sketch-book while breakfast was preparing, for the purpose of attempting an outline of the fine moun- tain scenery, but could not command my pencil, and soon found my M'ay back shivering to the house, where I esconced myself in a comer by the bright kitchen fire until the coach was once more ready to start. We were now hemmed in by lofty mountains, between which the road wound, preserving a level along the right bank of the Saco, A sudaltbhn'h purlouoh. 437 I, ' . a strong mountain torrent, which, notwithstanding the en* croachments made upon it with strong embankments, only allowed sufficient space for a single carriage to pass in many places between the rocky barrier on the one hand and its impetuous waters, a considerable depth beneath, on the other. Numerous broad water-courses, which bore the marks of great periodical inundations when they are swollen to gigantic rivers, descend to it from the moun- tains' tops, being, as a gentleman who was by chance my fellow-passenger with great pathos expressed it, "as the veins and sinews to the human constitution." All vestiges of cultivation ceased from Bartlett until the seventh mile, when we arrived at a small farm in a solitary but pretty spot, which had been neaily carried away by the floods six years previously, with a loss of land of the value of 2000 dollars to the proprietor. Another hour's drive brought us to the Notch of the White Mountains, when I alighted from the couch with a request that my baggage should be left at an inn eight miles farther, and sat down by the road side to admire the awfully grand and sublime spec- tacle which the Notch presents. The day which had bee. so cloudy and cold in the early part became more favourable, and tlie sun darted its in- vigorating rays through the clouds, resting on the summit of the bleak and precipitous rocks with which the valley is bounded. By degrees the light vapours arose, melting into air, or floating away gracefully and majestically, and laid open a scene which would defy the pencil of any artist to delineate faithfully. The Notch, as the term implies, is a narrow pass, six miles in length, at the southern end of the White; Mountains, the loftiest of which. Mount Wash- ington, 18 ^234 feet above the level of the sea; but on each side , though not an eye-witness, was in the immediate vicinity at the time it occurred } it was as foUows : — ^A farmer of the name of Willey, with his wife five children, and two la- bourers, occupied a house wiih a small farm at the upper end of the valley. They were much esteemed for their hospitable attentions to travellers, who, overtaken by night, sought shelter at their hearth, which was the only one in the Notch, their nearest neighbours being at the farm afore- mentioned, six miles distant. The hills at that time were thickly overgrown with forest-trees and shrubs; nor had any thing ever occurred to make them suspicious of the safety of their position, until the descent of a small avalanche, or slide of earth, near the house in the month of June, 1826, 80 terrified them by the havoc it caused, that they erected a small camp in what they deemed a more secure place, half a mile lower down the Saco. The summer had been unusually dry until the beginning of July, when the clouds collecting about the mountains poured forth their waters as though the floodgates of the heavens were opened, the wind blew in most terrific hurricanes, and continued with \mabated violence for several days. On the night of the I ..iiUiSH^iim^;^:, 1 / lace, been 3ud8 ( ^- ,, V ■ ■'*'. ■J: i 1 iters the (nth the 1 i ■ ■■' " '•- 4W • i t:ia A SU.HALTBKN » KL'lUiOUOH. at ail lu^gk' of mboMi -*S"', .fofming ■«. wiUey less than half a mill. 1 -ih I'miwema ife*Kr bmm, «muI dowii which the (•iwc . ««k«* i^ ^HWiw**, 'Dir vs-h^lu extent of their ^t» : «J taq^i-wsd fey tiist - -lous stoiui ot* JiiBiyj, ii^MAi., iftviti WW* y-'iiWy, chakdUy rejiariiintis of bridges, buiUhi';.i,a^ ft'id Jsuge ii»»Hi»ea uf rock \n\ed npun tstwh other in tJje gi.tiai«Mi dis- order, presents! whnt might be almost imftvj uwi as tiie warck of nature. A rtulanchoiy aud interestijjg story in conuectiidi witli this .storui, which Tt iil for years to come be the Ciiuse of thousHnds mwltiji^ a pilgrimage to the Mliit*, Nioudtains. I give it as reLited to me by one who, though not an eyo-'"vitnc^ vhh in tlie immediate vicinity at tb; time it o{!cnxicd ; it was h5 follows : — A farmer of the fj!.)t?:ji«.' of WiUcy, with his wiiV >ii ^' ' ■' '■ ' ■•<* iw* i&- }j<.?>',^-^, ...■, ,:.>,u-^^ " "'ymHty W'lij^ a«^v - '-M*; w|3d them by u\e havoo it ownsod, that they ei'ccted a ismall camp jn Vfhnt t4*y ef^;rs'-AJiv^ >A' }fx\y^ when tiie clouds collecting about the mountwft* |>WM.>.*d forth dicir waters as tliough the tloodgfites of *^m^. l«t«iT©n? were op-aned, the «iiid blow in nio.st ferr'sHc lv;Ar«ws»/*»i, and. co7^tinued with yffi^2£st«)(l viokt>ce inr tiev«jW, «4**rw. <>n the night of ll»e a of 13 te: iri II '< )( A 8UUALTERN S FUULOUGM. 4'M) 26th of the muntli, the ten^iest increased to a feaiful ex- tent, the lightning flashed so vividly, accompanied by such awful howling of wind and roaring of thunder, that the peasantry imagined the day of judgment was at hand. At break of day on the 27th, the lofby mountains were seamed with the numerous avalanches which had de- scended during the night. Every one felt anxious re- specting the safety of the family in the valley, but some days elapsed before the river subsided so far from its extra- ordinary height as to allow any enquiries to be made. A peasant swinmung his horse across an eddy was the first person who entered the Notch, when the terrible spectacle of the entire face of the hills having descended in a body presented itself. 'Hie Willeys' house, which remained un- tout^hed amidst the vast chaos, did not contfun any portion of the family, whose bodies, after a search of some days, with the exception of two children, were discovered buiied under some drifl-wood within 200 yards of the door, the hands of Miss Willey and a labourer grasping the same fragment. They had all evidently retired to rest, and most probably, alarmed by the sound of an avalanche, had ruined out of the house, when they were swept away by the overwhelming torrent of earth, treesi, and water. The most miraculous fact is that the avalanche, descending with the vast impetuosity an abrupt declivity of 1500 feet would give it, approached within four feet of the house, when suddenly dividing it swept round, and, carrying away an adjoining stable with some horses, it again formed a junction witliin a fc;w yards of the front. A flock of sheep which had sougl)t shelter under the lee of the house were saved ; but the family had fled from the only spot where any safety could have been found, every other part of the valley being buried to the depth of several feet, and their ^^^^^..AJ itl 440 A subaltern's furlough. camp overwhelmed by the largest avalanche which fell. A person standing in rear of the house can now with ease step upon the roof, the earth forming such a perpendicular and solid wall. A small avalanche was seen descending from one of the mountains some days after the above occurrence. The thick pine forest at first moved steadily along in its up- right position, but soon began to totter in its descent, and fell headlong down with redoubled fury and violence, fol- lowed by riveis of floating earth and stones, which spread over the plain, carrying devastation far and wide. The long heat of summer had so dried and cracked the ground that th'^ subsequent rains found easy admission under the roots of trees, which, loosened by the violence of the wind, required but little to set the whole in motion. There was no tradition of a similar descent having ever taken place ; but, upon a close examination, traces of one which had evidently occurred more than a century before could be discovered amongst the forest. A chance stone rolling down the mountain's side, and a partridge starting up from under my feet during the time I was occupied in sketching, brought an involuntary shudder over my limbs, and the very idea of an avalanche descending and interring me a)^7e caused me to hurry through my work and pursue my progress out of the lonely valley. The ground ascends gradually to the gap, which is twenty feet wide, between lofty barriers of solid rock, the Saco and road both passing through this space, which was widened by blasting twenty-two years since. Previous to that time the road passed over the summit of ihe rocks, at so precipitous a pitch that the farmers were obliged to carry their produce on its way to Portland over that part of the road themselves, assisting their horses by \ A SUBALTERN 8 FURLOUGH. 441 means of ropes and the bridle up the ascent. A new sleigh, formed of two young pine-trees, in a few minutes enabled them to pursue their journey. The Saco rises in a small flat opposite T. Crawford's inn, half a mile far- ther, from which to E. Crawford's, where I found my baggage, was four miles through an almost impenetrable forest. There being no other visitors at this late season, my evenings were passed by the fire-side in listening to my host's lengthy stories about hunting the caiiboo, moose, deer, bears, and partridges, with which the mountains abound, and which he went in pursuit of with a gun of four feet barrel ; or in sympathizing with him in his dis- tress at what he considered his sole property being poached upon by no less a person than the proprietor of a rival hotel, which was opened within three-quarters of a mile, and, displaying a gaily painted sign of a lion (like a snarling cur) and an eagle, looking unutterable things at each other from opposite sides of the globe, had already attracted numerous guests. Mine host &tated the merits of his case with great eloquence, and, from his having been the original guide, surveyor, and maker of the road up the mountain, he had some right to look upon the new comer in the light of an interloper. The spirit of rivalry had, however, proved of some service, having incited him to make considerable additions to his own house, all of which were run up with true American expedition. The white pine was growing in the forest in January, and in- June formed an inhabited house, the planks, which cost only five dollars per thousand, being kiln-dried as soon as they came from the saw-mill. Afiter waiting most patiently two days for the clouds to clear off, and afford me a sight of the lofty mountains, I \. 44:2 A 81JUAL.TKRN 8 KlUMtlTUH. resolved to take my departure the following morniDg, with- out attaining the grand object of my journey. Upon awaking on the 21 at of October, after a violent stormy night, I found the window of my room thickly inomsted "with frost In an instant I sprang out of bed, and, seeing a clear blue sky, hurried on my dress, tumbled down stairs head foremost, minus hat, stock, and boots, but with pencils, paper, rubber, and board in hand, and throwing back the door of the house, rushed into the open air to seize the long-wished-fbr sketch, when, lo and behold! thick dork clouds hung more heavily about the mountain's brow than even on the preceding days. The wind, too, cut like a razor ^at of t^ briny gods upon llie equator, I mean), so I darted up stairs again into my berth, and, bury- ing my head under the dothes, blamed mysdtf for not having selected a room wluch had one window at least towards the iiiountains. My host, however, consoled me at breakfast widi the news that tlie wind was blowing the doads away, and that my wishes would be gratified in the •course of lihe day; but, upon my proposing to ascend Mount Washington, whidi was tiiickly covered with snow, the guide said that *' he would not go up for a five-dollar 1»ill, for that it would require two men to hold my hat on." I therefore satisfied my climbing propensity for tiiat day by ascending Mount Deception, which is weU named, and affords ample fatigue for unambitious travellers. The prospect that the ensuing day would bring more nKxierate weather induced me to prolong my stay for the purpose of ascending the loftiest. Mount Waslungton is nearly in the centre of a con- tinued range running from north to south, each of which is named after the presidents of the United States in suc- cession; but, as usual, one political party of the people i4.> 5-1 sq ^ w fca 3 ^* a will n«j! .i-M*'.«^*^!. of the O "- ' 't^^s^'K. j,i!i>>-«fi»^((., •'\.- Avwiajiches i,i»v«!' UtuM.^TuJr^d tV?. CO titiiiXird liirr . «. ^Mtf' 'i wiajk-', ■ ■• . four ftir-ssw 'i liT'tti^n,. lier, 1 set oil in ■■>>if;|,>imy ^^nfJ* ;;■ fc'W,.'.-; r.^.- ^,l.f ii>,.N-, vi' Mount Weshingtwj, ler..-nig the s«io t4wn \A thft r<>vtd to my stctcl, Avtsitii, Imviu}^ seric«'. u long ;ntprt;ii.ict'f;^iir), wir ri-wl me sjit'ty thrtHijE^l; the l.l"'kic(>irrt- rfiviunjhs, Jiud {rnvvx windt'iih, whicj; v'h« siikl^ « .'•.-ared uv/ny u-n.!* his aiif; aiifi after foj^lmsj: lw« "n^u'i •••tt-K.t %\.o. ''( h.">a-«! lit ! \*{ ts\^ Amnuno«>.Vf>», "i ' lljci.n {,(> • '■r*'^ i fuv »" ». ' (.eji't*,' ti <>'';, ,>< «T-'r » -' jnunii'y -A Vj'- rt^'id ?. y»«.i-., .sl-f.ei* vaL*-., v.-l-idl! ui'imitu ' fitfi. It ^iecatm" {■'■.'r.';>.'y!Vt»jt si.,o OS. and oanUl \^ot bt* It','. ''• r'..H:'i {i':> huti 'ffji'e^^ij ' >l t± I.I ,*\ A HUUAJ/l'UHN N i<-i;ui^()U(ai. '14.S IK will not consent to General Jackson's name being aggran- dized or immortalized in the range of White Mountains. The height of the principal of this chain above the waters of the Connecticut River at Lancaster, SOO miles trom the sea, is as follows : Washington, 5849 feet ; Adams, 5382 ; Jefferson, 5280; Madison, 5038; Monroe, 4931 ; Quincy, 4470 ; Pleasant, or Jackson, 4338. T. Crawford's house is 635 higher than the Willeys', and 345 higher than £. Crawford's, which is 1069 feet above the Connecticut. Avalanches have descended from all the siunmits, and continued for a great distance along the level ground, the largest (whidi i» from Mount Jackson) being upwards of four miles in length. At half-past four, on the morning of the 22nd of Octo- ber, I set off in company wkh a guide for the foot of Mount Wasliington, leaving the selection of the road to my steed, which, having served « long apprenticeship, car- ried me safely through the Huckleberry swamps and forest for six miles. We were detained a few minutes by some windfalls, which the guide cleared away with his axe ; and after fording two small creeks, and the broad bed of the Ammonoosuck River four different times, we arrived at a place where the road being impassable for horses, we tied them to a tree and commenced the ascent. The guide favoured me with brief advice upon the thesis of " Festina lentd," and, profiting by his hint of not commendng the journey at too rapid a pace, I led the way up a rough and steep path, which admitted of our walking only in Indian file. It became excessively predpitous at Jacob's Ladder, 100 feet in height, which is formed of smooth angular stones, and could not be ascended except by assistance from the roots of neighbouring trees. The lower part of the mountain was covered with deep moss and forest, 444 A SUHALTEUN H FlTKLOUOll. which diminished in growth as we ascended; the beach and mountain-ash gave way to spruce, which dwindled at every step, and at the cape of a long projecting ridge called the " Camel's Rump" it did not grow more than six inches high, the branches shooting out in long hori- zontal fibres, inclined towards the base, as if seeking shelter from the strong gusts of wind which sweep down the mountain's side. At Table Rock, two miles from the base, aU vegetation ceased, excepting a few occasional patches of cranberries and coarse grass, which, half a mile farther, gave place to sharp glittering fragments of rock, partly overgrown with gray moss. All natural landmarks ceasing, small fragments of loose stones liave been erected for the guidance of people who may be enveloped in the clouds. After climbing ap one or two steep pitches, we gained the summit at a quarter past eight, having been an ! >ur and three quarters in the performance of three miles f :om the base. The view from it is most extensive, nearly one hundred mountain tops rising beneath the feet like the billowy swellings of the ocean ; but it did not, I must confess, altogether answer my expectations, nor, to my taste, was it equal to that from Mount Holyoke, where all was richness and life. Here was an unvaried view of mountain and dale alike covered with forest, the small settlements but indistinctly visible from such an altitude, and scarcely relieving so dark a mass. The course of the rapid Connecticut was marked out by the light morning mist floating over itj the green mountains of Vermont were visible eighty miles' distant in the west j and a long streak of light, far away upon the eastern horizon, appeared to point out the waters of the broad Atl'intic ; but the sun shining brightly upon the surface of the va- l>ours in the valleys rendered appearances so deceptive A HirilALTRIlN H !• (t llliOUnil. 44ft that it wns difficult to distinguish between thorn and the numerous lakes with whicli that portion of the country abounds. The summits of all the White Mountains, excepting that of Washington, which has a short flat ridge with a sligl.t peak at each end, arc rounded off, and composed of loose fragments of granite, which, at the distance of some miles, assumes the white appearance from which they take their name. The intense heat of the American summer usually thaws the snow upon them by the end of August, but this year it was found, during that month, nearly ten feet deep in the ravines upon the eastern side, and for several days had again covered the last mile of the ascent with a fresh coat. The walk had so heated me that when I sat down on the cold rock, to partake of our bread and cheese l)rcak- fast, with ice in lieu of water (the springs being frozen), the keen nir almost made my blood, which had been accus- tomed to warmer climes, freeze in my veins, the thermo- meter standing three degrees below the freezing point at nine o'clock, with a cloudless sky. The Ammonoosuck River, rising in a small pond between the summits of Washington and Madison, rushes down the declivity for 4000 feet, with a tumultuous uproar, and, taking its course past E. Crawford's house, flows into the Connecticut a few miles below Bath. I found the descent more difficult, though more rapid, than the ascent, my feet slipping from under me several times upon the icy surface, and causing me to shoot farther a-head than my own free-will would have dictated. The guides have a great source of profit in the beavers with which the mountains abound, ea(!h skin producing a dollar. They take many hundreds of them in the autumn, by means of traps composed of a larch tree, with a transverse B^ 44G A SUBALTERN 8 FURLOUGH. one upon it, set along the sides of the path at forty yards' distance from each other, and baited with meat. In two hours we gained the hotel, nine miles from the summit, and taking one of the common dearborns or waggons which was passing a few minutes after, and performed the duty of the mail in those rough roads, I proceeded thirteen miles through an uninhabited district to Bethlehem, the settlement of some new religious sect, and arrived at Lit- tleton the same evening ^ ^ ; 'r-,,:( •?•;,-, .fc; 'V.i'? JV-,''-/; ■ V- '...•.■; *.;'i^ rx..^ . ■ Vif -i.i* i : V---,; -i<-n'.(' ■. ' )i i } / .\ -.f r' r, r:.:.- y- .) -. . , ■ i . ; 'I. ■ " '*t" A SUBALTERN 8 PUBLOUGH. 447 i! '>:- /t :.,: ,H' I.-.:.' ■: ;; • ,' "pia :!!■>.. Yj i-.i.'!''T^: ■^ .■.;•,*:..( i. /. ■■••'{,:■:. :- f'l:. f'.i CHAPTER XXVII. I had as lief be a Brownisl as a politician. Once more upon the waters', yet once more I And the waves bound beneath me as a steed That knows his rder — welcome to their roar'. Swift be their guidance. My native isle, lov'd Albion. ' the nntural atmosphere. Extremely wholesome, though bnt rarely clear. MIAKSPIARB. ,: f BVRON. SoTHEflV. BVHON. The 23rd, from sunrise to sunset, was cold and rainy ; and the small village of Littleton, with its streams and streets blocked up with rafts and piles of timber, presenting no inducement to move out, my morning was passed away in flattering the landlady's vanity, at the expense of my own taste, by praising a wretched daub (evidently the handi- work of some sign-painter) intended as a representation of her pretty daughter, and afterwards discussing state affairs with a weather-bound American traveller, who had settled it much to his own satisfaction, notmthstanding all my assertions to the contrary, that he was addressing a colonel high in command in the British army. No one upon earth, save a Yankee, could have discovered that I V 448 A SUBALTfiRN 8 FURLOUGH. even held a commission of any degree ; but he possesses a kind of sleight-of-hand method of undennining and grubbing out news. " Well but, Kernel, you are taking minutes, and intend publishing, I calc'late ? You can pre- pare your sketches for the type?" "Well now, I de- clare there is Ethan Crawford's and the White Mountains ! a'int it so ?" I thought the man must be a decided quiz, and resolved that he should not have all the sport to him- self, so gave him a story or two, about the truth of which I wished him to be rather sceptical, of the finger-nails of the East Indian devotees growing through the back of their hands — the burning of widows — a banian-tree cover- ing several acres of land — the Arab horses eating sheeps' heads, and a long string of similar marvellous but daily occurrences. At the onset his countenance assumed a stare of the greatest admiration and astonishment; but when I brought the sheeps' heads to bear in full force he rose from his chair, and, squirting a mouthful of tobacco- juice into the grate, walked to and fro upon the floor of the room, with his hands in his pockets, whistling " Yankee Doodle," and thv<» made my triumph complete. I rode out early the following morning to the iron- works at Franconia^ about six miles distant. They are the pro- perty of a Company, and produce a metal of soft, tough quality, considered superior to any in the States. The ore is found in considerable quantities in the hills, three miles distant, and supplies another foundry in the imme- diate vicinity; both estabUshments, however, are upon a small scale. Pursuing the Plymouth road for seven miles, I entered the Franconia Notch, a continuation of the White Mountains' range, and visited the " Profile of the Old Man of the Mountain," which is a most singular lusus naturee. An exact representation of the human features, wmmem^ '•« I ^ ^ ^ - UHMJ tt;et nil ' lili# etfctrt, viiitson Tf.ufu vfc»A ■» The upfMW' cwigi of . . . so overliJW>(««^jj ru^I »!re« h*mi sstmik* jf.?*? that alJ iU^WBa li« J* ll* J^irt«%'.^k'«^. '^♦■ Hemi^ewiisnttt tinker, >yhn;is iia«*«Mti^iv*f^ t^Jh, .%«»>♦ uf tho Mymi»*».\ n-'H»ft tii « wmftit p»dwrf «* itk ii^<^>r , *t*w# ■iff' posite U) Mount Laikvctt*;, wtmij ;m 4<:i*i^ " f«*'t '■ ■'f| the. CofvrwMyticut Ki ver, wUictj w» crtisseil txst ^% ,\t* rfofd ion the 8 tote of Vermont. Walking into a snml! Jaweni at seven o'clock, during the time ouy solitary h<»r tf«»* *' 'Sm siii»,'*fi'*rfa the gaHsmt '#'■■^■■ " •■.*'/■ f^tr* n'.«d «lu"owin;,^ iJirt. <^n it..' ■^x k; l«tf>>'_ .'if;- pp^-?? " ff*» **■«■ ;^j!^*';I hbi cre?i.uoji. I iy%f,'ifr,'; '•,•<%>••?» '/ i i the States, T lie. nrt couaistv^i r, Itr-ii. ?fiiK-.4*-i'^ t.tit ^n=f3i«*,,i' ap with a (.'omuioii plovigiu "ffHif'J v^, i^^.i*M hv -> sli^htly-cttrved, W-miv. l>ouru, .-fii^^id i^«k 5s*mviRiirf a lona- oiTu-er, rising ft^an- ■ sijupc, a« It? rr«^*«' s^;<)^n?t• than I iral'"*fcU^'** (ill ;-'Ui-«if/W«i ftt»4 «:<'i.'^.«'P; ■■- -', •■}»■ :i i «' 'm* .f* -•*■> '.■V .; !^, if!-) ■-^! ^^.v,|- '!.<■ A SUBALTERN 8 FURLOUGH. 449 as seen in profile, is most correctly delineated by the hand of nature upon the brow of a bare rock nearly 1000 feet in perpendicular height. No art could improve the effect, nor could any attempt be made to assist it ; for, the profile being seen perfect only from one point, the slightest de- viation from that spot throws all into a confused mass. The upper part of the rock, too, upon which it appears, is so overhan^ng and free from scrubs for nearly 200 feet that all access to it is impracticable. One branch of the Pemigewasset River, which subsequently takes the name of the Merrimac, rises in a small pond at its base, and op- posite to Mount Lafayette, which is 4300 feet in height. We set off the same afternoon in a mail cart drawn by one horse, over a hilly road and a good farming country, to the Connecticut River, which we crossed to Waterford in the State of Vermont. Walking into a small tavern at seven o'clock, during the time our solitary horse was re- lieving, we found a fine portly landlord, sitting with his legs crossed, reading a newspaper by the blaze of a cheer- ful wood-fire. " Good evening, Colonel," said the driver ; " tarnal cold weather this." " Aye," answered the gallant officer, rising from his arm-chair to make room for us, and resembling a trundUng hogshead of ale in colour and shape, as he moved towards the bar; "'you are here sooner than I calc'lated ; I've been at work fixing the road till sun-down, and making it as easy for you as I could by throwing dirt on it." So, in truth, it proved j for we could scarcely move two miles an hour through this marsh of his creation. I had frequently taken notice of this novel method of making or repairing a road in these parts of the States. The art consisted in first turning the ground up with a common plough, which was followed by a slightly-curved, broad board, edged with iron, and a long 2 G -150 A 8UDALTBRN 8 FITRLOUOH. handle attached, which, upon 1)eing elevated by the person who had the guidance of the machine, penetrated the loose earth, and scooped itself full, when, being again depressed, the load was moved by a yoke of oxen to that part of the road which required repairs, and not \infrequently was it emptied into a deep rut filled with water. The Americans in general are not much given to wasting time, labour, and expense, upon the highways. During a journey of 1 500 miles I did not see a solitary labourer employed upon them. Three hours' cold drive over the same miserable roads took us by six o'clock on the morning of the 25th to Cabot, nine miles from Danville, where we had passed the night. Thence passing the pretty falls of the Winooskie, which rushed over a forest-crowned precipice by the road side, we continued along the course of the stream to Montpelier, the capital of Vermont, containing 2000 inhabitants, and situated in a retired valley about half a mile wide, en- circled by lofty hills, and at the junction of the Onion and Winooskie rivers. It was a day of election, and wie State- house, a shabby-looking edifice occupying one side of a square, was crowded with the inhabitants, amongst whom a great sensation had been created by the proposed re- moval of the seat of government to Burlington on Lake Champlain, thirty-eight miles distant. Six horses took us rapidly from Montpelier along the margin of the Onion River, a narrow stream, but subject to heavy and sudden floods. The preceding year all the mills and factories at Middlesex, through which we passed, were carried away by the waters, and in many instances rough gravel-beds, or plains of white sand, had been lefl in exchange for rich and fertile meadows. One house was pointed out to me as ha\'ing floated three-quarters of ■i vt ( I A SUBALTERN 8 PURLOUOII. 4S1 a milo from its original position, without much apparent injury ; another had been left by the retiring of the waters on its gable end, and many had been swept away with all the proprietors' goods and chattels towards Lake Cham- plain. Not a bridge escaped uninjured : we crossed one, constructed entirely of thick planks, upon a similar prin- ciple, and with similar success, to the sloop " Ebcperiment" at Washington. Symptoms of yielding to passing car- riages early appeared, and the centre was now strength-* ened and supported by strong props from the bed of the river. The coachman pulled up for a few minutes to enable us to take 9 peep at the natural bridge near Bolton, the road passing within a few feet of the deep chasm at whose base it is formed. Appearances plainly demonstrate that the ridge which appears on each bank was originally connected, forming the dam of a large lake, and that the bridge was caused by the waters forcing the barrier, and the falling masses of rock becoming wedged in the narrow space. Four or five miles farther is seen the loftiest of the Green Mountains, known by the name of the Camel's Rump, from the form of its summit, which however bears a much closer resemblance to the Lion Couchant at the Cape of Good Hope. The whole journey from Montpelier was delightfiilly pleasant, and through a most romantic valley, from a quarter to half a mile in width, bounded by abrupt limestone rocks, which rose at intervals, with the lofty range of the Green Mountains in their rear. Exten- sive farms of rich alluvial soil occupied either side of the Onion River, and numerous picturesque villages were scattered over the face of a hilly and wooded country. The sun had set ere we arri\^d within view of Uie buildings of the University of Vermont, which crown the eminence at the entrance to Burlington. My limited time 2 G 2 i il V 452 A HUBALTKRN fl PimLOlTOII. I would not admit of a stay of any duration, but it appeared, en paaaantf a neat, pretty town, built on a light, Handy soil, rising gradually from the Lake. Taking the steamer which touched at ten o'clock the same night on its pas- sage from St. John's, on the Sorel River, we proceeded down Champlain, with a cabin full of fiery, hot-headed Clayites and Jacksonmcn, each espousing the cause of his favourite candidate so warmly that sleep was out of the question for any of the non-combatants. Fatigued with the length of my day's journey, I retired early to my berth for the purpose of inviting the drowsy god ; but, the war of words waging louder and louder, I relinquished it, for the sake of learning whether any individual could possibly broach any thing new upon the subject. The only instance that occurred was in the person of a tall, broad-shouldered Kentuckian, some six feet two inches in height, who, to my infinite satisfaction, put an end to the discussion, and dispersed the entire conclave, by saying to a little dayman, '< You are a pretty sample of a white man, now a'int you ? I wish I had a tallow-candle here to grease your head, and I would swallow you whole." The man of Clay, though little in body, was great in spirit, and, nothing daunted, drew himself up to his utmost height, which did not ex- ceed five feet three, and bustling up to the tall Kentuckian i<<3 answered, with a warlike shake of his head, " You would ^ind me a bitter pill, I guess." The several disputants, however, slunk off to their cots before the wrath of the western giant, and, in a few minutes more, all electioneer- ing animosities appeared buried in temporary oblivion, or superseded by the long and deep-drawn breath which issued from their respective berths. >«'! We passed the classical spot of Ticonderoga, the scene of so much bloodshed, at break of day, and arrived within A KUBALTBRN 8 PURLOUOII. 468 « mile of Whitehall by eight o'clock, when, the river be- coming too narrow for the steamer, the passengers walked to the town over a flat, swampy ground, and immediately after breakfast embarked in a packet-boat, on the Cham- plain and Hudson Canal. The piers were covered with people, who assembled to witness the starting of the op- position coaches and boats, which, as usual elsewhere, were exerting themselves to ruin each other. A steamer gained a quarter of an hour's start, but six horses towed us through the water at a half canter, and we overtook it upon the point of entering a lock, when it again gained a few minutes by leaving it full of water. Any one would have imagined that all the passengers had some great stake at risk, so laboriously did they toil at opening the gates, and exert themselves to gain upon their rival. The road running parallel with the canal, I stepped into a coach which was pursuing the same route, my baggage in the hurry being thrown ashore most unceremoniously. Tho steamer's progress through the water being impeded by having her paddles under the centre of the vessel, she was soon left far in the rear. Two miles beyond the long straggling village of Fort Anne, we entered upon the military road constructed by General Burgoyne for the transportation of his batteaux and artillery, on the march from Quebec upon the Hudson in 1777) two months previous to his surrender at Saratoga. Portions of it are at this time in an excellent state of pre- servation, though upon the marshy ground it is formed of the trunks of trees d la corduroy. It takes nearly a direct line for the town of Sandy Hill, below which the British General threw a bridge of rafts across the river, and took post at Saratoga on the opposite bank. At the last- named town, twenty miles from Whitehall, wc gained the I 454 V A SUBALTERN 8 PURLOUOII. first view of the Hudson, which is here about 20() yards wide, and bounds, murmuring between higli and well-cul- tivated banks, over a succession of shallows, with a descent of seventy feet in a quarter of a mUe. Descending the hiU into Fort Edward, two miles farther, an aged pine tree, whose summit has been blasted by the lightning, n seen within a few yards to the right of the road. By the side of the spring at its foot, the melancholy murder of Miss M'Crae was perpetrated by the Indians who accompanied Burgoyne's army in the disastrous expedition of 1777> This young lady, who resided at Fort Edward, was both beautiful and highly accomplished, and was contracted in marriage to a refugee officer of the name of Jones, in the British service, who, anxious that the union should take place, despatched a party of Indians to escort her to the British camp. In opposition to the wishes and intreaties of her friends^ she willingly entrusted herself to their chaise, but had proceeded only thus far upon the journey when they were met by another party, sent upon the same errand. A dispute arising about the promised reward (a barrel of rum), she was slain in a fit of savage passion by the chief, from whose hands she was snatched, and her scalp carried to her agonized lover, who was anxiously expecting the return of the parties, as a testimony that they had not failed in part performance of their commis- sion. It is said that the officer died soon after of a broken heart. The Americans at that time industriously promul- gaLcd a report throughout the country, for the purpose of further incensing the people against the English, and widening the breach between the provinces and the mother country, that the unfortunate young lady had been mur- dered by the express desire of General Burgoyne, and that he had actually paid a reward to the Indians for her scalp. A SUBALTERN 8 FURIiOUOH. 455 Such was the tenor of a letter from Gates, the American General, who did not hesitate in the most direct terms to accuse the British chieftain of so revolting a deed. Bur- goyne's answer was spirited and manly : he said that, in this instance, he was induced to deviate from his general rule of " disdaining to justify himself against the rhapsodies of fiction and calumny," lest silence should be construed into an acknowledgment of the charge, at the same time ex- pressing his abhorrence of the deed in these words : " By this motive, and upon this only, I condescend to inform you. that I would not be conscious of the acts you pre- sume to impute to me for the whole continent of America, though the wealth of worlds was in its bowels, and a jjara- dise upon its surface." We have seen that Dr. Emmons has charged the British with having committed similar barbarities during the late war, and doul. icss for similar laudable purposes. The tree, with Miss M'Cr&6's initials engraven upon it, still continues an object of veneration to the inhabitants of the village ; and an old-fashioned house was pointed out to me, near the outline of an ancient French fort, as being the residence of the unfortunate young lady. Her remains were removed eight or nine years since from the spot where she fell to Fort Edward Church. Three miles below Fort Miller, the surface of the coun- try becoming more broken, we crossed the river to the right bank. The canal, which runs parallel with the road, c\ osses at the same time, by means of a dam to lull the rapids, thrown across the stream some distance below the bridge ; and in a few minutes we arrived at Schuylerville, the scene of Burgoyne'" surrender. The field in which the British laid down their arms is upon a long plain, between two ranges of heights, near the banks of the r i56 A, SUBAI.TERN S FURLOUGH. Hudson. We changed horses and coachman at the village, the latter mounting his seat in such a disgraceful state of intoxication that he could not even see the reins, but attempted to malce amends by the use of his whip, with which he pUed the horses so immoderately that they whirled us along at full gallop over hill and dale, with the coach at a most alarming vicinity to a fifty-foot precipice whose base was washed by the river, mth no defence nor guard between them. After he had twice fallen from his seat and injured himself severely, we resolved to run no further risks, but alighted upon the field of battle of Bemus' Heights, eight mUes from Schuylerville, and, having taken a short inspection of the ground, proceeded onwards a-foot. A farmer overtaking us in his waggon, proposed to convey us to the next town, six miles distant, where we arrived about an hour after our baggage. After twice crossing the river again, once by bridge at Waterford, and by ferry at Troy, four miles lower down, we arrived at Albany, the capital of the state of New York, when the night was far advanced. At eight o'clock the following morning, we proceeded in the Champlain, a splendid steamer, down the Hudson. The channel, for several miles below Albany, is intricate and shallow; the banks low, not well cultivated^ z?d pos- sessing but little interest, until we came t., Coxjackie Landing, when they become more elevated, and the scenory gradually improves as the stream approaches the ocean. The lofty range of the Catskill Mountains are seen rearing their wooded summits to the height of 3800 feet, ten miles distant firom the right bank, with the long white buildings of an hotel, the favourite rendezvous of New York fashion- ables in the summer season, ai the cool elevation of 2200 feet above the Hudson. A few milos below, at Kingston A SUBALTERN S FURLOUGH. 157 and Redhook, is the only considerable group of gentle- men's country residences (in the English acceptation of the term) I had seen, which have more an air of aristocracy about them than the houses in any other part of the States I visited. They are prettily scattered along the margin of the river for an extent of several miles, with extensive pleasure grounds attached to them. I took advantage of the steamer touching, to land at West Point, the seat of the Government Military Aca- demy, 94 miles from Albany. It is situated in a romantic spot at the entrance to the Highlands, a mountainous rocky ridge, running pa; 'lei with the Hudson on both banks for twenty miles, and generally rising very abruptly from the water to various heights, from 800 to 1600 feet. The Cadets' Barracks, the same formal and substantially- built edifices as elsewhere for similar purposes, with the houses of the commandant and officers attached to the institution, form nearly three sides of a square, with a parade-ground in the 'open space, upon a plain about 200 feet above the river. The rear is sheltered from the south and west by a hill 600 feet in height, crowned by the rem- nants of a revolutionary fort, which are, as the Americans boast, the only ruins in the United States. In a redoubt at an angle of the parade-ground, a white marble monu- ment is inscribed with the name of Kosciusko, the Polish patriot, who resided in a small house on the sloping bank of the river, and occupied much of his time in cultivating a garden, which still bears marks of his industry and taste. West Point was one of the strongest American holds during the war of independence, and is celebrated as being the cause of the unfortunate Major Andre's death. Colo- nel Beverly Robinson's house, which was confiscated in consequence of the active part the proprietor took in 0. 458 A subaltern's furlough. t bringing about the conference between Andr^ and Arnold, is on the opposite side of the river, and visible from the parade-ground. -M The institution received its first organization by an act of Congress in 1812. The number of students is limited to 250, all of whom are educated and maintained at the expense of the general Government, the annual cost of each being about 722. sterling. At this time there was nearly the full complement, being a much greater number than is required for the officering of the small American standing army of 6000 men ; but many of those educated here prove of infinite service in the superintendence of public works as civil engineers, and in organizing the militia. The average number of those who are commis- sioned in the regular army from the academy but little exceeds one-third of those who are entered at it ; about one-eighth are discharged, and the remaining proportion resign. They are permitted to enter between the ages of 14 and 22, preference being given to the applications of the sons of officers engaged in the revolutionary war ; and next to the sons of officers killed in action, or the sons of deceased officers who were engaged during the last war with Great Britain. The system of education and military drill are taken closely from that of the French, and I verily believe that the Americans would give the preference to a system which emanated firom that nation, though it were inferior to that in practice in England. The drills are con- fined tc the infantry and artillery service, there being no riding-school nor detachment of cavalry at the station, for instruction in that useful arm of warfare, which will daily become more requisite as the forests disappear before the woodman's axe. In many respects the site of the Aca- demy is an ill-chosen and inconvenient one, the ground A SUBALTERN 8 PURLOUOII. 46}> being too contracted and abrupt for cavalry movements, in case they should be required, and too rocky for the con- struction of field works and landscape sketching. It can- not be a matter of surprise that so many of the young men resign their claims to commissions, the army being scattered in distant and small detachments along some thousands of miles of coast and frontier, many of them removed fiw away out of the pale of all society, which, in times of peace, tends so much to render the profession an agreeable one. The ranks of it are also recruited with great difficulty, luid many European emigrants may be found serving under the American standard. The very nature of the government totally unfits the people foi strict military discipline; they are more calculated for militia and active irregular warfare than for garrison or outpost duties. Although the term of enlistment is for a very limited period (five years only, I believe), desertions thin their ranks daily, as may be seen by the following report of the Secretary of War, bearing date 22nd of Fe- bruary, 1830:— Year. Detertiotu. Courts' Martial. Cost, in dollars. 1823 668 1093 .., . 58,677 1824 811 1176 . . 70,398 1825 803 1208 67,488 1826 636 1115 59,393 1827 848 991 61,344 1828 820 1476 62,137 1829 . 1083 96,826 So, calculating the army at 6000, which is its utmost extent, upwards of one-fifth have deserted and one-fourth have been tried by courts'-martial during the last year included in the above return ; and, taking that of the lowest year, one in nine have deserted, and one in six have been tried mo A SUBALTERN'S FURLOUGH. by a military couH ! The general average gives the num- ber of desertions in nine years equal to the whole army, and that of courts' -martial equal to it in four years. De- sertions from the English troops on the American fron- tier, I am sorry to say, are not unfrequent, but they are extremely insignificant when compared with the above. That the present standing army of the United States is too small for even checking the predatory incur- sions of the Indians is evident from the circumstance that, at the breaking out of the war with the Sac and Fox Indians, near the Illinois territory, immediately after my arrival in America, a placard, addressed **to the Patriotic Young Men of New York," was posted in every conspicuous part of that city, stating that 500 volunteers were " re- quire I for immediate service upon the north-west frontier." I could not ascertain whether any such soldiers of a day composed part of the force which proceeded upon service, but nearly an entire division of which deserted to Upper Canada when their more dreaded enemy, the cholera, ap- peared amongst the ranks. I twice saw the cadets at drill, but their long hair, di y gray uniform, and want of erect military carriage, were siii- ficient to mar the appearance of the finest body of men in the world under arms. The words of command, too, were issued in such a drawling, careless tone of voice, that the movements were necessarily performed in a similar man- ner, — devoid of all smartness and precision. The interior economy of the establishment, however, is said to be well conducted, and strict discipline is enforced by Colonel Thayer, the present gentlemanly and able commandant. Though the soldierlike appearance of the cadets might not have exactly come up to my expectations, yet, if ever the two nations are so unfortunate as to meet again in hostUe A SUBALTERN 8 PfTRLOT^OII. 461 array, tlie good effects of this institution will be apparent in tlie polished manners and information acquired there by the American officers. In former campaigns, generals have been called from the rear of their counters to assume the command of armies, and men who could not even sign their name, from the'plough to head divisions. Owing to the scattered state of the forces, it was my fortune to be- come acquainted with only few military and naval officers ; but the uniform attention and kindness I experienced from all was such that I should feel proud in being enabled to render similar courtesies to any one bearing a commission from the United States. We embarked in the aflernoon of the 28th of October in the ;;igantic steamer, the " North America," which shot through the Highlands at the rate of sixteen miles an hour. I should have had all the New-Yorkers up in arms, and inveighing against me in no measured termsj had I ventured to express any thing like disappointment at the scenery of the Hudson. But so it was, and my expecta- tions were not realized ; because, as at the Falls of the Mohawk, its beauties had been much overrated. I had generally heard the Hudson compared to the Rhine, and many, indeed, professed to think it superior ; but my want of taste (I should imagine) would no more admit of such a comparison than it would that New York and London should be mentioned in the same breath. The scenery between Albany and West Point is not in any ways re- markable; the Highlands, when taken separately, have nothing interesting, and no single reach of the river pos- sesses any particular beauty. The rocky hills, covered with a thin and low growth of trees, approach to the water's edge, without any signs of cultivation or habita- tions to give the scenery life. The tout ensemble is all 4G2 A subaltern's purlouoh. X I that is pleasing, and the numerous craggy precipices tower- ing one above another alone possess any claims to the picturesque. I had kept the Hudson in reserve, as a kind of bonne bouchtj previous to my immediate departure for England, expecting that I mifht see it to the greatest ad- vantage at a late season in the year. For this hint I was indebted to the great American novelist, and shall miy)ce a short extract from the *'Spy" as being more graphical than anything I can compose upon the subject, and as exonerating me from the trouble of penning a laboured description. " To be seen in their perfection, the High- lands must be passed immediately after tiie fali of the leaf. The picture is then in its chastest keeping; for neither the scanty foliage which the summer lends the trees nor the snows of winter are present to conceal the minutest object from the eye. Chilling solitudt is the characteristic of the scenery; nor is the mind at liberty, as in March, to look forward to a renewed vegetation that is soon to check, without improving the view." After passing the Highlands, the river expands into several fine bays, and the shores assume a more fertile appearance. In turn we rapidly passed the extensive pile of buildings of Sing-Sing state prison, conducted on a similar system to Auburn, and Tarry-town in the vicinity of Sleepy Hollow, of Sketch-book memory, with Tappan upon the opposite side of the bay of that name. A pas- senger pointed out to me a spot upon the road which winds down the side of a hill from the Highlands into the little village of Tarry-town, where the tree formerly stood under which the three militia-men were playing at cards, when Major Andr^ rode up, and, losing his usual presence of mind, was captured ; one of the three men is yet living. I perfectly t^reed in the old passenger's remark, as he ,.-y \.'<'\^^' A SUBALTERN M FURLOUGH. 463 was relating how he had played under the very tree when a child, " that Andrd was too mnch of a gentleman and too honourable a man for the undertaking." I believe that the Americans generally sympathized in his fate, and that great efforts were made by Washington to capture Arnold, and thus save Andrd. Though it must be allowed that he suffered according to the rules of civilixed warfare, yet still I am one of those who think, considering all the circumstances of ihe case, that Andr^ might have been well spared, and such an act of mercy would have added another ray to the lustre of Washington's na» le. Andre's remains were removed at the latter end of the reign of George III. from the valley in rear of Tappan, to a vault in Westminster Abbey.* The Palisadoes, a range of perpendicvdar fluted rooks, like the Qiant's Causeway in Ireland, extend along the right bank of the river, to the height of 200 feet, and exclude all prospects of the interior for twenty miles below Tappan. The opposite side is also high ground, but inter- spersed with villages and cultivated lands. The evening had set in by the time we approached New York, where the long lines of streets, running in a direct line from the river, brilliantly lighted with gas, and steamers momen- tarily passing us, which left a long, fiery, comet-like train of sparks from the many chimneys of their timber-fed furnaces, presented altogether a fine Vauxhall effect. In three hours and a half from the time we had left West Point, we landed at New York, fifty miles distant, though a flood-tide had been making against us during the greater part of the time. The ^' Champlain,!' in which I embarked at Albany, performed the entire trip of 144 miles in little * Vide Appendix 3. i V 4(14 A SUIIAI.TRKN'h FUKLOUnii. more than nine hours, including fourteen stoppages to lanil passengers, being an average speed of nineteen miles per hour. i ,u < The city had now resumed its wonted gaiety; the cho- lera panic had ceased; the citizens had returned to their customary occupations, and Broadway was again thronged with carriages and the battery with loungers. The theatres were re-opened; the witty auctioneer was again punning to a crowded room ; and an Italian company had esta- blished themselves, bidding fair to supersede the per- formers of the drama in public opinion ; in short, all care appeared to have vanished with the pestilence. It now only wanted two or three days to the commencement of the quadrennial election, and new squibs or caricatures were hourly teeming from the press. Hickory-trees, em- blems of the Jackson party, were planted in many streets of the upper part of the city, and were as often cut down during the night by the advocates of Clay. I saw one, nearly 60 feet in height, brought across the East River from Brooklyn, accompanied by a grand display of boats, co- lours, and music, and afterwards planted with much cere- mony upon one of the quays. Every one assured me that party spirit had not run so high since the republic had been acknowledged, and I can certainly testify that the whole country was in a perpetual state of ferment from the day of my landing until that of my embarkation for Eng- land. There is generally a break in the weather in the month of October, which, from being cold and boisterous, be- comes mild and genial as spring during several days, and is termed " Indian summer." It continued during my stay in New York, nor could any thing be more delight- ' t lind ht- A HUnAl.TRllN 8 pimLounii. -I(i5 fully pleasant than it was. Tho few days I had to remain ashore were passed in visiting Stnten Island and tho sur- rounding country, which I had omitted during my former visit. I also attended tho Bowery Theatre one evening to witness the performance of a new national drama, en- titled " the Cradle of Liberty," in which, as usuol, all the wit was upon one side, and levelled point blank at the British. Patriotic sentiments were received most enthu- siastically, and one — " the proud flag of England shall bo lowered never again to rise" — created most tumultuous ap- plause. The plot throughout was, however, a most meagre production, and the composition replete with plagiarisms, from the opening scene to the fall of the green curtain. At sunset, on the 1st of November, 18.'J2, the packet- ship, " North Americo," of (>20 tons, in which I had en- gaged a passage, was clear of Sandy Hook, and standing ov^, to sea in a thick haze before a southerly wind. Tlie London and Havre pockets were in company, but our swift sailing run them hull down in a few short liuurs, and we met not a single vessel from that time until we entered the chops of the channel. Scarcely any thing can exceed the comfort and attention experienced on board the American packet ships, where the cabins are fitted up in a costly and elegant style, and the dinner-table is loaded with a profusion of delicacies. When in addition to these recommendations there is a gentlemanly Captain and an agreeable party of passengers (as in this instance), even the most misanthropic being might live with few regrets during a voyage across what has now become a mere ferry. Late on the 5th day we were on the banks of Newfoundland, with a heavy swell, and thirty-five fathoms water. The wind lulled for a few hours, as if in order to enable us to heave to under our 2 II )/ / I j i 3 i'"-#*' t\ .y. --Vav It i I for ^IkiU from , and ivera Uing amid IS of :*.5^ APPENDIX I. The Colonies had appealed to arms for the decision of the con- troversy between them and the mother country for some time before they actually declared their ii:dependence of GJreat Bri- tain. The subject of a separation had occupied the ablest pens in America throughout the winter of 1775 and 1776, and many of the Provinces had authorized their Representatives in the General Congress to make a proposition to that eiFect. The breach was now too wide to be repaired, and it was evident to every one that a final separation must take place. The Provin- cialists had now felt their strength, and had good prospects of maintaining their independence. The battles of Lexington and Bunker's Hill had been fought upwards of a year; the royal army had been blockaded in Boston by an undisciplined and partly unarmed militia; Quebec had been laid siege to, and General Montgomery had fallen ; Montreal had surrendered ; Fort Chambl^e had been captured, and the whole of the New England States were occupied by provincial troops. Colonel George Washington, wl o had distinguished himself as aid-de- camp to General Braddock in his unfortunate expedition in 1755, 170 APPENDIX. and who was at this time forty-three years of age, had hecn ap- pointed by Congress in June 1775 as commander-in-chief of the army " assembled for the defence of American liberty, and for re- pelling every hostile invasion thereof." At an early period in the same year, letters of marque and reprisal had been granted by the Congress of Massachusetts, though this heretofore had been a prerogative of the Sovereign ; and a resolution had been pro- posed that the Colonies should form governments independent of the Crown. At last, on the 7th of June, 1776, Richard Henry Lee, a Virginian, moved a resolution in general Congress, to the effect " that the United Colonies are and of right ought to be free and independent States." He was seconded by John Adams, and tlic motion was carried on the 10th, by a bare majority of the Colonics ; and a committee, consisting of Jeffer- son, John Adams, Dr. Franklin, Sherman, and R. Livingston, was appointed to prepare a Declaration. The first two were selected as a sub-committee. Mr. Jefferson, who was at this time only thirty-three years of age, and by profession a lawyer, had the merit of drawing up this imi)ortant document, a few changes only being suggested by Adams and Franklin. After a discussion of three days' duration, in which some unimportant alterations were made by Congress, it received their approbation on the 4th of July, 1776, and was proclaimed from the steps of the State House in Philadelphia, where they assembled. It did not, however, receive the signatures of the members until the 2d of August, being previously authenticated only by those of the President and Secretary. Between the 4th of July and this day many new members, amongst whom were Carroll, Taylor, Thornton, Clymer, Rush, Smith, and Ross, took their seats in the house, and affixed their names to the Declaration, though they were not present tit the discussion. Hancock, an opulent merchant of Boston, was President of the Congress, though many men of more transcendent abiUties were in that body; but he had gained popularity in the Provinces, from the cir- APPENDIX. 171 cumstancc of General Oagc having issued u proclamation, of- fering a free pardon to all persona who should lay down their arms, excepting only from such pardon John Hancock and Samuel Adams. 1/ The average length of the lives of the fifty-six signers was sixty-five years, and a remarkable difference is to be observed be- tween the longevity of the New England delegates and of those from the more unhealthy States in the south. Taking the first fifteen from the New England list, their average age i^t the time of their death was seventy-six, while that of the ten delegates from Georgia and North and South Curoliua was fifty. The deaths of Jefferson and John Adams, who had both filled the presiden- tial choir, form an epoch in the annals of American history ; they both occurred on the 4th of July, 1826, within three hours of each other, and on the fiftieth anniversary of the day upon which they had been fellow-labourers in the work of drawing up the celebrated document. To this may be added that Monroe, the fifth president of the United States, died on the 4th of July, 1831 : thus does this singular coincidence add a melan- choly interest to that day of which, it appears, the Americanb think they can never be too proud. Charles Carroll of Carroll- ton, the last of this long list of patriarchs, has sunk into his grave within these few months, at the advanced age of ninety- six years. A copy of the original draft is given in the following pages as produced from the study of Mr. Jefferson, and also another of that one which, having received a few amendments from the General Congress, was circulated throughout the United States, and was everywhere received with the greatest enthusiasm. It was also proclaimed at the head of the army which was then lying in the vicinity of New York, and only a short time pre- vious to the disastrous defeat of the Revolutionists at Flat- bush and the heights of Brooklyn on Long Island. The fac-simile of the signatures has been taken from an authenticated copy of the original document preserved in the 472 APPENDIX. State-paper Office at Washington. The pen with which the signatures were made is still to be seen in the library of one of the literary societies in Massachusetts. >■ • <- ■ .f .t;? .'•,:"/■ IN CONGRESS, THE UNANIMOUS DECLARATION OF THE THIRTEEN ■ '. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. ' ' /"' Mr. Jefferson's drqft as reported by the Committee. As amended by Congress. " A Declaration by the Represen- tatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled. "A Declaration by the Represen- tatives of the United States of America in General * Congress as- sembled. " When in the course of human Not altered. *' events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bonds which have connected them , with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth the sepa- rate and equal station to which the laws of nature and of nature's God entitle them, a decent respect for ^. the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separa- tion. J . " We hold these truths to be self- " We hold these truths to be self- evident, — ^that all men are created evident, — that all men are created equal ; that they are endowed by equal ; that they are endowed by their Creator with inherent and in- their Creator with certain inalien- * The words expunged from the original draft arc distinguished by italics, as are the words that were introduced by Congress. APPENDIX. 1 > ^173 lies, alienable righta ; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; that, to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the go- verned; that, whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, lay- ing its foundation on such prin- ciples and organizing its powers in such form as to them shaJl seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. Prudence indeed will dictate that governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes ; and accordingly all experience hath shown that mankind are more dis- posed to suffer, while evils are suf- ferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpa- tions, begun at a distinguished pe- riod, and pursuing invariably the same object, eviuces a design to reduce them under absolute des- potism, it is their right — it is their duty — to throw off such govern- ment, and to provide new guards for their future security. Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies ; and such is now the ne- cessity which constrains them to ctpunge their former systems of government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of unremitting injuries and usurpations, among which appears able rights ; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; that, to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed ; that, whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, lay- ing its foundation on such prin- ciples and organizing its powers in such form as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. Prudence indeed will dictate that govern- ments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes ; and accordingly all expe- rience hath shown that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invari- ably the same object, evinces a design to reduce them under abso- lute despotism, it is their right — it is their duty — to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security. Such has been the patient suf- ferance of these Colonies, and such is now the necessity which con- strains them to alter their former systems of government. The his- tory of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated in- juries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment "\ 47'! APPENDIX. of an absolute tyranny over thcbc States. To prove this, let facta be submitted to a candid world. Not altered. Not altered. no mlitary fact to contradict the uniform tenor qf the rett, but all have in direct object the establish- ment of an absolute tyranny over these States. Ts prove this, let ■ ' . % m facts be submitted to a candid . i<, ««. i- 'f world, for the truth qf which we ,> ■ \i ■ i pledge a faith yet unmlUedbjf false- ' < .-' , hood. V ...'•,. ' " He lias refused his assent to laws the most wholesome and ne- cessary for the public good. " He has forbidden his governors to pass laws of immediate and > pressing importance, unless sus- , pcnded in their operation till his assent should be obtained ; and < when so suspended he has utterly neglected to attend to them. " He has refused to pass other Not altered, laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless " those people would relinquish the right of representation in the Legis- lature ; a right inestimable to them, and formidable to tyrants only. " He has called together legisla- Not altered, tive bodies at places unusual, un- comfortable, and distant from the depository of their public records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures. " He has dissolved representative " He has dissolved representative houses repeatedly and continually, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people. " He has refused for a long time after such dissolutions to cause houses repeatedly for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people. Not altered. APPENDIX. l! 175 C8C be itivc sing ions others to bo elected, whereby the legislative powers, incapable of annihilation, have returned to.the people at large for their exercise, the State remaining, in the mean time, exposed to the dangers of invasion from without and con- vulsions within. " He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States ; for that purpose obstructing the laws for the naturalization of foreigners, refusing to pass others to encou- rage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new ap- propriations of lands. " He has niffered the administra- tion of justice MaUy to ceaae in •ome qf these States, refusing his assent to laws for establishing judiciary powers. " He has mode our judges de- pendent on his will alone for the tenure of their offices and the amount and payment of their sala- ries. " He has erected a multitude of new offices, iy a self -asttmed power, and sent hither swarms of new officers to harass our people and cat out their substance. " He has kept among us in times of peace standing armies and ships of war without the consent of our Legislatures. " He has affected to render the military independent of and supe- rior to the civil power. Not altered. f! k';'(!i->Svi-'. '-Y ■ I' " He has obstructed the adminis- tration of justice, bjf refusing his assent to laws for establishing ju- diciary powers. " He has made judges dependent on his will alone for the tenure of their offices and the amount and payment of their salaries. " He has erected a multitude of new offices, and sent hither swarms of new officers to harass our people and cat out their substance. " He has kept among us in times of peace standing armies without the consent of our Legislatures. Not altered. " He has combined with others to " He hoscombincd withothcrs to 17« APPENDIX. subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitutions and unac- knowledged by our laws, giving his assent to their acts of pre- tended legislation for quartering large bodies of armed troops among us ; for protecting by a mock trial from punishment for any murders which they should commit on the inhabitants of these States; for cutting off our trade with all parts of the world ; tbr imposing taxes on us without our consent ; for de- priving us of the benefits of trial by jury ; for transporting us be- yond seas to be tried for pretended offences; for abolishing the free system of English laws in a neigh- bouring Province, establishing therein an arbitrary government, and enlarging its boundaries, so as to render it at once an examplo and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these States; for taking away our char- ters, abolishing our most valuable laws, and altering fundamentally the forms of our governments ; for suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever. " He has abdicated government here, mthdrawing his governors, and declaring us out '(\f his alle- giance and protection, " He has plundered our seas, ra- vaged our coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people. subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitutions and unac- knowledged by our laws, giving his assent to their acts of pretended legislation for quartering large bo- dies of troops among us ; for pro • tecting by a mock trial from pu- nishment for any murders which they should commit on the inha- bitants of these States ; for cut- ting off our trade with all parts of the world ; for imposing taxes on us without our consent; fur de- priving us in NMNy cases of the be- nefits of trial by jury ; for trans- porting us beyond seas to be tried for pretended offences ; for abo- lishing the free system of English laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an arbitrary government, and enlarging its boundaries, so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies; for taking away our charters, abolishing our most valuable laws, and altering fundamentally the forms of our governments ; for suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases what- soever. " He has abdicated government here by declaring us out of his pro- tection and waging war against us. Not altered. APPENDIX. 477 " He is at this time transporting large armies of foreign mercenaries to complete the works of death, desolation, and tyranny already be- gun, with circumstances of cruelty and perfidy unworthy the heod of a civilized nation. " He has constnuned our fellow- citizens taken captive on the high seas to bear arms against their country, to become the execu- tioners of their friends and bre- thren, or to fall themselves by their hands. " He has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of the frontiers the merciless Indian savages, whose known rule of warfare is an undis- tinguished destruction of all ages, sexes, and condition of exiatence. " He has excited treasonable in- surrections of our fellow-citizens with the allurements of forfeiture and confiscation of our property. " He has waged war against hu- man nature itself, violating its most sacred rights of life and liberty in the persons of a distant people who never offended him, capti- vating and carrying them into slavery in another hemisphere, or to incur miserable death in their transportation thither. This pira- tical warfare, the opprobrium of Infidel powers, is the warfare of " He is at this time transporting large armies of foreign mercenaries to complete the works of death, desolation, and tyranny already be- gun, with circumstances of cruelty and perfidy acarcefy paralleled iu ike mott barbarout ages, and totally unworthy the head of a civilized nation. Not altered. " He has excited domeatie inauT' rectiona among ua, and haa endea- voured to bring on the inhabitants of the frontiers the merciless In- dian savages, whose known rule of warfare is an undistinguished de- struction of all ages, sexes, and conditions. Struck out. Struck out. 478 APPKNmX. the Christian King of Great Drt- tain.— Determined to keep open a market where mbn should be bought and sold, he has prosti- tuted his negative for suppressing every legislative attempt to pro- hibit or to restrain this execrable commerce. And, that this assem- blage of horrors might want no fact of distinguishing die, he is now exciting those very people to rise in arms among us, and to purchase that liberty of which he has de- prived them by murdering the people on whom he has obtruded them, thus paying off former crimes committed against the li- berties of one people with crimes which he urges them to commit against the lives of another. " In every stage of these oppios- sions we have petitioned for re- dress in the most humble terms; our repeated petitions have been answered only by repeated inju- ries. . • "A prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a tyrant is unfit to be the ruler of a people who mean to be free. Future ages will scarcely be- lieve that the hardiness of one man adventured, within the short com- pass of twelve years only, to lay a foundation so broad and so undis- guised for tyranny over a people fostered and fixed in principles of freedom. " Nor have we been wanting in " Nor have we been wanting in attention to our British brethren, attention to our British brethren. Not altered. "A prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a tyrant is unfit to be the ruler of a free people. APPKNDIX. 47!) Wc have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legis- lature to extend a jurisdiction over Ihete our Stales. Wc hove re- minded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here, no one 0/ tohich could war- rant BO strange a jtretension; these were effected at the expense (\f our own blood and treasure, unnMsisted by the wealth or the strength of Great Britain ; that in constituting indeed our several forms of govern- ment we had adopted our common king, thereby laying a foundation for perpetual league and amity with them; but that submission to their Parliament was no part of our con- stitution, nor ever in idea if history may be credited; and wc appealed to their native justice and magna- nimity, as well as to the ties of our common kindred, to disavow these usurpations, which were likely to interrupt our connexion and cor- respondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and consanguinity, and, when occasions have been given them by the regular course qf their laws of removing from their councils the disturbers of our harmony, they have by their free election re-established them in power. At this very time, too, they arc permitting their chief magistrate to send over not only soldiers qf our common blood, but Scotch and fo- reign mercenaries to invade and de- stroy us. These facts have given the last stab to agonizing affection, and manly spirit bids tts to renounce for ever these unfeeling brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legis- lature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have re- minded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here; we have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity. and we Imvc conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which would inevitably interrupt our con- nexion and correspondence. They too have been deof to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. IVe must therffore acquiesce in the ne- CL'ssity which denounces our sepa- ration, and hold them as we hold the rest of mankind, enemies in war, in peace friends. ' 5i •V 4dO APPENDIX. IVe mu$t endeavour to forget our former love for them, and hold them as wv hold tho rest of man- kind, enemies in war, in peace friends. fVe might have been a free and a great people together: but a communication ({f grandeur and qf freedom, it eetrnt, ia below their dig- nity. Be it so, since they will have it. ne road to happineia and to glory ia open to us too — we will tread it apart from them, and ac- quiesce in the necessity which de- nounces our eternal separation. , " We, therefore, the Representa- tives ct* the United States of Ame- rica in General Congress assembled, do, in the name and by the autho- rity of the good people of these Statea, reject and renounce all alle- giance and auh)':iion to the kinga of Great Bi I'ain, and all otkera who may hereafter claim liy, through, 'iv under them ; we uttei ly diaaolve all ( ''litimU connexion which may here- tofore have aubaiated between ua and the 3Pop:,i' 01 'I'i'rliament of Great Britain ; and finally we do aaaert and declare these Colonies to be free and independent States, and that as free and independent States they have full power to levy war, con- clude peace, contract alliances, establish commerce, and to do all other acts and things which inde- pendent States may of right do. " An-.l, for the nupport of this V - claration, we, &c. :,' I,:- ': fr.-i.-. (T ■ /•♦'• /.'^ . ' \,f ..'.'.*..■♦'■'•» ynt T,.U\ '■ ■■.■■■\. '.I .'• !0 • ,1 R-j " We, therefore, the Representa- tives of the United States of Ame- rica in General Congress assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of tfte world for the rectitude of our intentiona, do, in the name and by the authority of the good people of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare that these united Colo- nies are, and qf right ought to be, free and independent Statea; that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British crown, and that all political connexion between them and the stale of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally diaaolved; and that as free and independent States they have full power to levy war, conclude peace, contract alliances, establish commerce, and to do all other acts and things which inde- pendent States may of right do. "And ibr the support of this De- claration, xoith a firm reliance on the protection of Divine Providence, we, &c. ... ,< : ,-;,>v1«. .,-.,J t * 'l^M^(rn, k. ^y?^/^ ^^/^r>^^«^^ uJi 6a^ - i-.i^iV*6*i--^ -T"--"-'- 'JiIbWI'i '~' t^M^'^'^^< e- ^^^ ..*^a^Pta.-H^(^1^ ^^KjCl^ ^ y 1^^^^^^ ^--r^ t/CI/m. J^t^yTL'^'Ho^^^^-i^ ^^^^T^a rfZx/ ■eyr- ■^t^i.;..-j