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^■^
NARRATIVE
\
OF A
TOUR IN NORTH AMERICA;
»
COMPRISING
MEXICO,
THE MINES OF REAL DEL MONTE, THE UNITED STATES, AND
THE BRITISH COLONIES :
WITH AN EXCURSION
TO
THE ISLAND OF CUBA.
^»»#^i»#»*»#»*»^»
IN A SERIES OF LETTERS,
Written in the Years 1831-2.
By henry TUDOR, Esq.
BARRISTER AT LAW.
IN TWO VOLUMES.
VOL. I.
LONDON:
JAMES DUNCAN, PATERNOSTER ROW.
MDCCCXXXIV.
upo^.ij
1
LONDON:
.T. MOVES, CASTLB STREET, LEICKSTBR SQUARE.
TO
ROWLAND HODGSON, Esq.
OF HIGHFIELD, NEAR SHEFFIELD,
A3
A HUMBLE BUT MOST SINCERE TRIBUTE TO EXALTED WORTH,
UNSULLIED INTEGRITY OF HEART,
AND THE MOST EXPANSIVE BENEVOLENCE :
AND IN TESTIMONY
OF DEEP GRATITUDE FOR MOST
VALUABLE BENEFITS BESTOWED,
KINDNESSES UNREMITTINGLY EVINCED,
AND OBLIGATIONS ZEALOUSLY CONFERRED,
THIS WORK
IS DEDICATED,
BY HIS AFFECTIONATE AND GRATEFUL FRIEND,
THE AUTHOR.
\ "■
f
PREFACE.
In venturing to submit the following Work
to public notice, the Author is by no means
influenced by the vain ambition of seeing
himself in print, but is induced by the
higher motive of endeavouring to do justice
to a much -abused and slandered people,
whose fate it has hitherto been to be mis-
represented by those who ought to have
cherished the very opposite feeling.
The voyage across the Atlantic was
undertaken for the purpose of re-establish-
ing a state of health somewhat impaired,
as also of visiting the only quarter of the
globe which the writer had not seen ; and
in order to behold, among the wonders of
the New World, the magnificent Cataract
of Niagara.
Nothing was farther from the Author's
intention than the publication of the re-
marks that might be suggested in the
VI
PREFACE.
course of his excursion ; and had he not
perceived an unhappy and unwarrantable
tendency in American tourists, particularly
in the authoress of a work entitled " Do-
mestic Manners of the Americans," to sully
the fair reputation, and to depreciate what-
ever is excellent in the rising greatness of
our Transatlantic brethren, his observations
would have been confined to the narrow
sphere of his own family circle.
The Author feels it his bounden duty,
at the same time, to make one honourable
exception to the generality of American
travellers in the person of Mr. Stuart, who
has recently published a work entitled
" Three Years in North America." In the
liberal and enlightened views of this gentle-
man, he acknowledges, with equal pleasure
and candour, that he fully coincides ; and
he is happy to bear his humble testimony
to the general tone of good feeling, good
taste, and fidelity, by which his observa-
tions on the manners, principles, and in-
stitutions, of the citizens of the United
States, are characterised throughout.
PREFACE.
VII
V
With respect to the observations of
Mrs. Trollope, at once uncharitable as
they are, and illogical in their deductions,
the Writer has felt it his duty to make
some remarks, which will be found towards
the latter part of the second volume.
It was not till some time after the Au-
thor's return to England that his reluctance
to give publicity to the following Letters
was overcome. They had been written (with
some few alterations in reference to the
press,) to various friends in England, during
the hurried intervals of travelling — but
little favourable to study and the refine-
ments of elegant composition — and without
the smallest intention of having them sub-
mitted to the public eye. He might, per-
haps, be permitted to mention, as an ad-
ditional motive to his final determination,
the pressing requests of private friends ;
but as this apology has become rather
common-place from repeated use, and as
the motive was in truth quite of secondary
importance, he prefers resting on the more
solid ground of attempting to rescue from
vili
PREFACE.
unmerited obloquy the character and in-
stitutions of a nation to which, as Enghsh-
men, we ought to be attached as well by
the ties of policy as by the rights of con-
sanguinity.
The Author frankly acknowledges that
he feels proud of the descendants of the
mother-country, who, inheriting as they do
an equal spirit and enterprise with their
British ancestors, have done, and are still
doing, more to extend the British name
and language throughout the boundless
regions of the western world than even
their aristocratic progenitors. Instead of
entertaining an ignoble jealousy respecting
their rising greatness and importance, he
willingly confesses that the pride of his
honest feeling, at least on this point, is
fully identified with theirs. He feels con-
vinced that if, in the revolution of ages,
the British Isles, like the empires of ancient
times, should be destined to fall from the
grandeur of their present position in Eu-
rope, their inhabitants will find, on the
shores of America, a second and more ex-
PREFACE.
IX
tended Britain, characterised by true En-
glish feelings and associations, amid which,
hke the fabled phoenix, they may rise again
with renovated vigour from the ashes of
the parent state. Long may the unex-
ampled prosperity of the Anglo-American
nation continue, and the progressive de-
velopement of her resources be as auspicious
as the happy result that has hitherto marked
the commencement !
The Writer of the following Work lays
not the smallest claim to literary merit.
His statement is simple and unvarnished,
and rests its principal credit on the faith-
fulness of its details, and the sentiments
of honest feeling which have suggested its
publication. This sentiment, entertained
towards a community from many indi-
viduals of which he has received marked
hospitalities and kindness, in his endeavours
to rectify the gross misrepresentations so
wantonly indulged against them, has alone
induced him to take up his pen, and has
invariably guided its course through the
following pages. It has been his ruling
PREFACE.
motive in preparing for the press, and will
best sanction the publication which he now
offers to the world.
Should this motive be fairly appreciated,
as he trusts it will be, the Author has no
doubt that he will receive from the liberality
of the public that credit for his work to
which it will, in that case, be entitled. He
is induced more particularly to hope for
this result from the consideration of its
being the first attempt on which he has
ever ventured.
Though the tenour of the following
Narrative is, from a sense of impartial
justice, generally eulogistic of the people
and institutions of the United States, yet
the Author is not so blinded by his ad-
miration of their rapid and unequalled
advancement to a high degree of civilisa-
tion, as to be unconscious of their defects
— since perfection belongs no more to com-
munities than to individuals — and on which,
where they have occurred to his observa-
tion, as in several instances of wanton
misconduct in persons belonging to the
PREFACE.
XI
I
state of Kentucky and others, he has in-
dulged the freedom of remark.
If, in conclusion, the Author shall be
so happy as to create in the minds of the
citizens of the Union a better understand-
ing of Enghsh feeling towards them, and
shall have satisfied them that they are not
to regard the thoughtless and malicious
severity which some evil-minded persons
have so unwarrantably exercised to their
prejudice, as any criterion of British senti-
ment, he will have fully and most gratefully
gained his object ; and in the producing of
so desirable a result will feel perfectly con-
soled for the perhaps inefficient accomplish-
ment of his design.
London, January 1834,
CONTENTS
OF
THE FIRST VOLUME.
LETTER I.
Voyage across the Atlantic — Emigrants — Hail-storms — Two
Atheists on board — Banks of Newfoundland — Fogs —
Icebergs — Fishing for Mackerel — Whales — News-boats
— Sandy Hook — New York Bay — Dinner at the City
Hotel Page 1
LETTER II.
Description of New York— Tables of Comparative Population
— NumberofNewspaperspublished— City Hall— Exchange
— Churches — Distribution of Religious Sects — ^The Battery
— New York Ladies — American Curiosity — The Navy-
Yard— The Table d'Hdte- Rapidity of Eating— Letter of
Credit — Quick - sightedness of a Banker — Journey to
Philadelphia — New Brunswick — Princeton — Picture of
George III. — Delaware — Bordentown — Approach to
Philadelphia Page 20
VOL. I. b
XIV
CONTENTS.
LETTER III.
Cheapness of Travelling — Chesapeake and Delaware Canal —
Chesapeake Bay — Baltimore — Equivocal Accommodation
of American Coaches — Baltimore and Ohio Rail-road —
Ingenious Principle of Locomotion — Discussion on Slavery
— Washington — ^The Capitol — Houses of Congress — The
Potomac — Alexandria — Mount Vernon, Country Seat of
Washington — His Tomb in the Grounds — Museum at
Alexandria — Relics of the Patriot Puge 46
LETTER IV.
Fire-flies — Description of Baltimore — The Washington Monu-
ment — Baltimore and Ohio Rail-road — Cathedral — Battle
Monument — Charles Carroll — Vanity of the Americans —
The American Novelist — Description of Philadelphia —
United States' Bank — Pennsylvania Bank — Comparative
Tables of Population of Pennsylvania and Philadelphia —
Girard's Bank — State House — Fairmount Waterworks —
Pennsylvania Hospital — The Navy-yard — The large Ship
Pennsylvania — New Penitentiary — Systems of Prison
Discipline — Churches, &o. &c. — Canals Page 71
4
i
LETTER V.
Bordentown — Joseph Buonaparte — Sudden Change of Tem-
perature — Climate of the States — Anniversary of American
Independence — Universal Rejoicings on the occasion —
Dinners — Processions, Fireworks, &c. — Beauty of the
American Ladies — Calashes to conceal their Charms —
Museum at New York — Passage up the Hudson to West
Point — Military Academy at West Point Page 109
CONTENTS.
XV
LETTER VI.
Pope — Invention of Letters — Cadmus — Catskill Mountain —
Pine Orchard — Splendid View thence — Fine Temperature
on the Mountain — Singular Appearance of the Fog —
Kaaterskill Falls — Corduroy Road — Town of Hudson —
Lebanon Page 138
LETTER VII.
Society of Shakers — Their extraordinary Doctrines — Ann Lee,
their Founder — Forbid Matrimony — Believe that Christ
has appeared a second Time — That the " Bride" alluded to
in Revelations was Ann Lee — That the Millennium has
commenced — Their Tenets respecting Baptism — The Holy
Sacrament — The Resurrection and Day of Judgment —
Believe that the latter have already commenced — Their
Faith as to the Perfectibility of Man — Extravagance
in their Religious Ceremonies — Dancing the principal
Worship in their Churches — Quotations from Scripture
in support of it Page 152
LETTER VIII.
Leave New Lebanon — Albany — Erie Canal — Patroon of Al-
bany — Prejudice against Entails — Anecdote on the Subject
— Cross the Hudson — Horse Tow-boat — City of Troy —
Fondness of the Americans for classical Names — Examples
of it — Arrive at the Springs — Ballston — Saratoga — Sche-
nectady — Proceed on the Erie Canal — Valley of the Mo-
hawk — Indians fast disappearing — Little Falls — German
Flats — Danger from the Canal-bridges — Utica — Trenton
XVI
CONTENTS.
Falls — Melancholy Occurrence there — Journey to Auburn
— Dreadful Roads — Carriage breaks down — Tears and
Lamentations — Tribe of Oneida Indians — Syracuse — Au-
burn — Bumps and Bruises Page 1 77
m
LETTER IX.
State Prison of Auburn — Admirable System of Discipline —
Different Principle to the Penitentiary at Philadelphia —
Thirty Women a match for Seven Hundred Men! — Cayuga
Lake — Specimen of Democratical Equality — Seneca Lake
— Geneva — Jemima Wilkinson, the Enthusiast — Canan-
daigua — New Settlements just emerging from the Forest —
Singular Appearance of them — Mode of destroying the
Trees — Their melancholy Aspect — Rochester — Sam Patch
— Meet some agreeable Travellers — Temperance Societies
— Interesting Details of them — Lockport — The most
splendid Works there on the Canal Poge 204
LETTER X.
Falls of Niagara — Description of them — British, or Horse-
Shoe Fall — American Fall — Impossibility of doing them
justice — their Height — Comparison with the Pyramids of
Egypt — General Whitney's Hotel — Military Titles in Ame-
rica — Ferry Staircase — Goat Isiand — Biddle Staircase —
Sam Patch's leap into the Gulf — View from the centre of the
River — Whirlpool and Devil's Hole — Lewiston — Queens-
town — Comments on Captain Hall's Work on the States —
Forsyth's — Visit behind the Falls — Scene by Moonlight.
Page 235
CONTENTS.
XVU
LETTER XI.
Buffalo— Lake Erie — Source of the Niagara— Western Lakes
— Welland Canal— Noble and useful Work- Launch of
Vessel over the Falls— Return to Niagara— Final Adieu
—Cross Lake Ontario —York, Capital of Upper Canada-
Canada Land Company— New Settlements— Guelph—
Goderich — Price of Land, &c.— Country most eligible to
Emigrants— Imposts and Duties— Expense of Passage to
Emigrants— Constitution of Upper Canada — Kingston —
The Rideau Canal— The St. Lawrence— The Thousand
Islands— Rapids of the St. Lawrence— Arrival at Montreal.
Page 269
LETTER XII.
Description of Montreal — the dominant Religion— School
Societies — Island of St. Helena — Passage to Quebec —
Description of Quebec — Cape Diamond — Heights and
Plains of Abraham — Falls of Montmorency — Indian
Village ofLorette — Ceremonies of Indian Marriage— The
War- Whoop and Dance— French Canadians— Falls of the
Chaudi^re — Catholic Cathed ral — Museums — Monument
to Wolfe and Montcalm— Constitution of Lower Canada-
Climate- Fruits Page 300
LETTER XIII.
Arrival at Quebec of the Royal William Steam-Boat— Embark
in her for Nova Scotia— Passage down the St. Lawrence—
Miramichi— Dreadful Conflagration— Arrive at Halifax-
Windsor, Nova Scotia — the College there — Annapolis —
Condition of the Soil— Bay of Fundy — St. John's, New
VOL. I. C
ii!
XVlll
CONTENTS.
Brunswick — Passage to Eastport — Frontier Town of the
United States — Bay of Passamaquoddy — Curious Mode of
Fishing — Passage to Boston — Lady deranged from Sea-
sickness — Description of Boston — Origin of the Settlement
— Navy -Yard — Bunker's Hill — Curious Rencontre —
Manufactories of Lowell — American Skill in driving.
Page 333
LETTER XIV.
Cambridge — Harvard University — Public Schools — Sweet
Auburn — Consecration of a Cemetery — Fresh Ponds —
Ice — Extensive Traffic in it — The Fine Arts at Boston —
Nahant — Quincy Granite Quarries — Churches — State of
Religion — Depart for the White Mountains — Salem —
Notorious for Witchcraft — Oriental Museum — Portland
— Quality of the Land — the Tariff — Floating Bridge —
Climate — Disputed Territory — Gardiner — Banks of the
Kennebec — Interesting Family — Traits of Character.
Page 370
LETTER XV.
1 1
Augusta — Cause of greater Beauty in American Towns —
Paris, State of Maine — Lose my Baggage — Cultivation of
Pumpkins — Travel in a Wagon — Reach the White Moun-
tains — The Notch — Appalling Destruction of a whole
Family — Fearful Avalanches — The Carriage breaks down
— Haverhill — Banks of the Connecticut — Conversation in
Coach — Revivals — Religious Opinions — Church Discipline
— Hanover — Royalton — Gulf Road — Election of Judges
— Freemasonry — Burlington — Lake Champlain — Lake
George Page 405
CONTENTS.
XIX
LETTER XVI.
American Court of Chancery— Wigs and Gowns— Chancellor's
Salary— -Forensic Eloquence — Formation of a Literary
Society— Ex-President Adams— New York Deaf and Dumb
Asylum— Depart for New Orleans— Canvass-back Ducks-
Curious Invention— Potomac — Arrive in Virginia— Frede-
ricksburg— Horrible Roads— Republican Equality— Singu-
lar Mode of Farming in Virginia — First Settlement of the
State— Charlottesville— The Blue Mountains— Staunton—
Separate from my Party— Business and Pleasure incompa-
tible — Magnificence of the Weyer's Cave — Extraordinary
Impudence of a Democrat Landlord Page 434
V
I
01
ol
P
01
T
NARRATIVE
OF A
TOUR
IN
NORTH AMERICA.
LETTER I.
Voyage across the Atlantic — Emigrants — Hail-storms— Two
Atlieists on board — Banks of Newfoundland — Fogs — Ice-
bergs — Fishing for Mackerel — Whales — News-boats —
Sandy Hook — New York Bay — Dinner at the City Hotel.
New York, United States of America,
5th June, 1831.
MY BEAR FRIEND,
In fulfilment of the promise which
I made to you, on quitting England for the shores
of the New World, to give you a faithful narrative
of my adventures, I now draw forth my best-
pointed Bramah, on the continent of America, in
order to redeem my pledge. And as I know
your curiosity ranges over the sea as over the
VOL. I. B
h''
EMIORANTS.
land, and thiit a voyage across the great deep will
have more of novelty for you than an excursion
hy land, I shall commence my letter by giving
you a slight sketch of my passage across the
Atlantic.
I sailed from Portsmouth, on the 2d of May,
on board of the Hannibal, one of the New York
packet-ships, which, for accommodation, elegance,
excellent fare, kind treatment, and good seaman-
ship, are quite equal to any ships that navigate
the ocean. Our vessel was something short of
500 tons, and was commanded by Captain He-
bard, a very attentive and obliging American ; and
our society on board consisted of about twenty-
four cabin passengers, making up the full com-
plement for which berths could be supplied. In
addition, however, to the company here enumer-
ated, there were about a hundred unhappy emi-
grants crowded together in the steerage, who were
hastening to seek that better lot in a strange and
distant land which they had failed to realise in
their own. They presented an interesting, but
mournful, picture of a population redundant be-
yond the means of support; driven away from
country and friends, through the resistless influ-
ence of moral and physical causes, to seek sub-
sistence and a home perchance in the wilderness.
Our voyage commenced under rather inau-
spicious circumstances ; since, in addition to the
adverse wind with which we left the harbour of
i
IIAIL-STORMS.
3
'i*
Port -mouth, wc encountered, in the Channel, a
succession of the most violent and tempestuous
hail-storms that 1 ever rememher to have seen.
The deck of the ship was so completely and pro-
fusely covered with hall and snow, drifted in some
places into large heaps, that the gentlemen acted
over aguin the days of their schoolboy feats, and
pelted each other with snow-balls. Such weather
as this on the 2d of May, and off the mild and
temperate coast of Devon, excited in no small
degree our surprise, and compelled us to wrap
our cloaks around us, when in truth we might
have expected to throw them aside altogether.
The sea, as you are aware, agrees with me
extremely well, having traversed every ocean on
the globe without having once experienced the
dreadful sensation of sea-sickness ; dreadful, ac-
cording to the report of others, and which I
am, as with respect also to the toothache, much
happier to learn at second than at first hand.
The boundless mass of waters, too, on which I
was just entering, awfully magnificent and pas-
singly wonderful as it is, always rivets my attention,
whether sailing on its blue expanse or sauntering
along its shores, and ever presents to my mind an
unfailing source of grateful and sublime contem-
plation. I never behold this glorious object with-
out having the beautiful passage of the Psalmist
most forcibly recalled to my memory: — " They
that go down to the sea in ships, that do business
H'l
ATHEISTS ON BOARD.
H\
in great waters; these see the works of the Lord,
and his wonders in the deep. For he comniand-
eth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which hfteth
lip the waves thereof. Tiiey mount up to the
heaven, they go down again to the depths ; their
soul is melted because of trouble. They reel to
and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and
are at their wit's end. Then they cry unto the
Lord in their trouble, and he bringeth them out
of their distresses. He maketli the storm a calm,
so that the waves thereof are still. Then are they
glad because they be quiet ; so he bringeth them
unto their desired haven. Oh that men would
praise the Lord for his goodness, and for his won-
derful works to the children of men !"
In consequence, therefore, of my entire free-
dom from all indisposition at sea, joined to the
fine weather which is in general ^^revalent at this
season of the year, you might suppose my passage
to New York to have been an agreeable one. Ab-
stracting from consideration some painful solicit-
udes, unconnected with the voyage, such, indeed,
I found it to be, in comparison with what I had
anticipated. I should have enjoyed, however, in
a still higher degree, the bustle and excitement
around me — absorbing attention, otherwise de-
voted to less pleasing contemplations — had there
not been present in our little society two of the
most confirmed and daring Atheists that it was
ever my misfortune to meet. Other infidels,
ATHEISTS ON BOARD.
whom T have met in my various travels through
the world, were, in comparison with these, cha-
racterised by decency and moderation of expres-
sion, and even tenderness of allusion with respect
to sacred things and the existence of a Supreme
Being. Their principal pleasure appeared to con-
sist in denying, with fearful tokens of defiance
and ribald mockery, the very being of the mighty
God who had created them, and who had endowed
the mind of the elder of the two with a strength
of intellect, and with a germ of natural talent,
which, if exercised aright, would have elevated
their owner to eminence and respectability. But
God's bounty to him has been most awfully per-
verted ! For what is the worth of the brightest
intellect that ever was matured in the mind of
man, if it lead its besotted possessor to abjure the
very God who formed him ? His zeal, too, in
particular, for making proselytes, equally exceeded
all that I had previously witnessed in the conduct
of similar persons ; since, in addition to his ha-
ranguing the steerage passengers on the falsity of
the Scriptures, and the non-existence of a superin-
tending Providence, his attempts on the youthful
minds of two unprotected schoolboys, just fresh
from the pious instruction of their tutor, and
blooming, as it were, into early virtue, aroused
my just and deep indignation.
I had several times a discussion with him, in
}T
AN ATHEIST S GOD.
.
!■ ■'■
the earlier part of the voyage, on various religious
subjects ; but I soon found it absolutely necessary
to cease all reference to these interesting topics,
inasmuch as my objections to his desolating creed
and doctrines, however mildly enforced, only served
to exasperate his hostility to the proposition of an
over-ruling Providence, and of the authenticity
of the Bible, in a tenfold degree. This hostility
was, at the same time, conveyed in such terms of
bitter scorn and blasphemous expression, as to
drive every one immediately from his presence.
He seems to have been wofully neglected when a
boy, having been educated apparently without the
slightest consciousness that he possessed a soul.
He stated, in the course of conversation one
day, that the only god he was ever taught to
worship, was the god Neptune ; and that, during
a voyage which he was making on a certain oc-
casion, when about seven years of age, he was
accustomed to go down on his knees, every day,
before the captain of the vessel, in order to say
his prayers to Neptune, and beseech the deity of
the waters not to drown him. He declared that
he was never taught to believe in any other object
of adoration, and that whenever afterwards he was
in any kind of trouble or affliction, he used to
kneel down and supplicate the god of the sea !
About the 20th of May we found ourselves on
the banks of Newfoundland, the very region of
BANKS OF NEWFOUNDLAND.
fog and vapour, and in comparison with which,
the generahty of London fogs are a simple mist.
The cold here was excessive, and even a great-coat
closely buttoned, but ill kept out the penetrating
damp : indeed, the temperature of the air was
absolutely freezing. This extreme cold, in ad-
dition to the fog that more or less constantly
prevails on the banks, is chiefly caused by the
numerous icebergs which, for several months after
the breaking up of the northern winter, pass over
them on their way to the southward, affecting
the atmosphere to a very considerable distance,
according to the quarter from which the wind
may happen to blow. Though we were rather too
early in the season for these dreaded visitants,
since they are not frequently seen before the month
of June; yet as the earliness of seasons varies,
and as exceptions to general rules are quite arbi-
trary in their occurrence, we found it necessary
to keep a good look out a-head, and occasionally
felt somewhat anxious when the mist was so dense
that we could not even see the ship's length in
any direction. Had there been an iceberg in our
course, going as we were at the rate of eight and
nine knots an hour, it would have been physically
impossible to have been aware of the danger till
the crash of the vessel against the artificial rock
had brought us into destructive contact.
A few years ago, the Liverpool, one of the
8
WRECK ON AN ICEBERG.
I
^M
New York packet-ships, having a number of pas-
sengers on board, was lost on the banks of New-
foundland, under the melancholy circumstances
to which I have alluded. The cabin-bell had a
few moments before rung for dinner, when the
ill-fated ship struck against an iceberg, closely
concealed from view by an impenetrable fog, and
in less than half an hour she filled with water
and went down. The passengers and crew, most
fortunately, had just time to save themselves in
the ship's boats ; and, after encountering fearful
perils, and suffering severe hardships, they at
length reached Newfoundland, upwards of 200
miles from the place where they were wrecked ;
a poor little child, the daughter of the only lady
passenger on board, having died of fright and
exposure.
The exhalations around these shoals frequently
assume very singular appearances. I witnessed
in particular, one day, the n.ost extraordinary and
perfect illusion of land that could possibly be
formed, in the shape of what is called a fog-bank.
The mist had condensed into deep and broad lines
and masses on the edge of the horizon, as closely
resembling terra jirma as any thing short of the
reality, and which so completely deceived the
second-mate, that he declared if it were not land,
he had never beheld it in his life. The captain,
however, on being appealed to, assured us we
TREAT OF FRESH MACKEREL.
9
were at least 150 miles distant from it, as the
result fully proved to be the case.
We had flattered ourselves with the hope, on
approaching the banks, of having a delicate treat
of fresh fish, as they abound with the finest cod
in the world, and are resorted to during the sum-
mer by innumerable fishing-boats, of which the
owners make a very good livelihood by exercising
their craft of catching and curing them, as well
for the American as for European markets. Our
hopes, however, were in this respect (like too
many others, and more fondly cherished) doomed
to disappointment ; for, though we cast out our
lines, on the falling away of the wind, to the depth
of eighty fathoms, we found, in consequence of
the drifting of the ship, and our having been
driven too far towards the southern edge of the
bank, that we could not reach the bottom. We
were, nevertheless, amply compensated when we
arrived on the St. George's Bank, as we caught
here a number of very fine mackerel, which, being
dressed immediately, proved as delicious a honne
bouche as ever captivated the palate of a London
alderman. The shoals of these fish were here
truly immense ; covering large portions of the
sea, and strongly rippling the otherwise tranquil
waters by their sportive movements on its surface,
as if they had been agitated by a powerful breeze.
The greediness with which they swallowed the
b2
a$m
I
10
WHALES.
m
lii
J!
bait was surprising ; for the instant the line was
dropped in the water, was it again drawn up with
a fine mackerel writhing at the end of it. Our
fishing operations continued for some time; for
our "beauteous breeze," as an Irish acquaintance
of mine used to express it, had bidden us adieu,
to go in quest of other adventures; and, with the
exception of the partial ripplings caused by the
fish, the sea was as delightfully placid as was the
lovely lake of Killarney when I cast the part-
ing glance over it last year, on quitting its interest-
ing shores for the romantic rocks of Glengariff.
And such is life! — calm and tempest — sunshine
and shade ; and too often when there is repose
without, there ib a storm within !
I need hardly tell you, that of the larger in-
habitants of the great deep, such as the whale,
grampus, shark, and others similar, we saw
numerous specimens ; some of them basking in
the sunshine, others heaving their huge forms
above the billows, and spouting forth water like
so many fountains. These are interesting objects
at all times, but more especially when launched
forth into the distant ocean, since they serve as
so many reliefs to the unvarying monotony of
endless sea and sky. The circumstance, however,
that surprised me the i^ku't in my passage across
the Atlantic, was the extreme coldness of the at-
mosphere during so generally fine a month as that
, ft
J
i
1
1
1
LAND IN SIGHT.
11
of May, and which continued until we were almost
in sight of the shores of America. Coats and
cloaks were in universal requisition ; and, besides
our exterior clothing, we found it necessary to
make good use of our legs in pacing up and down
the decks, in order to obtain a comfortable degree
of warmth.
The contrast which my voyage to Madeira
exhibited, on going out to India some years ago,
was extraordinary. I left the Downs in January,
shivering under the double covering of a great-coat
and a cloak : the Thames was frozen solidly over,
and a well-heated stove blazing in the cuddy, round
which every one was crowding and shaking; when,
in ten short days, off the island of Madeira, coats
and cloaks were thrown aside; the under coat
even was exchanged for a calico jacket, such as
is worn in the East ; the stove was unshipped, and
stowed away for another English winter ; and we
marched forth on the deck without hat and gloves,
luxuriating in all the delicious warmth and sun-
shine of that unequalled climate.
At length, on the 3d of June, to the universal
joy of all on board, and especially so to that of
the poor emigrants, who, in consequence of their
numbers, had been obliged to be packed like
herrings in a barrel, "land" was called out by
the sailor at the mast-head, and which, in the
course of a couple of hours more, became visible
r
|i
12
NEWS-BOATS.
from the deck. Never having seen America, I
hailed the apparition of the new world — for still
the distant hills were overspread hy a mysterious
shadowiness — with a degree of delightful interest
that amply compensated for the regret with which
I saw the last sunny spot of old Albion's chalky
cliffs vanish from my view.
I had not yet touched American ground, being
at this time a number of miles from the coast,
and before the pilot had come on board to take
us across the bar, and steer us to New York;
when I received the first forcible impression of
that ardent thirst for European intelligence, and
of that ceaseless and universal enterprise by which
the people of the United States are so justly dis-
tinguished, and whence they derive at once a
large fund of honourable credit to their spirit,
and of commercial emolument to their exertions.
The circumstance that excited this, was our being
boarded, while still out at sea, by a couple of
news-boats, to obtain the very latest information
from Europe, especially from England, and to
receive papers and letters which might be brought
by us. These little schooners are kept, at very
considerable expense, by some of the principal
proprietors of journals in New York, in order to
furnish the earliest possible knowledge of the
state of European markets, commerce, and poli-
tics, to the American public. They are constantly
SANDY IIOO'C.
13
plying outside the bar, till they shall have gained,
by a fresh arrival, the required information, when,
with every press of sail, they hasten their return
to the city, where, frequently, the news brought
is published, and circulated, before the ship has
passed the bar, twenty-six miles below it.
There not being sufficient depth of water, in
consequence of ebb-tide, to carry us across the
shoal, we came to anchor for the night; and on
the following morning, the 4th of June, we got
under weigh for New York, the commercial queen
of Transatlantic cities. The shore about Sandy
Hook, where is stationed the first light-house pre-
viously to entering the bay, and the heights and
line of hills about Neversing, in the neighbour-
hood of it, are very picturesque ; but by no means
rising to that lofty altitude of mountain grandeur
which I had fully expected to see on approaching
the shores of the new world. Why I had so imagin-
ed, I can hardly say, except being aware that nature,
in this quarter of the globe, presented features of
a bolder aspect, generally speaking, than are to be
seen in any other portion of it. So indeed she does ;
but, as I now ascertained, not precisely on the
identical coast on which I had just arrived. These
heights are decorated by a diversified vegetation ;
and here is seen a prolific growth of handsome
trees, flourishing in great luxuriance, and seldom
observed on the coasts of Europe, — a circumstance
i!i,:
Ik
14
QUARANTINE GROUND.
which we are nccustomed to attribute to the
noxious influence of a salt atmosphere.
Having passed Sandy Hook, we steered for
the *' Narrows," through which lies the passage
to New York bay, formed by the close approxi-
mation of Staten and Long Islands; the shores
of the former exhibiting every variety of beau-
tiful scenery and elegant undulations of hills,
studded with pretty villas, and embellished with
richly verdant and numerous groves. At the
point of Staten island, the hospital, and telegraph
station, present picturesque and interesting objects
to the eye. On the opposite shore of Long Island
we passed two or three strong batteries, well con-
structed, and judiciously placed to defend the
entrance to the bay; and after having cleared
the Narrows, \ e were *' brought to " opposite the
Quarantine ground, for the purpose of having our
pulses felt by the doctor, and medical permission
to proceed to our destination. This place offers
to the view of all those on whom the doctor does
not lay violent hands, and compel to remain in
" durance vile" till his infection, real or supposed,
be removed, a truly delightful landscape ; rising
from the sea, with a beautiful slope, to a consi-
derable elevation; and crowned by a handsome
edifice, overlooking various other neat structures
beneath it.
From hence is beheld, in the distance, the
BAY OF NEW VORK.
15
I
spires and steeples of New York, with i' forest
of masts towering aloft, and decorated witli a
thousand flags and streamers; while an infinite
number of vessels, schooners, and boats of all
sizes and forms, many of them very elegantly
built, and steamers crowded with passengers,
rushing along at the rate of twelve and four-
teen miles an hour, fill up the animating scene.
Here the bay lies open to your view in all its
lovely expansion : and though I certainly do not
think it equal to the Bay of Naples, to which
I have heard it assimilated with all the claims
of a proud competitor, yet, with the exception of
two or three that admit of no rivalry, I regard it
as one of the most beautiful in the world.* But,
as Mrs. Malaprop says, " comparisons are odo-
riferous," and it is generally the safer way to view
what is the subject of observation on its own
abstract merits : in this light the American bay
will rise to a high degree on the scale of natural
scenery.
We now steered parallel to the shore of Long
Island, whose banks gradually develop a more
prominent beauty as you approach the city ; and
* The noble altitude of one or two of the mountains and
mountain ridges which characterise the Italian bay, throw into
comparative tameness the less elevation of the American one ;
fine and delightful, nevertheless, as are many of its truly inter-
esting features.
1(5
PASSAGE MONEY.
! i
''\M
I
r
if:
passinf^ close by Governor's Island, whicli lies
like an emerald on the sunny surface of the hay,
we at last saw the termination of our voyage of
thirty-three days, accomplished in health and
safety, by coming to an anchor close to the town.
And here, I confess, I could not help exclaiming
to myself, thus early in my acquaintance with the
people of the United States, and stranger as I was
in their country : ** This is, beyond doubt, a great,
a powerful, and a prosperous nation ! " and I must
acknowledge that I felt a sentiment of honest
pride and exultation, that from so inauspicious a
commencement as that which marked the settle-
ment of the first colonists in this country, there had
sprung up, in such a short space of time, a race
of men that so obviously reflected credit on their
origin, and that so clearly identified themselves in
all the elements of moral activity, enterprise, and
spirit, with that country which I hold dearest
upon earth.
We had now traversed the watery element
for a distance of about 3500 miles, being the
space that lies between the two cities of London
and New York. The passage-money to America
is thirty-five guineas, including wine and every
requisite comfort procurable on ship-board, not
omitting even luxuries ; since, among the latter
items, is to be enumerated the unexpected deli-
cacy of champagne, which is given twice a week.
DINNER ON LANDING.
17
On returninp^ to Eiif^land the chnrjje is reduced
to thirty guineas, in consequence of the p^reater
expedition with wliich the passage is accom-
plished, from the prevalence of westerly winds ;
the outward-l)oiind voyage being usually effected
in about five weeks, and the return voyage in
twenty-three days : it has, however, been some-
times completed in fifteen.
Before I close my letter, as you may be in-
clined to know with what appetite I eat iny first
dinner on shore, after being cooped up for five
weeks on ship-board, I shall give you a bill of
fare, to satisfy you that there is no danger of my
starving in the States, and as offering the best
possible pledge for the future. The public dinner
being over at the City hotel, — whore I took up my
quarters, and which I found of a superior order,
though swarming with countless numbers, like
bees in a hive, — I accepted the invitation of a
gentleman and his lady, who came over in the
same ship with me, to dine in their private room.
In the course of an hour we had placed before us,
at the voluntary discretion of our worthy host of
the hotel, the following savoury and delicate
viands, several of which had but just come into
season : A tureen of real turtle, a very inviting
loin of lamb, a dish of fine trout, another of
young chickens, half-a-dozen snipes, a piece of
roast beef, new potatoes, delicious peas, still more
18
ICED WINE.
delicious asparagus ; and the whole delicately gar-
nished by two or three kinds of fruit-pies, together
with preserves, and strawberries and cream. This
array of coaxing dishes for three seafaring per-
sons, was of course served up with the most ortho-
dox arrangement of the culinary art, the order of
which I leave to your own imagination ; and for
this dainty fare, half a dollar only (or 25. 3d.)
was the sum total demanded for each individual.
I leave you to suppose with what gout we
relished our repast, with appetites sharpened by
the pure sea-breezes, and craving for fresh pro-
visions. Superior, however, if possible, to all the
rest, was the iced wine and iced water, which our
American friends possess in greater perfection than
any other nation I have ever visited ; and which,
with the thermometer at 90°, I found most grate-
ful to the palate. The ice is pellucid, and beau-
tiful as the clearest crystal; the winters in the
northern states being so severe, that they collect
it ad libitum in huge and solid masses, without
being obliged, like the inhabitants of the " mother
country," as is sometimes the case, to send for it
to the North Pole. After dinner (not without
reason, you will think), I strolled down Broad-
way, the finest street in New York, to the Battery,
where I enjoyed the delightful air from the bay,
as the evening was very sultry, among the verdant
trees that adorn the margin of its waters, rendered
I
THE SUPPER-BELL.
19
more than usually refreshing to one who has only
had sea and sky to look on for a long month. I
then returned, and went to bed, heedless of the
supper-bell, that was sounding its gastronomic
warning in the erect ears of the greedy gour-
mands. And now, for fear I should interrupt
either of these essential operations with regard
to yourself, I will have mercy on your perhaps
wearied patience, and bid you, for the present,
adieu !
20
LETTER II.
Description of New York — Tables of Comparative Popula-
tion — Number of Newspapers published — City liall —
Exchange — Churches — Distribution of Religious Sects —
The Battery — New York Ladies — American Curiosity —
The Navy-Yard— The Table d'llote — Rapidity of Eating
— Letter of Credit — Quick-sigh tedness of a Banker —
Journey to Philadelphia — New Brunswick — Princeton —
Picture of George IIL — Delaware — Bordentown — Ap-
proach to Philadelphia.
Philadelphia, 12th June, 1831.
M'.lf
H : V
MY DEAR FRIEND,
I NOW resume the thread of my
narrative where it broke off in my letter addressed
to you from New York, and which had conducted
you across the Atlantic to that place. I proceed
to give you a few notices respecting this, the
metropolitan city of the Union ; for such, in a
commercial point of view, it must essentially be
considered ; possessing, as it does, greater natural
and artifi-r advantages than any other town in
the States.
New York is situated on the Island of Man-
hattan, at the confluence of the Hudson and East
SITUATION OF NEW YORK.
21
Rivers; tlie island extending about fifteen miles
in length, with an average breadth of a mile and
a half, or two miles. It lies in 40 deg. 40 min.
of north latitude, and was originally settled by
the Dutch in 1615, being called by them New
Amsterdam ; the historical details of which are
huiiiorously and admirably given, by Washington
r.'ving, in " Knickerbocker's History of New
York." In process of time, however, and as
the result of various causes, it changed masters,
and fell under the dominion of the English ; and
you do not require to be informed by what course
of events it was afterwards forcibly transferred
to its present possessors. The city lies on the
southern point of the island, running along the
western shore of the Hudson to the extent of
nearly two miles, and along that of the East
River, between three and four. The natural
advantages by which it is surrounded are not
excelled, if equalled, by any city on the face of the
globe. Flanked, on each side, by the two splendid
rivers I have mentioned ; one of them being navi-
gable to the sea, and the other, through the auxi-
liary medium of the Erie Canal, bearing the rich
freights of the capital into the very heart of the state ;
lying, too, on the margin of an extensive and noble
bay, across whose waters you sweep onward to the
ocean in the short distance of twenty- two miles, — it
makes good the claim which it asserts, at once with
¥■■-
>~4 ll
m
* i
22
POPULATION OF NEW YORK.
i! ill
justice and with pride, of being the commercial
queen of the western world.
To afford you some insight into the com-
parative population at different periods of this
city, as well as of the state to which it belongs,
both of which you will perceive have advanced
most rapidly within the last fifty years, I give you
the two following authenticated statements.
Population of the City of New York.
In 1696 4,302 In 1800 60,489
1731
8,628
1756
.... 10,381
1773
21,876
1786
23,614
1790
33,131
1810
1820
1825
1830
96,373
123,706
167,059
203,007
Population at different Periods of the State of
New York.
In
In
Increase.
Slaves.
1701 .. 30,000
1790 .. 340,120
21,324
1731 .. 50,395
1800 .. 586,050
1790-1800 . . 245,930
20,613
1749 . . 100,000
1810 . . 959,049
1800-1810 .. 372,999
15,017
1771 .. 163,338
1820.. 1,372,812
1810-1820 .. 413,763
10,088
1825.. 1,61 6,458
1830.. 1,91 3,508
1820-1830 . . 540,696
46
By this latter table you will observe, with
much gratification, that, to the honour of New
York, slavery has been abolished within the limits
of its jurisdiction.
As the Americans, from the nature of their
government, are all politicians, from the president
NUMBER OF NEWSPAPERS PUBLISHED.
23
cial
ei'i
com-
f this
longs,
anced
e you
89
73
06
59
07
teof
Slaves.
21,324
20,613
15,017
10,088
46
with
New
imits
their
sident
down to the ostler of an inn, you will feel inter-
ested, perhaps, in knowing the amount of political
information communicated to the sovereign peo-
ple throughout this city and state, and which I
here subjoin.
The number of newspapers published in the
state, according to Williams's New York Annual
Register, amounted in 1831 to 239; 54 in the
city of New York, and 185 in other parts of the
state.
Number of Sheets issued from the fifty four Presses
in the City of New York annually.
11 daily papers (average 1,455 each in one day) , . 4,944,000
10 semi-weekly do .... 1,880 1,955,200
26 weekly do 2,600,000
6 semi-monthly and 1 monthly 36,800
Total number of sheets printed annually . . 9,536,000
Estimated number (185 papers) in other
parts of the state 5,000,000
Total 14,536,000
With respect to the city of New York, ^
struck me, I confess, as much superior to what
I had anticipated, as well in the dimensions of
the streets, the neatness and elegance of the
houses, as in the beauty and nobleness of many
of its public edifices. Broadway, which is the
finest street in the town, possesses an appearance
highly imposing, and extends three miles in
24
CITY HALL.
leno'th, with
•al breadth of eighty feet. It
generi
is lined with handsome buildings, and decorated
with shady trees and attractive shops through a
considerable portion of that distance ; some of
which might serve to adorn the metropolitan
cities of other countries.
Of the public buildings, one that comes into
the most prominent notice, is the City Hall, lying
on Broadway, and of which the front is formed of
white marble. I have several times heard ob-
jections made to this structure, but have esteemed
the taste of such critics more fastidious than ju-
dicious. The circumstance most to be criticised
and to be regretted ii, that the reverse face of the
building should have been constructed of a dif-
ferent material, being fronted with a dark-coloured
stone, which, by being equally presented to the
eye in passing down the street, as the other in
passing up, looks bad from the violent con-
trast. However, in my humble judgment, it is
an elegant edifice ; and, taking the ensemble inside
and out, reflects very considerable credit on the
architectural skill and public spirit of the citizens
of New York. The interior of it is principally
appropriated to the various courts of law, richly
and tastefully fitted up ; and around the chamber
in which is held the mayor's court, are ranged
numerous portraits, of Washington, of different
governors who have presided over the state, and
■■!»
THE EXCHANGE.
25
of many of the commanding officers, both naval
and military, who have signalised themselves in
the service of their country.
Another building that attracted my attention,
as displaying at once taste and splendour, is the
Exchange, in Wall-street, leading from Broadway,
and which also is constructed of white marble.
The front is adorned by a handsome portico, sup-
ported by Ionic columns of elegant proportions,
through which you pass to a noble and spacious
room where the body of merchants assemble, and
is surmounted by a dome, casting an agreeable
light below. Here the commerce of the world is
conned over ; and, to an idle man, a half hour
or two can be pleasantly disposed of, in very
sultry or rainy weather, by promenading through
its ample dimensions.
Among the public structures I must not forget
to enumerate the churches, with respect to which
I am aware you will be more interested than as
regards the others ; and you will, therefore, be
happy to hear that there are about one hundred
of them, comprehending places of worship of all
denominations, within the precincts of the city.
Of thest, St. Paul's church, also in Broadway,
is considered one of the best specimens of archi-
tecture in the town ; the front, likewise, being
ornamented by a portico of the Ionic order, sup-
ported by four fluted pillars of a dark-coloured
VOL. I. c
26
TRINITY CHUnCII.
'Sli
IhB 1
!B 1 1
li
111 ki
i.illiiL'
; a
m
Stone, and surmounted by a statue of St. Paul.
Lower down, on the same side of the street, is
Trinity church, constructed of stone, in the Gothic
style, and arresting the attention of the stranger
from a certain singularity in its appearance. I
allude principally, however, to this church, where
I attended divine worship on the first Sunday
after my arrival, in order to bring to your notice
the inscription on a tomb, erected in the burial-
ground surrounding the church, by which my
sympathy with its unknown yet interesting writer
was in no small degree excited. It is at once
simple and brief, but touchingly pathetic. The
tomb is of an oblong form, covered by a plain
stone, on which the following words are deeply
indented :
MY MOTHER.
THE TRUMPET SHALL SOUND, AND THE DEAD SHALL RISE !
These are the only characters engraved upon it,
but it breathes a language that must speak to
every heart. " If there is one inscription," says
an elegant author, alluding to this simple and
affecting record, and whose expressions I quote,
as being much superior to any that I could furnish
myself: *' If there is one inscription in the thou-
sand languages that are or have been of earth,
fitted to retain its sublime meaning through every
period of time up to the resurrection morning, it
EPISCOPACY.
27
i
is this. The writer seems aware that names would
be forgotten, and titles fade from the memory of
the world. He therefore engraved the name by
which he first knew her who gave him birth, on
the stone — and the dearest of all names, that of
mother^ shall send a thrill through the heart of
every one who may ever lean over this monu-
mental pile. If any shall wish to know further
of her who had a child to engrave her most
endearing name upon a rock, he is sublimely
referred to the sounding of the trumpet and the
rising of the dead, when he may know all."
Trinity church is attached to the Episcopalian
doctrines and forms of worship, and where the
Bishop of New York generally preaches when in
the city. Of this ecclesiastical dignity you will,
no doubt, equally with myself, be surprised to hear
as existing in this land of purely republican insti-
tutions. It struck me forcibly as arguing well for
the people of the United States ; since it evinces a
national respect for sacred things, as distinguished
from temporal affairs, highly creditable to them.
It demonstrates a proper veneration for the insti-
tutions and ceremonies of a church, of whatever
denomination it may be, even though clothed in
the garb of aristocratic distinction ; and which lat-
ter, in reference to every thing else, is a principle
forbidden and denounced by the univereal spirit of
their democratic form of government.
28
RELIGIOUS SECTS.
ii?i
iji
ii
I'll
111: I':
(iff
i%
1,1 '.: I
m
I /.I
m
The interior of this church, as also the external
of it, is handsome : it contains a number of ele-
gant and tasteful monuments, of which one at the
altar commemorates the death, by shipwreck, some
years ago, at Sandy Hook^ " of a son of the Earl
of Morton, peer of Scotland, and his unfortunate
companions."
In order to give you some idea of the divisions
into which the religious world is divided, in this
state, I present you with the following statement
from the " Quarterly Register of the American
Education Society, for February 1831 :" — The
Presbyterians have 5 synods, 29 presbyteries, 687
churches, 486 ministers, 124 licentiates, and
54,093 communicants. The Dutch Reformed,
148 churches. 111 ministers, 7 licentiates, and
8,672 communicants. The Associate Synod of
North America, 15 congregations, 13 ministers,
and 1,668 communicants. The Methodists, 73,174
members. The Baptists, 549 churches, 387 mi-
nisters, and 43,565 communicants. The Episco-
palians, 129 ministers. The Lutherans, 27 minis-
ters, and 2,973 communicants. The Roman
Catholics, Friends, and Universalists, are con-
siderably numerous. The Unitarians have 5
societies and 2 ministers ; and there are some
Shakers and some United Brethren.
To economise, however, as well your time as
my own paper, by not dilating too much on any
I
PUBLIC PROMENADE.
29
one subject, to the exclusion of so many others
which are continually passing in review before
me, I shall now conduct you from an inspection
of public edifices to that of a public promenade ;
for were I to barely enumerate, with the slightest
notice whatever, the whole of the former — consist-
ing of churches and chapels, halls, exchanges,
banks, of which latter the Branch Bank of the
United States is another beautiful white marble
building — colleges, of which that called Colombia,
formerly styled King's college, is an excellent lite-
rary establishment — of theatres, exhibiting consi-
derable architectural beauty — academies, lyceums,
libraries, asylums, museums, hospitals, hotels, &c.
&c., — I should weary your patience beyond all en-
durance. Having spoken about churches, let me,
however, observe, that with respect to the subject
of religion in the United States, I will give you
my opinion, when I shall* be competent to form
one, after a sufficient residence in the country,
and after taking the various excursions through
it which I propose to make.
The promenade, whither I now intend leading
you, gratified my taste, I must acknowledge, for
the picturesque and beautiful, and excited my ad-
miration of the local advantages possessed by the
worthy citizens of New York, more than almost
any other object that I beheld. This is the Battery,
H
30
THE BATTERY.
lying at the extremity of Br >adway, most delight-
fully situated on the very edge of the bay, and
presenting a coup d'ceil across its sunny surface,
studded with various beautiful islands, and around
its lovely and diversified shores, which is very
rarely enjoyed from the immediate suburbs of so
large and populous a city. It is, in fact, a spa-
cious pleasure-ground, enclosed by a handsome and
substantial fence, tastefully disposed into gravel-
walks, and adorned with a well-assorted selection
of trees, shrubs, and flowers, which, during the fine
season, exhibit an appearance of the most fresh and
vigorous growth, and of a soft and delicious ver-
dure that I have never seen exceeded any where.
The prospect hence, but more especially from the
Battery itself, which gives its name to the prome-
nade below, comprises a perfect panorama, and is
as varied and enchanting a scene as even the eye or
heart of Dr. Syntax himself, travelling in search of
the picturesque, could desire to look on. Here the
view ranges over the commodious harbour, offer-
ing to the eye a crowded assemblage of shipping
from every quarter of the world — over the noble
shores of Long Island, and New Jersey, with its
lovely-looking city in prominent display on a
jutting point of land — the prosperous town of
Brooklyn, finely elevated on an eminence rising
above East river — over a variety of neat villas
'i
THE EFFECT OF FASHION.
31
and country-seats, scattered throughout the ex-
tensive landscape, with an interep^in;^ foreground
formed by three islands, called Governor's Island,
Bedlovy^'s Island, and Ellis's Island, on each of
which is planted a military station.
The Battery, properly so called, or Castle
Garden, whence the finest panoramic view is ob-
tained, is fitted up as an amphitheatre, where are
occasionally displayed exhibitions of fire-works,
and where a band of music, during the summer
months, regale the lovers of harmony while en-
joying their evening promenade. And yet you
will scarcely credit me, after this description, when
I tell you that this captivating scene is compa-
ratively neglected : such, however, I regret to
say, is the fact. Nursery-maids and children,
with a few scattered individuals of the ruder sex,
are the sole tenants of these fairy walks ; while
the fascinating Belles of New York are blushing
in all their charms along the much less romantic
avenues of Broadway. The dereliction of this
favoured retreat appeared so remarkable to me,
that I took occasion to inquire the cause of a
highly respectable inhabitant of the city, when
the previously inexplicable secret was at once
explained, by my being informed it was — un-
fashionable !
In reference to the fair sex of this Transat-
lantic capital, I may as well take the opportunity
32
PLEASURE-GROUNDS OF HOBOKEN.
'o
of mentioning, that, as far as respected them, I
could have fancied myself walking in Rue Rivoli,
or Rue de la Paix, or sauntering in the gardens
of the Tuileries ; as they were attired, to the very
complexion and arrangement of their shoe-strings,
completely a la Franfaise ; and no Parisian beauty
ever glides along more showily arrayed, in the
very extreme of the fashion, than the Belles of this
city.
Another place of delightful resort, and certainly
fashionable, as far as I could judge, — at all events
much more numerously frequented, — is presented
in the pleasure-grounds, and lovely, rural prome-
nades of Hoboken, stretching along the margin
of the river; of which, and of the city, they com-
mand most interesting views, and constitute the
Kensington Gardens of New York. I do not know,
precisely, why they should be more generally
patronised, except that they are of somewhat more
difficult access, having to cross the Hudson river
in a steam-boat in order to reach them. The
secret, perhaps, lies in this, that what costs nothing
is disregarded, while that which is only to be
attained by a little trouble or expense is con-
sidered valuable. And this is human nature all
over the world.
Having heard, as I have no doubt you have,
frequent allusion made to the curiosity of the
Americans, of which most probably, like many
AMERICAN CURIOSITY.
33
other maiwaises plaisanteries, the relations are
grossly exaggerated, and these, perhaps, to be
restricted to the lower orders, I shall now present
you with an amusing scene that took place two
or three days after my arrival at "New York,
between a worthy citizen (not exactly in the rank
of an aristocrat) and myself, in front of the City
Hall. Having strolled into the park where that
building is situated, I addressed some questions
respecting it to a well-dressed, decent-looking man
who was passing at the moment, and which having
answered, he immediately turned interrogator him-
self, and commenced by saying : — "I guess you
are a stranger?" *' Yes, I am/' I replied. " Well,
I guess, now, you come from the mother-country,"
continued my good-humoured catechiser. I as-
sured him I did. " Well, now, I thought so,"
said he ; and, half hesitating whether or not to
proceed, he added, " What part do you come
from, stranger?" I could scarcely refi'ain from
laughing at my friend's easy assurance ; however,
I told him, ** From London." ** And how long
have you been in America?" he next inquired.
I answered that question also ; when, emboldened
by my ready replies to his interrogatories, and
his curiosity to know still further, increasing in
the exact ratio of my acquiescence with his pre-
vious demands, he now planted himself in an
attitude of repose, which fully convinced me that
c2
S«j5j^
34
UNITED STATES NAVY-YARD.
i
he was going to demand the history of my life,
birth, parentage, and education j to conclude, per-
haps, with a request that I would allow him to
examine the marks on my teeth, in order to as-
certain my age ; upon which historical detail, and
dental examination, as I was not then prepared to
enter, I very unceremoniously wished him a very
good day, and walked off. I turned round shortly
afterwards, and perceived him staring after me
in the fixed attitude in which I had left him, and
looking " unutterable things ;" thinking, doubt-
lessly, that it was impossible I could ever have
come from so refined a place as Londor, nd
flattering himself that he had much the advat ; ':^ j
of me in manners and good breeding.
During my short residence in New York I
was reminded, in no inconsiderable degree, of our
good city of Liverpool, in consequence of that
ceaseless activity, commercial bustle, and assem-
blage of vessels, forming the leading feature of
both towns, and which assimilates one to the
other. Of course, as an Englishman, I did not
omit to visit the United States' navy-yard, over
which I was kindly shewn by an officer in the
service. The country being in a state of perfect re-
pose from warlike operations, I did not witness there
that busy and animated scene which, without pro-
perly reflecting on it, I had previously expected,
from observing the fine and numberless vessels
J
I
I
STEAM-FRIGATE FULTON.
35
passing to and fro along their bays and rivers, and
which, beyond any doubt, declare them a great
and maritime nation. I saw here the shattered
hulk of the steam-frigate Fulton, the only man-
of-war to which steam was ever applied. It was
accidentally blown up in 1829, alongside the navy-
yard, and lies half sunk in the water. Two sixty-
four gun frigates were the only ships I saw on
the stocks, and on which, in these " piping times of
peace," no ship-wrights were at work. The finest
ship of war that I saw at New York was the
Kensington frigate, thirty-two guns, a short time
previously sold to the Russians. She was truly
a splendid vessel, and her state-cabin fit for the
reception of a monarch. To say that I witnessed
a wonderful difference between the navy-yard of
New York and those of Plymouth and Devonport
in my own country, is but what all mankind
would naturally suppose ; and it would be an in-
vidious remark to make, unless qualified by ac-
companying reflections. It would amount to no-
thing more than to simply declare, that youth is
not manhood, and that the accumulations of a
long series of centuries must inevitably, through
the force of geometrical progression, be vastly
greater than those of a few short years. America
is but the infant giant, while the other has grown
up to maturity. But I think it by no means re-
quires a prophetic vision to foresee, through the
36
AMERICAN DESPATCH.
long vista of coming years, a matured strength,
and a mighty and prosperous power, to be wielded
hereafter by the people of the United States,
equal to any thing that either modern or ancient
times have yet witnessed. This belief is neces-
sarily founded on the supposition, that the various
States of the Union will continue to hold together
in that powerful combination existing at the pre-
sent moment, and which, therefore, may be said
to involve the whole question. Some think that
they perceive, already, the strong symptoms of a
disruption of the general compact. Of this I can,
at present, say nothing ; but I shall be able to form
a more decided opinion after I shall have traversed
the country throughout its length and breadth.
Having incidentally touched on American en-
terprise, I may as well give you a specimen of the
indefatigable industry, and economy of time with
which it is united, among these active and bustling
people — a union by which commerce must assur-
edly flourish, if it possess at all the element of
success within it. I must acknowledge myself,
however, to have been, for some days after my
arrival, wofuUy inconvenienced by the circum-
stance; though I afterwards found a tolerable
remedy in seizing time by the forelock. I allude
to the public dinners. The custom in the States
is not, as in England — and, generally speaking,
in Europe — for each person or party, staying at
RAPIDITY OF EATING.
37
an hotel, to take the different meals of the clay
alone, and at the hour most agreeable for that
purpose — an arrangement so admirably suited to
travelling — but to place down, at a table d'hote,
all the guests in the house, and at fixed hours, on
the ringing of a bell. Should you be absent but
for ten minutes (I speak principally of dinner)
after this grave warning has announced the critical
moment, you stand rather an unpleasant chance
of having to postpone your dinner to the following
day ; since it is only as an exception to the rule,
that "mine host" will furnish you with a private
repast after the public one shall be over; and,
even then, by no means so good, and at an in-
creased charge for the accommodation. The
cause of my distress arose from the extraordinary
rapidity with which this most essential meal
throughout the twenty-four hours was performed.
On the first occasion of my dining at the public
table, I had but just received a plate offish, after
partaking of soup, and was leisurely commencing
to despatch it, and was comfortably settling my-
self in my chair for a couple of hours to come,
when, casting my eye along the line of the table,
I was immediately startled to find that half the
chairs in various portions of its length, and which
but a few moments before were fully occupied,
had been deserted ; and in five minutes afterwards
I was left in a state of solitary abandonment, with
38
RAPIDITY OF EATING.
u
1:1
the exception of three others, out of a large
company of perhaps 150 persons. But, although
amused, as well as disturbed, (as the result well
justified) at the unequalled despatch and hasty
retirement of these worthy citizens, yet being very
hungry at the moment — having eaten only a
quarter of my way through the dinner — I was
in no slight degree alarmed at seeing the dishes
all leaving the table along with the guests. How-
ever, just as one of the waiters was rapidly re-
moving the viands placed immediately before me,
which I thought rather un peu trop, since I was
giving the most unequivocal demonstration that
I was far from concluding, I laid an embargo on
two of the best of them ; till at length, perceiving
that I was a lonely unit out of 1.50 well-dined
(I suppose) and departed persons, shame got the
better of my appetite, and I sprung up and de-
parted too, fully resolved the next day to imitate
my neighbours, by devouring my repast in double-
quick time and in solemn silence.
I have merely mentioned this circumstance as
an instance of the stirring activity and economising
diligence of the American people ; for the haste
with which the gastronomic operation is per-
formed is solely to enable them to hurry back
to their various avocations — many of the citizens
lodging privately elsewhere, but taking their
meals, for greater convenience, and after the
APPETITE VERSUS INTELLECT.
39
general fashion of the States, in public hotels.
Of course, these observations do not refer to
private life, in regular domestic establishments;
though, even there, it is by no means customary
to remain long at table. I need scarcely tell yau,
t^at, under such an inauspicious aspect as regards
c T^ersation, the ;> .t^ communication with your
neighbour is entirely out of the question. You
must be content to swallow your food in silence,
as well as in thankfulness, and make better use of
your knife and fork than I was able to do with
my chop-sticks, when feasting on sharks' fins,
and bird's-nest soup, at the mandarin's dinner in
China.
I must not omit to inform you of the amusing
puzzle in which I found myself, one day, when
dining at the above hotel. It was literally appe-
tite versus intellect — the body versus the mind.
I had met at breakfast, during the previous part
of the morning, a very sensible, intelligent man,
in the person of one of the United States' judges ;
next whom, at dinner, I found myself accidentally
seated. I instantly felt the full force of the posi-
tion in which I was placed. I was aware that,
if I opened my mouth for any other purpose than
to receive the contents of my plate, I must put
my appetite in my pocket till the following day.
I was very hungry, and the judge was particu-
larly agreeable; and as he was on the point of
40
DINING WITHOUT EATING.
leaving the city, the moment was a critical one,
and the question required instant decision. The
tempting viands were sending forth a delicious
odour, whi' ^^ my greedy eyes were already de-
vouring, and I instinctively took up my knife
and fork, while ruminating all the time on several
topics of very interesting information that I knew
my learned friend could better explain to me than
any other person present. Just at this point of
carnal and mental agony, as ill-fortune would
have it, one of the servants brought me a plate
of real turtle, or something equally delicious, of
which, under the irresistible temptation, 1 imme-
diately took a couple of mouthsful ; when, feeling
perfect' ashamed to think that the grosser part
of my ii..ture should have such a base triumph,
I laid down my knife and fork, entered into con-
versation with the judge, gained a^^ the know-
ledge I wanted, and rose from table " as hungry
as a hunter."
After remaining in New York for a few days
(intending to return to it again), I began to
prepare for an excursion to Philadelphia ; and
as money is the sine qua non of a traveller, I
proceeded to my bankers, in Wall Street, for a
supply of that essential article, on a letter of
credit which I had upon the house. I discovered,
however, to my disappointment, that the duplicate
letter of advice that was promised, before my
TACT OF A NEW YORK BANKER.
41
departure from England, to be put into the
London post-office, had not yet reached them;
and as, for the sake of very proper precaution,
advances are not usually made on your own letter,
till a second, advising the bankers of the fact, has
been received, one of the partners very politely
informed me, that, on my proving my identity,
they would wave the ceremony of previous
notice. The circumstance that followed on this,
inspired me with a higher notion of the acuteness,
tact, sharp-sightedness, and decision, of the com-
mercial gentlemen of New York, than any thing
else that could have occurred. I replied, I should
endeavour to do so to their satisfaction ; and
having a letter of introduction in my pocket for
a gentleman in the city, which I had brought
with me from England, but had not presented
in consequence of not finding him at home, I
mechanically drew it forth as I uttered the words,
rather to satisfy myself that I had it than to
exh.' it it. The motion, however, was sufficient;
for my lynx-eyed friend the banker, with a single
glance at the writing, not sufficient to decipher
the entire superscription, exclaimed, " Why, that
is Mr. W.'s handwriting! I am perfectly satisfied,
sir ; — you may immediately have what money
you want, or the whole if you please." I confess
I was never more struck with quickness of sight
and sharp-wittedness than on this occasion. On
42
JOURNEY TO PHILADELPHIA.
further conversation, I understood that, though
he had repeatedly seen the writing of that gen-
tleman, he had not received letters from him for
four years.
I now i^uitted, for a short period, the inte-
resting island of Manhattan j and, embarking on
board one of those fine steam-boats that ply in
such numbers on the American waters, I pro-
ceeded to Philadelphia, distant from New York
ninety-four miles. Having crossed the bay, we
entered Staten Island sound, lying between that
island and the state of New Jersey, and where
the scenery is highly varied and picturesque;
and, passing down the Rariton — on the banks
of which, as on those of the sound, are seen
several pretty villages and country-seats — we
arrived at New Brunswick, a small town, con-
taining a theological seminary — having steamed
through a distance of thirty-six miles in about
a
three hours. Here we left our comfortable boat
for less agreeable coaches, in which we were
packed (nine inside) as close as barrelled her-
rings ; and in this unenviable condition, under
an oppressive sun, half- smothered with dust,
cruelly jolted on a most uneven road, and so
straitened in our movements as to cause a sen-
sation similar to what one might expect to feel
in being handcuffed, we proceeded twenty-six
miles, to Trenton, the capital of the state of New
OEOROE THE THIRD.
43
Jersey. It is situated on the river Delaware, a
fine expansive stream dividing that state from
Pennsylvania. The route thus passed over affords
a variety of fine views of the most fertile portions
of the former state — the soil being good, excellently
cultivated, and presenting splendid specimens of
Indian corn. The scenery is by no means un-
interesting, as long as one can divest himself of
fears of dislocation from the roads, and cramp
iujide the coach. The American steam -boats
are admirable, and the mode of conveyance by
them most commodious and delightful ; but the
land-carriage is a wincing and grimacing opera-
tion throughout, and makes you almost appre-
hensive that your features will never return again
to their natural expression on your countenance.
On our way we passed through Princeton, a
pleasant little town, possessing a college of high
reputation, called Nassau Hall, as likewise a
theological academy. It is said that, during the
battle of Princeton, in the war of the revolution,
a cannon-ball entered a chapel in the town, and
dashed off the head from a picture of George III.
After such a direful omen, the consequence was
inevitable.
Trenton possesses a population of about 4000
inhabitants, and has a bridge of five arches, of
handsome though very singular construction,
thrown across the Delaware ; the bridge being
44
PASSAGE DOWN THE DELAWARE.
suspended from the arches, which are here rever-
sed in point of architectural order, being placed
above, instead of below, the road which they sup-
port. The character of the country thus far is
generally level, with but few varieties of outline.
At Trenton we stepped on board another
steam-boat, where we found a plentiful dinner
prepared for us, and smoked our course down
the Delaware for Philadelphia, distant thirty-
three miles ; passing close to the village of
Bardentown, where resides, in unostentatious
seclusion, Joseph Bonaparte, ex-king of Spain.
Several beautiful villages and gentlemen's seats,
decorated with flower-gardens and shaded by
handsome trees, adorn the banks of this spacious
stream, of which Bristol and Burlington are the
most interesting. The shores of this river are too
flat to be picturesque, but their margin is neatly
skirted by a continued row of willows and other
trees of various descriptions.
The approach to Philadelphia presents, even
in its exterior, something very handsome and
inviting, though lying on a dead level close to
the Delaware. Scarcely a single curl of smoke
was to be seen hovering over it ; while the spires
and steeples of the state-house and of the nume-
rous churches and chapels which it contains,
elevated, in a clear and brilliant sky, their glit-
tering points.
PASSAGE DOWN THE DELAWARE,
46
Having now brought you to what is generally
esteemed the most beautiful city of the Union —
through, I fear, a wearisome epistle — I shall
cease any longer to strain your eyes or cramp my
own fingers ; and wish you farewell, till we meet
on paper again.
l:
46
LETTER III.
Cheapness of Travelling — Chesapeake and Delaware Canal —
Chesapeake Bay — Baltimore — Equivocal Accommodation
of American Coaches — Baltimore and Ohio Rail-road —
Ingenious Principle of Locomotion — Discussion on Slavery
— Washington — the Capital — Houses of Congress — the
Potomac — Alexandria — Mount Vernon, Country Seat of
Washington — his Tomb in the Grounds — Museum at
Alexandria — Relics of the Patriot.
Washington, 20th June, 1 831.
MY DEAR FRIEND,
Having limited the extent of the
southern part of my excursion in the states, in
consequence of the fast approaching hot season,
to the seeing of Washington and its environs;
and being anxious, for the same reason, to visit
that capital while the cooler weather still pre-
vailed ; I determined, after remaining one day
in Philadelphia, to proceed thither forthwith, and
to defer my acquaintance with the principal city
of Pennsylvania, so worthy of being admired for
its great beauty and interesting institutions, till
my return. While, therefore, I put under sus-
JOURNEY TO BALTIMORE.
47
pense for a short period the curiosity you will
feel to know something of a town founded by the
great and virtuous Penn, I will endeavour to fill
up the interval as agreeably as I can, by supply-
ing you with information, if not entirely as inte-
resting, at least that shall have equally the charm
of novelty.
In pursuance, therefore, of my design, I left
Philadelphia for Baltimore, distant by water
ninety-six miles, in that pleasantest of all con-
veyances in America, a steam-boat. It was truly
most splendid and commodious, being much supe-
rior to the one in which I came from New York ;
the copper of her boilers amounting in weight to
the enormous quantity of 65,000 lbs. We glided
over the surface of the noble Delaware with some-
what of the rapidity of a swallow ; and having,
as in nearly all these boats, a spacious and elegant
deck to walk on, well shaded by an awning from
the heat — a brilliant sun above us, casting a
mellow light on the surrounding landscape — a
well-furnished table, as the most squeamish appe-
tite could desire — and without a single jar or
jolt in our motion, from bad roads and unelastic
springs — I required nothing on earth to lend an
additional charm to this fairy scene, but the
presence of One, far distant across the boundless
ocean. But supreme good was never meant to
dwell in this state of chequered existence ; for
48
CHESAPEAKE AND DELAWARE CANAL.
in vain should we seek for the " amaranthine
bowers" of a better paradise above, could we find
one here below !
To give you an idea of the greater cheapness
of travelling in America, I need only mention that
three dollars, or about 135.6c?., formed the entire
charge of our conveyance through the space of
ninety-six miles. For the distance of about fifteen
miles from Philadelphia, the character of the river
resembles, in flatness, the previous portion of it
which I have before described ; but in the neigh-
bourhood of Wilmington it rises into considerable
elevation, and presents much of picturesque beauty.
On arriving at Delaware city — a simple hamlet
magnified into a corporate town, in anticipation of
its future greatness — we left our steamer for a
small packet-boat, drawn by horses, and conti-
nued our progress on the Chesapeake and Dela-
ware canal, which connects the waters of the
Chesapeake bay with those of the Delaware river.
It is a work of great magnitude and importance,
not on account of its length, which is but fourteen
miles, but in consequence of the great commercial
advantages gained by the union of these two
mighty streams, and of the vast difiiculty en-
countered, from the nature of the soil, in its con-
struction ; a portion of it, four miles in length,
called the Deep Cut, having been excavated in
some places to the depth of seventy feet. From its
BAY OP THE CHESAPEAKE.
49
breadth and depth it is calculated for the passage
of vessels of considerable burden ; and across the
canal, at the greatest elevation of the embank-
ment, is thrown a bridge of singular appearance
and ingenious construction, rising to the height of
nearly ninety feet above the surface of the water.
On reaching the village of Chesapeake — why
not equally a city with the other, I could not learn
— we again moved our quarters to a second steam-
boat, and pursued our course down Back Creek
and Elk River, the meandering banks of which
are diversified by the richest and most luxuriant
foliage ; recalling forcibly to my remembrance the
unexcelled beauty of the vegetation on the shores
and islands of the Straits of Malacca. The charm
of the whole is greatly heightened by seeing, here
and there, a lonely fisherman's hut, most roman-
tically situated amid the deepest seclusion. Some
miles lower down, we reached the magnificent Bay
of the Chesapeake, one of the finest and deepest
in the world; being 170 miles in length to the
ocean. There, the waters expand to a breadth of
many miles, and exhibit on their bosom several
verdant islands, and on their shores, notwithstand
ing their flatness, much of interesting variety, and
many picturesque objects. Fourteen miles from
Baltimore, we left the Bay and entered the Patap-
sco river, conducting immediately to that city, and
which is now considered, from its population, the
m
A-^OL. I.
D
;eI
a]
■ ■i
50
EXTERIOR VIEW OF BALTIMORE.
third in tlie Union. Passing Fort M*Henry, a
military outwork pushed forward on the river for
the protection of the town and harbour, and which,
in 1814, gallantly repulsed an attack made on
it by the British bomb-vessels, we soon afterwards
reached our destination.
The appearance of Baltimore, though in reality
a fine city, is not near so pretty or interesting as
ihat of Philadelphia ; the dingy hue of the atmo-
sphere, arising from steam and other manufactur-
ing chimneys, being much greater than at the
latter place — the suburbs lining the shore not
appearing so good — the houses and stores along
the quay presenting a less handsome front — and
the Patapsco not being, by any means, equal to
the Delaware. So much for mere comparison's
sake between the two cities ; for, speaking of its
absolute merits, it is a highly flourishing and
rapidly increasing town, and bids fair to excel its
rival, in the course of time, perhaps in population
as in commerce. The Washington monument —
of which, and of the city, I intend giving you a
few notices in a subsequent letter — offers a strik-
ing object to the eye on approaching it from the
river.
On landing, I proceeded to take up my quar-
ters at the City Hotel, kept by Mr. Barnum, and
considered the best and largest in the States. It
is certainly a noble edifice, containing upwards
INGENIOUS MODE OF POSTING LETTERS. 51
of 170 well-furnished apartments, and is main-
tained in a style of excellent order and cleanliness.
One of the apartments consists of a reading-
room, where I was amused by witnessing an inge-
nious contrivance, adopted for the convenience of
the worthy citizens, and others attending it, with
regard to depositing their letters in the post-office.
It seems that this latter building is situated on the
basement story of the hotel, and with which, by
means of a wooden canal, the news-room above
communicates ; so that, without leaving the house,
a gentleman's letters may, by this conveyance, be
as safely dropped into the office as by walking to
it, and without the trouble of going.
In furtherance of my plan, already mentioned,
I left Baltimore, on the morning following my
arrival, for Washington ; proposing to see the
former on my return, when I should be gradually
creeping along to the cooler atmosphere of the
north as the southern sky grew warmer. The
distance, thirty-eight miles, was to be performed
in one of the public coaches ; there being no post-
ing, however much some travellers might wish it,
in any part of the United States. The one by
which I proceeded, belonging to a particular com-
pany, was recommended to me by seeing it an-
nounced to be hung on steel springs ; a luxury
which many of them, I believe, do not possess, in
consequence of the state of the roads, to the inffic-
II
I
Mi
ii
62 PRIVILEGES OF AMERICAN TRAVELLERS.
tion of divers contusions and tossings to and fro,
of the uninitiated traveller.
We left the hotel at eight in the morning, and
had harely cleared the suhurbs of the city by nine
o'clock, arising from the various detentions inci-
dent to a custom which, as far as my memory bears
me out, prevails only in America. The arrange-
ment alluded to, is to take up the different passen-
gers, who have '* booked their places" at the office,
at their respective dwellings, in whatever part of
the town they may be situated. On this occasion,
as they lived in perfectly opposite directions to
each other, and especially as we were "at fault,"
as sportsmen say, in discovering the residence of a
lady who was to accompany us, we were cantering
up one street and trotting down another, and then
coming to a full stop, in order to make inquiries,
till at length nearly every street and lane in the
town had been passed through. The patience, as
you may imagine, of the poor passengers, of
whom four had taken their seats at the com-
mencement of this tour of discovery, was pretty
nearly exhausted.
I candidly acknowledge that, whenever self
is concerned in the matter, as one of the persons
to be taken up, this arrangement is mighty agree-
able ; but when you happen to have stepped into
your coach from the hotel whence it drives, you
would most thankfully be relieved from those
SINGULAR PRINCIPLE OF LOCOMOTION.
53
violent evolutions which you are involuntarily
made to describe, while jolting over half-a-dozen
miles of paved streets in taking up three or four
passengers, or hunting for a lost one. Honest
John Bull, I must declare, is not near so com-
plaisant in this respect as Brother Jonathan ; and
would almost, I am inclined to believe, rather
drive his coach empty, than have to play at " hare
and hounds " with his passengers in the manner
related. I have no doubt, however, that this
mode of collecting their complement will be
changed ere long, in accordance with the fashion
of the rest of the world ; not because it is the
fashion, but because public convenience would, in
the main, be much better consulted by it; and
I cannot but say, from the little experience I have
already had in America, that this consideration
is acted upon, towards the community at large, to
as great an extent as is to be seen in any part
of the world.
At length we fairly emerged from the town,
and, after proceeding some distance, we entered on
a portion of the magnificent rail-road construct-
ing between this place and Pittsburg on the Ohio ;
and, changing our conveyance, were propelled, for
a number of miles, by the most novel and singular
mode that I ever witnessed. Our ingenious princi-
ple of locomotion was the following ; — two horses
were placed in a kind of heavy wagon in the
I:'
54
SINGULAR PRINCIPLE OF LOCOMOTION.
rear of our carriage, and, by the motion of their
feet in walking over a revolving platform, put
into action a variety of springs that were fixed
underneath it ; and these again operating on the
wheels of this curious piece of mechanism, pushed
forward our vehicle, which was attached to it, at
the rate of ten miles an hour. Thus, the horses
were continually walking, and yet were carried
forward ; and by walking only four miles an hour,
though without advancing a single inch on the
platform, caused us and themselves to be conveyed
ten. The sharp-witted engineer who had invented
this extraordinary piece of machinery was present
on the occasion, and informed me that it was an
experiment of his own, of which he had been
trying the effect ; and certainly thus far it seemed
to answer its purpose to admiration. The mode,
however, of travelling, when the road shall be
completed, is intended to be by steam.
This rail-road is one of the many superb works
at present in a state of progression in various parts
of the United States, and which prove irresistibly, in
spite of all prejudice and unjust and illiberal depre-
ciation to the contrary, that the Anglo-American
nation, if not the most enterprising in the world,
(but which, with one exception, I allow it to be),
is at least, in this respect, second to none ; and it
is an Englishman who declares it. Leaving the
rail-road, we stepped into a similar carriage to
DISCUSSION ON SLAVERY.
65
the first, and prosecuted our journey to the capital.
Though the soil in this part of the state of Mary-
land, in which we now were, is by no means of a
rich and productive quality, and where, in con-
sequence, but few cottages are seen, or signs of
extensive cultivation exhibited, yet tiie eye is oc-
casionally regaled by the charms of elegant land-
scape, Maryland is the first state, to the south-
ward of New York, in which slavery is permitted
and practised ; and on this unhappy subject I had
a lengthened discussion in the coach with the lady
in search of whose habitation in Baltimore we had
been previously cutting so many wearisome capers
and evolutions in the different streets. I found
her bitterly prejudiced against the whole order
of the black population. She insisted that the
slaves were a distinct and undefinable race of
beings, as well in soul as in body. She acknow-
ledged, though with evident reluctance, and with
apparently no wish to see them there herself, that
they might go to heaven as well as the whites ;
but urged with great vehemence, " That the
broadest possible distinction, and line of separation,
should be drawn between the two colours, at least
in this world ; and that though God made no
difference between them, except on the score of
virtue, yet that the white man should." This
sounded in my ears as very strange doctrine,
particularly as coming from the lips of a woman,
56
WOMAN, THE ANGEL OF LIFE.
in whose softer and purer nature we expect to
find, and I rejoice to say do findf more of that
" charity which suffereth long and is kind, seek-
eth not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh
no evil ;" in short, of that ** charity which never
faileth." For, it is with the sincerest sense of
justice to womankind, as well as with the entire
willingness of my mind, that I concede to them
the great superiority which they possess over my
own sex, in all the qualities of moral and religious
worth ; and I feel convinced that they have done
more, since the promulgation of the divine precepts
of Christianity, and in dependence on its inspired
teaching, than any other moral principle whatever,
to refine the heart and to elevnte the standard of
human nature.
The exception is said to prove the rule, and
in this sadly prejudiced lady I discovered what
the sex are not. And perhaps for her some
charitable allowances are to be made, in considera-
tion of all the years of her life having been passed
in a slave-holding state, where the opinions she
professed are considered perfectly orthodox, and
as political dogmas not to be departed from either
in theory or practice. I left this white advocate
for black slavery in a state of utter amazement
at the entire debasement of my taste and intellect,
when I assured her that I would rather associate
with a virtuous black than a vicious white. She
CITY OF WASHINGTON.
57
looked at me " unutterable things," and seemed
as if she would have "spoken daggers" — though
I hope would have used none — when we came in
sight of that splendid edifice the Capitol, finely
elevated above the city, and in which the houses
of Congress assemble. This instantly arrested our
attention, broke ft' the discussion, and saved me,
probably, from a most indignant rebuke for my
gross violation of reason, and the degradation of
my superior and privileged nature. In a few
minutes afterwards we alighted at Gadsby's hotel,
where we separated, to meet no more.
The city of Washington, whence I address
you, is the seat of the supreme government of
the United States. Each of the twenty-four states
composing the Union, possesses a separate govern-
ment, that presides over its own internal affairs;
but the former controls the whole confederation
in all those multifarious concerns which respect
the welfare of the entire community. These are,
the imposition of taxes, the regulation of com-
merce with foreign nations, the declaration of
war and making of peace, the raising of armies,
providing a navy, and a thousand other matters
of public policy and legislation which each state
could not do for the rest. Such and similar
powers have been, therefore, by universal consent,
delegated to the general Congress, in conjunction
with the president for the time being.
d2
68
descript:o>
TUP C'TY.
Washington is situated on the beautiful banks
of the Potomac, in the centre of what is called
the District of Colombia, which acknowledges the
authority of Congress alone, having been ceded,
for state purposes, by Virginia and Maryland.
The plan of the city, as originally laid down,
comprised features of great magnificence as well
as of extent. Its design was, that all the main
streets, to be constructed on a scale of elegant pro-
portion and considerable magnitude, as to length
and breadth, should radiate in straight lines from
the Capitol, the noblest building in the city, to
all the points of the circle, of which that edifice
was to be the centre. It was, undoubtedly, a
highly tasteful and imposing outline for a future
great city ; but which is so far, however, I am
sorry to say, from having been filled up, that but
one street of all the proposed number has been
opened ; and, as Washington principally depends
for its support on the government, and the tem-
porary residence of the members of Congress, it is
perhaps not very probable that the scheme will
ever be fully accomplished. This solitary street
is the Pennsylvania Avenue, which runs to the
extent of about a mile and a half, being of pro-
portionate breadth, and pleasantly shaded by rows
of trees. On its eastern extremity stands the Capi-
tol, finely elevated on a commanding eminence,
while its western termination is closed in by a
THE CAPITOL.
59
I
view of the president's house. Tlie other streets
of the town, to some of which, from their detached
portions and broken lines, one can scarcely assign
the name, display but little appearance of regu-
larity.
The great '* lion," however, of this place, is
the Capitol, which, beyond any doubt, reflects
equal credit on the skill and execution of the
architect, and on the spirit and taste of the
American people, and stands a monument and
illustration of their rising power and importance.
It is built of white free-stone, resting on a noble
terrace surrounded by pleasure-grounds ; and pre-
sents in each of two fronts, looking eastward and
westward, a magnificent portico and colonnade.
The centre portion of the structure is surmounted
by a large dome, which some think spoils the
effect, (though I confess I am not of the same
opinion), and from which wings extend on either
side. The approach to it, on each of its faces,
is by a handsome and extensive flight of stone
steps, by which you attain to the principal en-
trance ; and, after passing a short distance into
the interior of the building, and ascending a simi-
lar staircase of stone, you are immediately ushered
into the rotunda. This is a spacious circular area,
formed entirely of marble, being ninety-six feet
in diameter, and ninety-six to the top of the dome ;
and which for beauty, majesty, and proportion,
equals any thing of the kind I ever remember to
60
THE ROTUNDA.
have seen. The effect is grand and imposing;
and the reverberation is such, that the ordinary
tone of the voice echoes aloiig the circumference
like the murmuring of distant thunder.
Four compartments of the walls of this splen-
did hall are occupied by pictures painted for the
government by Colonel Trumbull, representing
the Declaration of Independence, the Surrender
at Saratoga, that at Yorktown, and Washington
resigning his commission. They are highly in-
teresting paintings ; and, according to my hum-
ble judgment, very well executed. At the same
time, I confess that an Englishman must regard
at least two of them with a somewhat equi-
vocal interest, in comparison with an American ;
so unaccustomed is the former to see an exhibi-
tion of a British officer surrendering his sword to
the enemy, as is here portrayed. Exclusively,
however, of all private feelings, the two others,
I think, speak more forcibly to the interest of the
spectator; — the Declaration of Independence be-
ing the solemn and momentous act of a united
and enthusiastic people, in the assertion of what
they considered their unalienable rights; a stern
justice due to themselves and to their posterity;
and the Resignation of his Commission by Wash-
ington, bringing into prominent view the majes-
tic figure, and nobly disinterested act, of a man
who had emphatically earned to himself the title
of " Father of his Country." Four remaining
CHAMBER OF REPRESENTATIVES.
61
'111
compartments are still left to be filled up by other
classical reminiscences of the earlier days of the
republic, when the whole will be uniform, and
nothing be omitted that can detract from un-
qualified admiration.
On a higher elevation on the walls of the
rotunda than that on which these paintings are
placed, are seen four rolievos in marble, com-
memorating some of the principal events con-
nected with the first possession of the States.
One of them represents the landing of the pil-
grims at Plymouth, in 1610; another, a severe
contest between an Indian chief and one of the
ear*ly settlers ; a third, the celebrated William
Penn's treaty with the Indians near Philadelphia
in 1682; and the fourth, the rescuing from death,
by Pocahontas, of Captain Smith, one of the
first settlers in Virginia, The sweetly expressive
countenance of the female savage, and her de-
lightfully supplicating attitude to her father, who,
with uplifted war-club, is on the point of sacri-
ficing his prostrate foe, are most feelingly and
beautifully delineated.
From the rotunda I proceeded to the Chamber
of Representatives, a most splendid semicircular
apartment adorned by a profusion of superb co-
lumns of a dark-bluish stone, commonly called
pudding stone, brought from the shores of the
Potomac. These columns, which bear a high
polish, have the appearance, when closely ex-
m
62
NUMBER OF REPRESENTATIVES.
amined, of the most beautiful mosaic work that
can be imagined. I must candidly admit, that
there is no comparison whatever, in point of mag-
nificence, between the English and American
Houses of Commons, as the latter bears the pre-
eminence without any rivalry. At the same time
it may be considered, that there is, perhaps, as
great a difference on the other side, — if the dis-
tinction be worth the consideration — in point of
antiquity; and, at all events, with respect to
hearing — no unessential quality in a deliberative
assembly — the advantage, I understand, is much
in favour of St. Stephens. The semicircularity of
the Chamber of Representatives produces a species
of reverberation, I am informed, which frequently
renders indistinct, even to the members themselves,
much of what is said. It is highly desirable that
this defect should be remedied, in order to render
the chamber, so worthy of the legislative councils
of a spirited and rising people, as effective in point
of utility as it is of grandeur.
The number of members composing the house
is, I believe, 216, though liable to fluctuatio®s,
inasmuch as the amount is graduated according
to the ascending scale of population ; every ad-
ditional 40,000 inhabitants being entitled to re-
turn an additional member. The seats on which
the worthy members recline, and before each of
whom is placed a desk containing private drawers,
are ranged in successive semicircles in front of the
THE SENATE CHAMBER.
speaker; a mode of adjusting their relative po-
sitions at once advantageous for hearing, and for
its elegant eiFect on the eye. I regret much that
the session is not at present holding, the period
of its commencement being in December in each
year ; but should I be tempted to extend my re-
sidence in the States to the ensuing spring,
which I do not at present contemplate, I shall
certainly, in that case, pay a second visit to
Washington, in order to witness the various
modes of proceeding in Congress ; to ascertain
their style of oratory, and become acquainted with
some of the leading politicians of the country.
The Senate-chamber, which I next visited, is
much smaller, and considerably less imposing than
the other; but it possesses an air of comfort,
highly composing to the spirits ; an effect that is
studied by the members of both houses more than
in other assembiif . with which I im better ac-
quainted. This f<x';r.. Is, I thmk, less elegant tha«
our House of Lor< s, hough I prefer the semicir-
cular form that f,revail« -♦Iso here as in the Re-
presentativf ' amber, to Uie strn*0jt-line benches
which characters^ both the Brit<«l* ///>uses. The
number of senators is forty-eight; each state of the
twenty-four having the privilege </f i*'nding two,
and no utorf\ however extennive or po|>iilous its
|ir/kory may fjfc,
JVo* hy distant from tl » Senate-chamber is the
••Zf.:''
.1
'I -fRi -
i'RI I'
64
VIEW FROM THE CAPITOL.
Library of Congress — a handsome room, contain-
ing a well-assorted collection of valuable and
standard works. It affords a very pleasant lounge
to the members when wearied with the prosings
of an interminable speaker, and an easy access to
information of all kinds, where, if they please,
they may furnish themselves with all imaginable
arguments that favour their political bias, to be
brought into quick action in the closely adjoining
arena of party disputation.
The rest of this majestic structure is divided
into different committee-rooms, where the various
questions of state policy are examined by select
members, prior to reports being made to the
houses of Congress ; and into other apartments and
. .ices appropriated to national affairs.
The last, though by no means the least inter-
esting sight to be enjoyed at the Capitol, is the
superb view from its summit. The eye ranges
southerly, along the Pennsylvania Avenue, to the
president's house, beyond which is seen George
Town and a fine sweep of the Potomac. In a
south-easterly direction is beheld the navy-yard,
an establishment kept in considerable order and
neatness, and to the south-west, the picturesque
bridge across the Potomac, upwards of a mile in
length, in wiiich several extensive chasms have
been made by the ice and floods of the late spring,
with the road leading from it to Alexandria and
THE PRESIDENT S HOUSE.
65
Mount Vernon. To the southward, is observed
Greenleaf s Point ; and immediately on the right,
the General Post-office and the other buildings
of the city ; while the opposite banks of the
river rise to a fine elevation, studded here and
there with country villas. The prospect alto-
gether is truly magnificent; nothing was want-
ing but a national monument to the memory of
the great Washington, to have been erected on
the site to which the government have lately
removed the monumental tribute in honour of the
officers who fell in the war of Tripoli, and which
had previously stood, with more appropriate effect,
in the navy-yard.
Not content with viewing the president's house
at a distance, I proceeded to it, on leaving the Capi-
tol, and found it a large handsome building of white
free-stone, with a Grecian portico in front. It is
unostentatious in its style and appearance, and
such as is possessed by private gentlemen of for-
tune in England; with this considerable diflference,
I must observe, that the ground surrounding a
similar residence in the latter country is kept with
remarkable taste and neatness, while that of the
former is neglected, and suffered to detract, by no
means inconsiderably, from the consistent air
which the whole would otherwise possess. This
requisite adornment, I have no doubt, however,
is intended to be given to it ; for though I ac-
i Mli
66
MOUNT VERNON.
knowledge that the utilities of life, particularly in
young states, should properly take the precedence
of refinement and elegance, yet I have seen, in so
many instances in America, the union of the
utile dulci, that I do not know why it should be
omitted here.
One of the delightful excursions that I have
made from this place, has been to Mount Ver-
non, the once favourite residence of that great pa-
triot of his country. Tjleneral Washington. This I
enjoyed in the society of a most agreeable and
amiable family from Quebec, with whom I had
the good fortune to become acquainted ; having,
indeed, come in the same coach together from
Baltimore. Our first object was to reach Alex-
andria, situated about six miles on the opposite
banks of the river, and which we effected in one
of the stenm-boats constantly plying between that
town and the capital.
We found the shores of the Potomac beauti-
fully undulating, and offering many eligible sites
for villas, with which there is no doubt a future
generation will adorn their banks. At Alexan-
dria we stepped into a carriage, and were jolted
ove>' eight or nine miles of extremely bad road to
Movmt Venion. For this, however, we were, in
a great measure, compensated by the highly pic-
turesque country through which we passed. The
trees, groves, and woods, were of the most luxu-
MOUNT VERNON.
67
riant foliage ; and the numerous verdant glades,
peeping forth like so many sunny spots amid the
forest, presented the very heau ideal for a wood-
land cottage. The house at Mount Vernon is
very simple and unpretending, but is enchantingly
situated on the banks of the Potomac, with a very
pretty lawn, shaded by trees, extending in front
of it to the precipitous edges of the river, on
which a summer-house is tastefuiiy erected. Hi-
ther the modern Cincinnatus retired from the
toils of war, after having achieved his country's
independence, crowned with triumphant success,
and enjoying the benedictions of his country's
gratitude.
This is the consecrated spot of ground, of all
the United States, on which every American
treads with reverential awe and filial affection;
and who never recurs either to the place or
to the name, but with feelings of enthusi-
asm. And with justice; for, independent of the
never-fading benefits which his self-devotion con-
ferred upon tluun, as tlie national liberator, there
are traits of moral and disinterested worth, both
in his private and public character, that desig-
nate him a great and good man. And yet — to the
s^urprise of every foreigner, and to the regret, 1 be-
lieve, of many of the Americans themselves — there
is not a swingle trace to be seen, any where, of
national gratitude and respect to his memory ;
'■'i*i
68
THE TOMB OF WASHINGTON.
with the exception, it might appear, of the splen-
did monument at Baltimore, which is to he con-
sidered provincial rather than national — the
devotional token of the few, rather than of the
many. If I am not misinformed, an act of Con-
gress passed the houses about a couple of years
ago, for raising a public monument in honour of the
hero ; but, if true, nothing whatever has yet been
done ; and, if incorrect, they cannot take credit for
even the negative merit of thinking of it.
We visited the private tomb in the grounds,
distant but a short way from the house, and
shaded by a few cedars, within which repose his
mortal remains ; and I must own my disappoint-
ment in beholding the grave of such a man at
once so mean and so neglected. It had, in truth,
the appearance of an old brick-kiln that had been
closed up, and for which, had I not known what
it was, I should doubtlessly have taken it. Not
even the patriot's name, as such, was inscribed
thereon. There were simply the words, if I mis-
take not, " The Washington Tomb," or to that
effect. If, however, any thing in the world could
atone for the apparent want of personal senti-
ment, of affection, or of gratitude, in the seeming
neglect of this last asylum of the illustrious dead,
it is the following beautiful and sublime passage
of St. John, engraved upon it: — "I am the re-
surrection and the life : he that believeth in me,
THE GARDEN.
69
though he were dead, yet shall he live : and who-
soever liveth and believeth in me, shall never
die !" This deeply interesting and affecting pas-
sage of Scripture spoke directly to the heart, and
exalted, at once, to a more elevated character,
the humble tomb before me. I forgot, in a mo-
ment, in grateful admiration of so glorious a pro-
mise made by the Divine Personage who uttered
it, the oblivion to which it seemed consigned, and
from which, in my estimation, it was more than
half redeemed.
We afterwards passed through the garden;
but all was forlorn and in a state of dilapidation.
For this we could have accounted, had the house
been untenanted and deserted. However, that
was not the case, as we were kindly permitted to
walk over it ; and were shewn, among other
things, a portrait of Washington on part of an
earthen pitcher, which, having been broken, had
been preserved by the family, who esteemed it the
best likeness of him that had ever been made.
We had shewn to us, also, the key of the Bastile
of Paris, hung up in the hall; but by what means
it came there, we were not informed.
In returning through Alexandria, on our way
back to the city, we visited the museum of that
place, where the various relics of the departed
hero were preserved with, apparently, as much
religious veneration as those of a patron saint
■
l|! I I
70
RELICS OF THE PATItlOT.
by the most enthusiastic devotee. To give you a
specimen of some of the articles : one was an
elegant satin robe, in ^vliich Washington was
baptised, and which struck me as being rather
aristocratic for a simple republican. At all
events, the distinction Mas not his, as not being
exactly of an age, when he wore it, to make it a
dress of his own adoption. Another was a pen-
knife, given to him by his mother when he was
twelve years old, and which he had preserved
for fifty-six years. A third article was a pearl
button, taken from the coat that he wore when
first installed into office as President of the United
States. A fourth was the last stick of sealing-
wax that he used, and the last letter ever written
by him, declining an invitation of himself and
Mrs. Washington to a ball at Alexandria, and
containing the expression, "Alas! our dancing
days are over." I merely mention what you may
consider to be rather trifling, to evince to you
how ardently his memory is cherished, when such
trivial mementos as these are thought important
enough to be placed and exhibited in a public
museum.
But I must now conclude, to enable me to
despatch my letter by the next packet, which sails
from New York on the 24th instant. Adieu !
71
i!
»1|
LETTER IV.
Fire-flies — Description of Baltimore — the Wasliington JNlouu-
merit — lialt: nore and Ohio Rail-road — Catlicdral — litulc
Monument— 'carles Carroll — Vanity of the Americans —
the Americ>.. iN'ovelist — Description of Philadelphia —
United States' Bank — Pennsylvania Bank — Comparative
Tables of Population of Pennsylvania and Philadelphia —
Gerard's Bank — State House — Fairmount Waterworks —
Pennsylvania Hospital — the Navy-yard — the large Ship
Pennsylvania — New Penitentiary — Systems of Prison
Discipline — Churches, &c. &c. — Canals.
Baltimore f 25th June, 1831 ,
MY DEAR FRIEND,
Immediately after closin*^ the let-
ter addressed to you from Washington, I again
put myself en route for this jDlaee, accompanied
by my Quebec friends, if they will permit me
so to call them, than whom I never met any
persons more amiable in all my travels. Indeed,
I have never seen the bond c family union and
kindness uniting its members more closely, or
with more affectionate sympathy, than in the
instance of these worthy people ; of whom I regret
much to say, that the younger of the two ladies
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72
BALTIMORE.
who, with a gentleman, formed the party, was in
very delicate health.
My return to Baltimore was unattended by
any thing worthy of remark, except, as the shades
of evening came on, the peculiar interest that I
felt in seeing thousands of those beautiful little
insects the fire-flies, exhibiting, in endless variety
of evolutions, their phosphoric sparkles, and which
I had so often watched with admiring pleasure on
the plains of Hindostan.
This city, of which I promised you a few
details, is considered the third of the Union,
estimating its importance by the extent of its
population, which, according to the last census,
taken in 1830, amounted to upwards of 80,000.
Its growth has been most rapid within the last
eighty years; since, in 1752, the town contained
but twenty-five houses ; and, at that period,
two small vessels comprised the whole of the
shipping belonging to its port. Even in 1775,
the entire population did not amount to 6000 ; so
that, within the last fifty-seven years, it appears
that it has had the enormous increase of about
74,000 — a ratio of progression which one in vain
looks for in any other country than America.
At the present moment, its harbour is crowded
with ships and vessels of all degrees of tonnage ;
and it is considered, for flour and tobacco, the
first market in the States, and for the former
POPULATION OF BALTIMORE.
73
ii-
article perhaps the first in the world. Its manu-
factories, also, are numerous ; comprehending
those, principally, of cotton, cloth, iron, powder,
glass, paper, steam-engines, &c.
To enahle you the better to judge of the rising
importance of the capital of Maryland, in a
mercantile sense, I have inserted the following
tabular view of its population since 1775r; from
which it appears, that its augmentation, within
the last thirty years, amounts to upwards of 54,000
inhabitants; having more than trebled itself within
that period. This numerical advance exceeds, on
comparison, that of all the other cities of the
Union, with the exception of New York and
Philadelphia ; the former having swelled its num-
bers, in the same series of years, by the unparal-
leled increase of 142,518, or somewhere about 340
per cent on its population in 1800.
Population of Baltimore at different Periods.
In 1775.. 5,934 In 1800.. 26,614 In 1820.. 62,738
1790.. 13,503 1810.. 46,555 1830.. 80,625
The entire population of the state, according
to the census of last year, rose to 446,913; of
which 291,093 were whites, 102,878 slaves, and
52,942 were free coloured.
Baltimore is a handsome city, and contains a
number of elegant private houses ; the windows
and doorways of many of them being beautifully
VOL. I.
B
t 1
'hi
74
BALTIMORE.
formed of, and decorated with, white marble. It
comprises, also, several superb public edifices; and,
among these, the Washington monument is super-
eminent; but which should have been national, and
not provincial, and erected in the capital instead
of at Baltimore. This truly magnificent structure
reflects as much honour and credit on the taste,
munificence, and patriotic feeling of its worthy
citizens, as the Baltimore and Ohio rail-road (to
which I shall more particularly allude) does on
that spirit of enlightened and persevering enter-
prise by which they are so much distinguished.
For I must ingenuously declare to you that, coming
to America, as I did, with somewhat of a negative
feeling, and with a predisposed view as to the
arts of an extended civilisation existing amongst
them, and where I was led to expect that the
utilities of life were in a course of long precedence
of its elegancies and refinements, I have been not
more astonished than highly gratified to witness,
among the Americans, many of the traits of even
highly polished society. I do not mean in the
back-woods, in the wilderness, or in the new
settlements ; but in their flourishing towns and
cities. This, I know, will startle some people ; or,
perhaps I should say, they will pretend to be
startled, against their better knowledge and better
judgment; for it has been sadly too much the
fashion, and I lament much to say it, among
PUBLIC WRITERS ON AMERICA.
75
some of my countrymen, to underrate and to
depreciate the progress which, for a number of
years, has been and still is making, with rapid
strides, by the enterprising inhabitants of the
United States, in the refined and elegant arts of
civilised society. Why this apparently envious
feeling should exist — though I am quite satisfied
that it is by no means generally diffused among
us, but the reverse — I am perfectly at a loss to
imagine. Is it supposed that a tribute of applause,
of admiration, of friendship, or of esteem — not to
say of bare justice — given to the American people,
is calculated to detract from the honours and
merits of the mother-country, from whose very side
these people have sprung ? Does our hard-earned,
but honest and exalted, reputation as Englishmen
— a distinction in which, I confess, I myself glory
— rest on so fragile a foundation, that every addi-
tional stone placed on the rising basis of another
man's edifice is to be considered as dragging down
one from the superstructure of our own ? If this
be so, the *'sic transit gloria mundV* maybe as
appropriately applied to England, as far as great-
ness and magnanimity of sentiment go, as to
ancient Greece and Rome in respect to their
departed power, physical as well as moral. It
appears most obvious and natural, to my humble
judgment, that in the precise ratio of the success
manifested by the Americans — whether in arts
76
AMERICA THE BOAST OF ENGLAND.
or arms, in commerce or other spirited enterprise,
in national or moral power, or in religious attain-
ments — should be the honest pride and exultation
which Englishmen ought to feel in favour of their
Transatlantic brethren. For it will scarcely be
denied that English blood flows in their veins;
since, if it be needful to establish their maternity,
the triumphant career they are pursuing, in all
those things of a truly English nature which have
conspired to make of us the great nation that we
are, would be quite sufficient to prove the identity.
Unless, therefore, a mother should be jealous of
the dawning charms and maturing beauty of her
daughter (in which case the world would justly
say she began to feel conscious that her own had
fled), we ought not to cast that obloquy, those
bitter taunts, that cruel mockery and depreciation
of their rising greatness and prosperity, in the
very faces of the American people, in the mode
too often adopted, and which disgraces, I am
sorry to say, some of our public writers. It is
true, America has been a rebellious child, and
has incurred the more unpardonable fault of
having been successful in her rebellion; but it
is to be hoped that the mother and daughter have
** kissed and become friends" — have " forgiven
and forgotten" long ago. If they have not, it is
high time that they should ; therefore, any attempt
to stir up the dregs of ancient animosity, conse-
MONARCHY AND REPUBLICANISM.
77
quent on former political contentions, should be
cried down by the general voice of the com-
munity.
I do not make these observations as the eulo-
gist of our friends on this side of the Atlantic,
but in a sense of strict retributive justice ; neither
is my understanding blinded, so as to prevent
my perceiving the peculiarities attaching to their
manners, and the defects and vices inherent in
some of their practices — as what country and
what individuals have them not? While, there-
fore, I acknowledge that the republican govern-
ment of the United States, as far as my experience
goes, appears to work well, and for the general
happiness of the people, and to be more suitable
to the genius of their inhabitants than any other
form ; yet I do most devoutly pray that it may
never cross the ocean which separates us, to take
root in British soil, to the tearing up by the
foundations of the monarchy of England. Let
the resemblance, in other respects, be as close as
it may, save in this one ; for I am equally con-
vinced, as regards our side of the question, that
republican institutions would be the very worst
that could be inflicted upon us — entirely repulsive
to our feelings and manners, contrary to the bias
of almost universal opinion, and subversive of
that happiness which for so many centuries we
have enjoyed, and which the contemplated reform
h'-
78
THE WASHINGTON MONUMENT.
in parliament is about to consolidate, I sincerely
trust, in scBcula scBculorum.
But I have been all this time wandering from
my subject, which was a description of the Wash-
ington monument. I may as well, then, plead
guilty at once, by confessing the fact, that we have
no column, whether monumental or otherwise, in
England, at all comparable to the one at Balti-
more, either in costliness of material or splendid
beauty of appearance : indeed, I will fairly allow
that I have seen none equal to it out of Italy.* It
is built entirely of white marble, rising to an eleva-
tion of 163 feet from the ground, and is surmounted
by a colossal statue of the great patriot, 15 feet
high, presenting of him an admirable likeness.
The entire height, therefore, with the addition of
the statue, is 178 feet. This noble column rests
on a base of the same fine material, about 25 f<2et
square and 12 feet high, and which is again sup-
ported by a second and much more extended
base of white marble, containing about double
the square feet, as also double the amount in
height of the superior one. The position of it is
highly commanding; the eminence on which it
* Since the late improvements in the City of London, the
" Monument" has been judiciously displayed to much more
conspicuous advantage than formerly; but, imposing as it is,
neither in its material nor position, nor yet, perhaps, as a model,
does it equal that of Baltimore.
BALTIMORE AND OHIO RAIL-ROAD.
79
is elevated being such, joined to the advantageous
circumstance of its being placed at the intersectioa
of four streets, as to render it a conspicuous object
from all the cardinal points of the compass. It
is intended, also, that the area around it shall be
planted with shrubbery, while the four sides of
the base are to be adorned with sculptured devices
emblematical of the states of the Union, and to
which inscriptions are to be added recording the
exploits of the hero. I will not inflict upon you a
description of the beautiful prospect beheld from
the summit of the monument, but leave it to your
own fertile imagination to fancy ; merely sug-
gesting, for the due exercise of your speculative
powers, that the environs of this city are rich in
natural scenery, and varied by all the requisites
of hill and dale, wood and water, verdant mea-
dows and well-cultivated lands, with heights em-
bellished by country-houses, and the port crowded
with innumerable vessels.
In nothing, however, tlrr the Baltimoreans excel
so much, in their works of labour and spirited enter-
prise, as in the rail-roads they are constructing, of
which that called the Baltimore and Ohio rail-
road is the most prodigious work at present car-
rying on in the United States. It is truly a vast
undertaking, worthy of the spirit and talent of any
country in the world, and confers an honourable
distinction on the company from which it ema-
:!f!
!■
80
BALTIMORE AND OHIO RAIL-ROAD.
nates. This road is to extend as far as Pitts-
burgh, on the river Ohio, a distance of between
300 and 400 miles, and will be travelled with
the greatest possible ease, by steam, in twenty hours.
Of this distance about thirty miles are already com-
pleted ; and in the effecting of which numerous
laborious obstacles have had to be surmounted —
such as cutting through solid masses of granite,
68 feet above the surface of the road; forming deep
cuts and embankments, in some places nearly a
mile in length, and 70 feet in depth; besides erect-
ing a number of bridges, viaducts, &c. of dressed
blocks of granite, from one to seven tons in weight.
In addition to this rail-road, as if one, though
more than 300 miles in length, was insufficient to
occupy the attention of the worthy citizens, is an-
other, in a course of formation, from Baltimore to
York Haven, on the river Susquehannah, a dis-
tance of about sixty miles ; and it is confidently
expected that it will, when completed, engross the
whole business of the river, down which, it is stated,
nearly five and a half millions worth of property
(in dollars) passed in the year 1826. The old pro-
verb of "nothing venture, nothing have," was, I
think, never more exemplified in any country,
than at the present day in America.
Among other handsome specimens of taste and
skill in architecture to be seen in this town, are
the cathedral, the exchange, several public foun-
THE CATHEDRAL.
81
tains, and the battle monument. The latter wus
erected in 1815, and is an elegant pillar of beautiful
marble, raised to commemorate the gallantry and
patriotism of those citizens who fell in defence of
the city, when attacked the previous year by a
British force. The cathedral is worthy of notice for
the numerous ornaments and tasteful decorations*
contained within it; though little can be said in
praise of its exterior, from its want of symmetry and
the jumbling together of different styles and orders.
But I was more gratified than with any thing
else, by seeing two specimens of the fine arts in
the form of paintings, which struck me as posses-
sing considerable merit. One of them represented
St. Louis before Tunis, attended by his chaplain
and armour-bearer, interring one of his officers
who had been slain. This picture had been pre-
sented to the cathedral by Charles X. The other
was by Guerin, exhibiting the descent from the
cross, splendidly executed, and was a gift from
the unhappy Louis XVL
Passing now from the streets, and the exterior
of the buildings which form them, into the society
of those by whom they are inhabited, you will find
the comforts and conveniences, and many of the
refinements, that are to be met with in Europe. I
cannot but mention, that in private houses here, as
in other towns and cities of the States, are to be
seen highly ornamented Italian chimney-pieces of
e2
m
82
REPUBLICAN INSTITUTIONS.
the finest marble, and rare and elegant specimens
of Italian sculpture, as well in statues and busts as
in various groups of marble figures, brought from
the studio of a Florentine or Neapolitan sculptor.
This speaks with tolerable plainness of an approxi-
mation to the arts of polished life, and requires no
comment from me.
That republican institutions give a levelling
tone to the manners and sentiments of those who
live under their influence, I need hardly inform
you; the effects of which I have, indeed, sometimes
personally experienced, and with additional force
from being entirely unaccustomed to them. But I
have invariably found, thus far at least, that the
higher classes, and the best educated of the Ame-
rican community, are free from that coarseness
and that presumption of demeanour which marks
the inferior orders. Nor can this be an enigma to
any one, except to those who are prejudiced against
the belief of it ; since nothing is more certain than
that education has a direct and natural tendency
to polish the mind, and soften and refine the man-
ners, so as even to make the educated republican
a much more gentlemanly character than the un-
educated aristocrat.
With respect to female beauty, Baltimore is
said to present a greater display of it than any
other city of the Union, and of which I have seen,
during my short stay, many fair specimens. The
CHARLEB CARROLL.
H3
8tyle too of dress, at this place, is more agreeable
to my taste than that of the ladies of New York ;
being of a less flaunting and less ultra-fashionabh*
description. At the head of society in Baltimon;,
which, as I have inferred, is very respectable and
pleasant, is the venerable Ciiarles Carroll, of Car-
rollton, now, I believe, in his 93d year, and who is
the last survivor of the band of patriots who signed
and sent forth to the world the charter of American
independence. His living presence seems almost
to be as much respected as the memory of the de-
parted Washington ; and though a stern republican,
as may be supposed, from being one of the enthu-
siastic signers of the declaration of freedom abovc^
alluded to, yet he has become closely allied to two
of our most aristocratic families — his two grand-
daughters being married to English noblemen ;
one to the Marquess Wellesley, and the other to
the Marquess of Carmarthen.
During my stay of a few days in Baltimore, 1
found the weather rather warmer than accorded
pleasantly with my English temperament, though
considerably less so than the degree of heat that
prevails more to the southward. In order to afford
you an idea of the range of the thermometer, dur-
ing a portion of the month of June in this town, I
have given you below a recorded observation of the
rise and fall of the mercury during the first nine-
teen days :
m
I ?
Ji ■
1 »'■
84
CLIMATE OF THE UNITED STATES!.
State of the Thermometer in the PassageofBarnum's
City Hotels from the 1st to the I9th of June in-
clusive.
G a. m. 9 a. m. 12 m. 3 p. m. 6 p. m. 9 p. m.
1 78.... 82.... 86 90 86 84
2 80.... 83.... 88.... 90 89 84
3 79 ....82.... 87 .... 89 .... 87 .... 85
4 75.... 79.... 82.... 84.... 82.... 80
5 72 73.... 72 76.... 74 72
6 71 .... 70 74 75 76 .... 73
7 71 ... . 74 .... 77 .... 78 .... 78 .... 77
8 71. ...76. ...78. ...80. ...80. ...75
9 70 72 74 76 75 74
10 72. . . .76 78. . . .80. . . .79 78
11 74 76 80. ...82 80. ...80
12 76 78. ...84 85. ...84 82
13 77 80 81 82 82 81
14 76. ...77. ...81. ...82. ...77 76
15 74.... 74.... 77.... 78 80 77
16 70 74 78.... 80.... 78.... 76
17 73. . . .77. . . .80 82. . . .82. . . .81
18 77.... 80 82.... 85.... 82 80
19 78 .. 79.... 83.... 86.... 86.... 84
Having arranged to take my departure in the
morning to Philadelphia, I shall carry my pot-
hooks and hangers along with me, and scratch
a few more hieroglyphics on my letter, at that
place, ere I despatch it to you.
Philadelphia, \st July, 1831.
You have heard frequent allusion made, no
doubt, to the supposed vanity of the American
AMERICAN VANITY.
85
people; and, I must say, I was highly amused with
the first conversation that I had with a citizen of
the republic, on first coming out to this country.
His patriotic egotism, if I may be allowed so to
call it, exceeded any effusion of praise I had
ever heard before j nor could I refer to any art or
science — laws or institutions — beauty of country
or beauty of women — ships, colonies, or com-
merce — by which we were characterised in Eng-
land, without drawing forth from my rival ac-
quaintance a glowing description of something
similar in his own country, surpassing each and
all these excellencies in a hundred-fold degi'ee — I
beg his pardon, I believe he excepted colonies ;
but only then to declare that, sooner or later, the
Americans would be possessed of these even more
extensively and more abundantly than ourselves.
If ever pedestal were erected in the world, on which
to elevate the man who should laud his country
to the skies with a more devoted and vehement
enthusiasm than another, my honest triend was
the person to whom the honour of a living conse-
cration should have been assigned. Recollecting,
as I then did, the affirmative opinions and declara-
tions of Captain Basil Hall on this subject, and
uniting his theory with the practical illustration
alluded to, I confess I was quite inclined to agree
with him, and to think our kinsfolk, across the
Atlantic, the most marvellous blowers of the
Hi
m
86
AMERICAN VANITY.
trampet of their own fame that either modern
or ancient times had ever sounded. But possess-
ing, now, the light of better experience, I must
here make a similar distinction to the one which
I have previously made, in reference to the level-
ling principles of republican institutions — that I
have rarely found this passion to overpraise them-
selves prevalent in the higher and best-educated
classes of American society. Among the less
enlightened orders of their community — half-
schooled in knowledge, and therefore speaking
with the inflated confidence and the less degree
of modesty which ever accompany comparative
ignorance — I have, not unfrequently, heard this
excess of eulogium poured forth on the ** Father-
land " in disparagement of all the world beside.
But of the sensible and clever men whom it has
been my good fortune to meet in the States, and
some of whom I am happy to consider among the
number of my friends, I can scarcely remember
any who have, in this respect, " overstepped the
modesty of nature." One exception, however, in
the case of a well-informed and talented man, I
must make — not as being among the persons
whom I have met, but whose works I have read.
The publication referred to is entitled Notions of
the Americans^ picked up hy a Travelling Bache-
lor : in which the author throws out an insinu-
ation that he is a Frenchman — a foreigner at all
THE AMERICAN NOVELIST.
87
events — when it is perfectly understood that the
anonymous writer is the American novelist — not
Mr. Washington Irving. The fictitious character
under which this gentleman writes, is evidently
assumed for a double purpose ; first, of praising
America, and every thing attaching to it, beyond
all the bounds of reasonable eulogy, as a supposed
disinterested strancjer in the country, and whose
views and opinions, therefore, were entitled to uni-
versal credit, from their entire impartiality and ho-
nesty of feeling; and, in the next place, under
the garb of the same impartial and unprejudiced
sentiments, reflecting with considerable asperity
on England, and on most subjects of English
association. This was, certainly, a ruse de guerre
scarcely worthy of the candour and talent of an
enlightened man, and the straight-forwardness of
a republican. With respect to the first point, I
should have passed it over with a smile : indeed,
ardent love of country is highly laudable, and will
excuse much of over-zeal in praising it ; and,
bating somewhat of overflowing excess in his en-
comiums, I would have heartily joined him in the
homage of general and sincere admiration of his
natale solum. But I cannot regard with equal
complacency his evident hostility towards Eng-
land,* inasmuch as it appears tp be entertained
beyond the limits of fair and honourable rivalry.
Much as has been objected to Captain Hall, and
Hi .
mi
I
' *i5
1
(I
'I
(
88
THE AMERICAN NOVELIST.
Other writers, for supposed severity and injustice
of remark on the citizens of the United States,
still, I must confess, that whatever truth may be
in the objections made against any or all of these
writers, (by no means, I think, unfounded), there
can be no doubt — "no mistake" — as to the Ame-
rican author having vindicated his country's ho-
nour — if recrimination be such — by the expres-
sion of a jealous feeling towards the " old coun-
try," equal to what the others have evinced towards
the new one. I trust I shall not follow his ex-
ample. Indeed I find, candidly, much more to
admire than to condemn among our American
friends j and were it otherwise, I should still
consider myself bound, as well as inclined from
friendly feeling, to abstain from those invidious,
scornful, and contumelious observations, which
could only serve the very bad and uncharitable
purpose of provoking hatred between two nations
whose mutual interest it is to be more closely
united than any other two on earth, and which, I
truly hope, will one day come to pass !
Recurring to the point whence I have digress-
ed, with respect to the vanity and pretensions
of the Americans — and which I only in one
or two instances found overweening or offen-
sive among the well-educated ranks of society —
I must honestly, and with sincere gratification,
acknowledge, that they have great reason to he
THE UNITED STATES BANK.
89
vain, and to be filled with national exultation,
when it is considered how much they have done,
and what they have become, in so short a series
of years as that which has elapsed since their re-
volution. Take, for example, among a hundred
other objects of practical illustration, the capital
of Pennsylvania, whence I now address you ; and
after walking through its beautiful and regular
streets, lined with remarkably well-built and
handsome houses ; viewing its public edifices and
charitable institutions ; after strolling through its
verdant squares and public promenades, adorned
with trees and shrubbery of the richest and most
lovely verdure, and on a summer's evening lighted
up by the fairy lamps of the flitting fire-flies, — I
could easily conceive your sentiments. I think
you would agree with me that, with the exception
of the capitals of England and of Europe, you
will see in no country cities and towns that reflect
more credit and honour on the taste, on the arts,
on the sciences, and, still better, on the charitable,
moral, and religious feelings of its inhabitants,
than the city of Philadelphia.
The United States Bank, for instance, in this
place, is a truly splendid structure, of the Grecian
order ; and would, from the chasteness of its style,
and the beauty of its execution, vie in successful
rivalry with many of the classic edifices on the
European shores of the Atlantic. The plan of it
I ;
90
PENNSYLVANIA AND GERARD S BANKS.
is taken from the Parthenon at Athens; and its
material, of which excellent quarries have been dis-
covered in the neighbourhood, is of white marble.
It has two beautiful fronts, ornamented with por-
ticoes and fluted Doric columns ; the ascent from
the street to the principal entrance being by a
handsome flight of marble steps. Besides this,
in another part of the city, and of the Ionic order,
is the Bank of Pennsylvania, composed also of the
same costly material, and formed on the model of
the ancient Temple of the Muses on the Ilissus ;
while, in another direction, you observe a third
marble structure appropriated to the same pur-
pose, belonging to Mr. Gerard, considered the
richest man in the Union. This latter, by a tasteful
variety of style, is constructed after the Corinthian
order, and is decorated by a splendid row of six
Corinthian columns.
And now, limiting my observation, for the
present, to buildings of this kind, and of which
I have just given you three most elegant speci-
mens, I am compelled, in justice to the Americans,
to say, that I have never seen in any one city,
great or small, of the four quarters of the globe,
three banks that could be compared in taste, ma-
terial, design, or execution, with those of Phila-
delphia. One such, in a town, I have seen, but
three never! I state this fact thus broadly, and
fearless of contradiction, as I shall continue to do,
ENGLISH FEELING MISREPRESENTED.
91
with equal impartiality, respecting the various ob-
jects that may come under my observation; because
it strongly appears to me to be the unhappy fashion
and bad taste of the day, to depreciate whatever
is American. Instead of sympathising with the
honest and laudable feelings of pride entertained
by our American kinsfolk, on account of the pro-
sperity of their country, which we ought to do, a
spirit of jealousy is diffused among us, unworthy
of a thousand associations of interest and good
fellowship that ought to cement between us an
indissoluble union. I allude to our public wri-
ters alone ; for I am very happy in believing
that these sentiments are not entertained by the
community at large, among which a much better
and more kindly feeling is spreading towards our
brethren in the States, that will, I sincerely hope,
rapidly grow up into a strong international com-
pact of unbroken friendship.
Though I feel rather delicate in giving you de-
scription after description of various cities, build-
ings, institutions, &c. for fear of wearying your
patience with the frequent monotony that must
necessarily accompany it ; yet, as it is impossible
to form even the rudest idea of a place unless
some little outline be given, how straggling soever
it may be, and as this is considered the most
regularly beautiful city in the Union, I shall not
close my letter without giving you a few more
notices about it. I must state, however, for your
M
92
SITUATION OF PHILADELPHIA.
encouragement, that I will spare you as often and
as much as I can, consistently with my design to
give you a fair, unvarnished, unprejudiced de-
lineation of America such as she is, and as I
found her in 1831. I will faithfully promise you
one thing for the future, as I pledge you my can-
dour with respect to the past, that I will
" Nothing extenuate, nor set down aught in malice."
I shall commence, then, by informing you that
the position of Philadelphia is on the right bank
of the Delaware, which is here about a mile
broad, and 126 miles from the sea, and was
founded by the benevolent William Penn, in
1682. The city possesses, according to the census
of last year, a population of upwards of 167,000
inhabitants; and received, in 1829, into its port,
374 vessels from foreign countries, and 2210
coastwise ; and in 1830, 415 from abroad, and
3287 belonging to the States. After New York,
therefore, it ranks the first, according to its num-
bers; and is, in consequence of its rectangular
form, the most regularly constructed of all the
cities of the States. The streets, which are kept
remarkably clean, intersect each other at right
angles, and present, in all directions, handsome
public buildings and private residences, and are
adorned, on both sides, by rows of flourishing trees,
giving the whole a highly interesting character,
and the semblance of a rus in urhe. Indeed,
DESIGNATION OF STREETS.
93
the family of trees have given their names to
many of the principal streets ; such as Cliestnut
Street, Walnut, Spruce, Pine, &:c., while the rest
are, singularly enough, and with bad taste I
think, considering how copiously the vegetable
world would have supplied much better names to
the remainder, called after the numerals ; begin-
ning with what is called *' First Street," and con-
tinuing as far as " Fifteenth," or " Sixteenth Street."
The houses are particularly neat ; more uniform
in size and quality, as are also those of New York
and Baltimore, than are usually found in Euro-
pean towns, and of which the brickwork is much
to be admired, having a tinge given to it of a
fresher and brighter colour than what is generally
used in England, and being cemented together
with the greatest nicety.
As colonized immediately from England, un-
der a variety of interesting circumstances, I have
given you below a comparative view of its popu-
lation, as well as that of the State in which it is
situated, at different periods from its origin ; evin-
cing the great rapidity with which both have
advanced. Indeed, so great was the increase in
the city, that in less than a century, and in the
lifetime of the first person born in it of European
parents, it was calculated to contain 6,000 houses,
and 40,000 inhabitants, including the suburbs.
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94
TABLES OF POPULATION.
Population of Pennsylvania at different Periods.
In
Population.
1701
20,000
17G3
280,000
1790
434,373
1800
602,545
1810
810,001
1820
.. 1,049,313
1830
.. 1,347,072
Increase.
1701-17G3 260,000
1763-1790 154,373
1790-1800 168,172
1800-1810 207,546
1810-1820 239,222
1820-1830 298,659
Slaves.
3,737
1,706
795
211
386
Population of Philadelphia at different Periods.
In Population.
1731 12,000
1753 18,000
1790 42,520
1800 70,287
1810 96,664
1820 119,325
1830 167,811
In Dwellings.
1700 700
1749 2,076
1763 2,969
1776 5,460
1790 6,651
1801 11,200
1810 15,814
Perhaps the most interesting (to an American)
of all the buildings in the city is the State-house,
where the Declaration of Independence was signed
on the 4th of July, 1776, and whence it was pro-
claimed to the then rebellious colonies. It is one
of the oldest in the city, and is to be venerated
more on account of its moral associations than of
its architectural design. Independence Square,
at the head of which it is situated, as also Wash-
STATE HOUSE.
95
the
irigton Square, a short distance from it, n
two beautiful promenatles of the city, full of the
most luxuriantly-growing trees and shrubs of the
freshest verdure. Having ascended to the tower
of the State-house, where a highly interesting view
of the town and its environs is enjoyed, I had the
great bell pointed out to me, that solenmly tolled
the event of their declared independence to the
enthusiastic inhabitants of that stirring period ;
and which I was informed was rung, for the last
time, on the passing of the Catholic Emancipation
Bill. So that it would seem, whatever may be
the reverse of the picture on the European side of
the Atlantic — and of which, I feel rejoiced to
say, I am not one who believes in the general
existence of it — that American sympathy is not
withheld from Great Britain on the occurrence
of circumstances calculated to consolidate her in-
terest or happiness. May the feeling be cherished
on both sides, and the competition between us,
henceforward, be a Christian rivalship in the
arts of peace and mutual good-will!
I have alluded to the extreme cleanliness of
the streets of Philadelphia — an observation that
may, with justice, be extended to the whole city.
This is owing, in a great measure, to the un-
bounded supply of pure and excellent water pos-
sessed by its inhabitants, independent of their
national love of this essential quality of civilised
;■'.
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FAIR MOUNT WATER-WORKS.
life. The supply is sufficiently abundant to
admit of washing both streets and houses, as occa-
sion may require ; and, in case of fire, offers an
inexhaustible source for instantaneous application.
The fine and extensive water-works at Fair
Mount, whence the stream flows into the town,
situated on the romantic banks of the Schuylkill,
a couple of miles distant, are among the public
works of which the Philadelphians are justly
proud. The water is raised from the river into
reservoirs elevated upwards of 100 feet above its
surface, by means of machinery capable of forcing
up seven millions of gallons in the course of
twenty -four hours. These works have been
effected, at the same time, at an enormous ex-
pense, having cost (including the outlay of works
afterwards abandoned) 1,443,585 dollars ; though
the charge for raising the water j)er diem does
not amount to more than the trivial sum of four
dollars and a half. Nearly adjoining, lies Mr.
Pratt's garden, delightfully situated on the river,
and laid out in the English style, which, to an
American who has not crossed the Atlantic, is one
of the choses a voir. The banks of this romantic
stream are well worthy of a morning's drive, from
the varied beauty by which their continual mean-
derings are characterised, and the elegant country-
seats and hanging woods that embellish the margin
of the river.
PENNSYLVANIA ITOSPITAL.
d;
One of the most inh»re8tingf objects tlmt I
have visited, j^iiice I have been here, is the Peiin-
fiylvaiiiu IJospital; an adniimUe institution found'
ed by the excellent William Penn, and under the
government of the Society of Friends, of whom
there are many thoujiiands of resident inha))itants,
and whose superintendence over it is conducted
with great zeal, order, and judgment. It is a
handsome and spacious building, and contains
within its area a considerable extent of garden-
ground, adorned by orange and various other
trees, and particularly by a full-grown scion of
the tree under which Penn made his treaty with
the Indians. It is appropriated equally to insane
patients and to surgical and other cases. In one
of the rooms of the establishment, expressly built
to contain it, I was delighted to behold, in Ame-
rica, that splendid picture by West, of " Christ
healing the Sick in the Temple," and which I
had first seen in England. It was presented to
the institution by the late President of the Royal
Academy, and is, as you know, affect ingly beau-
tiful, as well in its execution as design. I re-
mained gazing on it for nearly two hours, having
long sat out all the company who were present
when I entered the room, or who came after-
wards ; till, at last, I became so absorbed and
abstracted in its contemplation, that I fell fast
asleep, and might have continued in that state
VOL. I. F
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98
ACADEMY OF ARTS.
ni >
for a couple of hours longer, had not the attend-
ant disturbed me by coming into the apartment
to see what I was about — suspecting, possibly,
that I might be packing up the picture and
walking off with it.
I was as much delighted by seeing, in another
part of the city, the equally fine and interesting
painting, by the same celebrated artist, of " Christ
Rejected," and which has been lately brought
across the Atlantic, for exhibition, by the late
President's son, to whom it belongs. From the
statement he made to me respecting the large
sums of money that he has realised, in con-
sequence of the numbers of persons who have
crowded to see it in all the towns whither he
has taken it, I should augur very favourably
with regard to an increasing taste for the fine
arts among the citizens of the republic. In this
belief I feel confirmed, by having lately attended
an exhibition of native talent, diversified by the
works of foreign painters, in the Academy of Arts
— a neat building devoted to this laudable pur-
pose, and which presents a very creditable display
of rising genius, and several specimens of good
painting, particularly by Alston, who stands at
the head of his profession. This institution, I
understand, offers an annual exhibition to the
public, and is the true and, indeed, only mode of
forming national taste.
Several of the foreign
LITERARY ESTABLISHMENTS.
99
paintings are the property of Joseph Buonaparte,
who resides in unostentatious retirement in the
neighbouring village of Bordentown ; — one of
them being by David, the French artist, and
represents Napoleon crossing the Alps ; and ano-
ther, a portrait of Josepli himself, as King of
Spain. In addition to these, the Academy con-
tains a collection of statues, among which aie
Canova's Graces ; and various busts, some in
marble and others in plaster.
The literary and philosophical establishments
in this fine city are at once numerous and hij^hly
respectable, reflecting much credit on the moral
and intellectual character of its inhabitants. Of
the former, constituting the city library and the
most considerable, is the Franklin Institute, con-
taining 24,000 volumes, and which owes its origin
to the great man from whom it borrows its name.
The others are the Loganian collection, forming
about 11,000 volumes ; the Atheuseum, consisting
of 5,300 ; and the Academy of Natural Sciences,
comprising about 5000. Of the latter, is the
Philosophical Society, whose library contains
about COOO, and their rooms a valuable appa-
ratus of scientific and philosophical instruments.
With respect to sf'holastic instruction, the oldest
seminary of learning in Pennsylvania is the one
that was incorporated by William Penn, the
jW
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k
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100
SHIP PENNSYLVANIA.
worthy founder of the city, under the title of
" Free Public Schools."
Of course, as an Englishman, I paid a visit
to the navy-yard of Philadelphia, which struck
me as much superior to that of New York, in
neatness, arrangement, and in the greater quan-
tity of stores that it appeared to possess ; hav-
ing neither seen shot nor guns on visiting the
latter. It lies on the Delaware, about a mile
from the city, and contains — for which I went
especially to see it — the greatest naval curiosity
in the United States, or perhaps in the world :
being the largest line-of-battle ship that has ever
been built in any country. S?ie is called the
Pennsylvania. I am not quite sure, at the same
time, that there is not one still larger, by some
few inches, belonging to the Turks; but as the
latter do not know quite so well as the Americans
how to command their navv, it does not much
signify should it be true. However, be this as
it may, the Pennsylvania is certainly a superb
ship, and her timbers are magnificent. She has
four decks, and is intended to carry from 140
to 150 guns, and 1400 men — having counted,
myself, 160 port-holes, but which I afterwards
understood from a professional gentleman were
not all of them pierced for guns. To give you
some idea of her enormous size, I must state her
PRISOX DISCIPLIXE.
101
dimensions, which are the following: her entire
length is 220 feet ; her breadth of beam, 57 feet ;
and from the upper deck to the keel, in depth,
45 feet.
That this splendid specimen of naval archi-
tecture may remain on the stocks, a mere gazing
wonder, till her timbers drop from her in absolute
decay, is my most sincere wish — founded on the '
best, because the most charitable, of all reasons ;
namely, that no future time may ever behold the
two nations again engaged in hostile collision
with each other. In this case, the proud Penn-
sylvania will never, most probably, ** gallantly ride
the waves," to hurl the thunderbolts of war, and
thus break a peace which I trust will be eternal.
And, now, in order to preserve my uncon-
scionably long letter from the flames before you
shall have come to the conclusion of it, I promise
to give you, for the present, but a single descrip-
tion more, and one or two observations respecting
the new penitentiary which has been lately erected
at this place, with the view of trying an experi-
ment on prison discipline. As the Americans have
bestowed deep and close attention on this subject,
you will wish to hear something about it, though
I cannot now give you a comparative opinion till
I shall have seen the rest. The principle consists
in the prisoners being kept in the closest solitary
confinement; the excellence or disadvantage of
Si
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102
PENITENTIARY AT PHILADELPHIA.
which is intended to be tested by a trial of the
effects flowing from the practice here as compared
with the system adopted at Sing Sing and at
Auburn, the two principal prisons in the State
of New York. In these latter the prisoners are
allowed the consolatory indulgence of working
together, under the supervision of inspectors, yet
still without being permitted, for a single moment,
to hold oral communication. The prison itself
is an extensive square, of handsome granite con-
struction; and its appearance, particularly that
of the gates, has, at a distance, a considerable re-
semblance to a fortress. The interior is formed
in radiated lines from a common centre, like the
originally projected streets of Washington from
the Capitol. Th:s centre is a small octagonal
room, placed in the middle of the square, and
occupied by one of the keepers, from which the
galleries immediately branch off; so that with
a glance of his eye, turning round on his heel,
he can look down every one of them, and ascertain
in an instant if all is right ; the reverberation of
sound, in consequence of the arched roofs, being
such, that the slightest disturbance, or attempt
to escape, is immediately heard. The cells are
formed on each side of these galleries, and through
the smallest imaginable hole in the doors of them
each prisoner's occupation is at once and thorough-
ly discovered. Of this unseen supervision, as the
PENITENTIARY AT PHILADELPHIA.
103
unhappy felon is perfectly conscious, without the
possibility of his knowing when the eye of the
keeper may be upon him, he is kept in a state of
constant fear and of constrained good behaviour,
beyond what lie would feel if his gaoler were
present before him.
The wretched beings who are here immured, —
some of them for a long series of years, propor-
tioned to their crimes, — are never permitted to
see the countenance of a human creature, except oc-
casionally their keeper, and sometimes the clergy-
man who attends to their spiritual reformation,
to assist whose admonitions Bibles are placed in
each cell. For the general and profitable occu-
pation of their time, work is now given to them,
contrary to the former practice, according to the
business they may have exercised ; and if ignorant
of any, they are taught some kind of trade, which
may support them in honesty after the term of
their incarceration shall have been completed. It
was, in the first instance, gravely determined, no
doubt with good motives, but with a most mis-
taken judgment, to condemn to solitary confine-
ment without labour ; the eftect of which, leaving
out of consideration the negative consequence of
the loss of profit arising from their work, would
have operated, I fear, more on the brain than on
the heart. If the former, however, should have
remained untouched, it would have left a vicious
^>'-
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104
PENITENTIARY AT PHILADELPHIA.
mind more than ever a prey to the dissolute work-
ings of its own unoccupied thoughts ; and, in the
end, it would have been indisputably discovered,
that the ** last state of that man would have been
worse than the first." With respect to the success
of this experiment, besides being half-a-dozen
times more costly than other prison establish-
ments, it appears, to my humble judgment, likely
to end in failure ; for I am strongly inclined to
believe, that the supposed superior reformation of
morals, expected to be derived from the system,
would, in the majority of instances of persons
confined for a series of years, terminate in self-
murder or insanity. The former would be dis-
posing effectually, and forever, of these unfortunate
wretches ; but which neither humanity could
justify, nor the wished-for operation of the prin-
ciple, by the benevolent persons who have proposed
it, is intended to produce. But, even on the argu-
ment that the moral reformation contemplated in
this penitentiary would equal that which is at-
tained, as I understand, at Auburn and at Sing
Sing, still its enormously greater expense would
proportionably decrease its value. So that to raise
this system, with all its additional cost, into a
preference, it must be clearly proved that the
moral consequences are xr.oic extensive and per-
manent than either of the other two ; for, if only
equal, it would be bad from the excess of expense.
PENITENTIARY AT PHILADELPHIA.
105
I am credibly informed, that the work performed
by the criminals in the two prisons referred to, in
the State of New York, exceeds in value the cost
incurred in maintaining the establishment. This
is a considerable advantage; and which, when
coupled with the steady habits of industry taught
their guilty inmates, and the comparative cheer-
fulness in which their minds are kept, by seeing
around them the signs of humanity in the persons
of their fellows in misfortune, though not allowed
to communicate with them either by word or sign,
will, I think, beyond a doubt, establish the claim
of the latter to a priority in excellence over the
penitentiary at Philadelphia. I shall now leave
the subject, and refer to it again in a future letter,
after having paid a visit to these prisons, or one
of them, as they are both on the same principle,
in the course of my tour.
I cannot conclude this, I fear, wearisome letter,
without informing you of what I know you will
be gn tified to learn ; and to which, I am aware,
you will assign the first place, both as to import-
ance and interest, among the various public edifices
and institutions already brought to your notice.
It is this — a good sign, you will allow, that religion
is by no means neglected in the capital of Penn-
sylvania — there are in the city eighty-eight
churches, chapels, and other places of public wor-
ship ; accompanied too, which is the best praise
f2
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106
ANECDOTE.
of the community that either I or any one else
can bestow on them, by every appearance that
religion is not a nominal, but a vital feeling,
among the inhabitants. To this all-essential topic
I shall recur on a future occasion, when I shall
have more leisure, and you will have recovered
from the effects of the large epistolary dose which
I have just administered to you. I feel inclined,
nevertheless, to relate to you an anecdote respect-
ing what occurred to a very gentlemanly Swede
at Philadelphia, whose acquaintance I had the
pleasure of forming, as illustrative of the tone of
morality pervading as v.ell the lower as the higher
classes of society. His name, which is somewhat
singular, is " Damme ;" and it appears that, after
remaining a few days at the hotel, he was stepping
into the coach in order to leave the town, when,
in consequence of the servant having omitted to
receive the amount of his bill from some one of
the passengers, and not being aware which of the
gentlemen it was, he inquired his name. My ac-
quaintance immediately replied, " Damme !" The
servant looked rather astonished, but fancying he
must have misunderstood the answer, repeated
the question ; when the other, supposing the man
was deaf, answered in a louder voice, '* Damme."
The domestic immediately on hearing the expres-
sion for the second time, and believing that the
gentleman was swearing at him for his interrup-
PUBLIC EriFICES.
107
tion, instead of simply giving his name, regarded
him with a very stern countenance, and said,
** Sir, we are not accustomed to hear such lan-
guage as this in Philadelphia," and instantly
turned from him in the greatest indignation !
Of the remaining public buildings unnoticed,
I shall content myself by merely naming them ;
and which, as a faithful journalist, I could not
avoid doing. These are, the United States mint,
just constructed, and highly beautiful both in
design and execution ; the university, accounted
the most richly endowed in the States, and of
imposing appearance ; an elegant model of an
asylum for the deaf and dumb ; a handsome
masonic hall and theatre ; a museum, in which,
among a vast variety of curiosities, is seen the
most perfect skeleton of the mammoth that was
ever exhibited, &c. &c. And were I, in addition,
to describe to you the various, and some of them
prodigious canals, forming in different parts of
the State of Pennsylvania, and which the year
before last were under contract, and amounted in
extent to 428 miles, of which the Pennsylvania
canal alone is to run through a course of 314
miles, I should add as much more to my over-
charged letter as what I have already given you.
But I am quite satisfied; though I am rather
afraid that, with respect to yourself, I have greatly
overstepped the boundary as to length, within
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108
PROSPERITY OP THE UNITED STATES.
which your satisfaction would have been more
unqualified, and your patience less disturbed.
However, a review of what I have now given you
respecting Philadelphia, as well as my previous
accounts of New York, Baltimore, and Washing-
ton, will, I am sure, quite convince you of the
great and growing prosperity, enterprise, industry,
power, and resources of the people of the United
States. And, now, adieu!
109
LETTER V.
Bordentown — Joseph Buonaparte — Sudden Cliange of Tem-
perature — Climate of the States — Anniversary of American
Independence — Universal Rejoicings on the occasion —
Dinners — Processions, Fireworks, &c. — Beauty of the
American Ladies — Calashes to conceal their Charms —
Museum at New York — Passage up the Hudson to West
Point — Military Academy at West Point.
vr
:1
West Point, 6th Juli/, 1831.
MY DEAR FRIEND,
After passing upwards of a week
in the beautiful city of Philadelphia, much de-
lighted and interested with the varied and gratify-
ing objects which it contains, so worthy of the
notice of a traveller; and not the less pleased that
I could eat my dinners at leisure, and in Christian
comfort, at that excellent hotel the Mansion-house,
without the necessity of bolting my meals, as at
New York, at the risk of sundry indigestions, I
arrived once more at the capital of Manhattan
island. I reached New York just in time to wit-
ness the overflowing effusions of patriotism con-
sequent on the anniversary of the national inde-
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BORDENTOWN.
pcndence. Anxious, however, to see the gallery
of paintings, sculpture, and other curiosities, of the
ex-King of Spain, Joseph Buonaparte, I stopped
on my way at Bordentown, a small village on
the Delaware, twenty-eight miles from Philadel-
phia, In the immediate vicinity of which he resides,
in all the seclusion of the most retired private
gentleman. Unfortunately, the Comte de Sur-
villiers, the title he assumes, was absent ; having
left Bordentown only the day before ; and his
mansion was closed to all the world, except to the
servants who had charge of it, and who had orders
never to shew it during his absence ; in conse-
quence, as I understood, of some injury having
been done to one or two of the statues, on a pre-
vious occasion, when their owner was from home.
I was obliged, therefore, to content myself by
rambling about his extensive pleasure-grounds,
and enjoying, from the pavilion erected on the
banks of the river, the splendid scenery of the
Delaware. Though apparently identified with the
republic, having now resided within it for many
years, yet the count stands aloof altogether from
politics, having never exercised the rights and
functions of a citizen of the States. This does not,
of course, prevent him from being highly respected
by his neighbours, among whom he bears the
character of an amiable and charitable man.
On proceeding afterwards to New York, I ex-
VICISSITUDES OP WEATHER.
Ill
perlenced, while in the steam-boat, one of those
sudden vicissitudes of weather so frequent in the
climate of North America, and which, on the
present occasion, contrasted rather too violently
with the previous operation of jolting in a coach
from Bordentown to New Brunswick. This I
had just undergone, with nine inside, on a sultry
morning, and your humble servant s(|neozcd
almost to the consistency of calfs-foot jelly
between two corpulent Americans, while, ever
and anon, our coach was tossing and pitching
about like a little schooner in the Bay of Biscay.
The day had been remarkably warm, and, as an
agreeable relief, I had been cooling myself under
the slender covering of a white linen jacket, or,
as it is termed here, " roundabout;" when, almost
instantaneously, without any previous symptoms
of change, just as we entered the river Uuriton,
a raw, chilly, damp wind commenced blowing,
and was shortly afterwards succeeded by as com-
plete a drizzly Scotch mist as I ever felt on the
highland moors of Old Caledonia. I was very
" fain," as the rustics say, to pull off my lawn
sleeves, or what was nearly as thin, and quite as
comfortless, and put on good honest broad-cloth,
and felt quite disposed to throw a well-lined cloak
over that, but which I had left behind me at New
York. To supply the deficiency, however, I
walked below deck into the cabin, where I re-
'.■iiii
112
CLIMATE OF AMERICA.
mained till we reached our destination. I had
not my thermometer within reach, and therefore
could not consult it ; hut I should imagine that the
mercury must have fallen at least fifteen degrees
in the course of half an hour, which, in the
month of July, was an atmospheric occurrence
that I had not expected to meet with.
I may as well take the present occasion to
observe, with respect to the climate of the States,
that though the weather is much hotter in sum-
mer, and colder in winter, than in England, yet
it appears to me, from several previous instances,
though not so remarkable as that which I have
just mentioned, that the changes of American
temperature are more rapid and violent than they
are found to be on our side of the Atlantic ; pro-
verbially variable, notwithstanding, as our climate
is. With regard to the extremes of summer's
heat and winter's cold, in the northern and middle
states of the Union, I believe it is not unusual, in
the former season, to see the mercury rise to 90
and 100, nor, in the latter, to see it fall in some
seasons to 20 degrees below zero.
The greater intensity of heat and cold which
is found to prevail in the United States beyond
what is perceptible in Europe, under the same
parallels, is a subject of interesting inquiry. The
thermometer, in the New England States, is ascer-
tained to fall as low as zero more frequently than
in
CLIMATE OF AMERICA.
113
it is seen to be depressed to the freezing point, in
a similar latitude, on the eastern shores of the At-
lantic. The contrary extreme of heat in summer
is, likewise, more considerable by between ten and
twenty degrees. The problem, with respect to this
remarkable difference of climate, is attempted to
be solved, and with much appearance of reason, by
the consideration of the respective countries being
situated on different sides of the ocean, and by the
prevalence of westerly winds. In America, these
latter constitute a land-wind, and produce, as a
necessary consequence, confirmed by observation,
greater cold in winter, and heat in summer;
while the very reverse takes place on the opposite
shores of the Atlantic, where the same westerly
current of air, proceeding from the water, gives
mildness to the winter, and refreshes the summer
months with cooling breezes.
I observed, that I just arrived in time to wit-
ness the ceremonies of the '* glorious 4th of July,"
being the 55th anniversary of American Inde-
pendence ; and I must say, that the night which
preceded the ushering in of the " never-to-be-for-
gotten morning," was, if not the most restless,
certainly one of the most so, that I ever expe-
rienced in my life. From the hour of nine in the
evening, throughout the live-long night, were the
worthy and patriotic republicans signalising their
obstreperous joy for the forthcoming day, with
I
"§
114
THE AMERICAN FOURTH OF JULY.
the most noisy, discordant, stunning, and ceaseless
demonstrations of zeal, that ever mortal man, in a
state of unhappy drowsiness — for such, unfor-
tunately, was my case at the moment — was
doomed to suffer. Crackers, rockets, serpents,
guns and pistols, drums and trumpets, rattles,
frying-pans, marrow-bones and cleavers, and all
sorts of similar music, were in full operation at
the self-same moment ; — hissing, cracking, whiz-
zing, exploding, rumbling, clanging, rattling,
dinging, and braying, all the night long, and in
one combined and ceaseless chorus. I began, at
length, to believe that pandemonium had broken
loose, and got up to barricado the door. Ima-
gine to yourself, if you can, a more entirely
helpless state than the one in which I was placed :
in bed, naturally very sensitive of sound, the
candle put out, so drowsy that I could scarcely
open my eyes, and yet without the power of
closing; mv ears, which rendered the somniferous
operation of the other sense perfectly nugatory ;
for I should have had a chance of getting to sleep
if I could have shut my ears and opened my eyes.
Notwithstandinj^ all this — quite bad enough for
mortal man 1 ndure — I had not yet come to
the worst; for, in an instant, " at the witching
hour of night," all the church-bells in the town
began tolling and ringing with extraordinary and
mysterious violence ; on which, unable any longer
\
THE AMERICAN FOURTH OF JULY.
116
to maintain my recumbent position, I started out
of bed, and looking towards the window, beheld
a terrific mass of flame and smoke rising up be-
fore it, like an eruption from a volcano. I had
scarcely time to contemplate the awful confla-
gration before me, and which seemed raging at
no inconsiderable distance, when half-a-dozen
fire-engines came rattling along the street at a
most rapid pace, accompanied by a multitude of
people screaming out " fire !" with stentorian
voices, alarming the whole town from its propri-
ety — not awakening them, for I should imagine
that there was not one ** wink of sleep" enjoyed
on that memorable occasion by a single individual
in New York. In a state of forlorn hope as to
rest for that night, I now dressed myself, and
hearing persons moving about the passages of the
hotel, whom the alarm had called from their beds
equally with myself, I managed to obtain a light.
At first I entertained the idea of going to the fire ;
but, on second considerations, knowing but too
well what was the boisterous state of the town,
and that, from the multitudes of people in the
streets, there could be no lack of assistance in
putting it out, I determined to remain where I
was ; and took up a book, more in mockery, one
would imagine, than in real earnest, in order to
while away the wearisome hours. I looked fix-
edly on the book, to be sure, but without reading,
116
THE AMERICAN FOURTH OF JULY.
or at least understanding, a single word ; till at
length the joyful morning broke upon me, I will
venture to say with as much real joy, from grate-
ful contrast to the horrors of the night, as it did
on the most merry-minded and stout-hearted vin-
dicator of American Independence.
On walking through the town after breakfast,
I found that a whole " block" of houses had been
burnt down ; and was sorry to perceive (and not
for the first time), in one or two of the journals,
that it was strongly suspected to have been fired
by some diabolical incendiary. Have some of
our horrible stack-burners crossed the Atlantic,
to escape from the justice of their own country?
Whatever may be the cause of the frequent fires
that occur, and which I have no doubt, with pos-
sibly an occasional exception from incendiarism,
proceed from the circumstance of many of the
inferior houses being constructed of wood ; yet
I never was in a town where such constantly
occurring fires take place as in New York. I
have passed ten nights there; and I believe that
in nine out of the ten I have had my rest dis-
turbed in the "dead of night" by a conflagra-
tion somewhere or other — the ringing of church-
bells, an'alarm, and shouts of " fire!" and the rat-
tling of fire-engines, &c. With the dawning light,
however, all alarm, and every other consideration,
was absorbed in one great and universal senti-
THE AMERICAN FOURTH OF JULY.
117
ment. This, in short, was *' the day," '' the day
of all the year ;" and every thing was in com-
motion, and overflowing with as joyous an ex-
hibition of private and public feeling as can well
be conceived. The genius of republican triumph,
represented by that potent personage the " ma-
jesty of the people," typified by the moving
masses of exulting thousands that filled the streets,
stepped with every foot, and lighted up every
eye ; and, in addition to the delicate jocularities
and interesting serenade of the previous never-
to-be-forgotten night — still increasing and swell-
ing louder and louder as the day advanced — were
now superadded the congratulatory roarings of a
hundred discharges of cannon. Next came on a
grand military parade, — the various regiments
and detachments, in full muster, with bands
playing and flags waving, passing in a kind of
review through the principal streets of the city ;
while the corporations and other processions of
the different trades, their banners displaying all
the colours of the " many-tinted iris," staiked
along in all the enthusiasm of feelings big with
the bright remembrance of the day of their liber-
ation.
The Aii^iericans, like the English, in good honest
John Bull fashion, nourish the sentiment that
interests them with a luxurious dinner and gene-
rous wines. These, served up with a dessert of
. "if
118
DINNERS AND SPEECHES.
highly -flavoured speeches on independence and
love of country, and garnished by a spice or two
of side-long jealousy of the " old country," which,
on such an event, could scarcely be expected to
be otherwise, but is, I hope, fast wearing away,
serve to cherish and keep warm the passion till
the revolving anniversary shall again come round.
This ** feast of reason and flow of soul," there-
fore, took place at the City Hall, where, I must
say, the highly tasteful arrangement of the dinner-
tables, of which there were five, and the decora-
tions of the room, would have done no discredit
to a corporation-dinner in London.
The 4th of July, in short, is the American 5tli
of November, kept up with not merely a national,
but univi^rsal enthusiasm, spread through all the
ranks of society, infinitely beyond the mere boy's
play of our anti-popery festival. At their anni-
versary dinners, in celebration of this jubilee,
public oralors are expressly appointed to com-
memorate, in speeches brimful of the amor
patrict, their emancipation from a despotism
which they consider themselves as happy to have
escaped as we from the tyranny of Catholic as-
cendency.
As the better and fairer half of creation are,
by the unchanging laws of corporation- dinners
and aldermanic feasts, entirely excluded from all
participation in the revels — with what taste and
111
ye
|s-
11
id
THE LADIES OF AMERICA.
119
justice to the fair, though unpolitical sex, I shall
not stop to inquire — a lighter repast oi unintoxi^
eating fire-works was, in the present instance,
prepared for them in the Battery Gardens. As
the shades of night thickened around, a crowd of
belles, distinguished alike for beauty and Parisian
costume, flocked to the giy and illuminated am-
phitheatre, equally eager, with the ruder sex, to
testify their exuberant patriotism on this joyous
day. I may here take the opportunity of saying,
before I explode the fire-works and terminate the
gala, that, with respect to the personal attractions
of the ladies of the United States — having now
seen four of the principal towns of the Union — I
must frankly acknowledge that I do not think
they have, by any means, degenerated by being
transplanted from the British to the American
soil ; and on the supposition of their possessing as
much real wo"th as personal beauty, which I am
most willing to concede to them, they need ask
from nature no other boon in order to render
them at once both pleasing and estimable. The
ladies of Philadelphia appeared to me, as far as
my limited opportunities of seeing them extended,
to possess as many claims to this distinction as any
that I have seen elsewhere ; but they struck me as
being too recluse in their habits, in comparison with
the New York ladies — too covetous of their charms,
by secluding themselves at home, as if they had all
:n
vm
I. '4
■■I m
'i'
m
tlHtHt'H
whm
tf.Jn
!i
120
THE LADIES OF AMERICA.
taken the ** veil," and converted their houses into
so many nunneries, — that, like certain roses, or like
the wild flowers of the desert, tliey seem "born to
blush unseen." Their fair neighbours of Manhat-
tan island pursue a less exclusive course, and,
instead of wasting all their fragrance at home,
display beneath the glowing canopy of heaven the
beauty they have borrowed thence ; and if I could
only persuade them to exhibit their accomplish-
ments on the lovely terrace of the Battery, instead
of constantly perambulating the dusty avenues of
Broadway, I should flatter myself with having
done much to rescue that delightful promenade
from its present undeserved state of neglect, as
well as their taste from just criticism.
As I have commenced, in these reforming
times, to be somewhat of a reformer myself, I feel
inclined to try the experiment in a foreign land,
before I venture too deeply in my own ; and,
though apparently a very ungallant thing, the
first attack I should make would be directed
against the odious calashes worn so frequently by
the ladies of New York, and occasionally by those
of other cities. Being totally unaccustomed, in
England, to see this outlandish head-gear worn
by any of the sex, except by ancient matrons of
ninety or a hundred, I almost wondered on what
antediluvian generation I could have fallen, when,
on stepping on shore at New York, I beheld
III l!l!i
'III
PIRE-WORKS.
121
young ladies, possessing youth, beauty, and ele-
gance, eclipsing all their charms beneath so un-
becoming a costume. What the convenience may
be that is attached to it, or what the secret of the
toilette connected with its use, I cannot even
guess ; but as I have candidly confessed that
nature has been lavish in her gifts to them, it
would appear rather ungrateful to her, as well as
unjust to themselves, to conceal and disfigure the
work which she has taken so much care to adorn.
But the lights are now all extinguished, and
the fire-works exploding. The principal part of
the display, which was really excellent, consisted
of a representation of the French fleet attacking
Algiers, and was managed with great skill and in-
genuity. I noticed, however, that the fire-workers
supplied the barbarian batteries with three times
as much ammunition, and their cannon with
three times as many charges, as they did the
fleet ; which latter, as being victorious, may be
supposed to have had the advantage in rapidity of
firing, as in every other respect. The evening's
amusement went off admirably ; and, by eleven
o'clock, I was rejoiced to find every thing as much
hushed and as tranquil as the previous evening
had been deafening and distracting.
I omitted to mention one circumstance, con-
nected with the day, and which, as exhibiting a
very remarkable coincidence, may be worth re-
VOL. I. G
^;
ill . ^
122
AMERICAN MUSEUM.
lating. It is tlie death of Mr. Monroe, one of the
ex-Presidents, on the very morning of this anni-
versary ; he being the third ex-President of the
United States, out of seven who have fiUed the
presidental chair, who has died on the 4th of
July.
Before leaving New York, for the second time,
I visited the American museum, accounted the
aiost extensive of any in the States. It contains a
spice of every thing — birds, beasts, and fishes —
creatures crawling on the earth and under the
earth — from the pondvirous elephant down to the
slim English greyhound, of which there was a
stuffed specimen — and from a huge boa constric-
tor down to a mole. One of the rooms contained
a number of Indian warriors and their squaws, in
wax, dressed in their picturesque native costume ;
besides a thousand Indian implements and curi-
osities. But the most singular exhibition was
that of working the machinery of a cotton and
woollen mill, by means of four powerful mastift
dogs walking on a rotatory floor, and thus giving
motion to the wheels which put the whole into
action : the principle being similar to our jaunt
on the rail-road, to which I have previously al-
luded. The poor dumb animals were highly
sagacious, and appeared to know their business to
admiration, and only to want the gift of speech to
have enabled them to turn manufacturers them-
PASSAGE UP THE HUDSON.
123
selves. In the corner of another room I was
much interested hy seeing preserved a piece of the
coffin of the unhappy Major Andre, whose miser-
able fate, the Americans, to the credit of their
good and humane feelings, seem much to lament,
and his memory to respect.
On the 5th of July I took my departure, once
more, from New York, in order to proceed to
West Point, distant from it fifty miles, and situ-
ated on the lovely banks of the Hudson. This is
the site of the military academy of the United
States ; an excellent and interesting institution, of
which and of the enchanting scenery around it, I
shall give you some few details, that I hope will
please you. The day was clear and most inviting ;
though, to my more northern temperament, rather
too hot — the thermometer being between 80 and
90. A gentle breeze, however, came floating
along the placid waters of the Hudson, that
seemed to glow beneath the fervid rays of the sun,
throwing a charm of light and life over the ever-
varying landscape which met our eyes in every
direction. Under the awning of our noble steam-
boat, the North America — a mode of conveyance,
as I have said before, which constitutes the very
beau-ideal of luxurious travelling — I was at lei-
sure to enjoy the diversified prospect spread out,
like a map before me, on each bank of the river.
To the right lay the city, gleaming over the
(t
V'J
t'^f )-■■:■.
' li
124
PASSAGE UP THE IIUDflOK.
I
limpid and expansive stream, extending between
two and three miles along our course, present-
ing a proud array of churches and steeples, ma-
gaisines and storehouses, and the profiles of a
dozen handsome streets; while, on the opposite
sliore, distant from the town about a mile and
a quarter, is seen New Jersey city, delightfully
shaded with trees, and planted on a point of land
jutting out into the water. Farther on, appear
the beautiful pleasure-grounds of lloboken ; and
still onwards the fine semicircular sweep of the
woody heights of Wehawk, with the hills stretch-
ing away to the north, and the luxuriant meadows
that crown their sides. As we advanced we came
to the Palisadoes, a highly picturesque range of
rocks rising abruptly from the river, to the height,
in some places, of between 600 and 600 feet, and
extending for a distance of twenty miles along its
banks. With Tarrytown, which was pointed out
to me, some disagreeable associations were con-
nected ; for here it was that the unfortunate Major
Andre was made prisoner, during the war of the
Revolution, when on his return from a clandestine
meeting with General Arnold, with whom he had
been secretly treating for the surrendering of West
Point to the English, and who was afterwards
executed at Tappan, some distance higher up the
river.
Tappan Bay, where the town is situated, as
THE mOIILANDS.
12.1
well as tliiit of Haverstraw, liij^lier up tlin 8treain,
presents the greatest expansion of tlie river
throughont its course, and liears a perfect resem-
blance to a considerable lake — tlie breadtb from
sliore to sliore being about four miles. It is oppo-
site tlie northern extremity of the former bay, on
the left bank of the river, that the state-prison of
Sing Sing is situated ; the examination of which I
defern^d to a future opportunity, as 1 was anxious
to reach West Point.
And now we had what are called the High-
lands, or Fishkill Mountains, in full perspective
before us ; and, in a short time afterwards, found
ourselves passing under the deep shadows of their
beautiful and romantic sides. The mingling here
of the "sublime and beautiful" is no picture of
the imagination, but exhibits the magnificent crea-
tions of nature in her most engaging forms. These
mountains rise immediately and abruptly from
both banks of the river, along which they extend
through a distance of twenty miles, and present
as beautiful and varied a scenery, according to
my recollections, as the very finest portions of the
banks of the Rhine. To an American especially,
the interesting union of the moral association with
the natural charms of the ever-diversified land-
scape must be most grateful, as well for its effect
on the eye as on the heart ; for here, amid scenes
of the utmost wildness and grandeur, calculated
., .i
)■
s^" -m
126
THE HIGHLANDS.
to excite the coldest patriotism to deeds of chi-
valrous daring, were executed some of the im-
portant achievements of the revolutionary war.
You do not behold, it is true, the proud battle-
ments and picturesque fortresses, the fine old
baronial castles, " famed for deeds of arms,"
that crown, in stately pride, the rocky heights
and summits of the European river ; but an
American sees, and points out with exultation, the
sites of many a warlike exploit that occurred
during that eventful period, and which form for
him the classic ground of his native land. To
the most indifferent lover, however, of the pic-
turesque, the highland scenery of the Hudson
must come recommended by an all - awakening
interest ; nor, in the estimation of the far-travelled
eye, if I may so speak, will the recollections of
the favoured spots of the earth cast into shade
these secluded haunts of unexceeded loveliness.
Here, as on the Rhine, you behold the most de-
lightful and abrupt meanderings of the stream,
which, ever and anon, occasioned by the acute
angles of its shores, forms itself into the appear-
ance of broad and expansive lakes, to which there
seems no outlet at either end; while swelling
from the margin of the water, in graceful sweeps
and undulations, is beheld the verdant and lux-
uriant forest, clothed with stately and majestic
trees.
WEST POINT.
127
The view of West Point, where I left the
steamer, presents from the river an object of the
most romantic beauty, rising to a considerable
altitude above its waters, and spreading out into
a fine extensive terrace, overlooking the course
of the stream, and exhibiting, among other inter-
esting varieties, the simple but elegant marble
monument of the Polish patriot Kosciusko.
West Point was one of the strongest posts of
the Americans during the war, and offers a posi-
tion the most judicious that could possibly have
been selected for the establishment of a military
"oUege, which has been here erected. Several
unsuccessful attempts were made by the English,
at that period, to gain possession of the place ;
and, among these, was the fatal negotiation to
carry it by stratagem, entered into with Arnold,
the commanding officer of the American troops,
in consequence of which Major Andre lost his life.
The military academy was first established by
the government in 1802, for the admission of a
limited number of cadets, to the amount, I believe,
of 250. Here are taught all the various sciences
that constitute the practical knowledge and edu-
cation of a military officer, together with the
duties and minute details of a private soldier.
During a couple of months, in the fine season,
they are encamped on the noble plain outside
the college, where they are instructed in the
!(*■■
i; H
11
'ill:;
128
WEST POINT,
various evolutions of pitching and striking tents,
and in all the diversified operations of camp
discipline.
I was much surprised, on looking over the
tables exhibiting the number of cadets who had
been admitted into and had left this establishment,
to perceive the large proportion of those who,
after attaining various degrees of military science,
had retired altogether from the service, if so I
may term it. It would appear that in two or
three instances, taking the numbers according
to their classification in states, one half of the
students admitted had resigned and quitted the
academy; and taking the whole period, and the
aggregate number admitted, from the foundation
of the institution to the year 1828, more than
one-third had retired from it before the expiration
of the probationary four years, till which they
cannot be commissioned, in order to pursue other
avocations more congenial to their dispositions.
This seems to confirm the intention which I un-
derstood had been contemplated by the govern-
ment in the formation of the military school, —
that of affording, in the course of study pursued
there, an opportunity to numbers of young men
of acquiring a knowledge of the art of war, and
of the practical tactics connected with it, although
they might never, at the same time, intend mak-
ing it their profession ; but who would be qualified
WEST POINT.
129
to extend, in some measure, an acquaintance with
this necessary science through the different states
of the Union where they reside.
This plan accounts, at once, for the whole-
sale resignations which the tables announce ; and
evinces, in my humble opinion, considerable fore-
sight in the government, as to the extensive effects
likely to be derived from the academy. I find,
however, that Captain Basil Hall, in speaking
of the institution, in his work on the United
States, entertains a different opinion ; since he
says, in vol. i. p. 84 : "I suspect it neither will
nor can produce much good in the way proposed,
and fear, indeed, that it will not have the effect
of diffusing, so generally as its friends suppose,
any useful knowledge of those severer studies
which are followed at West Point." I confess it
appears to me to be impossible that so many
students, drawn from every state of the republic,
and many of whom have advanced themselves to a
respectable knowledge in the science, should not,
on returning home, though engaging in other em-
ployments, spread more or less, through the circles
in which they move, the elements of that art which
they have learnt at the military school — either
in training the militia, or organising more regular
troops on a sudden emergency. Such a practical
application of their knowledge must have, doubt-
less, a beneficial influence, to a greater or less
g2
i ,. I ■
! fv
!i:
I'y '
130
WEST POINT.
degree, on the operations of a future war. To
say the very least of it, these cadets would be
able to bring into effective exercise, in such an
event, the experience which they themselves had
acquired; and if nothing further should accrue
from the system, this of itself would be a sufficient
advantage to the general community. I cannot
help looking on them as a little band of military
schoolmasters, who, scattered through every corner
of the States, may be supposed to disseminate the
learning they have acquired.
As the table to which I have referred may
not be uninteresting to you — containing a list of
all those who have been admitted into the aca-
demy, and have left it, from its first institution
down to 1828 — I have copied it out for you, as
follows : —
ADMISSIONS AT THE MILITARY ACADEMY. 131
^
i
S
1
S
M
i
•
1
Maine
<
u
a
Q
5
a:
9
2C
3
6
2
New Hampshire
30
17
6
2
9
Massachusetts
91
53
32
3
2
12
Connecticut
39
14
48
27
5
38
9
4
8
1
2
3
2
8
4
4
Rhode Island
Vermont
New York
218
30
107
14
69
10
29
3
3
32
7
New Jersey
Pennsylvania
110
42
43
17
2
26
Delaware
18
75
6
31
7
29
2
11
1
4
12
Maryland
Virginia
140
62
50
31
49
18
21
18
63
30
27
13
24
7
3
2
1
1
2
20
13
7
9
North Carolina
South Carolina
Georgia
Kentucky
59
16
22
11
17
Tennessee
39
10
15
7
3
8
Ohio
44
14
15
5
13
6
7
2
1
14
4
Indiana
Louisiana
11
4
4
2
3
Alabama
8
2
2
3
3
Mississippi
9
4
4
2
Illinois
7
2
1
2
3
Missouri
14
6
8
3
5
2
2
1
2
Michigan
Arkansaw
2
1
1
1
England
1
1
1
Florida. ...,
3
1
District of Columbia
61
24
27
5
2
5
Not designated
Total
35
1289
1
540
18
477
9
162
202
39
With the buildings constituting the establish-
ment at West Point, and through which I passed,
I must acknowledge that I was disappointed,
&,. ''
■' ' 'ml *p\i
132
ARMY OF THE UNITED STATES.
having been accustomed to see, in the public
edifices of this country, solidity united with pure
taste, great elegance, and superior execution. The
former alone of these essentials of fine architec-
ture, distinguished the military school. But I
understand it has not been in very good odour
among the people of the United States, on account
of the expense incurred in keeping it up, amount-
ing annually, I believe, to 115,000 dollars; and
to which, probably, may be added a kind of
constitutional dislike, inherent in the principles
of republican governments, to any thing that
savours of a standing army, or that may be
considered as laying the foundation of one.
It will seem almost incredible to you, on
casting your eye over a map of the Union, and
considering the enormous extent of frontier re-
quired to be protected — if reference be alone
made to the occasional incursions of the Indians
— to learn that the entire army of the United
States does not exceed 6000 men. This is setting
no bad example to the States of Europe, the
general if not undisturbed tranquillity of which
would be, in no slight degree, secured if the small
amount of only two or three hundred thousand
men were struck off" the military roll of some of
them, in order to bring it down to the unaspiring
standard of a country which is, notwithstanding
this mighty contrast with respect to military
FORT PUTNAM.
133
power, half-a-dozen times larger, in extent of
territory, than that of some of the others.
The point whence the most delightful treat
is offered to the eye, among the numberless fine
positions of this place, is Fort Putnam ; a post of
ejreat natural strength, and of considerable im-
•ortance during . -x. revolution, erected on a con-
siderable elevation above the plain on which the
college is placed. From this eminence, as also
from the terrace below, though in a minor degree,
I beheld a scene of grandeur and variety that is
almost indescribable. Casting your view down-
ward, you perceive the academy, situated on a
spacious and verdant table-land, adorned by a
number of lovely little cottages, in which the
officers of the institution reside, contrasting their
white sides with the bright green foliage around
them. Farther on, you see the hotel ; a hand-
some building peering aloft over the tides of the
Hudson, which sweep around the base of this
table-land in a smooth and serpentine course.
Along the banks of the river the eye traces a
variety of picturesque villas, shaded and backed
by a splendid array of finely wooded mountain&t,
towering aloft in every varied form of outline ;
while the plains beneath present occasional em-
bellishments of richly cultivated fields waving
with corn, and orchards loaded with fruit. Look-
ing towards the north, you observe the noble river
H'
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S'V:)]
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134
FORT PUTNAM.
winding h*. silent and majestic course to the sea,
in a southerly direction, amid precipitous rocks
of great loftiness, till lost to sight around some
projecting headland ; and to the east and west
your admiruvion is powerfully excited by a sylvan
scene of extraordinary beauty and magnificence,
swelling and undulating, like immense billows,
in all the richness of unexcelled verdure.
The ensemble is perfect — casting, not into
shade merely, but absolutely into oblivion, the
comparatively puny charms of the Delaware, and
of every other place that I have yet seen in
America. Indeed, as far as this beau morceau
of exquisite scenery extends — in reference more
to beauty than to grandeur, though comprising
both — id of which I have attempted so ex-
tremely imperfect a sketch, I must say that I
do not recollect, at this moment, any thing supe-
rior to it in either Italy or Switzeiland; which
is bestowing every praise that can possibly be
conferred upon it.
I descended to the plain just in time to be
present at the evening parade of the cadets,
among whom I saw a number of very fine young
men ; and with respect to their kindness of man-
ner, and their amiable and gentlemanly attentions
to a stranger, I can speak in the most unqualified
terms ; for, had it not been for the studied polite-
ness of some of these young gentlemen, whom I
AMIABLE ATTENTIONS OF THE CADETS. 135
accosted on various occasions, I truly believe I
should have seen nothing at all of the interior
economy of tlie establishment. Unfortunately for
me, the superintendent of it, whom I understood
to be a very polite and estimable man, was absent
from West Point ; and a letter of introduction
which I had brought for him was consequently of
no use to me. I had imagined, nevertheless, that
tlie shewing of it to one of the officers whom I
casually met might have equally effected my
object. However, I was disappointed; nor was
I a solitary instance among the various parties
then visiting West Point for the same purpose.
Notwithstanding, I found afterwards, in the gene-
rous zeal of the cadets, many of whom most
kindly walked with me in a variety of directions
to point out the different curiosities, nothing of
amiable civility to be further wished for — nothing
further that was wanted or to be desired, except
— that their example should be imitated.
The evening previous to my leaving West
Point I paid a visit to the cadets' monunient,
which displays so interesting and beautiful an
object from the hotel. It is a marble structure,
small, though elegant ; but the scenery beheld
from it is absolutely enchanting — taking in a
fine sweep of the river, on the margin of which
it is conspicuously placed, hills and dales, moun-
tains and valleys, the academy, the hotel, a
i
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136
EPITAPH ON A TOMB.
J?,
lovely little village of white houses, corn-fields,
villas, orchards, romantic rocks, and waving
forests.
In wandering through a neat churchyard,
closely adjoining the monument, and musing
over the various epitaphs inscribed on its simple
tombs, I wasi much struck with the following
memorial engraved on one of them, to the
memory of an " only daughter," who died at the
early age of ten years. It speaks fresh and warm
from the heart, in language highly poetic and
elegant, and in a tone of the most touching ten-
derness — evincing the deep sensibility of the
writer, and forcing its way, by an irresistible
impulse, to the best sympathies of the passing
stranger. I need make no apology for copying
it. Thus it is: —
" Her presence to us was a fountain of sweetness,
Her mortal existence a bright dream of fleetness —
The chain ihat had bound her sweet spirit is broken,
The final farewell has been mournfully spoken ;
But long for her absence her friends will be weeping,
Who now in this silent green valley is sleeping !"
To-morrow I intend proceeding to the Catskill
Mountains, distant hence about sixty-two miles,
though extremely reluctant to leave this captivating
spot, to which, were I a resident of New York
or Albany, I should certainly pay a visit, for at
least a month, every year. The circumstances
CONCERTS AT WEST POINT.
137
under which I have paid my first visit to West
Point have heen douhly gratifying; for during
the day I was rambling about its rocks and
mountains, and every evening regaled by a little
concert of excellent music at the hotel, in which
some ladies from Boston and a gentleman from
New York were the obliging performers, and
who exhibited a taste and execution not often
met with in an amateur party thus indiscrimi-
nately assembled. The former sung, among other
interesting airs, the beautiful and affecting songs
of "Alice Gray" and "The Soldier's Tear," which
— lover of good music as I am, and having so
recently heard expressively executed in my own
dear country, three or four thousand miles off —
touched, I confess, a chord that vibrated through
every nerve.
I shall now lay down my pen, less from
weariness in holding it any longer, than from
compassion to yourself. Adieu !
.,„ I,
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138
LETTER VI.
Pope — Invention of Letters — Cadmus — Catskill Mountains —
Pine Orchard — Splendid View thence — Fine Temperature
on the Mountain — Singular Appearance of the Fog —
Kaaterskill Falls — Corduroy Road — Town of Hudson —
Lebanon.
Nao Lebanon Springs, iOth July, 1831.
MY DEAR FRIEND,
Amid all the regrets consequent on
the reflection, that such a weary distance intervenes
as that which now separates us, and puts such an
impassahle barrier to all other communication,
except to the one of which I am now so agreeably
availing myself, it is no small gratification, — since
we cannot diminish its length, roll away the
ocean, or " annihilate space and time," — that we
can, nevertheless, hold a communion of thought,
and reciprocate exchanges of sentiment and mu-
tual good wishes. Surely Pope himself must have
been in America, or in some land equally distant,
and must, therefore, have experienced those con-
solations which he paints with so much poetic
truth, when he says:
" Heaven first taught letters for some wretch's aid,
Some banished lover, or some captive maid ;
I
INVENTION OF LETTERS.
139
They live, they speak, they breathe what love inspires,
\\ arm from the heart, and faithful to its fires ;
« « « « •
Speed the soft intercourse from soul to soul,
And waft a sigh from Indus to the Pole.''
Be this as it may, however, the invention of
letters — I mean those of the alphabet — consti-
tuted a sublime era in the hi-.tory of civilised
man ; and to the riatchless art of the immortal
Cadmus is the human race more indebted for
the superlative benefits that have emaiinted from
it, than to all the combined goo.' of every age
and nation that has flowed in lipon mankind,
since the creation of the iv<i'ld, with ojcj single
exception — the glorious revelation of the Christian
religion. For, whether we regard the pangs of
separation, which their soothing effects are so cal-
culated to assuage, or contemplate the still more
consolatory and elevating effects on the mind, of
laying open to it the varied and endless treasures
of divine truth, as of human knowledge, it must
be considered, i»^ this light, the supreme good of
earthly attainm«.i t that has ever been accom-
plished — the real philosopher's stone, that turns
every thing into gold. The twenty-six simple
letters of the alphabet display a triumph of the
mind ten thousand times more illustrious than
the proudest triumphs over the body, whether of
" Grecian or of Roman name," than the aggre-
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140
INVENTION OF LETTERS.
gate triumphs of all the conquerors that ever
lived, and who have " waded through slaughter
to a throne."
With respect to the delightful and dignifying
enjoyments to he derived from human learning,
which this peerless discovery has afforded to man-
kind, I cannot resist quoting that most heautiful
and expressive passage of the Roman orator, which
has dwelt in my memory ever since I was a hoy
at school, where he observes : " Hsec studia ado-
lescentiam alunt, senectutem oblectant, secundas
res ornant, adversis perfugium ac solatium prse-
bent; delectant domi, non impediunt foris; per-
noctant nobiscum, peregrinantur, rusticantur."
From the book of knowledge, however, I must
now hurry you away to contemplate the book of
nature, from the summit of the Catskill moun-
tains, whither our noble steamer gallantly coursed
her way, at the rate of twelve miles an hour, on
the morning when I left West Point. This is one
of the choses a voir, in passing along the Hudson,
which the tourist, whether of American or Euro-
pean paterrity, neglects not to see. Latterly, in-
deed, it has become, during three of the summer
months, quite a place of fashionable resort, in
consequence of the superior accommodations fur-
nished by a handsome and spacious hotel, lately
erected there by a joint-stock company, and where
the double advantage is enjoyed of a fresh and
SCENERY ON THE HUDSON.
141
pure air during the sultry weather, and of a mag-
nificent prospect.
On leaving West Point, we passed between
the two splendid ranges of mountains that tower
aloft from each bank of the river, forming a most
romantic vista along the surface of the stream,
and terminated by the pretty town of Newburgh,
at the distance of about ten miles. The view from
the hotel, through this deep and extensive rent in
the mountains, which the force of the water in
former ages is supposed to have effected, is rather
to be seen than described ; but the eye that has
once gazed upon it will often turn again, in un-
fading imagination, to retrace the lovely scene.
On the opposite side of the river, to Newburgh,
though removed to some distance from it, is seen
the fine range of the Fishkill mountains, on the
summits of which were erected beacons during the
revolutionary war ; while now, emerging from the
highlands, the banks of the Hudson assume a less
elevated character; compensating, at the same
time, for their comparative tameness, by the num-
ber of pretty villages which adorn them. Here
and there is perceived, amid the foliage, a gen-
tleman's country seat, delightfully situated, and
occasionally a well-wooded crag or a romantic
precipice diversifying the picture.
One of the numerous villages and towns by
which the margin of the stream is ornamented,
in
irj
] : III
.ill
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142 VARIED POPULATION OF THE STATES.
is called Hyde Park, a name associated with
many pleasing recollections ; another, Rhinebeck ;
being so termed from the circumstance of its in-
habitants having all come from the European
river by which it is designated. Still higher is
placed German town, which also equally betokens
the origin of its residents. In fact, the population
of the United States (though the great mass is
doubtless of English descent,) is as varied as the
States of Europe, of which are to be seen natives
scattered in various directions, and petty bands
of emigrants here collected into little societies of
their own. The daughter thus largely partici-
pates in the chai'acteristics of the population of
the mother country; for the motley combination
of Romans, Picts, and Scots, Saxons, Danes, and
Normans, and possibly of half-a-dozen other gruff
warrior nations, which have formed the people of
England of the present day, is just as party-co-
loured in its nature as that by which our friends
are distinguished across the Atlantic. And if
causes are to be judged of by their effects, they
would appear to have produced among us a re-
sult of no mean amount, as well in the greater
strength and richness of our language as in the
hardihood, robustness, and manliness of one sex,
and in the beauty, modesty, and worth of the
other and better half. I should say, therefore,
that if any or either of these latter distinctions
CATSKILL MOUNTAINS.
143
were originally wanting among our kinsfolk in
the States, which is by no means the case — for
I think they will prove their identity with old
England by the full possession of all these desir-
able qualities — in such a case, the same principle
now in operation among them, would, it might be
supposed, be attended by a similar happy conse-
quence.
At length the magnificent outline of the Cats-
kill mountains burst upon us from the west bank
of the Hudson ; so exquisitely defined, in conse-
quence of the extreme clearness of the atmosphere,
as to deceive considerably the eye with respect
to their distance; since the least remote part of
them does not approach nearer to the river than
within eight miles, and the farthest portion retires
from it as far off as fifteen, and even beyond.
They are, I believe, what are here called " spurs"
of the Alleghany mountains, which run through
a considerable section of the country, and abound
in grand natural scenery. Planted on the summit
of one of them, was distinguished, in the long dis-
tance, the hotel at Pine Orchard, glittering amid
the forests in which it was embosomed, and look-
ing down over the widely extended landscape,
though completely isolated in the depths of its
retirement from the bustling world it was sur-
veying.
We arrived at the village of Catskill about
rf
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144
ASCENT TO PINE ORCHARD.
four in the afternoon ; and I immediately set off
in a coach, awaiting the arrival of passengers, with
five others, to the summit of the mountain, distant
twelve miles. Our excursion was more agreeable
than I had yet experienced in any of these vehicles ;
as, instead of being elbowed by nine inside, and
half suffocated if happening, unhappily, to get
squeezed into one of the middle seats, which had
on two previous occasions been my fate, we formed
a comfortable party of six. We were four hours
and a half in reaching our alpine hotel, enjoying
occasional glimpses of highly romantic scenery
through breaks and vistas in the forest, after
having gained a certain altitude on the mountain.
Our journey was not, however, unaccompanied
in several places by considerable risk, arising from
the dangerous and unguarded precipices which
shelved downwards in an almost perpendicular
descent on the left side of our road, and extend-
ing for several miles. We very narrowly escaped,
two or three times, being tossed rather awkwardly
over them ; and, in one instance, the peril appeared
so imminent, that a young gentleman, one of our
passengers, thinking it was all over with us, and
that there was no time to open the door, actually
darted through the window, with the agility of the
nimblest harlequin I ever beheld, and walked the
remaining three miles of the way.
It was dusk when we reached our quarters,
TEMPERATURE OF PINE ORCHARD.
145
and we could see, through the darkening medium,
but indistinctly the various objects that lay before
us. This occasioned a singular deceptio visus ; for
the river, which, amid the " clear obscure," ap-
peared below us, just near enough, as we thought,
to enable us to cast a stone into it, we were in-
formed was seven miles distant in a straight line ;
and a white cottage that we imagined to be only
a quarter of a mile off, turned out to be three.
However, if the sense of sight was cheated, that
of feeling received a full compensation, as I found
a delightfully cool breeze careering along the brow
of the mountain, from which I reaped a whole
harvest of sleep during the night, for my repose
was much sounder than I had enjoyed since cross-
ing the Atlantic. The cause was a very sufficient
one, as the thermometer in my bed-room clearly
indicated ; the mercury having fallen at Pine
Orchard to about 70, while the previous evening,
at West Point, it had risen to between 80 and 90 ;
and I was not unwilling, for the first time since
arriving in the States, to avail myself of a blanket
which I found duly arranged. These, and similar
lofty elevations, must be of essential service in
hot climates to invalids on removing to them,
especially in the case of fevers ; for in the course
of a few hours they can obtain 10 and sometimes
15 degrees of greater coolness than in the plains
below. In the East Indies this is not unusual,
VOL. I. H
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146
VISIONS OF A MOUNTAIN MIST.
where the nature of the country will permit ; and
I was particularly struck, some years ago, when
in the beautiful island of Penang, or Prince of
Wales' Island, in the Straits of Malacca, with the
admirable advantages offered to persons thus at-
tacked ; who, by ascending a neighbouring moun-
tain, on which the residents of the adjacent town
had erected a number of villas and country-seats,
threw off all their ailments in a few days, and
came down perfectly recovered.
Having intended on the following morning to
rise at four, in order to witness the effect of sun-
rise from an elevation of between 2 and 3000 feet
above the river, I was reluctantly constrained to
remain quietly in bed, in consequence of an im-
penetrable veil of mist that enveloped the moun-
tain, casting hill and dale, valley and plain, river
and forest, into the thickest possible shade, so as
to prevent our seeing a single object farther than
the length of the verandah in which we were
walking. We continued to be thus tantalised till
about twelve o'clock, when a succession of the
most beautiful and fairy-like visions that can be
conceived presented themselves to our admiring
eyes. This was occasioned by the clouds of fog
which now gradually and majestically rose into
the air, and commenced curling and wreathing
themselves into the most fantastic forms and ap-
pearances that were ever beheld by mortal eye ;
m
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VISIONS OF A MOUNTAIN MIST.
147
while, through the intervals of their opening and
irregular masses, the most lovely glimpses of the
valley beneath us, of mountain and river, waving
corn-fields, verdant meadows, churches, villages,
and country-seats, in all the varieties of light and
shade, and all the endless diversities of shapes and
angles, passed, ever and anon, in review before us.
At one moment we caught sight of the river, and
lost the mountain ; then the river vanished, and,
in an instant, half-a-dozen little vistas were opened
through this magical skreen of mist, along which
our wondering eyes were conducted, like peeping
through the different glasses of a cosmorama, to
as many little patches of scenery in another direc-
tion. And thus it continued, rising and falling,
opening and closing, condensing into folds, and
again expanding into a fleecy, veil-like thinness,
in which fancy might imagine she beheld mysteri-
ous forms and visions, for two or three hours, till
at length this giant apparition of the mountains
slowly ascended into the upper regions of the air,
and vanished from our sight, leaving the bound-
less prospect displayed in all its unclouded beauty.
This most singular and interesting exhibition re-
minded me of the effect caused by looking through
a kaleidoscope, where the varieties are infinite and
ever varying, and where, in a dozen minutes,
you behold a hundred changing forms. It was
certainly an enchanting sight; and one might
' -Is:;
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148
DELIGHTS OF A CORDUROY ROAD.
M':
almost have fancied it to have been called up by
the wand of some potent magician.
The view, thus unmasked, presents four states
of the Union — New York, where we stood, Ver-
mont, Massachusetts, and Connecticut — displaying
every diversity of landscape, and a noble sweep
of the river, studded with islands, and enlivened
by steam-boats and other vessels, and which I
was informed you can see through an extent of
seventy- five miles. Indeed, the scenery from
Pine Orchard is accounted more varied and beau-
tiful than from any other position in the United
States.
On the following morning, prior to descending
from our aerial habitation, I paid a visit to the
Kaaterskill falls, distant about three miles, ac-
companied by a gentleman from Philadelphia;
and here I first tasted the sweets of a corduroy
road. This is composed of whole trees, of which
the leaves and branches have been divested, placed
side by side, in a transverse direction, without the
interstices being filled up so as to form something
approaching to an even surface. The effect of
such a turnpike you may easily fancy, without
much effort of imagination. We were jerked, and
bounced, and tumbled about, in a most unphiloso-
phical manner ; receiving, withal, sundry contu-
sions, and undergoing the risk of various disloca-
tions ; and I believe, on balancing the account of
DROWNING VERSUS SUFFOCATION.
149
profit and loss, after our return to the hotel to
breakfast, beautiful and romantic as were, I
confess, the falls and scenery around them —
setting off our bruises against the landscape, and
our exhausted patience against the picturesque
rocks and cascade — we found we had gained
but little interest, in this instance, on our capital
stock.
My travelling companions and myself now
returned, once more, to the humble plain ; reach-
ing the village of Catskill in half the time it had
cost us to ascend from it. Taking the first steam-
boat that approached, we crossed over to the
opposite shore, a few miles higher up the river, to
the city of Hudson, a handsome and well-situated
town, and commanding an imposing prospect of
the superb range of mountains which we had just
descended. Here, nine devoted individuals of us
were squeezed into a stage-coach in order to be
conveyed to New Lebanon, distant twenty-eight
miles ; and as the rain poured in torrents for
upwards of an hour, we had the very unhappy
alternative offered to us of running the risk of
drowning, or of suffocation by having all the
leathers fastened down. The ladies who were of
the party declared, as a matter of preference — if
one must be adopted — for suffocation ; and we
were, of course, immediately enclosed, and felt, in
a short time, as if we had been in an oven. I
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150
AMERICAN CARRIAGES.
think even Monsieur Chabert himself, the cele-
brated fire-king, at the termination of the period
during which we were thus broiling, would have
found himself in a pretty comfortable glow : fortu-
nately the storm passed off, after about an hour's
probation, and we arrived in safety at our destina-
tion, through a pretty and well-cultivated country,
after experiencing some other adventures not
worth relating.
American carriages are, certainly, neat and
vevy airy, from the circumstance of the sides being
entirely open, and are, therefore, in summer very
agreeable vehicles; making some abatement on
the score of springs, which, possibly, are obliged to
be made less elastic than ou^ own on account of
the roughness of the roads. In winter, however,
and in rainy and tempestuous weather, the self-
same cause that conduces to comfort in the warm
and dry season operates to the extreme annoyance
and disadvantage of travellers; since, in order to
exclude the storm, by letting down and fastening
the leathers, you are compelled also to exclude the
very air you breathe. No doubt, carriages appro-
priated to each extreme will be constructed ere
long, to the general benefit of the community;
when the serious question of life and death which
we were urgently called upon to canvass, in
our wholesale party in the coach, will cease to be
agitated.
REASON FOR CONTENTMENT.
151
Though my letter is short, in comparison with
the last, yet having a good opportunity of sending
it to New York, whence it will be despatched, 1
shall close it here : balance, therefore, the quicker
receipt of it against its greater brevity, and be
content. Adieu !
w
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ir.o
LETTER VII.
I
111
Society of Shakers — their extraordinary Doctrines — Ann Lee,
tiieir Founder — forbid Matrimony — believe that Christ
has appeared a second Time — that the " Bride" alluded to
in Revelations was Ann Lee — that the Millennium has
commenced — their Tenets respecting Baptism — the Holy
Sacrament — the Resurrection and Day of Judgment —
believe that the latter have already commenced — their
Faith as to the Perfectibility of Man — Extravagance
in their Religious Ceremonies — Dancing the principal
Worship in their Churches — Quotations from Scripture
in support of it.
New Lebanon SpringSf
UthJuly, 1831.
MY DEAR FRIEND,
I AM now going to introduce you
to one of the most extraordinary scenes, and to
one of the most marvellous exhibitions, that I
have ever veitnessed in any of the four quarters of
the globe in which I have travelled. Had I not
received ocular demonstration of the fact, to the
absolute astounding of my senses, I could not
l^ave conceived it possible that the infatuation of
the human mind, in so enlightened an age as
the one in which we live, could have proceeded to
fiOCIETV OP SHAKERS.
153
SO extravagant a length. T allude to the Society
of the Shakers ; to the principal H(»ttleinent of
whom, established about three miles from New
Lebanon, I paid" a visit on Sunday last, in order
to be present at the performance of their religious
ceremonies ; the characteristic worship compi'ised
in which consists of danciiuj to the praise and
(J lory of God.
As religion is a subject of such vital and solemn
importance, as, under no aspect, however singular,
and in no instance whatever, to be treated with
levity or turned into unthinking ridicule, I shall
carefully divest the observations which I am about
to communicate to you, on the tenets, rites, and
religious belief of this sect of fanatics, of all
irreverent feeling and indecent mockery. And, —
especially as I am inclined to believe that, though
grossly deluded as these people must be con-
sidered, they are sincere, at least the majority of
them, in their profession, — what I shall write to
you will be dictated by a sentiment much more
'* in sorrow than in anger ;" far removed from
all indecorous derision, and still farther from mis-
representation ; for, as I have the declaration of
their faith before me, it will speak for itself.
Before, however, I lead you into their solemn
assembly, as a witness of their devotional and
fanatical exercises, I will state to you a few of
their more prominent doctrines, as well as the
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154
ANN LEE, FOUNDER OF THE SECT.
name of the high priestess of their order, from
whom the institution originated.
This latter was Ann Lee, the daughter of John
Lee, a blacksmith of Manchester, who, as well on
account of the persecutions she suffered in Eng-
land, in consequence of her peculiar opinions and
practices, as, more particularly, from a divine
revelation which she is declared to have received,
directing her to repair to America, embarked for
this country with eight of her disciples in the year
1774. Here they continued for a length of time
unnoticed, and without increasing their numbers,
till, in 1787, having gained over a number of
converts to their persuasion, they established
themselves at New Lebanon, and from which, as
the '* Mother Church" — for such they style it —
have been derived the various branch societies, to
the amount of about a dozen, that are now found
scattered in various parts of the Union, but prin-
cipally in the states belonging to New England.
Their aggregate numbers, as comprised in these
different societies, amount to about six thou-
sand.
One of their leading tenets denounces matri-
mony, as utterly opposed to the doctrines and
spirit of vital Christianity which they profess ; the
substance of which, as declared in one of the
articles of their faith, being " abstinence from all
carnal and sensual passions, and a strict life of
MATRIMONY DENOUNCED.
155
'if ?
'■■f. I'd
virgin purity, agreeable to the example of the
Lord Jesus, and the recommendation and exam-
ple of the apostle Paul." They say that " for the
followers of Christ the marriage institution is
neither necessary nor useful, but the contrary ; it
therefore forms no part of their duty, and can have
no place among them ;" and they quote in favour
of their argument that passage of St. Luke which
says, " But they which shall be accounted worthy
to obtain that world, and the resurrection from
the dead, neither many nor are given in mar-
riage." Husbands and wives, therefore, and their
children, who join this singular society, after
having undergone a certain probation, and having
had sufficient time and opportunity " practically
to prove the faith and principles of the institu-
tion," unite with it as well in temporal as in spiri-
tual concerns, and live thenceforth apart from
each other, dedicating themselves, with all they
possess, to the service of God, and the support of
the society for ever. Thus, a community of pro-
perty, of goods and chattels, is established among
them ; there being no locus pcenitentice left to a
repentant member, after the dedication shall have
been once made, to withdraw the earthly mam-
mon thus consecrated; though the person (of either
sex) is at liberty to withdraw himself; the elders,
if they think proper, in the latter case, presenting
him with a charitable donation from the property
s! i*
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156
SECOND APPEARANCE OF CHRIST
he may have given up, to preserve him from
starving;.
The Shakers entertain the extraordinai'y doc-
trine that the Saviour has made his second ap-
pearance on earth in the person of Ann Lee, their
great spiritual mother; and that the "Bride, the
Lamb's wife," alluded to in Revelations, was, in
truth, no other than this very person ; and that the
term is not to be understood figuratively, as mean-
ing the church of Christ, such as it is declared to
be by the generality of the Christian world. The
Shakers assert, that this same Ann Lee '' was the
distinguished female who was chosen for that pur-
pose ; — that she was a chosen vessel occupied as
an instrument by the spiiit of Christ, the Lord
from heaven, in which the second appearance of
that divine spirit was ushered into the trorld ; —
that she was called forth from the world in order
to manifest the spirit of Christ in the female
line; — that the image and likeness of the eter-
nal mother was formed in her, as the first-born
daughter, as really as the image and likeness of
the Eternal Father was formed in the Lord Jesus,
the first-born Son; — that she was constituted tlie
second heii in the covenant of promise, and was
placed in a correspondent connexion with Jesus
Christ as the second pillar of the church of G'^^J
in the new creation." In short, they believe that
not only has Christ appeared the second time on
ESSENTIAL TO THE SALVATION OF WOMAN. 157
the earth, under the form of Ann Lee, but that it
was absohitely essential to the salvation of woman-
kind that such second appearance should be exhi-
bited in one of her sex ; since the first coming- of
the Saviour, in the formi of a man, was on/t/ effec-
tual for the redemption of the latter.
To give you a specimen of their style of
reasoning om this subject, I will make a few
extracts from an authenticated work written by
some member of their society, published by their
authority, and which I received from one of
the Elders at the Shakers' Village, near New
Lebanon. Alluding to the parable, they say,
"There can be no marriage without a Bridegroom
and a Bride. In this parable it is generally ad-
mitted, that Jesus Christ alluded to himself as the
Bridegroom, but who is the Bride ? It has gene-
rally been supposed that the church was alluded to
as the Bride: i:ia< ed this seems tr ])e the general
opinion of exposiio' , But if the church is to be
considered as die >i i le, then, who are the gue»ts f
They must cert.finly be an assembly of people,
male and fen.^e, who ar( invited to the marriage,
and have the honour of sitting down to the
marriage supper witii the B'iiiegroom and Bride.
These evidently constiti le the dwnrch, which is
made up of the faithful, who are called to attend
the marriage of t4i« Lamb aud Brwi** It would
be » viery sing:ul'ar sort of inarriaafe it)r the Bride-
'■!!
158
MILLENNIAL CHURCH.
groom, instead of taking a chosen female for his
bride, to take all his guests, both male and female,
and call them the Bride. If this be the true
meaning of the parable, then the figure by which
Jesus Christ chose to represent his marriage, does
not agree with the substance, and was therefore
very improperly chosen." After a variety of
similar observations, they conclude by saying,
'* But the time is now arrived, and the female is
made manifest ; therefore it is no longer necessary
to use figurative language in speaking of those
things, for we can now plainly declare the Spirit
and the Bride."
In conformity with their doctrines, the Shakers
^"nnounce. as an undeniable fact, that the millen-
' um has already commenced, and that their church
alone is the millennial church. Indeed, that it is
the only true church of God ; and that the whole
mass of mankind, not included within its pale, are
in a state of heathenish darkness and spiritual
condemnation. Their doctrine of original sin is
altogether novel in its conception, and has an im-
mediate reference to the infraction (as they con-
sider it) of that law of purity by our first parents,
which they have so rigidly enforced upon them-
selves, which was so strongly inculcated upon
them by their Maker, and the breaking of which
has brought such a train of sin and sorrow into
the world. Still, they deny that the guilt of our
BAPTISM AND THE SACRAMENT.
159
first parents is entailed on their offspring, and
will only allow that the latter are born under the
influence of a fallen nature, and therefore liable,
unless restrained by a superior principle, to follow
the same wicked example, and bring guilt upon
themselves by a similar act.
With respect to Baptism, and the Supper of the
Lord, they appear to entertain opinions, according
to our understanding of those sacred rites, equally
as unscriptural as those which I have already men
tioned. They assert, that the exterior ceremonies of
Baptism, and the receiving of the elements of bread
and wine in the Holy Sacrament, are wholly un-
necessary, and were never intended to be ob-
served ; that they are of an exclusively spiritual
nature, and that the only true Baptism which can
profit the soul, is that of *" the Holy Ghost and
fire." And with regard to the Lord's Supper,
they say, that though it might be done to com-
memorate the Lord's death, yet, after the second
coming of Christ in the person of Ann Lee, it
could no longer be necessary, because the reality
must then be made manifest. They maintain, that
if the bread and wine in this ceremony are to be
considered as symbols of the body and blood of
a dying Saviour, they must be symbols of an
absent Saviour, for there can be no kind of use
in representing the Saviour by signs and symbols
when He is really present, as the Shakers declare
t'l 'f
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160
RESPECTING THE RESURRECTION.
their firm belief that He now is with their church,
and with theirs alone. They affirm that " the
true sacrament of the Lord's supper is found in
the spiritual union of the saints, who have fellow-
ship one with another by walking in the true
light which is in Christ ; and thus they partake
of his spirit and life, according to his own testi-
mony
I am the bread of life.
) >>
Concerning the resurrection and the day of
judgment, they sei'm, with equal blindness and
perversity of mind, to depart from the simplicity
of the Gospel; for, in addition to denying the re-
surrection of the body, which Scripture appears so
fully vO warrant, and asserting that the rising
from the dead will have relation alone to the spi-
ritual part of our nature, they boldly insist that
hoth the resurrection and the day of judgment have
already commenced. They say that " the true
resurrection consists in the rising of the spiritual
part of man from the terrestrial elements, into
which it has been sown by generation, to the ce-
lestial ; that, by the operation of the spirit of
Christ in the work of the regeneration, it is
formed into a celestial and heavenly body, en-
dowed with immortality and eternal life, and thus
it becomes an everlasting inhabitant of the celes-
tial world ;" and thus it is that " this corruptible
puts on incorruption, and this mortal puts on
immortality." And then they add, " This glo-
Itl
THE DAY OF JUDGMENT.
161
rious work of the resurrection has commenced,
and will continue, with increasing power and pro-
gress, until all souls shall have experienced its
effects, either by coming forth to the rusurrection
of life, or to the resurrection of damnation."
In reference to the last day, the Shakers set
aside altogether the awful declarations of the sa-
cred writings as to the tremendous solemnities with
which it is to be accompanied, and announce in
their publication before me, " That this dcy of
judgment has now commenced, and God has be-
gun to judge the nations of the earth, who have
long been erring in judgment, and straying from
the paths of justice and truth; and this righteous
judgment will never cease until the work of God
shall be fully accomplished. We view it (they
say) as a work which has already commenced ; a
work which we have ourselves seen and felt, and
can therefore testify, from our own experience,
that it is a work which, though unseen by the
natural man, is real and substantial ; and though
gradual and progressive in its operations, it is cer-
tain and etfectual, and will continue to increase in
power till a full and final separation shall be
made between good and evil ; till all souls s*h«ll
have seen and felt its purifying efiects, or thi\)ugh
wilful disobedience shall have rejected their day
of trial because of the cross, and numbered thom-
1 iR
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162
THE PERFECTIBILITY OF MAN.
selves with the impenitent and rehellious, as
vessels of wrath fitted for destruction."
Contrai'y, also, to what Christian professors
maintain, in all humility and meekness — founded,
as they believe, on scriptural grounds — the Shakers
insist on the perfectibility of man, and declare
that, as perfection has been attained to in former
days, so has it been manifested in the present.
To prove this point, they select various passages
of the sacred writings. They say, God declared
Job to be *' a perfect and upright man ;" that
Noah was also declared to be " a just man, and
perfect in his generations;" that the apostle Paul
saith, '* We speak wisdom to them that are
perfect;" and again, " Let as many as be perfect
be thus minded." Hence it is evident, they ob-
serve, that there were those in his day who were
perfect, according to the work of that day ; and
that, therefore, perfection has been attained iu
this life. ** The real nature of perfection," they
argue, "when ajDplied to a Christian life, con-
sists in nothing more nor less than in doing what
God requires of us ; which is to improve all our
faculties in doing good, according to the best of
our understanding and capacity ; and, in so doing,
every person who sincerely desires, and rightly
pursues it, may attain to perfection." The in-
ference, no doubt, deducible from this declaration
OPINIONS ON RELIGIOUS DANCING.
163
— knowing that the Shakers assume to themselves
the exclusive pretension of being the only true
church on earth — is, that they have attained to
this perfection, and they only.
Of their exterior and ceremonial worship, that
of dancing in adoration, and to the praise and
glory, of God, in their churches and meeting-
houses, strikes the eye of the beholder with an
infinitely more astounding effect than their reli-
gious dogmas, and abstract notions of faith and
doctrine, can possibly produce — startling though
they may be to the understanding. As it will be
more satisfactory to give you their opinions re-
specting these religious exercises and their prac-
tical worship — which are, in deed and in truth,
"passing strange" — in their own words, I shall
quote a few passages from their Exposition of
Faith. It will, at the same time, prevent the
possibility of misrepresentation, of which they
complain. They state, in reference to this sub-
ject, *' that they performed no acts of worship,
except such as they were voluntarily moved to
perform by the influence of the Spirit of life
from God ; that a number of faithful souls, hav-
ing united themselves together, and being thus
separated from the lifeless formulas and fruitless
ceremonies of human invention, and feeling wholly
dependent on the gift of God, devoted themselves
to his will, determined to follow no guide short
i
'■f
164
SCRIPTURAL TEXTS ON DANCING.
of a dear manifestation of Divine light." Hence,
they say, " the light of Divine truth and the
operations of Divine pow ei increased among them,
until they were involuntarily led hy the mighty
power of God to go forth and worship in the
(lance. Tlie apostolic ;?ift8," they add, ** were
also renewed in their full power, so that * they
spake wit! I new tongues, and prophesied;' that,
in these operations, they were filled with melo-
dious and heavenly songs, er^pecially while under
the operation of dancing ; that these involuntary
operations of singing and dancing were repeated,
from time to time, in their assemblies, though
often intermixed with other spiritual gifts, till, by
Divine revelation, they became an established
exercise in the worship of God."
The scriptural texts upon which they ground
the obligation, and spirituality, of this mode of
religious service, in honour of their Maker, are
drawn from the Old Testament ; some of which
are the following: — "And Miriam the prophetess,
the sister of Aaron, took a timbrel in her hand ;
and all the women went out after her with tim-
brels and with dances ;" also, that when Jephthah
returned from his victory over the children of
Ammon, "his daughter came out to meet him
with timbrels and with dances ;" so likewise, after
the victory of David and the Israelites over Goliath
and the Philistine armies, " the women came out
NO DEVOTION WITHOUT DANCING.
165
ip:;
of all the cities of Israel, singiiij^ and dancing
and again, tliat at the yearly feast of the Lord
in Sliiloh, the daughters of Shiloh came out *'to
dance in dances ;" and that when the ark of God
was removed, and established in the city of David,
the occasion was celebrated by the same exercise
— *' David and all Israel danced before the Lord'*
The Shak<'r^ maintain that this dancing of David
and all Isrj before the ark, in that day, was
typical of li^^ irue worship of God under the
Gospel dispensation. God has created, they
say, nothing in vain. " The faculty of dancing,
as well as that of singing, was undoubtedly created
for the honour and glory of the Creator; and
therefore it must be devoted to his service, in
order to answer that purpose." In allusion to the
spiritual devotion and worship of the heart, they
remark, "that the heart must be but feebly en-
gaged in the worship of God, when all the active
powers of the body are idle ; and that, when the
heart is sincerely and fervently engaged in the
service of God, it has a tendency to produce an
active influence on the body." " United in spirit,
and inspired with Divine love," they add, " a
whole assembly can move i»* harmonious order,
and devote the active powers of soul and bod^'
to the Giver of all good, while they chant their
songs of adoration to theiv RedeeiTiCr, and ' praise
his name in the dance.' "
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166
VIRTUES OF A SHAKER.
I shall conclude my quotations, with which I
am afraid you are becoming weary, with a single
passage more ; for I confess that, though marvel-
lously strange as are the doctrines and practices
of these wild enthusiasts, and more especially to
a startled eye-witness of their extraordinary antics
and gesticulations — for, in truth, such they are,
disguise their proceedings under what form of
language you may — yet is there something in-
teresting attaching to these people. Their con-
duct is unquestionable, and is equally remarkable
for the scrupulous morality, honesty, industry,
sobriety, and the admirable economy, which per-
vade their whole domestic establishment, as well
in their farms and workshops as in their houses.
This last quotation is presented in the form of a
question, and respects the act of dancing. They
ask, " What, among all the variety of religious
devotions by which mankind attempt to worship
the eternal God, is more calculated to inspire the
soul with heavenly sensations, and give us an idea
of the worship of angels? How far from this
harmonious worship are the dull attempts of a
congregation wherein but a small portion of the
people are engaged, while the far greater part
are entirely silent, inactive, and unconcerned !"
Having now given you a copious insight into
the leading tenets of this extraordinary and infa-
tuated people, you will naturally be anxious to
PROCESSION TO THE CHURCH.
167
have the doctrine illustrated by the practice. I
shall, therefore, proceed to give you an account of
my visit to their church, on the Sunday on which
I happened to be at New Lebanon. Accompanied
by a gentleman and his wife from Philadelphia,
with whom I had been previously travelling, I
proceeded in a carriage to the Shakers' village,
distant about three miles, followed by several
other carriages crowded with company equally
curious to witness this almost incredible ceremony
as myself. We arrived just in time to see the
procession of these fanatics pass along, in solemn
line, to their place of worship. The men, dressed
in drab, after the fashion of the Quakers, whom
they much resemble in appearance, walking two
abreast, led the way, followed by a long train of
females attired principally in white, and the rest
in gray, with close Avhite caps on their heads,
gowns without shape, high-heeled shoes, necker-
chiefs, and white pocket-handkerchiefs hung very
formally over one of their arms. On reaching
the church, the men filed off through one door
and the women through another, and immediately
arranged themselves on parallel benches on each
side of the room, in separate and opposite divi-
sions — a considerable space, in the centre of it,
dividing the two foremost benches of each sex.
The church was spacious, simple, and unadorned,
except by that which may with propriety be
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168
BEAUTIFUL ORDER OF THE CHURCH.
called its best adornment — extreme neatness and
cleanliness ; for the floors were certainly whiter,
and more cleanly, than those of any gentleman's
house 1 ever saw, and from which a person might
have eaten his dinner with as little of nausea,
arising from dust or other extraneous matter, as
if he had taken it from off the finest Dresden.
The men and women, thus dressed and thus
seated, and with a solemnity of aspect and de-
portment, heightened by perfect silence, and with
an absolutely motionless attitude of body, pre-
sented an appearance, and excited a feeling, of
something mysterious and supernatural. The
women in particular, many of whom were elderly,
very meagre in figure, and of a sickly and cada-
verous hue, and withal, dressed in ghostly white,
looked like beings of another world — unearthly
shapes, that exhibited, as if in mockery, a rude
outline of the human form without its life. There
was something about them that inspired a sensa-
tion of awe. The spectacle was altogether startling.
One might almost have imagined it, as indeed the
thought so struck me at the moment, to have been
a scene of the day of judgment, and that these
were departed spirits just risen from their graves,
shrouded in their sepulchral garments, and await-
ing their final doom.
After a death-like pause of some duration, one
of the elders slowly arose from his seat for the
PRELIMINARIES TO DANCING.
169
=' Pi ^
ise
purpose of addressing the meeting, on which the
whole assembly immediately stood up. His obser-
vations, inculcating a few moral precepts, were
sufficiently short, extending perhaps to five mi-
nutes ; and on the termination of which they sung
something, I understood, answering to a hymn,
though very remote from a tone of psalmody.
During the continuance of this vocal part of the
service they were incessantly moving their feet;
alternately raising each foot in a kind of dancing
step, but without changing their position. This
was accompanied by a grotesque inclination of
their bodies from side to side, in a manner so
tinily ludicrous, though carried on with the utmost
gravity, as to require, on the part even of those
who were more inclined to weep than to laugh,
the strong jst exertions of self-command in repres-
sing their risible faculties. Another short admoni-
tion succeeded, very indifferently given, I must con-
fess ; and then another monotonous air was sung,
attended by a similar stepping and see-sawing of
the body as before. On the conclusion of this
second display, they all sat down; and after a
pause of two or three minutes, one of the elders
exclaimed, ''Let us labour!" when they all sud-
denly started up, and now commenced an exhi-
bition that beggars all description. Each sex
began immediately to remove their own benches
from the centre of the apartment, where they
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170
PRELIMINARIES TO DANCING.
had been seated, to the sides of it ; placing them
together as closely and compactly as they could,
so as not to impede the extraordinary evolutions
that were on the point of beginning. This being
accomplished, the men walked up to a range of
pegs, lining the wall on their side of the room,
and, to my utter astonishment, nay, I may almost
say consternation, as being done in a church,
though belonging to the Shakers, every man of
them pulled off his coat, with the greatest coolness
imaginable, and appeared in his shirt-sleeves !
This utterly unlooked-for circumstance so startled
me at the moment, that I literally thought they
were going to burlesque their own religion; and
I instantly turned my eyes towards the female
portion of these strange worshippers, naturally
expecting no less than to see them, in imitation
of the men, divest themselves of some part of
their habiliments, and that their gowns, at least,
would be dispensed with. However, I am happy
to say, for the sake of decency, that the example
was not followed. I now perceived the motive of
this unparalleled exhibition, which was neither
more nor less than a preparation and signal for
dancing, and to enable the male devotees, as the
thermometer was rather too high, at this season of
the year, for such violent exercise, the better to
support the fatigues of their various evolutions.
The men having now returned to the side of the
to
he
RELIGIOUS DANCING IN SHIRT-SLEEVES. 171
room which they had previously occupied, formed
themselves into parallel lines, as if in military
column, the women observing the same order on
their side ; and, with their faces turned towards
the wall, and their backs towards the spectators,
commenced a sort of shuflfling with their feet, and
a motion with their hands in front of the breast,
like the action of a dog in swimming. In this al-
most incredible manner they alternately advanced
to the wall, and retreated from it ; then turned
round, and advanced and retreated again in the
opposite direction, stepping and gesticulating in
the most insane manner that can be conceived ;
accompanying the whole with an unmusical, nasal
tone, for the purpose, as I was informed by one of
the Shakers, of enabling them to mark time
and preserve the unity of the step. Having con-
tinued this movement for some time, they then
suddenly changed the figure, and began capering
round the room in a double circle — the females
whirling round the inner ring, and the males de-
scribing the outward one. They afterwards re-
versed the order of dance ; the former changing
places with the latter. Next, they converted the
two smaller circles into a single one, each sex fol-
lowing the other by alternate evolutions ; and by
a skilful manoeuvre, which I never saw executed
but in the army, the men suddenly faced to the
right about^ slipped on one side, so as to let the
m
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172
SOME OF THE COMPANY REBUKED.
women pass, and met them at the opposite end of
the room ; and so continued whirling and meeting,
and shaking their hands, heads, hodies, and legs,
in indescribable attitudes, and humming in a
twanging, sing-song tone, louder and louder as
the excitement of dancing increased. At certain
intervals they came to a full stop, when they
made salutations to each other — sung a verse or
two, and immediately afterwards re-commenced
the same deplorable ceremonies.
The benches were now again replaced, and
they sat down as before ; when, in consequence
of some of the company present either being un-
willing or unable to suppress their laughter — and
indeed it was almost an impossibility to restrain
your risibility, however serious you might wish
to be — one of the elders advanced towards the
offending parties, and gave them a very stern
reproof. He admonished them on the indecency
of coming there, uninvited as they were, to insult
them by laughing and talking, whatever might
be the opinions they entertained respecting their
forms of worship. He then made an unconnected
and rambling allusion to the peculiar tenets of
their sect ; spoke of Christ as the head of their
church ; asserted that their religion was the only
true one, and all others false ; that our Christian
pastors did not practise what they taught, and
which they themselves truly and conscientiously
u
CONCLUDING SALUTATIONS.
173
did ; and that they had heen grossly libelled and
misrepresented, &c. &c. They now sung again,
and concluded by dancing in column opposite to
each other, not changing position as before, but
shuffling with their feet and wringing their hands,
on the respective places where they stood. They
terminated, at length, these unparalleled cere-
monies and solemn buifooneries, by bowing and
scraping to each other ; when the gentlemen
walked up to the pegs on which they had hung
their outer garments, put on their coats again,
and passing out through the door by which they
had entered, as the ladies through theirs, returned
in procession to their houses, as we had seen them
approach.
I wish not to be uncharitable, or harsh, in my
reflections )n these deluded people ; but truth is
not want of charity, and I must therefore confess,
that never, in the course of my existence, did I see
before such a humiliating spectacl"? of human
nature, and such a degradation of the mderstand-
ing of rational man. I have scrupulously forborne
indulging in a tone of ridicule, in speaking of
their extravagant modes of worship, for which,
under other circumstances, their proceedings would
have furnished most ample opportunity ; being
quite convinced, that the enthusiastic reveries and
practices of even fanatics and dreamers, in their
profession of religion, if sincerely entertained.
I
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174
EXPRESSION OF COUNTENANCE.
are, in n certain sense, to be respected, as proceed-
ing from feelings, however deluded, engaged in
the solemn duty of offering up praise and thanks-
giving to God.
Tlie time occupied in the performance of these
marvellous rites was, as nearly as I can recollect,
about a couple of hours ; and I was no little sur-
prised at the capability of the elderly part of the
congregation, particularly of the women, whose
figures presented an appearance of great emacia-
tion, to sustain such a fatiguing performance under
so glowing an atmosphere. With respect to the
expression of countenance of these most singular
worshippers, I was forcibly struck with the extreme
weakness and imbecility which the features of the
great majority of them, especially those of the
females, betrayed ; while those of some half-dozen
of the male portion exhibited a degree of deep-
seated cunning that could not escape notice. In
making this remark, I presume not to draw an
inference, with regard to the latter, adverse to
their sincerity; I merely state what I could not
avoid observing, and leave judgment to be pro-
nounced where alone it can be infallibly exercised.
I am bound, at the same time, in common honesty
to declare, that the moral character of the Shakers
stands uncommonly high ; that in all commercial
dealings with these people the utmost confidence
is reposed in their integrity, and that the various
SCRUPULOUS HONESTY OF THE SHAKERS. 175
articles manufactured, and sold by them, are pur-
chased in the market in preference to those of
others, in consequence of their superior quality
and excellence. Their garden- seeds, especially,
are sought for with avidity throughout the States.
As to the management of their farms, the neatness
of their fences, the admirable cleanliness of their
houses, their order, sobriety, and industry, they
are excelled by none, and equalled by very few.
In short, a Shaker's word, and the honesty of his
transactions, if not proverbial, approach nearer to
it than those of most other men.
I shall now conclude my letter, which I shall
be happy if you do not find tediously long, with a
single observation on New Lebanon. It is a most
agreeable resort for visitors, from its great and
varied beauty, and the graceful sweep of its valley,
rich in the most luxuriant forest-scenery and fine
cultivation ; and though the springs do not possess
any considerable mineral virtues, they are much
esteemed for bathing, and are said to resemble
the Buxton water. I do not know a more de-
lightful situation for a watering-place than is here
exhibited, nor a country abounding with more
lovely and picturesque drives and walks. It re-
minded me strongly of some parts of North Wales ;
and from the summit of a mountain on which a
tower has been built, at the distance of two miles
from the village, is enjoyed a view almost as
^ m
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176
DESCRIPTION OF NEW LEBANON.
splendid as from Catskill mountain ; the principal
deficiency, in comparison with the latter, being
the absence from the landscape of the noble Hud-
son ; though occasionally, when the atmosphere is
particularly brilliant, it can just be discerned, in
the far perspective, like a silver thread winding
through the valley.
I have now done ; and if you read the last
line of my voluminous epistle with as much com-
placency as you do the first, I shall be quite satis-
fied, and shall be encouraged to run the risk of
tiring you again. Adieu.
I
II.
■ill.
177
LETTER VIII.
Leave New Lebanon — Albany — Erie Canal — Patroon of Al-
bany — Prejudice against Entails — Anecdote on the Subject
— Cross the Hudson — Horse Tow-boat — City of Troy —
Fondness of the Americans for classical Names — Examples
of it — Arrive at the Springs — Ballston — Saratoga — Sche-
nectady — Proceed on the Erie Canal — Valley of the Mo-
hawk — Indians fast disappearing — Little Falls — Gciman
Flats — Danger from the Canal-bridges — Utica — Trenton
Falls — Melancholy Occurrence there — Journey to Auburn
— Dreadful Roads — Carriage breaks down — Tears and
Lamentations — Tribe of Oneida Indians — Syracuse — Au-
burn — Bumps and Bruises.
Auburn, 20th July, 1831,
MY DEAR FRIEND,
I HAD scarcely despatched my last
letter to you when I left New Lebanon, in the
society of my Philadelphia friends, for Albany,
the nominal capital of the State of New York,
and distant from the former twenty-six miles.
Being anxious to see something of the domestic
economy of the Shakers, and to make a few pur-
chases at the village, we made an angle of about
two miles from our direct route for that purpose.
While buying some of their manufactured articles
i2
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178
QUESTIONS TO A FEMALE SHAKER.
ii
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at one of the stores, or shops, which was attended
to by a female of the establishment — the very
picture of neatness and cleanliness — I took the
opportunity of addressing a few questions to her.
Among the rest, I asked her the reason of their
dancing as a principle of religious worship, and
of their denouncing the rite of marriage. She
replied, that " the prophet had declared that there
should be dancing and rejoicing in the last days ;
and that, with respect to marriage, when Christ
came, the second Adam, the command given to
the first Adam was done away with, and that
Christ himself never married." To a question
respecting their motive for not taking the sacra-
ment, a rite so imperatively enjoined by the
Saviour, she answered, "that our Lord only or-
dained the observance of it till he came a second
time, and that they believed he had thus come, and
that, therefore, it was no longer necessary to be
observed." As I have previously mentioned to
you, Ann Lee, their spiritual mother and founder,
and who styled herself the " Word," is believed
and declared by them to have been the second
incarnation of that divine Being.
After greatly admiring the order, regularity,
and extreme neatness of their houses, through the
various apartments of which we were taken, with
much civility, we bade adieu to these singular
people, and pursued our journey; heartily and
CITY OF ALBANY.
179
sincerely wishing that they might, ere long, super-
add to their superior moral and domestic virtues,
that more orthodox faith, and spiritual enlighten-
ment, in which they appear, at present, to be so
lamentably deficient; and that it might please God
to make the religious portion of his creation, at
this place, accord in harmony with the beauty of
his natural works so amply spread around them.
We arrived at Albany about six in the even-
ing ; having passed through several pretty villages
and a picturesque country, though certainly along
as bad roads as any unhappy person, troubled
with indigestion, need wish to be jolted over.
This town is finely situated, in a commercial point
of view, on the right bank of the Hudson, at a
distance of about 145 miles from the city of New
York, and contains, according to the census of
1830, a population of upwards of 24,000 inhabit-
ants. It is one of the oldest settlements in the
United States, having been founded by the Dutch
in 1612; and though irregularly built, and infe-
rior to several of the more southern cities, it pos-
sesses many objects of attraction and interest.
Here, as in all the principal towns which I have
visited in this country, is displayed considerable
taste in the construction of the public edifices, as
well as neatness in that of the private buildings.
Among the former, the Capitol, containing the
halls of the legislative assembly — the great
!'■ . 1
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180
ERIE CANAL.
'
symbols of the independence of the respective
States — the academy, museum, churches, and
the city hall, merit the traveller's attention.
The latter building, now advancing to its comple-
tion, is highly creditable to the worthy citizens of
Albany, and evinces a public spirit and liberality of
mind, as well as excellency of architectural design
and execution, that redounds to the praise of its
enterprising inhabitants. From the summit of it
is enjoyed a fine view of the river, the rising
ground beyond it, and the beautiful valley in
which, among other pleasing objects, is seen in
the distance the flourishing town of Troy. But
that which constitutes the glory of Albany is the
commencement, at this place, of the Erie canal ;
a stupendous work that reflects immortal honour
on the state of New York and the country to
which it belongs, and exhibits the most admirable
and important undertaking that has been accom-
plished within the Union.
This magnificent canal, which extends through
the enormous and unbroken distance of 363 miles,
uniting the waters of Lake Erie with those of the
Hudson, was commenced and finished at the sole
expense, and under the sole patronage of a single
State — that of New York — and was completed
within the short period of eight years. Consider-
ing the magnitude of this splendid work — its un-
equalled length in any part of the world— and
I iir
ERIE CANAL.
181
the numerous difficulties and obstacles to be sur-
mounted in the progress of it, you will be sur-
prised when I inform you that it only cost about a
million and a half sterling. What a similar un-
dertaking, executed either in England or in any
other part of Europe, would have cost, I leave you
to imagine.
The breadth of the canal, at the surface, is forty
feet, and at the bottom twenty-eight, while the
depth is about four feet. It comprises, in its entire
length, eighty-three locks and eighteen aqueducts,
of which the rise and fall of the former, between
the two extremes of the canal, are estimated at
688 feet. If nothing, beyond this, existed within
the bounds of the confederation, by which to cha-
racterise its people, this alone would designate
them a highly spirited and enterprising nation ;
and if they are capable of effecting such noble
works in the infancy of their strength and institu-
tions, it may fairly be concluded that their maturer
age will develope augmented resources commen-
surate with so auspicious a beginning.
In addition to the superior commercial advan-
tages enjoyed by the mercantile community of
Albany, since the formation of the Erie canal — in-
dependent of those which it naturally derives from
its fine position on the Hudson — are others, of a
similar nature, flowing down upon them along
the waters of the Northern canal. The latter is
U; l?f ■■''« a
J!
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182
NORTHERN CANAL.
i !
sixty-three miles in length, extending to Lake
Champlain, and connecting the Hudson with the
waters of the St. Lawrence, and joining the Erie
canal within a few miles of the city. Nothing
more beneficial to the prosperity of Albany could
have been, by possibility, effected than the opening
to it of these two grand sources of continually in-
creasing trade and wealth; but, more especially,
that of the Western or Erie canal, which offers
the quickest passage to the Atlantic for the im-
mense agricultural produce of the west, and
which must necessarily pass through this place.
It was my first intention to have commenced
my route to the Falls of Niagara — the great ob-
ject of my ardent anticipations and daily longings
— by the route of this artificial navigation ; but
wishing, previously, to visit the Springs of Ball-
ston and Saratoga, the fashionable watering-places
of the Americans, and also the town of Troy, I set
off, with my travelling companions, for the former
village, lying about thirty miles to the north.
On leaving the city, we passed the mansion
of the Hon. Stephen Van Rensselaer, who bears
the old Dutch title — perhaps the only one
borne in the States — of Patroon of Albany, and
answering, in some degree, to our lord of the
manor. His estate, in this neighbourhood, is very
extensive and highly valuable, stretching along
the river for a distance of ten miles, and to double
DOCTRINE OF ENTAILS.
183
that distance, I understand., in the opposite direc-
tion. It was originally entailed on the eldest son
of the family, but the limitation expires with the
present possessor ; as, on his death, the property
is to be equally divided among all his children.
The doctrine of entails, and the law of primogeni-
ture, do not at all consist with republican preju-
dices, as savotiring too strongly of monarchical
institutions ; and they are, therefore, in most cor-
dial disapproval among the citizens of the United
States. I am not aware, at the same time, that
there are any positive enactments denouncing the
principle ; or if so, their operation is only partial ;
but, certain it is, that the tide of public feeling
runs so strongly against this anti-republican prac-
tice, that the bare imagination of '^ making an
eldest son" is rarely entertained, and the reality
still less frequently seen. In illustration of the
sentiment, a circumstance was related to me,
respecting the son of an American gentleman, to
whom his father had bequeathed a considerable
amount of property beyond the portions which he
had left to the rest of his children. This violation
of right and justice, at least of public feeling, was
immediately resented by his relations and neigh-
bours, and the sin of the guilty parent was visited
on his unoffending child. He was remonstrated
with, upbraided, vilified, and tormented to such a
degree, on account of his dishonesty, as well as
m
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184
ANECDOTE.
cruelty, in retaining* what had been so unjustly
given to him, that at length the poor baited
youth, in utter hopelessness of enjoying what was
considered his ill-gotten gains, was fain to share
his preferment with his brothers and sisters for
the sake of a quiet life ! The entail, however, in
the case of General Van Rensselaer, could not well
have fallen on a better person, as I am informed
he is a very worthy and liberal man, a munifi-
cent patron of the arts and sciences, and of the
charitable institutions of his country, with which
his name is extensively and honourably asso-
ciated.
After having cleared the skirts of the city,
we rolled pleasantly along for five or six miles
on a macadamised road, running parallel with
the Erie canal. This is the only really good
specimen of a road I have yet seen ; for the
Americans have such admirable facilities of tra-
velling by water, of which they avail themselves
in so highly creditable a manner, that I must
confess they too much neglect their travelling by
land. Having passed the United States Arsenal,
we reached the village of Watervliet, where is
another Shaker settlement; and here we crossed
the Hudson in a horse-tow-boat. Having never
witnessed, except in America, this ingenious con-
trivance for crossing a river, I shall explain to
you what it is; the principle being the same as
THE PLAINS OP TROY.
186
that which gave movement to our carriage on the
Baltimore and Ohio rail-road, mentioned in a
former letter. On each side of the boat, and
standing on a revolving platform constructed a
foot below the surface of the deck, is placed a
horse, harnessed and attached to a splinter-bar
which is fastened to the boat, so as to keep him
in his proper position. When every thing is ready
for departure, the animal is made to walk, and by
the action of his feet puts the platform in motion,
which, communicating with the paddle-wheels,
gives them their rotatory evolution ; and by this
means the boat is propelled in any direction in
which the helmsman wishes to go.
On stepping out of our boat we found our-
selves suddenly transferred to the plains of Troy,
and beheld Mount Ida rearing his romantic head
to the eastward of the city. Tlie name is rather
startling (as well as a diversity of others) to a
traveller in America, on first hearing it and be-
holding its application — associated, as it is, with
bygone times of a remote antiquity, and the con-
sideration of its present nonentity. But the Ame-
ricans, I find, have quite a passion for classical
names as the designations of their cities, towns,
and villages ; for, on looking over a list of them,
contained in the nomenclature of the state of New
York alone, I perceive the following illustrious
titles, giving to them "a local habitation and
«ii
186 CLASSICAL DESIGNATIONS OF CITIES, &C.
a name" in the New World — drawn from the
pages, principally, of ancient history — viz. Jeru-
salem, Bethlehem, Sharon, Hebron, Salem, Beth-
any, Carmel, Ephratah, Macedon, Palmyra,
Tripoli, Utica, Ithaca, Troy, Rome, Sparta,
Corinth, Attica, Arcadia, Pharsalia, Greece,
Marathon, Athens, Cairo, China, Venice, Alex-
andria, Florence, Genoa, Homer, Virgil, Cicero,
TuUy, Pompey, Ovid, Aurelius, Brutus, Cincin-
natus, Minerva, Camillus, Fabius, Marcellus,
Seneca, Hannibal, Hector, Ulysses, Manlius,
Cato, Sempronius, Diana, Ossian, Romulus —
besides a great variety of other names, drawn with
good honest feeling from the mother country,
as Yorkshire, Windsor, Brighton ; as, also, from
almost every country in each of the four quarters
of the globe. These names, it must be acknow-
ledged, sound rather oddly to ears unpractised in
the American vocabulary, as the appellations of
towns and villages just rising into existence, and
would induce a blind man to suppose — were he
jounieying, like the indefatigable blind traveller,
Mr. Holman, to hear the world instead of seeing
it — that he was coursing, by some magical opera-
tion, over all the countries of the earth, without
moving (like the poor horse in the tow-boat) from
the spot. I have merely given you the classical
vocabulary of a single state, from which you may
judge of the " multitudinous" array, were the
THE MODERN TROY.
187
remaining twenty -three added to the list. If the
assumption of these splendid names, according to
the belief entertained by some savage tribes of
their inheriting the virtues of their slaughtered
enemy whose body they possess, could confer on
the Americans the antiquity and learning of the
illustrious cities and men whom they represent,
they would be, indubitably, the most venerable and
learned nation on the face of the globe. However,
leaving them, as far as future ages and increasing
knowledge are concerned, to make their own
way, which I have no doubt whatever they will
do, with every possible advantage to themselves
and reflected benefit on others, this I may safely
declare, that they are, at the present moment, the
great beacon-lights of virtue and intelligence of
the New World ; and that, if they would only
attend to the moral conveyed in the fable of the
" bundle of sticks," their influence would extend
just in proportion as their union should be con-
solidated.
The modem Troy, through which we vere
now passing, risen like a phoenix from her Asiatic
ashes, is certainly a beautiful little town, delight-
fully situated on the Hudson, which lends a charm
to every thing it embraces. Its spacious streets,
lined with good houses and shaded by rows of
trees, present a very inviting and picturesque
appearance. The two principal objects worthy of
I
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188
BALLSTON SPA.
observation at this place are, the episcopal church
— the best specimen of Gothic architecture in the
States — and the Van Rensselaer school. At the
latter establishment, an excellent plan prevails of
requiring the students to deliver lectures, by rota-
tion, on the different branches of science or study
to which they have applied themselves. This
judicious method, by giving a powerful stimulus
to the laudable ambition of excelling, or, at least,
to avoid the shame of an ignorant exposure, carries
along with it the desired effect of a more rapid
and solid advancement in knowledge.
Towards dusk we alighted at the Sans Souci
Hotel, at Ballston Spa, after passing through the
villages of Lansingburgh and " Waterford ; at the
former of which is seen the celebrated diamond
rock, so named from the lustrous appearance that
it makes in brilliantly reflecting the rays of the
sun — and after visiting, also, the picturesque
Falls of the Mohawk, called Cohoes Falls.
1 must acknowledge myself disappointed with
Ballston, as likewise with the approaches to it;
since, for some miles previously to arriving there,
the country, in every direction, wears an aspect
of great barrenness ; and the roads were so ex-
tremely bad, that we were several times, though
in the month of July, in danger of being upset.
Though I am not so unreasonable as to expect
that the roads in America should be smooth and
THE BOARDING HOUSE.
189
almost polished, as arc most of those in England,
which have been gradually improving during a
series of ages, till they have reached their present
state of perfection, yet I certainly looked for
something better than I found in travelling to so
fashionable and crowded a resort as the Springs.
The land, too, in the vicinity, is sandy and un-
productive ; and though there are several small
eminences near the village, whence may be ob-
tained interesting views, particularly towards the
mountains of Vermont, yet I must confess, for a
watering-place, it did not quite come up to the
heau ideal of my imagination, and lost very con-
siderably by comparison with the lovely site and
localities of its more fortunate rival, the New
Lebanon Springs, where I had so lately been.
The principal hotel or boarding-house, which is
formed entirely of wood, is spacious and commo-
dious, but very indifferently furnished ; being des-
titute of carpets, and the chairs and chandeliers
Ijeing of rather ordinary appearance. I make
this observation because, in other parts of the
States, I have remarked that the public as well
as private rooms have more of finish and elegance
about them, and without seeming so much to
require this attention to niceties, as does a resort
of the gay and the fashionable, where pleasure
and amusement are the order of the day.
One circumstance that struck me more forcibly
I:
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■'ly.
i--^.
190
ATTEMPT TO BECOME A REFORMER.
than any thing else, was tlie very slovenly con-
dition in which the approach to the well or spring,
as well as the circumference of it, was kept;
around which I saw fair ladies standing in the
wet and dirt sipping the water. I frankly allow
that it was no particular business of mine ; yet I
could not forbear — from any thing but a meddling
or unkind feeling — noticing the fact to the Gany-
medes who bore the sparkling cup from this foun-
tain of nectar to the thirsty applicants. I gently
hinted to him, that if the quantity drank brought
him any benefit, he would increase his trade, at
least a hundred per cent, by just whirling a mop
round the margin of his little spring ; so that his
fair customers, when they moistened their lips with
his delicious stream, should not moisten their feet
also. The " good, easy man" did not suspect, at
the moment, that I was an Englishman, or he
might, perchance, have demanded my license from
General Jackson thus to criticise his independent
operations.
Two days afterwards I visited the springs of
Saratoga, seven miles from Ballston, and was as
agreeably surprised there as I had been previously
disappointed. As it is a much more grateful sen-
timent to admire and praise, than to dislike and
object, I began immediately to feel that quiet com-
placency of feeling which the subsiding of a dis-
appointed expectation naturally creates. The con-
a
i!;
SARATOGA.
191
trast between the tu o places is, beyond any doubt,
very considerabK The fine, spacious street or
avenue, ornamented Iij shady trees, on the sides
of which are erected tlie various hotels and board-
ing-houses, exhibiting- a very handsome and im-
posing appearance, gives an air of importance, of
gracefulness, and animation, that I found alto-
gether wanting at Ballston. Here, I felt that
a stranger might pass two or three weeks very
agreeably ; for though the country about Saratoga
is flat, and alone relieved by some distant views of
the Vermont mountains, which give, at tlie same
time, a tone of interest to the scenery; yet the very
superior accommodations and ornamental furni-
ture, the external beauty and internal elegance
of the hotels, offer the greatest inducements to a
prolonged stay at this really tasteful watering-
place. Among these, Congress Hall, and the
United States Hotel, are the two principal and
most imposing of the whole, and can accommo-
date, in each establishment, about two hundred
persons. The former edifice is about 200 feet
in length, with a spacious piazza or verandah ex-
tending throughout its entire front, and projecting
to a breadth of about 20 feet. The canopy over-
arching the trellis-work is supported by seventeen
columns, tastefully decorated with luxuriant wood-
bine and other creepers carried in graceful fes-
toons from pillar to pillar. Behind the house,
HI
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192
SOURCES OF AMUSEMENT.
H !■
I
and connected with it, is a beautiful garden ; and
adjoining to it a pleasant promenade in a grove of
pine-trees — yielding at once a refreshing shade
and an agreeable fragrance. The gardens at-
tached to the United States Hotel are still finer,
much more extensive, and arranged in a style
of neatness and elegance, and adorned with a
choice variety of shrubs and flowers, that reflect
great credit on its spirited proprietor. Annexed
to each of these establishments is a billiard-room ;
in the village we found reading-rooms, supplied
with maps and charts, and furnished with nearly
one hundred newspapers from the various states of
the Union, as well as from the Canadas, in addi-
tion to a variety of periodical publications, and
also a good library and a mineralogical museum :
thus providing, during the day, a selection of ob-
jects of interest and information ; while balls and
promenades fill up the intervals of the evening.
To those who are fond of fishing, or of the recrea-
tion of sailing, is presented a delightful excursion on
the waters of Saratoga lake, nine miles in length,
and distant about four from the village. In short,
Saratoga is what I expected to find at Ballston ;
but having found it at one of the places, I re-
mained quite satisfied, and left it with entire good
wishes that the medicinal advantages of its waters
might be most fully reaped by all the invalids,
and increased alacrity, from the salubrious effect
ict
CAUSE OF DYSPEPSIA.
193
of the air, be given to those who were already
well.
I should not omit to mention to you, that the
qualities of these waters are principally saline
and chalybeate, and well calculated, at least the
former, to remove, among other ailments, that
fashionable complaint of dyspepsia, with which
the worthy citizens of the United States are more
troubled than those of any other country that I
have ever visited. Without any pretension to
medical knowledge, I can very easily, to my own
mind, account for the universal prevalence in this
country of a disorder so distressing. The simple
cause of it appears clearly to exist in the nature of
a certain kind of food, which is devoured in vast
quantities by these unsuspecting patients, as well
as by those who are so fortunate as to escape its
effects. I mean the enormous quantities of hot
bread, hot rolls, smoking-hot cakes, half-baked,
and little removed from dough, and withal satu-
rated with melted butter, which are consumed at
nearly every meal, morning, noon, and night, by
all ages, and each sex — by little children, as well
as by their grown-up fathers and mothers. I con-
fess, it seemed to me to be the best possible pre-
parative for a journey to the springs that could be
imagined ; not with smiling faces, for the purpose
of enjoying their agreeable recreations, but with
emaciated forms and countenances, seeking, in
VOL. I. K
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!!
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194 PROPOSED AMENDMENT OF THE CONSTITUTION.
I /
copious mineral potations, a relief from the con-
sequences of this most unwholesome diet. The
great rapidity with which the various meals are
despatched — I speak principally of public tables —
has, I think, a very favourable tendency to a
similar result, and yields only to the former in
the speed iness and extent in which that result is
obtained. I must acknowledge I should feel very
happy, as a philanthropist wishing well to the
interests of mankind, as well in a physical as a
moral sense, and particularly to our American
brethren across the Atlantic, if, for the benefit of
their own health, they would denounce hot bread,
hot rolls, and doughy cakes, as " enemies of the
constitution," and have it enrolled as a law among
the archives of their different States, never to be
departed from, like the laws of the Medes and
Persians.
I now left the springs, with my travelling
friends, and proceeded to Schenectady, finely situ-
ated on the beautiful and interesting Mohawk,
sixteen miles from Ballston; passing through a
better and more cultivated country than that
through which we approached the latter. After
admiring its college, and the pleasing scenery
spread around it, we stepped into a boat on the
Erie canal, the line of which runs through the
town. The vessel was just commencing its fresh-
water voyage to Utica, distant seventy-nine miles,
VALLEY OF THE MOHAWK.
195
and we were drawn along by three horses, at the
rate of five or six miles an hour. The lovely val-
ley through which we were thus smoothly gliding,
was formerly possessed and inhabited by the war-
like nation of the Mohawks, from whom it de-
rives its name — one of a powerful confederacy,
known by the name of the " Five Nations,"
inhabiting the interior of New York, and with
whom the first settlers were often engaged in
mortal conflict. It presents to the eye, in an
extended course of nearly 100 miles from its
commencement, rich, diversified, and enchanting
landscapes. The canal runs parallel to the river
nearly the whole way, which meanders gracefully
beneath its wooded banks, gleaming and spark-
ling to the sun in silvery softness, and casting a
charm over the verdant scenery, heightened by
its association with the wild and warrior tribe of
native Indians that once trod its soil, ere the foot
of the white man rushed in to dispute their em-
pire. But the aboriginal inhabitants of the fertile
vale have long since disappeared from this quarter
of the States, as they are silently doing, though,
I am sorry to say, attended in some instances by
moral violence, from all the others. The de-
structive arts of civilisation — such has been the
operation, at least, in their case — have gone hand-
in-hand with the extermination of the sword :
ite
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196
LITTLE FALLS.
and what the latter spared, the plague of intem-
perance has swept away.
The land in the valley of the Mohawk is
much richer than any that I have yet seen in
America. It is entirely alluvial ; and is supposed
by geologists to have formed, at one time, the
site of an immense lake which has burst its
barrier. Hence are derived the depth and rich-
ness of the soil, and the highly luxuriant produce
of various kinds that is seen waving on its sur-
face. The most romantic scenery, throughout the
whole of the canal route, is that surrounding what
is called the Little Falls, whose lofty, perpen-
dicular, and wooded banks, reminded me strongly
of the beautiful vale of Matlock, in Derbyshire,
with which some of my earliest and most pleasing
recollections are associated. The view from the
boat, on approaching them, is highly interesting,
and indeed grand; the valley being here con-
tracted within the narrowest possible bends,
hemmed in by towering rocks and hills, and
barely admitting a passage to the dashing waters
of the Mohawk, which rush along in a broken
and foaming stream, over the rocky fragments
that impede its course. On a portion of these
rocks, more elevated than the rest, the little
village is seen most picturesquely seated ; lying
between the turbulent waters of the river on one
CURIOSITY ALLIED WITH DEATH.
197
,■■'1 ^1
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f ■ ill
side, and the abrupt and rugged cliffs on the
other. There is a fine aqueduct thrown over
the current at this place, which is considered one
of the best specimens of masonry on the line of
the canal.
A few miles farther lie the German Flats,
celebrated for their fertility, and so called from
belonging to a colony of Germans, who still pre-
serve the customs of their forefathers along with
their language. My eager curiosity to see every
thing I could, had, in several instances, nearly
proved fatal to me; for, at short intervals, in
many places of not more than a quarter of a mile,
bridges are thrown across the canal for the pur-
pose of communication, and, in order to econo-
mise the material and the labour, they are made
so low as barely to allow the roof of the boat to
clear the top of the arch. Now it so happened,
that the roof of the boat was a favourite place of
resort, as giving more of elevation and less of
interruption to the view, though requiring, at the
same time, great caution in looking out for the
bridges. On two or three occasions, while there, I
was within an ace of meeting the fate of a most
unhappy person, who, a short time previously, on
passing one of them, had his head literally wrung
from his shoulders. While intent on admiring
a beautiful landscape, or some interesting object,
the spectator loses for the moment the con-
I'll
198
UTICA.
sciousness of danger ; and proceeding at the rate of
six miles an hour, we were brought more rapidly
than we expected to another of these erections.
Had there been no one to warn us of our situation,
which, luckily, the conductor of the boat was
generally on the alert to do, by calling aloud,
" Bridge!" we should have been often placed,
from our own imprudence, in a fearful pre-
dicament. Twice, however, the word was given
so late, while looking in an opposite direction,
that I had only just time to throw myself flat
on my face on the top of the boat, instead of
jumping off as was usually done, when the sur-
face of my head and person was grazed along the
upper portion of the arch which we were passing —
to my no small horror, as you may well imagine.
On reaching Utica, thankful to find my head
safe on my shoulders, I left the boat, intending to
proceed some stages en diligence; as well, I suppose,
in order to keep it there, as to vary the scene, and
to enable me to see some interesting portions of
the country through which the canal did not pass;
having now had a fair specimen of what reflects
so much honour on American enterprise. After
remaining a short time in Utica, a handsome and
flourishing town, containing a population, accord-
ing to the census of 1830, of 8230 inhabitants,
I accompanied a party of gentlemen on an ex-
cursion to the Falls of Trenton, fourteen miles
TRENTON FALLS.
199
9f ij
Tf i
farther. What constitutes the principal charm of
these Falls, is the deep solitude, the lonely gran-
deur, and romantic beauty of the glen in which
they are situated, rather than the cataracts them-
selves. When, however, the river is swollen,
which winds its rapid and impetuous course
through it, the various cascades formed by the
rocky and precipitous declivities found in the bed
of the stream, assume an appearance highly inter-
esting and picturesque. This deep ravine, where
considerable organic remains are discovered, me-
anders in the most abrupt curves, and extends for
upwards of two miles, hemmed in by lofty and
almost perpendicular cliffs, rising to the height,
in some places, of 150 feet, and covered by a pro-
fusion of overshadowing trees, many of which,
rooted in the fissures of the rocks and over-
hanging the abyss, present forms of the wildest
and most enchanting aspect.
Imagine the towering cliffs and rocks on each
side of the river forming the lovely vale of Matlock,
contracted to within half their distance from each
other, and winding with a tenfold greater abrupt-
ness of meanders, with half-a-dozen beautiful cas-
cades foaming over precipices from fourteen to
nearly forty feet in height, and you have at once
presented to your mind's eye the romantic glen
of Trenton.
The ascent of the ravine requires great caution
,
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200
DEATH OF A YOUNG LADY.
and steadiness of head in making an excursion
along its perilous paths, as the precipitous heights
by which it is enclosed cast their projecting masses,
in several places, to the very brink of the rapid
flood. In passing these angles, considerable risk
is incurred of losing your fragile hold, or falling
from your insecure footing, and being swept away
in the eddying stream. About three years ago, a
melancholy occurrence of this nature took place
in the person of a young lady of New York ; who,
without the distressing accident being perceived
by the friends who accompanied her, among whom
was a gentleman to whom she was on the point
of being married, slipped off the bank and was
drowned ; the only intimation of the disaster being
her disappearance, and the floating of her bonnet
on the surface of the water, her body not having
been found for two or three days afterwards.
On returning to Utica I took my departure en
diligence, with my two travelling friends, whom
I left there, for Auburn, a distance of seventy-four
miles; and I must confess that I never suffered
so severely during a single day's travelling in my
life, and I believe the feeling of dissatisfaction was
fully shared by those with whom I was journey-
ing, and who were natives of the country. The
springs of our vehicle were so bad — if springs they
were — and such the terrific joltings of the road,
arising from deeply indented ruts, holes, and in-
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THE COACH BREAKS DOWN.
201
equalities of surface, that the husband o^ \e lady
was literally compelled to hold his wife down on
her seat by main force, to prevent her head from
violently beating against the roof and sides of the
coach. This necessary operation was obliged to
be continued, and I speak within compass, for at
least thirty miles of the distance ; yet, notwith-
standing all this manual assistance, which was
most dexterously as well as kindly attbrded, as the
gentleman had to take care of himself at the same
time, the poor lady received so many violent blows
and contusions, that she at length burst into tears ;
and, in order to mend the matter, the axletree
snapped in two, and the coach fairly broke down.
Unfortunate as this was, it was still a suspense,
during the interval of reparation, from our des-
perate tossings " to and fro," and enabled us to
gather strength by the delay, and from the re-
freshments that we so much required, to support
the forthcoming trial which we had yet to en-
counter. For myself, I had, pour passer le terns,
an immediate resource at hand, for our disaster
occurred close to a settlement of native Indians of
the Oneida tribe, one of the five nations that make
such a figure in the early history of New York.
I entered into conversation with them, and found
the squaws and children shy and timorous, and
the men fierce and only half tamed ; though they
have now, I understand, been settled here for
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202
OlfEIDA TRIBE OF INDIANS.
some years. They wore a motley kind of dress,
half savage and half civilised ; Indian and Euro-
pean garments being most fantastically interwoven.
Though they have a certain tract of land assigned
to them by the government for their support, yet
their innate love for a roving life is such, that it
is with the greatest possible difficulty they can be
induced to cultivate it ; a visit to their hunting
grounds, as relishing of their original habits of
wild independence, giving them more real enjoy-
ment than any other occupation, unless it be the
draining of the contents of a brandy bottle. Great
numbers of them, in illustration of this wandering
propensity, are lately gone to settle on the shores
of Lakes Huron and Michigan, where they feel
less incommoded by the (to them) unprofitable ad-
vances of civilisation.
Oifr carriage being now repaired, we again
put ourselves en route, and passed through the
handsome village of Syracuse, where I in vain,
however, looked for V Orecchio di Dionysio, which
I had so much admired when in the European
city of that name. This modern Transatlantic
Syracuse is indebted for its present thriving
condition to the enormous quantities of salt pro-
duced in its vicinity, with which the whole country
around it is impregnated ; the great spring, whence
the supply of water is brought to the vats, being
about a mile distant from the village. Here
A STUDY FOR CRANI0L0GI8TH
20*
commences the Oswego canal, which, leaving that
of the Erie at this place, and running through a
space of thirty-eight miles, communicates with
Lake Ontario, forming a highly beneficial branch
to the latter canal.
At last, with wearied hearts and contused
bodies, we reached, late in the evening, our
asylum at Auburn ; aching and writhing, like
wounded snakes, with the bruises we had received.
Had a phrenologist at this moment examined our
craniums, he would have found, or imagined he
had found, half-a-dozen more organs than even
Spurzheim himself ever yet discovered on the heads
of mortal man, and which would have puzzled
his powers of invention to have described ; at least,
I can speak with certainty of my own, as it
was covered all over with bumps, some of them as
large as a pigeon's egg. I was glad, however, to
have escaped with these, as I was within a hair's
breadth of suffering a compound fracture into the
bargain. I shall now take my leave of you for
the present, trusting that the bumps on your own
head do not exceed, as in my case, those with
which nature has favoured you, and for which
the philosophy of craniology can well account.
Adieu !
I
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204
LETTER IX.
State Prison of Auburn — Admirable System of Discipline —
Different Principle to the Penitentiary at Philadelpliia —
Thirty Women a match for Seven Hundred Men! — Cayuga
Lake — Specimen of Democraticul Equality — Seneca Lake
— Geneva — Jemima Wilkinson, the Enthusiast — Canan-
daigua — New Settlements just emerging from the Forest —
Singular Appearance of ihem — Mode of destroying the
Trees — Their melancholy Aspect — Rochester — Sam Patch
— Meet some agreeable Travellers — Temperance Societies
— Interesting Details of them — Lockport — The most
splendid Works there on the Canal.
Lockportf25th Juli/, 183\.
MY DEAR FRIEND,
We parted at Auburn, and I now
take up thence the thread of my narrative. It is
a very pretty village, as, indeed, it ought to be,
considering the beautiful poetry whence its name
is borrowed, and merits, in no inconsiderable de-
gree, the description given of its prototype as
being " the loveliest village of the plain." It is
of recent origin, and, like most of the western
towns and villages, highly flourishing and rising
into rapid importance. In truth, so quick is the
growth of population in this section of the country,
:;• ^!
STATE PRISON OF AUBURN.
205
in consequence of emigrations, if so they may be
called, from the more thickly peopled northern
and other States of the Union, that what is but a
village or hamlet one year, becomes the next a
bustling town animated by all the throng of com-
mercial life. The number of its inhabitants, at
present, is between 4000 and 5000. But the
great object of interest to be seen here, as well by
the philosophic inquirer as by the simply in-
quisitive traveller, is the State Prison, which
presents, beyond any doubt, the best and most
approved system of prison discipline in the world.
It is the precise model of the one that has been
since established at Sing Sing, and the successful
rival of the Penitentiary at Philadelphia. The
latter, as I mentioned to you in a former letter, is
founded on a principle of total seclusion from
society, where the victim of crime is immured, in
a fearful and unbroken solitude, unmitigated by
the sight of a human countenance or the tone of a
human voice, except the very occasional presence
of the gaoler, or that of the clergyman attached
to the establishment.
The State Prison at Auburn, on the contrary,
admits of the prisoners working together, under
the vigilant inspection of superintendents ; but
prohibits, under the strictest penalties, the slightest
communication either by sign or word. This ju-
dicious arrangement, while it alleviates the horrors
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206
STATE PRISON OP AUBURN.
of solitary confinement, is calculated to prevent
that additional contamination of mind pervading
the prisons and penitentiaries of European coun-
tries, and which, by corrupting still farther the
morals of their wretched inmates, leaves them, at
the termination of their period of confinement,
more depraved, and less prepared to be again cast
on society, than they were on the very first day of
their incarceration. Such has been, and is, the
admirable discipline of this prison, that a great
proportion of the convicts, when discharged from
their " durance vile," have become honest and in-
dustrious members of the community of which
they had, previously, been the greatest scourges.
One of the highly beneficial effects of this excel-
lent system, and a proof of its superiv r and econo-
mical organisation, is, that the earnings of the
prisoners, in their daily avocations, exceed very
considerably the expenses attendant on their con-
finement; and which surplus is, I understand,
very wisely and humanely given to the felons, on
their discharge, in order to set them up in some
honest calling. This temporary resource, united
with the habits of industry contracted during their
term of punishment, has the best possible tendency
to withdraw them from the vicious course of life
they had formerly pursued.
This building was commenced in the year
1816, and is constructed in the shape of a hollow
STATE PRISON OF AUBURN.
207
square, enclosed by a wall extending 2000 feet,
and in height about thirty-five ; having 500 feet on
each of its sides, and is capable of containing 1100
convicts. Of the two wings forming portions of
the building, the one to the north is appropriated
to the solitary cells, consisting of about 400. Of
these there are five tiers or stories, each contain-
ing eighty in two parallel lines, and separated, in
\he centre, by a wall two feet thick. These are
divided from each other by a wall of the thickness
of a foot, and are seven feet in length, seven in
height, and three and a half in breadth, and are
separately occupied by a single person. In each
cell is fitted a ventilator extending to the roof, and
formed in such a way as to exclude the possibility
of the prisoners either conversing or making signs
to each other, and around them is an area ten
feet in breadth, open to the roof by which the
galleries of the dificrent stories are covered over.
The economical construction as well as the secu-
rity of the building is so excellently arranged, that
five small stoves and eighteen lamps afibrd suffi-
cient heat and light to the whole; while one
sentinel is found sufficient to keep watch over 400
prisoners.
After having gone round one of the tiers of
cells, in each of which I was happy to perceive
a Bible, I visited the workshops, ranged round
the walls of an inner yard, where the various
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208
STATE PRISON OF AUBURN.
1
trades are carried on in which the culprits are
employed ; those being taught some manual occu-
pation who had never learnt one before. I must
acknowledge that my surprise and admiration
were excited in a high degree, when I beheld the
unequalled precision, regularity, order, and in-
dustry, that characterised an assemblage of be-
tween six and seven hundred prisoners. Con-
sidering the jarring and discordant elements of
which this mass is composed, it is perfectly asto-
nishing to see the quiet demeanour and close
assiduity with which the convicts apply themselves
to their work. A death-like silence pervades the
whole range of shops where this busy multitude
is labouring: not a syllable is spoken — not a
single sign given — not an eye averted from the
work placed immediately before it. All are ab-
stracted by the various objects on which they are
employed, and by thoughts that are incommuni-
cable even to their fellow-labourers standing close
by them ; for the Argus eyes and erect ears of the
overseer are ever on the alert to detect any infrac-
tion of the peremptory rules of the prison, which
would be punished at once, and with severity.
Notwithstanding this penalty of dumbness unre-
mittingly imposed upon ther i8 part punishment for
their crimes, there appeareu an air of complacent,
and even cheerful tranquillity about them, that
surprised me much, occasioned, no doubt, by the
STATE PRISON OF AUBURN.
209
symptoms of humanity surrounding them — how-
ever silent that humanity may be. Tliis feeling,
I should imagine, is never felt by the forlorn
beings confined in the Penitentiary at Philadel-
phia; at least, not until insanity has rendered
them unconscious of their utterly outcast con-
dition.
Having remained there till the hour of dinner,
I was witne&s of the order of procession in which
these miserable wretches marched to their respec-
tive meals. On a signal being given, by the
ringing of a bell, they formed themselves into
companies outside of their respective shops, and,
moving in single file, with a kind of military
lock-step, and their faces turned towards their
keepers, proceeded in slow time to their melan-
choly repast. It was a mournful sight to behold
so many human beings thus degraded from all
but the mere externals of human nature, and
presenting an appearance of the entire body
marching to the gallows. After entering an im-
mense hall, in which they were to dine, they
remained standing till grace was pronounced,
when they sat down, and, with the same unbroken
silence as before, took the fare that was provided
for them, and, after the pronouncing of a second
grace, returned with the same regularity to the
occupations they had left. Had a stranger, un-
acquainted with the establishment he was visiting,
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210
STATE PRISON OF AUBURN,
entered this singular dinner-apartment, and per-
ceived the mysterious silence and unregarding
looks pervading this assemblage of six or seven
hundred persons, he would have been struck with
a species of awe at so startling and supernatural
an appearance.
In a chapel attached to the prison, divine
service is regularly performed every Sunday ;
and, in addition to this, a Sunday-school has
been established, under the superintendence of
the students of the Theological Academy, from
which have resulted highly beneficial consequences.
In short, the system adopted and put in practice,
at the Auburn State Prison, is the very beau ideal
of what prison-discipline should be; and to acquire
an intimate knowledge of its effect, there are three
French gentlemen present in the town at this
moment, expressly sent out by the government of
France. It is certainly a model for universal
imitation, as it exceeds in precision, judicious de-
sign and arrangement, regularity and successful
result, the practical operation, on an equally
extended scale, of every other system that has
ever been devised. Nor does it in the least
detract from the praise due to the Americans, that
they were under the necessity of discovering some
such efl&cacious mode of treating, and reforming
the morals of, their ** rogues and vagabonds,"
inasmuch as they have no Botany Bay whither to
EXTRAORDINARY FEMALE LOQUACITY. 211
im
transport them. It rather reflects credit on their
ingenuity, and proves that, as in most, if not on
all other occasions, they are quite equal to any
emergency that may arise.
I was happy to learn, to the honour of the
better as well as fairer sex, that the disproportion
between the relative numbers of male and female
prisoners was so greatly in their favour; since,
while there were nearly 700 of the former, there
were only 30 of the latter ! I must own that I
was, at the same time, highly amused on being
assured by the gaoler that he had " infinitely more
trouble and vexation in keeping the thirty females
in order and obedience, than with all the over-
whelming majority of the more peaceable men
whom he had in charge!'*
1 now again put myself in motion towards
the west, and, at the distance of nine miles from
Auburn, arrived on the banks of Cayuga Lake,
extending thirty-eight miles in length and be-
tween one and two in breadth. Traversing the
northern end of it is thrown the largest bridge I
ever saw; being upwards of a mile long, and
of a greater extent, I believe, than the one across
the Potomac at Washington. Here I met with
a downright specimen of republican, or rather
democratical, equality, in the person of one of
the coach-passengers ; indeed, something beyond
equality, with which I should not have been in-
i
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212 SPECIMEN OF REPUBLICAN EQUALITY.
duced to quarrel, but actual injustice and roguery.
I must inform you that there are no places or
arrangements made, in American coaches, for
outside passengers, except that on the box, along-
side the driver. This seat the person in question
had occupied from the time of our departure, in
consequence of all the inside places having been
previously filled ; one of which I had myself taken
and retained from the commencement. On reach-
ing the village of Cayuga, prior to crossing the
lake, I stepped out of our nine-inside vehicle,
understanding that it was going to wait ten or
fifteen minutes at the post-office for the mail -bags,
in order to walk across the bridge, the better to
examine its singular structure, and to have an
uninterrupted view of the lake. On gaining the
opposite extremity, the coach overtook me, which
I did not regret, as a brisk shower of rain had
commenced falling; when, to my astonishment, I
found that the cunning democrat on the box had
taken possession of my inside seat. I had not,
however, the remotest suspicion that he intended
to retain it ; and I, therefore, politely observed to
him that he had taken my place, which I should
be obliged to him to restore me. He replied,
" there was a seat by the driver, and I could
occupy that." On my remonstrating with him
on his conduct, as being inconsistent with gentle-
manly propriety, he answered, "that it was in
SPECIMEN OF REPUBLICAN EQUALITY. 213
vain my urging him to leave the inside, for that
he was determined not to do it; that I should
not have left my seat; and that one man was just
as good as another." I then appealed to the
coachman, as the arbiter eleyantiarum on such
occasions, who flatly refused all interference to
reinstate me in my rights and privileges; and
gave me, in addition, to understand, tlat unless
I mounted the box without further delay, he
should drive off and leave me on the road. I
then appealed to the passengers ; and though one
of them at last mumbled out, in a hesitating tone
of voice, that the place was certainly mine, the
rest of them, either afraid to declare their sen-
timents, or perceiving that I was an Englishman,
and therefore being unwilling to do so, observed
a strict silence. Disinclined to proceed to violent
measures, being fully aware that ! should have no
assistance, and as there was no effectually resist-
ing this mob-law, I was obliged, in order to avoid
the alternative presented to me by the master of
the ceremonies, to bow to his supreme decision, as
the representative of the sovereign people — mount
the box, nolens volens, and ride in the rain for
some miles without a great coat, till we reached
Seneca Falls, where I put matters in such a train
as compelled the impudent intruder to resign the
seat which he had so dishonestly obtained.
After drying the wet jacket I had thus unex-
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214
GENEVA — SENECA LAKE.
.:
pectedly gained, and despatching a hasty break-
fast, I proceeded onwards, for twelve miles,
through an interesting country, to Geneva, de-
lightfully situated on Seneca Lake ; a part of the
route winding round the northern edge of it,
being here about two miles wide. This little
town, remarkable for its beautiful position, and of
which the best portion lies on a finely elevated
terrace, overlooking, with its hanging gardens,
the noble expanse of water below, is so called
from its supposed resemblance to the Swiss town
of that name. Nor is the comparison by any
means fanciful, as many of its features are similar
to those which characterise the latter, and its
relative situation on one of the extremities of
Seneca Lake perfectly accords with the position of
the other on the Lake of Geneva ; while its
length of thirty-five miles, and average breadth of
three and a half, assist, in no indifferent degree, to
eke out the similitude. How Captain Hall could
possibly believe " North America to be the most
unpicturesque country to be found any where," is,
I confess, to my mind a perfect marvel. Such a
sentiment emanating from so acute an observer,
who had witnessed the splendid visions from West
Point, Catskill Mountains, New Lebanon, and the
valley of the Mohawk, among a hundred other
beauties, is, indeed, quite incomprehensible. But
there is no disputing, at the same time, about taste.
a
JEMIMA WILKINSON.
215
There is an extraordinary peculiarity connected
with the waters of this lake, of which the cause has
never yet been explained — that of their having a
regular periodical rise and fall every seven years,
and at no other time.
As well on this, as on Cayuga Lake, a steam-
boat is constantly plying ; affording a most inter-
esting excursion to the various pretty villages that
adorn its banks. Of these, the classical village of
Ovid and that of Dresden are the most conspicuous.
Immediately south of Dresden is the farm of the
late celebrated Jemima Wilkinson, an enthusiast
who pretended she was the Saviour of mankind,
and to whom a number of persons had attached
themselves as her disciples until her death, which
took place some few years ago. The following
singular account is given of this infatuated woman,
or, I should rather say, hypocrite, as the sequel
will, I think, sufficiently prove. Ten miles south
of Dresden is Rapelyea's Ferry, where is still re-
maining the frame constructed by Jemima for
the purpose of trying the faith of her followers.
Having approached within a few hundred yards
of the lake-shore, she alighted from an elegant
carriage, in which she had been drawn to the
place, and the road being strewed by her disciples
with white handkerchiefs, she walked to the plat-
form. Having announced her intention of walk-
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CANANDAIQUA.
ing across the lake on the water, she stepped,
ankle deep, into the clear element; when, suddenly
pausing, she addressed the multitude, inquiring
whether or not they had faith that she could pass
over, for, if otherwise, she could not effect the
miracle. On receiving an affirmative answer, she
returned to her carriage, declaring, that as they
believed in her power, it was unnecessary to diS'
play it !
On leaving Geneva, three hours' ride brought
me to Canandaigua, another of the beautiful villages
with which this western region is studded, and,
equally with the former, crowning the margin of
a fine lake whence it derives its name. The
loveliness and diversity of its natural scenery are
very striking, and have rendered it a favourite
residence. To this, ample testimony is borne by
the number of elegant edifices and tasteful villas
presented to the eye in every direction. The
principal street, in which the episcopal church
stands forth a prominent object of graceful con-
struction, runs through an extent of two miles,
ornamented with trees, and of noble breadth.
The fine dimensions of the streets, I may observe,
form the characteristic of almost all the American
towns that I have seen ; reflecting great credit on
the taste and judgment of their inhabitants ; for,
though land is less valuable here than in older
^1
APPEARANCE OF THE NEW SETTLEMENTS. 217
countries, and therefore can be better spared, yet
a less cultivated taste would, with even superior
advantage, fail to produce the desired effect.
The farther I advanced, the nearer I approach-
ed to those new western settlements which, within
a few short years, have effected such an astonish-
ing change in the aspect of the country, and have
sprung up with a rapid growth and vigour, like
so many mushrooms during an autumnal night.
I was now on my way to Rochester, twenty-eight
miles fi'oni Canandaigua, and saw in every direc-
tion large tracts of land, presenting all the varieties
of shape and appearance, just emerging into luxu-
riant cultivation from the boundless, and till now
untrodden, forest, of which so lately it formed a
dreary and unprofitable portion. It was literally
a new creation, and to which the pre-occupied
countries of Europe present no similitude. The
novelty of the scene, only to be witnessed in
America, was without parallel, and brought with
it a high and correspondent interest. Amid enclo-
sures of grass and fruitful fields of corn, the stumps
of a thousand giant trees, cut down to within two
and three feet of the ground, contested possession
of the soil with the produce of the husbandman ;
while, in other parts of this freshly cleared wilder-
ness, was seen stalking through the blackening
forest the destructive element of fire, accomplish-
ing, with a more furious rapidity, what the tardy
VOL. I. L
ilr
I
218 MODES OF DESTROYING THE FORESTS.
axe lind left unachieved. The latter mode of
operation, in clearing the land, offered to the eye
an aspect of gloorny desolation, that excited rather
a painful and melancholy feeling. The lofty forms
of the still towering oaks, and of the other majestic
trees of an American forest, denuded of their
leaves, their branches burnt off, the blackened
trunks deeply seamed and half consumed with the
devouring llames, presented the terrific appearance
of having been blasted by the lightnings and
thunderbolts of heaven.
Another exterminating process, almost equally
disagreeable to the eye, and inspiring somewhat
of a moral sensation of pity, is what is called
'* girdling" the trees. This consists of chopping
off a circular breadth of bark from the stem, at the
height of two or three feet from the earth, and
leaving it to wither away ; since the communicating
channel of the bark, by which the sap rises, and
nourishment is conveyed through the trunk to the
various branches, being thus cut off, the tree dies
as a necessary consequence. It was, really, and
without affectation, pitiable to behold these mag-
nificent stems oftwo or three hundred years' growth,
proudly spreading to the skies their noble and
umbrageous arms, and covered with a profusion
of rich foliage, exhibiting all the stages of pre-
mature decay, according to their more or less
recent excision, amid the very bloom and verdure
Horace's 13th ode, lib, ii. illustrated. 219
of summer. The sensation produced was almost
undefinable. It appeared to me, in the excite-
ment of my fancy, to be a wanton mode of de-
stroying- tlic tree by cutting its throat, — if I may
be allowed the bold figure of illustrating its mode
of existence by the application to it of human pro-
perties and attributes.
These beautiful and splendid trees, thus felled,
burnt, and girdled, are left to the destroying in-
fluences of time and weather to perform the rest,
and to root out from the soil which they now dis-
figure find oppress, but once adorned. With re-
spect to those that have been partially burnt, they
are delivered over to the mercies of the wintry
winds and howling tempests, which, ever and
anon, with a tremendous crash, lay prostrate these
huge and ghostly apparitions of the wilderness.
And most fortunate is it for the, sometimes, luck-
less proprietor of the land, if a kind of posthumous
vengeance does not overtake him by one of these
towering wrecks, ** majestic though in ruins,"
rushing on his devoted head. The " Ille et nefasto
te posuit die,'' feelingly pronounced by the Roman
poet, nearly two thousand years ago, is no poetical
vision in these western wilds, but is sometimes
accompanied by a too practical illustration, re-
moving, at one fell swoop, both the unhappy
husbandman and the blighted tree.
Rochester is situated on the banks of the Ge-
m
m
fi
220
ROCHESTER.
ne8see river, about seven miles from Lake Ontario,
and is the most flourishing town in this part of
the noble state of New York; possessing the
extraordinary commercial advantage of having
three distinct channels to the ocean. The amazing
rapidity that has characterised its growth, and
raised it to its present importance, is without
parallel, as respects time and population, in the
historv of the United States. In 1812, when the
first settlement was made, the surface whereon it
now stands was covered by an impenetrable forest,
and v/here a couple of miserable bog-houses were
alone to be seen ; while, at the moment that I ad-
dress you, it is thronged by an enterprising and
active population of upwards of fourteen thousand
inhabitants, swarming like bees in a hive, and
bustling amid all the eager pursuits of a thousand
occupations. Here commerce and husbandry, the
arts and sciences, go hand in hand, in all the
freshness of a new existence; displaying their
humanising powers, at once to enrich and civilise
mankind, and exempted from the withering effects
of an over-wrought competition, which ever pre-
vail, to a greater or less exs^ent, where the amount
of labour and of occupation exceeds the wants of
society.
The town, formed into streets of excellent
dimensions, and surrounded by the lordly forest,
which advances its rugged and frowning outline
ROCHESTER.
221
to the very skirts of civilisation, is adorned by a
number of handsome buildings, as well private as
public. On one of the former, I was not a little
surprised to see the following announcement made
on a board placed against the side of the house : —
*' Mr. , Attorney, Solicitor, and Counsellor."*
Among the public buildings, are eleven churches, a
court-house, a gaol, two banks, two markets, saw-
mills, cotton and woollen factories, the Franklin
Institute, and the Athenaeum, besides a crowd of
well-furnished shops or stores, and about a dozen
flour-mills. Flour is one of the staple articles of
trade at this place, and is said to be bought up in
the market of New York in preference to that of
any other ; the wheat of this district being con-
sidered of very superior quality. Some of these
mills are on a scale of extraordinary magnitude ;
and I find it stated, that " one of them contains
more than four acres of flooring," which is, as a
Yankee would say, " pretty considerable well, I
guess ! "
TheGenessee river, of which the " water privi-
lege," as the Americans term it, is very great, hav-
ing proved the main source of the prosperity of
the town, is here crossed by a very fine aqueduct
* The fact is, there is no distinction in the legal profession
here between attorney and counsellor, tiie one including the
other. The attorney pleads in court in America as barristers do
in England.
222
PUBLIC SUICIDE OF SAM PATCH.
often arches, supporting the Erie canal, on which
boats are beheld smoothly gliding above, while the
river is fretting and rushing along beneath. Pur-
suing the course of the stream for a short distance,
you come to the Falls of the Genessee, of about
ninety feet in depth, with their numerous and pic-
turesque cascades ; and a couple of miles lower
down, to those of Carthage ; the scenery being
here highly romantic, and well worth the trouble
of a walk to see. It was from the summit of a rock,
about the middle of the first-named Falls, that a
half-madman, of the name of Sam Patch, met
his death about two years ago, by repeating an in-
sane exhibition of his courage previously made at
the Falls of Niagara, where he had a marvellous
escape. A platform was erected for him to a
height of twenty-five feet above the rock in
question, making, with the elevation of the latter
above the water, a total height of 125 feet ; and
from this stage, in the presence of a multitude of
humane spectators, he magnanimously plunged
headlong into the abyss below. As might well
be expected, he never rose again; nor was his
body found until six months afterwards; having
been carried by the current to the distance of a
number of miles from the scene of his folly.
I had the good fortune, while at Rochester, to
make the acquaintance of a most amiable and in-
telligent family from Albany, who were on their
TEMPERANCE SOCIETIES.
223
way to visit the magnificent cataract of Niagara,
to which my own anticipations were turned with
such wistful longings. The party consisted of a
highly respectable and talented barrister of that
city, his wife, equally amiable as himself, his little
daughter, and also his brother and his lady, two
agreeable persons resident at Geneva. In the de-
lightful society of these interesting people, I passed
some of the most pleasing hours I had experienced
since my arrival in America ; and found in their
conversation ample sources both of information
and pleasure. With respect to my intellectual
friend from Albany, as I hope he will allow me
to call him, I had an early opportunity of wit-
nessing the display of his superior endowments of
mind, in a cause that reflected equal credit on the
goodness and integrity of his heart, as on the
soundness of his head. This presented itself on
the occasion of a temperance meeting that was
held at Rochester, for the purpose of advancing
the success of that most benevolent and admirable
association. And here I cannot refrain from di-
lating somewhat on a subject of such universal,
absorbing, and intense interest to the people of
the United States ; — a subject, I am happy to say,
that has now attracted, and most deservedly, a
large portion of attention in England, and in
other parts of Europe. The cause of temperance
in America, as carried on by the numberless so-
u m
224
TEMPERANCE SOCIETIES.
cieties now existing there, has put in motion one of
the mightiest moral engines that were ever con-
structed for the benefit and regeneration of man-
kind, and has cast a brighter histre on American
character for patriotism, philanthropy, zeal, per-
severance, and principle, than all its prodigious
works of physical labour and ingenuity are able
to confer.
It appears, by documents and reports which I
have now before me, that the vice of intemperance
had, for a long series of years, been acquiring,
and had at length established, such a fearful and
destructive ascendancy over the citizens of the
Union, that the very foundations of society were
loosened, and its principles of virtue and order
were undergoing a rapid disorganisation. The
following computation has been made, with re-
spect to the frightful and almost incredible excess
to which this odious vice had extended, and which
I give in the very words of one of the reports of
the New York State Society. They say, " When
the temperance reformation began, there were in
this nation not less than from three to four mil-
lions of drinkers of spirit ; and as not less than
one in ten of all chose among us who take up the
fearful practice of drinking spirit become intem-
perate, so there were in this nation at that time
from three to four hundred thousand drunkards.
The plague of intemperance was in all the land :
TEMPERANCE SOCIETIES.
225
it was fast coming up into all our dwellings : we
were emphatically a nation of drunkards. No-
thing could stay its progress, until the hitherto
undiscovered power of total abstinence was brought
out against it. And now that power is to be seen
in the fact, that not less than one fourth of the
families in the nation, and probably one half of
them in our state, have secured themselves, on
this principal of total abstinence, against the woes
of intemperance."
In consequence of this appalling state of
things, some few estimable individuals, in the
state of Massachusetts, entered into an association
in 1826, pledging themselves to a total abstinence
from the use of ardent spirits, and to strenuous
exertions for the purpose of extending the prac-
tice of a similar observance throughout the sphere
of their influence. From this single society, like
the forest from a solitary stem of the bannian tree,
have sprung ten shousand branches that have
taken root in nearly all the states of the Union,
and have produced that mighty reformation which
has achieved already such glorious triumphs, aild
is still urging onward its bright course, till it
effect the entire extirpation of intemperance from
the land. You may imagine what must have
been the zeal, perseverance, and labour of the
worthy promoters of this admirable reformation,
and of those who have subsequently become
l2
m
t ; ii
226
TEMPERANCE SOCIETIES,
associated with them in their philanthropic enter-
prise, when I inform you, that in one single state
alone, that of New York, upwards of six hundred
societies are already reported to the executive
committee. It is believed also, that of those un-
reported there are two hundred more, constituting
an aggregate of eight hundred temperance so-
cieties ; a number which will give one for each of
the 800 towns comprised within its boundaries,
and 150,000 members for the whole. Of these
societies, some of which are female, a few carry
their principle of abstinence so far as to exclude
wine as well as spirit ; and seriously contemplate
the propriety and advantage of extending it even
to malt liquor. This latter design will not, I hope,
be carried into execution, as it would in the end,
I have no doubt, create a re-action that would en-
danger the whole system. So opposite an extreme
to the original evil would mar the intended
good. Labouring men, at least, require something
stronger than water, and it would be bad policy to
withhold it from them.
The result of these most laudable endeavours
has been, that in the employment of their various
workmen, contractors of rail-roads, captains of
canal-boats, proprietors of farms, and many re-
spectable manufacturers, have now abstained alto-
gether from allowing them spirits of any descrip-
tion ; and have borne testimony to the important
TEMPERANCE SOCIETIES.
227
fact, that their men have just as faithfully per-
formed their duty as when the reverse was the
case, and have enjoyed at the same time better
health, and a more cheerful alacrity of temper.
In addition to the above, considerable numbers of
distilleries have discontinued their manufacture,
and grocery F+ores the sale, of this deleterious ar-
ticle, a^ le lo. -^fgreatpecunia , (Oil t; but which
the owners of them have conscientiously sacrificed
on the altars of their country to the sacred cause
of its welfare — of virtue, humanity, and religion.
The most surprising circumstance, however,
is, that the reformation has been carried into suc-
cessful operation even among sailors; a body of
men, it was supposed, that would never have been
induced to perform their arduous duty without the
usual allowance of rum. This, nevertheless, has
been effected, and to such an astonishing extent,
that about 400 ships now sail from diflferent
parts of the United States without having intoxi-
cating liquors, of any description, on board — the
sailors finding a basin of hot coffee a more invigo-
rating beverage. One of the immediate effects has
been the decrease of insurance ; several of the most
respectable offices having reduced the rate five per
cent on the premium, in consequence of vessels sail-
ing without spirits. With respect to another class
of society, to whom the application of this doctrine
was formerly deemed equally impracticable, I
ilf' J
IV
t^ ■
1'
■*i?
!M
%'
bl^
i '
ill'
U
h
228 REFORMATION EFFECTED BY TEMPERANCE.
mean soldiers, a revolution, as gratifying as it was
unexpected, has taken place. The reports, now
before me, contain some interesting notices on the
subject by Chancellor Walworth, the enlightened
and philanthropic President of the New York
State Society. That learned gentleman relates
the circumstance of his having brought the con-
sideration of this question, ten years ago, as a
member of Congress, before the House of Repre-
sentatives; when his proposition, if not rejected
with scorn, was, at all events, thrown out by an
almost unanimous vote. Such, notwithstanding,
has been the change of sentiment since that
period, that the whisky ration is, already, par-
tially discontinued to the troops, by order of the
President of the T^jiited States ; and the total
abolition of it is . ongly recommended by the
head of the War Department, backed by all the
influence of his official station.
It is almost superfluous to exhibit to you the
dark catalogue of crime, perpetrated by the people
under the excitement of their intemperate habits,
in order to satisfy you of the vast importance of
these associations. As I have, however, been lead-
ing you, so lately, through the State Prison at Au-
burn, I will just present you with the report, made
to the executive committee, respecting the habits
of the convicts confined there, previous to the
commission of the offences for which they are now
TEMPERANCE REPORT OF AUBURN PRISON. 229
suffering the penalties of the law. The report
says : " The male convicts may be classed, with
reference to their former habits of drinking, in the
following manner : —
Grossly intemperate 209
Moderately intemperate 257
Temperate drinkers 132
Total abstinence, or nearly so 19
617
Of this number, 346 were under the influence of
ardent spirits at the time of the commission of
their crimes. The number discharged, by pardon
and expiration of sentence, during the past year,
was 133. Of these, 95 had been drunkards."
I shall now conclude my notice on the sub-
ject by stating to you, from the Report of 1831,
what was the amount of decreased consumption of
spirits of the previous year. ** It appears," says
this document, " that, in the last year, the diminu-
tion in the quantity of foreign liquors, passing
through the New York market for domestic con-
sumption, \*as been one million four hundred and
seventy-one thousand seven hundred and eighteen
gallons, costing about as many dollars, and being
a falling off of more than fifty-three per centj of
domestic spirit, it has been about two millions of
gallons, worth, at first cost, about 500,000 dollars ;
the whole making a saving to the community of
nearly two millions of dollars." From other
1]
t:h|
I ii
;i'
230 ENORMOUS SAVINGS FROM TEMPERANCE.
sources I also collect, that, from the yoar 1828 to
the present year (1831), the aggregate decrease
in the consumption of spirits in America wasj^w
millions and three quarters of gallons; saving to
the country, perhaps, almost as many dollars.
Thus, together with half a million of pledged
members, throughout the different states of the
Union, you must acknowledge with me, that the
cause of temperance advances with irresistible im-
pulse. I will only add an apostrophe to my own
beloved country, and say, " Go thou and do
likewise !"
I left Rochester, in the company of the inter-
esting family whom I have introduced to you,
for Lockport, distant sixty-five miles; and was
delighted, on leaving the town, to enter on what
is called the *' Ridge Road," which, for its extent
of nearly eighty miles to Lewiston, is, ])eyond all
comparison, the finest road in the country. With-
out intending to cast a gibe or jeer in the faces of
my American friends, I must say, that the road is
thus excellent because nature has made it and not
man.
As this inartificial turnpike is evidently of
natural formation, and runs parallel with Lake
Ontario, at an average distance of, perhaps, seven
miles, towards which the slope of the ridge constantly
inclines, it is regarded by geologists as the ancient
shores of the lake. It is slightly elevated above
APPEARANCE OF NEW SETTLEMENtS.
231
the surrounding country, which presents a level
surface nearly the whole way, and is skirted by
the boundless forest on each side, whence an
undulating tract of land has been won, extending
from a quarter to three-quarters of a mile in
breadth, and in length through the whole line of
our route. These patches of newly cultivated
ground are formed into all the imaginable varieties
of curves, squares, semicircles, and other shapes
that the fancy of the new settler had suggested.
The scene was highly interesting. Nature here
offered to the imagination what might easily be
conceived to be a picture of man, just emerging
from a state of savage life into the arts of civilisa-
tion. All was wiidness, rudeness, and disorder :
rough outlines of plans, half begun and none
finished, and the effect increased by myriads of
burnt, chopped, and girdled trees, similar to
what I have before mentioned. Here and there,
the half-formed enclosure was surrounded by a
zig-zag, or, as it is called, a snake fence, con-
structed of split trees, and exhibiting a singular
appearance. This is seen in all parts of the
States ; being the universal boundary of property
in all their sections. I need scarcely observe, that
the beautiful, verdant, and ever diversified orna-
ment of hedges, so refreshing an object to the eye
in English landscape, was not to be found here ;
since, in the most cultivated district of the Union,
!li; : '.1
li
i
m
232 LIDEL ON HIS COUNTRY BY AN AMERICAN.
they are never to be seen ; a deficiency in pic-
turesque effect that is greatly felt by the English
traveller. Perhaps a greater libel than any that
has been attributed, by the Americans, to Captain
Basil Hall, I heard pronounced by an American
gentleman himself, ^.vhen alluding to this great
desideratum in American scenery, and seeming as
if he wished to apologise for their absence —
namely, that the soil of his country would not pro-
duce them !
Of Lockport, a tolerably correct idea may be
formed, by considering it the counterpart of the
country through which I have just been leading
you. Indeed, its foundations are but just laid ;
and it looks, at present, like the element of order
struggling with, and rising out of, chaos. Its
history is concise enough. Five years ago, or
thereabouts, it existed not ; a wide waste of wil-
derness occupying its site — and now there are
between 300 and 400 houses, of which it owes,
entirely, the existence to the presence of the
Erie Canal that runs through it. One thing,
however, may be safely predicted, that in ten
or twenty years from this time it will have
become a handsome, wealthy, and important
town. Though in its infancy, it possesses, not-
withstanding, the finest work on the whole
line of the Erie canal, in the splendid locks
whence it derives its designation. This gigantic
LOCKrORT.
233
work consists of ten locks, of fine hewn stone,
formed in a double range of five in each, jdaced
in juxtaposition, and which have been constructed
for the purpose of surmounting the rocky ridge
dividing the two levels on eacli side of it.
These locks, formed of the very best workman-
ship, graduate a fall of about sixty-live feet, and are
built in two tiers, in order to prevent the serious
delay that would ensue, in consequence of the im-
mense traffic on the canal, if the ascending or
descending boats — whichever it might be — hud to
wait the passing of those coming hi the ;)positc
direction before they could proceed. It is m
interesting sight to behold one boat gmduaily
rising to an elevation of sixty-five fe ft, while
another is seen, at the same moment, sinking to
an equal depth towards the spacious basin ])elow.
In continuation of this stupendous work, and
running immediately from it, is the grand excava-
tion that has been cut through the mountain ridge
to an extent of three miles, and of which the
labour of hewing a passage through a solid rock
of twenty feet in thickness, miu for so great a
distance, was, as you may suppose, enormous. It
was here that the greatest obstacles of the whole
363 miles had to be encountered ; and it certainly
strikes the beholder with astonishment, to perceive
what vast difficulties can be overcome by the
pigmy arms of little mortal man, aided by
: ,(•
.1 '■'
^-; -'8
234
LOCKPORT.
science and directed by superior skill. In many
places, the explosive power of gunpowder alone
could have torn asunder the massive and deep-
rooted rocks, which seemed to defy the power of
all except the great Being who created them.
To-morrow I leave Lockport for that long-
looked-for desire of my eyes — the Falls of Ni-
agara; and shall despatch my letter, from this
village, to find its way to New York for embark-
ation, either by land or water, as shall please that
puissant personage the postmaster.
And, now, I have only to beg of you, as a
remuneration for my long epistle, and for the
labour of writing you so lengthened a detail on
the virtues and proceedings of Temperance Asso-
ciations, that you will forthwith enrol yourself as
one of the unflinching champions of the glorious
cause ; and, as you may possibly require a good
example to lead you the right way, I authorise
you to put my name down as a pledged member
in the records of your society. Adieu !
235
LETTER X.
Falls of Niagara — Description of them — British, or Ilorse-
Shoe Fall — American Fall — Impossibility of doing them
justice — their Height — Comparison with the Pyramids of
Egypt — General Whitney's Hotel — Military Titles in Ame-
rica — Ferry Staircase — Goat Island — Biddle Staircase —
Sarr Patch's leap into the Gulf — View from the centre of the
River — Whirlpool and Devil's Hole — Lewiston — Queens-
town — Comments on Captain Hall's Work on the States —
Forsyth's — Visit behind the Falls — Scene by Moonlight.
Falls of Niagara, 3lst JuUi, 1831.
MY DEAR FRIEND,
At length I stand in the presence of
the stupendous and magnificent cataract of Ni-
agara ! Amid the thunder of its rushing and
mighty waters — transfixed in mute astonishment at
the unequalled sublimity of this matchless vision
— do I now address you ! But how shall 1 describe
its unique and solitary grandeur? Where shall I
commence — how arrange my thoughts — how
adjust my language — where first seize, amid a
thousand features of majesty and wondrous beauty,
the most striking objects to portray this enchant-
ing and absorbing scene ? I confess myself lost
, i>
w
i
236
FALLS OF NIAGARA.
and bewildered in the contemplation of it, and
filled with despair at the idea of presenting you
with even the faintest outline of what I feel to be in-
describable ; as far, at least, as respects the ren-
dering justice to the great original. To attempt
the perilous task of description at all, argues no
little of bold and presumptuous daring; and yet, I
am fully aware, that to pass it over in silence, or in
the mere expression of general terms — shielding
myself from the certain hazard of failure under
the apology of its overwhelming magnitude —
would occasion a bitter disappointment to you,
which I am quite willing and anxious to avoid.
If Captain Basil Hall, who was understood to
have gone to America with the intention of writing
a book of travels, was unable, as he himself can-
didly confesses, to give any description whatever
of these splendid Falls — and whose excited and
enthusiastic imagination was, nevertheless, unable
to embody the glorious landscape and transfer it
to paper — I, who do not intend to write any book,
may well be excused from essaying so overpower-
ing a delineation, which would have set at defiance
the vigorous and masterly powers of even Sir
Walter Scott himself. Yet, notwithstanding the
unanswerable reason that I have to express
myself in general terms only, and keep myself
clear of the danger of going into presumptuous
detail, I am, at the same time, so convinced of
FALLS OF NIAGARA.
237
the vexation you would feel unless I consented to
expose myself a little, particularly as it is ad-
dressed to a private and not to a public ear, that
I am induced to offer to your mind's eye a very
rough sketch of that which, after all, your own
vivid fancy must fill up; since from that, prin-
cipally, and not from the point of my poor, puny
pen, must be derived the beau-ideal of this the
mightiest cataract in the world.
Imagine, then, a beautiful and majestic rWer,
about a mile in breadth, lovely in its smoothness
and expansion till it reaches the Rapids, com-
mencing about half a mile above the Falls, and
reflecting on its soft and mirror-like bosom, pre-
viously to gaining this point, a thousand umbra-
geous trees and other interesting objects with
which its banks are adorned. Imagine next,
that, on this silvery stream touching the verge of
these ruffled waters, you see it beginning to be
fearfully disturbed, as if by an instinctive dread
of the tremendous abyss into which it is, in a few
moments, to be hurled ; and, tracing onwards its
course, that you perceive it continually increasing
in agitation ; till at length, lashed into superna-
tural fury, though every wind is hushed — gushing
and boiling upwards — revolving in eddies and
whirlpools — dashed into rageful billows, and rush-
ing impetuously forwards — broken and obstructed
in its descent by a thousand hidden rocks — you
il'l'f
'i f,
■i n
!.'>. I|
238
FALLS OF NIAGARA.
behold the stream, covered with foam and breakers,
urging its course, with irresistible violence and a
deluge-like current, to the perpendicular edges of
these thundering cataracts, and then bounding
with gigantic volume of waters into the yawning
gulf below. Fancy, also, that on the very ex-
treme brink of the curved precipice, down which
the main body of the stream rushes, there lies a
very lovely island, crowned with noble trees and
the most verdant herbage, dividing the river into
two unequal currents ; the larger portion forming a
magnificent crescent, and the lesser what is called
the American Fall, that presents an enchanting
contrast to the hollow shape of the former by
the strictly straight line in which its splendid
array of waters descends. Imagine, still further,
that you look down into the boiling abyss from
a fearfully constructed bridge, thrown from this
island to the very verge of the Grand Fall, and
that the extreme point, whence you cast your
affrighted view below, han^s over the perpen-
dicular descent itself of the roaring torrent.
Imagine the entire length of this most fragile-
looking erection to extend three or four hundred
feet from the shore, and to rest alone on the slip-
pery surface of huge rocks and stones projecting
from the bed of the river, and which, though
forming here a kind of back-current, and greatly
subdued in force, yet flows with rapid strength
FALLS OF NIAGARA.
239
between the supporting stones, threatening, to
the startled eye of the adventurer, instantaneous
destruction. Fancy yourself, I repeat, beholding
from this bridge the tremendous gulf beneath —
raging with the most frightful agitation — whirling
in horrible eddies — foaming, boiling, and steam-
ing, as if the whole whirlpool were an unearthly
cauldron heated by a hidden volcano. Imagine,
if you can, that from this mass of furious waters,
in a state of elemental discord, you hear an
astounding roar that almost deafens you, and feel
the very ground vibrating under your feet; and
that you perceive enormous exhalations of mist
and spray rising to the skies, and forming a thou-
sand fantastic and ever-varying clouds. Imagine,
as the last stretch of your excited fancy, that,
amid the whole of this "jar of elements," you
perceive a beautiful and luminous rainbow, vivid
as the bow of heaven, gracefully hung in these
clouds of spray — like the angel of Hope, amid
the distractions of the moral world, holding forth
the bright symbol of peace and forgiveness to the
sinful sons and daughters of earth, agitated, as
they are, by as ceaseless a strife of rebellious
passions and feelings towards their all-gracious
Maker, as are the untameable waters of Niagara
by the unceasing rushings of its torrent. Fancy
all this, and you will have the best sketch that
m.
m
III
ill
I lit]
111
240 NIAGARA, OR *' WONDER OF THE WATERS.'
my poor genius is capable of affording you of these
matchless Falls.
I will now pause, in order that you may collect
and fix your scattered thoughts on this " wonder
of the waters ;" for such is the fine and emphatic
signification, in the Indian language, of the word
" Niagara." I need not, I presume, assure you
that the representation 1 have thus faintly at-
tempted to give you is no poetical exaggeration,
or highly-wrought delineation of a scene to which
neither poet's pen, nor painter's brush, can ever do
complete justice. Not Milton himself, were he
alive — the greatest master I know of sublime
description — could render poetical justice to so
transcendent a landscape. If, however, you doubt
the soberness of my mind on this occasion, I shall
refer you to Captain Basil Hall, who, in page 351
of his first volume on the United States, alluding
to this subject, says, ** To speak without exagge-
ration or affectation, I must own that upon this
visit — the last, in all human probability, I shall
ever pay to these Falls, I was almost overwhelmed
(if that be the proper word to use) with the gran-
deur of this extraordinary spectacle. I felt, as it
were, staggered and confused, and at times expe-
rienced a sensation bordering on alarm — I did
not well know at what — a strong, mysterious
sort of impression that something dreadful might
happen."
HEIGHT OF THE FALLS.
241
Is
t
After reading, however, the above, represent-
ing a state of feeling into which I could very
readily enter, I was not a little surprised to iind,
in another part of the same volume, a comparison
made between the sound of the Falls and that of
a "grist mill of large dimensions." This is a
falling from the sublime indeed, and a comparison
the very antipodes of what, I frankly acknowledge,
I should have been inclined to institute. Such,
I must declare, was the effect on myself of the
awful depth and volume of tone unceasingly as-
cending from these deluge-like waters, as to have
produced, to the sense of hearing, as strong a
sensation of the sublime as the sight of its splen-
did cataract did to the delighted eye.
The height of these Falls, which I have not
yet mentioned, is computed to be as follows :
that of the Grand Crescent, or Horse-Shoe Fall,
is calculated by some persons at 1 74, and by others
at 158 feet, of perpendicular descent, though
never accurately ascertained ; and the breadth,
pursuing the waving line of its semicircular form,
at 2100 feet. The height of the American Fall is
stated to be 160, with a breadth of 900 feet. But
though these dimensions are great, it is the enor-
mous bulk and mass of waters that constitute the
surprising and absorbing spectacle ; and when the
sun shines upon them, especially the morning and
evening sun, the snowy and brilliant whiteness of
VOL. I. M
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1.;; i!
242 NIAGARA COMPARED WITH THE PYRAMIDS.
the falling sheet transcends all that can be either
said or conceived of magical effect.
The quantity of water which is computed to
pass over the Falls every hour, on the supposition
of the current running six miles in that space of
time, amounts to upwards of 102 millions of tons
avoirdupois, and, in the course of a day, to 2400
milHons of tons.
And now I shall carry you back to the first
day of my arrival, occurring about a week ago,
and lead you to the various positions whence the
finest views are obtained, in regular succession ;
for as the Falls of Niagara are the sight to be
seen of the whole world — and by an European
traveller never, probably, to be seen but once —
they merit a reiterated contemplation, to which
the mind clings with an instinctive ardour infi-
nitely beyond the feeling attaching to any other
object that I have seen in the other three quarters
of the globe. I have beheld, as you know,, and
ascended, the gigantic Pyramids of Egypt — the
mighty Cheops himself, the largest of them all —
but they inspired not, by their colossal and tow-
ering masses, that deep and soothing, and yet
stirring emotion, which Niagara's sublime image
alone is capable of exciting. One presents the
majesty and omnipotence of the great Creator ;
the other, a vainglorious and useless display of
the empty grandeur of poor, puny, mortal man —
GENERAL WHITNEY.
243
whose very name is forgotten — essaying, like the
infidels of ancient Babel, to outvie God !
The Italian motto, " Vedi Napoli e mori^" may
do " indifferent well," as Hamlet says, for Euro-
pean tourists who have resolved to limit their
excursions to the eastern shores of the Atlantic ;
but those who have crossed its blue waters, and
visited this enchanting spot, will feel no " com-
punctious visitings of conscience" whatever in
erasing the city in order to substitute the ca-
taract.
On reaching the Falls from Lockport, I took
up my quarters at the village on the American
side, called Manchester — rather an unpoetical
name for such a place — where is a very comfort-
able hotel, kept by General Whitney ; who, after
having gallantly defended his country during the
war, is not ashamed thus to repose on his laurels
in time of peace. '* General Whitney, landlord
of the Eagle Tavern," sounds rather oddly, it
must be confessed, to an English ear, accustomed
as we are, at home, to see these gallant veterans
glittering in the train of courts, and shining with
spangled orders and decorations. But, as Shake-
speare says, "What's in a name? — a rose by
any other name would smell as sweet :" and I
doubt not that my worthy host and entertainer of
the Eagle Tavern is just as valuable and merito-
rious a member of society, as landlord thereof, as
1^
•iv.
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' ;. \\
244 THE ARMY, AND MILITARY HONOURS.
if he were senator or President of the United
States — perhaps better; for he runs hisa risk of
being corrupted, to which higli station and pro-
sperous circumstances expose our frail nature in
every part of the workl. At all events, however,
I must declare myself indebted to him for excel-
lent "bed and board," and very civil entertain-
ment. These seeming anomalies, rather startling
at first to our aristocratic prejudices, are not
unfrequently met with in journeying through this
country, where you will occasionally, to your
great surprise, hear the ostler addressed as cap-
tain ; while another, in an equally equivocal situ-
ation, bears the military honours of a field-officer.
The simple explanation of the mystery, I ima-
gine to be this : — At the commencement of the
last war, it was found requisite suddenly to
increase the army ; the complement of which,
during peace, being never more than the almost
inconceivably small amount, for such an amazing
territory, of 6000 men ; and, in consequence of the
urgency of the occasion, a number of persons who
otherwise would not have been employed crept
into the service, either as local militia officers or
otherwise, but whose conduct nevertheless, as
brave men, as well as that of the whole American
army, reflected highly on their courage and skill,
as intrepid defenders of their country. In my
enumeration, however, of the American army, I
THE FERRY STAIRCASE.
245
^1
should not omit to mention that the militia of the
United States comprises a very considerable body,
amounting in the aggregate to 1,200,000 men. This
force, too, is composed of materials that would
be speedily available in case of emergency ; and
would furnish, I have not the least doubt, to its
full numerical estimate, stout hearts and firm
hands to vindicate their count ^v's honour.
The first thrilling view that I obtained of the
Falls was from what h called the Ferry Staircase,
some little distance from the gallant General's
hotel. This flight of steps, winding in a spiral
form from the lofty bank above, is constructed
close to the American Fall, and is considered by
many to present the finest coup d'ceil. From
windows that are opened in the wooden structure
covering in the descent, as well as from the bottom
of it, the headlong deluge is seen, and can be
approached within a few feet ; the spectator being
sheltered from danger by a rocky barrier that in-
terposes its protection, and which lies close to the
side of the mighty flood. The peculiarity of the
scene, as beheld from this position, is the apparent
union of the two great cataracts ; for, standing
immediately in a line with the torrent of the
American Fall, Goat Island, to which 1 have
alluded as forming the separation between them,
is entirely lost sight of, in consequence of the
great projection of the descending column. Thus,
■11
246
THUNDER-STORM AT THE FALLS.
by a deceptio visus, they appear to be unito< -i Ci.a
superb descent ; the eye passing rapidly from the
brilliant stream of the one, bounding downwards,
with snowy whiteness, in a strictly straight line,
to the grand crescent of the other. The view is,
indeed, truly wonderful and surpassingly beauti-
ful; and, as if to heighten the effect of this im-
posing landscape, a violent thunder-storm that
had been, fcr some time, gathering in the sky,
suddenly burst over our heads just as we arrived ;
and, as you may well suppose, superadded an
additional awe, a " supernumerary horror," to
the stupendous scene.
I felt, at the moment, that nothing could exceed
this view, till, having seen a variety of others from
different points, I was fairly puzzled to determine
which was the finest ; yet still feeling, on every
additional change of the scene, that the last was
always the best. The truth is, each possesses a
magic and peculiar charm of its own, which must
be felt and admired for itself, since it defies all
comparison with its scenic rivals; for, as Pope,
I think, says, —
" Nought but itself can be its parallel."
I must acknowledge, nevertheless, that the first
overpowering touch of the sublime that I expe-
rienced, was from the extreme point of the Ter-
rapin bridge, which I have already described.
BKIDQE ACROSS THE RAPIDS.
247
I next made the tour of Goat Island, in com-
pany with my interesting friends of Alhany,
comprising about a coui)le of miles in circuit. It
is a beautiful island- wilderness, just left as na-
ture formed it, reposing in all its native wildness
and loveliness amid a world of thundering waters
spread around. The approach to it lies over a
bridge of about G5() feet in length, thrown across
the rapids, about a quarter of a mile above the
American Fall ; and it strongly excites the ad-
miration to witness the almost insuperable ob-
stacles that have been overcome by the enterprise
and genius of man. The stream at this place,
which in picturesque beauty, occasioned by the
violent agitation of its broken waters, surpasses
every thing that I ever witnessed before in the form
of rapids, rushes with such extraordinary impetu-
osity, that you would have imagined, did not the
bridge stare you in the face, that no effort of the
most accomplished engineer could have effected
its construction. It is done, however, and is sup-
ported on wooden piers, sunk with stones, in such
a manner as, despite all appearances, to render
it perfectly secure. A person passing over it, for
the first three or four times, involuntarily shrinks
back and shudders, when half way across, with
a horrible apprehension that the trembling plat-
form will be swept from under him, in one over-
whelming crash, ere he can gain the opposite
■ Is
248
GOAT ISLAND.
extremity ; and not unfre4uently, when some
distance over, does he retrace his steps in double
Cjuicktime, and only feels confidence in its security
when the repetition of his visits has rendered him
familiar with the scene.
From Goat Island you behold, in all directions,
the very romance of nature ; a glorious vision that
absorbs all yo'ir faculties, and which presents to
your mind, in the ceaseless and voluminous rolling
of the mighty ilood of the great Horse-Shoe Fall,
a better type of eternity than any other object that
I ever beheld. In consequence of the island being
level with, or slightly elevated above the river,
prior to its shooting the precipice, the eye ranges
along the entire length and breadth of its pic-
turesque rapids to its discharge into the terrific
abyss, and thence along its turbulent course be-
tween two rocky ridges of towering heights that
fcound its channel. On the opposite bank of the
stream you ^njoy a delightful prospect of the
Canada shore, crowned with luxuriant woods;
with two handsome hotels belonging to Mr. For-
syth, peering aloft above the Falls, and command-
ing an unrivalled view of this " wonder of the
waters."
On this side is erected the " Biddle Staircase,"
by which you desctnd to the bed of the fallen
river, and where you obtain, from a new position,
other features of this deeply interesting picture,
i.
CROSS THE RIVER.
249
unseen before. It was here that the daring Sam
Patch, wishing, I suppose, to rival in his im-
mortality Eratostratus of Ephesus, of temple-burn-
ing memory, leaped into the boiling gulf, from a
platform 125 feet high, amid a crowd of specta-
tors, and was miraculously preserved, to terminate
his life on a similar occasion, as I have related,
at the Fails of the Genessee. '
After enjoying a most delightful stroll, in
skirting the entire shores of this fairy island —
viewing the cataracts under every diversified as-
pect — the rapids — the river — its verdant islets
lying in beautiful clusters at various short distances
from the margin we were treading, and forming,
as if in mirthful mimicry of their great <>riginal,
a number of miniature cascades, which would have
been thought highly of in any other situation, I
crossed the river, with my pleasant party, from
the Ferry Staircase to the Canada shore. The
breadth of the current at this place, hemmed in
on each side by lofty perpendicular cliffs, is be-
tween a quarter and half a mile ; and the depth,
as I understood from the boatman, very profound.
In consequence of the great contraction of its chan-
nel to little more than one-fourth of its expansion
above the Falls, the stream rushes with fearful
violence, and whirls the boat along with it in a
manner that would be truly alarming were you
not previously assured of your safety. After
M 2
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■ 1 1'
- m\
ii. ;
1
It' -nil"
'?1 Hli
250
VIEW FROM THE HIVER,
making a sweeping semicircle, borne down by
the violence of the torrent, you are landed in
security on the opposite banks, drenched to the
skin, most certainly, by clouds of spray in which
you become involved, unless protected by a cloak ;
though, beyond doubt, infinitely more than repaid
for your unexpected shower-bath.
The novel and enchanting perspective pre-
sented to the sight from the centre of the river
is by most, I believe, esteemed the ne plus ultra
of pictorial effect ; combining, in one wide sweep,
the full and uncurtailed dimensions of the two
cataracts, with the intervening line of Goat Island,
which contrasts its dark embowering shades with
the silvery brightness of the waters. In various
places throughout this splendid landscape, the
" many -coloured iris" displayed her gorgeous
hues ; superadding the beauties and sublimities of
the moral and religious world to those of magni-
ficent nature. For my own part, I confess, I give
the preference to the view exhibited from the rocky
eminence rising immediately and abruptly from
the Canadian side of the ferry; whence, in ad-
dition to what I have described, the spectator is
enabled, from its lofty elevation, to trace the
glittering course of the rapids of the American
Fall, studded with its gi'een islets, and hurrying
furiously onward to the verge of the precipice.
This view appears to me, of all the numberless
AND FROM THE CANADA SHORE.
251
positions I have taken, the absolute perfection of
the whole ; and when a brilliant evening sun
darts his more chastened beams on the glowing
picture, the waters of this Fall, in particuhir, re-
flecting, from the shape of it, every ray that rests
upon them, display such a rolling mass of inde-
scribable, snowy whiteness, as to transfix the en-
raptured beholder in mute iistonishnient — I may
truly say, in adoration — not of tl*e scene, but of
that stupendous and Almi^iy Being who called
it forth. The rushing stream seems as if it were
instinct with supernatural movement, and strongly
recalled to my mind that sublime passage of
Genesis, in which the first operation of the
Creating Deity upon the earth, then " without
form and void," is represented with such simple
majesty — '' And the Spirit of God moved on the
face of the waters."
One absorbing feeling alone filled my heart at
the moment I first saw it. My friends were gone,
and I was musing alone, in ad that luxury of
solemn contemplation that well iits a theme of
such unparalleled magnificence- oiid which will,
sometimes, even in this state of our frail and
sorrowing nature, elevate «jac 8@u1 to thou^^hts of
fl*at *' high and lofty One that inhabiteth eterTiity"
(A that brighter and happier destmy in the skie«
whifiiAf, notwithstanding its degraded conditioia
<# IM^/ tbe soul will ever aiui m;.tiuctivelj
I
252
THE WHIRLPOOL.
aspire. My heart was full, and I could not help
ejaculating to myself, in the most fervent spirit
of devotion, —
" These are thy glorious works, Parent of good !
Almighty ! thine this universal frame,
Thus wondrous fair : thyself hoxo wonurous then!
Unspeakable ! who sitt'st above these heavens.
To us invisible, or dimly seen
In these thy lowest works ; yet these declare
Thy goodness beyond thought, and power divine !"
On the morning following our water excursion,
we took leave of our gallant host, and proceeded,
en voiture, to take up our quarters, for a few days,
at Forsyth's hotel, on the British side. Our route
lay to Lewiston, distant about seven miles, where
a fe'* -I oat ''" attendance to convey passengers
ac* the Niagara, which is here about half a
' lie broad, to Queenstown. We stopped, how-
ever, on our way thither, for the purpose of seeing
what is called the ** Devil's Hole," and also the
whirlpool. The former is a dismal-looking gulf,
about 200 feet in depth, on the right bank of the
river ; and the latter, a most romantic and spa-
cious basin, formed by an abrupt angle of the
river, embosomed in woods, and girt in by tower-
ing rocks, where the water is violently agitated
and whirled in never-ceasing eddies. A most
frightful accident was very near happening to a
PERILOUS SITUATION OF A LADY.
253
lady of our party, which would have been truly
awful had it taken place. She was standing, with
the rest, on the brink of the precipice, about 260
feet in perpendicular descent, when, on a sudden,
a snake darted towards her from beneath the
grass. The aJBTrighted lady instantly starting aside,
by a convulsive effort to escape the reptile, was
within a hair's breadth of throwing herself into
the yawning chasm below. The speckled monster,
however, writhed harmlessly past her, and gliding
over the edge of the rock, disappeared from our
view.
The Niagara, at Lewiston, wears little the ap-
pearance of having been so lately dashed head-
long down such tremendous precipices ; for,
though flowing rapidly, it looks as smooth and
placid as a polished mirror. The strongest signs
exist, at the same time, in the present appear-
ances of its banks, and of its other localities, that
the great cataract, which now thunders seven miles
higher up the stream, once reverberated, in deafen-
ing roar, at this very spot. By the constant abra-
sion, however, of the rocky masses by its ceaseless
torrent, it has, in the course of ages, receded to its
present position. And that it is still undergoing
the same destructive process, slowly though surely,
there is ample testimony now living to prove ;
since, within the memory of persons existing at
the present moment, the great Horse-Shoe Fall
&,
4i:
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.i. w- ■
! "I
;.!
254 COMMENTS ON CAPTAIN HALL's WORK.
has retired as far as fifty yards from the line
which formed the base of its descent. The mighty
cause is ever in operation ; and, in the gradual
wear of future ages, this, the grandest of the
Falls, may disappear altogether, and its turbulent
waters, once so violently agitated, merge in the
placid flow that issues from Lake Erie.
I may as well mention here, as I have not yet
done it, that the Niagara river unites the waters
of Lake Erie, and of the other inland seas lying
beyond it, with Lake Ontario and the River St.
Lawrence. The Falls are situated about twenty
miles from the former, and nearly fifteen from
the latter lake ; making its entire length about
thirty-five miles, while the breadth of the river
varies from one mile to Sve or six.
The Niagara, as well as Lake Erie, lies on the
boundary line dividing the territories of the Re-
public from the dominions of his British majesty ;
into the latter of which, constituting the province
of Upper Canada, we now entered, after passing
this liquid line of demarcation of nearly a third of
a mile in breadth. And, here, I cannot avoid
making a comment or two on the observations
made by Captain Basil Hall, who crossed the
stream at this precise spot, in reference to the
essential diss's ilaiioy presenting itself between the
opposite shores of the two countries. For much
as I had heard, in America, of the violent pre-
COMMENTS ON CAPTAIN HALL's WORK. 256
judices entertained by that gentleman against the
people of the States and their country, and with
respect to every thing connected with both, I con-
fess I was unwilling to give my assent to it ; and,
more especially, as I felt myself bound, in com-
mon candour, to give the most implicit credit to
the statement he so frankly makes, at the com-
mencement of his work, that "there seldom was
a traveller who visited a foreign land in a more
kindly spirit." That the judgment may be, and
often is, erroneous, in the opinions it forms, ca i-
not be doubted, was the reply that I generally
made to the remarks which I heard reflecting on
the character of his work ; and a misconception of
mind is, by no means, identified or to be con-
founded with prejudice.
I must acknowledge, nevertheless, that I was
somewhat staggered in my apprehension as to the
entire absence of prepossession from the mind of
the gallant captain, when, on being referred to
the opinions recorded by him, on crossing the ferry
atLewiston, I read, in page 193 of his first volume
of Travels in North America, the following reflec-
tions: — ''It was curious, indeed," he remarks,
'* to observe how great a change in many of the
most essential particulars of national character,
and customs, and appearance, a short half mile —
a mere imagiiijary geographical division — could
make. The air we breathtd seemed different, the
i
266 COMMENTS ON CAPTAIN HALL*S WORK.
skyy the land, the whole scenery^ appeared to be
altered ; and I must say, that of all the changes I
have ever made in a life of ceaseless locomotion,
I have seldom been conscious of any transition
from one country to another more striking than
this."
Such a sentiment fairly startled my imagina-
tion, and, if not prejudice, looked certainly some-
thing like it. For, to my own powers of vision,
though the " national character, and customs,"
might appear in some degree changed — but cer-
tainly, in so short a distance, changed in a very
slight degree — yet, beyond any doubt, the " air
breathed," and the appearances of " the sky, the
land, the scenery," remained, as the result of
my own perceptions, perfectly the same on the
Canadian banks as on those of the States. It ap-
pears to me that it must have required something
out of the order of nature altogether, to have al-
tered the sameness, at least of several of them, as
is but too evident. I am quite satisfied that, had I
not known I was stepping across the boundary line
of two nations, nothing that I beheld would have
suggested the idea, as arising from a supposed
difference in the aspect of nature, whatever might
have been the case with regard to manners ; and
which latter, according to my own experience,
was barely perceptible. These observations are,
of course, limited to the visible differences sup-
COMMENTS ON CAPTAIN HALL's WORK. 257
posed to exist on the Canada shores of the
boundary line in question, as, no doubt, in tra-
velling through the provinces, the marks of dis-
tinction will become sufficiently apparent.
In traversing the various cantons of Switzer-
land, the eye is able, I think, most clearly, to
trace the difference, and draw imaginary lines of
demarcation, between the Protestant and Catholic
cantons ; as well from the existence of moral as of
physical causes, and which forcibly strike the
senses in passing from one to another. But
even there, the ** air and the sky," as also the
*' scenery," except where the characteristic hand
of diligence has better cultivated the land, re-
main, as from the beginning of time, totally inde-
pendent of all human operations. At the place
referred to, I cannot but repeat, that if I had
not been (j^uite aware that I had arrived within
the jurisdiction of my own liege sovereign, I
should have considered myself still amenable to
the presidential fiat of General Jackson, and
bowed, in consequence, to this my temporary alle-
giance.
Queenstown, with the heights adjoining —
rising to the elevation of 270 feet above the level
of the Niagara — is the site on which was fought a
battle, between the king's and the republican
forces, on the 13th of October, 1812. In this
contest, General Brock, the commanding offi^cer
«
258 QUillENSTOWN — BROCK's MONUMRN'i.
of the former, lost his life in successfully repelling
an ntlack, made by the Americans, to gain pos-
session of tlie heiglits. To commemorate his
death, a handsome monument of free? tone has
been erected on them, 126 feet high ; from the
summit of which, ascended by a spiral staircase,
is beheld a remarkably fine and interesting pro-
spect, extending through a space of filly miles.
From this position, an almost interminable sweep
of rich, undulating, forest scenery is displayed,
and a noble view of Lake Ontario, and where can
be seen, I believe, in very clear weather, the town
of York, the capital of Upper Canada. Hence to
Forsyth's is seven miles, where we now took up
our abode. It is planted on a beautiful eminence,
looking down immediately on ihe grand Fall, and
exhibits, from its different verandas, the most
romantic and imposing scene that can be viewed
from any house that was ever erected by mortal
man.
Having regaled my optical as well as moral
senses, by the sublime spectacle presented from
Table Rock, and which is supereminently situated
for that purpose on the very verge of the Fall,
my intelligent friend from Albany and myself
made an arrangement with one of the guides to
proceed on the following morning — understanding
that to be the most favourable period of the day —
to explore the tremendous cavern behind the cata-
VISIT BEHIND THE FALLS.
259
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ract. This terrific abode of what may be called,
in poetical language, the subaqueous throne of the
presiding spirit of the waters, lies immediately
behind the falling river, whose ovenvhelming
masses, hurled downwards from above, and within
a few yards of where the startled beholder stands,
presents the most appalling type of the universal
deluge that could possibly be conceived. Directly
behind rises the perpendicular and stupendous
rock to a lofty elevation, ^ -ojecting at the top
in a massive arch of about feet. Over this
the thundering inundation is unceasingly rushing ;
and from the dismal gulf, that yawns beneath
your very feet, are whirled up such tempestuous
and furious blasts of spray, wind, and vapour, as,
if raging in the opposite direction, would instantly
drive the astonished spectator, without the possi-
bility of being saved, into the boiling abyss. The
very cave of^Eolus himself, as described by the
ancient poets, contained not more terrific gusts ;
while the astounding roar of the waters, the dark
and impenetrable torrent before you, the gulf
beneath you, the apparently helpless situation on
which you are placed — cut off, to all appearance,
from retreat, and beset with seeming horrors on
every side — occasionally blinded with these wa*?ry
gusts, and drenched to the skin — present such a
reality of the terribly sublime as no imagination
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260
VISIT BEHIND THE FALLS.
scene has been impressed, never to be forgotten.
Could a person, by possibility, be carried in a
state of sleep behind the Falls, and there awoke,
unconscious where he was, the inevitable effect
would be instant destruction of his reason, and,
very probably; an appalling death.
But I have been all this time anticipating my
narrative. Our first preparation was to accoutre
ourselves in oil-case trousers, coat, and hat, dis-
playing the most grotesque and anti-mundane
appearance that can be well imagined. Being
thus equipped for the overwhelming shower-bath
we were going to encounter, we sallied forth, and
descended, by a long and steep spiral staircase —
closed in from the lofty rocks above — to the level
of the river after its precipitation. Winding hence
along the base of the cliffs, particularly Table
Rock, which projected over us with rather a
threatening aspect, we approached the entrance
of the cavern. Here the guide grasped firmly
hold of my hand, and led the way, while I as
firmly grasped hold of that of my companion,
who immediately followed. We now reached the
outer edge of the torrent, and were pelted nearly
off our legs by the whirling blasts of wind and
spray that I have described, and which prevail
more violently for the first twenty yards after
entering, than farther on. The copious drippings
from above soaked us to the skin almost imme-
VISIT BEHIND THE FALLS.
261
diately, in utter defiance of our oil-skin dresses.
For some time I was perfectly blinded, and de-
pended solely on the guide to conduct me safely.
At intervals, as we advanced, these furious gusts
were carried off in another direction, and left us,
for a brief space, an opportunity of looking around
us and observing the slippery and narrow path on
which we were walking, closely skirting the edge
of the " dread profound," and the indescribable
appearances displayed on every side. This path,
conducting to what is called " Termination Rock,"
where its perpendicular descent forbids to the
daring foot all further advance, being constantly
wet, requires great caution in passing along it, as
well, also, from the number of eels which, I was
informed, were frequently gliding about.
At length we arrived at the extreme point of
our supernatural route, 153 feet from Table Rock.
Here we sat down on a narrow ledge of the cliff,
within a yard of the dismal chasm, that sloped
precipitously beneath our feet, to contemplate this
hideous yet sublime spectacle — these
" Regions of sorrow, doleful shades, where peace
And rest can never dwell : hope never comes,
That coroes to all."
It required no stretch of imagination to con-
ceive this mysterious gulf the " bottomless per-
dition" of the fallen angels of Milton, —
I
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[ i
262 SINGULAR APPEARANCE OF THE SUN.
" Each on his rock transfix'd, the sport and prey
Of racking whirlwinds — or for ever sunk
Under yon boiling ocean, wrapt in chains ;
There to converse with everlasting groans,
Unrespited, unpitied, unreprieved.
Ages of hopeless end.''
On looking upwards, as I have mentioned,
you perceive an immense line of precipice over-
arching the cavern, and apparently but little
capable of supporting the enormous weight of
water pouring over its surface ; in fact, huge
fragments are occasionally torn asunder, and
dashed with hideous confusion into the abyss.
Among the other singular exhibitions within
this gloomy prison-house of the waters, was the
extraordinary appearance of the sun. It seemed
as if the actual orb itself had approached to, and
was resting upon, the exterior sheet of the Fall;
and, instead of a dazzling brightness, it presented
a deep, blood-red tinge. As to communication, it
was almost out of the question ; for the noise was
so prodigious, that, in speaking to each other, it
was necessary to shout immediately into the ear,
at the utmost stretch of the voice.
After remaining about ten minutes, drenched
to our very hearts' content, and full of the sublime
to overflowing, we again committed ourselves to
the guidance of our firm-handed and sure-footed
cicerone, who brought us in safety, once more, to
CERTIFICATE OF OUR VISIT.
263
his attiring room on the summit of the rocks.
Here we disencumbered ourselves of our dripping
oil-skins, and proceeded to breakfast with hearty
good-will, and with appetites sharpened by the
splendid shower-bath from which we had just
emerged. I must not omit to tell' you, that we
received each a certificate, according to custom,
under the official signature of our diploma-grant-
ing guide, of our having accomplished the adven-
ture of penetrating to Termination Rock, written
with as much important formality as if he had
been conferring upon us the degree of doctor of
laws.
It requires, beyond doubt, tolerably strong
nerves and stout lungs to go through the scene,
and which a person with any pulmonary weakness
should not dare to adventure. Our conductor
told us, that at least one-half of the persons who
made the attempt turned hastily back, after going
but a third of the way.
It was at the distance of about a mile from the
Falls where was fought a sanguinary battle, in
1814, between the British and tht Americans,
called the battle of Bridgewater, or Lundy's Lane,
and where the roar of hostile cannon commingled
with the still louder thunders of the cataract.
The locality was such, I should imagine, as to
have inspired both parties with additional impe-
tuosity and heroism; and reminds one of the
■!
1 i
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if
m 4
264
MIDNIGHT VISIT TO THE FALLS.
famous battle of the Pyramids, when Buonaparte,
skilfully availing himself of the imposing circum-
stance, called on his soldiers to recollect that
thirty centuries were looking down upon their
actions from the summits of those colossal struc-
tures.
I have now remained at the Falls about a
week, and know not how or when to quit them.
I have contemplated this glorious scene of nature
from every varied and accessible point whence it
can be viewed ; and, like every thing that is
perfect, the more and the longer it is gazed upon,
the more it grows upon your admiration, and
transports you with wonder and delight. I was
certainly very fortunate in the auspices under
which I came here, and which have continued
during the whole of my stay — a brilliant sun by
day, and the chaste full moon by night.
Of this interesting coincidence I was anxious
to avail myself; and determined, before my de-
parture, to witness the effect of a moonlight scene
at midnight, on the waters of the cataract. The
bell had tolled the " witching hour of night,"
when, wrapping myself in my cloak, I hastened
alone down the steep bank to the Table Rock.
Every thing was hushed, except the deep and
solemn reverberations of the torrent. The moon
had long risen, and, riding in "cloudless ma-
jesty," was fast winning her way to the " noon
as
MOONLIGHT SCENE AT THE FALLS.
265
of night," casting over the blue expanse of heaven,
and over the dark shades of earth, her *' silver
mantle." The Rapids above, and the falling waters
below, reflected a thousand flashing lights, gleam-
ing with the most beautiful radiations that can be
conceived, sparkling and glowing as 'if they were
a liquid mass of flowing diamonds; while here and
there broad lines of the deepest shade, formed in
the retiring angles and curves of the precipice, and
the sombre hues of the embowering groves of Goat
Island, opposed a powerful contrast to this silvery
brightness. Huge volumes of mist and spray as-
cended in ceaseless clouds ; curling and wreathing
their gigantic forms to the skies, and presenting
to the excited imagination fearful shapes of spirits
emerging from the terrific abyss that lay whirling
beneath with supernatural agitation.
Dense as were these columns of spray, they
were lighted up by a pure and transparent white-
ness from the reflected moonbeams ; and yet, where
the vapour was the thickest, they were marked by
a mysterious shadowiness, which gave to the spiral
wreaths, as they slowly and majestically rose, the
appearance of disembodied forms of an unearthly
character. The last and lovely finish of the whole
was a most superb lunar rainbow, brilliantly over-
arching the illuminated vapour, and presenting,with
as distinct and vivid a colouring, all the difterent
prismatic hues, as I ever saw displayed on the solar
bows when spanning the mighty arch of heaven
VOL. I.
N
266
MOONLIGHT SCENE AT THE FALLS.
The scene altogether was superlatively grand
and imposing. I was inspired with a feeling of
indescribable awe and solemnity, superior even to
what I had experienced in the cavern behind the
Falls. The contrast was surpassingly striking be-
tween the sublime and the beautiful, the horrible and
the soothing, the rugged and the graceful ; between
the delicious calmness of the skies and the thun-
dering vibrations of the earth — and to which the
depth of night, the entire loneliness, and the
absence of every living creature from the scene,
served to give a character of transcendent subli-
mity. It was perfectly impossible to contemplate
this unparalleled midnight vision, undivested of
religious feeling and sentiment ; and when I turned
my eyes to the curling masses of ever-rising vapour
issuing from the turbulently-boiling surface, that
seemed pendent over a hidden volcano, that awful
passage of Revelations was immediately and most
forcibly brought to my mind : **And the smoke of
their torment ascendeth up for ever and ever, and
they have no rest day nor night."
I was literally overwhelmed by the unequalled
grandeur of this stupendous landscape, by the
solemn and absorbing train of thoughts which it
had called forth, and by the pitch of over-excite-
ment to which my imagination was wrought; and I
felt a chill of secret horror creep through my veins,
and curdle, for the moment, my very heart's-blood.
I now retraced my steps up the ascent, almost
h
fr
MIDNIGHT APPARITIONS.
267
frightened at my own shadow, and reached my
chamber about half-past one ; and, in a state of
feverish sleep, had the cataracts rushing through
my ears, and the misty apparitions rising before
my eyes, throughout the long dreaming night.
I have omitted to mention, wha't is stated to
be the fact, that the thunder of the Falls is some-
times heard at York, the capital of Upper Canada,
fifty miles distant ! Such an almost inconceivable
extension of sound, if it be the fact, contrasts in a
marvellous degree with the comparison instituted
by Captain Basil Hall, between the sound of the
Falls and " that of a grist-mill of large dimen-
sions." Without vouching, however, for the truth
of it, yet the statement will assume an air of pro-
bability when placed in juxtaposition with a fact
narrated by Dr. Clarke, that he heard the roar
of the British cannon, during our attack on the
fortress of Rachmanie, in Egypt, although he was
at the moment 130 miles from the besieged place.
At this time he was sailing on t'le ocean at the
distance of 100 miles from the Egyptian coast,
over which, and over thirty miles of intervening
land, the sound had travelled!*
And here I pause, fearful as I am, lest through
my great anxiety to render you a copious and
faithful delineation of this astonishing picture,
from all the varied positions in which they were
* Vide Clarke's Travels in Greece, Egypt, and the Holy
Land, part ii. vol. iii. p. 3ai ; edition 1807.
J 1
t II
Iii
i\il
268
THE PAN08 OP PARTING.
presented to myself, and on each of which I have
dwelt with such unmingled delight, I may have
tired you hy the minuteness of my details, and
wearied your attention by superfluous repetition. I
ought, perhaps, to have remembered that, as it
was utterly out of the power of my poor, puny
pen to convey to your mind the scenes that were
portrayed to my sight, what transported me to
behold might fatigue you to read. The fault is in
the writer, while Nature is all perfect. Such as
it is, however, accept for the sake of the motive
that prompted the hazardous attempt. " The
spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak!"
To-morrow I set off*, with my agreeable com-
panions, on an excursion to Buflalo, and from
whom I fear I must soon part. It is a little word,
but it involves in it a universe of feeling ; and he
who is a stranger to its thrilling import may well
rejoice in heart, though he has not beheld the
sublimest creation of Deity upon the earth, in the
magnificent Falls of Niagara. In the meantime,
I commit my ill-executed sketch, the fragile mes-
senger of the best wishes of its frail author, to the
winds and the waves of the Atlantic ocean ; trust-
ing that the time may arrive when the things that
have been shall seem as though they had never
existed ; and that the time to come hereafter may
bring with it the glorious reality of that " peace
which passeth all understanding, and which the
world can neither give nor take away." — Adieu!
269
LETTER XI.
I
Buffalo — Lake Erie — Source of the Niagara — Western Lakes
— Welland Canal — Noble and useful Work — Launch of
Vessel over the Falls — Return to Niagara — Final Adieu
— Cross Lake Ontario— York, Capital of Upper Canada —
Canada Land Company — New Settlements — Guelph —
Goderich — Price of Land, &c. — Country most eligible to
Emigrants — Imposts and Duties — Expense of Passage to
Emigrants — Constitution of Upper Canada — Kingston —
the Rideau Canal — the St. Lawrence — the Thousand
Islands — Rapids of the St. Lawrence — Arrival at Montreal.
Montreal, 10th Atigustf 1831.
MY DEAR FRIEND,
My route to Buffalo, whither I was
proceeding at the date of my last letter, in the
society of my esteemed Albany friends, and which
lies at the distance of twenty-eight miles from the
Falls, meandered along the banks of the Niagara
nearly the whole way. The river became more and
more placid as we ascended the stream towards
Lake Erie, and left behind us the scene of the com-
motion of its waters. Passing through the villages
of Chippewa and Waterloo, the battle-ground of
270
BUFFALO — ITS POPULATION.
well-contested actions during the last war, — for
this section of the state is (|uite classic ground
to the Americans, — we crossed the river at Black
Rock, and three miles farther on reached our
destination.
This town is situated at the extremity of Lake
Erie, a few miles above its outlet into the Niagara,
whose stream it forms, and commands, from the
gentle eminence whereon it stands, a fine view of
this inland sea. It was burnt down by the British
army during the last war (in 1814) ; and has risen,
like the fabled Phoenix, more vigorous from its
ashes.
At that unhappy period every house in the
town was destroyed except one, which is pointed
out as a mournful monument of the deadly strife
that then prevailed ; never, I most sincerely trust,
to be again renewed between two great and kin-
dred people, between whom, through all future
times, respect, esteem, and a fraternal harmony,
will, I hope, be consolidated on an irreversible
basis.
The population of Buffalo, by the last census,
is 8G53, an amount that the noble work of the
Erie canal has mainly contributed to form — the
fruitful parent of a numerous progeny of towns
and villages along its bustling and commercial
banks. Its locality is one of the finest in the
whole state, being the great depot to which is
SOURCE OF THE NIAGARA.
271
brought the inexhaustible wealth, and merchan-
dise, of the vast chain of lakes that stretch away
to the westward in almost illimitable extent, and
which find an immediate outlet on the canal to
the populous city of New York, and to the waters
of the Atlantic ocean.
To give you an idea of the boundless region
of waters forming the source of the superlative
Niagara, and from whose shores, in the lapse of
future years, will be exported an amount of agri-
cultural and commercial produce of incalculable
value, I will just give you its dimensions. The
most distant is Lake Superior, the head fountain
of the mighty volume, and which is 459 miles
long, 109 broad, and 900 feet in depth. The
outlet of this lake is the River St. Marie, 90
miles in length, and flowing into Lake Huron ;
the latter being 250 miles long, with an average
breadth of 100 miles, and a depth of 900 feet.
Lake Huron receives, also, the waters of Lake
Michigan, and is stated (with some variation,
as respects likewise one or two of the others, by
different writers,) to extend through a length of
400 miles, and a breadth of 50, and to possess
an unknown depth. These congregated waters
pass off by the river St. Clair, 40 miles long, to
the lake of the same name, comprising about 90
miles in circumference ; and these, again, enter the
Detroit river, 28 miles in length, and communi-
. n
^! \i
:i
272
SOURCE or THE NIAGARA.
cate with Lake Erie, which presents an expanse
of 270 miles in length, 60 in breadth, and is 200
feet deep. Into each of these lakes disembogue
numerous large and smaller streams, the former
being characterised by a phenomenon that has
never yet been explained, most probably because
it cannot be, namely, a periodical rise of their
waters nearly every ten years, and which occurred
in the years 1816 and 1827. Such are the sources
of the Niagara, that constitute it one of the most
splendid rivers in the world.
Pursuing onwards the course of these mighty
lakes and rivers through a continuous channel to
the ocean, you trace the stream of the Niagara for
a distance of 35 miles, to its junction with Lake
Ontario, which is 180 miles in length, 40 in
breadth, and 500 feet deep. From this lake, at
its eastern extremity, issues the noble St. Law-
rence, winding its crystal stream, for such indeed
it resembles, through a bright unbroken flow of
700 miles to the great Atlantic. Some geo-
graphers take also into the account the lakes
Superior, Michigan, and Huron; and the rivers
St. Marie, St. Clair, and Detroit, by which they
are connected with Lake Erie, the Niagara,
and Lake Ontario, as a continuation of the St.
Lawrence, and extend its course, by this estimate,
to upwards of 2000 miles.
These few notices will enable you to form an
FINE POSITION OF BUFFALO.
273
accurate judgment of what must be the natural
resources of a country where the inland naviga-
tion, superior to that of any other portion of the
globe, is so amazingly extensive; and of the
height to which its commercial prosperity and
importance will one day be carried; when all the
fertile lands, bordering these inland seas, shall have
been brought into successful cultivation, and all
their advantages made available by a hardy and
industrious population. It will exhibit to you,
also, in a more striking point of view, the com-
manding position of the rapidly increasing town
of Buffalo, seated on the shores of one of these
lakes, and whence a direct channel is opened to
the Atlantic ocean, along its fine canal, by a
shorter cut, than by any other route, of several
hundred miles.
These advantages, however, will not be exclu-
sively possessed by the Americans ; as British
enterprise, so creditably displayed in the late
formation of the Welland canal, to which I
shall shortly allude, may honestly and fairly
claim a participation in the benefits thus offered
to an honourable commercial rival.
I here bade adieu to my worthy and inter-
esting friends, who were returning to their re-
spective domiciles, after having passed two weeks
in their agreeable and intellectual society, more
pleasantly than any that had preceded them dur-
n2
m
, I :
• ' i. 1
1' -' 11
274 EXCURSION TO THE WELLAND CANAL.
ing my wanderings in the states, and of which I
shall ever retain the most pleasing recollection.
I must be allowed here to say, that did not a
more extended and generous feeling, grounded on
our common origin, attach my best wishes for
national prosperity to the American nation, the
worthy individuals among my Transatlantic coun-
trymen, if I may so call them, with whom it has
been my good fortune to become acquainted,
would be alone sufficient to call forth, and induce
me to cherish, the sentiment.
It is one of the painful circumstances which
attends travelling in so distant a country as this,
that you form friendships but to be broken as soon
as a congenial acquaintance is made, and meet
with estimable persons whom you will never be-
hold on earth again. Telle est la vie! — such are
the fugitive and visionary enjoyments of sublunary
things. It serves, nevertheless, as the best con-
solation to the soul, to point its aspirations to that
** better country," where the chequered scenes of
life once passed, we shall meet to part no more !
I now bent my course towards the Welland
canal, commencing at Port Maitland, which lies
at the mouth of Grand River, on Lake Erie,
and distant 40 miles from Buffalo. It is a noble
work, and reflects highly on British skill and spirit,
particularly on the Canada Land Company, the
great patrons of the enterprise. It was under-
LENGTH OF THE WELLAND CANAL.
275
taken, and accomplished, for the purpose of unit-
ing the waters of Lake Erie with those of Lake
Ontario, so as to overcome the natural and insu-
perable barrier to an available channel to the
latter, presented in the Falls of Niagara. The
dimensions and depth of the Welland canal are
such as to be navigable by sloops of 125 tons
burden ; as large a sized vessel as is generally
seen on the lakes, and much larger than any
other, navigating canals in America, with the
single exception of those of the Chesapeake and
Delaware in Pennsylvania.
The entire length of the Welland canal to
Port Dalhousie, on Lake Ontario, is about forty-
two miles; and as the level of Lake Erie above
the latter is upwards of 330 feet, it has, of course,
required the descent to be graduated by a series of
locks, of which there are thirty-seven. Of this
number, seventeen lie within the short distance of
a mile, in descending what is called the Mountain
Ridge ; and which reduce nearly the entire eleva-
tion of the one lake to the level of the other. The
scene at this place is, certainly, a very singular
and interesting one, and well merits the attention
— as indeed the whole line — of the passing tra-
veller ; since but little time or trouble is required
in tracing its whole extent ; or, if otherwise, it
will amply repay both.
In addition to the extraordinary series of
\
il
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276 LAUNCH OF A VESSEL OVER THE FALLS.
locks, as objects to be justly admired, in the con-
struction of this sloop navigation, is the Deep Cut,
which is considered one of the greatest artificial
works in North America. This immense trench
was required to be made, in order to preserve the
level of the canal, by excavating through an inter-
vening ridge, the continuation of which forms the
Falls of Niagara, and the rocky heights of Lock-
port. Besides the advantage of admitting a much
larger-sized vessel than its neighbouring rival, the
Erie canal, it enjoys the superiority over it in its
greater exemption from ice, and in its being open
for the transit of merchandise several weeks earlier,
as well as later, in the season ; a circumstance by
no means inconsiderable in commercial operations.
Thus, the impassable barrier that nature had op-
posed, in the cataract of Niagara, to all navigable
communication with Lake Ontario, has been sur-
mounted by the enterprise and industry of man.
An attempt, however, was made, in the sum-
mer of 1 827, though not, as you will readily be-
lieve, for mercantile purposes, to see the effect of
a vessel being launched over the Falls, and of
which the following account is given as to the
result. A schooner, called the Michigan, — that
was found to be unfit for the navigation of Lake
Erie, being of too great a depth of water, — was
towed by a steam-boat to the end of Grand Island,
and thence, by a row-boat, to the margin of the
A REASONING BEAR.
277
Rapids, where she was abandoned to her fate.
Thousands of persons had assembled to witness
the descent ; and a number of wild animals had
been inhumanly placed on her deck, in order to
pass the cataract with her. She cleared the first
fall of the Rapids in safety ; but str^ick a rock at
the second, and lost her masts. There she re-
mained for an instant, until the current turned
her round and bore her away. A sensible bear,
that formed one of the devoted party on deck, not
admiring his situation, or approving of his own
sacrifice for the mirth of the wondering people on
shore, very wisely leaped overboard at this place,
and swam to the shore. The vessel soon after-
wards filled and sunk, so that only her upper
works remained visible. She went over the cata-
ract almost without being seen, and in a few
moments the basin was perceived covered with
her fragments. Of the live animals confined on
board, a cat — secured by her "nine lives" — and
a goose, were the only survivors of the desperate
plunge ; having alone been found alive in the
dismal abyss below.
I now returned, once more, to the Falls —
crossed and re-crossed the river — visited again all
the favourite points — repeated the well-trodden
circuit of my former contemplations — gathered a
few wild flowers from the margin of Table Rock,
and elsewhere, with which to adorn my book —
278
FINAL ADIEU TO NIAGARA.
collected some interesting specimens of minerals —
and, after gazing, and dreaming, and wondering,
for a couple of days longer, I bade, at length, a
long, lingering farewell to this bright spot of
earth — transporting to the eye as the oasis in the
desert to the perishing traveller — and where my
imagination had been held as completely spell-
bound as any bewitched knight-errant by a Spanish
necromancer.
After repeatedly running up stairs to the ve-
randah, to take more ** last looks," which I began
seriously to think would never terminate, while
the carriage was waiting, most unwillingly, at the
door — the passengers all packed — the coachman
grumbling — and the horses kicking for very im-
patience — I summoned, eventually, resolution to
depart; and squeezing into our suffocating ve-
hicle, a most reluctant ninth unit, I was fairly
whirled off, and the spell was broken.
The excursion, on which I was now proceed-
ing, was directed towards the recent settlements
that have been formed in various parts of this
highly fertile and rapidly improving province ;
and for this purpose, I was speeding my course to
the shores of Lake Ontario, in order to embark
for York, its present rising capital. Our road
skirted the beautifully wooded banks that adorn
the river as far as Queenstown, and through the
vistas of which we obtained interesting glimpses
CAPITAL OF UPPER CANADA.
279
of its meandering stream. Beyond the village,
its hurrying waters lay open and unveiled to our
view, till we reached Fort George or Newark,
about fifteen miles from Niagara, situated at the
point where the river disembogues into the lake.
The entrance is well guarded by both nations —
by Fort Niagara on one side, belonging to the
Americans, and by Fort George on the other,
belonging to the British ; and which, during the
war, were proudly vindicating the honour of the
respective flags waving over them, by cannonad-
ing their opposite neighbours with all the zeal of
hostile rivalry.
I embarked at this place on board a steam-
boat for York ; and, in four hours, we arrived at
our destination. There is nothing particular that
strikes the eye, in passing over this distance of
thirty-seven miles, except the deep blue of the
water — arising from its great profundity — which
would make one easily imagine that he was float-
ing on the wide expanse of the Atlantic ocean,
rather than on a fresh-water element. The capi-
tal of Upper Canada lies on a dead level, stretch-
ing away in unbroken sameness, and presents
little of variety in its outline. It is a place of
considerable size, though rather straggling in its
appearance, and possesses a good harbour, de-
fended by military works constructed on what is
called Gibraltar Point. One or two of the streets
^
280 SETTLEMENTS OF GUELPH AND QODERICH.
extend to the length of between two and three
miles, though somewhat irregularly built, as
vacancies are left, here and there, in the line,
which an increase of inhabitants will hereafter
fill up. The town is by no means, however, so
extensive or populous as I had previously expected ;
having calculated on seeing a larger proportion
of the immense numbers that have lately emi-
grated to this province. The tide of emigration,
I understood, had set more towards the interior ;
the emigrants believing it better to scatter them-
selves over the face of the country, than to crowd
themselves into large towns ; and which, very
probably, in the present state of society, may be
more for their advantage. There are, at the same
time, some very rising settlements in the interior ;
the principal and more flourishing being, as I
afterwards found, farther to the westward, of
which Guelph and Goderich are the most promis-
ing. The former is distant from York about
forty-seven miles, and the latter — situated on the
shores of Lake Huron — about 140. Between these,
and the capital, good roads have been cut, as also
between the various townships, by the Canada
Company, who are the great proprietors of land in
this province, to the extent of about two millions
five hundred thousand acres, and on whose pro-
perty the towns just mentioned have been erected.
This company appears to be actuated by a highly
LIBERALITY OF THE CANADA COMPANY. 281
liberal, enterprising, and judicious spirit ; reflect-
ing equal credit on themselves, and advantage on
the country in which their operations are carried
on. As an instance of their liberality, and as the
best inducement to emigrate to this quarter, they
have pledged themselves to expend, on the Huron
tract alone, the large sum of 45,000/., for the
construction of roads — the erection of churches
and schools — the extending and improving of
water communications — the building of bridges,
wharfs, and a variety of other works of public
utility.
The tract of land of which the company are
owners, in the Huron territory, amounts to the
enormous quantity of one million one hundred
thousand acres, and in this district lies the town
of Goderich, where they have laid the foundation
of a flourishing settlement under the most favour-
able auspices, and with every promise of success.
As an advantageous position, nothing in Upper
Canada can well exceed it ; since, lying immedi-
ately, as it does, on the shores of Lake Huron, it
possesses a direct communication with the Atlantic
through Lakes Erie and Ontario.
The price at which the company sell their
lands varies from 7s. 6d. to lOs. per acre, and of
which the quality is most excellent. Indeed, the
entire soil of the province is generally acknow-
ledged to be equal, in point of richness, to any
I
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282
COMPARATIVE ADVANTAGES
land of similar extent that can be found through-
out the whole of North America, and with a less
intermixture of waste, or marsh land, than such
an extent will present in any other quarter of the
world.
No country, perhaps, on the globe, offers such
advantages to emigrants, especially to those of
the British isles, as this. Though our colonies
in the southern hemisphere. New South Wales
and Van Diemen's Land, offer sufficiently flatter-
ing prospects to those who find a competent sub-
sistence for themselves and families a matter of
difficult acquisition in England, yet the serious
obstacles presented to the settler, in the greater
distance of the voyage, cannot be overlooked,
being four times greater than that to Canada,
and consequently a four-fold greater expense
being incurred on proceeding there. This cir-
cumstance alone must necessarily give a very
preponderating weight to the consideration of the
superior benefits to be enjoyed in selecting the
latter. And with respect to climate, the upper
province — preferable in point of mildness to the
lower one — varies but slightly from that which
the British emigrant will have left behind him.
Though, in the American portion of his majesty's
dominions, the summers are hotter and the winters
colder than those in England, yet the heat of the
one season is so tempered by cooling breezes, and
OF EMIGRATION.
283
the severity of the other accompanied by so much
greater dryness of atmosphere, as to make the
contrast almost insensible, and the weather per-
fectly congenial to an European constitution.
If the attention of the settler be previously
turned towards the territory of the United States,
before he fixes his future habitation, for the pur-
pose of enlightening his judgment by the informa-
tion which a comparison between the two countries
will suggest, it appears to me, speaking from some
experience, as well as from sources of knowledge
to which I have had access, that the result of
weighing the evidence, on each side, will terminate
in favour of Canada. In addition to the climate
of the upper province, which is, I believe, beyond
doubt, superior in healthiness to many of the
western, and to all the southern states of the
Union, the similarity of domestic manners and
feelings, as also of the laws, prevailing in the
British provinces, will prove more consonant to
the previously formed habits of the English emi-
grant, and the course of English education that
he may have received. To this may be subjoined,
what is obviously still more required by a person
leaving his long-cherished home and friends, in
order to better his circumstances in a foreign
clime, the consideration that the soil of Canada
is equally good, and sold as cheaply as that in
the States, while the taxes, and other public bur-
.1 a
''Ml
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264 ADVANTAQEOUS COMPARISON OF TAXES
dens, are much fewer and lighter in the British
provinces than are those in the neighbouring
republic. Perhaps the influence of the latter ad-
vantage may be more practically illustrated, by
the fact of a considerable portion of the citizens
of the confederation, as I am credibly informed,
having turned their backs on their own fertile
grounds, and " settled down," as they term it,
upon "locations" in the upper province; thus
becoming de facto — whether de jure is another
consideration — subjects of his British majesty.
That the imposts and duties, levied on the
Canadians, are considerably less than those levied
in the States, is fully admitted in a published
document of the republic, entitled a "Report of
the Committee of Commerce and Navigation,
read and referred to the committee of the whole,
on the state of the Union, in the House of Re-
presentatives of the United States, made on the
8th of February, 1830," and without which, I should
have hesitated in making the assertion. This re-
port throughout presents a most gratifying account
of the general prosperity of the colonies ; and, as
coming from parties naturally disinclined to ex-
aggerate such advantages, is to be depended on
with undoubting reliance. It states, that " by the
acts of 1825, the British parliament granted to
the Canadas, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick,
substantially all the commercial privileges of an
BETWEEN THE CANADA8 AND THE STATES. 285
independent nation ; and they not only imposed
more moderate duties than are charged upon the
consumption of any country, hut they placed the
revenue at flie discretion of their local legislatures
for the use of the colonies. These colonies," it is
added, '* consume the produce and manufactures
of Great Britain, and her dominions, almost free
of duty ; they enjoy the conmierce of the East
India Company, of Europe, and of North and
South America, charged with duties averaging
not more than ten per cent, while the voluntary
taxes of the United States, on the primary neces-
saries of life, average 100 per cent ad valorem."
In another part, also, of the same report, it is
admitted, that " while the whole foreign trade
of the United States, with every part of the world,
has remained stationary for fifteen years, the
navigation of those colonies with the mother
country alone has increased from 88,247 tons to
400,841 tons. Their navigation," it continues,
'* is advancing with astonishing rapidity. While
our exports and imports, in 1828, are in amount
little, if any thing, above the value in 1806 or
1807, the exports of the colonies have been almost
quadrupled in amount, and the imports augmented
from four to ten millions of dollars. The popula-
tion of New England," it proceeds to say, "in-
creased, in nineteen years, about twenty-seven per
i! !
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286
DOCUMENTAL EVIDENCE.
cent. The British colonies, in the same period,
about 113 per cent."
I was scarcely aware, I must confess, before
this state -document fell under my notice, and
which proceeds from a body of men representing
the knowledge and the aggregate interests of the
whole Union, and who, if influenced by any other
feeling than that of truth, would rather have sup-
pressed the fact than thus broadly have expressed
it, that the result of the comparison would have
shewn so great a superiority of the British colonies
over the states of the republic. It may also be
mentioned, that the general expenditure of the
government at Washington exceeds, very consider-
ably, that of the Canadas ; since a provision for
the navy and army, the maintenance of ministers
at the various foreign courts, with other et ca;tera,
are articles of expense unknown to the latter, in
consequence of their connexion with England,
and which the former are obliged to keep up.
The imposition of two and a half per cent on
English imports, together with a very moderate
duty on wines and spirits, and the receipts from
the sales of waste lands, are quite sufficient, I
believe, to support the government of the two
provinces, without any tiling additional.
Thus, without in the least straining the point,
and in a spirit of perfect impartiality, it fairly and
ADVANTAGES TO INDUSTRIOUS MEN.
287
lionestly appears to me, that the Canadas offer a
more promising field for the improvement of
British capital and the exertion of British enter-
prise, in reference to emigration, than the United
States. I freely acknowledge, at the same time,
that nothing can exceed the fertile quality of the
land in the western sections of the latter country,
or the cheap rate at which it is to be purchased.
With respect to fruits and vegetables, the
provinces possess all the varieties known in the
mother country; and to a man with a family,
particularly if his children are able to assist him
in agricultural or other pursuits — to industrious
and sober mechanics, farmers, and labourers —
nothing can be presented in any part of the world
more eligible — I believe I may say, with truth,
so eligible — as the establishment of themselves
within their limits. That the refinements, and
polish, of European society, are not to be met with
in these elementary formations of a young state,
and that a settler must be prepared to encounter
hardships ; and also, according to the extent of his
education and his previous habits, must lay his
account with having his feelings tried for the first
year or two, is most certain. It is equally certain,
however, that he will, with diligence and steadiness,
obtain a sure independence for himself and his
family, and " build up a name" for his posterity,
I ^ il
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288
PASSAGE-MONEY FOR EMIGRANTS.
which he might vainly strive to procure amid the
over-wrought competition of his native land.
As I observed before, the taxes amount to a
mere trifle, and the soil is entirely exempted from
tithes. The expense of clearing the land, and
preparing it for a crop, averages about 31. lOs.
per acre, should labourers be employed for that
purpose ; if effected by the settler himself, with
the assistance of his sons, that amount will be
necessarily saved by his own exertions.
In reference to the passage of emigrants to
America, the terms are most reasonable ; and this
may be most easily obtained at any of the prin-
cipal seaports in Great Britain and Ireland. The
whole expense of conveying a family from England
to York, in Upper Canada, is about 51. for a
grown-up person, and about 31. for children ; to
which, of course, the cost for provisions is to be
added, amounting to as much more. The expense,
at the same time, in proceeding from a port in
Scotland or Ireland, will be reduced considerably
below the sums previously mentioned. Thus, every
possible advantage that can be fairly contemplated,
under the view of emigration, appears to centre
in the Upper Province of this highly interesting
country. When also, in addition, the only desi-
deratum that seems to exist, with regard to the
full development of her resources, shall be sup-
FORM OF GOVERNMENT IN UPPER CAN iDA. 289
plied — I mean a legislative act constituting Mon-
treal " part and parcel" of this division of the
Canadas — thus giving to her a seaport worthy of
her importance, and claimed by her necessities, of
which, at present, she possesses nothing beyond
what is purely nominal — she may then maintain
a successful rivalry, in the peaceable arts of com-
merce, with the whole world. This subject natu-
rally occupies much of the exertion, and all the
hopes, of her inhabitants ; and though they have
no slight indisposition and jealousy to contend
with, on the side of the Lower Canadians, as to
parting with it, yet I trust that, ere long, both the
one and the other will be overcome, and the
desirable union be eflfected. It is to be considered,
likewise, that this concession, while it will better
so greatly the commercial condition of Upper
Canada, will still leave to the lower province
the finest port in this section of his majesty's
dominions — that of Quebec.
Before I quit the province, I will just men-
tion what is the form of its government. It is
founded in imitation of that which prevails in
England, and consists of a governor, appointed
by the sovereign, a legislative council, and a
house of assembly ; the members of the latter
being elected for four years by the various coun-
ties and towns throughout the colony, and those
of the former receiving their appointments from
VOL. I. o
290
QUALIFICATIONS OF VOTERS.
the governor, which continue for life. The quali-
fication for counties is, I believe, the holding of a
freehold to the amount of 405., and that for the
towns, the occupation of a house of the value of
10/. As in the House of Commons, the House of
Assembly holds the strings of the public purse,
and provides for the public expenditure; the
budget, in reference to colonial taxation, being
opened in this branch of the legislature, without
whose consent no burdens can be imposed ; neither
can the money voted be applied otherwise than for
the benefit of the province.
Having remained in this section of the country
as long as my convenience would allow, I stepped
into another steam-boat, and, passing along nearly
the whole length of Lake Ontario, arrived at
Kingston, situated on its eastern extremity. On
our passage we encountered a violent thunder-
storm, which considerably alarmed the ladies on
board; more particularly as a vessel had been
lost, with her crew, the week previously, at the
very place where it occurred. We stopped, on
our passage, at Oswego, a village seated on the
shores of the States, and belonging to the republic,
and which a branch of the Erie canal — that turns,
like the philosopher's stone, whatever it touches
into gold — is raising into a flourishing settlement.
Kingston is a naval and military station be-
longing to his majesty, possessing a spacious and
KINGSTON — ITS NAVY YARD.
291
t.
excellent harbour, and was a place of considerable
importance during the war, of which its navy-yard
affords ample demonstration. Here are seen seve-
ral large ships, one or two of them having been
destined to carry 100 guns each, for the purpose
of contesting, during that period, the supremacy
of the lake. They are now falling, unsheltered
from the weather, into inglorious decay, and are
doomed, at no distant day, to be broken up for
firewood. The first sight of these noble vessels,
rotting on their stocks, as fast as time and the
elements could effect it, was rather melancholy ;
but this was soon effaced by the moral considera-
tion which the scene suggested — that of the good
understanding now subsisting between the former
belligerents ; for, to a well-disposed mind, there
can be no hesitation as to choosing between peace
and plenty with rottenness of ships, and the hor-
rors of war though with a gallant navy.
A much more interesting employment than
that of warfare is now occupying the attention of
government, at this place, in the completion of the
Rideau canal ; of which you have no doubt heard,
both in and out of parliament. It must, however,
be allowed, that though the present operation of
constructing it is sufficiently peaceable in itself,
yet the very motive of its being formed involves
the anticipation of future conflicts. The accom-
plishment of it has been undertaken with the view
I ' .1
292
THE RIDEAU CANAL.
of facilitating, and rendering safe, the transit of
naval and military stores, and of those who are to
make use of them, between the lower and upper
provinces, during any war that may hereafter be
waged with the United States. The only channel
hitherto available for that purpose, and adopted
from imperious necessity alone, is the river St.
Lawrence, which forms the great boundary line,
through a considerable distance of its course,
between the British and republican possessions.
This circumstance, in time of war, necessarily
exposes the boats, passing along it, to the danger
of a destructive cannonade, and of capture, by an
enemy in possession of the right bank. In addi-
tion, also, to this principal circumstance, the ex-
treme delay and labour occasioned by surmounting
the Rapids, leaving out of sight the peril attending
the operation, are such as to endanger the success
of our arms on any sudden emergency, and enor-
mously to increase the public expenditure.
It is true that, as far as the Rapids are con-
cerned, canals offering a much shorter route than
that of the Rideau canal might easily be cut along
the banks of the river where they occur, for the
benefit as well of the merchant as of govern-
ment. Such, indeed, I entertain not the slightest
doubt, will one day be accomplished ; economising
both time and money to a considerable extent.
This very beneficial improvement, -levcrtheless,
I
■
THE RIDEAU CANAL.
293
would only answer during a time of tranquillity ;
as the British shore of the stream, and the canals
cut on its margin, would still in many places,
during a period of hostilities, be commanded by
the enemy's guns, and the barges be liable to
surprise by an active and enterprising foe. To
avoid, therefore, the treble danger of delay, of
expense, and of yet more serious detriment to the
interests of the service, the British government
have most wisely ordered the construction of the
Rideau canal, for the purpose of effecting a navi-
gable communication between Lake Ontario and
the Ottawa River. Commencing at Kingston,
and running away altogether from the line of the
river, it gains, at length, the Ottawa or Grand
River, which flows onward to the point of its
discharge into the St. Lawrence, in the immediate
vicinity of Montreal. The grand desideratum is
now supplied, of which the want was so seriously
felt during the last war, and the communication
between the two provinces is now secured beyond
the power of hostile interference ; the channel of
intercourse beii g thus thrown directly back from
the boundary line of the respective countries.
This great military object will henceforth eftect
the transportation of stores, troops, &c. in lake-
vessels of 125 tons each, by an interior route,
preserved by its direction from all exposure to
attack by the United States.
11
w
294
SACKETT S HARBOUR.
The entire length of this most advantageous
work is stated to be upwards of 130 miles; though
of the whole of this distance the small proportion
alone of about nineteen or twenty miles has been
actually cut ; the remaining links of the watery
chain being formed by connecting lakes lying on
its course, and by artificial accumulations of water,
obtained by throwing up massive banks in the
valleys running in the required direction. The
whole line displays a highly interesting combina-
tion of natural and artificial navigation, and of
numerous locks of excellent construction, evincing
the moral as well as physical power of man, in
rendering even Nature herself tributary to his
wants and enterprises.
About thirty miles from Kingston lies Sackett s
Harbour, a rival station belonging to the Ame-
ricans; and which, equally with the former, the
last war brought into prominent notice. Here
also, as in the navy-yard at Kingston, are seen
large vessels dry-rotting on the stocks, and forts
in ruins ; and which I should hope no change from
these happy " piping times of peace" to bloody war
will ever see restored to their original state.
But I come, now, to scenery that will perhaps
delight you more than either canals, or ships, or
sailors. I have brought you to the very shores of
the splendid St. Lawrence, which, as I mentioned
before, receives its crystal flood at Kingston, from
THE THOUSAND ISLANDS,
295
the waters of Lake Ontario terminating at that
place. From this its noble source, ^ rolls along
its majestic and expansive stream, ferdlising the
lands and domains of a thousand cities, towns,
and villages, lying on its banks, through a distance
of 700 miles, to the ocean. The Eicene now pre-
sented to me, and extending, throughout the day's
excursion of seventy miles, to Prescott, displayed
all the attraction of novelty, united with the most
exquisite beauty. Shortly after entering the river,
which is several miles in breadth, you approach
the broken and undulating outline of a region of
islands. They are called, par eminence, " the
Thousand Islands;" nor does the figure, as if
lending a poetical charm by the multiplication of
numbers, outstrip the fact ; since, I believe, the
whole group amounts to fourteen or fifteen hun-
dred, scattered in all directions on the surface of
this " shining river."
Nothing can be imagined more lovely and
picturesque than winding your constantly mean-
dering course through this verdant labyrinth. All
the endless varieties of shape, colour, height, size,
and contour, are exhibited in their ever-changing
appearances. Their forms, indeed, are as diver-
sified as their numbers. Some of them, covered
with a rich greensward, repose on the stream so
nearly level with it, as if floating down upon its
bosom ; others elevate their summits in bold per-
n
i
1 1
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296
THE THOUSAND ISLANDS.
pendicular ascents, crowned with the most luxu-
riant foliage ; and here and there is seen an islet,
formed of fantastic rocks piled on each other, and
contrasting their rugged and barren surface with
the smiling fertility of the rest. On some few of
these fairy islands you perceive a cottage, or a
log-house, rearing its simple structure amid this
landscape of loneliness and silent beauty, and
affording a pleasing relief, in the symptom of
human existence which it offers, to the otherwise
unbroken solitude that reigns around. On another
side you see a natural terrace, or a glade, peeping
forth from its half-concealed position in a wood ;
while the transparent water casts back from its
placid current the rocks and trees by which it is
overshadowed. The endless succession of objects
that regale the eye, as you thread the maze of
isolated rocks and woods, baskmg, in countless
numbers, on the sunny element, brings home to
your imagination all the enchanting visions of
Arabian and Oriental descriptions.
I was forcibly reminded of the interesting
Straits of Malacca, through which I sailed a few
years ago, on my passage to China, and presenting
a similar aspect ; and where several of the islands,
though larger and much less numerous, exhibit,
in their grotesque shapes, the forms of crocodiles,
rabbits, alligators, and other singular animals.
Nothing, however, can exceed, if equal, the
RAPIDS OF THE ST. LAWIU E.
m
.
" Thousand Islands" of the St. Lawrence. Here
Nature has wrapped herself in all the witchery
of her silent charms, and here her lonely and
soothing heauty speaks a language to the heart
unfelt by the proudest works of man.
On arriving at Prescott, I prepared, in company
with an agreeable Irish gentleman whom I had
met on my route, to descend the Rapids ; and
having made a bargain with the conductor of one
of the bateaux J expressly made for this turbulent
navigation, we stepped on board . The first of the
series of Rapids, down which we were hurled, is
called " Les Galops" Here the St. Lawrence,
suddenly contracting its previous breadth of two
miles to about half a mile or less, rushes along in
a very strong and agitated current, resembling
those of the Niagara, and offering to the view, in
its broken and foaming waters, an appearance sin-
gularly picturesque. From these Rapids the river
has a descent of 231 feet in 280 miles, and carries
you along, in succession, to those of the Long
Saut, the Cedars, and the Cascades of St. Louis,
which are much more impetuous and turbulent in
their course than those oiLes Galops.
The first of these, extending through a mean-
dering length of nine miles, are said to be passed
in the short space of twenty minutes, being at the
flying rate of twenty-seven miles an hour. This
will give you some idea of the great skill and
o2
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298
BAPID8 OP THE ST. LAWRENCE.
caution required in the boatmen, in avoiding the
numerous shoals by which the navigation is ob-
structed, and where an inexperienced pilot would
inevitably be lost. Though I did not observe the
time, I think the statement somewhat exaggerated ;
since, fast as we were certainly hurried along, we
were not made to skim over the surface quite
as fast as I have seen flying-fish do within the
Tropics, and which would have been the case had
our shooting the channel been as rapid as it is posi-
tively declared to be. The most picturesque and
dangerous of the whole are those of the Long
Saut and the Cedars, where the stream, dashed
Into foam and furious breakers, whirls and boils
in numberless pools and eddies, and which, in
case of accident, would render it a hopeless attempt
to save one's life by swimming. On one occasion,
our situation appeared so alarming, that my com-
panion, by an instinctive movement of self-preser-
vation, in an instant flung off his coat, in order
to be better prepared for stemming the whirling
current; and whose example I was on the point
of following, when our boatmen, who were them-
selves in a state of confusion and apprehension,
managed to clear the danger that threatened, at
the moment, to swamp our bateau.
Our excursion on these "troubled waters" to
Montreal — diversified by an occasional drive on
the land — was equally interesting for its novelty
^
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CANADIAN BOAT-SONO.
299
as well as beauty ; the windings of the St. Law-
rence being frequent and abrupt, and the shores
delightfully wooded, with sloping terraces and
patches of newly-cleared land, enlivening, at in-
tervals, its margin, on which the cottager had
reared his humble log-house. To' give an addi-
tional romance to the scene, and to gratify an
anticipation previously formed, I requested our
bateau-men to sing the Canadian boat -song,
with which they complied; but I must acknow-
ledge that their execution rather disappointed me,
as they had either forgotten the scientific lessons
taught them by the composer of this sweet and
simple song, Mr. Moore, when he was traversing
these waters ; or, rather, they required the harmo-
nious aid of that gentleman's well-known vocal
powers to modulate and direct their voices.
After passing several villages and lakes, of
which latter St. Francis expands to a length of
twenty-five miles and to a breadth of fifteen, we
reached the city of Montreal, where, for your sake
as well as for my own, I shall now leave you ;
with this honourable and friendly understanding,
that if you will not complain of aching eyes, I will
not utter a single word about cramped fingers.
Adieu!
m I
10 -v I
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300
LETTER XII.
Description of Montreal — the dominant Religion — School
Societies — Island of St. Helena — Passage to Quebec —
Description of Quebec — Cape Diamond — Heights and
Plains of Abraham — Falls of Montmorency — Indian
Village of Lorette — Ceremonies of Indian Marriage — the
War-Whoop and Dance — French Canadians — Falls of the
Chaudi^re — Catholic Cathedral — Museums — Monument
to Wolfe and Montcalm — Constitution of Lower Canada —
Climate — Fruits.
QueheCf 24th August, 1831.
MY DEAR FRIEND,
The city of Montreal, where I last
took my leave of you, is situated on an island of
the same name, thirty miles long, formed by the
embracing arms of the St. Lawrence and Ottawa
river*. It lies to the southward of Quebec about
170 miles, being the second principal city in Lower
Canada, and contains a population of 30,000 in-
habitants. The aspect of the town, as seen from
a distance on the river, forcibly strikes the eye,
in consequence of the peculiarity of roof which
covers-in many of the houses, and particularly the
one surmounting the cathedral, that towers in lofty
CITY OP MONTREAL.
301
dimensions above them all. This is formed of tin,
which, reflecting the bright rays of a summer's
sun, exhibits the appearance of so many sheets of
silver. The effect is rather too dazzling in the
pure atmosphere of Canada ; but, at the same
time, it conveys the impression, when approaching
the place, of something splendid ; and excites an
anticipation of beholding in the town itself what
a subsequent examination fails to realise. The
general view of the interior is, certainly, by no
means so imposing ; as the streets are narrow, and
the houses display a gloomy heaviness, strongly
resembling some of the ancient towns of France.
There is, nevertheless, a number of handsome
buildings, of which the Catholic cathedral stands
out in prominent relief, and is, beyond doubt, a
fine structure of the Gothic order, though perfectly
simple and unadorned in its character, and far
removed from any thing like a florid style. It is
very capacious, and can accommodate ten thou-
sand persons ; being esteemed, with the exception
of those in Mexico, the largest church in North
America.
The dominant religion at Montreal, as also at
Quebec, is the catholic ; the priests of that com-
munion being the grands seigneurs of the whole
island, the principal revenue of whom arises from
grants of land made to them in former times, and
from fines payable on the alienation of property.
i
302
EDUCATION IN LOWER CANADA.
Thus, on each successive sale of an estate, these
ecclesiastical lords of the soil receive from the
purchaser a per centage of 8Z. on the amount paid,
and which extends to sales of all real property
within the seignory.
Among the public edifices are several episcopal
churches, the museum, a court-house, masonic
hall, theatre, a monument to the memory of the
late Lord Nelson, and, as may be supposed, nu-
merous convents, nunneries, and other religious
houses; besides a college, containing about 300
students, the terms of whose education do not
exceed the moderate sum of 20/. per annum. In-
deed, I am happy to say, that knowledge appears
to be advancing here, and in other parts of Lower
Canada, in a rapid and highly satisfactory man-
ner. The British and Canadian School Society
have given a spur to the progress of education
very greatly to their credit ; having established
schools in Montreal on the system adopted in
England, where several thousands of boys and
girls of the poorer classes have been admitted,
and who are supported by voluntary subscrip-
tions. There is, also, a Lancasterian and an epis-
copal school, founded on the system introduced
by Bell ; and it is gratifyir to learn, that some
of the leading persons of the Oatholic persuasion
have given the influence of their names and
exertions in support of the former, and preside
'W
\
w
EDUCATION IN lOWER CANADA.
303
over its usefulness as members of the committee.
In fact, the value of education has begun to be
felt by all the orders of society ; and the priests,
to the honour of their more enlightened humanity,
casting aside their prejudices, are urging onward
the march of intellect in the only way that can
dispel the vice, and degradation, which ignorance
and superstition are calculated to produce.
The schools, for which the government have
provided, are restricted to masters of the Church
of England ; and of these seminaries a consider-
able number has been built in the various town-
ships of the province. On this subject a report
was made, in the year 1829, to the House of As-
sembly in Lower Canada, shewing the amount
and distribution of them. By this it appears that,
in Quebec, Montreal, and Three Rivers, — the latter
being a considerable town on the St. Lawrence, —
there were two colleges, three schools of royal
institution, eleven gratuitous schools, containing
1214 pupils, and fifty other seminaries ; while
scattered throughout the country there were four
colleges, seventy schools of royal institution, and
fourteen mission-schools.
The country around Montreal is highly beauti-
ful, particularly as beheld from what is called the
** Mountain of Montreal," an elevated ridge ex-
tending about two miles, and rising nearly 700
feet above the level of the river. It lies between
41
304
ISLAND OF ST. HTILENA.
two and three miles from the city to which it
gives its name, and presents to the eye a delightful
panorama, embracing an admirable view of the
town, a fine sweep of the St. Lawrence, and a
variety of other interesting objects. It is, in itself,
a noble feature in the landscape, and has been
tastefully selected by the worthy citizens as the
site of their country-houses ; the white colouring
of the villas contrasting most pleasingly with the
green of the surrounding foliage.
Immediately opposite to the city, a little more
than half-way across the river, is the island of
St. Helen or St. Helena, purchased some time
ago by the British government, for a military
depot. Here have been erected barracks, store-
houses, an arsenal, a magazine, and a range of
batteries fronting the river and town. It is most
agreeably situated, and whence is enjoyed one of
the best views of the city, backed by the towering
heights in its vicinity.
From Montreal I moved my quarters to Que-
bec, making another advance, of 170 miles, in
my itinerant labours. In the Canadas, as in the
States, the favourite and most delightful mode of
travelling is by steam-power, the happiest dis-
covery, beyond any doubt, considering it in all
its mechanical operations, that has been made
since that of the noble art of printing. The ad-
vantage gained, by the present expeditious mode
PASSAGE TO QUEBEC.
306
*9 W
of travelling, is of still greater consequence to the
Canadians than its pleasantness. Twelve or four-
teen years ago, an excursion to Quebec and back
again, occupied several weeks ; and which can
now be accomplished, by steam conveyance, in less
than three days. The passage between the two
cities is peculiarly interesting and animated, in
consequence of the crowded population that line
the banks of the river j the entire distance, great
as it is, presenting, on both shores, an almost
unbroken continuity of houses, towns, and vil-
lages, so as to give the semblance, on each side,
of an uninterrupted length of street. At the inter-
vals of seven or eight miles are erected churches,
crowning, in general, the most elevated ground,
and tastefully planted there as if with a view to
pictorial effect ; and which, beheld from the centre
of the stream, attract the admiration of the grati-
fied traveller.
Having passed, amid almost endless scenes of
successive habitations, the town of William Henry,
where lies the ancient summer-residence of the go-
vernor-general of Canada, — Lake St. Peter, which
is a splendid expansion of the St. Lawrence, vary-
ing from fifteen to twenty miles in breadth, and
twenty-one in length — the town of Three Rivers,
being the third in point of magnitude in the
province, and formerly the seat of the colonial
306
DESCRIPTION OF QUEBEC.
government — the Richelieu Rapids, where the
river is contracted within the narrow compass of
less than half a mile, exhibiting an extraordinary
contrast to its previous breadth on Lake St. Peter
of twenty miles, &c. &c. you approach the capital,
and now you behold Wolfe's Cove, where the gal-
lant hero landed his army on storming the heights
of Abraham. Sweeping at this place round an
angle of the river, the lofty citadel, and the as-
piring towers of Quebec, burst on your view,
elevated 345 feet above the water, on a promontory
called Cape Diamond. The scene here is truly
grand and imposing.
The city is divided into what is called the up-
per and lower town ; the former being contained
within the walls, and the latter resting at the base
of the heights, and on. the steep acclivity which
communicates with the higher division. It is situ-
ated at the confluence of the St. Lawrence and St,
Charles, which form a beautiful harbour of splen-
did expansion, and aflford an excellent anchorage-
ground for the largest fleet of merchantmen. The
city itself, comprising a population of upwards of
26,000 inhabitants, is not remarkable for much
elegance ; and the lower half of it, from the ex-
treme narrowness and neglected state of its streets,
and the laborious tug up its steep ascent, is cer-
tainly by no means prepossessing ; but the unex-
CAPE DIAMOND,
307
celled beauty, grandeur, and variety of the land-
scape by which it is surrounded, render its posi-
tion one of the most attractive in the world .
The great " Lion" to be seen at Quebec — as
if art would vie with nature in its magnificent
creations — is the stupendous fortress' surmounting
Cape Diamond. It is still unfinished ; but when
completed, will display the very finest specimen
of fortification on the western continent ; and will
be as impregnable as such a structure can well
be made. Its guns command the town, and the
river flowing at its base ; and a tour of the citadel
presents a diversity, and magnificence of scenery,
over which the eye ranges with untiring delight.
This advantage is particularly enjoyed from the
summit of the signal-house, around which is spread
a panorama that may proudly enter the list of
comparison with the Bay of Naples itself. Here,
as in other parts of this most interesting circuit,
you behold all the objects of a perfect landscape ;
a river unsurpassed in beauty and crystal clear-
ness — the lovely island of Orleans in the centre
of its channel — extensive plains and chains of
mountains stretching away, in various directions,
to the northward ; the distant wilderness of forests,
untouched by the hand of man, and untrodden by
human foot, except by that of the Indian hunter
roaming in pursuit of game through its almost
m;
i4
308
BATTLE-GROUND OP WOLFE.
impervious wilds, and which sweep along, in
boundless extent, to the shores of Hudson's
Bay.
One of the first places that rivetted my eager
attention was the celebrated plains of Abraham,
the famous battle-field on which the gallant Wolfe
achieved his glorious exploit over the French
army commanded by Montcalm, and where, in
the very arms of victory, the veteran hero ex-
pired. A remnant of the rock was pointed out
to me against which he reclined, and where
he died, after receiving his fatal wound. The
greatest portion of it has been broken off and
carried away by the zeal of numberless visitors,
anxious to preserve a memorial of the " illustrious
dead." The position of these plains is remarkably
fine, and afforded, to the contending generals, a
noble arena for military conflict. It is now con-
verted into the more favourite site of a race-
course, where the officers of the garrison, and the
Canadian residents, annually divert themselves
with this truly English amusement. It would
almost seem — connecting the circumstance of this
exhibition with the events of by-gone times — as
if, in imitation of the funeral games of ancient
Greece, they were paying posthumous honours to
the memory of tha departed chief. The sentiment
you will say is rather romantic ; but I confess it
WOLFE S COVE.
309
lent an additional interest to the scene, at which I
was present. If you should deem me very fanci-
ful in the conception, you will recollect that I am
supported in my conceit hy high and classic ex-
amples.
Proceeding to the further extremity of this
table-land, which is also used, with excellent ad-
vantage, as a review-ground for the troops, I de-
scended the heights, along whose rugged acclivity
Wolfe conducted his brave little band to the con-
quest of Quebec. On the line of ascent, a very
good though steep road has been since constructed,
leading from the cove called after his name> and
where he brought his fleet, on that occasion, from
their station oiF the isle of Orleans. I shall not
weary you by the delineation of the exquisite beau-
tieb^ of scenery that arrested my view at every
turn, for they are truly inexhaustible. Indeed, I
remember not, at the present moment, in which of
the other three quarters of the globe I have seen
so great a diversity, or a combined effect of more
powerful interest.
On the second day after my arrival, I paid a
visit, in company with my Irish friend, to the
Falls of Montmorency, about eight miles distant ;
our route thither leading us across the river St.
Charles, (where the eye is regaled, as every where
else), and through the village of Beaufort, remark-
able for a church with three steeples. We saw
m
310
FALLS OF MONTMORENCY.
the Falls to great advantage, from the favourable
circumstance of the Montmorency river, which
rushes over them, being swollen from previous
They are nearly 250 feet deep, exceeding
la'Qs.
n I
by almost 100 feet the depth of those of Niagara.
They are certainly very beautiful ; and but for the
vivid recollection of the latter would have appeared
to us without any parallel. Fine, however, and
interesting as they are, streaming down a romantic
ravine of lefty perpendicular cliffs, they will ad-
mit of no comparison with the " Wonder of the
Waters ;" for, though so much deeper, the volume
of water is but a spoonful in the scale of measure-
ment with the Niagara. It displays, however,
during the winter season, I am informed, a feature
of singular formation and beauty that is never
seen at the latter. In consequence of the extreme
severity of the winters, the river, below the Falls,
becomes frozen over; and the spray, congealing
as it descends, settles on the ice, and gradually
assumes the shape of a cone, which, by constant
accretion, assumes, towards the end of winter, a
form of stupendous height and size. In the winter
of 1829 it rose to the prodigious^ height of 126
feet ; presenting, in the clear and pure atmosphere
of Canada, and glittering under a bright, though
cold sun, an extraordinary and most interesting
appearance.
From this position, the city of Quebec appears
INDIAN VILLAGE OF LORETTE.
311
in the distance, like a " cloud-capt tower," as seen
through a long vista of the intervening St. Law-
rence ; with its scattered fleet of merchantmen,
proudly riding on the waters that wash the base
of the lofty promontory on which it stands.
I shall now transport you to the Jndian village
of Lorette, situated about nine miles from the
capital, and inhabited by aboriginal natives of the
Huron tribe, who have here formed themselves
into a settlement ; a restraint very rarely sub-
mitted to by these wild and independent rovere.
They have adopted the Catholic religion ; having
a small church adjoining, in which the rites of
that communion are regularly administered to
them. They were celebrating, at the time, a
marriage-feast ; and to witness these novel cere-
monies was the occasion of our visit. The scene
was droll and amusing in the extreme. After the
nuptial knot had been tied by the priest, the
happy and swarthy couple, accompanied by a
numerous party of savage friends and relations,
repaired to the chief's house, in order to be regaled
with a wedding dinner. Though, as might be
expected, litfle of the polish of civilised society
was manifested amongst them, yet they plentifully
made up for the deficiency, in that respect, by
boisterous noise and rude merriment. My com-
panion and myself, who had introduced ourselves
as amateur guests, were received by the head war-
a!
312
INDIAN MARRIAGE.
rior, Nicholas, with all the barharian courtesy of
the woods and forests, and were invited to take
the seats of distinction, at the crowded table, to
the right of our dingy host. The chief, to do liim
justice, was a fine-looking man ; and, to honour
the occasion, a?., probably still more, to honour his
own person, hud adorned himself with an English
uniform of faded scarlet cloth, to which he had
attached a variety of medals, that glittered, no
doubt, in the astonished eyes of his gaping fol-
lowers, with as much effect as orders in a more
courtly circle. These, with a picture of George
the Fourth ostentatiously suspended from his
neck, he assured me he had received from the
hands of his majesty, in 1825; with whom he
was graciously permitted to have an interview, on
his going to England for the purpose of reclaim-
ing certain lands which, he said, had been unlaw-
fully withheld from him. He spoke with great
animation of the condescension and kindness of
the king, who had referred his claims to the
governor of Quebec; but from whom, he com-
plained, be had not received the justice he had
expected. *
The bride was a very good-looking, modest
squaw, of about seventeen ; and sat blushing,
through the delicate stain of her natural com-
plexion, with as much decorum and grace as
might have become the fairer tints of an European
INDIAN MARRIAGE-FEAST.
313
belle. Indeed, anion<? both women and men
there were traits of countenance that would have
done no discredit to the beaux and belles of a
more fashionable coterie. After drinkin*^ to the
health of the bride and bridegroom — which latter,
I was happy to observe, was already so influenced
by the stricter duties, and more virtuous relations,
attaching to his new condition, as to approve him-
self the most abstemious of the whole party — and
after pledging each other half a tlozen times
round, they commenced singing, with a degree of
vociferous excitement, as if they had been seated
in one of the rugged caverns of their native Huron
forests. The ladies, too, threw in a few of their
wild, woodland notes; and, at last, the bride,
after repeated solicitation, particularly from her
European guests, and with much more of attrac-
tive diffidence than we could possibly have antici-
pated, chanted one of her native airs. This she
sung with a simple and pleasing melody, which
evinced that nature requires not the embellish-
ments of science in order to speak the language of
music with eloquent effect.
Having completed their joyous sacrifices to
the rosy-faced patron of grapes and vintages, and
when each looked as if asking himself the ques-
tion, in the language of the convivial Roman
poet, '' Q
rose up,
uo me rapis tui Bacche
and repaired to a still
pie
lai
num. {
?"
arer room,
they
for
li
VOL. I.
314
WAR-WHOOP AND DANCE.
I i
1
I
the purpose of concluding the festal rites by dan-
cing. The apartment, if not adorned with " bar-
baric pearl and gold/' was, nevertheless, orna-
mented with sufficient insignia of savage finery to
gratify their untutored taste. They h|re cut a
variety of the most extraordinary capers, and dis-
played as many droll antics and gesticulations, as
would have done barbarous honour to the famed
Grimaldi himself, of grimacing reputation. At
my particular request, backed by a liquid dona-
tion, procured from a neighbouring tavern, which
the chief assured me was an essential preliminary
to the performance, and appeared inclined to keep
all to himself, they exhibited their famous war-
dance. This they performed to admiration ; and,
suiting the " word to the action," according to the
orthodox direction of Shakespeare, which they
had no doubt read, accompanied their strange and
fantastic attitudes by shouting their " war-whoop,"
with an intonation of voice that would have com-
pelled even Stentor himself to stop his ears, and
cry, *' Hold, enough !"
I was now quite satisfied; and, shaking my
friend Nicholas by the hand, on taking leave, was
requested by him to present his respectful duty to
the royal family of England, among whom, he
said, the Duke of Sussex had shewn him parti-
cular kindness. Bowing afterwards to all the
squaws, from whom I had previously purchased a
FRENCH CANADIANS.
315
number of mocassins, and other curiosities, and
who had now got the dancing mania in full ope-
ration upon them, I made my exit from this demi-
civilised assembly, and took my departure for
Quebec, highly amused with the day's adventure.
In returning to the capital, I visited the very
picturesque Fall of the river St. Charles, situated
close to the Indian village ; and in various places,
along the road, I saw some of the neatest and
prettiest cottages imaginable, belonging to the
French Canadians, presenting a rural simplicity,
and an inviting aspect of happy retirement, [that
strongly contrasted with the commercial bustle
of the neighbouring city, and still more with
the rude Indian tenements of wood which I had
just left behind me. The lands, too, of these
worthy and honest people appeared of excellent
quality, and cultivated with all the care and dili-
gence of well-practised husbandry ; while neatly
arranged fences surrounding their little farms be-
tokened, together with their comfortable domiciles,
an ease of circumstances peculiarly grateful to the
mind. Although, as Mrs. Malaprop says, com-
parisons are "odoriferous," I could not help com-
paring these interesting homesteads, and well-
ordered farms, with the generality of those which
I had previously witnessed in the States. Yet, in
justice to the Americans, I must not forget, that
a much longer period of occupancy has given,
316
rrtENCH CANADIANS.
from the force of necessity, a superiority to the
former that every succeeding year will lessen,
by that rapid advance to equal excellence — not to
say greater — in which the latter are hourly pro-
gressing.
, With the character of these simple-minded
and amiable French colonists it would be impos-
sible not to be delighted. They remind me power-
fully of what the inhabitants of the Swiss cantons
were, in all their native and winning simplicity,
before the " auri sacra fames,'* imbibed from the
lavish expenditure among them of English money,
had infused into their minds that selfishness, which
now, I fear, has taken too deep a root in their
affections. Uncorrupted, as the French Canadians
are, by the vices of a highly artificial state of so-
ciety, as that which exists in Europe ; blessed with
a happy competency that supplies their few and
unexaggerated wants, and removed by their com-
parative seclusion from the seductive and fatal in-
fluence of fashion and extravagance, they live in
a state of pastoral and patriarchal purity of man-
ners, sedulously attending to all the ordinances
of their religion, that strongly engage in their
favour the feelings and regard of all those who
come in contact with them. With respect to
manners, they possess all the grace and courtesy
of their European progenitors; and I must frankly
acknowledge, that, on this point, I could not avoid
FRENCH CANADIANS.
317
being affected by the striking difference existing
between them and the more unbending republi-
cans of the adjoining country. A Canadian pea-
sant pauses in his work, in order to pull off his
hat as you pass ; and frequently, wUile journeying
along the road, I have baen thus saluted, by the
master as well as the servant, though twenty or
thirty yards distant from me in the field in which
they were employed. A labouring man in the
States would think himself degraded, his man-
hood lowered, and his equality compromised, were
he to notice, with similar complaist nee, any person
whatever, let his station in life la as superior to
his own as it might. I merely mention this, to
shew one of the effects, though on a very minor
point, I allow, of the different forms of govern-
ment ; and though of slight importance, consi-
dered with reference to many others, yet the trait
of voluntary and honest-hearted civility reflects a
grace on society, and produces that mutual good
feeling which I should be extremely sorry to see
absent from our institutions.
Since my arrival at Quebec I have enjoyed
a very sincere pleasure in renewing my acquaint-
ance with the amiable Canadian family, resident in
the capital of Lower Canada, to whom I alluded
in a former letter, as having made in their society
several interesting excursions, during the earlier
part of the season, in some of the middle states of
318
BANKS OF THE ST. LAWRENCE.
the Union. I was happy to find that the kind
expression of their wishes to see me, and render
me any service, on visiting Quebec, was not, as it
too often is, a mere passing compliment, forgotten
as soon as uttered ; as I have experienced from
them all those hospitable and valuable attentions
which are so truly grateful to a stranger in a
foreign land. Their kindness, indeed, has been
unremitting, as well in their friendly entertain-
ment of me at their residence, as in driving me
about in their carriage to the various objects of
interest in the surrounding country. The most
gratifying excursion on which they took me was
to see the Falls of the Chaudiere, about twelve
miles from the city. Having crossed the river
in a horse tow-boat to Point Levi, a lovely spot,
crowned with a picturesque little church, and
studded with white cottages interspersed among
shady groves, we stepped into an elegant open
carriage belonging to my worthy friends, and
drawn by a couple of spirited animals, drove off
along the banks of the St. Lawrence, of which we
continued in sight nearly the whole way. The drive
thither is, without exception, I think, the most
beautiful I ever enjoyed in any part of the world.
The clear and unobstructed view spread out before
you, of the town, the citadel. Cape Diamond, the
Government House — the bright expanse of the
meandering stream, crowded with merchantmen,
FALLS OF THE CHAUDltRE.
319
groups of villages, hill and dale, wood and moun-
tain, displays an endless diversity of picturesque
and magnificent objects. At the distance of four
miles from Point Levi we passed Lauzon, the
delightful residence of the Hon. Sir John Cald-
well, a member of the legislative council. Farther
on we crossed the bridges thrown over the Etche-
min and Chaudiere rivers, presenting pictures of
the most romantic seclusion; and winding for a
considerable distance along the base of lofty and
finely wooded cliffs, we at length left our car-
riage, and proceeded on foot for about a mile and
a half through the forest, on emerging from which
we found ourselves on the margin of the Falls.
The appearance of this cataract is totally different
from that of Montmorency, extending as it does
to a much greater breadth, that of 400 feet, in
proportion to the larger size of the river that dashes
over it, and which flows through an almost im-
pervious forest, closing it in with the deepest and
wildest solitude. The height is about 130 feet,
from which the stream is precipitated over enor-
mous ledges of dark -coloured rocks, dividing
the flood into three or four distinct cascades, to a
capacious basin below, whence it hurries furiously
along, over a succession of foaming rapids, to its
junction with the St. Lawrence. In point of romantic
beauty, they exceed, I think, the cascade of Mont-
morency ; the volume of water being much more
i!
320
PIC-NIC AT THE CHAUDIERE.
copious — the falling sheet more extensive — the
rocky masses lying on the descent of the stream
being thrown into such singular and grotesque
forms, — and the lonely grandeur of the forest
inspiring a more impressive feeling of the sub-
lime. Having gratified the curiosity of our optical
senses, my amiable friends prepared to regale
another sense, which at the moment was particu-
larly pressing, as the others were now satisfied, for
its share in the day's amusement. Our portable
larder was therefore opened, and exhibited a plenti-
ful store of cold fowls and other inviting provisions,
on which we feasted with quite as much gout as a
London alderman over his turtle, or a Chinese
over his bird's-nest soup. The latter, nevertheless,
is a rarity by no means to be despised, especially
when taken, as a matter of curiosity, with a man-
darin of three horse-tails, — a gratification that
occurred to me, as you know, a few years ago;
and which, being a liquid, is not required, for the
best reason in the world, like the rest of the
viands at a table in the " celestial empire," to
be collected with chop-sticks.
After quaffing a few glasses of generous Faler-
nian, in order to harmonise properly with the
more substantial operation which had preceded
it, we remounted our vehicle, and wended our
way back to the city, enjoying the scenery on our
return quite as much as on our approach. Indeed,
AMATEUR SKETCHES OF NIAGARA.
321
I have frequently remarked, in my various wan-
derings through the world, how much more ade-
quate an estimate a person is able to form of a
country, who has retraced the road along which
he had previously passed. ,
Wliile on the subject of these Falls, the last that
I shb^\ matter of policv. represent to you,
since ^our lin agination must Lj itself overflowing,
by this time, with cascades and cataracts, I will take
the opportunity of saying, that I have been favoured
with the sight of the finest amateur sketches of the
Falls of Niagara that were ever taken. They rea-
lise, infinitely better than any of the engravings yet
published, the *' beau ideal" which the imagina-
tion may have previously formed of their wond-
rous beauty. They are the masterly delineations
of Colonel Cockburn, of the Artillery, whose ac-
quaintance I was so fortunate as to have made
during my stay in Quebec, and by whom they
were kindly shewn to me. Though they were
solely taken for his own private amusement, and
to gratify a taste of a very superior order, I do
sincerely trust that he will consent, on his return
to England, to have them engraved. The grati-
fication of the public, as well as justice to his own
talents, will, I hope, induce him to open his port-
folio to Heath, or to some other of our first-rate
artists, to multiply ad infinitum, for the benefit
of all true lovers of nature. If uninfluenced by
p2
i!
¥•
l/i
322
CATHOLIC CATHEDRAL OF QUEBEC.
the latter of these considerations, his unbounded
admiration, equalling my own of Ijiliis glorious
cataract, and a consequent desire that the best
illustration of it should be gi. «jn to those who
are unable to see the original, cannot fail to over-
come any latent scruples he may entertain. The
drawings of this gentleman are very numerous,
and taken from every accessible point around the
Niagara. In addition to these, the drawing-book
of the amateur artist is filled with elegant and
striking designs taken from the Falls of Mont-
morency, those of the Chaudicre, the Citadel,
the Town, the St. Lawrence, and the thousand
objects which start up on every side before the
enchanted beholder.
As I have r v taken you a short tour through
the country surrounding the capital, you will
naturally expect some little glimpse into the in-
terior of it. One of the principal objects *o be
seen there is the Catholic cathedral. Although
greatly inferior in its external appearance to the
one at Montreal, it is more splendid in its internal
decorations, and presents in the grand altar a
highly imposing and sumptuous appearance. Like
all the churches belonging to this communion, the
paintings displayed here, drawn from Scripture
history, are numerous; and the various services,
especially on Sundays, were attended by overflowing
congregations, greatly exceeding the number thai I
11
FRENCH SERMON.
323
witnessed in the Protestant cathedral, and in the
other sacred edifices of that persuasion. The wor-
ship in the former, which may be considered the
dominant religion, is conducted in Latin, while
the sermon is delivered in French. I was some-
what strrck, on hearing a good moral discourse
pronounced in the latter language, to see the
priest, after pronouncing the previous prayer un-
covered, put his clerical cap on his head imme-
diately before the commencement of his sermon.
It had something in its appearance savouring of
irreverence ; since, whether in prayer or in the act
of preaching, the Deity is to be supposed equally
present ; and the outward demonstration of respect
that would be evinced towards a frail and sinful
mortal, is surely not to be omitted before the all-
perfect God! I wish not, neither do I mean, to
charge Catholic clergymen with intentional dis-
regard of devout observances, but I cannot in the
least comprehend on what pious principle such a
distinction can possibly be made.
Attached to the cathedral is the seminary, a
capacious building, in the form of a parallelo-
gram, enclosed by an extensive garden contain-
ing about seven acres. This institution was ori-
ginally designed for the education of ecclesiastics,
but has for many years past been thrown open to
all who are disposed to avail themselves of the
instruction there administered. The vestibule of
324
URSULINE NUNNERY.
the chapel, adjoining to it, is embellished with
some of the best executed paintings on religious
subjects to be seen in Quebec. In the church also
of the Ursuline nunnery, a short distance from
it, are some of perhaps equal merit. The latter
establishment was founded in 1639, and consists
of a superior, forty-two assistants, and seven
novices, the principal occupation of whom is
the education of girls, and where are forty-six
nuns who have taken the veil. These are pre-
sided over by a lady abbess, a personage whose
affability in exhibiting the various articles of work-
manship made by the fair recluses within, induces
a more extensive purchase than would otherwise
be made ; and whose portly appearance and dig-
nified manners gave her all the stateliness of a
duchess dowager.
Among the museums, is that of Monsieur la
Chasseur ; whose arrangement of birds is superior
in beauty and neatness to any I have seen else-
where. I was here shewn an eagle that had
attacked a little child of only four years old, while
playing in a field, and who had strength and
courage enough to resist the fearful onset, and
with complete success ; having actually slain his
carnivorous assailant by a stroke of a sickle, with
which the valiant little urchin was, at the mo-
ment, amusing himself. This baby-hero must
have been, literally, an infant Hercules ; and
IRISH TUWF PRESERVED IN A MUSEUM. 325
destined, no doubt, at some future period, should
a second Lernaean Hydra make its appearance
in the world, or other Augean stables require
to be cleansed, to destroy the one and purify
the other. I forgot to inquire whether he had
ever been seen, while in his cradle, squeezing to
death a couple of boa constrictors — one in each
hand — as, in that case, the similitude would have
been perfect ; and one would have had no hesita-
tion in fixing his genealogy, and anticipating a
renevred series of twelve labours to stamp his
future renown.
In the scientific and literary museum, situate
in the Place d'Armes, I was highly gratified,
among a variety of other interesting objects, by
witnessing a remarkably fine collection of mine-
rals ; nor was my amusement lessened by seeing,
among the exhibited articles of curiosity, a spe-
cimen of — Irish turf! Ireland may now, in-
deed, be proud ; when even the vegetable soil
that she tramples under foot, or casts on the fire,
is transported across the Atlantic as an object
of scientific admiration, and the wonder of a
new world!
Branching off from the area in which the lat-
ter museum is placed, rises the castle of St. Louis,
where resides the governor of Lower Canada, in
the person of Lord Aylmer. Though unimposing,
as respects the mere structure itself, yet from its
326
WOLFE AND MONTCALM.
peculiar situation, resting on the ridge of the per-
pendicular clifF facing the river, of 200 feet in
depth, it stands forth a conspicuous feature in the
rocky outline of Cape Diamond. Extending
throuhout the entire front of the edifice is con-
structed a spacious balcony, supported by strong
buttresses, whence an array of scenery is dis-
played, along the course of the St. Lawrence,
terminating in the northern mountains, and over
its shining stream to the eastward, which fills the
eye without ever tiring it.
On leaving the Place d'Armes, at its southern
angle, you approach the monument erected in me-
mory of the gallant Wolfe, and his equally brave
rival Montcalm. It consists of a pillar resting on
a base, and rising to the height of sixty-five feet,
and for which a Latin inscription was written by
the talented editor of the Quebec Gazette, who
won the prize of a gold medal oflfered on the oc-
casion. It comprises only eight brief words, but,
at the same time, unites much strength and beauty
with its simple and affecting brevity : —
WOLFE.— MONTCALM.
MORTEM. VIRTUS. COMMVNEM.
FAMAM. HISTORIA.
MONUMENTUM. POSTERITAS .
DEDIT .
A.D. 1827.
Subsequently to the above being written, a more
INSCRIPTIONS FOR THE MONUMENT.
327
enlarged inscription, tliough of less vigour and clas-
sical elegance, has been composed, and engraved
on a marble tablet, which, as well as the other,
is intended to occupy one of the sides of the
monument ; if, indeed, after a grave delibera-
tion of four years, the tardy intention is to be
executed at all. The following is the import of
it: —
llUJiC LAPIDEM
MONUMENT! It: MEMORIAM
VIRORUM ILLUSTRIUM
WOLFE ET MONTCALM,
FINUAMENIUM
P. C.
GEORGIUS COMES DE DALHOU;'lK,
IN SEPTENTRIONALIS AMERICT . ilTIBUS
AD DRITANNOS PERTINEN^IBL.J
Sl'MMAM RERUM ADMINISTRANS;
OPUS PER MULTOS ANNOS PR^TERMISSUM,
(quid DUCI EGREGIO CONVENIENTIUS?)
AUCTORITATE PROMOVENS, EXEMPT.O STIMULANS,
MUNIFICENTIA FOVENS,
DIE NOVEMBRIS XVA.
A.D. M.DCCC. XXVII.
GEORGIO IV. BRITANNIARUM REGE.
I
For the informat'. ii of the female part of
your family circle, I subjoin a translation of the
two inscriptions. The first may be thus ren-
dered : —
mi
MIITTARY HEROISM GAVE Til EM A COMMON DEATH,
HISTORY A COMMON FAME,
POSTERITY A COMMON MONUMENT.
■• I
m
Ji I
I' 111
■i'l
I''
i :
328
THE ARSENAL.
And the second in the following words : — ■
THIS rOUNDATION STONE
OF A MONUMENT TO THE MEMORY OF
THE ILLUSTRIOUS MEN
WOLFE AND MONTCALM,
WAS LAID BY
GEORGE EARL OF DALIIOUSTE,
GOVERNOR-GENERAL OF THE BRITISH PROVINCES
IN NORTH AMERICA;
A WORK NEGLECTED FOR MANY YEARS,
(what CiiN BE MORE WORTHY OF A BRAVE GENERAL?)
WHICH HE PROMOTED BY HIS INFLUENCE,
ENCOURAGED BY HIS EXAMPLE,
AND SUPPORTED BY HIS MUNIFICENCE,
15th NOVEMBER, 1827,
IN THE REIGN OF
GEORGE IV. KING OF GREAT BRITAIN.
It forcibly struck me as something noble and
high-minded in thus associating the memory of
the conquered general with that of his victorious
opponent ; as one to whom the tribute of bravery
was equally due, though the fortune of war had
snatched the laurel from his brow.
Proceeding from effect to cause, I next in-
spected the Arsenal, which presents a splendid
array of the " materiel de guerre,'^ and contains
the imposing exhibition of a hundred thousand
stand of arms, arranged in a variety of beautiful
forms, and kept in excellent order. The military
force at Quebec consists, at the present moment,
of the 24th, 32d, and 71st regiments, and some
companies of artillery j from the officers of which.
FORM OF GOVERNMENT IN LOWER CANADA. 329
particularly those of the 24th, and their worthy
paymaster, I have received those kind and hos-
pitable attentions so characteristic of the frank
generosity of the British army.
Having now remained about a fortnight, dur-
ing which I was present at the races that take
place annually on the plains of Abraham ; having
witnessed, also, an interesting display of nautical
skill, in a contested match of sailing and rowing
on the St. Lawrence, by the officers of the gar-
rison and the gentlemen of the capital ; as, like-
wise, a review of the troops on the battle-ground
of the immortal Wolfe, I am now preparing for
my departure. Before, however, I close my letter,
you may wish to know something of the form of
government of Lower Canada : of this, I will give
you in a very few words a rough outline.
The sovereign authority of the Lower Province,
like that of the Upper one, is represented by a
Governor appointed by the King; who, in con-
junction with a House of Representatives and a
Legislative Council, constituting the two houses of
Parliament, presides over the affairs of the colony.
The members of the former are elected every four
years by the forty-shilling freeholders, as respects
the counties, and by the proprietors of freeholds to
the amount of five pounds, and by householders to
the amount often pounds, as regards the cities and
towns. Their sittings occupy a portion of every
M
iff;:
330
FRENCH AND ENGLISH LAWS.
'1-t
m
m
n
year, according to the practice in England ; and
all the inhabitants are eligible as candidates, with-
out reference to their religious tenets. In conse-
quence of the prevalence of French law, as ori-
ginally introduced on the first occupation of the
country by France in 1605, there is a curious
intermixture of British and Gallic principles and
rules in the administration of justice. As far as
criminal proceedings extend, the courts are regu-
lated by the code of England ; and the various
enactments are expounded, and put into practical
and efficient operation, through the constitutional
medium of judges, justices of the peace, juries, &c.
Frequent differences have, for some time past,
arisen between the Government and the House
of Representatives, respecting the constitution of
the Legislative Council, which is composed, as an
intelligent Canadian informed me, of placemen
who vote always as the executive may direct
them. Some improvements, however, are in agi-
tation for the reformation of the existing abuses,
especially with regard to the appropriations of
money; the administration of which is to be
taken out of the grasp of the executive, and
placed in the hands of the popular branch.
In reference to commerce, the timber trade,
or traffic in timber, is the great staple of the
country. Of this, the merchants are grievously
complaining at the present moment, in conse-
OPPRESSIVE DUTIES ON TIMBER.
331
quence of the comparative duties imposed on
Canadian timber, and that exported from the
northern states of Europe, not being so favourable
to the colony as they have a right to expect. It
does appear, I confess, to be a matter of good
policy, as well as of justice, that the imposts levied
on the importation into Great Britain of our colo-
nial produce should be lighter, and more advan-
tageous to the interests of our possessions abroad,
than those exacted from the subjects of foreign
nations. I understand that some beneficial alter-
ation is, indeed, contemplated by the government
at home with respect to this subject, as also to the
legislative and administrative powers of the colo-
nial parliament, which has been for some time, as
I have hinted, in a state of unpleasant collision
with the former regarding an extension of its pri-
vileges. This is due, I think, to the Canadians, who
have ever proved themselves well affected towards
the mother-country, to which they are attached
by principles of affection and steady loyalty, and
from the prosperous advancement of whom great
national benefits are to be derived, both in a naval
and commercial point of view, serving, as the
colonies do, as a fine nursery for British seamen.
The duties levied on colonial imports from England
are very moderate, amounting to not more than
two and a half per cent, and on wines and spirits
the charges are but trifling.
ii
m-.-i
II
1
ill -5
=91
332
CLIMATE AND FRUITS.
Respecting the climate of Lower Canada, the
winters are more severe than those of the Upper
Province; but though the cold is extreme, the
atmosphere is so dry and pure, that this season is
marked by a series of gaieties and amusements be-
yond those prevailing during the summer, and
when a greater facility of travelling is enjoyed, in
consequence of the smooth and hardened state of
the roads effected by the intense frost. Sledging is,
at this time, carried on with great vivacity and
equal rapidity. In reference to fruits and vege-
tables, as great a variety is produced here as in
Europe, during the summer months ; at which pe-
riod melons, among other luxuries, ripen in great
perfection in the open air.
I shall now pause in my scribbling mania ; for
should I speculate on your sympathy too far, it
may, perchance, fail me altogether ; and, in that
case, my laborious pot-hooks and hangers will
find a melancholy refuge on the back of the fire.
Therefore, as a ship is just starting for the white
cliffs of Old Albion, I shall commit, at once, my
well-blotted paper to the winds and waves, trusting
to your usual indulgence to pardon all the de-
ficiencies of my poor epistle, hastily penned as it
has been, like all the former ones, and for which
the best excuse is, — that it is dictated by affection.
Adieu !
333
LETTER XIII.
Arrival at Quebec of the Royal William Steam-Boat— Embark
in her for Nova Scotia — Passage down the St. Lawrence —
Miramichi — Dreadful Conflagration — Arrive at Halifax —
Windsor, Nova Scotia — the College there — Annapolis —
Condition of the Soil — Bay of Fundy — St. John's, New
Brunswick — Passage to Eastport — Frontier Town of the
United States — Bay of Passamaquoddy — Curious Mode of
Fishing — Passage to Boston — Lady deranged from Sea-
sickness — Description of Boston — Origin of the Settlement
— Navy -Yard — Bunker's Iliil — Curious llencontre —
Manufactories of Lowell — American Skill in driving.
f-.
Boston, N. America, 20th September , 1831.
MY DEAR FRIEND,
I had laid down Quebec, previously
to my reaching it, as the most northerly point oi
my tour ; and had fully decided, according to a
route that I had marked out, to return imme-
diately thence to the United States, in order to
revisit, once more, the springs of Ballston and
Saratoga, during the height and throng of the
fashionable season, and afterwards to proceed to
New England, the most interesting section of the
Union. This plan would have conducted me
through some pleasing scenery from Montreal to
*ii. •
"'<;;
',i.\-
%
I
334
EXCURSION DOWN THE ST. LAWRENCE
li! Ii^i
St. John's, on the river Richelieu, which runs,
for some distance, nearly parallel with the St.
Lawrence, and would have led me through the
entire length of the picturesque Lake Cliamplain,
with whose waters the latter river immediately
communicates. But my original intention was
altogether changed by a strong temptation that
offered, and which I could not possibly resist, to
extend my excursion as far as Nova Scotia and
New Brunswick. This inducement presented it-
self in the arrival of the Royal William steam-
boat at Quebec, from Montreal, on her first voyage
to Halifax, the capital of the former province. I
had thus afforded me the excellent opportunity of
seeing the entire length of the St. Lawrence to
the ocean, and also of becoming acquainted with
another fine portion of his Britannic Majesty's
dominions. It was the first experiment of the
kind that had ever been made. The vessel des-
tined to communicate with the two capitals was
perfectly new and commodious, and the occasion
was therefore by no means to be lost. Having,
consequently, made the necessary arrangements,
and taken leave of my kind friends in Quebec, I
embarked on board the Royal William on the
24th of August ; and, amid the loud acclamations
of a thronging multitude that crowded the shores
of the river, on this her first voyage, and the
complimentary discharge of cannon, we left the
I m
TO NOVA SCOTIA.
335
quay, and, putting on all our power of steam,
in order to make a grand display, glided rapidly
down the smooth expanse of the St. Lawrence.
The noble scenery around Quebec shone forth
more resplendently than I had ever seen it before,
as if to leave the strongest possible impression on
our minds at this our parting for ever. The set-
ting sun, descending through a glowing sky, and
the pure and bright clearness of the atmosphere,
which gave such a defined outline to the distant
mountains of the north, excited our intense admi-
ration. We saw again the beautiful Falls of Mont-
morency to great advantage, skirted the lovely
island of Orleans, and farther on, by the mellow
light of the full moon, Isle aux Grues, backed by
a fine ridge of mountains, the two pretty islands
called Isle aux Oies and Isle aux Coudres, and
the noble bay of St. Paul, on the right bank. I
remained on deck till after midnight, gazing on
the moonlight landscape, though the dews were
now falling heavily around me, and had some
diflSculty in tearing myself away, in order to creep
into my little cabin below.
In proceeding from Quebec, as in approaching
the city from Montreal, is beheld, especially on
the right bank, an almost continued line of houses,
towns, and villages, through a distance of 120
miles ; displaying a variety and animation that
harmonised well with the quiet grandeur of the
I n
m
I-
M
i f
336
MIRAMICHI.
woods, rocks, and mountains, spread out on every
side. I need scarcely assure you that the whole
course of the river, extending, as it does, through
so many hundred miles to the Atlantic, is very
interesting. The novelty is boundless ; as the
effect is varied with every sweep of the stream,
and the changing forms and attitudes of the ob-
jects which appear on the shore. The finest part
of the whole includes the long stretch of water
lying between Great Fox River and Cape Gaspe,
including Gaffin's Cove and Cape Rosier. Here
the high and romantic undulations of the moun-
tains, and the magnificent and perpendicular rocks
of Gaspe, far secluded from human habitations,
and marked by a character of the wildest desola-
tion, strike the eye with a mingled emotion of
delight and awe.
On the third day after our departure from
Quebec, having passed the mouths of innumerable
rivers flowing into the St. Lawrence, we arrived
at Miramichi, in New Brunswick; and, changing
the course of our navigation, ascended the spacious
stream to which it gives its name. It was intend-
ed to be included in the regular route to be taken
by the Royal William, between Lower Canada and
Nova Scotia ; but we found the delay and danger
in passing up and down its waters, from the dif-
ficulty of their navigation and the enormous size
of our vessel, so great, having nearly grounded two
CONFLAGRATION AT MIRAMICHI.
337
or three times, that it was supposed her first visit
would be at the same time her last.
This country was visited, five years ago, by a
most fearful calamity, of which the eye marks, in
every direction, the desolating traces. By some
means or other, never explained, the almost
boundless forests of Miramichi took fire; the
conflagration raging with unparalleled violence
through an extent of fifty or sixty miles of thickly
wooded territory. The floating ashes, I was assured
by a respectable clergyman whom I met at New-
castle (where we remained, by a curious coin-
cidence, to take in coals), fell in the streets of
St. John, 200 miles distant. The smoke of the
burning forests was such as to reach even to
Quebec, considerably more distant than the former,
and where the reverend gentleman happened to
be at that period. Such, indeed, was the impe-
netrable denseness of these smoky clouds, as to
entirely stop, for some time, the navigation of the
St. Lawrence. You may imagine, then, what
must have been the horrors of the unhappy people
situated in the immediate vicinity of this frightful
visitation. The awful truth is, that the village of
Newcastle, along with several others, was utterly
consumed ; upwards of 200 persons having miser-
ably perished by fire and suffocation. Numbers
of the wretched inhabitants were drowned in the
river, as the whole atmosphere was so darkened,
VOL. I. Q
:l 111
■1^'
ili'
i
I I
338 PERILOUS SITUATION OP THE AUTHOR
and their terror so powerfully excited, that in
endeavouring to escape from their flaming village,
they walked over the pier and high banks into the
stream without perceiving it, and were swept away
with the flood. Many were burnt to death or
suffocated in their houses ; and the only mode, I
understood, by which any escaped, was by follow-
ing tlie direction of a drum that was beaten for
the purpose of guiding the surviving inhabitants
to a less dense atmosphere, where the stifling effect
of the smoke was less destructive of life. The
landscape, as far as the eye could reach, exhibited
one dismal spectacle of the ravages of fire ; the
desolate-looking forests, for ever shorn of their ver-
dant beauty, and burnt as black as charcoal, looked
like gigantic mutes waiting the funeral of the
entire province. I never witnessed in nature any
thing so truly hideous before. It is supposed by
some that the conflagration was occasioned by the
Indians ; while others attribute it to the excessive
heat of the weather, as the summer of 1825 was
intensely hot throughout the whole of this region.
I could most feelingly sympathise with these
truly miserable beings, as I am but too well ac-
quainted with the horrors of approaching suffoca-
tion ; having been, a few years ago, when at
Naples, within about two minutes of suffering the
same awful fate. I had ascended with a party,
accompanied by experienced guides. Mount Vesu-
ON MOUNT VESUVIUS.
339
viu8, then in a state of eruption, in order to wit-
ness, as closely as it was prudent to venture, the
suhlime spectacle of a burning mountain, whose
crater was gushing forth in terrific masses of
flame and smoke, and emitting myriads of ignited
stones, and a stream of lava a mile and a half or
two miles in length. Hpving attained to an eleva-
tion of perhaps nearly two-thirds of the ascent — a
considerable distance from the circular space with-
in which the volcanic stones were falling from the
air — we took our station to admire the magnificent
effect. The dense and lurid volumes, or rather
clouds, of smoke ascending from the crater had
been carried off*, during the whole of the previous
morning, in a contrary direction to the city, and
to that of our ascent ; for, as a matter of absolute
safety to our lives, we should not have made the
attempt had it been otherwise. In an instant,
however, the wind veered about, without giving
us the slightest symptom of an approaching
change, and brought down upon us the entire
mass of sulphureous vapour, charged with the
deadly exhalations arising from all kinds of fused
mineral substances, that were pouring over the
crater in a wide stream of liquid lava. Our situa-
tion was now most awful. The guides imme-
diately advised us to throw ourselves flat on our
faces, which was done without a moment's hesita-
tion; and, applying our handkerchiefs to our
.f^
J
')<■
%
sIl.
340 PERILOUS SITUATION ON MOU>i Vii3UMUS.
mouths and noses, we awaited in trembling silence
the terrific doom that seemed to await us. I gave
myself up, as did the rest of the party, as a dying
man, with feelings such as you may readily con-
ceive. I felt all the indescribable sensations of
approaching suffocation, and was fearfully con-
vinced that two or three minutes more would ter-
minate my existence. At this most critical junc-
ture, the wind, by the mercy of God, as instanta-
neously as in the first instance, again veered round
and resumed its former course in the opposite
direction, and brought us as thankful a reprieve
from impending destruction as ever condemned
culprit, with a halter round his neck, received on
the just sinking platform of the gallows. We now
quickly rose from our prostrate position on the
earth, and speeded our return to the foot of the
mountain, with as much expedition as possible,
and without once, like Lot's wife, looking behind
us. The danger lasted about four minutes — quite
long enough, however, to make our situation a
matter of life and death.
We now returned again to the St. Lawrence,
and steering past Prince Edward's Island — a pic-
turesque and well wooded tract of land — after-
wards the fine bold headland of Cape St. George,
strewed over with cottages and divided into culti-
vated fields — the island of Breton and the Gut
of Canso, where we spoke his majesty's ship
CAPITAL OP NOVA SCOTIA.
341
Sapphire proceeding to Quebec ; and having shot
through the handsome and spacious Bay of Che-
dabucto, we came once more in sight of the bhie
waters of the Atlantic. On the following morning
we ran down some miles of the shore, and, enter-
ing the liarbour of Halifax, were safely landed,
after a week's passage from Quebec. On steaming
up the harbour, we might readily have fancied
ourselves returning from a naval triumph ; for we
were met and cheered by numberless boats belong-
ing to the gentlemen of the town and the officers
of the garrison, decorated with various flags;
while every wharf and jetty, and the balconies of
the houses, were crowded with spectators, by
whom We were received with acclamations, and
saluted with cannon along the whole line. The
Royal William was the first steam-boat that ever
made its appearance at Halifax, and the people
seemed determined to give her a hearty reception ;
as well, I suppose, on account of the illustrious
name she bore, as for the advantages she offered
to the worthy inhabitants of an easy communica-
tion with Canada.
The capital of Nova Scotia, containing a popu-
lation of about 14,500 inhabitants, is beautifully
situated on an eminence overlooking the harbour,
which is esteemed one of the finest, if not the most
so, in North America. From the citadel sur-
mounting the heights, on the declivity of which
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342 SINGULARITIES 01? A COURT OF JUSTICE.
lies the town, it is seen, with its two pretty islands
of M*=Nabb and George, to the greatest advan-
tage. The view hence is truly beautiful and diver-
sified, comprising the distant bay and light-houses
planted on the extremity of an almost imper-
ceptible ridge of land, the lofty and undulating
shores of the harbour, fringed with wood, and ter-
minating in a splendid basin in the opposite direc-
tion ; the town on one side of the heights, and
the race-course, with a fine sweep of country,
stretching away on the other. The citadel, though
small, will, when completed, be a powerful forti-
fication, and stands on a commanding position.
The regimen ta at present in the garrison are the
8th, 34th, 52d, and 96th, along with some com-
panies of artillery.
I here renewed an acquaintance that I had
made at West Point, in the United States, with a
very ploasant family resident in Halifax, of which
some of the members are in the profession of the
law ; and among whom the singular anomaly was
presented, a few years ago, of the father pleading
as counsel in a court over which his son presided
tiS judge. The fact was simply this: the former
was realising a much larger income, as an advo-
cate, than the salary of the judicial office amounted
to; and as the reverse of this was the case with the
latter, he accepted the situation which his father
refused, and gravely expounded the law to his
WINDSOR — ITS COLLEGE.
343
worthj'^ parent, who was a lawyer, I believe, before
his son was born.
After making one or two excursions in the
neighbourhood, and enjoying as much hospitality
as my short stay would permit, I set off, en dili-
gence, with my agreeable Irish companion, who
had accompanied me all the way from the Falls of
Niagara to St. John's, the capital of New Bruns-
wick. Our route, shortly after quitting the town,
lay along the margin of the basin, which presents .
the appearance of a beautiful lake, and is sur-
rounded by a lovely range of hills, covered with
wood. The arm of the sea, for such in truth it is,
that flows into and forms the harbour, terminates
in this splendid expanse, which I should imagine
would give anchorage ground to the whole of the
British navy. Our first day's excursion, through
a wild and romantic country, diversified by a suc-
cession of lakes and forests, extended as far as
Windsor, where we arrived about three in the
afternoon. On our road we encountered a party
proceeding on a bear-shooting adventure in the
adjoining woods, where a number of these ragged
marauders had made their appearance.
At Windsor is erected the college of Nova
Scotia, called King's College, founded by royal
charter in 1802, and of which the scholastic dis-
cipline is arranged on the model of that so named
at the university of Oxford. In this institution, the
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COLLEGE OF NOVA SCOTIA.
annual expense of education, board, and lodging,
does not exceed the moderate amount of lOOZ.
per annum. There is also an excellent seminary
called the College School, where the freshmen
undergo a kind of probation during the first year,
prior to their admission into the former. This
collegiate residence affords a most eligible position
for academical pursuits, offering, in its peaceful
seclusion and retirement from all the bustle
and distracting pleasures of life, superior advan-
tages for learned leisure. The village is small
and neat, and the scenery varied and romantic,
amid which the muse of poetry, should she con-
descend to visit the province, might luxuriate in
all her wild and beautiful imaginings. The noble
elevation on which the college is erected, com-
mands, among other objects, a fine sweep of wood-
land landscape, reminding me strongly of the forest
of Fontainebleau. The edifice, though constructed
of wood, of which this country possesses such cheap
and ample materials, exhibits a handsome appear-
ance; and, notwithstanding its present accommo-
dations are limited to the admission of thirty
students, it appears sufficiently capacious for the
literary wants of the community.
Proceeding onwards, in the only vehicle with
which the village could furnish us, being an un-
pretending wagon of light construction, we took
up our quarters on the following evening at Kent-
CULTIVATION OF THE LAND.
345
ville, Laving coursed along through most delight-
ful scenery of forests, mountains, and winding
valleys. On the third day we reached Annapolis,
the extremity of the province in the direction of
our journey ; having stopped at Wilmot, a small
village in our route, for the purpose of tasting the
waters of a medicinal sprimg which has lately
been discovered there. With respect to the culti-
vation of the soil, as far as it came under my
notice during this excursion through Nova Scotia,
I must acknowledge that the quantity brought
into tillage bears but a small proportion to the
surface of the country unreclaimed from die woods
and wastes. It may, however, be very reason-
ably accounted for in the comparative scantiness
of population ; and I have no doubt, that were the
tide of emigration, now flowing with such fulness
into the Canadas, to be directed to this province,
the face of nature would, -re long, be converted
into a much more decided '^Tricaltural character
than that which it ik w d s,slav^;. At the same
time it must be confessed, that the soil of Nova
Scotia is by no means "'-mparable io that of Upper
Canada. As to one circumstance, that should
always be enumerated among the inducements to
emigration, I mean the public roads, I was happy
to remark that, throughout the whole dii**ance
between Halifax and Annapolis, i found them,
to my very agreeable surprise, to be most excel-
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ANNAPOLIS.
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lent — infinitely superior to those of the United
States, and equal, I think, to the great North
road of England.
Annapolis is situated on the eastern side of the
Bay of Fundy, and possesses almost as fine a har-
bour as that of the capital, from which it is distant
about eighty-six miles, though the entrance to
it from the bay lies through a narrow and some-
what dangerous channel. It is a place of very
inconsiderable size and trade. After remaining
one night, my companion and myself departed
for St. John's ; and, as we afterwards discovered
to our sorrow, in one of the most wretched crafts
that ever floated. She was an amphibious kind
of ' '-i> fitted Vvith apparatus for steaming and
sailhi^ * but, in plain truth, she was such a crazy
tub of a vessel, that she would neither steam, sail,
nor steer; and once or twice, in the Bay of Fundy,
we were fearful that she was going to take leave
of the surface altogether, and find the speediest
way to the bottom.
In passing down the river to Digby Bay, pre-
viously to entering the strait, and which the tide
luckily served to accomplish for us in the absence
of our own capability, we skirted on our right the
Granville Hills. These rise precipitously from the
shore, and display a waving outline of woods and
rocks of great beauty and magnificence, quite equal
to any part of the Hudson, except the Highlands.
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347
We had a most severe tug to get across the Bay of
Fundy, only thirty-six miles in breadth, to our des-
tination ; proceeding at the flying rate of about three
miles in four hours. Sometimes our miserable
engine stopped, when up went the eail ; then the
wind died away, and we lay like a log on the
water. As if to complete the climax, the tide
at last fairly set in against us, and placed us in
the awkward predicament of going stern foremost.
We managed, however, by a rare chance, which
seemed almost to surprise the captain himself,
knowing what he had to contend with, to reach
St. John's by midnight, instead of arriving at four
in the afternoon; but quite thankful to have ar-
rived there at all.
The capital of New Brunswick is a prettier
town than I had expected to find, and contains a
number of well-built and handsome houses formed
into spacious streets. Among the public buildings,
the court-house in particular exhibits a specimen
of much architectural beauty. On the skirts of
the town are also to be seen the barracks, ele-
vated on a verdant terrace, and which, from
their remarkably neat appearance, the excellent
quarters they offer to the troops, (now occupied
by the 95th Rifles), and the highly interesting
view beheld from them, of the bay, shipping, &c.
should not be forgotten. St. John's is a very
commercial and bustling place; the great staple
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ST. JOHN S, NEW BRUNSWICK.
article of trade being timber, of which an enor-
mous quantity is annually shipped off to England ;
though the traffic in this species of merchandise
is not near so thriving as during the war. Not-
withstanding, the number of merchant-vessels in
the harbour, which is both good and picturesque,
displayed the aspect of a flourishing commerce ;
the size of several of them amounting to between
600 and 700 tons burden. We found some little
sensation created among the v/orthy inhabitants,
by the arrival the day before of a new governor,
in the person of Sir Archibald Cornpbell, the hero
of Rangoon. He immediately, however, set off
to Frederickton, situated about sixteen miles from
the coast, which, though smaller than St. John's,
has been selected as the seat of government, and
of the colonial parliament, in consequence of its
better adaptation to business, from its more cen-
tral situation.
As the choses a voir at St. John's are by no
means numerous, since the " lions" may be all
seen without much loss of time, by simply walking
through the town and its suburbs, we sounded
our reireal on the third day after our arrival.
In bidding adieu to this town, we took our leave
of his majesty's American dominions, as a day's
excursion on the waters of the Bay of Fundy
brought us at nightfall to Eastport, in the state
of Maine, the most easterly point, in this direction,
BAY OF PASSAMAQUODDY.
349
r I
of the republican territory. During the greater
part of the way thither, we kept close in to the
bold and rocky shore of New Brunswick, whose
numerous indentations into bays, creeks, promon-
tories, and peninsulas, are strongly marked. It is
an extremely dangerous coast in stormy weather,
and where every headland, as pointed out by
the captain, is commemorative of some dismal
wreck that has been engulfed beneath its rugged
brow. Among other objects, we passed an ex-
tended line of woods, running parallel with the
shore, called the Mahoganies, where a most
destructive conflagration took place in 1819, de-
priving them, as at Miramichi, of every shade
of verdure, and reducing their melancholy-look-
ing, blackened stems, to the quality of charcoal.
We sailed past various clusters of pretty islands,
especially those called the Wolves, (rather an
unpoetical designation of what is interesting),
forming, with the Grand Menan, Campo-Bello,
and some others, a complete amphitheatre of ver-
dant islands, and presenting a most beautiful and
splendid ensemble.
For some miles before arriving at Eastport we
had entered the Bay of Passamaquoddy, which
is truly one of the most enchanting that can be
imagined. It is studded with islets, exhibiting,
with those already mentioned, a little archipelago,
and continually delighting the eye with their end-
it:
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SINGULAR MODE OF CATCHING FISH.
less varieties of shape. Just as we were reaching
our destination, the night having now closed in,
I was surprised to perceive, in various directions
through the gloom, a brightly blazing light, moving
on the surface of the water, that had something
supernatural in its appearance. On reference to
the captain, we were informed that it was a noc-
turnal mode, and a very successful one, of catch-
ing fish; which, attracted to the fire placed in
the fisherman's boat, like the simple moth to the
candle, fall an easy prey to the spearsman, who
stands ready prepared for his unsuspecting game,
transfixing them, with a skilful and well-practised
hand, that seldom fails in its aim.
OfEastport, there is nothing particular worthy
of notice, except that it is the frontier post of the
United States, and constitutes one of those in-
teresting island -groups in Passamaquoddy Bay
previously mentioned. The line of demarcation,
in this vicinity, between the British territory and
that of the republic, is formed by the river St.
Croix, which divides the province of New Bruns-
wick from the state of Maine, and empties its
waters into the bay.
It was our first intention to have proceeded
to Boston by land, but having understood that
the roads were very bad, and an eligible convey-
ance not easy to be procured, we determined to
go round by sea. Our passage was, nevertheless,
FEARFUL EFFECTS OF SEA-8ICKNES8.
351
most uncomfortable, as the vessel, though an
excellent sea-boat, was crowded to overflowing,
compelling us to sleep, three and four together,
in a tiny cabin not larger than a closet. To
heighten our distress, one of the Canadian ladies,
who, with her husband, had accompanied us from
Quebec, became actually deranged in her mind,
through the violence and effect of sea-sickness.
Her shrieks, both night and day, were really ter-
rific ; and it required two or three powerful per-
sons to hold her down. Notwithstanding, how-
ever, the general belief that she could not possibly
survive, unless put on shore at the nearest village,
and the supplications of the alarmed husband and
of all the passengers, our stony-hearted skipper
turned a deaf ear to all our remonstrances, al-
though in sight of the coast. Fortunately, our
worst fears respecting the poor lady were not
realised ; and, after being tossed about by adverse
winds for six days instead of two, in which the
distance is frequently accomplidhed, we entered
the noble bay of Massachusetts, passed up the
harbour, and landed the almost unconscious in-
valid apparently in a dying state. It was the first
voyage the unhappy Canadian had ever made j an
experiment, her husband declared, that should
never be repeated, though it might cost him a
thousand miles of extra distance by land. Indeed,
ill
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CITY OF BOSTON.
I must confess, it was the most extraordinary and
fearful effect of sea-sickness that I ever witnessed.
I am now to introduce you lo one of the
finest towns in the United States ; and, beyond
any doubt whatever, according to my own judg-
ment, the most interesting. Though not so re-
gularly built as Philadelphia, yet its position is
greatly superior; and the number of handsome
buildings, particularly those belonging to private
individuals, exceeds that of the capital of Penn-
sylvania, and of all the other cities and towns in
the Union. If, also, is included, with the esti-
mate of its exterior advantages, the moral worth
and intellectual vigour and superiority of its in-
habitants, it will rise still higher in the scale of
comparison. I frankly acknowledge that I do
not know a city, of equal size and population,
in any part of the world, more highly gifted than
that of Boston ; and with respect to hospitality,
it bears away the palm triumphantly from all
the other towns of the republic. In an historical
point of view, Boston, as also the state of which
it is the principal city, attracts peculiar interest
from the circumstances attending its first settle-
ment. It was here that, in 1620, the devoted
band of pilgrims, as they were called, having
abandoned their country for the sake of that reli-
gious liberty which was denied them at home, first
ITS ORIGIN.
353
established their little and unpromising colony ;
and where they suffered incredible hardships from
the severity of the climate, the hostility of the
natives, and the absence of those comforts they
had left behind them. From thi§ period, for
many successive years, various bodies of dis-
senters, known by the denomination of Puritans,
flying from the bitt »' persecutions they had ex-
perienced under the ty nnical reign of the Stuarts,
sought here an asyL. .1, amid the howling wil-
derness, for that freedom of conscience which was
dearer to them than their lives. Surrounded by
impenetrable forests and a sterile soil — beset by
tribes of savage Indians, and wasted away by the
still more destructive effects of famine — they en-
dured a complication of evils that excite the
deepest sympathy of every one who reads the
melancholy details of that period ; while they
produce the highest admiration of the fortitude
that characterised their endurance of them, and
of the conscientious motives by which they were
inspired.
Such is the origin, in few words, of the pre-
sent worthy community of Boston. The city lies
on a peninsula at the extremity of Massachusetts
Bay, possessing one of the best harbours in the
Union, capable of containing 500 vessels ; al-
though the entrance to it is so contracted, and
consequently so easily guarded, as not to allow
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23 WEST MAIN STREET
WEBSTER, N.Y. 14SM
(716)S73-4S03
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354
COMPARATIVE POPULATION.
more than two ships to pass at the same time.
Its population, according to the census of last
year, amounts to 61,392, being an increase of
nearly 40,000 inhabitants within the last thirty
years; and of which, as well as that of the state,
I present you below with the comparative advance
since the year 1700.
Population of Massachusetts and of Boston at
different Periods,
Massachusetts. Increase.
1701.. 70,000
1742.. 164,000
1763.. 241,024
1765.. 227,926
1776.. 348,094
1784.. 357,510
1790.. 378,787
1800. .422,845 From 1790 to 1800. .44,058
1810. .472,040 1800 - 1810. .49,195
1820. .523,287 1810 - 1820. .51,247
1830. .610,014 1820 - 1830. .86,727
Boston.
1700.. 7000
1722.. 10,567
1742.. 16,382
1752.. 17,574
1765.. 15,520
1790.. 18,038
1800.. 24,937
1810.. 33,250
1820.. 43,298
1825.. 58,281
1830.. 61, 392
If the very populous suburbs, consisting of large
villages, or indeed small towns, are included in
the estimate, and which to the eye seem to form
part and parcel of the capital, the number would,
in that case, be augmented to 80,000 or upwards,
and bear a proportion more according with the
extended space that it appears to cover. It is a
EXPORTS AND IMPORTS OF THE STATES. 355
highly mercantile place, though yielding in this
respect to its rival neighbour New York, which,
from its superior locality, wields the commercial
sceptre by general consent. The stores, however,
of the latter, or, as we should call them, ware-
houses, as likewise the wharfs, are much inferior
to those of Boston, where immense piles of hand-
some building, evidence at once the prosperity of
the town and the attention of the worthy citizens
to architectural appearance. One of these noble
piles runs through a length of 1240 feet, and
contains, with a central hall, surmounted by a
neat observatory, fifty-four stores. Comparing its
pecuniary resources with those of the other states,
it is, I understand, considerably the most wealthy.
This country has in truth risen, like its great
grandsire, to its present prosperous condition by
the successful cultivation of commerce. The fol-
lowing document, in reference to its aggregate
amount during one year, will more fully attest
the fact than any other information that I can
communicate : —
Exports and Imports during the Year ending
September 30th, 1829.
Dollars.
Imports 70,876,920
Exports of Domestic Produce 59,462,029
Do. of Foreign Produce 14,387,479
Total Exports. . . .73,849,508
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AN AMERICAN TABLE D HOTE.
Dollars.
Domestic Produce exported in American Vessels. ,51,106,189
Do. in Foreign Vessels 8,355,740
Foreign Produce exported in American Vessels... .12,376,529
Do. in Foreign Vessels 1,610,950
Of the public buildings in Boston there are
two, I think, that can scarcely be exceeded, in
point of beauty, convenience, and excellent ar-
rangement, in any part of Europe. I allude to
the hotel where I have taken up my quarters,
called the Tremont House, and the new Market-
House. The former — not to use exaggerated
terms — is really a splendid establishment, whether
we regard the pure Grecian of its exterior design,
the spacious dimensions of its ornamented public
rooms, the comfort and accommodation of its
private apartments, or the sumptuous fare so
bountifully provided. According to the custom
in this country, as I have mentioned before, all
persons at an hotel dine at the table dChote ;
and where, as is often the case, 100 and some-
times 150 people are to be supplied, you may
easily imagine that the variety of tempting viands
must be great, and the earliest luxury in season
procured. In fact, the best of every thing, in-
cluding, in summer, ice-creams, is served up on an
American table dliote ; while an excellent dessert
of pines, melons, grapes, nectarines, peaches,
apples, and a variety of other fruits, close the hos-
TREMONT HOUSE.
357
pitable entertainment. The charge, per diem, for
the whole of this, comprehending breakfast, din-
ner, tea, and supper, and for the bed-room, in-
deed for every thing except wine, is a dollar and
a half, or somewhere about 7*. With the excep-
tion, however, of the first-rate taverns, a traveller
may be excellently accommodated for a dollar,
and even three-quarters of a dollar per diem, in
highly respectable boarding-houses in the cities
and large towns ; and in a distant country village,
or in a farmer's house, a person of limited means
may be boarded, lodged, and his washing bills
included, for the extremely trifling demand of two
dollars, or, at the very most, three dollars a-week.
I was informed that clergymen, whose incomes
are sometimes very limited, are frequently pro-
vided with all the necessaries of life at this easy
rate. This will afford you some idea of the cheap-
ness of living among our Transatlantic friends.
The Tremont House, which cost, 1 understand,
including furniture, the sum of 200,000 dollars,
is three stories high, contains 180 rooms, and is
built of most beautiful dark-colo- red granite, with
a portico of pure Grecian architecture, 37 feet in
length, 25 in height, and 7 in width, supported
by four fluted columns; the design having been
taken, as to its proportions, from one of the Doric
porticoes at Athens. ,This establishment was built
under the auspices of a company — a circumstance
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THE NEW MARKET.
that may account for its superior construction and
the better style of its furniture. Immediately
opposite is the Tremont Theatre, the facade of
which exhibits much taste and neatness. With
respect to the New Market, I know none that can
compare with it, in any part of the world, except
the one at Liverpool, which it quite equals in
the convenience of its arrangement, and surpasses,
I think, in its execution and architectural design.
It is also constructed of granite, and extends 536
feet in length, and is ornamented at each end
with a portico of granite columns of massive size.
At a short distance from Tremont House lies a
remarkably pretty and spacious area, comprising
about seventy-five acres of verdant pleasure-ground,
called the Common. It commands a highly
pleasing landscape of the neighbouring country
and villages, particularly of the village of Rox-
burgh with its elegant church, about two miles
distant, and that of Cambridge, the site of Har-
vard College. On one side of this ample space is
planted a noble avenue of trees, forming a very
grateful promenade during the heat of summer.
On the north angle is seen the State House, the
most imposing edifice in the city, and presenting,
from the eminence on which it is placed, a promi-
nent object of great beauty and interest, from
whatever quarter the town may be approached.
The principal front of the building is adorned by
STATE HOUSE OF BOSTON.
359
by
a double range of columns, and is surmounted by
a large dome, that confers a solemn dignity on
the structure, and whence is displayed a pano-
rama of the surrounding country that cannot fail
to delight the spectator. The view comprises the
harbour, with its shipping, and numerous islands,
the villages of Roxburgh, Charlestown, Brighton,
Dorchester, and Cambridge — lighthouses, wharfs,
undulating hills, country-seats and pleasure-
grounds, besides the full dimensions of the city
itself, spread out like a map before you. The
entire city is a pile of beautiful buildings, and
almost as free from smoke as a lady's drawing-
room, owing, no doubt, to the use of wood-fires.
Spacious and handsome apartments, within
the walls of this splendid fabric, are appropriated
to the meetings of the state legislature; and, at the
extremity of the hall of entrance, I was much
gratified by observing a beautiful specimen of
Chantrey's skill in a marble statue of Washing-
ton, sent from England and placed here in 1827.
From this edifice, a line of elegant houses, form-
ing Beacon Street, slopes down to the level of the
water ; while skirting the common on the opposite
side, is a similar array of very neat private resi-
dences, among which is observed the masonic
hall, lately erected in rather a picturesque and
fanciful style.
Several months prior to my arrival in Boston,
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360
CHANGE IN THE REPRESENTATION.
the legislature of Massachusetts had been occu-
pied in making some important alterations in the
constitution of the state. One of the amendments
respected the commencement of the political year,
which had previously begun on the last Wednes-
day in May, and was now changed to the first
Wednesday of January. On this latter day it
was agreed that the general court should annually
assemble for the future, and proceed at that ses-
sion to make all the elections, and execute the
various acts required by the constitution.
The most considerable change, however, was
effected in the popular representation ; the House
of Representatives, like our House of Commons,
on certain occasions, being found to be crowded to
an inconvenient degree, and to the consequent
impeding of business. In the present year, the
number of members amounted to 481, and bad
been in some instances much larger. Indeed, if
all the towns in the state had returned the full
number to which they were entitled, it would
have swelled the list to 800. An amendment was,
therefore, proposed and adopted by the General
Court, to reduce the amount ; and it was provided
that "The House of Representatives shall never
consist of more than 350 members." This ar-
rangement will still leave the number much
greater than that of any other legislative chamber
in the different states of the Union ; and will
THE NAVY-YARD.
361
confer, beyond any doubt, where the speakers are
so numerous and so interminable as they are in
America, an increased alacrity and expedition in
the management of public affairs.
My national tendencies led me, oYi an early
occasion, to visit the Navy-yard, which I saw
under the kind auspices of a lieutenant of the
American navy. It is far superior to those I have
hitherto seen either at New York, Philadelphia,
or Washington ; and presents, in the dry dock, a
splendid specimen of granite masonry. Its capa-
city is very considerable, being able to contain a
line-of-battle ship of the first class. The maga-
zines of stores, the arsenals, and ship-houses, are
well-built and excellently arranged, and reflect
no inconsiderable credit on the state government
of Massachusetts. In two of the latter, suffi-
ciently large for ships of 100 guns, were a 74, and
a 60-gun frigate on the stocks, nearly finished.
A few minutes' walk from the Navy-yard
brought me to Bunker's Hi^L where the battle
was fought on the 17th June, .775, between the
British and American forces during the revolution.
It is, however, generally understood to be a mis-
nomer, and should be called the battle of Breed's
Hill, which lies closely adjoining, and where was
thrown up the earthen redoubt that was so gal-
lantly defended by the then inexperienced but
brave soldiers of the revolted colonies. In com-
i;i
VOL. I.
R
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362
MONUMENT OP BUNKER S HILL.
memoratlon of the event, the foundation-stone of
a monument was laid on Breed's Hill, — yet, singu-
larly enough, still denominated the Bunker's Hill
Monument, — on the 15th of June, 1825, being the
fiftieth anniversary of the battle, and at the inter-
esting ceremonies of which the Marquess La Fay-
ette, one of the auxiliary champions of that day,
was present, and who was at the time making a
triumphal procession through the country as the
honoured guest of the Republic. The form of the
monument, which remains still unfinished, arising
from some deficiency of funds, is to be that of a
pyramidal obelisk 30 feet square at the base, and
to rise tapering to a height of 213 feet.
This monument I most truly hope is the very
last that will ever be erected in the United States,
for the purpose of commemorating the gallantry
and self-devotion of her citizens, in hostile collision
with the descendants of their British ancestors.
Indeed, I know not any cause that is likely to
occur, at any future period, to disturb the har-
mony of increasing good feeling happily existing
between the two countries, with the solitary ex-
ception of the " right of search" claimed by us in
reference to boarding their ships to discover and
seize British seamen. That this maritime pre-
rogative assumed by the nation is one of a violent
and degrading nature to the Americans, few, I
suspect, will be inclined to doubt. That the pre-
BRITISH RIGHT OF SEARCH.
363
sent moment of universal peace is also the period,
of all others, when an amicable adjustment and
mutual good understanding on this important
subject of dispute should take place, still fewer,
I think, will hesitate to believe. To ihy own un-
prejudiced view, I cannot possibly conceive that
the waving altogether of this obnoxious right can,
in any degree worth the naming, interfere with
that ascendancy on the ocean which we have so
long possessed. To suppose this power to be
essential to our superiority, would be to depress
the naval glory of England to an extent of hu-
miliation that would at once tarnish all its bright-
ness. It would then appear, that our unrivalled
dominion on the sea had been solely obtained by
the mere acquiescence of foreign states in the
exclusive privilege so long insisted on and en-
joyed, and not by the exercise of our own prowess.
That such, however, has not been the case, it re-
quires no argument to prove ; and since the prin-
ciple contains within it the fruitful germs of
hostile collision hereafter, the sooner it is given up
the better. In proof that the Americans have ex-
perienced the most grinding effects from this arbi-
trary policy, I need only refer to the numberless
detentions of the United States' vessels by our
blockading squadron off the then neutral port of
New York, in the year 1804, to the great hin-
derance of commerce and the excitement of the
till
4
364
BRITISH RIGHT OF SEARCH.
I' ft-
hi
most irritated feelings on the part of the merchant-
men and the people in general, and occurring, at
the same time, while the two countries were at
peace with each other. The present period of
tranquillity, tlierefore, deserves well the most
serious deliberations of the two governments with
respect to the final settlement of this grave and
important question. With regard to my own
country, it appears to my humble judgment that
we should not lose sight of one consideration, to
which every succeeding year adds additional
weight, namely, that the American navy is con-
tinually increasing in strength. We may now
cede the point with grace, with national honour,
and with somewhat of chivalrous generosity, and
which now would be possibly accepted in the light
of a boon ; but should this opportunity be lost, it
may hereafter be extorted from us vi et armis !
After having remained at Boston three or four
days, a circumstance of the purest accident brought
me acquainted with a highly respectable and plea-
sant family of my own name ; and with a brief
relation of the meeting, you will, I know, be
interested. It was somewhat remarkable that I
should have travelled extensively through the
three other quarters of the globe, without having
once encountered a single individual bearing the
same appellation. The gratification, it appears,
was reserved for the fourth quarter j and though
UNEXPECTED COINCIDENCE OF NAMES.
3G5
the novelty alone would have heen pleasing, yet
when united, as it was in the present instance, with
great kindness and hospitality, and an amiable
anxiety to render my visit agreeable, it came
recommended to me by the most grateful asso-
ciations, by favours of the most friendly and social
nature, and those conferred in a manner that
greatly enhanced their value. The fact was
simply as follows : — On arriving at Boston I
wrote to the postmaster at New York, requesting
he would oblige me, as he had very politely done
before, by forwarding my European letters, ad-
dressed to that place, to the capital of Massachu-
setts. Not receiving my letters with the punctu-
ality which had previously characterised the ready
acquiescence of that gentleman under similar cir-
cumstances, I began to be apprehensive, — very
unjustly as the result proved, — that, fatigued by
former requests, he had been induced to forget
me altogether. One morning, however, when
almost despairing of an answer from the worthy
postmaster, a gentleman called at the hotel and
presented to me my long-expected packet, with
a most satisfactory explanation of the cause of its
detention. He stated that his brother, whose
Christian as well as surname precisely coincided
with my own, had found the letters in his private
box at the Boston post-office ; having been placed
there by the superintendent of the establishment
366
AMERICAN SKILL IN DRIVING.
on the receipt of them from New York, not
doubting for an instant that they were intended
for him ; and that the mistake was only discovered
on my namesake breaking the seal of one of them,
and perceiving, by the contents, that he was not
the person addressed. On a subsequent inquiry
at the Tremont House for the unknown stranger to
whom they belonged, the real owner was at length
discovered in my person; and I had the double
gratification of receiving safely my budget of
English news, and of acquiring two friends, who
were unremitting afterwards in their kind en-
deavours to serve me.
On the 19th of September, I accompanied a
very pleasant party of diplomatic gentlemen from
Washington, consisting of his Swedish majesty's
envoy. Baron Stackelburg, the attaches of the
British and Russian legations, and my Irish
compagnon de voyage, on an interesting excursion to
Lowell, twenty-five miles from Boston, the Man-
chester of the United States. In proceeding thither,
as also on returning, I had an opportunity of wit-
nessing American skill in driving, not having seen
a similar exhibition since I was at Naples ; where,
on one of their gala days, some of these modern
Phaetons, in order to astonish the natives, drove
eight horses in hand, though, according to my re-
membrance, at very little more than a walking
pace. On this occasion, our Jehu drove six in
COTTON FACTORIES AT LOWELL.
367
hand, but in a style of dexterity that perfectly
astonished us, going at a round trot, or a hand-
gallop, nearly the whole way. On recollection, it
occurs to me that I have seen all these charioteers
outdone at the Cape of Good Hope, where some
of the Dutch boors drive their light wagons ten
and twelve in hand, pacing along at a rate that
would make an English coachman marvel with
unutterable conjectures how they could have
learnt the illustrious art.
The manufacturing town of Lowell has ad-
vanced to its present prosperous state with a
rapidity as admirable as that of Rochester in the
western wilds; since, twelve short years ago, as
I am informed, there were only four houses in the
place, and now it contains a population of 8000
inhabitants. It is situated on the liver Merri-
mack, the " water privilege," as it is denominated,
being very extensive, sufficient for fifty factories,
with 3500 spindles each. At present it contains
about twenty of these establishments, which, for
handsome appearance, extreme cleanliness, and
orderly arrangement, I must frankly confess I have
never seen surpassed, if equalled, even in manu-
facturing England herself. Indeed, they appeared
as beautifully neat as any private dwelling-houses,
and the machinery of the very best description.
Lowell is the great cotton factory of the north-
ern states, and has been fostered by the imposition
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368
COTTON FACTORIES AT LOWELL.
of that protecting tariff which has roused up all
the indignant opposition and outcry of the southern
sections of the Union. In 1827, there were manu-
factured at this place ahout two million yards of
cloth ; and, in the year following, an amount of
two millions and a half of dollars had been in-
vested in the various works in operation. The
establishment of the Merrimack Company is the
first in point of size and importance, and where
1500 females and 500 men are employed ; the
former presenting an appearance of neatness in
their dress, and modesty in their demeanour,
superior to any thing I have ever seen elsewhere.
The women receive, as the price of their labour,
two dollars a-week and their provisions, and the
men about a dollar and a half a-day, with which
they provide for themselves. I cannot but ac-
knowledge that I have not witnessed any thing,
in the commercial economy of the United States,
that has surprised and gratified me so much as
the manufactories at Lowell.
I find I am now relapsing into the inveterate
habit which I promised, in a former letter, as a
reward for your patience, I would amend — that
of writing you a tediously / long, and, I fear, as
usual, somewhat uninteresting epistle. I will,
therefore, cut short the thread of my narrative ;
but as I have not yet concluded my few notices
of this the principal and most delightful capital
CHOICE OF RESIDENCE.
369
of the northern states, I shall resume them in my
next communication ; for, were I to take up my
abode in any of the towns of the Union, Boston, I
think, would be the place of my choice and resid-
ence. Adieu!
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370
LETTER XIV.
Cambridge — Harvard University — Public Schools — Sweet
Auburn — Consecration of a Cemetery — Fresh Ponds —
Ice — Extensive Traffic in it— the Fine Arts at Boston —
Nahant — Quincy Granite Quarries — Churches — State of
Religion — Depart for the White Mountains — Salem —
Oriental Museum — Notorious for Witchcraft — Portland
— Quality of the Land — the Tariff— Floating Bridge — -
Climate — Disputed Territory — Gardiner — Banks of the
Kennebec — Interesting Family — Traits of Character.
Gardiner J Banks of the Kennebec, U. S.
15th OcM831.
MY DEAR FRIEND,
Among the agreeable excursions
which a residence of three weeks enabled me to
make in the vicinity of Boston, was a visit that I
paid to the lovely and rural little village of Cam-
bridge, three miles distant from the former, and
where is situated Harvard University, one of the
oldest literary institutions in the country, and, I
believe, the most celebrated. The establishment
consists of various colleges, or halls, erected in a
spacious square, decorated and shaded by a luxu-
riant growth of trees, where about 300 young men
HARVARD UNIVERSITY.
371
are annually educated. Having been favoured
with a letter tr the Honourable Josiah Quincy,
President of the University, a gentleman not
more distinguished for his learning than for the
kindness and urbanity of his manners, I was very
politely taken by him through the different build-
ings, while, at the same time, he explained to me
the system of education pursued there, which
agrees, in its essential features, with the principles
and discipline adopted in our colleges in England.
The branches of knowledge taught at Harvard
include Greek, Latin, Spanish, French, Italian,
German — mathematics — moral, natural, and poli-
tical philosophy — theology, law, rhetoric, logic,
oratory, chemistry, medicine, anatomy, history,
Greek and Roman antiquities, mineralogy, &c.
The public library contains about 35,000 volumes,
and is esteemed the best and most extensive in the
States ; and the philosophical apparatus is on
a scale of excellence highly respectable. There
is, also, in the mineralogical department, as
splendid an array of specimens as I remember to
have seen any where, and arranged in admirable
order.
The endowment of the institution is considered
one of the richest, if not the most so, in the Repub-
lic, amounting to nearly 600,000 dollars; and
under the auspices of this alma mater ^ some of the
most distinguished characters of the Union have
Mil
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372 LITERATURE OF THE NEW ENGLAND STATES.
received that education which has qualified them
to hold the highest stations in the councils of their
country. Among the number of these great men,
if I am not mistaken, is to be enrolled the name
of the celebrated Dr. Franklin, who was a native
of Boston, and to whom a cenotaph has been
erected over the grave of his parents in the church-
yard closely adjoining the Tremont House.
The New England states, indeed, take a con-
spicuous lead in the ranks of literature, and, like
their *' northern lights," cast the flashes of their
superior intelligence far and wide around them.
Science and learning are here cultivated with a
con amove spirit and vigour that reflect a peculiar
credit on their inhabitants : and though the
southern states possess the greater advantages of
a happier soil and more genial climate ; the moral,
intellectual, and religious virtues flourish here
with a native force and luxuriancy that more than
compensates for this inferiority. The balance be-
tween them appears to be very equally struck:
Nature has done every thing for the former — while
Mind has poured forth the treasures and blessings
of a brighter excellency on the people of the
latter.
Massachusetts was the first state that recom-
mended and put in execution a system of general
education ; and to this benevolent as well as
politic design, the Lyceum at Boston, and the
LITERATURE OF THE NEW ENGLAND STATES. 373
innumerable schools established there and scat-
tered through the province, bear ample and
honourable testimony. At the present moment
there are, I believe, in a course of instruction, in
the public schools of that city alone, -about 10,000
children, and for the maintenance of which 80,000
dollars are annually expended. These schools are
all free, and open to every order of society ; and to
these are sent, in considerable numbers, along
with the poorer classes, the sons of the most
wealthy, and, if I may so say, aristocratic mem-
bers of the community, as offering more solid and
extensive advantages, with respect to learning,
than the private seminaries. As may be expected,
Boston, as well as the other towns of that state,
has reaped, and will continue to do, a rich harvest
of moral benefits, in the good order and virtuous
conduct of its society, and which are the well-
earned fruits of its early and laudable exertions.
That knowledge, under every view in which
it can be considered, is a blessing, and not, as
some suppose, a curse to mankind, I cannot for
a moment hesitate to believe ; but, were I at all
in doubt, I should have all my scruples at once
resolved into " thin air," on casting my eyes over
a Newgate Calendar ^ or that of any other prison,
and ascertaining therefrom what an overwhelming
majority is annually exhibited of convicts who
can neither read nor write. The comparative
%
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374
ADVANTAGES OF EDUCATION.
absence, in these gaols, of persons who have re-
ceived even the rudiments of education, is, to my
mind, the best possible proof of the happy conse-
quence of instruction, and tests the soundness and
excellency of the principle by a result as satisfac-
tory as that of a mathematical demonstration. To
argue against this conclusion, on the ground of
there being a certain proportion of educated per-
sons who are, nevertheless, found guilty of crime,
seems to me rather a sophistical mode of reason-
ing ; since some natures are so entirely depraved
as to rush recklessly, and in defiance of all re-
straints, example, and advice, *' per vetitum et
7iefas;" and though fenced in by innumerable
checks, still violating every law, both human and
divine. Besides, it is, after all, but the exception,
which proves more strongly the existence of the
rule.
In the case of America, however, the political
and greater necessity that exists for a general, if
not universal instruction of her population, than
under monarchical institutions, is apparent, when
it is considered that the people here are the sove-
reigns. It is the majesty of the people, and not
of the monarch, that holds in this country the
sceptre of power ; in whom reside all the functions
of government, and the administration of every
thing connected with the existence and well-being
of society — legislative, executive, and judicial.
CEMETERY OF SWEET AUBURN.
375
To have, therefore, an ignorant population, would
be to throw into confusion and disorganisation tiie
very elements of civil life. General education is a
sine qua non of a vigorous, and, if I may so speak,
of a healthy republican governmen^t — the great
primwn mobile of the state machine — and without
the application of which, the political engine would
either cease altogether its operations, or be im-
pelled in fatal counteraction of all the principles
of social order. That the latter is not the fact in
the institutions of the United States, their present
prosperous condition will amply prove, to the great
credit and happiness of the American people.
After sauntering about the lovely village of
Cambridge, I strolled onward a couple of miles,
as the morning was delightfully fine, to witness
the interesting ceremony of consecrating a new
burial-ground at Sweet Auburn. It is one of the
most secluded and enchanting spots that I have
yet seen in America ; and if one clod of the valley
be softer than another — if there be a mound of
green turf sweeter than another, beneath which
the once aching heart may repose, when the
" silver cord is loosed, and the golden bowl is
broken," and when the " spirit has returned unto
God who gave it " — the friendly clod, and the
verdant turf, are to be found in this place.
The site of the intended cemetery is very ex-
tensive, and which it is proposed to adorn and lay
ull
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376
CONSECRATION OP SWEET AUBURN.
out after the model of Pt^re la Chaise, in the vici-
nity of Paris ; nor will the copy, if well arranged,
as I have no doubt it will be, though on a smaller
scale, fall far short of its original. It is embo-
somed in the most luxuriant groves, resting on
a soft greensward, and whence ascends a finely
swelling hill, crowned with trees, through the
vistas of which is seen as captivating scenery
as the eye would wish to gaze on. A variety of
elegant country-seats ornament the landscape in
every direction ; — villages and lakes, woods, hills,
and valleys, present successive objects of attrac-
tion, and fill up the beautiful and rural pano-
rama ; while in the distance is seen the noble city
of Boston, with its superb State House proudly
towering above the surrounding buildings on its
lofty eminence.
The place selected for the ceremony was a
glen of the most romantic features, closely girt
in by a thick screen of shady trees, and where
semicircular benches, in the form of an amphi-
theatre, had been arranged, and which were now
occupied by a brilliant assemblage of the beauty
and fashion of Boston and its neighbourhood. A
hushed and solemn silence pervaded the crowded
meeting, while the various prayers of consecra-
tion were put up by different clergymen present.
These were concluded by singing a hymn, in
which the united voices of the audience joined,
FRESH PONDS.
377
in a simple and devotional strain that was at
once affecting and sublime. The scene was most
imposing. It reminded me of the ancient days
of John the Baptist, when preaching in the wil-
derness; and of those patriarchal tihies when the
canopy of heaven was the only temple in which
the adoring worshippers knelt, and when the
woods and rocks, resounding with thanksgivings
to their Maker, were ** made vocal with His
name, and taught His praise." May the song
of thanksgiving, which thus ascended to heaven
over a spot that is to contain the ashes of un-
numbered generations to come, be triumphantly
echoed back by the reanimated dust, on the
morning of the resurrection !
Leaving Sweet Auburn, with feelings quite in
unison with the interesting occasion which had
called them forth, I sauntered along about a mile
farther to Fresh Ponds; and found, on a nearer
inspection than when viewing them from the
mount ascending from the cemetery, that they
realised the glowing description which had been
given of them. On the beautifully wooded shores
of what I should call a lake, but which the
Americans call a pond — inasmuch as it does
not expand, like Lake Ontario, to a length of
180 miles, and a breadth of 40, are erected ex-
tensive ice-houses, belonging to a highly respect-
able gentleman of Boston, who has made a large
?;^
378
A TRIAL OF FAITH.
fortune by shipping whole cargoes of this fragile
and fugitive commodity to the southern states
of the Union and to the West Indies. As an
article of first-rate luxury, under the scorching
sun of those climates, it sells there at the rate
of iLreepence and fourpence per pound. The ex-
quisite transparency of American ice exceeds every
thing of the kind I have seen elsewhere ; as does
also the magnitude of the blocks and wedges to
which it attains beneath the almost polar sky of a
North American winter. I certainly never beheld
even crystal possessing any thing equal to the
clearness of the ice in the United States ; and
with this opinion you will readily coincide, if you
have faith to believe what was confidently stated
to me by the proprietor himself of this profitable
and novel merchandise — that a person can read
a large-sized print through a piece of ice forty-
two inches thick ! Transparent as it is, I confess I
should scarcely have given credit to the statement,
had I not been assured of its truth by a person
whose authority I cannot for an instant doubt.
Besides a love of literature, on which the Bos-
tonians justly pride themselves, and which is cul-
tivated to a greater extent in the New England
states than in any other portion of the Republic,
a regard for the fine arts has manifested itself
amongst them in a manner that at once gives
promise of future excellence, and distinguishes
THE PINE ARTS AT DOSTON,
379
their good taste in an equal degree with the
former. At the annual exhibition of paintings
in the city, principally by native artists, I was
much gratified by a variety of specimens that
displayed considerable merit. Many of the land-
scapes were highly deserving of notice ; and,
among others, I observed several pieces by All-
ston, who ranks as the first painter in the coun-
try, very cleverly executed — particularly "The
Young Artist," the " Independent Beggar," and
" Miriam." There were also, among foreign
artists, several admirable landscapes by Vernet,
and an interesting picture of "Rebecca and Abra-
ham's Servant," by Murillo. There is, likewise,
an excellent portrait of ** Patrick Lyon," who
made his fortune by the homely though honest
calling of a blacksmith, and of whom the follow-
ing singular fact is related. Being remarkably
clever in his trade, he was employed by the Phi-
ladelphia Bank to construct a lock, which he
accomplished on a principle that, like Bramah's
patent mechanism, was supposed to set at defiance
all the burglars in the world. However, as ill
fortune would have it, one night the lock was
picked, and the bank robbed ; and as it was
imagined to be impossible for any person except
Patrick himself to have had the extraordinary
dexterity to effect the larceny, the poor black-
smith, in consequence solely of his known and
I
380
ANECDOTE OF PATRICK LYON.
superior talent in business, was, by some legal
process or other, imprisoned for a week or two, at
the instigation of the directors, though entirely
innocent of the charge. The persecuted anvil-
driver was determined, nevertheless, to redress
his grievance, and vindicate his reputation;
and bringing an action for false imprisonment
against his accusers, obtained a verdict of eight
thousand dollars, which I believe he thought a
very satisfactory remuneration for loss of liberty
during ten or twelve days. But the hijou of the
whole was a Madonna, by Carlo Dolce, the ex-
pression and execution of which were, beyond
comparison, beautiful.
A taste for the fine arts is not, at the same
time, limited to the public exhibition-room ; as
I had the opportunity of witnessing, in the pri-
vate collections of many of the resident gentle-
men, numerous specimens in painting, sculpture,
and statuary, that would have done credit to
galleries of higher pretension in the cities of Eu-
rope. At one gentleman's house especially, in
Beacon Street, from whom and his amiable lady
I received much kind hospitality, I saw several
marble statues and sculptures of remarkable
beauty. Of the former, were a finely executed
copy of Canova's Hebe, a Sleeping Nymph, a
Genius of Silence, and a Dancing Nymph : and
of the latter, a superb mantel-piece of the same
THE ATHEN^UM.
381
material, brought from Italy, adorned by female
figures of surpassing elegance, and perfected in a
style of superior workmanship that could scarcely
be exceeded.
Adjoining the Exhibition is the' Athenaeum,
where is a valuable collection of coins, medals,
and books, the latter comprising an amount of
upwards of 23,000 volumes. Here, likewise, is
the Academy of Arts and Sciences, a picture gal-
lery, and a reading-room, where the principal
magazines of Europe and of the United States,
as well as newspapers from all parts of the Union,
are constantly to be found.
From these few notices you may, I think, infer
that the society of Boston is refined and intellec-
tual ; to which I may add something still better,
that of being also moral and religious. With a
superior and more extended information, is united
also a higher polish of manner ; and certainly, in
point of hospitality, it "bears away the bell." In
this respect I may observe, that I have been pre-
sent at parties where the splendour, as well as
elegance of the entertainment, equally surprised
and gratified me ; and I have remarked here, as
generally through the States, that where the
circumstances of fortune permit it, there is a
natural and irresistible tendency to aristocratical
feelings and indulgences. This is, indeed, the
inevitable result of that inequality arising from
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382 FASHIONABLE WATERING PLACE AT NAHANT.
wealth, education, intellect, and station, which,
in despite of republican forms and principles,
must and will exist; and which, although un-
sanctioned by public opinion, will invariably pro-
duce its effects.
Before leaving Boston, one of my worthy and
hospitable namesakes drove me in his carriage
to the fashionable watering-place of Nahant,
about fourteen miles from the city — a delightful
resort for its inhabitants during the oppressive
heat of the summer months. Its locality for such
a purpose is as desirable as nature could make
it, being all but an island — a narrow isthmus
connecting the peninsula, which runs three or
four miles into the sea, with the main land. It
is cooled and refreshed by every breeze that blows,
adorned by numbers of elegant villas and public
hotels, and exhibits throughout gentle swells and
undulations of surface, with a bold and romantic
rocky shore. It presents, indeed, both towards
the sea and the land, a happy combination of
the magnificence of the mighty ocean with the
gentler beauties of the reposing shore. Verdant
islands, and gliding vessels spreading their white
canvass to the favouring breeze, occupy one por-
tion of the interesting landscape ; while the other
is most pleasingly filled up with a long line of
waving coast, flourishing villages, and the distant
spires and towering State House of the busy and
QUINCY GRANITE QUAR^ilES.
383
commercial city. Having an extremely neat villa
at Naliant, my friend finds, in the peaceful seclu-
sion of the place, a most agreeable retirement
from the bustle of the capital ; enjoying at once,
during the season, the amusement 'of wild duck
and snipe-shooting, the salubrious atmosphere
of the surrounding sea, and his own quiet medi-
tations en vrai philosophe — and where no one
knows better than himself how to recommend
the native charms of this all but ocean-island,
by the unpretending hospitalities of a private
gentleman.
Having so much admired the beautiful mate-
rial of which the houses in Boston are composed,
as well as their elegant structure — and of the
latter, I must acknowledge, that I know not any
where, except in the New Town of Edinburgh,
so great a number in any city of equal size, — I
felt inclined to visit the Quincy Quarries, whence
the granite is brought. They lie about ten miles
from Boston, and abound in beds of inexhaust-
ible extent, capable of supplying material for the
erection of a city a hundred times larger than
the capital of Massachusetts. The colour is gene-
rally of a light grey, and the stone is as durable
as it is handsome. The magnitude of these works
recalled to memory the boundless quarries in the
neighbourhood of Scotland's " Modern Athens,"
f
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384
MANIA FOR RAIL-ROADS.
which have laid the foundations and adorned the
superstructure of its classic buildings.
Whether, therefore, for houses or rail-roads,
or for a thousand other objects of private and
public utility, there is no lack of this essential
article, either in quantity or quality. Having
mentioned rail-roads, I may here observe, that
there are numerous proposed plans at present in
agitation as to the formation of them in this vici-
nity, which the active enterprise of the worthy
citizens has in contemplation to effect. Such is
the mania for them at the present moment, that
no fewer than eight different companies have been
recently incorporated by the legislature of the
state, for the purpose of constructing as many
different roads. One is projected to run from
Boston to Albany, a distance of 193 miles ; ano-
ther to communicate with Whitehall, on Lake
Champlain, and to extend through a space of
upwards of 160 miles ; a third has been pro-
posed to be established between Boston and Lake
Ontario; while four others are to run from the
same city to the towns of Worcester, Providence,
Taunton, and Lowell ; and the eighth from West
Stockbridge to the boundary line of the state
of New York. It is a subject, however, of serious
consideration, how far, though highly advan-
tageous to the public, these speculations will
c
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PUBLIC LIBRARIES AND BUILDINGS.
385
r'lW
answer to the various companies, on a calcula-
tion of profit and loss.
Among the public institutions not yet men-
tioned, and which the limits of my^ paper will
barely permit me to notice, are the Massachusetts
Historical Society, possessing an extensive library
— the Boston Library Society, and the Columbian
Library, containing, both together, about 11,000
or 12,000 volumes — the House of Industry — the
Massachusetts General Hospital, and another for
the Insane. Of churches, I am happy to say,
there are about fifty ; many of which are very
handsome structures, and exhibit a highly respect-
able proportion, in reference to the population of
the city.
I may now take the opportunity of remarking
— having seen the most flourishing portions of the
States — that I have been invariably gratified by
witnessing, throughout the tour which I have thus
far completed, the great attention that seems to
be paid to the performance of religious duties, as
well in the erection of a sufficient number of
places of worship, proportioned to the numerical
amount and wants of the people, as in the devo-
tional respect paid to the Sabbath. The first
objects that strike the eye of a stranger, on enter-
ing an American town — within the range, at least,
in which I have travelled — are the churches. Even
in the far western wilds, where, within a few short
VOL. I. s
)
Q86
ESTIMATE OF RELIGIOUS FEELING
years, towns and villages have sprung up in the
very heart of the wilderness, as if called forth by
the wand of an enchanter, you perceive, at once,
the moral character of the people evincing itself,
by raising temples in honour of God, with an
assiduity as diligent as that which marks the con-
struction of buildings for the habitation of man.
I scarcely remember a single town where this
interesting circumstance has not presented itself to
my eye in prominent display j exciting a respect
and admiration of feeling most willingly enter-
tained towards its inhabitants. Nor has the sen-
timent, of course, been at all weakened, by per-
ceiving the practical illustration of these exterior
pretensions in the devout observance of Sunday;
on which a religious decorum and propriety is
observable, that alone stamps a value on the
theory, and gives a substantial reality to those
outward appearances by which the attention was
first engaged. Both in ministers, and in congre-
gations, I have witnessed the sound and scriptural
doctrine, and the pious demeanour, which equally
become the pastor and his flock — proving that the
form of godliness is not unaccompanied by its
power ; and I am happy to bear my humble testi-
mony, that a religion, as vital in its practice as
that which characterises the religious communities
of my own favoured country, : ervades those sec-
tions of the Union that I have hitherto seen.
IN THE UNITED STATES.
387
In the New England states, where society and
manners more resemble our own than farther to
the southward, Christian principles are generally
admitted to be more deeply felt, and more exten-
sively spread, than among the other portions of
the Confederation. Of this I shall be better able
to judge when I shall have seen more of them.
As far as my knowledge extends to Boston, I think
this may be the truth ; though I own, that equally
in New York, Philadelphia, and Baltimore, I have
seen, in the observance of the Sabbath, what must
have been grateful to every reflecting mind.
There is one religious feature, certainly, which
characterises the state of Massachusetts, that does
not exist in the others. It appears that no legis-
lative provision is made for the support of religion
in any other portion of the Republic, except in that
of which Boston is the capital, where the constitu-
tion obliges all the citizens to belong to some
religious society, or to contribute to the support of
a clergyman. At the same time, it permits them
to support nny denomination towards which their
feelings may be directed. This fact, however,
speaks very strongly in favour of the moral tone
of the local government, and displays it in an
aspect peculiarly interesting.
The only circumstance, in reference to this
subject, that gave me pain while in Boston, was
a knowledge of the extensive dissemination of
ii
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%\
388
UNITARIANISM — DR. CHANNING.
Unitarian principles that has taken place in it,
and which Captain Basil Hall not unaptly calls
the " democracy of religion." At the head of this
system is Dr. Channing, to whose religious judg-
ment I wish I could pay an equal tribute of
respect as to the talents by which he is distin-
guished.
As I am aware you feel deeply interested in
this subject, I have copied for your inspection a
document that I have lately met with, presenting,
in a concentrated view, the aggregate numbers of
the ministers, churches, communicants, and popu-
lation of each religious sect existing in the United
States,
RELIGIOUS SECTS OF THE UNITED STATES. 389
Denominations.
S
Calvinistic Baptists
Methodist Episcopal Church . . .
Presbyterians, General Assembly
Congregationalists, Orthodox . . .
Protestant Episcopal Church . . .
Universalists
Roman Catholics
Lutherans
Christ-ians
German Reformed
Friends, or Quakers
Unitarians, Congregationalists , .
Associate and other Methodists . .
Free-will Baptists
Dutch Reformed
Mennonites
Associate Presbyterians
Cumberland Presbyterians
Tunkers
Free Communion Baptists
Seventh-day Baptists
Six-Principle Baptists
United Brethren, or Moravians . .
Millennial Church, or Shakers . .
New Jerusalem Church
Emancipators, Baptists
Jews and others . .
2,914
1,777
1,801
1,000
558
150
205
200
84
160
350
300
159
200
74
50
40
30
30
25
23
45
30
15
■B a
^3
4,384
• •
2,253
1,270
700
300
• •
1,200
800
400
400
193
400
194
144
75
40
• •
40
30
23
15
28
150
jd
o
304,827
470,000
182,017
140,000
44,000
25,000
17,400
35,000
ie,ooo
17,888
30,000
15,000
8,000
3,000
3,500
2,000
1,800
2,000
600
2,743,453
2,600,000
1,800,000
1,260,000
600,000
500,000
500,000
400,000
275,000
200,000
200,000
176,000
175,000
150,000
1 25,000
120,000
100,000
100,000
30,000
30,000
20,000
20,000
7,000
6,000
5,000
4,500
50,000
'■■ 'H
: M
I
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If
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I
On the 7th of October I bade adieu to this in-
teresting city, and to those kind friends who had
mainly contributed to render my residence there,
of three weeks, so extremely agreeable. Having
left my companion behind me, who was proceed-
390
SALEM — ITS MUSEUM.
ing to Baltimore, I now bent my course, alone,
towards the White Mountains in New Hampshire
— the little Switzerland of the north — where, I
was informed, the scenery was particularly grand
and romantic, and by no means to be excluded
from the list of '* lions" whose acquaintance I was
called upon to make. Passing through Lynn, a
large shoe-manufacturing village, I remained, for
a few hours, at the pretty town of Salem, fourteen
miles on my road, where is to be seen the best and
most extensive " Oriental and l^acific Museum" I
ever saw ,' containing an infinity of specimens and
curiosities, remarkably well arranged, in a splen-
did apartment appropriated for that purpose.
Natives of the different castes of India, moulded
and dressed after life, and sitting in their peculiar
attitudes on the flcir, immediately opposite the
door of entrance, are represented to admiration.
Indeed, the semblance of reality was so startling
at first, as almost to make me imagine that some
of the unhappy worshippers of tlie hideous Jug-
gernaut actually sat before me, in all the substance
of flesh and bone.
I here saw a branch of the celebrated life-
killing Upas-tree — to come within the shade of
whose branches was once supposed to be death —
and of which the leaf bears some similitude to
that of the willow, though broader and longer. A
real Indian chief's head, tattooed in a most fan-
1
NOTED FOR WITCHCRAFT.
at
tastic manner, and a slip of the willow-tree ^^ iv-
ing over Buonaparte's grave at St. Helena, were
among the exhaustless store of interesting articles
exhibited. These have been brougljt and depo-
sited in the Museum by the different members,
consisting of about 200, and composed principally
of mercantile and naval men ; each of whom, as a
qualification, must have doubled either Cape Horn
or the Cape of Good Hope.
Salem is chiefly concerned in the East India
trade, which was once much more flourishing
than it is at the present moment, and contains
a population of 14,000 inhabitants. It was one
of the earliest settlements in Massachusetts, hav-
ing been established in 1626. The history of its
earlier days is stained with deeds of superstition
and blood, for which, I am sorry to say, the
conduct of the mother-country at that period
furnished the pernicious example. I allude to the
wholesale destruction of witches; for, in 1692,
the prisons of the town overflowed with persons
accused of the sin of witchcraft ; numbers of
whom were hanged, and otherwise sacrificed, to
the prevailing bigotry of the times, as an expi-
ation of their supposed offences. The annals of
that day mention, that, in one term alone, the
grand jury found fifty indictments against various
individuals, in different ranks of life, in this place
and its vicinity, accused of the crime. At length,
I
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ii
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302
NEWBERRY PORT — PORTSMOUTH.
the frantic alarm of the superstitions, and the
daring hardihood of impostors who denounced
these pretended sorceries to the state, rose to
such a height, that, from persecuting to the death
decrepit old women, they charged even ministers
of the gospel, and, at last, the very wife of the
governor. The consternation produced hy this
latter circumstance served to open the eyes of the
people to the gross infatuation undor which they
had laboured, and produced the desired effect of
causing these fiery persecutions to cease.
From Salem I proceeded through Newberry
Port, situated on the Merrimack, which is here
crossed by a handsome and substantial suspension-
bridge, of 1000 feet in length, to Portsmouth^ in
the state of New Hampshire, seated on the Pis-
cataqua, three miles from the sea. Both towns
are handsome, and well *' located" for commercial
purposes; the former containing a population of
7000, and the latter of about 9000 inhabitants.
With the country throughout this distance, as
also to Portland, in the state of Maine, sixty
miles farther, I must confess myself disappointed,
as I did not see the rich farms that I had been led
to expect ; the soil being, for the principal part,
very poor, presenting but little that was highly
cultivated, and, for a considerable extent, in va-
rious places, exhibiting a sterile and unproductive
surface. Indeed, the country lying between Ports-
MANUFACTURES ESSENTIAL TO NEW ENGLAND. 393
mouth and Portland is one of the most uninter-
esting, in this respect, that I ever travelled over.
Hence has arisen that manufacturing spirit which
has sprung up in the New England states, and
has characterised more particularly that of Massa-
chusetts, to operate as a kind of set-off against the
barrenness of the land, which falls far short of the
rich and luxuriant districts of the south. It
would appear to be a matter of good policy in the
government, and to which a stern necessity, that
forbids the New England statf^s from ever at-
tempting to become an agricultural people, has
pioneered the way, to foster the rising trade of
this portion of the country by a judiciously gradu-
ated tariff, within the limits of moderation and
justice due to the southern sections of the Union.
This protection has, in fact, been granted to the
manufacturing interests, but to an extent that has
already brought the north and south into direct
collision with each other; and what will be the
consequence of the mutual opposition, which every
day seems to exasperate still more towards a state
of hostility, time alone will shew. The latter states
object to the greatly increased expense imposed
upon them in clothing their numerous gangs of
slaves, as well as themselves, in consequence of
the high tariff levied on the importation of Eng-
lish cloth, and other similar commodities, in order
to encourage the home-trade, and without which
s2
i
394
FLOATING BRIDGE.
i
they would be enabled to effect that necessary
object at a much reduced rate. They loudly con-
tend that they are sacrificed to their more favoured
brethren of the north, and denounce the principle
as an infringement of their equal rights guaran-
teed to them by the constitution. It seems as if
the seeds of disunion were already sown in the
clashing views of the manufacturer and the
planter, and which, unless checked in their
growth by timely legislation, will ripen into
hostile separation, or, at least, into a secession
from the Union, accomplished in a more tranquil
manner, but equally subversive of the integrity
and strength of the social compact.
One of the novelties that struck my attention,
in the route from Boston to Portland, was passing
over a floating bridge of about 170 feet in length.
Owing to the depth of water, or some other cir-
cumstance, this apparently insecure contrivance,
dangerous, however, only in appearance, has been
resorted to ; and as the timbers forming this sin-
gular construction are very massive, bulky, and
sufficiently buoyant, our well-loaded and heavy
coach passed over it with no other effect than a
considerably tremulous motion, and so far depres-
sing it as to cause the water to flow over its sides.
At Portland, lying in the state of Maine, I
was completely weather-bound for four days, and,
instead of the delightful " Indian summer," which
TOWN OP PORTLAND.
395
my worthy friends at Boston assured me was on
the point of commencing, we were deluged by such
a continued torrent of rain as to remind me of the
monsoons in the East Indies. On the score of
climate, I must say, that, as far as my opportunity
of judging has extended, limited to the northern
and middle states, the vicissitudes of weather are
almost, if not altogether, as great in the " new" as
they are in the " old country," and the extremes
much more severe, as the range of the thermo-
meter but too clearly indicates. At Boston, New
York, and Philadelphia, I have frequently ex-
perienced, during the present summer, a very hot
day succeeded by one equally cold ; and though
the atmosphere is, perhaps, clearer and brighter
than in England, and the winter more steadily
cold and fixed in its character, yet the daughter, in
this, as in other respects, is impressed so strongly
with the features of the mother, as to discover her
maternity without '* casting nativities."
The former name of Portland was Falmouth ;
the old town having been burnt down in the
war of the revolution. The present town is very
handsome, and beautifully situated on a peninsula
running out into Casco Bay, which lies on one
side of it, while a fine harbour, perfectly land-
locked, occupies the other. The number of its
inhabitants amounts to about 9000, and many of
its houses are really elegant buildings. Among
i
i6
■ 'M
i
396 ITS TRADE— VIEW FROM THE OBSERVATORY.
its public edifices are a court-house, of very
neat construction, two banks, a custom-house, an
athenceuni, an academy, and ten churches, of
which one, hitely built, and ornamented with
granite columns, exhibits a beautiful appearance.
From an observatory, raised eighty-two feet
in height on a promontory extending from the
skirts of the town, and whence a noble panorama
is presented of the bay, the harbour, the town, and
other varied objects, I first caught a view of the
lofty ridges of the White Mountains to the north-
west ; while to the eastward are seen, reposing
in verdant loveliness on the bosom of the ocean,
countless clusters of islands, said to be as numerous
as the days of the year. The trade of the place,
now recovering after a considerable depression,
consists chiefly in the conveyance of lumber to
the West Indies, and the importation thence of
molasses, which are afterwards distilled into rum.
Against the use of this, and other deleterious
spirits, the philanthropic temperance-societies are
now waging an uncompromising war, that bids
fair, I am happy to say, to put down the de-
structive traflfic altogether. A couple of cents, I
understand — the small sum of one penny — ena-
bles a man who is ii^ "lined, which is the case with
too many, to intoxlv ^.^ himself to as unconscious
a state of inebriation as the most insensate lover
of this poisonous beverage could possibly desire.
THE DISPUTED TERRITORY OF MAINE. 397
T
It is on the frontier of the state of Maine that
the disputed territory lies which was made, some-
time ago, the subject of regal arbitration between
England and America. In a conversation that
I had with an official gentleman of the town in
reference to this topic, he mentioned, what I had
previously understood, that the people of the
United States in general, and of Maine in par-
ticular, were altogether dissatisfied with the de-
cision on the question lately made by the King
of Holland. If I mistake not, this feeling is in
some degree mutual between the parties at issue, as
the British government, I believe, did not feel the
most entire satisfaction at the result. Under these
circumstances, an impartial observer would very
probably draw the inference that the adjustment
was an equitable one, since, in pleasing neither
party, the arbitrator may be supposed to have
consulted alone the ends of justice. With such
a disposition it requires nothing more than a
knowledge of facts, and a sound judgment, to
determine according to the rightful claim. If I
understood him correctly, the whole extent ob-
jected to, as decided in our favour, amounts only
to fifty square miles, which, if rooted up from
the very centre of gravity, and converted into
dust, would barely suffice to powder over the
superficies of the twenty-four states of the Union,
and the several territories annexed.
J
398
PUBLIC LANDS OF THE UNION.
The superficial extent of all the states and
territories belonging to the Union is prodigious,
as appertaining to the possessions of a single
power. The little plot of disputed ground, about
which so much anxiety is manifested, dwindles to
an almost insensible atom in the scale of compa-
rison. By a document which I have before me,
it appears that eight states alone of the twenty-
four constituting the Confederation, or one-third
of the whole, together with the lands of three
territories, contain the enormous quantity of up-
wards of three hundred and thirty-four millions of
acres. Of this amount, upwards of two hundred
and fifty-five millions belong to the government,
forming the public lands of the United States,
unappropriated at the present moment, and here-
after to be disposed of by sale as the population
increases.
To afford you some idea of the almost unli-
mited extent to which the augmenting popula-
tion of the country may attain, commensurate
with the quantity of unoccupied territory, it is
only necessary to inform you that the whole of
this public property comprises the vast aggregate
of upwards of one thousand and sixty-two millions
of acres. The Indian title, however, of the great-
est proportion of this domain has not yet been
extinguished, but which, I presume, is to be
effected at a future period. Of these boundless
PUBLIC LANDS OF THE UNION.
399
tracts, one hundred and fifty millions of acres
have been already surveyed, twenty millions sold,
and an equal amount granted by Congress for
education, external improvement, ajid for other
purposes. Of the remaining 1 1 millions, eighty
millions are now in the market for sale, and thirty
millions, in addition, ready to be offered for pur-
chase whenever tnere shall be a demand for them.
The minimum price per acre is one dollar and
twenty-five cents, or about five shillings per acre.
These lands are divided into squares of one mile,
and into townships of six miles each. The great-
est division of land is that of a township, contain-
ing 23,040 acres, being six English or American
square miles. These townships are subdivided
into thirty-six equal portions or square miles,
called sections, which contain each 640 acres, and
are again portioned off into four quarter-sections,
each comprising 160 acres. The latter are finally
distributed into two parts, called half-quarter-
sections, of 80 acres, being the smallest subdivision
known to the system. I am happy to inform you,
that one thirty-sixth part of all the lands surveyed
is reserved from sale for the support of religion,
of public schools, colleges, and universities. I
have given you, below, an interesting document,
shewing the relative position of these immense
tracts, and containing other valuable information.
I
400
DISTRIBUTION OF PUBLIC LANDS.
I
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9
SOIL AND CULTIVATION.
401
o
On the 13th of October, the first fine day of
five previous ones during which the weather had
detained me at Portland, I took my departure for
Gardiner, on the picturesque bank^ of the Ken-
nebec, passing through the village of Brunswick,
where is erected the state college, containing be-
tween 150 and 200 students. The same remark,
with respect to soil and cultivation, may be made
on the country bordering this route of upwards
of fifty miles, as on the intervening distance be-
tween Boston and Portland. A plentiful harvest
of rocks and stones usurped the place of verdant
meadows and waving corn-fields. Every step I
have taken, in my progress to this place, has served
to confirm the policy of gaining from the arts, and
manufactures, those profitable returns of industry
and enterprise which the coldness and compara-
tive sterility of the land denies to the cultivator;
at least to the extent demanded by its exuberant
population. Thtre are, nevertheless, some rich
tracts of land lying farther to the northward, and
occupying the space between the two fine rivers
Kennebec and Penobscot. The only scenery of
any particular note after quitting the interesting
views in the vicinity of Portland, I observed in
the neighbourhood of what is called Merry-meet-
ing Bay. Throughout the whole of America,
however, the want of hedges, as substitutes for
stone walls and wooden fences, is strongly felt
402
AN INTERESTING FAMILY.
by an eye accustomed to the delightful verdure
of an English landscape.
I esteemed myself very fortunate, while at the
village of Gardiner, to have made the acquaintance
of a most respectable and worthy family residing
at Oaklands ; the lady of the house being a near
relative of my valued namesake at Boston ; and
who unites, with all the winning graces of un-
affected elegance of manners, those intellectual
endowments, and that still better Christian prin-
ciple of heart, which, as Milton beautifully ex-
presses it,
" Is woman's happiest knowledge and her praise !"
I confess I do not know a more interesting sight
on earth, than that of a virtuous and amiable
family strongly and warmly attached to each
other, as well from the sympathy and endearing
ties of relationship, as from all those tender
charities of feeling, and reciprocation of kind
oiEces, which bind the soul in indissoluble bonds
of affection. Such I found in the united and
happy circle at Oaklands, where the accomplish-
ments of mind, and the devotion of the heart,
mutually reflected upon and illustrated each other ;
and I only regretted that I had not enjoyed their
society earlier, or had been destined to enjoy it
longer.
To give you an idea of the worth of these ex-
AN EXEMPLARY CHRISTIAN.
403
cellent people, I need only relate a single trait in
coniirmation of it, and with which I know you
will be much gratified. The head of the family
is a gentleman of very extensive » property, to
whom belongs the church, as well as the village,
I believe, where it is situated. Be this, however,
as it may, whenever the officiating minister, in
consequence of sickness, or other unavoidable
necessity, is prevented from performing his clerical
duties, this exemplary Christian fulfils himself the
functions of a pastor, in order that the congrega-
tion may not be deprived of that religious instruc-
tion, and those spiritual consolations, which they
require. As the forms in America do not, as with
us, prevent a layman from assuming, pro tempore^
the character of a clergyman, he ascends the
reading-desk and the pulpit, on the occurrence
of such temporary vacancies, twice during the
Sabbath ; and after going through the devotional
part of the service, concludes by preaching a ser-
mon. The whole of this duty he performed, on
a certain occasion, for the space of three months;
while one of his amiable daughters constantly
assists in the solemn act of thanksgiving, by play-
ing on the organ. This, indeed, is acceptable both
to God and man, and seems truly, in obedience to
the exhortation of the Apostle, to be " adorning
the gospel of God our Saviour."
The banks of the Kennebec, and the general
404 PICTURESQUE POSITION OF OAKLANDS.
aspect of the country around Gardiner, are highly
picturesque. The river, flowing in a broad ex-
pansive stream, winds its course at the bottom of
the lawn on which is erected this gentleman's
mansion ; and displays, as well from the windows
of his house, as from various parts of his grounds,
a noble object of perspective. His domain pos-
sesses more the appearance of an English gentle-
man's seat than any thing I have yet seen in
America. With great variety of surface it admits,
under a tasteful hand, such as evidently presides
over it, of much ornamental improvement, while
a diversified landscape of woods, cascades, rocks,
and hills, of cultivated fields, and farm-houses,
adds an additional charm to the whole.
After passing three very delightful days at
Gardiner, I took leave of this hospitable and in-
teresting family with unaffected regret, heightened
by the painful consideration that I should see
them no more for ever! Such is the fate of a
traveller, and such is life — whether travelling or
stationary — ** a sunbeam in a winter's day !"
I only know one kind of leave-taking that is
tolerable or agreeable, and which is, taking leave
of a book when you are heartily tired of it, or of
a long letter, especially when it is very dull. I
will, therefore, take my own hint, conscious that
there is but too much reason for it, and bid you
an affectionate farewell !
405
LETTER XV.
Augusta — Cause of greater Beauty in American Towns —
Paris, State of Maine — Lose my Baggage — Cultivation of
Pumpkins — Travel in a Wagon — Reach the White Moun-
tains — The Notch — Appalling Destruction of a whole
Family — Fearful Avalanches — The Carriage breaks down
— Haverhill — Banks of the Connecticut — Conversation in
Coach — Revivals — Religious Opinions — Church Discipline
— Hanover — Royalton — Gulf Road — Election of Judges
— Freemasonry — Burlington — Lake Champlain — Lake
George.
New York, 30th October, 1831.
MY DEAR FRIEND,
The poet Gpldsmith, alluding to the
far-distant traveller in other climes, speaks of him
as dragging, " at each remove, a lengthening
chain." The reflection is founded on truth, and is
powerfully illustrated by my own feelings, which,
ever and anon, amid the fatigues of almost in-
cessant locomotion, and the restlessness of con-
tinual excitement, turn to my country and my
home with a wistful longing and anxiety, which
you may, perchance, imagine with less difficulty
than I describe. " The mind is its own place,*'
as is truly observed by the unexcelled author of
the magnificent Paradise Lost; and if, while
'■ ■''
■ M
406
THE SYMPATHY OP THE HEART.
wandering in one hemisphere, year thoughts and
affections are ranging through the other, the
beauties of nature will in vain fill the eye, till
the truant imaginations are called back. Too
often, however, like calling •' spirits from the
vasty deep," you may call, but they will neither
hear nor come. If that little universe of feeling
contained within us move not in harmony with
the associations by which it is surrounded, in vain
shall every delight be yielded to the half uncon-
scious and unsatisfied senses — the loveliest land-
scape to the eye, delicious perfume to the smell,
or the most soothing melody to the ear; while,
if the wheels of this mysterious moral machinery
revolve with a smooth and unjarring action, though
wrapt in the mantle of a polar winter, or panting
on the burning desert, the light-hearted traveller,
alternately scorched and frozen, can call up from
his own breast a sunshine to illumine the one and
an oasis to cheer the other. That happiness does
not, as a general principle, depend on exterior
circumstances of wealth, station, or power, or
other extrinsic qualities, is whimsically, but not
the less forcibly, exemplified in the case of Dio-
genes the cynic philosopher, who was more in-
dependent and contented in his mere tub than
the monarch of Macedon in the possession of a
throne ; and who, when his illustrious visitor was
sighing for more worlds to conquer, only required
A SCHOOLBOY S DEVICE.
407
of him, as the best boon he could confer, to " stand
out of his sunshine."
As every remove, however, lengthens the
chain, it may equally be said that every mile of
return strikes off a link from the dragging fetters,
and serves to lighten the oppressive load by which
the progress of the way-worn traveller is encum-
bered. As I believe I have now passed the " half-
way-house" of my intended excursion, I am in-
clined to follow the plan, in order to beguile time,
adopted by school- boys, who, three or four weeks
before the commencement of the vacation, make
what they call a *' holiday-paper," marking the
advance to the happy period of meeting their
friends, by scoring out each day as it passes.
Thus, as my miles decrease in number, shall I
unlock link by link the chain of my shackles and
cast it from me, till, joyfully dropping the last in
the Atlantic wave that washes Old Albion's coast,
I shall step once again on the shores of my own
favoured country, enfranchised from my bonds,
and shall hope to see you in a better state of
health than that under which I was suffering
when we parted.
On the 16th of October I left Gardiner in the
carriage of my obliging and hospitable friends for
Hallowell, and thence proceeded to Augusta, eight
miles from the former, and the seat of govern-
ment of the state. The town is neat though
:|
408
AUGUSTA — CAPITAL OF MAINE.
m
small, and the country around romantic. A new
State-house, nearly finished, though fronted the
wrong way, and built of beautiful granite — a
material abounding in this neighbourhood — dis-
plays, with numbers of private edifices, a very
handsome and ornamental appearance.
I am not aware that I have noticed, in former
letters, the circumstance of each state having an.
entirely separate government of its own, modelled
on the principle of the Houses of Congress, and
presided over by a governor, by which its internal
affairs are regulated and administered. Such is
the case, however, and the political frame-work
of each is erected with a perfect independence
of the others, and of all control by the supreme
legislature ; except in the imposition and collection
of taxes, and in such other respects as are abso-
lutely required to be done for the general good.
Thus they form so many imperia in imperio ; all
the rights of sovereignty being reserved at the
Union to the different members of the Confede-
ration, save only those necessary powers which
it was essential to lodge somewhere, in order to be
exercised for the general advantage. In addition
to those named, is the right of declaring war and
making peace, the command and management of
the army and navy, and similar privileges that
have been conceded to Congress, and to the Pre-
sident for the time being. With regard to the
INDEPENDENCE OP THE SEVERAL STATES. 409
internal policy of these petty sovereignties, the
great national chambers of legislation at Wash-
ington have no authority whatever ; not even to
the ordering of a road to be made, or the con-
struction of a canal, within their limits. This
political system exhibits, I must allow, an inter-
esting and plausible theory, and which experience
hitherto has proved to be sound in practice; for
at the same time that all the strength resulting
from a combination of power is obtained, the
liberty of self-government is possessed by every
individual member. With as solid a security,
therefore, for the whole community as under a
different form, is united the exclusive enjoyment,
by each separate portion of it, of that power so
grateful to the proud heart of man ; and by the
very compact by which they obtain mutual pro-
tection, are they guaranteed in their political
supremacy at the price of little more than a
nominal surrender.
This circumstance will account for the hand-
somer appearance of the capital cities of the United
States, than is seen, in reference to equal size and
population, in the towns of other countries. For,
as the different offices of the local government,
the legislative chambers, and the various public
buildings, are erected in each of them to a similar
extent, though on a smaller scale, to those which
VOL. I. T
410
PARIS IN AMERICA.
are constructed in the one capital alone of coun-
tries where a different mode of administration is
established, it naturally follows, that a greater
number of ornamental edifices are raised there
than in towns of equal, or even of larger size,
that have not the burden or the pleasure of self-
government at all. I mention this, as having
been surprised, on the first excursion that I made
in America, with the superior architectural dis-
play exhibited by the several cities which I visited,
comparing the proportion of extent and population
with that of other countries.
Quitting Augusta, I proceeded onward forty-
three miles to Paris; a place as little resembling its
European original as a cottage does a palace. At
the same time it may be said, that to the extent in
which it falls short of its great prototype as to archi-
tectural beauty, does it exceed it in the beauties
of nature ; being surrounded by a circle of moun-
tains of the most imposing and romantic features,
of which the White Mountains formed the con-
spicuous outline. The greater part of the distance
I performed in an open caUche a deux chevaux,
and from the rear of the vehicle, in consequence
of the jolting nature of the roads, my conductor
managed, with admirable dexterity, to lose the
whole of my baggage. The loss obliged us to
retrace our steps about a couple of miles, when we
STERILITY OF SOIL.
411
luckily arrived just at the moment that some of
the peasantry were very pleasantly walking off
vrith the booty.
The population throughout th^ distance was
very thinly scattered ; though it seemed, never-
theless, to bear a very fair relation to the quantity
of cultivated land, of which the tracts were " few
and far between." Some of the fields, however,
presented rather a novel and inviting appearance,
being entirely covered over with pumpkins; an
article of husbandry esteemed highly nutritious
for cattle, and which, at first sight, I took for
something intended to nourish man instead of
beast, in the shape of a luxuriant growth of
melons. A similar remark, as to barrenness of
soil, may be made of nearly the whole distance
of forty miles lying between Paris and Conway.
There were certainly many demonstrations of pro-
spective culture in the cutting, or rather burning
down of immense quantities of trees ; bringing to
my recollection, in the gloominess of their aspect,
the woods of Miramichi. The ground, however,
when cleared, was in numberless places so rocky
and sterile, as to seem absolutely incapable of
making any adequate return of produce for the la-
bour bestowed. Here and there, amid the black-
ened forest, was a neat-looking farm, like an oasis
in the desert ; while the rest w as a desolate heap of
burnt tree-stumps, with their trunks and branches,
if
'UJ
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1
If
412
SPLENDOUR OF AUTUMNAL DIES.
scattered about in the wildest chaos in every
direction, intermingled with enormous masses of
rock and stone. Those who are in search of
the picturesque, like Dr. Syntax, may, notwith-
standing, find ample food for the eye, however
scantily supplied may be that for the mouth, es-
pecially from Fryeburg and Conway, through the
noble range of the White Mountains. One object
that I must not forget to mention, and which
abounds, perhaps, the most where the poverty of
the land is the greatest — thus oflPering a species
of compensation to the traveller at this season —
is the splendid dies of the trees. These certainly
exceed, in loveliness and variety of hue, every
thing of the kind I have ever seen in Europe,
especially the maples, of which the rock and
sugar-maples are the most beautiful.
From the latter village I could procure no-
thing better than a sort of light wagon, with
which homely style of travelling I was obliged
to be content, journeying along in simple pastoral
style. Fortunately I now closely approached the
alpine region of New Hampshire, where every turn
of the road exhibited an interesting diversity of
bold and romantic mountain scenery, and was
pleasingly diverted from the jolting of the un-
elastic machine that conveyed me, and con-
trived, very philosophically, to balance in my
favour the optical enjoyment against the corporeal
WHITE MOUNTAINS.
413
bruises. A little hamlet where we stopped to
breakfast, called Bartlett, lies immediately at the
foot of the mountains, whence a narrow valley,
hemmed in by their towering and precipitous
heights, that present a rugged and insurmountable
barrier on both sides, winds along through a dis-
tance of about six miles, gradually contracting as
the traveller advances. At length the diminished
breadth becomes barely sufficient for the road,
and for a mountain stream called the Saco, which,
after a heavy fall of rain, rushes along with a
furious wildness, threatening to sweep into its
flood both road and traveller. The craggy sides
of these giant-hills are seamed and furrowed by
innumerable avalanches, which, during the last
few years, have hurled headlong down their de-
structive masses of earth, stones, rocks, and trees,
into the terrific-looking glen below. With these
the river was literally choked up ; exhibiting
altogether such a picture of universal devastation
as I never beheld even among the very wildest
mountains of Switzerland. Had I wished to be-
hold the most striking emblem of the general
deluge that once swept over the earth, I could not
have witnessed any where such fearful traces of
ravage and appalling chaos as the scene dis-
played. The narrowest part of this extraordinary
defile is called the " Notch," and is contracted to a
breadth of only twenty-two feet.
ii
'i^iii
>f' 11
iV 1
l:
! I
414 MYSTERIOUS DESTRUCTION OF A FAMILY
It was about the middle of this dismal, but
highly romantic valley, where, on the 28th of
August, 1826, a catastrophe happened of a most
awful description, involving the instantaneous and
mysterious destruction of an entire family of nine
persons. The solitary habitation where the me-
lancholy event took place, and which a few short
moments served to unpeople, and to render utterly
tenantless, was called the Willey House. It was
occupied by a Mr. Martin Willey, his wife, five
children, and two servants, and was situated at
the base of the mountain ridge forming the bound-
ary of the valley on that side. It appears that,
two months previously to the fatal night, an ava-
lanche had fallen within a short distance of the
residence of this devoted family, and had so
alarmed them, that they had pitched a kind of
tent, one or two hundred yards from it, beneath
the brow of a projecting rock, as a place of refuge
whither they might fly, in case of any threatening
repetition of the fearful danger. On the evening
in question, a frightful tempest arose, accompa-
nied by a deluge of rain, that poured down into
the defile in a tremendous torrent. The wretched
inmates had retired to rest in their lonely abode,
six miles from any human habitation, when a
series of avalanches, loosened by the furious
waters, began to descend. They were precipi-
tated, like the shock of an earthquake, on both
BY AN AVALANCHE.
415
sides of the valley, for a space of two miles ; and
one of the most tremendous of them was hurled
down like a thunderbolt from the mountain-top
immediately above their heads. A confused mass
of rocks, earth, and trees, torn up from heir
r*'^ts, and borne impetuously forward by the rush-
li flood, bent its Irr jstible course towards the
house, and when within about six or seven feet of
it suddenly divided, as if with miraculous instinct,
or rather, as if directed by the providential mercy
of God, and, passing on each side of it, swept
away the stable and horses, leaving the fragile
tenement untouched. And yet the wretched fa-
mily were utterly destroyed ! It is supposed, that
the terrified inhabitants, aware of the impending
ruin, rushed, most unhappily, at this moment
from their dwelling, with a view of gaining the
shelter of their little encampment beneath the
rock, and were overwhelmed, in an instant, in
one common and universal destruction.
Some days elapsed, after this mournful cala-
mity, in fruitless search for their bodies, of which
several were never discovered. The rest were, at
last, found covered by enormous heaps of drift-
wood and earth, and in nothing but their night-
clothes ; the remaining apparel having been found
by the side of their beds whence the miserable in-
mates had hurried, in a state of nudity, to avoid
that death from which, had thev remained in the
I
;*
n
416
MYSTERIOUS PROVIDENCE.
house, thej would have been preserved. Even the
green plot, in front of their habitation, was un-
touched by the desolation that surrounded it ; and
a flock of sheep belonging to the unhappy Martin
Willey, that were grazing upon it, were found, on
the following morning, in perfect safety. Was not
this a most mysterious Providence? — marvellous
in its act of preservation, with respect to the
house, and dark and inscrutable in its judgment
on the beings that possessed it ? The opening of
the avalanche within a step of its seemingly de-
voted walls — its sweeping round them in a closely
contracted curve — its uniting again after imme-
diately passing the dwelling, and pouring disorder
and ruin on the orchard and meadows lying be-
low it its sparing the tenement while the stable
was crushed beneath it — would appear to be the
working of a miracle for the salvation of the hap-
less inhabitants. Yet, notwithstanding this de-
monstration of mercy, the preserving of a flock of
sheep while a whole family of human creatures
was suffered to be destroyed, in the very face of
this seemingly providential interference, is among
the secret and unfathomable councils of God !
Truly may it be said, in the laaguage of Scripture,
" How unsearchable are His judgments, and His
ways past finding out !"
On approaching the Willey House, in passing
along the desolate valley, I alighted and walked
MOURNFUL APPEARANCE OF WILLEY HOUSE. 417
ture,
His
over it. The furniture was still there, but where
were the inmates ? The day of resurrection alone
will solve the momentous question ! The walls of
the various apartments of it were profusely written
over with the names of numerous visitors ; many
of whom had recorded their sympathetic sorrows
for the melancholy fate of its former possessors,
and among which were breathed forth, in a strain
of deep devotion, by a variety of pious Christians,
their prayers and religious aspirations for peace to
the souls of the departed.
You may form some idea of the magnitude
and extent of this frightful devastation, when I
inform you, that the turnpike-road leading through
this mountain region was almost entirely broken
up through a space of twenty miles, and that
twenty-one bridges, crossing the various parts of
it, were entirely destroyed.
Leaving the interesting, but now mournful Wil-
ley House, which has attracted numberless visitors
to see it since the fatal occurrence, I reached the
termination of the defile, where is situated an
hotel, kept by Thomas Crawfurd, beautifully em-
bosomed in romantic woods. I had felt an incli-
nation to ascend the mountains from this place,
whence is beheld, I understand, a magnificent
prospect; but was prevented by a fall of snow
that had covered their sides and summits a few
days previously. The greatest altitude of the
t2
m
V
■ I
418
THE CARRIAGE BREAKS DOWN.
I
I
highest of them, called Washington Mountain, is
6350 feet ; being the loftiest in the United States,
with the exception of the Rocky Mountains, lying
some 2000 miles distant on the far western bound-
ary. In ever^ direction along these almost per-
pendicular declivities, are observed the tremen-
dous ravages of innumerable avalanches with
which they are deeply indented ; some of them
extending to a breadth of half a mile, and from
one to five miles in length.
Proceeding onward, a few miles beyond the
Notch, to Ethan Crawfurd's, a brother of the
former, and where an array of lofty peaks and
ridges, of every diversified form, is presented to
the eye, we came to a line of new road, which, in
defiance of all the principles of Mac Adam, had
been constructed of loose earth and sand to the
depth of several feet. This was too much for
even an American carriage, formed as many of
them are of tough, though unelastic springs ; and
our vehicle fairly broke down, leaving us, with
the pole snapped in two, in as complete a quag-
mire as ever was flitted over by a will o' the
wisp. As there was no remedy for it, except
patience and a stout pair of legs, we had to wade,
ankle-deep in the mud, for four miles, to the next
village, where we procured a conveyance that
brought us, at length, to the town of Littleton
about ten at night.
RELIGIOUS REVIVALS.
419
IS
I was now approaching a section of the state of
New Hampshire that was to repay nie for the dis-
appointed expectations, with which I set out from
Boston, of seeing a well cultivated country ; as, on
arriving at Haverhill, after a drive of thirty miles,
through the fertile valley of the beautiful Ammo-
noosuck, I found a happy contrast to the long
previous route, in the richness and luxuriancy of
the soil. In proceeding thither, I had a long and
interesting conversation in the coach with a gen-
tleman and a lady, on the subject of religion, and
which originated in an allusion being made to the
numerous " revivals" that had lately taken place,
and were then holding, in different parts of the
country. As we have nothing in England cor-
respondent to this in practice, I should tell you
that a revival means an extraordinary and sudden
excitement, experienced by the people of the
village or town where it is manifested, with
respect to the interests of religion and the salva-
tion of the soul. It is a powerful, and, in many
cases, an enthusiastic impulse towards the con-
templation and study of Divine things, and the
reformation of the heart and life, arising from a
variety of causes; as, occasionally, from the oc-
currence of some afflictive dispensation of Provi-
dence in their little society, or from the coming
among them of a particularly pious clergyman.
On these occasions, the inhabitants assemble in
I'N
y
420
RELIGIOUS REVIVALS.
their churches in anxious crowds, when prayers
are put up and sermons preached, and afterwards
confessions, and declarations of personal experi-
ence, made to the ministers, and, not unfrequently,
I believe, to the congregation also, by those among
them whose feelings are the most deeply im-
pressed. These meetings often continue for three,
four, and five consecutive days, attended by all
the clergymen in the neighbourhood, who assist at
the solemnity, and of which, according to the
statement of my worthy companions in the coach,
the good effects are visible for ever afterwards.
For though some, as I was informed, " witness a
good confession" in words, who afterwards decline
in their actions from the vows they have made, yet
the majority of the congregation thus professing
for the first time, remain firm to their resolutions,
and. become consistent Christians. The lady, who
was a member of the society of Congregationalists,
in speaking of their administration of the Holy
Sacrament, informed me, that the ministers of her
church never permitted any person to receive the
sacred elements without previously presenting a
written test of faith, and producing evidence of
conversion of heart. This, I understood, was the
practice, also, of the Presbyterians and Methodists.
She appeared to think that our not guarding this
solemn rite from profanation, by a similar ob--
servance in England, accorded but ill with the
TENET8 RESPECTING BAPTISM.
421
acknowledged purity and religious pretensions of
our church establishment. The custom alluded
to eraanateS; no doubt, from the most pious and
laudable zeal for the honour of God and of reli-
gion, and suggests a hint by no means unworthy
of regard.
I was somewhat surprised, however, to learn
from my fair informant, that parents do not, in
general, baptise t^eir children ^ and that those
onl?/ who are professed members of some reli-
gious sect, and are pious people, esteem this
essential ceremony needfui to bo performed. I
have already observed, that in tbt state of Massa-
chusetts alone does the constitution obi' :e all the
citizens to belong to son^e inligious society, or to
contribute to the support of a pastor, althougii it
permits them to support whatever denomination
they may prefer. In all the other states of the
Union no legislative provision is made for the
maintenance of religion, but it is left entirely
to the voluntary choice, and unbiassed will of
the people, to give or to withhold. This is a dif-
ference on tbo jr.ost vital of all subjects, which,
I think you will agree with me, redounds highly
to the Christian credit and honour of the former
state. ■ '
• The Congregationalists, as likewise the other
two societies I have named, are remarkably strict
;l
■I
i!
-it!,
'{
8
i I
422 PROGRESS OF RELIGION — HAVERHILL.
in their requirements as to the decorous and
orderly lives of their members, and proceed to
the extremity of excommunication against all
those who refuse, after due exhortation and re-
monstrance respecting their vicious and incon-
sistent conduct, to reform their manners. This
worthy lady, who is an inhabitant of New Hamp-
shire, assured me that she had much sincere
pleasure in stating that the interests of religion
V, ere advancing and extending throughout the
country, and in the New England states especially,
in a most satisfactory manner. With regard to
my own personal observations, though I cannot,
of course, form a comparative estimate between
present and past times, yet I rejoice to bear my
humble testimony to the existence, in every part
of the country that I have visited, of a vital
Christianity, which exceeded greatly my previous
expectations, and produced a cordial and corre-
spondent gratification.
The village of Haverhill is small but remark-
ably pretty, and is delightfully situated amid a
luxuriant scenery of rich land and towering moun-
tains. It lies on the banks of the beautiful river
Connecticut, which flows in an expansive and
meandering stream, fertilising, while it adorns,
the shores of New Hampshire, Vermont, Massa-
chusetts, and the state whence it derives its name.
HANOVER DARTMOUTH COLLEGE.
423
in which latter it pours its exuberant waters into
Long Island Sound; and thence rolls onward to
the ocean.
The farther I traced the course of this " shining
river," the more prolific and more highly culti-
vated became the soil ; and in passing over twenty-
six miles of road between Haverhill and Hanover,
I saw numerous tracts of excellent land and well-
fenced and productive farms, which, like the seed
that fell into good ground, brought forth fruit an
hundred fold. In short, the country bordering this
interesting stream, throughout its entire length,
is considered by much the finest portion of the
northern states ; and, united with the picturesque
beauties that meet the view in every direction,
yields a grateful recreation both to the eye and
the heart.
Taking my departure from Hanover, — another
neat and pretty village, where is a literary esta-
blishment called Dartmouth College, founded in
1769, and named after the English nobleman
bearing that title, who was one of its principal
benefactors, — I now crossed the Connecticut into
the state of Vermont. Leaving the latter stream
at right angles, I coursed along the lofty banks of
the White River, the well -wooded and graceful
undulations of which almost equal in interest
those of the former. We drove the last seven
miles of the twenty-four by the chaste radiance
424
ELECTION OF JUDGES.
!■ I
of a full moon, that shone with resplendent loveli-
ness over the little town of Royalton as we ap-
proached it, reflecting a thousand mellow lights
on the rugged and shadowy sides of a most
romantic circle of mountains with which it is
surrounded, and on the placid water flowing
majestically between them. Hence to Burlington,
on Lake Champlain, is seventy-five miles ; an
interval presenting nothing very remarkable, ex-
cept for what is termed the Gulf Road, an
extremely narrow and very picturesque defile be-
tween stupendous cliffs, somewhat resembling, in
its depth and contracted breadth, the Notch in the
White Mountains, and extending about six miles.
The most beautiful scenery of the whole route,
on an enlarged scale, and well deserving of notice,
was the green mountains of Vermont. These oc-
cupied a prominent and extensive portion of the
landscape, stretching away in alpine ridges of bold
and varied outline.
During the journey I had some interesting
conversation with a gentleman whom I discovered
to be one of the judges of the state, and who had
just been, as he mentioned to me, re-elected to
his office for the ensuing year. This sounds
strange to an English ear, accustomed as we are
to consider the independence of the bench as a
sine qua non of judicial integrity, and of the im-
unflinchins: administration of the laws.
partial
img
\
ELECTION OF JUDGES.
425
In Vermont, as I understood, the choice of these
learned functionaries has been latterly converted
into a party affair, in which it would almost seem,
that to be a mason, or anti-mason, whichever party
may be at the time predominant, is a question
of nearly as much importance as the amount of
ability or the extent of legal knowledge. With
respect also to remuneration, in the shape of a
pension, after the judges retire, or are turned out
of office, I was surprised to hear that these " grave
and reverend seigniors" receive nothing whatever.
Thus, during the course of one year, these most
useful and valuable personages may find them-
selves in the enjoyment of luxuries, and in the
year following reduced to comparative destitution,
deprived not only of the comforts, but in some
possible cases of the necessaries of life. The in-
gratitude of republics is proverbial ; and this,
among a variety of other instances of inadequate
returns to public men for services performed, which
have fallen under my notice, would appear but
too justly to countenance the charge. The system
altogether of the annual election of judges, of what-
ever description they may be, appears, to my hum-
ble apprehension, as impolitic as it is degrading.
As regards the United States judges, contra-
distinguished from those of each separate state,
they hold their appointments during good beha-
viour, and which may possibly be the case with
1;:
i
426
MASONS AND ANTI-MASONS.
some of the latter, as the system of laws in these
little sovereignties varies occasionally very widely
the one from the other ; but in Vermont, and in
some other members of the Union, the local judges
appear to be elected. This arrangement, I should
imagine, must involve much of inconvenience in
numerous ways; particularly in frequently sub-
stituting theory for experience, and offering temp-
tations to corrupt practices, founded on the pos-
sible shortness of the official tenure, that otherwise
would not exist, and on which my learned in-
formant expressed a very decided opinion in the
affirmative. ■
From this gentleman I received much infor-
mation on the subject of freemasonry, and the
anti-masonic societies arrayed in opposition to it,
and which occupies very considerably the public
attention at this moment. The parties espousing
the opposite opinions form, if I may so call them,
two of the principal factions in the country ; the
anti-masons having lately set themselves in de-
termined hostility against the former, in order to
counteract principles that are considered subver-
sive of religion, good government, and order.
Till within a short time past freemasonry was
highly popular in the states ; some of the leading
persons throughout the Union having enrolled
themselves in its ranks. In consequence, how-
ever, of some highly criminal proceedings secretly
BURLINGTON — LAKE CHAMPLAIN.
427
carried on by the members themselves of that
order, and terminating in a most extraordinary
and mysterious murder of an associate of one of
their own lodges, who, it was reported, was about
publishing their signs and secrets, the community
at large seems to have risen against them en
masse. But as the limits of my paper will not
permit my entering into a relation of the volu-
minous matter concerning this question, I shall
spare you any further infliction of the subject.
Arrived now on the shores of Lake Champlain,
I touch on American classic ground, where some
of their most brilliant exploits, both naval and
military, were achieved during the last war. It
is a splendid expanse of water, running north and
south, and extending 140 miles in length, and in
the greatest breadth about fourteen.
Burlington is seated on its eastern margin,
rising from the lake in a gentle ascent, adorned
with handsome houses, and presenting, from the
state college which crowns the highest part of the
eminence, one of the most varied and beautiful
views imaginable. To the westward the eye
ranges over the lake studded with islets, and
expanding to a width of ten miles ; the opposite
banks being indented by promontories and penin-
sulas, bounded by two or three superb tiers of
mountains, each rising higher than the other,
and marked by a bold and diversified outline.
428
SUNDAY AT BURLINGTON.
To the eastward, you behold a lofty and extensive
ridge of the Green Mountains, while, in the fore-
ground of the lake scenery, the view rests on a
variety of pretty and neatly cultivated gardens,
sloping down to the streets and buildings of the
town. At a distance of about twenty-four miles,
on the shores of this little inland-sea, lies Platts-
burg, where, in 1814, was fought a naval and
military action between the British and American
forces; the former being under the command of
Sir George Prevost and Commodore Downie, and
in which the " stars and stripes" seem to have
gained the day, and the gallant commodore lost
his life.
I passed a Sunday at Burlington, and was
gratified, as I have been elsewhere in the northern
and middle states, by witnessing the religious
decorum and devotional regard with which that
day is observed. It contains about 3500 inha-
bitants, and there are three or four churches. The
proportion of these sacred edifices to the popula-
tion in American towns and villages, I have had
frequent, I may say constant, reason to dwell on
with sincere pleasure. It becomes an interesting
question, whether the descendants of the mother-
count, y have not a larger portion of practical piety
spread amongst them than is possessed by even
the venerable parent herself? I must record my
candid belief, from what has fallen under my ob-
WHITEHALL.
429
my
ob-
servation, and limiting my remark to the northern
and middle states, that they are not, at all events,
behind us in that most essential respect ; and also,
that unless England improves in the holy example
which she ought to exhibit to her* Transatlantic
children, the latter will, one day, cause the blush
of shame to their proud and aristocratic proge-
nitor, which all her superiority of station, military
and naval prowess, arts, sciences, and wealth, will
in vain seek to cover. The balance of religious
zeal, in the sections alluded to, I almost fear, is
even now against her ; and should it increase, the
United States of America will then triumph over
us in illustrious pre-eminence, and on the noblest
principles. She will then have conquered us with
the weapons of that Divine philosophy which
teaches piety to God, peace on earth, and good-
will towards men !
Stepping on board a steam-boat that daily
touches at this place, I proceeded down the lake
to Whitehall, lying at its southern extremity.
About mid-way we skirted the banks where are
seen the remains of the fortress of Ticonderoga,
calling up, as elsewhere, on these classic waters,
a host of reminiscences, connected with the sacred
cause of liberty, to the mind of an American. On
leaving this place, the lake begins to contract its
breadth within much narrower limits, and, at the
distance of twelve miles from Whitehall, assumes
I
!!
430
LAKE GEORGE.
the appearance of a river closely shut in by ranges
of perpendicular mountains, along which it winds
in most beautiful meanders. Here and there
patches of bright green meadow fill up the shal-
lower parts of the channel, offering to the eye a
contrast of the loveliest verdure with the rugged-
ness of the overhanging precipices.
Both Lake Champlain and Lake George, to
which latter I bent my course from Whitehall —
visiting the picturesque cascade of Glen's Falls in
my way — exceed much, in pictorial effect, the
more extended Lakes of Ontario and Erie. Lake
George is esteemed the most romantic of the
whole, and is one of the choses a voir for the
fashionable visitants of Saratoga and Ballston
Springs. It is encircled by a panorama of finely
undulating mountains, covered with the most
luxuriant woods, and thrown into all the forms of
lovely variety on which a landscape-painter would
delight to dwell. Its length is thirty-six miles,
and greatest breadth four ; and on its smooth and
limpid surface repose a number of verdant islands,
said to be equal to the days of the year — of which
Diamond Island, where the fashionable loiterer
amuses himself in hunting for crystals, and Tea
Island, where is erected a summer-house for the
accommodation of parties of pleasure, are among
the most interesting. To a lover of the sport of
angling these sweetly secluded waters afford ample
LAKE GEORGE.
431
amusement, as they abound in the finest salmon-
trout of considerable size, many of them exceeding
twelve pounds in weight. United, also, with the
romance of nature are the historical recollections
with which the lake is associated, Raving been the
scene of various warlike exploits in 1755 and 1757,
between the French — at that period in possession
of Quebec, under the command of Baron Dieskau
and the Marquess de Montcalm, assisted by a body
of Indians — and the English army, commanded
successively by Sir William Johnson and Colonel
Munroe. Vestiges of forts are still visible at the
head of the lake. In one of these — Fort William
Henry — the English garrison, after having con-
cluded an honourable capitulation with Montcalm
(who was destined, two years afterwards, to ex-
perience such a signal defeat on the plains of
Abraham in Lower Canada), were cruelly massa-
cred by the Indians attached to his army. At
Fort Edward, another of the military posts of that
day. General Abercrombie embarked his troops,
amounting to 15,000 men, for the purpose of
attacking Ticonderoga, and where is the point of
outlet whence the waters of Lake George issue
and mingle with those of Lake Champlain.
After remaining for two or three days amid
the lovely seclusion of this fairy scene, I took my
departure from the pretty village of Caldwell,
crowning the margin of the crystal fountain, and
f
• I
11.
432
THE POLAR BTAR.
on the very brink of which is situated an excellent
hotel, looking down on its reflected image in the
water, and arrived once more at Albany — having
driven sixty-two miles, and seen on the road the
picturesque cataracts of the Hudson near Sandy
Hill. On the following morning I descended
this noble stream to the city of New York, which
I again visited after an absence of nearly five
months.
Ever mindful of home — "sweet, sweet home"
— with which all my fondest recollections — bright
and gloomy, sad and soothing — are associated,
though thus widely separated from it, I have
employed, as you will perceive, the first hours of
my present leisure since my arrival at this place
in order to attest the truth of !lie sentiment. To
convince you that, on whatever distant soil my
errant steps may wander — however exciting may
be the object of the moment — however absorbing
the enchantment of a scene, and the charm of a
novelty uncontemplated before ; — yet, that there
exists a sunny spot of earth — an oasis of the mind
— to which the magnetic needle of my affections
still and ever points; and to which, however
agitated, it is still and ever constant. To that
home, across the Atlantic deep, I now despatch
this fragile messenger of hopes and prayers,
breathed forth for your health and happiness;
assuring you how delighted I shall be when my
;
THE ** HEART UNTRAVELLED." 433
lips shall reassume the office of my fingers, and
when I-can prove to you by actions, as well as
words, that I bring back
"A mind not to be changed by place or time."
Till then, adieu !
VOL. 1,
u
434
LETTER XVI.
I; I
i!
American Court of Chancery—Wigs and Gowns — Chancellor's
Salary — Forensic Eloquence — Formation of a Literary
Society — Ex-President Adams — New York Deaf and Dumb
Asylum — Depart for New Orleans — Canvass-back Ducks —
Curious Invention — Potomac — Arrive in Virginia— Frede-
ricksburg — Horrible Roads — Republican Equality —Singu-
lar Mode of Farming in Virginia — Firat Settlement of the
State — Charlottesville — the Blue Mountains — Staunton —
Separate from my Party — Business and Pleasure incompa-
tible — Magnificence of the Weyer's Cave — Extraordinary
Impudence of a Democrat Landlord.
! I
The Weifcrh Cave, Virginia,
14/A JVbu. 1831.
MY DEAR FRIEND,
During the few days that I re-
mained in New York, after closing my last letter,
and while making arrangements for a journey to
the southern states, I took advantage of the sitting
of the Court of Chancery in the City Hall, and
attended there two or three times, in order to
witness its proceedings. I had an additional in-
ducement, beyond mere curiosity and a desire of
information — that of being present at the arguing
of a very important cause, in which my learned
COURT OF CIIANCEnV.
435
friend of Albany, of whom I have made honour-
able mention as my intelligent companion at the
Falls of Niagara, was one of the counsel. The
court was presided over by ChanceUor Walworth;
a gentleman equally celebrated for his high legal
attainments, and for his amiable deportment in
private life, and who is president, also, of the
State Temperance Society. The appearance of nn
American court of judicature varies considerably
from that of the courts in England ; principally,
however, in being divested of that grave and
solemn character which robes, wigs, and gowns,
give to the latter. Though I think the cumber-
some attire of wigs might, without disparagement
to the " weightier matters of the law," be well
dispensed with, yet the rest of the learned para-
phernalia lend, beyond doubt, an imposing aspect
to the administration of justice, and have a bene-
ficial influence in the eyes of the profanum \mlgus.
Perhaps though, when I inform you what is the
amount per annum of the chancellor's salary, you
may be of opinion that, as far as respects himself,
the less expense that is incurred, for the sake of
personal distinction, the better ; for costly ermine
robes, and the daily adornment of a full, flowing,
well-powdered wig, would cause rather a fearful
deduction from two thousand dollars, or between
four and Jive hundred pounds a-year — which
form, I understand, the entire amount of remu-
436
ENGLISH LAW ADOPTED IN AMERICA.
I
iieration for the w^orthy judge's services. Some
other noble chancellors, nearer home, would look
utterly aghast at a requital so derogatory from
the dignity of the illustrious mace, and be inclined
to deposit the official insignia on the shelf in
hopeless despair.
The suit in question involved all the profund-
ities of legal lore, and the labour of extensive
research ; and I was in no small degree gratified
to Lear cited a whole body of English reports,
and learned authorities familiar to my ears as
''household words." The weighty dicta of Coke,
Camden, Hardwicke, EUenborough, Eldon, and
Redesdale, resounded through the court like the
oracles of so many sibyls, and startled, for the
moment, my apprehension, in hearing pronounced
their well-known names, as to the locality in
which they were uttered. Identity of time and
place was, for the instant, quite confounded ; and
I instinctively looked around me to ascertain if
I were not actually seated in Westminster Hall.
I afterwards learnt, however, from my professional
friend, that the common law of England especially,
and reported cases, are of equal authority in the
United States, or nearly so, as in the British
forum, with obvious exceptions founded on dis-
tinction of government.
My intelligent Niagara companion addressed
the court for three hours and a half, and displayed
SALARIES OF JUDGES.
437
a talent and a strength of legal reasoning, enforced
in a truly logical, argumentative, and fluent style,
that reflected highly on his forensic attainments.
The point under discussion was a dry question of
law, and therefore did not admit of any thing like
impassioned eloquence ; yet I must confess, after
having heard a variety of professional speakers in
America, that there appeared — making all allow-
ances for the nature of the subject — much less of
that animation and energy of tone and manner
which characterise the more emphatic delivery
of an English barrister. I am at the same time
informed, that the comparative coldness of address
which I had then witnessed — much less, I must
acknowledge, in my friend than in the other
speakers, and in which, where it prevails, is lost
the greater strength and power that, in argument,
so often command success — is not the general
characteristic of American advocates; and that,
with regard to another class of orators — members
of Congress — I shall find in them suflicient both
of energy and excitement, should I remain till the
meeting of tlrs body in December.
Having mentioned the small, and, I cannot
but think, very unremunerating amount of the
worthy chancellor's salary of the state of New
York, it is but fair and honest towards the country
to observe, that those of the judges of the supreme
court of the United States are considerably higher;
438
FORMATION OF A LITERARY SOCIETY.
and were the distinction less apparent between the
two classes, it would better answer the ends of
impartial justice. The salary of the chief justice
is five thousand dollars, and that of each of the
associate judges (of whom I believe there are
five), four thousand five hundred ; while three
thousand five hundred dollars form the allow-
ances of the attorney-general. These sums may
be considered sufiicient in a cheap country like
America, where no particular style is required
to be maintained ; at the same time those of the
judges, as also of some other officers, in the sepa-
rate states, appear, to my humble judgment, some-
what below par.
On one of the several occasions of my attend-
ance in the chancellor's court, I had the oppor-
tunity of being present at a convention of delegates,
assembled in an adjoining room for the purpose of
forming a literary and scientific society. The ex-
president, Mr. Adams, was in the chair ; and in a
speech pronounced by him on the subject-matter
of the meeting, he eulogised the various learned in-
stitutions existing in England, with that liberality
of feeling which loses sight of national politics and
jealousies while discussing the merits of those arts
and sciences that humanise and exalt the mind.
The allusion, as you may suppose, accompanied
as it was by an expression of warm and unqua-
lified panegyric, fell on my ears in silvery accents j
ROYAL SOCIETY OP LONDON.
439
especially as I had understood that the political
sentiments of this gentleman were not charac-
terised by that favourable bias towards the country
of my birth which marks the more moderate feel-
ings of some of the otiier statesmen of America.
He amused his auditory by a relation of the ludi-
crous circumstance that occurred on the original
formation of thf» Royal Society of London, which
he nevertheless praised most highly. He stated
to them, that at one of the first meetings of that
institution, when employed in examining, through
a telescope, the moon's disc, a member who had
been studiously engaged in surveying the luminary,
suddenly declared, with marvellous astonishment,
that he saw an elephant in the moon ! The won-
dering group of literati surrounding him were
perfectly startled at this unexpected intelligence ;
and first one and then the other applied his inqui-
sitive eye to the portentous tube, in order to satisfy
his very natural s'\ ptici?m. The result, however,
was the same: eve. man asserted the fact, with
an emotion of in comprehensible surprise — gazing
now on the unconscious or^, silently floating through
her sphere, uiid low on each other ; and looking,
as might well be imagined, " unutterable things."
It M'as " passing strange," they observed, and was
a most undoubted and inconceivable phenomenon.
At length one of the most incredulous, not to say
" long-headed,' of the astronomical party, pro-
440
ELEPHANT IN THE MOON.
P
posed an examination of the magical instrument
through which they had been moon-gazing — when
the miracle was at once accounted for by pei'ceiv-
ing, to their utter confusion, that a mouse had
insinuated itself between the glasses, and had
been metamorphosed into a huge quadruped, at
the distance of two hundred and forty thousand,
miles !
Previously to setting out, once more, in quest
of southern adventures, I paid a most interesting
visit to that excellent establishment, the Deaf and
Dumb Asylum, situated four miles from New
York, and over which I was conducted, with
much polite attention, by the Principal, Mr. Peet.
The institution contained, at the close of last
-'- :ir, eighty-five pupils, and is almost entirely
isupported by the state in which it is " located ;"
the I'eceipts derived thence, including a small sum
from the treasurer of New Jersey for the pupils
sent from that state — the sale of garden produce,
and of that of the workshop, &c. — amounted to
near seventeen thousand dollars. From this sum
a balance was carried over to the following year,
after disbursing all current expenses, of 671 dol-
lars. The objects of this beneficent charity are
retained within the asylum during a period of
five years, and are taught various trades, so as to
enable them afterwards to support themselves.
Having been kindly invited to dine with Mr.
NEW YORK DEAF AND DUMB ASYLUM. 441
Peet, in a large room where the scholars were
seated at table, I was particularly struck with the
solemnity of the mute grace, which he performed
by manual signs; while, all rising from their
places, every eye was turned towards the silent
and emphatic motion of his hands, expressing in
hieroglyphic language, felt though unheard, the
eloquent thanksgivings of the heart for the bounty
provided. The meal being concluded, we re-
paired to the school-room, when the principal
exhibited to me the various attainments in know-
ledge of his interesting pupils. He first mo-
tioned with his fingers as to the place I came
from, which they immediately wrote down with
perfect correctness. He then intimated to them,
in a similar manner, his wish that they should
" think something of me " One boy wrote down,
that he thought I was " an Irish gentleman ;"
another pencilled down on his slate — '' I think
that gentleman is going to see the Deaf and
Dumb Asylum at Hartford," &c. &c. I after-
wards, at the master's request, gave them a word
on which to compose a sentence. I named '' the
Saviour." On this subject, after a little reflection,
several of them expressed, in writing, sentiments
at once orthodox and scriptural, respecting the
great atonement accomplished for mankind by the
ever -blessed Redeemer of the world — indicative
of their love for, and their belief in him — and in
u2
It
'SM
n^'
m
II r
442
UNEXPECTED LIBERALITY
language which evinced, in connexion with their
ideas, that their diligent and conscientious in-
structor had not neglected his duty towards them.
It still farther evinced, that God, in his overruling
providence, can touch the heart, though he has
stopped the ear from listening to his praises, and
though he has tied down the tongue from uttering
thanksgivings to his name !
Before leaving the city, once more, for the
south, I had an opportunity of witnessing the con-
fiding liberality of the booksellers of New York,
in a manner that equally gratified and surprised
me. Wishing to purcliase some books, I stepped
into the shop of Pendleton and Hill, situated in
Bropdway ; raid among several works which I
selected were two that related to the same subject.
Being doubtful which of them contained the better
information, I stated to one of the partners — Mr.
Hill, I believe — the uncertainty I felt as to the
choice ; when he very civilly observed, that I was
quite at liberty to take them home, and make my
election at leisure. I informed him, however, that
I was immediately departing for the south, and
should be absent for a considerable period. The
circumstance, he replied, made no difference what-
ever; since;, if I were inclined to trouble myself
with them, I <30uld return the least eligible of the
two works on my next visit to the city, and that
there was not the least necessity, in the interim,
OF THE NEW YORK BOOKSELLERS.
443
either to pay for them, or leave any deposit. I
confess, that my admiration at this most disin-
terested and confiding proposal to a perfect
stranger, whom he had never seen before in his
shop or elsewhere, or ever heard of, was raised to
the highest degree. Aware that so many rogues
and vagabonds fly to America for refuge from the
offended laws of Europe, and that some of these
must occasionally play off the: ingenious con-
trivances on the public, I asked him how he
would venture to trust a person who was entirely
unknown to him, and how he was assured that he
would ever behold me again ? The result, how-
ever, is, that there was so much of honest and
generous candour about this worthy bookseller,
and the gratification arising from a feeling of con-
fidence is so great, that I determined to avail
myself of it, and fairly carried off the books,
without paying a single farthing for them, to
accompany me to New Orleans, I left Mr. Hill,
at the same time, with the impression that, how-
ever numerous might be either the foreign or native
rogues in New York, he himself had never been
deluded by them ; and, at all events, whether such
had been the case or not, that he was a most
liberal and deserving member of the fraternity of
booksellers.
On the 8th of November I left the capital of
Manhattan Island, in order to proceed to New
444
EXCURSION TO NEW ORLEANS.
Orleans, situated on the southern boundary of the
United States, and lying, from New York, at the
distance of upwards of two thousand miles. This
excursion was leading me several degrees farther
to the south than I had yet been to the north;
since the capital of Louisiana lies in 29*^ 58' N.
latitude, while the former is in 40*^ 40' N., and
Quebec in 46^ 55' N.
It had been my original intention, as you are
aware, to have revisited my natale solum in the
latter part of the present month ; but finding my
health benefited, during the progress of my late
tour, and discovering very much more to admire,
in the various institutions of this country — in the
social, moral, and religious fabric — than I had
previously expected, I have deferred my return to
the spring of the ensuing year. I felt desirous,
also, before I quitted the Republic, to be present
at some of the debates in Congress, which assemble
every year at Washington, in the first week of
December ; and as the approaching session will
continue sitting to a late period, it will enable me
to gratify my curiosity, after having explored the
banks of the magnificent Mississippi. I under-
stand that our Transatlantic brethren leave us at
an interminable distance behind them in the race
of oratory ; as, instead of mere hours, I am told
that a single member will sometimes run on, in a
fluent course of declamation, within the walls of
CANVASS-BACK DICKS.
445
the Capitol, for three consecutive days ! To avoid,
therefore, the tediousness of repetition, I shall
transfer you, at once, to the interesting shores of
the Potomac ; along whose meandering stream
you have, already, strolled with me as far as
Mount Vernon, and which I had imagined I
should never behold again.
Though I am happy to say you are by no
means an epicure, equally with myself, yet I
ought, nevertheless, to notice, en jxissant^ out of
respect for American gastronomy, a very delicious
" honne bouche" that I enjoyed at Baltimore, on my
way to the southward, in the shape of some can-
vass-back ducks. They are esteemed a great deli-
cacy, being superior to all other species of wild
ducks, to which class they belong, and are only in
season during three or four of the winter months.
They are found in considerable flocks, at this
period, on the river Susquehannah, where they
feed on the wild celery growing in the shallow
portions of the stream, which imparts a pecu-
liarly fine flavour to their flesh. I certainly en-
joyed the wild fowl much before the fish called
chpd, so highly praised by Captain Hall, whose
description alone would almost have induced a
gourmand to cross the Atlantic in order to partake
of it. But " de yustibus non disputandum est."
During the two days I passed at Baltimore, I
had the pleasure of accompanying the directors of
11, i
.f f
446
ADVANTAGES OF A FRICTION-WHEEL.
the Baltimore and Ohio rail-road, along with a
numerous party, to " open the road" as far as it
had been constructed, winch was somewhere about
forty miles. It is, as I have mentioned in a
former letter, a splendid work; and is intended
to run through the enormous distance of 360
miles, to join the Ohio river at Pittsburg, at the
moderate cost, considering the extent, of about
two millions sterling. This noble work strongly
evinces, I must acknowledge, and most willingly,
a spirit, enterprise, ingenuity, intelligence, and in-
dustry, redounding greatly, along with their other
gigantic works, to the honour and credit of the
inhabitants of the United States, and which none
but the Anglo-American people, and the English,
from whom they spring, of all the nations in the
world, could have accomplished.
I saw here an ingenious invention, called a
friction-wheel, made by an American about four
years ago, which, in consequence of the dimi-
nished resistance that it offers, when in motion,
enables the same power to draw nearly four times
the weight of an ordinary wheel. With this con-
struction, the application of a power equal to one
pound, as I understood the engineer, who is a
brother of the president director, will draw 440 ;
while applied to the common machine it will only
draw 120. A single horse is thus able to drag
along a thousand barrels of flour, or the extra-
FREDERICKSBURG VIRGINIA.
447
ordinary weight oi forty tons, — an advantage of
incalculable importance in mechanical operations.
Embarking at Washington in a small and
inauspicious -looking steam-boat,, substituted, pro
tempore, for the regular boat, which, for the satis-
faction of the passengers, we were informed had
blown up the week previously, and scalded lo
death aii unfortunate fireman, I once more cO'trRed
my way pti Mount Vernon, in the society of a
gentleman .d two ladies whom I had accom-
panied from New York, and who, like myself,
were en route for New Orleans. As I have for-
merly observed, tlie Potomac is a noble and
expansive stream, presenting much of picturesque
beauty on various portions of its banks ; the
** heau morceai" of the whole being the late resi-
dence of the illustrious " father of his country."
After a passage of sixty miles on this once
Indian river, which now only retains the shadowy
name of a hapless race, long since swept away —
the " Stat nominis umhrcC^ of the warrior tribes
who died, after bravely fighting, but in vain, to
secure their cherished independence — we landed
on the shores of Virginia. Stepping from the
boat into a coach, we rolled r iward, for the night,
to Fredericksburg, a distance of nineteen miles ;
the greater part of which we performed by the
chaste light of a full moon. There being nothing
remarkable to detain us here, we prosecuted our
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HEPUBLICAN EQUALITY.
1
journey, on the following day, through an exe-
crably bad road of seventy miles, to Charlottesville.
Rugged, however, and broken up as it was, there
was not a single labourer at work, nor a barrow-
ful of materials with which to repair it. This
very essential duty, whenever it is performed, if
ever, devolves on the proprietors of the adjoining
lands ; but, to confess the truth, the soil, gene-
rally, throughout the distance, was so barren, and
the very scanty population so widely scattered —
so "few and far between" — that, like the ancient
Indian river just named, the road remained, but
the landlords were all gone. So on we jolted,
breaking and snapping to pieces our harness,
rotten and woe-begone, like the deep ruts that we
were ever and anon tumbling over, and which we
tied and tagged together with pieces of rope, as
well as we could, till, as a gentle relief to our
aching bones and sorrowing hearts, we reached a
solitary cabaret by the road-side, where we were to
dine. And here we were amused by a specimen
of republican equality, in the easy and uncere-
monious freedom of our amiable and facetious
driver, who, on dinner being served up, stalked
into the " salon a manger^' with the careless non-
chalance of a bidden guest — seated himself at the
table with the ladies, whose elegant dresses pre-
sented rather a violent contrast to the grotesque
habiliments of honest Jehu, and entered into con-
REASON FOR BEING DISCONTENTED.
449
versation, and cracked his jokes, with all the
agreeable and winning familiarity imaginable.
On resuming our journey, as we were now
within sight of the beautiful and romantic ridge of
the Blue Mountains, I took a seat on the box
alongside my travelling companion (as, I suppose,
I should call him) of the whip, in order the
better to enjoy the fine and varied scenery before
me. Conversing with him, as a little additional
^^ passatempoy* he informed me that his home lay
on the opposite side of the mountains, then in full
view in the distance, and that he had driven but
for a short time on the road between Fredericks-
burg and Charlottesville, and which he was by
no means inclined to continue. In short his tone
was that of dissatisfaction with his present situ-
ation. Feeling, of course, somewhat interested in
his history, having just had him as a "boon com-
panion" at the dinner-table, I inquired the cause
of his apparently strong antipathy ; when, to my
utter astonishment, but secret amusement, recol-
lecting so vividly what had taken place within a
short half-hour previously, he said the reason was,
because there was more of " equality" in his own
part of the country, "where people were treated
all alike, without making any distinction ; and
to which he should, therefore, return with as
little delay as possible." It struck me that, at all
events, he could not reproach any of the party
M
1
450
A POSSIBLE HINT NOT TAKEN.
whom he was driving with anti-social practices, or
with infractions of his ultra-democracy ; and that
if he enjoyed the same unrestrained intercourse
with all mankind as he had done with us, and for
the effecting of this object had only to consult his
own free will, which, it appeared to me, would
never be wanting, he ought to be a most con-
tented and happy being. I was not quite sure
that his observation was not directed towards
myself ; and that it did not contain a gentle hint
to take the reins of his horses into my own hands,
while he retired to the inside of the vehicle, in
order to recreate himself with the conversation of
the ladies.
We were far from sorry, on reaching Char-
lottesville, to have gained our quarters for the
night ; as a drive of seventy miles, even on excel-
lent roads, is, as a matter of mere pleasure, suffi-
ciently long. Where, however, as in the present
instance, these are found in a state of utter aban-
donment, and running through a country almost
destitute of habitations, it becomes then rather an
endurance than a gratification. I am bound, at
the same time, in justice to observe, that this por-
tion of Virginia is accounted one of the worst in
the state, in which there are, beyond doubt, many
very rich and fertile districts; and as to extent
of boundary, this little sovereignty exceeds, if I
mistake not, that of any other member of the
MODE OF CULTIVATION IN OLD VIRGINIA. 461
confederation. It will afford you some idea of
the immense surface of territory possessed by the
United States, when I inform you, that this state
alone, of the twenty-four composing the Union,
covers more ground than the whole of England ;
the greatest length, running along its southern
boundary, being 440 miles. The state of New
York, nearly as large, comprises 46,000 square
miles; and the entire territory of the United States
the enormous amount of two millions.
With respect to the cultivation of the land on
the eastern side of the Blue Mountains, or in what
is called Old Virginia, I received a singular piece
of information, as well from my "equality" friend
the driver, as from much more intelligent persons,
and which some of the patches of soil that I had
just seen appeared well to confirm. I allude to
the system, adopted in the section referred to, of
raising a continual succession of crops without
ever putting a single load of compost on the land.
In the course of time, therefore, its strength is
entirely exhausted ; and when the planters have
taus "worked it out," they retrench their ex-
penses and live on the productiveness of their
slaves. This means, as I was informed — and it
infers something peculiarly abhorrent to the mind
— that they keep their unhappy slaves as a kind
of " live stock," from the sale of the produce of
whom, in the shape of their children, they raise
i -.1
452 PROBLEM FOR THE " SCHOOLMASTER."
money to supply their expenses, and thus maintain
their station in life; just planting, or sowing, so
much of the spent land as will provide subsist-
ence for these human cattle ; for into such the
slaves are, in fact, converted.
Such a system of non-tillage, and consequent
destruction of the prolific virtues of the soil, and
of the profitable returns which a due cultivation
would insure — ^leaving out of sight the barbarities
with which slavery must be more or less ever
connected — casts a very negative reflection on
these soi'disant farmers with regard to husbandry.
I had some difficulty in believing the fact, but was
assured by several persons of its truth. To ima-
gine that this territorial waste arises from ignor-
ance, in the present day of the "schoolmaster," is
impossible; neither can it arise from indifference
to pecuniary emolument, since that appears to be
repelled by the periodical sale of slaves ; nor yet
from any rule of computation as to the compara-
tive price of tillage, in reference to the emolu-
ments of the succeeding harvest, and terminating
against the value of the latter, as I understand
the farmers in " New Virginia," on the other side
of the ** blue ridge," carefully manure their lands,
at no superior advantage as to cost, and derive,
as they merit, luxuriant and remunerating crops.
There seems nothing, therefore, with which to
charge them but bad judgment, and this, in the
FIRST COLONISATIONS IN THE STATES. 453
present case, is so nearly associated with ignorance,
that I own myself fairly puzzled ; and must rest
satisfied with giving you a bare knowledge of
the fact, and leaving you to draw your own
comments.
Virginia was the first of the states now form-
ing the confederation, with the exception of
North Carolina, where an English colony was
established, and which took place in 1607, under
the auspices of the London Company, constituted
by letters patent granted by James I. The settle-
ment, in honour of the royal patron, was called
Jamestown, and lies on the south-eastern part of
its territory. The earliest of these plantations,
however, was on the island of Roanoke, at the
mouth of Albemarle Sound, in North Carolina^
and was effected under the influence of Sir Walter
Raleigh, who had obtained a patent from Queen
Elizabeth, granting to him such "remote, heathen,
and barbarous lands as he might discover and
occupy." This occurred in 1585 ; and so mar-
vellous were the reports of the beauty of the
country, made by the captains of the discovery-
ships on their return, that her majesty, delighted
with the description, and anxious to perpetuate
the remembrance that it had been discovered
during the reign of a virgin queen, called it Vir-
ginia. At the first period of English colonisation
in America, and for a considerable time subse-
454
THE BLUE MOUNTAINS.
quently, the name of Virginia, thus royally be-
stowed, gave denomination to the whole eastern
coast of North America.
There being nothing interesting in the locale
of Charlottesville, except the State College, erected
in the town, and the residence of the late states-
man, Mr. Jefferson, in the vicinity of it, we
renewed, on the following day, our wayfaring
labours, by proceeding forty miles, to Staunton.
The day's excursion was highly interesting, as our
road lay directly over the lofty ridge of the Blue
Mountains, which had afforded us the principal,
if not the only, object of attraction during our
route of the previous day. The reason of their
being distinguished by a term denoting colour, is
the circumstance of the bluish tinge with which,
at a considerable distance, they appear to be im-
pressed. The views from them, as from most
mountain elevations, exhibit a mixture of romantic
boldness, grandeur, beauty, and variety ; and the
labour of mounting the ascent, up which I walked
for the purpose of better enjoying the scene, was
infinitely more than repaid by the fineness and
diversity of the unobstructed prospect.
I was now to take leave of the party whom
I had accompanied thus far from New York, and
whose society I had, at the commencement of our
tour, proposed to enjoy as far as New Orleans.
But I perceived, and not for the first time, that
PLEASURE AND BUSINESS INCOMPATIBLE. 455
)m
pleasure and business are but ill-assorted elements
for accomplishing two opposite purposes. They
are a species of Whig and Tory — a Clay's man
and Jackson's man — tariff and anti-tariff —
attempting an impossible coalition, yet ever pull-
ing in a contrary direction, and which tlie first
short cut in the road on the one hand, or a
beauty or phenomenon of nature on the other,
will on the instant dissolve. The gentleman and
his family with whom I had been travelling, and
who were persons of amiable dispositions, were
proceeding to the capital of Louisiana, on affairs
of the latter description ; while la belle Nature
was the object of my search, and the pursuit of
which had alone called into action, on the present
occasion, my powers of locomotion.
The two splendid curiosities of the " Natural
Bridge" and the " Weyer's Cave," unseen by any
of us — the former diverging but little from the
direct route of our journey — offered attractions
to myself not to be resisted ; and as my fellow-
travellers were content to sacrifice these Virginian
"lions," for the sake of gaining a couple of days,
we parted at Staunton. And here I must remark
— and I am sure I do it without the smallest feel-
ing ofunkindness — that, judging from the present,
as from other instances which had occurred to me
elsewhere, it forcibly struck me that the Americans
are, generally speaking, by no means such lovers
466
ENGLISH AND AMERICAN TASTE.
of nature as are the English. In this respect I
must certainly coincide with Captain Hall, who,
in some part of his work on North America,
expresses an opinion in affirmation of the fact.
At the same time, while I state what appears to
me to be the truth, I think I can also parceive
the cause which lies at the foundation of much
of that diversity existing between us, with regard
to taste and other moral endowments of the mind.
The reason, I have no doubt, arises from the
constant and universal occupation of the citizens
in business, and from the possession of little of
that aristocratic leisure so amply enjoyed in Eng-
land, and which, to a greater or less extent, is
essential to the cultivation of a refined taste, either
for the "sublime and beautiful" in nature, or for
the line arts. This is a cause, too, which every
successive year will gradually tend to remove;
and I am quite convinced, — to prove that I have
no bias except that of justice, not to say partiality,
towards them — any thing, in short, but a feeling
of prejudice or antipathy, — that if the Anglo-
American people can only hold firmly together,
in the continued union of their confederated states,
in the course of a hundred or two hundred yeari^
they will become as powerful a nation, and, what
is still better, as intelligent and moral, as any
that either ancient or modern times has exhibited
to the world.
EXCURSION TO THE WEYEB 8 CAVE.
457
I was now to enact a pas seulf instead of assist-
ing in a pas de quatre. Mounting, therefore, a
stout little Virginian pony, I cantered oif to the
Weyer's Cave, distant ahout twenty miles from
Staunton, leaving the town in one direction just
as my late companions were hastening oif in the
opposite one. The morning was fine and warm,
though now the middle of Novemher. My
road lay for seven miles through the depths of
an extensive forest, where the majesty of the
trees, the ever-changing objects of the continually
meandering path, and, in addition, the deep soli-
tude, unbroken by the song of a single bird, or
the appearance of a single human being or human
habitation, conspired to raise an interesting ex-
citement of mind. Every thing was silent as the
grave — a desert wilderness reigned around, with
a hushed and mysterious solemnity. And yet
the same Spirit, I could not help ejaculating to
myself, that "moved on the face of the waters,"
breathes o'er the pines of this forest, and rustles
through its falling leaves —
" Since God is ever present, ever felt —
In the void waste as in the city full —
And where He vital breathes there must be joy/'
Emerging thence, I came in sight of a long
and waving line of the mountain-ridge which I
had so lately passed, and that forms such a pro-
VOL. I. X
458
THE WBYER S CAVE.
minent and untiring object in the landscape. The
features of the country were altogether changed
from what I had hitherto observed. I was now
in what is called the Valley of Virginia, and found
the land to be as fertile and well cultivated as
it had previously been the reverse. Rich and
smiling farms were scattered about on all sides,
displaying at once the bounty of nature and the
diligent care of the provident husbandman. This
luxuriant tract continues, with but few intervals
of inferior soil, throughout the entire length of
the valley, extending a considerable number of
miles, as far as the romantic junction of the
Shenandoah and Potomac, at Harper's Ferry.
The Weyer's Cave presents the most extraor-
dinary, splendid, and beautiful subterranean ex-
hibition that is perhaps to be seen in any part of
the world. The countless myriads of stalactites
and petrifactions, of every size, form, and colour,
from the purest white to the darkest green and
brightest vermilion, and from the dimensions of
an organ to those of an icicle, exceed all that can
be imagined. Many of the numberless chambers
contained in it, of which one or two appear nearly
as spacious as Westminster Hall, are literally hung
round with these glittering spars, presenting, in
various places, the most picturesque and fanciful
drapery of petrified and transparent substances,
and reminding me, from their gorgeous appear-
THB WEYER S CAVE.
459
ance, and the situation in which they were beheld,
of the magical halls of an Arabian enchanter.
Having procured a guide, and a number of
boys to carry torches, I entered this fairy palace
just as the moon was softly brightening over the
blue mountains, which might now have well
changed their denomination from blue to silver,
as the former was absorbed altogether in the flood
of radiant light that was poured down upon them.
The entrance to this laboratory of Nature, where
she works in silence and secrecy, producing the
most enchanting forms and devices, lies on the
precipitous side of a hill. It is excavated by an
unknown and inartificial process into a thousand
chambers and galleries, extending to a length of
upwards of half a mile, and of very considerable
breadth. Indeed, many of its caverns and recesses
have never yet been explored; and those which
are known require a conducting thread to guide
the adventurer, as much as did the celebrated
Cretan labyrinth of ancient story.
The chamber which is first entered is called
the " vestibule," — being bound, as a faithful nar-
rator, to attend to the classical nomenclature of
the place, — and whence you proceed, through a
rock of petrifaction, to the " Dragon's Room."
Here are perceived numberless and varied fonn-
ations of stalactites, and a huge, outlandish
460
THE WEYER 8 CAVE.
figure of the same material, emblematical of the
poetical personage that gives to the apartment
its designation. Winding along a narrow gal-
lery, the exploring visitor descends, by a steep
ladder at its extremity, into what is denominated
*' Solomon's Temple," where is beheld a sublime
and extraordinary sight, worthy of the illustrious
title by which it is named. On one side is ex-
hibited an immense, wave-like incrustation of the
most beautifully white and transparent petrifac-
tion, extending from the ceiling to the floor, re-
presenting a cascade falling over a precipice, and
appearing to have conglaciated in the very act
of descent. This is fancifully termed the " Falls
of Niagara;" and, associated as it is with the
hidden depths of the subterranean world, and
lighted up alone by the flickering and lurid
glare of torches, impresses the imagination with
a sentiment of wonder and superstitious awe.
The effect was truly magical and full of interest.
Turning to another side of this marvellous ca-
vern, is seen " Solomon's Throne," elevated to a
height, and thrown into a shape, well becoming
the imaginary chair of state of a sovereign prince,
and forming one entire mass of glittering crystals.
Near to it stands "Solomon's Pillar;" while in
an apartment adjoining are beheld ten thousand
stalactites suspended from the roof, of various
THE WEYER S CAVE.
461
spiral forms, and of a perfectly white colour,
called by the anti-poetical name of the " Radish
Room."
Proceeding onward, through a long and wind-
ing passage, you ascend, by another ladder, to
what has received the name of the "Tambourine,
or Drum Room ;" decorated with a splendid drapery
of crystal workmanship, and semipellucid curtains
of different hues, spread over the walls like the
embellishments of a lady's drawing-room. These
were truly admirable ; some of them forming, in
the loveliest white spar, the appearance of cano-
pies, and others falling in ample sweep from the
ceiling to the floor, and exhibiting as graceful and
softly flowing shapes as so many folds of silk.
Here are displayed immense sheets of congela-
tions, called the " drums, " which, on being
struck, emit a sound resembling that of a gong.
On leaving these instruments of unearthly me-
lody, threading other galleries, and surmounting
** Jacob's Ladder," you pass through the " Senate
Chamber," and the " Music Gallery" — each pre-
senting a diversified array of gorgeous gems of
superhuman fabric — into " Washington's Hall,"
the most splendid and extensive chamber of the
cave. The dimensions of it are very considerable,
being ninety yards in length, twenty wide, and fifty
in height. The spars and crystal formations of this
room, if so it may be called, are particularly brilliant,
x2
462
THE WEYER 8 CAVE.
the roof being apparently supported by musical co-
lumns ranged along its sides, and which, by passing
a stick rapidly over their surface, produce a pro-
fusion of singular intonations like a ring of bells.
"The Father of his Country" is here mounted
on a superb pedestal of the same transparent
mineral, exceeding in brightness the lustre of
Parian marble, and might be supposed a second
Rhadamanthus, descended to the shades below, to
administer the impartial justice which he taught
and executed in the world above. It struck me
that these hints of popular feeling, addressed to
the memory of the great hero of the Revolution,
might act as a gentle reminiscence to the senators
of a country that he formed, and over which he
presided with such devoted patriotism, that the
vote which was passed in congress two years ago,
to raise a monument at Washington in honour of
its first and most illustrious president, remains to
this day a dead letter on the journals of their
proceedings.
I should be told, perhaps, in answer, that the
patriot is embalmed in the grateful recollections
of his countrymen, and that he li\res ia the bright
records of his nation's history. All this I grant ;
and yet I cannot but think that these recollections
must be rather cold, and to a stranger appear
somewhat doubtful, when they do not evidence
the internal workings of the heart by something
THE WEYER S CAVE.
463
the
lions
light
Lilt;
lions
►ear
ince
ling
of an external and visible form ; which, while it
might ornament the capital of a rising empire,
would arrest the eye and fix the attention of the
young aspirant for future fame. Whatever may
be said of the generation coeval with the exploits
of a chief who has deserved so well of his country,
still posterity demands, and the foreigner travel-
ling through the land looks for, some durable and
recording memorial of a hero who has at once
ennobled and adorned human nature.
If the conqueror in the Olympic games was
crowned with laurel, and had temples and statues
erected to his honour, the veteran chief who has
laid the foundations of his country's independence
and glory, merits at least an equal distinction
with the contenders in a chariot race, with boxers,
wrestlers, poets, and orators.
Out of respect to the late President's wife,
I must not omit to mention what is called '* Lady
Washington's Drawing-room," in which is dis-
played a variety of the most fantastical and beau-
tiful drapery, of a bright green colour, edged
with white, end hanging in the form of curtains.
At a short distance from this, with very approp* iate
coincidence, lies the " Diamond Room," well de-
serving its title from the extreme brilliancy of its
spars, and their close resemblance to those costly
ornaments. Continuing my researches, I now
passed successively the " Pyramids," " Pompey's
464
THE WEYER S CAVE.
Pillar," and the "Falls of the Ganges;" and
came, at length, to one of the most gorgeous
specimens of petrifaction in the whole cave,
standing in " Jefferson's Hall." It is formed of
a massive body of spar that would probably weigh
many hundred tons, and is decorated with the
most graceful and regular ilutings, covering its
entire surface. This is denominated the " Tower
of Babel," and is, without the slightest exaggera-
tion, a truly magnificent piece of natural crystal
workmanship.
Passing a very fine incrustation of a silvery
brightness, resembling the new moon, — being
elevated towards the ceiling, and producing an
optical delusion highly interesting, — I now scaled
the rugged and slippery rocks of the " Giant's
Causeway." The object that I proposed to my-
self, as the reward of my toil, was to see the
" Statue of Buonaparte," beheld by very few in
consequence of its difficult access. This circum-
stance has operated greatly in its favour, since,
by being seldom touched, or tarnished by the
smoke of torches, it preserves all its original
splendour of colour, and presents a snowy white-
ness and brilliancy of spar exceeding all the rest.
In this respect, it was a matchless specimen of the
purest and most beautiful crystallisation.
But it is high time to pause in my description,
though I have not given you more than a tithe
THE WEYER S CAVE.
465
of the wonders of this gorgeous cave, and which
infinitely surpasses every thing of a similar nature
that I have ever seen elsewhere. In point of
interest, though not similarity, it forcibly recalls
to my remembrance the superb caves of Ellora,
on the plains of Hindostan, in which India's ten
thousand gods are enshrined in colossal stature.
You may imagine the absorbing delight that I
took in this subterranean research when I inform
you, that I remained gazing and exploring for
five hours, to the no small surprise of my guide,
who told me that few remained so long or pene-
trated so far. I entered the cave about seven in
the evening, after riding twenty miles, just as the
lovely moon was throwing her " silver mantle"
over the sombre screen of the blue mountains ;
and when I came out, her glittering orb had
passed the zenith and was fast declining to the
western hills. The only apprehension I enter-
tained, during my visit to these darksome regions,
was the fear of our lights going out ; a circum-
stance that was nearly occurring two or three
times, when it would have been, I think, physi-
cally impossible to have extricated ourselves from
the endless galleries, traversing each other, in
which we were involved — more intricate, I should
imagine, than even the celebrated labyrinth of
Daedalus. If capable, however, of being effected,
my excellent guide, James Raynes, would have
i
466
A SUPERLATIVE DEMOCRAT.
accomplished it ; for I never met a more attentive
or intelligent conductor, or a person possessing a
more con amore spirit of adventure than himself,
and which would have led him to remain till
midnight of the following day had I heen so in-
clined. Therefore, should you ever visit this
country, I strongly recommend him to you as an
indefatigable cicerone.
On rising the following morning, in the little
miserable cabaret where I slept, I had a down-
right specimen of ultra-democratic manners, and
indeed insolence, in the person of my despotic
host Benjamin Bryans. Discovering that I had
no water in my room, though perceiving the re-
quisite apparatus for washing, I requested the
servant of the house to bring me some, when I
was given to understand, that the hospitable land-
lord refused permission to have it brought up.
Fancying there must be some mistake, I descended
the stairs, and civilly renewed my request, on
which I was informed by the mob-monarch him-
self, (representing no doubt, as he thought, in his
own person, the majesty of the people of all the
twenty-four states of the Union), that it was the
custom of his house that all the guests should wash
in the yard. On remonstrating against this out-
landish regulation, and begging, at all events, as
I had never been accustomed to perform my ab-
lutions in public, that, for courtesy's sake to a
THE RUSSIAN ADTOCRAT OUTDONE.
467
jntive
ling a
mselfy
n till
so in-
Lt this
as an
e little
down-
's, and
[espotic
I had
the re-
;ed the
when I
le land-
;ht up.
icended
^est, on
ih him-
,, in his
all the
as the
[id wash
lis out-
ents, as
my ab-
e to a
stranger, he would relax the singularity of his
rule in my favour, he sternly replied, " that I was
no better than any body else, and that if I did
not choose, like the rest of mankind, to perform
the operation down stairs, I might defer it till the
following morning, when I might be gratified in
my taste elsewhere." I was, as you may suppose,
absolutely astounded at the publican's impudence,
and want of even Hottentot politeness. Finding,
however, that resistance was vain, and further
remonstrance useless, there being no other house
of accommodation in the place, I was fain to sub-
mit to the sovereign fiat of this autocrat of Vir-
ginia. After ruminating in my chamber for a
few minutes on my singular position, and whether
it might not be as well to adjourn my toilet al-
together to the banks of the river which I was
about to pass, in returning to Staunton, I at last
walked down stairs into the yard like a whipped
schoolboy, and, in front of the inn and the houses
of the village J went through the manual operations
with as much patience and decorum as I could.
After this evolution I was not long in hasten-
ing my departure ; and, re-mounting my excellent
Virginian pony, I wended my way back to Staun-
ton, as much astonished with Mr. Benjamin
Bryans' barbarism as I had been surprised and
delighted with the Weyer's Cave. In justice,
however, to the Republic, I must say, that the con-
i(
f.
Ai
468 AN HONOURABLE ;tALVO FOR THE REPUBLIC.
duct above alluded to is quite an exception to the
general rule — a piece of savage life isolated from
the rest of mankind, and standing apart by itself
— since I have never hitherto experienced any
thing but attention and kindness. At the same
time it may be observed, that Virginia is a slave-
holding state ; and I can easily imagine the evil
influence of this circumstance both on mind and
manners. I am also informed, that I shall per-
ceive a general and radical change for the worse
in the character of the people, as contrasted with
those of the north, the farther I proceed to the
southward.
My paper is now exhausted, though not, I
fear, before your patience. I shall therefore con-
clude, according to that law of necessity, (fortu-
nately for yourself) which, as in the case of the
despotic publican of Virginia, admits of no alter-
native. For the present, then, je vous fais mes
adieux !
END OF THE FIRST VOLUME.
LONDON:
J. HOYES, CjkSTLE STREET, LEICESTER SQUARE.