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Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la m^thode. y errata id to nt ne pel u re, If on d ' i 2 3 32X 1 2 3 4 5 6 y^^^^^^^o^J i^ / ^ TRAVELS XV NOETH A ¥ ERIC A, nr THE TBAHS 1841-2 j With GEOLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS ON THE UNITED STATES. CANADA, AND NOVA SCOTIA. BY CHARLES LTEIl, ESQ.. F.R.8. AUTHOR OF THE PRINCIPLES OP OEOLOOT. WITHOUT THE LAEGER PLATES. IN TWO VOLUMES. VOL. I. NEW YORK: WILEY & HALSTED No, 861 BROADWAY. Ifl5f5. Lpn C, Tl GEORGE TICKNOR, ESQ,, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS. My dear Mr. Ticknor, I am glad to have your permission to dedicate these vohimes to you, in remembrance of the many happy days spent in your society, and in that of your family and literary friends at Boston ; a remembrance which would be without alloy, were it not for my frequent regrets that the broad Atlantic should sep- arate so many congenial souls whom we both of us number among our friends in Europe and America. Believe me, With feelings of great regard, Ever faithfully yours, Charles Lyell. London, June 12, 1845. i it: V J ' ! - it' I PREFACE. TiiK reader is reminded that the general map of the genloj^y rjf the United States and Canada forms the frontispiece of the feecond volume, and that the line of my route is traced upon it in the manner described in the explanation of the map at Vol II. p. 238 As the present work embraces a great variety of subjects to which my thoughts were turned during my travels in North America, I have endeavoured to confine myself as far as |)ossi- ble to the communication of such scientific matter as I thought might be of interest to the general reader. For a more detailed account of my geological observations alluded to in the course of these volumes, I must refer to the following published papers and abstracts of memoirs read to the Geological Society of Lon- don. 1. Letter to Dr. Fitton on the Blossberg Coal District and Stigrraria : Proceedings of the Geological Society, vol. iii. p. 554. 1841. 2. Recession of the Falls of Niagara : Ibid. vol. iii. p. 595. 1842. Resumed, vol. iv. p. 19. 1843. 3. Tertiary Formations in Virginia and otL. arts of the United States: Ibid. vol. iii. p. 735. 1842. 4. Fossil Foot-Prints of Birds and Impressions of Rain-drops in Connecticut Valley. Ibid. vol. iii. p. 793. 1842. 6. Tertiary Strata of Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts : Ibid, vol iv. p. 31. 1843. 6. On the Geological Position of the Mastodon giganteus, and other Remains at Big Bone Lick, Kentucky, and other Localities in the United States. Ibid. vol. iv. p. 36. 1843. VI PREFACE. 7. On iiprip;lit Fossil Trors fmind in tlio Ciuil Srrnta of Cnm« berlaml, Nnvu Scotiu : i>iUiiuans Journal, vol. xlv. No. 2. p. .^5;3. iri43. 8. Coul Foniintions, Gypsum, and Marine Limestones of Novu Scotia : Jhid. p. 35G. 9. l^'d of I'luuihnpo and Anthracite in Mica-'-chist, near Wor- cester, Massachusetts, with Appendix containing Aualysea by Dr. Percy : Quarterly Journ. of Gcol. Hoc. No. 2. p. 41G. May, 1845. 10. Cretaceous Strata of New Jersey, with Appendix, on the Fossil Corals of the same, by Mr. Lonsdale : Ibid' No. 1. p. 301. Feb. 1845. 11. Miocene Formations of Virginia and North Carolina, &:c., with Appendix, on Fossil Corals, by Mr. Lonsdale : read to the Geol. Soc., March, 1845. Preparing for publica- tion, Ibid. No. 4. 12. On the White Limestone of South Carolina and Georgia, and the Eocene Strata of other parts of the U. S., with Appendix, on the Corals, by Mr. Lonsdale : read to the Geol. Soc., March, 1845. Preparing for publication, Ibid. No. 4. Abstracts of most of these papers have alst) appeared in Sil- liman's " American Journal of Science and Arts," for the cor- responding years. London, June 14th, 1845. CONTENTS OF VOLUME I. CHAPTER I Voyage. — Harlionr of Halifax. — Excursions near Boston. — Dif- ference of Plants from Kuropean .Species, ami Cnrri'-Sjoii- dence of Marine Sliolls— Resemblance of Drift, Krritics, and Furrowed Roclo, to lliose of Sweden. — S|ning'ud(l. — i\e\v Hjven. — Scenery of the Hudson. — .Mbany. — (ieclii;!- cal Surveys.— Moliawk Valley. — Ancient or Siliuian Forma- tiois — Prosperity and rapid Progress of the People — Lake Ontario. — Tortoises. — Fossil Remains of Mastodon PAOI 1 CHAPTER H. Distant and near View of the Falls of Niagara. — Whether the Falls have receded from Queenston to their present Site. — Geographical Features of the Region. — Course of tlie River above and below the Falls. — Recent Proofs of Erosion. — Historical Data in the Works of Hennepin and Kalm. — Geological Evidence derived from Fluviatile Strata or Remnants of an old River-bed in Goat-Island and else- where. — Difficulty of computing the Rate of tlie Retrograde Movement — Varying Hardness and Thickness of the Rocks undermined.— Future Recession. — Age of the Drift and Lime- stone Escarpments. — Successive changes which preceded and accompanied the origin of the Falls.— Reflections on the Lapse of past Time 22 CHAPTER HL Tour from the Niagara to the Northern Frontier of Pennsyl- vania. — Ancient Gypsiferous Formation of New York. — Fossil Mastodon at Genesco. — Scenery. — Sudden Growth of New Towns. — Coal of P>lossborjr, and resemblance to British Nl III I PAoa 44 TT coyTr.yjn. Conl-Measurcs — Sti:^mnri;».— (Inmming Birds. — Nomencla- ture of I'liccs.— Hdilcrbir^ MountJiins and Fossils. — Ke- fruclory TtMaiits.— Trivi'llinu' in the States. — F'ulifeness of Women. — C'iin;il Ho.it.— Domestic Service. — Progress of Civilis.Uion.— I'iuladuipliiu. — I-'ire-en^ines CHAPTER IV. F.xcnrsion to New Jersey. — Crctacenns Rocks compared to Kiiroi)ean. — General Analo)j;y of Fossils, and Distinctness of Species.— Tour to the Anthracite Reijion of the Alleghanics in Pennsylvania. — Lon^ pitrallcl Rid^i'S and Valleys of these Monntiins. — Putlsville — .Absence of Smoke. — Fossil Plants s.ime iis in IJituminous C'oul. — Sti;.;mari.c. — Great Thickn«'S3 of Stritu — Origin of Anthracite. — V;ist Area of the Appala- chian Coal-l'ield. — Progressive Debituminization of coal from West to East. — General Remarks on the dilfercnt Groups of Rocks between the Atlantic and the Mississippi. — Law of Strncti'rc of tlic Appalachian chain discovered by the Professor.^ Ro;^ers. — Increased Folding and Dislocation of Strata on the Soutli-eastern Hank of the Appalachians. — Theory of tiie Origin of this Mountain chain 6:^ CHAPTER V. Wooded Ridges of the Alleghany Mountains. — German Patois in Pennsylvania. — Lehigh Summit Mine. — Effects of Ice during u Flood in the Delaware. — Election of a Governor at Trenton and at Philadelphia. — Journey to Boston. — Autumnal Tints of the Foliage. — Boston the Seat of Com- merce, of Government, and of a University. — Lectures at the Lowell Institute.— Influence of Oral Instruction in Litera- ture and Science. — Fees of Public Lecturers. — Education Funds sunk in costly Buildings. — Advantages of anti-build- ing clauses — Blind Asylum. — Lowell Factory. — National Schools.— Equality of Sects. — Society in Boston 81 CHAPTER VL Fall of Snow and Sleigh-driving at Boston. — Journey to New Haven. — Ichthyolites of Durham, Connecticut.— Age of Red Sandstone. — Income of Farmers. — Baltimore. — Wash- ington. — National Museum. — Natural Impediments to the Growth of Washington.— Why chosen for the Capital.-- Richmond, Virginia. — Efi'ects of Slave Labour. — Low Region Re S V ri \\ ag fo 44 CONTKNTi. on thfi Atlantic Bonier, occupied by Tertiary .Str;ita — In fiisorial Hcd at Rioltniotid. — Miocene Sliell:i and (dralii in the I lifs of the Janus Uivt-r com; ared with i'os.s Id < f the Kuro|)oan Crj^ and i'.du;is — Analogy ol I'diniH and DiI!;e down the Savannah River. — Shell Blufl'. — Slave Labour. — Fever and Ague. — Millhavcn. — Pine F'orests of Georgia. — Alligators and Land Tortoises — 'Warmth of Climate in January. — Tertiary Strata on the Savannah. — Fossil Remains of Mastodon and Mylodon near Savannah. — Passports required of Slaves. — Cheerfulness of the Negroes. I2i2 lal few (of Ih- 81 CHAPTER IX. Return to Charleston. — Fossil Human Skeleton. — Geographical Distribution of Quadrupeds in North America. — .Severe Frost in 183.') in South Carolina.— White Limestone of the Cooper River and Santee Canal. — Referrid to the Eocene Period, not intermediate between Tertiary and Chalk. — Lime-sinks. — Species of Shells common to Eocene Strata in America and Europe. — Causes of the increased Insalubrity of the Low Region of South Carolina. — Condition of the Slave Population. — Cheerfulness of the Negroes, their 'Vanity. — State of Animal Existence — Invalidity of Mar- riages. — The coloured Population multiply faster than the Whites. — Eflect of the Interference of Abolitionists. — Law apainst Education. — Gradual Emancipation equally desirable for the W^hites and the Coloured Race 136 Ion VI CONTEXTS. PAM CHAPTER X. Wilmington, North Carolina. — Mount Vernon. — Return to Pliiladtlphia.— Reception of Mr. Dickens. — Museum and Fossil Human Bones. — Penitentiary.— Churches.— Relii^ious Excitement. — Coloured People of Fortune. — Obstacles to tlicir obtaining Political and Social Equality.— No natural Antipathy between the Races. — Negro Reservations 156 CHAPTER XI. Philadelphia. — Financial Crisis.— Payment of State Dividends suspended. — General Distress and Private Losses of th*" Americans. — Debt of Pennsylvania. — Public Works. — Direct Taxes. — Deficient Revenue. — Bad Faith and Confiscations. — Irresponsible Executive. — Loan Refused by European Capi- talists in 18-42. — Good Faith of Congress during the War in 1S12-14 — Effects of Universal Suflirage.- Fraudulent Vot- ing. — Aliens. — Solvency and Good Faith of the Majority of the States — Confidence of American Capitalists. — Reform of the Electoral Body,— General Prcgxess of Society, and Prospects of the Republic 171 CHAPTER XII. Now York City. — Geology.— Distribution of Erratic Rocks in Long Island. — Residence in New York. — Effects on ociety of increased Intercourse of distant States. — Separatioi of the Capital and Metropolis. — Climate. — Geology of the "i ^onic Momitains. — Stratum of Plumbago and Anthracite i the Mica Schist of Worcester — Theory of its Origin. — Let jres for the Working Classes.— Fossil Foot-Prints of Bi a in Red Sandstone. — Mount Holyoke. —Visit to the Isl; d of Martha's Vineyard. — Fossil Walrus.— Indias .... 189 CHAPTER XIIL Meeting of Association of American Geologists at Boston. — Popular Libraries in New England.— Large Sale of Literary Works in the United States. — American Universities. — Harvard College, near Boston. — English Universities. — Pecu- liarities of their System. — Historical Sketch of the Causes of the Peculiarities not of Medieval Origin. — Collegiate Corporations. — Their altered Relations to the English Uni- versities after the Reformation. — Constitution given to Oxlbrd by Leicester and Laud.— System of Public Teaching, COWTENTS. rkmm 156 PAoa how superseded by the Collegiate.— Effects of the Change.— Oxford Examination Statute of ISOO.—lts subsequent Modi- firation and Results.— Rise of Private Tutors at Oxford and Canibriilge.—Consequences of this Innovation. — Struggle at Oxford in ISJ'J to restore the Trofessional System.— Causes of its Rejection.— Tractarianism.— Supremacy of Ecclesias- tics. — Youthful Examiners. — Cambridge, advocacy of the System followed there.— Influence of the English Academi- cal Plan on the Cultivation of the Physical Sciences, and all Branches of Progressive Knowledge. — Remedies and Reforms 208 171 169 r li! I! I I I JOURNAL 'I OF A TOUR IN NORTH AMERICA IN 1841—2. CHAPTER I. Voyage. — Hirhonr of ITiIifax. — Excursions near Boston. — Differ- ence of Pl.rniis from European Species, and Correspondence of Marine Shells. — Rarmhlance of Drift, Erratics, and furrowed Rocks, to those of Sweden. — Sprinisjield. — New Haven. — Scenery of the Hudson. — Alhainj. — Geological Surveys. — Mohawk Valley. — Ancient or Silurian Formations. — Prosperity and rapid Progress of the People. — Lake Ontario. — Tortoises. — Fossil Remains of Mjdtadim. Jiilij 20, 1841. — Sailed from Liverpool for Boston, U. S., ill the steam-ship Acadia, which held her com'se as straight as an arrow from Cape Clear in Ireland to Halifax in Nova Scotia, makino- between 220 and 280 miles per day. After the monotony of a week spent on the open sea, we were amused when we came near the great banks which extend from the southern point of New- foundland, by the rapid passage of the steamer through alternate belts of stationary fog and clear spaces warmed and lighted up with bright sunshine. Look iug at the dense fog from the interinediate sumiy J !'f ' !i ill; ii; iji! HARBOrU OF HALIFAX. Chap. i. regions, we could hardly be persuaded that we were not beholding land, so distinct and well-defined was its outline, and such the varieties of lii»"ht and shade, that some of our Canadian fellow-pussenufers compared it to the patches of cleared and uncleared comihy on the north shore of the »St. Lawrence. TIk^sc iop^n are caused by the meeting, over the gi<>at l>anks, of the warm watered of (ho ;julf stream ilowinii: iVom the south, and colder currents, often cliari>''d with iloatinij;' ice, froni the nortii, by which very oj)posite slates in the; relative lejnperature of the sea and atmoftphcie are pro- duced in spaces closely contiguous, in places v.heie the sea is warmer than the air, fogs are generjleil. When the eye has been accustomed for many (Ia3's to the deep blue of the central Atlantic, the greener tint of the sea over the banks is lefreshing. We were within 150 miles of the southern point of Newfonnfl- land when we crossed thesu' b'lnks, ov(M' whicli the shallowest water is said to be aljout thirty-live fathoins deep. The bottom consists of lino t^mv], whicii mu-t be often ploughed up by icebergs, I'or so\ eral of tluMu were seen aground liere 1>y scnrie of op.r pass.MiQiT- on the 31st of July last. The captain tells us (!t;!t the worst months 'for crossing the Atlantic to and from Halifax are February and 3Iarch, and the m )4 aarcc able ones, July, August, and September. The nearer we approached the American coast, the more ijeautiful and brilUant were the sunsets. We sometimes com- pared the changing hues of the clouds and sky to the blue and red colours in a pigeon's neck. Juf?/ 31. — On the eleventh day of our voyage we Bailed directly into tiie harbom- of Halifax, which by its low hills of granite and slate, covered with birch and Chap. i. ARRIVAL AT HOSTOX. spi lice fir, roinindefl mo inoro of a Xorvpoi;,,) f-pnl. the ■r- on tl)0 iVoni 2'VCC lenrer itil'ul coni- the •Q we |by its and such as timt of ( "liristiaiu;i. than r.iiy (^thcr jjlarc I |;;i(l seen. I laiu'.cd licro lor six liouis, wiili my v. ili>. (hi- ring whicli wc liad tinio to (lriv(; ni)')iii ili;' town, and see 'he imistMiin, wliero I was sliowii a larsxc f)-sii ficc filled with saiiilstoiio, recently sent frc.in slrala (M;nr;.in- ing" coal in the interior. 1 resolved t-o examin;' tl'.. -^e bcf)re rcturnin!!^ to EiiG^land, as tliey ;;p})e:in':!, I y t!.e description i>'iven us, to aflbrd the fnu^st example- V( t known in the world of petrified trees occmrliig' in ilieir natural or erect position. Letters, which we had written on the voyao-e, l,ein':i' now committed to the post-ollice at llalifix. Wv-re luicn up next day l»y iIk? (/aledonia slo:im-.-iiip {'■.)[■ Mn'rliind, and in less than a mnntli (Void the tiiii'-orour (.iiitiii!'!; London, our friends in remot.' pints <.!' (l:rv\ I'lii.iiii (in Scotland and in I)evon>'hire) were reading' ;;n account of the" harbour of Halifax, of tlie >.;i;nnc Indians willi their lv;(|uim:iux fvU tires, paddiinii^ abottt in canoes of biitdi bark, and other n )ve!ties s.en on the shores of the New ^Vorld. It reipiired ib.e ai 1 of tb.e recently established radroads at honi;', as well as the Atlantic steam-packets, to render such rapid correspond- ence po.:;sible. Atfgitst 2. — A run of about thirty hours carried us to Boston, which we reached in twelve and a Isalf days after loavin;! Liiverpool. 'I'hc heat here is int(>nse, the harbour and cit} beautiful, the air clear and entirely free from s-nioke, so that the shippiiii^ may be seen far oir, at the ent\ of many of the streets. 'I he Tie mom Hotel merits its reputation as one of the best in the v/orld. Recollecting the contrast of every thing !• rench whf*n I first cr05«(?d the strait-^; of Dover. I am aufx^n- 'Jf i :! liil il 4 KXCUJISIONS Nr::AR BOSTON. Chap i. ished, atUM- haviiiij^ traversed the wide ocean, at the re- f;.iin!)lance of every lliiiin^ I see and liear V) things lainiliar at lioine. Ft has so often lia|i|)e!ie(l to ine in onr own i-hmd, without travcliinu" into tiiose parts of Wales, Scotland, or Ireland, where they talk a perfectly distinct lan'^uagT', to encounter provincial dialects which it is dilficult to conij)reiiend, that I wonder at findin filicil \v'.f!i llic <.n!i ' IVu;i tr c-;. '.I;!' snji > ir;'' 1 I ! Ill .'I! Vl'.'''i't.l!»lf s 1)1 iillli)i)(' ) o'i:;tirM V Pirc irovHK" 1 lii;it file ;iiif :i ■:-! ii;c 1) llKlll MTv! (•:i!) .1 i);i' /H>-. !!))lSCil. C! ,,('l';)l)l!ll/ (■ )sm')' .-■V ('i;t Uy i-;ii!\vay I') diMivcr Icd.'i-.' an. I pay sni n;' visits at Nalianf. situalc ! (in a proni.Mi*. )ry of tl H* c;) ist. ahout ten miles N.!v of Hoston. wlicro I examiacd tin- roi^Ics of hornltlcnde and ^•y(Mli!:^ trav- ersed 1)V veins of greensione and basa'f wlii; li o\\rn intersect eacdi other. 'IMie surface of tlu; rocks wher- ever tlie incinnl-ent unravel or drift ha.-- hec n recently removed, is polished, furrowed, and striated, as in (he north of Europe, especially in Sweden, or in Switzer- land, near the great jjclaciers. On the beacli or bar of sand and shin;:i;le, which unites the peninsula with the main land, I ctillected many recent shells, and was inunediately struck with the ao-reement of several of the most abundant species with our ordinary British littoral shells. Among (hem were Purjnirn htpi/hrs', Turbo {Li'/'/rhiK) rifd/y, Al///ilifs cilttl/s, ]\/o(/i()/(i jKipfKina. jMijd artiiftr'ia, besides others which were evidently geographical rep- resentatives of our coimnon s'pei'ies ; su(di i\< Nossti trividdla, allied to our ;Y. rf/iri/hitff, Tnrho p'tlVnitus Say, allied to, if not the same as, otn' connnon Tinho vt'iifoiflrs. A:c. I afterwards added lari:.e!y to the list of corresponding species and forms, and Dr. Gould of iioston showed nic his collection of the marine shells of Massachusetts and the adjoining ocean, and gave me a list of 70 out of 197 species wdiich he regarded as identical with shells from Europe. After comparing these on ni}'^ return, with the aid of several able con- r I UKSEMnLANTK OF DRIFT ROCKS HAI*. 1 111- i: rljdlofrists. 1 ain ('onvlncod that the rricatcr part of these idoiitillcationy are oorroct ; anil, hi tlio place of some C()iisi(i('i('il us douhlfiil, ihcre arc oliuMs not (Mitimera- t('(l in l)r. (loiiid'ri cataio<'ue, which nuiy ho Hulistituted, ao as to ctftahhrih a rcsjult for which few zoologists wero prepared, viz. that one third, or ahoiit 35 |)er cent, of tile niarine sliclls of this part of America are the same ll IS I nose on llie th oppoi site side of the Atlantic a lar S« part of llie remainder consisting of geographical rej)re- scntatives, and a fraction only of tiie whol(; allording characteristic or peculiar forms. I shall have many opportunities of pointing out the geological hearing of this curious, and to me very unexpected, fact. Several excavations made for railwaj^s in the neigh- hourhood of Boston, through mounds of stratilied and unstratilied gravel and sand, and also through rock, cnahled me to recognise the exact resemblance of this part of New England to the less elevated regions of Norway and Sweden, where granitic rocks are strewed over irregularly with sand and blocks of stone, forming a gently undulating country with numerous ponds and fmall lakes. Indeed, had I not been coiistantly re- nnnded that I was in America, by the tlistinclness of the plants, and the birds flying about in the woods, the geological phenomena would have led me to suppose myself in Scotland, or some other part of Northern Furope. "^riiese heaps of sand and pebbles are en- tin'ly devoid of shells or organic remains, and occasion- ally huge rounded blocks, brouglit from a great distance, re.-t upon them, or are buried in them. The licaps are mainly composed, however, of the materials of neigh- bouring rocks. At some points the superficial gravel has been pierced to the depth of 100, and even more i ClIAP. TO TflOHK Ol' sSWKIjEN. y le- 1 ss of ■"(. -ft S the ^- ij)ose i tliern '^i^ 3 en- ,j isioii- auce, i. s are ■1 than 2(lO, feet, witliout iW. solid r(x:k \mn'X reachi'd; Ijiit. more iDinm n'y the lr;r>.s.' detrilus U of iiioderalc t!iic-kii(!s ■; an I, wJun rinur.cd, a polished PurOu'c of granit,!\ i^ncis.-. or mi'-j schi.-t. is c>:poHpd, exliiliitiii^- a siiKvjth .-iirfu";', v.illi occasional scratchc-^ or slraiifrht parallel furrows. Ilor<^ and there, rouiidetl and llat- tcncd doiutv- of sinootlied rock, similar in shaix; to the " rochcs inouionnces'' wiiich hordcr the Alj»ine glaciers, are obscrvahle. The day after I landed, an excava- tion recently made for the monument now erecting" on Bunker's Hill, enabled me to recognise the likeness of this drift to that of Scandinavia, and every day since I have seen fresh proofs of the complete correspondence of these remote districts. Professor Hitchcock has shown that in New England the parallel grooves or furrows have a general direction nearly north and south, but usually ten or fifteen degrees to the west of nortli. I have already seen, at Nahant and elsewhere, some marked deviations frwn tl;i« rule, which, however, is correct in the main, imd these markinqs have been found to prevail at all heiy n peatedly runnijig af^round on tho 'ottoni of tlie sea for tlioiisanils of 3i;ars, and f(>;- cint? alont^ the sand iindt?r their eiiornioiirf \vei<:iit, pol- ished a)Kl fiHTowed the rofky boltoni,ai)d on (lie melt- ing of the ice, let fall their bnriien of stojies or erratic Ijlocks, tOi»^ether with mnd and pebbles. When we recollect that Boston is situated in the lat- itude of Konie, or in tl)at of tlie nortli of Spain, and that the northern drift and erratic blocks in Eiu'ope are first met with about the 50th degree of latitude, !U)d then increase as wc travel towards the j)ole; there seems ground for presuming, that the greater cold wliich now marks the climate of North America had begun to prevail long before the ])resent distribution of land and sea in the northern hemi;^j)here, and before the present climates were estabUshed. Perhaps, even in the glacial period of geology, the lines of etjual win- ter's cold, when drawn from Europe to North America, made a curve of about lU*"' to the southward, as hi our own times. Aug. 9. — After a week spent very agreeably at Bos- ton, we started for New Haven in Connecticut, going' the first hundred miles on an excellent railw.iy in about five hours, for three dollars viich. Tho s}>c-ed of the railways in this State, the most popuk)Us in the Union, is greater than elsewhere, and I am told that they are made with American capital, and f;>r the most part pay good interest. There are no tumirls, and so few embankments that they aflbrd tlie traveller a good view of the country. The number of small lakes and ponds, such as are seen in tlie country l-e- tv^'-een XiUnd and Stockholm, in Sweden, aflords a pleasing variety to the scenery, and they are as useful \ Chap. i. SPRixr.FinLD. 9 us in told IIH'I:^. \eller SlU'lll •y ha- \\h a ■I as they aro ortianiontal. 'i lie water is luauiifullv clear, antl when IVo./en to the (icjth cl" m my I'tM i in winter, sup-plies thtx-e large cuhical masses nl ice. whieh are sawe»l and transported to t'le principal cities throuL^hout the I'niun, and even ship[)ed to Calcutta, crossing the eipiator twice in their outward voyau'e. It lias heen truly said, ihat this part of New Ilnglnnd ow(.'s its wealth to its industry, the soil heing sterile, the timber small, and there being no staj)Ie comni jJitiv s ol" native growth, except ice and granite. In the inland country between Uoston and Sjiriig- (iel.l, we saw some sand-hills like the dunes <(' id wn sand near the coast, ndiijh were probably form- d on tlie sca-si'le befjie the country was elevated to its ]}r;'s- ent heiglit. We passed many fields of niai/.e, ov In- dian corn, beiore ariiving ;;t Springileld, whicli i^ a beautiful village, with Cnc avenues of the American ehn on each side of the wide streets. From .'"«pring- lield we descended the river Connecticut in a >leam- boat. Its banks were covered with an (elegant specie.s of golden rod {iSo/idagn), with its showy bright yellow (lowers. 1 have been hitheit) di-apjwiritcd in seeing no large timber, and I am told that it was cut down originally in "Sew England without mercy, because It served as an ambush for the Indians, since which time it has never recovered, being consumed largely for fuel. The Americans of these Eastern States who vL-it Eu- rope iiave, strange to say, derived their ideas of noljle trees more from those of our principal English parks, than from the native forests of the New World. I visited Rocky Hill, near Hartford in Connecticut, where the contact is seen of a large mass of columnar trap with red sandstone. In a large quarry, the dis- ( '-I 10 NEW lIAVnN. Chap, i 1 1 ■ IWi n tinct joints wliicli divide the sandstone contrast finely willi tlie divisional planes wliicli separate the basalt into pillars. The eviilence of alteration by heat at the point of contact is very marked, and has been well de- scribed by Dr. Sillinian in a paper on the rocks of this plac(!. Tiio city of New Haven, with a population of 1 1,0()() sDuls, possesses, like Sprinr^fidd, fine avenues of Uvi's in its streets, which mingle agreeably with the buiLlings of the university, and the numerous churches, of wliich we counted near twenty steeples. When attending service, according to the Presbyterian form, in tile ('ol!:*gc chapel on Sunday, 1 could scarcely believe I was not in Scotland. In an expedilion to the north of the town, accom- panied by Professor Silliman, his son, and Mr. Percival, a geologisr to whom the execiuion of the State Survey of Connecticut was entrusted, I examined the red sand- stone {Nan lied) and intrusive volcanic rocks (basalt and greenstone) of this neighbourhood. Dykes of various sizes intersect the stratified rocks, and occasion- ally How in great tabular masses nearly parallel to the strata, so as to have the picturcs(|ue ellect of cappings of columnar basalt, although Mr. Percival has shown that they are in reality intrusive, and alter the strata in contact both above and below. The Ljast and West Kocks near New Haven, crowned with tnip. bear a strong resemblance in their outline and general as- pect to Salisbury Crags, and other hills of the same structure near Edinburgh. W^e saw in Hampden parisli, lat. 'll*^ 10', on the summit of a high hill of sandstone, a huge erratic block of greenstone, 100 feel in circuiiiference, and pro CiiAr- I- PAbciAOl': TO NKW YOKK. a i I -I '^ jccliiig II led jibovtr ground. Other larg« trani*- porl«'(l rraj.MiifiilH Inivt; betMi met willi more than 1000 loet above tlic l<'velof th*.' t'CU, aiiiltsvcry wliere Htraight parallel furrous ajijx a r un the i^iiioolh siirlace ol th(< rocks, where \\w supiiiuiai uravol and sand are re moved. In a trardea .if New Haven (Aujiust 13.) I kinv, (bi- the lirst time, a hu//"iiinn- bird on thf wing', it was lluttering round the llovvers oi" a (jlladiolus. In the suburbs we gathered a splendid wild flower, the scarlet Lobelia, and a large sweet-scented water-lti\ . The only singing bird which we heard was a thrush with a red breast, which ihey call here the robin. The grass- hoppers were as numerous and as noi«y as in Itah . M \vc returned in the evening over some low marsh} groiuul, we saw several lire-ilies, showing an occasional bright spark. They are small beetles resemblijig ou« male glow-worms {Lampi/ris hmn.. Pyrolampis scin- I ilia us Say). Aug-. 13. — A large steamer canitil us I rum New 1 Ia\'en to New York, a distance of about nin€:ty mileB, in less tlian six hours. We had Long Islantlon the one side, and the main land on the othfr. the scenery at first tiurie froui thi' width of (ho channel, but very lively and striking when this became more contracted, and at length we seemed to sail into the very suburbs of the great city itself, passing between green islands, some of them covered with buildings and villas. We had the same bright sunshine which wc^ have enjoyed ever since we landed, and an atmosphere unsullied by the chimnies of countless steam-boats, factories, and houses, of a population of mor«* than 300,000 soul:*, if m ^i \'J w "f|!it M: ;'■■ ' !|i 12 SCENERY DF THE HUDSON. Chap, i thanks to the remoteness of all fuel save antliracile and wood. Next day, 1 went with Mr. Kedfield, well known by his meteorological writings, across the Paesaic river to Newark in New Jersey, where we examined quarries of the New Red Sandstone, and saw tlit? siuilu-Cf^ of the strata ripple-marked, and witii impressions of rain- drops. They also exhibit casts on their under sides of cracks, which have been formed by the shrinking of the layers of clay when drying. These appearances, together with imbedded fragments of carbonized fosi^fil wood, such as may have been drifted on a beach, be- speak the littoral character of the formation on \\ hich, in many places in Connecticut and 31a.-sachu.-:ct(s, the fossil foolsieps of birds, to which I shall afterwards al- lude, have been found imprinted. Ausi'' 1^>- — Sailed in the splendid new steam-r^hip the Troy, m company with about 5(]() passengers, from New York to Albany, 145 miles, at the rate of about 16 miles an hour. When 1 was informed that "seven- teen of these vessels went to a mile," it i^ecmed incred- ible, but I found that in fact the deck measured SOO feet in length. To give a sutiicient supply of oxygen to the anthracite, the machinery is made to work two bellows, which blow a strong current of air into the fur- nace. The Hudson is an arm of the sea or estuary, about twelve fathoms deep, alcove New York, and its waters are inhabited by a curious mixture of marine and fresh-water plants and mollusca. At first on our left, or on the western bank, we had a lofty precipice of columnar basalt from 400 to 6C0 feet in height, called the Palisades, exti;emely picturesque. This basalt rests on sandstone, which is of the same age as CllAP. I. ALBANY. 13 I t 4 I I thai before nientionod near Xew Ilavon. i)iit has an op- pasife or westward dip. On arriving^ ai the Highland^!, t!ie winding' channel is closed in by j^teep hills of gneiss on both sides, and the ve>sel often holds her course as if bearinologicc'.l surveyors, of whom four principal ones vrere appf»inted, reported, among oilier residts, their opinion, that no coal would ever be discovered in their n^-^pective districts. This announcement caused no small disappointment, espe- cially as the neighbouring state of Pennsylvania was very rich in coal. Accordingly, durina* my tour, I heard frequent complaints that, not satisfied with their inability to fmd coal themselves, the surveyors had de- cided that no one else would ever be able to detect any, having had the presumption to pass a sentence of future 2 i' n 11; « (Ill* !lli i [111 i I'l If ! U H' i It!; li!'ii li!!'' i|i i I i lit- 14 GPZOLOGICAL SURVEYS, Chap, i sterility on the wliolo laiiil. Yet, in spite of these expres- sions of ill-humour, it was satisfactory to observe that tlie rashness of private speculators had received a wholesojne check • and larsfe sums of money, which for twenty years previously had been annually squan- drrfjd In trials lor coal in rocks below the carboniferous Fe\hfi, v.cre henceforth saved to the public. There can he little doubt that the advantage derived to the re pourcvis of the 8tate by the cessation of this annual rutlay alone, and the more prolitable direction since fjiven to private enterprise, is sullicient to indemnify the country, on mere utilitarian grounds, for the sum so munificently expended by the government on geologi- cal investigations. The resemblance of certain Silurian I'ocks on the banks of the Hudson river to the bitumi- aous shales of the true Coal formation was the chief ^ause of the deception which misled the mining adven- turers oi" New York. I made an excursion southwards •Vom Albany, with a party of geologists, to Normans- kill Creek, where there is a waterfall, to examine these black slates, containing graplolites, trilobites, and other Lower Silurian fossils. By persons ignorant of the or- der of supeipusition and of fossil remains, they might easily be mistaken for ( 'oal measures, especially as some small particles of anthrncite. perhaps of animal origin, do actually occur in them. On leaving Albany, T. det<'rmined so to plan my route to the Falls of Niaarara and back again to the Hudson, as to enable me to see by the way the entire succession of mineral groups from tlie lowest Silurian up to the coal of Pennsylvania. Mr. James Hall, to whose hands the north-west division of the geological survey of New York had been confided, kindlv offered himself as rnv I I Chap. 1. ANCIENT OR HILIRIAN FOIIM ATIONS. 1» i I guide. Takin<^ the railway to SclicMectady, and along the Moliawk valloy, wc lirst stopped at Little Falls, where we examined the gneiss and the lowest Silurian sandr,tone resting upon it. We then pursued our jour- ney along the line of the Eric Canal and the Moiiawk River, stopping here and theie to examine quarries of limestone, and making a short detour through the hcau- tiful valley of Cedarville in Herkimer County, where there is a line section of the strata. Afterwards we ex- plored the picturesque; ravine through which the Gene- see flows at Rochester, the river descending by a suc- cession of cataracts over the same rocks which are ex- posed farther westward on the Niagara. The excava- tions also made for the grand c.inal at Lockport aflbrded us a fine opportunity of seeing these older fossilifcrous rocks laid open to view. At this point the barges laden with merchandise climb up, l)y a series of locks placed one above tlie otiicr, to the table land in which Lake Erie is situated. In the course of this short tour, I be- came convinced that we nuirft turn to the New World if we wish to see in perfection tlie oldest monuments of the earth's history, so far at least as relates to its earli- est inhabitants. Certainly in no other country are these ancient strata developed on a grander scale, or more plentifully charged with fossils ; and, as they are nearly horizontal, the order of their relative position is always clear and unequivocal. They exhibit, more- over, in their range from the Hudson River to the Ni- agara, some fine examples of the gradual manner in which certain sets of strata thin out when followed for hundreds of miles, while others previously wanting be- come intercalated in the series. Thus, for example, some of tho limestones which are several hundred feel !■ it <] I! i > I I '■+-; :^!Hl ' .HI 'I , it!*' I'li'i M hi!* i:4 16 ANCIENT OR SILURIAN FORMATIONS. ClIAP. l. (hick in the Ilol.leiheig Hills, near Albany, are scarcely hny feet tliick in tiio Niag-ar.i di.suict ; and on die othiM* hanJ, the rocks over which the cataract of Ni a^^.ira n p.ocip'.tated, d\vindlc away to such insigniHcant di ii;'nsioiis wiien fjllo-yed eastward to (lie hiils S. W. of A.hany, that their pkice in the series there can sc irceiy b" rcc;)^iH:>ed. iVnother iijtereslinj^ Tict may be noiicjd as I he resu t even of a cnrsoiy survey ol" t^iC {j.44is of lliese No. ill Aiue,ijaii roc';s, naine'y, tliat while .-onie of tin; sj);cic.? a'^.\;e. the nuijo.ity of them are nol i ientical v.illi those found in strata, which aro their e(i!iivMk?nts in ag>' aiil j) Jdition on the otiier side of t!ie Atlantic. Some fjs.;iLS wliich urn i icn'ical, such as Atrypd njjiiu.^, L"i>'(Biia depressa^ and L. ciigJy- plui^ are precisely those s'leks wliich have a great ver- tical and hoiizMiial rang(; in Europe, — s[:ecies which were capable of surviving many successive changes in the earth's surface, and for the same reason enjoyed at certain periods a wide geographiv:al range; It has been usuali}^ aifirmed that in the rocks older than the car- boniferous, the fossil fauna in di:I(;rent parts of the globe was almost every where the same; but, juvlging from the fa'st assemblage of organic remains which I have seen here, it appears to me, that however close the general analogy of forms may be, there is evidence of the same law of variation in space as now prevails in the living creation. A few years ago, it was a fatiguing tour of many weeks to reach the Falls of Niagara from Albany. We are now carried along at the rate of sixteen miles an hour, on a railway often supported on piles, through large swamps covered with aquatic trees and shrubs, or through dense forests, with occasional clearings wdiere i t I'l I • i'' Chap. i. PROSPERITY OF TIIK PEOPLK 17 i si orcliards are planted by anticipation among the stumps, before tliey have even had time to run up a log-iiouse. The traveller viev.s with riurpii.se, in tl: the (iein's'e iUver, [im] tl-is won!;! carry if to it:< native lake, if it escaped destriuMi m a I ihe 1 ill?! helow lioclu'.ster, where the C(?lehr:te-l iliver, Sam Patch, peri, hed, after he l.ad succeeded i.i throwing hiinseh' w ith impunity down several other great water- falls. There is a fresh-water tortoi.-e in Europe ^^ 7' r- r{//>yt/a IJtnnpca), found in Hungar}', Pru:v>ia, and Silesia, as far north as lat. 50'' to 5:^-'. It also occurs near Boide.ui.v, anil in the north of Italy, IP and l;)'-" N. lat., which precisely corresponds with the latitude of Lake Ontario. In moist places along the lake shore, and in the lanes and high roads, we saw numerous yellow butterilies {CoNas phibidicf- — C. E/tro/>of/i(i of some authors) very like a British species. Sometimes forty clustering on a small sjwt resembled a plot of primroses, and as they rose altogether, and Hew oil' slo\\ly on every side, it was Ukc the play of a beautiful fountain. On our way home through the woods we stopped at the cabin of some new settlers near the lake, nianv miles from any neighljours, in the midst of a stjuare clearing covered with hlackencd stumps, wliere not a single tree or slu'idj had been spared. The view was bounded on evei*y side I)y a d(mse wall of dark wood striped with white by the vertical lines of the mniierous tall and straight trees without side branches, and sup- porting a dark canopy of foliage. AVhen we admired the forest, the settler's wife was pleased, but said, sigh- ing, that she could not get her children to see any beauty in trees. They had never known the old 1 "$ l|t|: Chap. i. NEW SETTLERS. 21 f country, nor other frieiitis, and were liappitM- tlian she and her hunbanJ could bo, th()ucks undermined. — Future R'^cp'ision. — Age of the Drift and Limestone Escarpments. — Surretsive Changes which preceded and accompanied the Origin of the Falls. — Ri'Jleclions on the Lupxe of past Time. Atur. 27. — We first came in sig'ht of the Fulls of Niagara when tlicy were about tlircc miies distant. The sun was shininj^ full upon thcni — no btiiWinir in view — nothing but the green wood, the falling water, and the white foam. At that moment they appeared to me more beautiful than I had expected, and less grand ; but after several days, when I liad enjoyed a nearer view of the two cataract?^. had listened to their thundering sound, and gazed on them for hours from above and below, and had watched the river foaming over the rapids, then plunging headlong into the dark pool, — and when I had explored the delightful island which divides tlie falls, where the solitude of the an- cient forest is still unbroken, I at last learned by de- grees to comprehend the wonders of the scene, ard to feel its full magnificence. Early in the morning after our arrival, I saw from the window of our hotel, on the American side, a long traiu of white vapoury clouds hanginof over the deep 4 i: Chap. THEIR GEOGRAPHICAL FE VTUIIES. 23 deep chasm Ijelow the falls. They were sliglitly tinted by tlie rays of the risiiii( sun, and blown slowly north- wards by a ii^enlle bre(»ze from the pool below the cat- aract, which was itself invisiblo from this point of view. No (og was risini^ from the gronnd, the sky was clear above ; and as the day advanced, and the air grew warm, the vaj)onrs all disappeared. This scene re- minded me of my lirst view of i\Ionnt Etna from Catania, at snnrise in the autnmn of 182S, when I saw denst? vohnnes of steam issning from the snnmiit of the highest crater in a clear bine sky, which, at the height of more than two miles above the s(\'i, assumed at once the usual shape and hues of clouds in the up- per atmosplKMe. ^riicse, too, vanished before noon, as soon as the sun's lieat in<'reased. Etna pre;-ents us not merely witli aji ijnage of the power of subterranean heat, but a record also of the vast period of time during which tliat power has been exerted. A nuijeslic mountain lias I)een produced by volcanic action, yet tljc time of whicii the volcano form-^ the register, however vast, is found by the geol- ogist to be of inconsiiierable amount, even in the mod- ern annals of tJie earth's hi-^tory. In like manner, the Falls of Niagara teach us not merely to appreciate the power of moving watei", but furnish us at the same time with data for estimating the enormous lapse of ages during whicli that force has operated. A deep and long ravine has l)een excavated, and the river has required ages to accomplish the task, yet the same region aflbrds evidence that the sum of these acces is as notliing, and as the work of yesterday, when com- pared to the antecedent periods, of which there are moniuiients in the same distiict i fik 84 COURSE OF Tin; nivr.ii Ciur. n i l]i;lll.: I ' ,ii*!'- M m m ' ' 'litiiii i m % It. lias loiifT Ijecn ;i favomito sulijrct of discussion wliclluT llio I' alls were once situated si'\cn nnlos farllicr u;)tt!», or al (liKnision. 'I'Im; ideal hirdVeye viev/ given in tiie IVoiitispiece may assist (lie reader who has not visited llie spot to foiiii u toleiai)ly correct general notion of tiu; m'o<^ra|)iiical confi«^ura(ion of this coun- try, wlucli IS very saiiple 'y\ 10 view has I )een coiv slrucf(!(l from a sketcli pui)lishc(l hy Mr. Bakewell, in Loudon's Mairaxiiie for lyi>(), into which the ofeoloiiical )f tl representation oi the rocks, as they appear on tlie sur- fcicc and in the ravine of tlie Nia<;ara, has hcen intro- duced from the State Survey hy Mr. llall.* The plat- Ibrm, in a d(>pression of which Ijakc Laie is situated, is more than 330 feet above Lake Ontario, and liic de- scent from a higher to a lower level is sudden and ab- rupt at the escarpment called the Queenston heights. The strata througliout this whole region are nearly horizontal, but they have a gentle dip to the south of 25 feet in a mile. This inclination U sullicient to cause the dillerent groups of rock to crop out one from beneath the other, or come up to the siurface in parallel zones, which may be traced for a great distance east and west through the state of New York and ( 'anada. (See ]Map.) They all consist of diirerent members of the Silurian series, the uppermost or newest being those nearest to Lake Erie. (See section fig. 4., p. 37.) In the bird's-eye view, the Niagara is seen bounded by * IMr. Bakewcll gave me his original sketches in 1841, and I con- ceived the idea of coinbi;iiii siiited by Mr. Hall. -7% Ckai*. n cusfjion faitlior e viev/ •ho has general IS coiin- LMl coii- wcll, ill ological ho sur- n infro- ho phu- iat(;(l, is liic (lo- lutl ah- lic'ights. nearly oulh of :ieiit to le from parallel cc cast inada. jers of g those 7.) In ded by d I con- al rppre- i district e of liie wus ati> Chap. It. Anovr, \.\n ni:T,ow tiik falls. 25 % ?i i low bnnks w hrrr it iv-^iirs from Lake l*]rip, and varying in wiltli {\\ni\ one to tiiree n'.iles. It here resembles a piolonii^'Uion of the InuKiuil lake, bein<^ interspersed \vith low \\()i);le(l islands. This lake-like scenery con- tiimes for abont lifieen miles, dnrinir wiiich the fall of the river scanM'ly exceeds as many feet, bnt on reaching the ra|)i!'s, it descends over a limestone bed al)ont 50 feet in less than a mile, and is then thrown down about 105 feet peipendicularly at the Falls. The largest of these, called the Horseshoe Fall, is 1800 feet, or more than a third of a mile, broad, the island in the midst somewhat l(;ss ill wi;Uh, and the American Fall about 600 feet wide. The dee[) narrow chasm below the great cata- ract is from 200 to 100 yards wide, and 300 feet deep; and here in seven miles the river descends 100 feet, at the enil of which it emerges from the gorge into the open and Hat country, so nearly on a level with Lake Ontario that there is only a fall of about four feet in the seven additional miles which intervene between Quoenston and the Lake. The great ravine is wind- inor, and makes a turn nearly at riirht andes to itself at the whirlj>ool, where the Niagara sweeps round a large circular basin, but it is represented in the frontispiece as nearly straight, for the sake of showing the stratifica- tion ; and its proportional height is puiposely exagger- ated. At some points the boundary cliffs are under- mined on one side by the impetuous stream, but there is usually a talus at the base of the precipice, support- ing a very ornamental fringe of trees. It has long been the popular belief, from a mere cur- sory inspection of this district, that the Niagara once flowed in a shallow valley across the whole platform from the present site of the Falls to the Q,ueenstoj» RECENT PROOFS OF EROSION. Chap n. I" tii I H "i'1-1 !'.i':' i 111:' I'll' 1,1 ^'illi; ■'!fii;i,; /m 4,: Mi heights, where it is supposed the cataract was first sit- uated, and that the river has been slowly eating its way backwards through the rocks for a distance of eeven miles. According to this hypothesis, the F'alls must have had originally nearly twice their present height, and must hai'e been always diminishing in grandeur from age to ago, as they will continue to do in future so long as the retrograde movement is pro- longed. It becomes, therefore, a matter of no small curiosity and interest to inquire at what rate the work of excavation is now going on, and thus to obtain a measure for calculating how many thousands of years or centurie3 have been required to hallow out the chasm aheady excavated. It is an ascertained fact, that the Falls do not re- main absolutely stationary at the same point of space, and that they have shifted their position slightly du- ring the last half century. Every observer willal-obe convinced that the small portion of the gvan ravine, which has been eroded within the mrMnory of man, is so precisely identical in character with tlie wliole ^rorge for seven miles below, that the river supplies an ade- quate cause for exccuiing the task assi-^ncd to it, pro- vided we grant sufficient time for its completion. The waters, after cutting througli strata of limcslone, about fifty feet thick in the rapids, descend perpendic- ularly at the Falls over another mass of limestone about ninety feet thick, beneath which lie soft shales of equal thickness, continually undermined by the ac- tion of the spray driven violently by gusts of wind against the base of the precipice. Iti conse(]uoncG of this disintegration, portions of the incumbent rock are left unsupported, au4 ti^uj^^le dgwu iroux time to time, i Chap. ii. RECENT PROOFS OF EROSION. 27 r='M:l!,\v; i;^^ I'SlOllO, leiidic- )stone tics of \e ac- wind lico of Ik arc time, SO that tlic cataract is uyxCc to rcco lo The s^utldc'U descent of l.iue rocky fri:<;ii:e!i's (.! Mu- iiiiderniiued linicstone at tlie H(;r.>( sice luV-. \\\ i>,S, and aiiotlier at the American l-'ai!, in 1818, nrc sni:: lo liave siiaken the adjacent country like an earl!. (;u:- lie, Accordini^ to the statement of our guide in 181}, .S;;m- uei Hooker, an indentation of ahout Ibrty iect has 1 cen produced in trie middle of the ledge of limestone at the lesser fall since the year 1815, so that it has begun to assume tiie shape of a crescent, while within the same period the Horseshoe Fall has been altered so as less to deserve its name. Goat Island has lost sev- eral acres in area in the last lour years, and I have no doubt that this waste neither is, nor has l)een, a mere temporary accident, since I found that the sam;> r.ccs- sion was in progress in various other waterfalls which 1 visited with Mr. Hall, in the state of New York. Some of these inter>ect the same rocks as the Miai^ara — lor exami)le, the Genesee at Rochester; others arc cutting their way throug^i newer formations, as Allan's Creek below Le Roy, or the Genesee at its upper fails nt Por- tage. Mr. I?akewell calculated that, in the forty years preceding 1830, the Niagara had been going hack at the rate of about a yard annually, but I conceive that one foot per year would be a much more probable con- jecture, in which case 35,000 years would have been recjuired for the retreat of the Falls from the escarp- ment of Queenston to their present site, if w'c could as- sume that the retrograde movement had been uniform throughout. This, however, could not have been the case, as at every step in the process of e::cavatinn the height of the precipice, the hardness of the materials at its base, and the quantity of falleu matter to be re- :i I m 'ni.j n 28 DATA IN Tin: WORKS OF ITKXNEPIN. Cuat. 11. moved, iim^f have v.irird. At, some poiiils it may have recevled mih'li faster than at prcsont, at others jiiuch slower, and it would be scarcely possible to decide whe- ther it>; averaije prog-re.-s has been more or less rapid than now. Unfortunately our historical evidence of the former condition of the cataract is meag-re and scanty in the extreme. Sixty years ago, the whole district between liakes Erie and Ontario was a wilderiiess in which the Indian hunter chased the bear and the buffalo. When at Boston, my attention was called by Mr. Ingraham to a work translated from the orii^^inal French of Father Hennepin, a missionary who gave a description of the grajid cataract and a plate of if, as it appeared in the year lo73. It is not wonderful that coming" suddenly U])Vi\ tile Falls whi.:h no FiUropean traveller had ever seen hef ):!\ be should have believed them to be tv.'ice tlu>ir re:il heipiht. '• Fetwixt the lakes Ontario and Fri;'.'" be says, "there is a vast and prodigious cadence of w Tt'T, which fa!:s after an astonishing- manner, inso- uv.i:\\ (!iit the universe doe^ not a'Tonl its parallel. A? t) tlio waters of {{a.!y and Swedelan 1, they are l;ut sorry p.ilf(!rn- orif,nivl tliis woiidiM lid do'.vnfdi is coni- n Minded of two gToaf falls, with an i-le in the niiddl'^, a;j 1 there is anotiier cascade less than tlie other two which fills fi;Mn vest to east. I wislied a hundred tini.'s ihal, snin.^i)o:iy had been with us, who could have (!escri;)c1 tlie v.'onders of this fri?;;htrul fall. In the mean time, acc:'pt the followiu'i draught such as it i.-.'" — ! "rom his plate it appears that tliis third cascnde wa- pi">hi:';> ! 'iv v.,Ii;it h." f'nns '-tlie elbow"' ca us 'd by the p;- )/.v.-ti ,'n tf {;:e table ioj'c, wliich musL then ha\e been more proniineat than now. 1 I i I II' Chap. ii. KALM S DESCRIPTION'. 20 Idealy i I ever 'i : twice 1 ") and •1 dcncc . inso- 't'. !. A? e l:llt cnni- li'klln, 'i^ r two iM ndred m Iiave 1 the r'-. CIS it 'i * -;c;ulc » 'd Uy JiM hji\ e Seventy-throe years iirtt'rwar.l.;, or in 1751, a letlor was j);ih..-hv\l ill liie nt;;.liiMU.iii"s ..;ai^;.auc iw tl.at \i'.d I)',' ivaliii. tiiO K'W^ .i-ili ij:n, i-t. oa t..^; i aii.^ oi >.Li^"ai\i. ilii des,.Ti|aioa i- ai^o iliU.~u\.Lcd l)y a })...tc, i;i Vv'iii'h tiic |)i"(»-)uili )ii.d heij^hl aa i bre;ullii oi ihe \'\vw.< ail' lmm'ji la )i\' L'orrocLly. 'I'he le.-.-.-r 1* all oa n.e icil b.ai!-: of tin; river is oaiiit.'d ; but at the pLu-e wiivic it ha 1 bi'cii rej)r.'seatr:l ia i'atlier Ileaaepiiro sketch, Kaha iiiseiLs the letter " r/,"' ref.Miia^' tj a a Ue ia w!ii:h In; say?!, •• Here the water wan r.uah'riy Ux:x\ 1 out ot its iiiri',-l eoarrie by a pr );ejtiaL^ rojk. whicli wlica .laa;l was intersected by t!ie great raviae. Long belbre lay visit to tlie Niagara, 1 had beea iataraied of the existeace oa (Joat Iskuil ol' be. Is ol' gravel aad sand containing lluviatile shells, and f^oiae accouat had been given of these by Mr. Hall in hi^ fust report in 1839; I therefore that ■1, dd pro| )osed to hiiti ikl ( couiu trace any n we slioukl examine these carefully, and sec if we nnants of the same along the eJges of t!ie rivcr-clids below the Falls. We Ix^gan by coi- leciing in Goat Island siiells of the genera UnJo^ Cy- cla.s'. Mclaiiia. Valvaia, Limnea, PUuiorbis, and .i . il I'i ' . f ■ |- ■ I ' I'I. ^11 l! >■ 11': 30 UEMXANT 01" A.V Ol.n KIVER-EKD. ClIAP. II // //'.?;, nil of rofont sp<'ci(v-'. in the yiipcilicial deposit. 'lMi>'y !',)riu i('[2n!.u' Iv.y.U. oud iminorous individuals of flic (J/iio i\ii\ Ct/clas Iiave botli their valves united. \V(; then found the same formation exactly opposite to F\r. 1. E:ist. West, flifli''/ i: II -- E I ! I .S Section at J^iagara Falls, L. Liiiio to-K! 8!) ffiit thick. f». Sliale 80 foet thick. d. I're-hvv 't t -^triti mi Coat I->!;in(l, jiliove 20 Iwt ihick. d . SaiiiO loriintioii on the American side, rontuining bones of Mastodon. c. L'-iif; ! of li ire limestone on the Canada side, /. Ancient drift, the Falls on the top of the cliff (at d', fig. 1.) on the American side, wlicre two river- terraces, one twelve and tiie other twenty-four feet above the Niagara, have been cut in the modern deposits. In these we ohserved the same fossil shells as in Goat Island, and learnt that the teeth and other remains of a mastodon, some of which were shown us, had been found thirteen feet be- low the surface of the soil. We were tlien taken by our guide to a spot farther north, where similar gravel and sand with fluviatile shells occurred near the edge of the cliir overhanging the ravine, resting on the solid limestone. It was about half a mile below the prin- cipal Fall; and extended at some points 300 yards in- land, but no farther, for it was then bounded by the bank of more ancient drift (/, fig. 1.), This deposit pre- cisely occupies the place whicli ihe ancient bed and al- luvial plain of the Niagara would naturally have filled, * ■"Hi Chap, ii m deposit. 1 Jualrf of J united. 1 poriite to 1 West. 1 fa loo e y^" 1 ^. — ■'S S ^ i Chap, ii IN GOAT ISLAND. 31 astodori. on the f twch'c i la, have >bserved ■: rnt that onic of feet ])e- ken by gravel -1 le edge solid lie le piin- irds in- )y the )sit pre- and al- e filled, if the river once extended larther northwards, at a level sullkiently high to cover the greater part of Goat Is- land. At that period the ravine could not have ex- isted, and there must have been a harrier, several niilen lower down, at or near the whirlpool. Fitj. 2. North. ftouth. -^-^^ Section of Onat Island from J^'orth to South, ^00 feet in length. A. Mi*-ivr (;niii|nrt i)(>rti'>'i of thf N'iiB-ir» rim'^'t'>ne. H. rpirr thin Ii .McI [lort tr.i of the Ni igir.i limestone, strata slightly inclined to lilC S .Mill. c Ilnri/.oiit I fr-'-ituv'tfr h-d •• "f trnvol. sand, and ioim, with shells. 1), K. I'le^tjiit Miff ICO of thL' river Niagara at the R.ipids. TIio supposed original channel, through which the waters (l;nved from Lake Erie to Queenston or Lewis- ton, was excavated chielly, but not entiiely, in the su- perficial drifl, and the old river-banks cut in this drii't ai'e still to be seen facing each other, on both side?- of the ravine, for many miles Ik;Iow the Falls. A .section of Goat Island from south to north, or parallel to the coui'se of (he Niagara (see fig. 2.), siiows that the limestone (B) had been greatly denuded befoie the flu- viatile beds (c) were accumulated, and consequently when the Falls were still several miles below their pres- ent site. From this fact I infer that the slope of the river at the lapids was principally due to the original shape of tlie old channel, and not, as some have con- jectured, to modern erosions on the approach of the Falls to the spot. II A 'J <■'( i i;! :;i 32 ANCIKNT FLUVIATILE. Chap, ii The observations made in 1811 induced mo in the following year (June, 1S12) to re-examine diligently both sides of the river from tiie I'alls to Lewi.-ton ai.d Ciueeniton, to ascertain if any otlier patclies of the an- cient river-bed had escaped destruction. Accoriliiigly, foUowini)^ Hrst the edije of tlie cHlls on the ea^tc^n bank, I discovered, with no small delight, at the sum- mer-house (E, tig. 3.), above the whirlpool, a bed of Fig. 3. i^ v» _ ■-■' ^^ £1^-^-- Section at the Summer-hovsc ahove ff'/u'rfpool, enst hank vj J^Ttoffara. A. Thick-liedded liincstdnc, same as ul Tiills. b. Ancient drift. c. Roiilder-i nt i)T5e of stof'p hTnk finned liy drift. d. Fi-o'^hwntpr -^tratii forty ff^et tliick. E Siimmer-houje. Stratified sand and gravel, forty feet thick, containing fluviatile shells in abundance. Fortunately, a few yards from the summer-house a pit had been recently dug for the cellar of a new house to the depth of nine feet in the shelly sand, in which I found shells of the genera U/iio, Ci/clas, Melania, Helix, and Pupn, not only identical i\ species with those which occur in a fresh state in the bed of the Niagara, near the ferry, I f n,i Chap, ji IIAP. II. DcrosiT ^vI■l^ shells. 10 ill tlte ililigt'utly istou ai.il )!' i\w. aii- :ui\!iiigly, ; eastern llie 8U1U- a bed of ffara. 1 taming a (aw eceiilly of nine ? of the /)o, not ir in a e ferry, but correspuuling al.^^o in tlie p-i! p )rti»;ii;M(; numhrr of IIK livitliuils hrionuiii''' t') each 'M'A-.u: t.ic vaiv( ,f Cijclas ,\i/ifHis, lor example. In inir ll;;* most nmncrons Tlie ?:ame year 1 found also a remnant of liie old river- bed on tlie opposite or Canadian nide of ihc river, about a mile and a ]»a!f above tiie whirlpool, or (wo mile:^ ami a hall below the Falls. These facts appear con- clusive as to th'' former extension of a more elevated valley, four mil(;.<, at least, below liic J^'alls ; and at this poll it tlie old river-bed must Have been so liijili as to be capabl(> of holding' back the waters which covered all the |)atches of lluviatile sand and gravel, including' (hat of Cioat Island. As the tal)le-land or limestone-plat tbrni rises gently to the north, and is iiig'hest near Uuecnston, there is no reason to suppose that ihere was a greater fall in the Niagara when it llowed at its higher level, than now between Laki^ Erie and the Falls : and ac- cording" to this view, (he old cliannel might well have furnished the refjuired barrier. I have stated that on the left, or Fanadian bank of the Niagara, below the l'\nlls, 1 succ(.'eded in detectinn' sand with freshwater shells at one poii.t only, near the mouth of tlie muddy river. 'V\\(' led^e of limestone on this side is usually laid bare, or only covered by ve- g-ctable mould (as at c. iig. 1.), until we arrive at the boulder clay ( /'. fie:. l.\ which is sometimes within a few 3ards of the top of the precipice, and sometimes again retires eighty yards or more from it, being from twenty to fifty feet in height. I also found an old river-bed running through the drift parallel to the Ni- agara, its course still marked by swamj^s and ponds, sueh as we IJnd in all alluvial plains, and only remarkable here Lecausc the river now runs at a lower \c\v.\ by 300 1 1 *ul m 34 RECESSION OF THE Chap. ii. ;:i' iH ! t/ iHir, il M ! 'ir pif feet. Tills (>.;sortc:l cliamicl occurs hctATcn tlie Muddy River and tho Wliirlpo)!, and is 100 yards broad. There is also a notcli or indentation, called the •' Devil's Jlole," on the right or eastern side of the Ni- agara, half a mile jjelow the Whirlpool, which deserves not-ice, for there, I think, there are signs of the Great Cataract having been once situated. A small stream- let, called tlic " IJIoody Run," from a battle fought thero with the Indians, joins tiie Niagara at this place, and has hollowed out a lateral chasm. Ascending the great ravine, we here see, facing us, a projecting clitf of liinjstone, which stands out forty feet beyond the general range of the river clilf below, and has its Hat summit bare and without soil, just as if it had once formed the eastern side of the Great Fall. By exploring the l)anks of the Niagara above the Falls, I satisfied myself that if the river should contiiiue to cut back the ravine still farther southwards, it would leave hen; and there, near the verge of the precipice and on its islands, strata of sand and loam, A\ith fresh- water shells similar to those already described. 1 col- lected lussil shell.-, f,)r example, on the left bank, near the Chipj)ewa River, and learnt that otluns had l)cen reached, in sinking a w<'!l, in ISIS, at the south-east end of Grand Island. The situation of such deposits is rej^resented at a, a (lig. J.., p. 37.). The patches of lluviatile strata, therefore, occurring lietween the old ijaiiks of drift (/, /, fig. 1., p. 30.) and the precipice, and not having been met with on other parts of the platform at a distance from the Niagara, coiifiDu the theory, previously adopted on independent evidenco, of the recession of the Falls from Queenston southwards. The narrowness of the gorge near Queens- f t € 1 I I M Chap. n. CnAr. II. FALLS OF NIAGARA. 35 lu; Muddy road. called the of the Ni- li deserves the Great II stream- le fought his place. ad'mg tlie ting cHff yond the 1 s its flat lad once A' l)ove the 'M contiiuie it would ... pivcipice th fiesh- . I col- lie, near • ad l)ceij iKJi-casr deposits i| '(nirrinsf .a; 50.) and i n other i ingara, § )ondent m 'cnston ■? tueens- A ton, wliere it is just large enough to contain the rapid current of water, accords well with the same hypotheses, and tliere is no ground for suspecting that the excavation was assisted by an original rent in the rocks, because there is no fissure at present in the limestone at the Falls, where the moving waters alone have power tc cut their way backwards. I have already remarked that there will always be insuperable didiculties in the way of estimating with precision the rate of the retrogression of the Falls in former ages, because at every step new strata have l)een successively exposed at the base of the precipice. Ac- cording to their softer or harder nature, the undermin- ing process must have been accelerated or retarded. This will be understood by reference to the annexed section (fig. 4.), where the line b, c, d, represents the present surface of the river along which the Falls have receded. The strata (1, 3, and 7,) are of soft materials: the others, (2, 4, and 8), which slightly project at their termination in the escarpment, are of a more compact and refractory kind. It has iK-eii necessary to exag-- gerate the southward dip of the strata in this diagram, wdiich is ill roali' v so slight as to be insensible to the eye, being only, as before mentioned, about twenty-five feet in a mile, the river channel sloping in an opposite direction at the rate of fifteen feet iu a imile. These two inclinations, taken together, have caused, as Mr, Hall has pointed out in his Survey, a diminution of forty f^et in the perpendicular height of tlie Falls for eveiy mile that they receded southward. By reference to the section, the reader will perceive that when they were situated at the Whirlpool (c), the quartzose sand- stone (2), which is extremely hard, was at the b^se of = g • c — — K — ^ 5 .^ > O -« . s ^ ji = a i i V Si £. *" -S c ^ >• z _ . - — '^ — s .a ■3 •a o c Is 5 - c o s e i5 u is a; U jj - * c -= . g f O OJ X c ^ — c "£ Ji c >. a; "■ /^ 'S. r^ e 5 c ~ = 3 e 5. :S : h 5 ? ^ ?, X .S c i. .-3 a o •J u . u — n - o f; - 3 = tr = u :> • ■> M v >^ .C c (^ C rf = « .=*! = £. >> 73 ^ — c; S; L. — ^ •r -* "S 5X "^ 3 .2 ■■r. C '_« cj r »^ '> u 3 iJ 5 C c C '/. T 2 J_^ tt ^ 0) u _a j3 "^ 1 ■^ ^ ^ T. 1; ^rf jj ^ X - - -3 h. c 5" tc O 5; tV W ■J w 3; 1 2 5 c - e» P3 O 10 o c£ ;j ^ 5 t-^ ad X o -I Chat. ". OKKilX or Tin, FAI.1,.S. J3 ilt a a S s o o a S p a o ■a u V ■^ o ^ o " 3 3 - .V '/J ^ -■o' "^ I tin; j)r('cipic*o, and lioro tlm (in^:it Calnract inn}- liavo rciuaincd nciirly statioiuiry ior aei"i( s of p.ist event-', w*: ii;'.\e nh'ca.ly seen (bat the last ciiann'e was the eiosion of the i^reat ravine; pre\ iousiy to which o<'- curred th;; ',!epo>ifi'.)n ol' the freshwater deposit, including fo.--iI shells of i-ece!it ^pecies, and the bones of the ]Mas- lodon. 'i'biidly, of siili older date was the drift or boulder f,!:itiation which overspreads the whole j)latform and the face of the <>scarpment near Queenston, as well as the low country between it and Fake Ontario. Foiulbly. the denudation of the line of clill' or escarp- ment, in which the table-land ends al>ruptly, prececlcd tbiC origin of the drift. I sliall endeavour to show, in a fcubse(|uent chapter, when speaking of Canada, that thid drift was of marine origin, and formed when the liij '^- >! 38 ORIGIN OF THE FALLS. CilAP. II. il: ||,ir..:i i! r whole country was su!i'.nor^-o:l l)on(*nt.h tlio sea. In the region of tluj Mai,^ira it is strntilit'tl. and tlioui^li no fossils have as ycl Ixmmi detected in it, similar deposits occur in the valley of the .St. liawrencc; at Montreal, at a heii^lit ni^arly ei|ual to I,ak'e Iwii*, where fossil shells, of species such as now iidiabit the northern sea-=, lie buried in the drift. It is almost superlluous to aflfirm that a consitleration of the {^eoloixv of the whole basin of the St. Lawrence and the great lakes can alone eniitle us to speculate on the state of things which immediately preceded or ac- companiel the origin of the (Ireat (.'ataract. To give even a brief sketch of the various phenomena to wbich our attenllDU mu?t be direcle 1, in order to solve this cu- rious problem, would retpiire a digression of several chapters. At present the shortest and most intelligible way of explaining the results of my o!)servations and reilections on this subject will be to describe the succes- sive changes in the order in which I imagine tlieni to have happened. Tbc first event then to which we must recur is the superficial waste or denudation of the jlder stratified rocks (from 1 to 10 inclusive, section, fig. 1., p. 37.), aH of which had remained nearly undis- turbe.l and ]j jrizontal from the era of tiieir formation beneath thy sea to a comparatively modern period. That they v.ere all of marine origin is proved by their imbedded corals and shells. They at length emerged slowly, and portions of their edges were removed by the action of the waves and currents, by wdiich cUirs were formed at successive heights, especially where hard limestones (such as Nos. 10 and 8, fig. 4.) at Blackrock and Lewiston, were incumbent on soft shales. After this denudation the whole region was again gradually i 1) ^1 Hi. Chap. ii. ORIGIX OF Tin: FALLS. 3d i sul)nicr<,^c(l, ;m)(1 tlii> event, look place ilmini,' llic i^huinl pcii(K), at wliicli time llie siiil ace.s of flu? rocks aln.'udy demuleil were smootlicd, |);)l4.slie(l, and lunowcd hy glacial action, which operated r^ucce.ssively at dillerent levels. The country was then hurled under a load of straliiicd and unstratilied sand, j^iavel, and erratic blocks, occasionally S'>, and in some hollows more than 300, feet deep. An okl ravijie terminating- at St. Da- vid's, which intersects the limestone platform of the Niagara, and opens into the great escar|)ment, illus- trates the posteriority of this drift to the epoch when the older rocks were denuded. The period of submer- gence last alluded to was very modern, for the shells then inhabiting the ocean belonged, almost without excep- tion, to sp;'cie3 still living in high northern, and some of them in temperate, latitudes. The n(\\t great change was the re-emergence of this country, consist- ing of the ancient denuded rocks, covered indiscrimi- nately with mi)dern marine drift. The upward move- ment by which this was accom[)lishe(l was not sudden and instantaneous, but gradual and intermittent. Tlie pauses by which it was interrupted are marked by an- cient beach-lines, ridges, and terraces-, found at dillei-ent heights above the present lakes. These ridges and terraces are partly due to the deiuidation ajid re-ar- rangement of the materials of the drift itself, which had previously been deposited on tin; platform, the slo- ping face of the escarpments, and in the basins of the great lakes. As soon as the table-land between Lakes Erie and Ontario emerged and was laid dry, the river Niagara came into existence, the basin of Lake Ontario still con- tinuing to forni part of the sea. From that moment 1 40 REFLECTIONS OX THE Chap, rt u <4 # # nil' v ll I !V „ ■ l: tliero was a casradd at QuociistoM of iiiuderatc hciglit, wliich Tell (lircclly into the r-ca. 'I'lic uppcniiosl liiiic- stuiie and strnjaccnt slate (S and 7. lig, 4. p. 37.) Ijcing oxposii'd. lii(^ cataract connnonced its retrograde cour?^e, wid'.e (lie lower beds in flie e^jcarpnient (from to 1) WiMe still jnotecied from wasie hy remaining sulimerged. A s'.M-ond fall woidd in due time be caused b}' tbie con- liiuied rise of the land and the exposure of the liard beds (u and i), constituting what is called the Clinton group, together with the soft and easily undermined red shale (3), on whicii tliey repose. Finally, a third cascade would in all likelihood be produced by the rise of another hard mass, the (juartzose sandstone (2, fig. 1.) resting ou very destructible red shale (1). '^rhrec falls, one above the other, very similar in their geological and geographical position to those actually seen on the river Genesee at Kochester, would thus be formed. The recession of the up}>ermost must have been gradually re- tarded by the thickening of the incumbent hmestone (No. 8, fig. 4), in proportion as the Falls sawed their way southwards. By this means the second cataract, which would not suller the same retardation, might overtake if, and the two united would then be rctrirvled by the large ([uantity of rock to be removetl, until the lowest fall would come up to them, and then the whole would be united into one. The principal events enumerated in the above ret- rospect, comprising t!ie submergence and re-emer- gence of the Canadian lake district and valley of the St. Lawrence, the deposition of freshwater strata, and the gradual erosion of a ravine seven mile.s long, arc all so modern in the earth's history as to belong to a period when tlie marine the fluviatile, and terrestrial CilAP. II. LAPSE OP PAST TIME. 41 :M slic'lls, were the same, or nearly the same, as tho^-e now living. Vet if we fix our t!ioii.>hls o;i any one pjrtion of thisperio:] — on the lai)se of thne, for cxanijjlA', ie(|!i:ri'd f )!• tlio recession of tlic Niagara tVom the escarpiueut to liie Falls,— !io\v inniieasiirably great will its dmalion appear in coinp.ui-- )n with the sum of years ta w hich the amials of tlie human race are liiniteil ! Had we happeneil to discover strata, charged wilh lluviatile shells of recent species, and enclosing the bones and teeth of a Mastodon, near a river at the bollom of some valley, we might naturally have inferred that lite bu- ried ([uadruped liad perished at an era long aftt.-r the canoes of the Indian hunter had navigated the rsorth American waters. Sucli an inference might easily have been drawn respecting the fossil tusk of the great elephantine (juadruped, which I saw taken out of tiie shell-marl on the banks of the Genesee River near Ro- chester (sec p. 10.). But fortunately on the Niagara, we may turn to the deep ravine, and behold therein a chronometer measuring rudely, yet empliatically, the vast magnitude of the interval of years, which sepa- rate the present time from the epoch when the Niagara flowed at a higlier level several miles further jiortli across the platl()rm. We then become conscious Jiov/ far the two events before confounded together, — the; en- tombment of the ^Mastodon, and the date of the first peopling of the earth by man, — may recede to dis- tances almost hidefinitely remote from each other. But. however much we may enlarge our ideas of the time whicli has elapsed since the Niagara lirst be- gan to drain the waters of tlie upper lakes, we have seen that this period was one only of a series, all be- longing to the present zoological epoch ; or tha t in which 4* '!.i; '1 1 42 llEFLKCTIOXS ON THE Chap. ii. ii|i 11) ! '■ I- ■' II ! i.: il: Ih I, If' 'I .( .; ■ tlin Jiviiigf testaceou?! faunn, wliether frcsluvatcr or ma- liiif, li:nl airjudy come into being". If sucli cv(mU.s can take |)!ace while the zoology of the eailli remains al- most, stationary and imaltcretl, wiiat ages may not be compreliendetl in those successive tertiary periods du- ring" which the t'lora and Fauna of the globe have been ahnos', entirely clianii^ed ! Yet how subordinate a place in tiie long calendar of geological chronology dc the succes.ive tertiary periods themselves occupy ! How much more enormous a duration nnist we assi.in t'j many antecedent revolutions of the earth and its in- habitants ! i\'o analogy can be found in the natural world to the immense scale of these divisions of past time, unless we contemplate the celestial spaces which have been measured by the astronomer. Some of the nearest of these within the limits of the solar syste.n, as, for example, the orbits of the planets, are reckoned by Imndreds of millions of miles, which the imagina- tion in vain endeavours to grasp. Yet one of these spaces, such as the diameter of the earth's orbit, is re- garded as a mere unit, a mere infinitesimal fraction of the distance which separates our sun from the nearest star. By pursuing still farther the same investigations, we learn that there are luminous clouds scarcely distin- guishable by the naked eye, but resolvable by the tel- escope into clusters of stars, which are so much more remote, that the interval between our sun and Sirius may be but a fracticn of tliis larger distance. To re- gions of space of this higher ordtu" in point of magru- tude, we may probably compare such an interval of time as that which divides the human epoch from the origin of the coralline Umestone over which the Niagara is precipitated at the Falls. Many have been the sue- Chap. ii. Chap. ii. LAPSE OF PAST TIME. 43 ir or ma- cnts can lains al- y not l}e riods du- be liave •dinatc a ology dc occupy ! e assi^^n 1(1 its in- ' naliiral ! of past s wliicli le of the systc.ii, eckoned inagina- of these it, is le- ction of nearest gat ions, y distin- the tel- :h more d Siiiiia To re- inagiii- rvai of om the Slagara he suc- cessive revoUitioiis in organic life, and many tlie vicis- situdes in the physical gcograpiiy of the glolo, and often has sea been converted into land, and land into sea, since that rock was formed, ^riic Alp.--, the Pyre- nees, the Himalaya, have not only begun to exist as lofty mountain chains, but the solid materials of v%"hich they are composed have been slowly elaborated beneath the sea within the stupendous interval of ages here al- luded to. The geologist may muse and speculate on these events until, filled with awe and admiration, he forgets the presence of the mighty cataract itself, and no long- er sees the rapid motion of its waters, nor hears their sound, as they fall into the deep abyss. But whenever his thoughts are recalled to the present, the tone of his mind, — the sensations awakened in his soul, will be found to be in perfect harmony with the grandeur and beauty of the glorious scene which surrounds him. I '1 ■N ' 1 : i. i M i u ^lin 44 TOUR TO PENNSYLVANIA. Chap- m Ci I i^v. ! I ,i ■ ..-i i m ■ it' ■i- i I i! , H CHAPTER III. T;j ■'>■ /.:) n 1',r ?d by several amateurs of Geneseo, and a pit was dug to the (lej)th of about five feet from the surface. Here we came down upon a bed of white shell-marl and sand, in which lay portions of the skull, ivory tusk, and vertebra', of the extinct quadruped. The shells proved to be all of existing freshwater and land species now coninio!! in this district. I had been told that the Mas- tod.)n's teeth were taken out of riinck^ or the black su- perficial peaty earth of this bog. I was therefore glad to a-certain that it was really buried in the she!l-marl below the peat, and therefore agreed in situation with the large f)ssil elks of Irelanl, which, though often said to occur in peat, are in fact m;)t with in subjacent beds of marl. At the Falls of Le Hoy, and at the Fjipor Falls of the River (lencsce at Portage, I had opnortuniti(?s of observing how both of tiiese cascades have been cut tiii"^ their way backwards through t!ie Silurian rocks, even within the memory of the present settlers. They have each hollowed out a deep ravine with jierpendic- ular sides, bearing the same proj)ortion in voluiue to the body of water flowing througii tliem which the great ravine of the Niagara does to (hat river. IMr. Mall txik leave of us at Oiu'seo, after which I set out (.n a tour to ('xaniiiic tho scne- of ro/ks between the upoM- Siiiir: 111 -fr.itior ih;.' St.)!,. ,,i X.-u- V,,rk ami the Coal of Pennsylvauia. With this view 1 took ft ■ 9 I ( 1 I ♦ m "il 'm H ; I Vfjl .('■'1^: T.i (r .'I ■•il !'!^ I I'M 'i ll I ill 40 AMERICAN DRIVERS. Chap, in the direction of BlossluM-ij. whore tlie most northern coal mines of the United Staten are worked. On this occasion we left the main road, and entered, for the first time, an American stajro-coach, having been warned not to raise onr expectations too high in ren^ard to the ease or speed of onr conveyance. Ac- cordingly, we fonnd that after much fatigue, we had only accomplished a journey of 40 miles in 12 hours, between Geneser and Dansville. We had four horses ; and when I complained at one of the inns that our coachman seemed to take pleasure in driving rapidly over deep ruts and the roughest ground, it was ex- plained to me that this was the first time in liis hfe he had ever attempted to drive any vehicle, whether two or four-wheeled. The coolness and confidence with which every one here is ready to try his hand at anj'" craft is truly amusing. A few days afterwards I en- gaged a young man to drive me in a gig from 'I'ioga to Blossberg. On the way, he pointed out, first, his father's property, and then a farm of his own, which he had lately purchased. As he was not yet twenty years of age, I expressed surprise that he had got on so well in the world, when lie told me that he had been editor of the " Tioga Democrat"' for several years, but had now sold his share of the newspaper. In the region between Lake Erie and the borders of Pennsylvania, as well as in that immediately south of Lake Ontario, there is an entire want of fine scenery, as might have been anticipated where all the strata are horizontal. The monotony of the endless forest is sometimes relie^ ed by a steep escarpment, a river with Avooded islands, or a lake ; but the only striking fea- tui'es in the landscape aie the waterfalls, and the deep cal A Chap, iu northern I entereil, , having ) high in ICC. Ac- !, we had 12 hours, r horses ; that our g rapidly was ex- lis life he etiier two lice with id at any ards I eii- )in Tioga first, his n, whicli i?t twenty got on so lad been ears, but )orders of south of scenery, strata are forest is iver with cing fe^- the deep Chap. iu. FOSSIL REMAINS OF FTSIl. 47 chasms hollowed out by them in the course of ages. As the opposite b:mks of these niviues are on the same level, inchuliu'^r tjiat of the Niagara itself, we come ab- ruptly to their cdircs before we have any suspicion of tlit'ir existence, and we must travel out of our way to enjov a sight of them. At length we reached the water-shed, where the streams How, on one side, northwards to Lake On- tario, and on the other, southwards, to the Susque- hanna. 1 l)egan to wonder how the Indians ever ob- tained any correct notions of to})ograj)hy in so continu- ous a forest, all the smaller rivers, with their islands, being embowered and choked up with trees. I soon ceased to repine at the havoc that was going on in the fine timber whiidi bounded our road on every vide. Alter traversing successive zones of the Ujij>er Silu- rian strata, I at length entered at Bath upon the olivc- coloured slates and grey sandstone, wliich seem to be the e(|uivalent of tiie lower part of the Old Ked, or Devonian of Ensjhmd. In this rock some streaks of carbonaceous matter, which soon tliin out, and are rarely three inches thick, are met with. I found a pro- prietor on Spalding's Creek preparing to sink a costly shaft for coal, and 1 earnestly dissuaded him from his project, referring him to the New York survey. Every seieniilic man who discourages a favourite mining scheme must make up his mind to be as ill received as the physician who gives an honest opinion that his pa- tient's disorder is incurable. After the Olive Shite, I came to an incumbent for- mat iwi of red sandstone near Tioga, and collected fish of two species of Holoptichius, one apparently identi- cal with H. nobilissimusj a fossil of the British Old 'ii Ml , I r , tit I.: 1: I ,iU '•'( i ' ! ■: iw ■ ;,.;*! lit i' Hi It- ill i ; 1, Mi ' * ill I 48 SUDDEX GROWTH OF NEW TOWNS. ClUP. ITI. Roil, and another wliidi, I loain fnnn Sir Fhilij) Eircr- toii, belongs lo an eniire.y new type of this g'tuiu.s. With the,uiUling, filing" to V stable, horses. 11 stnnd- )iir inii- n won'd > on the le rings It s jnie ct wlten Droachcd ic older s. or to the thne days of ancient ^; of this jtraigiit, Ithough C/IAT. III. COAL OF BLOSSRERG. 49 tli(^ green lierl)age soon springs up wlien tlie wood is rrni.>ved and the sun's rays allowed to penetrate. S )ni.' of the slumps, especially those of llie fir tribe, taivc til'iy ye.ns to rot away, though exposed in the air I ) aliernatioiiS of rain and sunsliinc, a fact oi\ which i'W'i-y geilo.jn.-l will d>) well to rellect, for it is clear that tin; trees of a forest submerged beneath the waten.', or si ill more, if entirely excluded from air, by becoming imbedded in seliment, may endure for centuries witiuMii decay, so that there may have been ample time f)r the slow petrifaction of erect fossil trees in the Carboniferous and other formations, or for the slow ac- cujmdation around them of a great succession of strata. I asked the landlord of the inn at Corning, who was very attentive to his guests, to fmd my coachman. He nnmediately called out in his bar-room, "Where is the gentleman that brought this man here ?" A few days befr^re, a farmer in New York had styled my wife '• the woman, ' though he called his own daughters laditSj cind would, I believe, have freely extended that title to their maid-servant. I was told of a witness in a late tri;^il at Boston, who stated in evidence that '-while he and another geiitleman were shovelling up mud,"' etc.; from which it appears that the spirit of social ecpiality has left no other signification to the terms " ffentle- man"' and -'lady"' but that of ''male and female in dividual." iScpt. 7. Blossbcrg. — I had now entered Pennsyl- vania, and reached one of the extreme north-eastern ouiUeis of the great Af)palachian coal-field, as Professor llogers has termed the Coal-measures of Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Virginia. It was tlie first time I had seen the true "Coal'' in America, and I was much strvick 'II 's\ ■i''\i \m 3. .at M } ■ 50 STIOMARIA. Chap, iil f-l; M ,i! \¥-:\ |ii ' It ii.l: with its surprising analogy in mineral and fossil char- acters to that of Europe — the same white grits or sand- stones as are used for building near Edinburgh and Newcastle — similar black shales, often bituminous, with the leaves of ferns spread out as in an herbarium, the species being for the most part identical with British fossil plants — seams of good bituminous coal, some a few inches, others several yards in thickness — l)eds and nodules of clay iron-stone ; and the whole scries resting on a coarse grit and conglomerate, containing ijuartz pebbles, very like our Millstone Grit, and often called by the American as well as the English miners the " Farewell Rock," because when they have reached it in their borings, they take leave of all valuable fuel. Beneath this grit are those red and grey sandstones al- ready alluded to as corresponding in mineral character, fossils, and position, with our " Old Red." I was desirous of asceitaining whether a generalisa- tion recently made by Mr. Logan in South ^Vales could hold good in this country. Each of the Welsh seams of coal, more than ninety in number, have been found to rest on a sandy clay or firestone, in which a peculiar species of plant called Stigmaria abounds, to the ex- clusion of all others. I saw the Stigmnria at Bloss- berg, lying in abundance in the heaps of rubbish where coal had been extracted from a horizontal scam. Dr. Saynisch, president of the mine, kindly lighted up the gallery that I might inspect the works, and we saw the black shales in the roof, adorned with beautiful fern leaves, while the floor consisted of an undcr-clay, in which the stems of Stisr'norla. with their leaves or rootlets attached, were running in all directions. The agreement of these phenomena with those of the Welsh I Chap, uk Chap. in. HUMMIXG-niRDS. 61 iW char- 31* sand- gli and us, witli ini, the British some a >eds and 5 resting r (juartz n called ners tlie ached it ble fuel, itones al- liaractcr, nerallsa- 3 could 1 seiuns n found peculiar the ex- it Bloss- 1 where in. Dr. d up the saw the ful fern clay, in saves or The e Welsh le roal-uieasures, oOUO miles (hstanf, surprised nw, .uid lead to conilusions res|)(rtinL,r the origiii of coal Ironi plants not drifted, but growing on the s|k)I, to w iiicli 1 hliall refer in the sccjuel. Dr. Sayni.sch, who was the first to explore the coal in this region, told ine that, soon after Ik; settled here, he shot a wolf out of his lje(lriK)ni window. The.se animals still connnit havoc on the llocks, and last au- tumn a large panther was killed in the outskirts of Blossberjr, but the bears have not been seen for several years, ^\c rode in a hot sumiy day to a large clearing in the Ibrest far from any habitation, and 1 was struck with the perfect silence of the surrounding woimIs. We heard no call or note of any bird, nothing to remind us of the chirping of the chaHinch or autumnal song of our robin, the grasshoppers and crickets alone keej)ing up a ceaseless din day and night. The birds here arc very abundant, and some are adorned with brilliant plumage, as the large woodpecker, with its criujson head, — the yellow-bird [Fringllla tristis), of the size of a yellow-hannner, with black wings and a bright yellow bo;!}', — the red-bird ( Tanagra rubra),-— and the Loxia ludovisiana. A hen hunnning-bird, far less brilliant in its plumage than the male, Hew within a few inches of my face. Its lliuht and diminutive size reminded me of our hum- ming sphinx, or hawk-moth, like which it remains poised in the air while sucking the llowers, the body seeming motionless, and the wings being invisii)le from the swiftness of tlieir vibrations. I had before seen one in the wood at Cedarville, sucking tlie llowcr of a wild balsam [Intpatieiis hijlora). Dr. Saynisch tells me lliat on his fust visit to these w^ods, he has known two ' \\ ■ il 1' S 'i Ml ,n ■;t1 f 1 • 1 i: 1 \ 1' ■.m no TAMEXKSS OF U'lF-P ANIMALS. CifAP. III. of ihcsc l)ii(ls at a tiiuo porcli on tlic odjro of a nip oi waicr wliicli \n'. Iield in his liaiid, and drink wititonl fear. 1 was aware from Mr. Darwin's Vo3age in iKc litttgU', that in islands hke tiie (jala|)agos, " Wlioie litiinuit fool liatli iieVr or runly b 'en," (he wild hirds have no apjjrehcnsion of danger from man ; hut here, where for a<^es tlic Luhan Inmters pre- ceded llie wliiles, 1 am surprised to learn that an in- stinctive dread of the great "usurper" had not hecome hereditary in tlie featljercd trihe. 1 was told, however, that in the Inniting grounds called Indian Reservations, within the limits of the settled and civilised ptatcp, of which we passed one in New York, the wild animals arc comparatively tame, it being a system of the Indians never to molest tlic game or their prey, except when re- quired for food. We returned from Blossberg by the town of Jed'er- son, and, sailing down Seneca Lake in a steamboat to Geneva, joined the railway, which carried us back again to Albany. At one of the stations where the train stopped we overheard some young women from Ohio exclaim, '• \Vell, we are in a pretty fix !"' and found their dileimna to be characteristic of the financial crisis of these times, for none of their dollar notes of the Ohio banks would pass here. The substantive "fix" is an acknowhnlged vulgarism, but the verb is used in New Engkuid by well-educated people, in the sense of the French "arranger" or the EngUsh "do." To fix the hair, the table, the fire, means to dress the hair, lay the table, and make up the fire ; and this application is, I presume, of Hibernian origin, as an Irish gentle- man, King Corney, in Miss Edgeworth's tale of Or- mond, savs, " I'll fix him and his wounds." Chap in. NOMKNCLATURE OP PLACES. 53 There arc Hcarcolv any Aini'iican idioms or words wliicli an; not of IJriti-li orii^in, same obsolete, ollieid provincial. When the lexicographer, Noah Webster, whom I saw at New Haven, wns asked how many now words he had coined, he replied one; only " to de- morali/e,"' and that not lor his dictionary, but lonishaiire, , leaving ling the umUy a ne hum nuit oc- '1 cupy his own acres. He who has capital enough to slock a farm can obtain land of his own so cheap as naturally to prefer being ins own landlord. tS'.'j}l. 27. 1811. — We embarked once more on the Hudson, to sail from Albany to Xew York, with several hundred passengers on board, and thought the scenery more beautiful than ever. The steam-boat is a great lloating hotel, of which the captain is landlord. He presides at meals, taking care that no gentlemen take their places at table till all the ladies, or, as we should say in England, the women of every class, are lirsl seated. The men, by whom they are accompanied, are tlien hivited to Join them, after whicli, at the sound of a bell, the bachelors and married men travelling en ga/'fon pour, ito the saloon, in nuich the same style .9 members of the House of Commons rush into the Up- per House to hear a speech from the throne. One of the Arst peculiarities that must strike a for- eigner in the United States is the deference paid uni- versally to the sex, without regard to station. Women may travel alone here in stage-coaches, steam-boats, and railways, with less risk of encountering disagreeable behaviour, and of hearing coarse and impleasant con- versation, than in any country I have ever visited. The contrast in this respect between the Americans and the French is quite remarkable. There is a spirit of true gallantry in all tliis, but the publicity of the railway car, where all are in one long room, and of the large ordinaries, whether on land or water, is a grea< protection, the want of which has been felt by many a female traveller without escort in England. As the Americans address no conversation to stiang-ers, we soon became tolerably reconciled to livinj so nmch in I Ml 41 I U'i iil; M ■', 11 m ,1 \m ■;\\ li JLlH 111 " ■I" ■III! , H i-. I II r iij! W ■"1 HJiiii 68 CANAL-BOAT. fJiiAr. ni. public. Our fellow-passengers consisted for '.he most part of shopkeepers, arlizans. and mechanics, with their l"ainili(v, all well-dressed, and so far as we had inter- course with them, polite and desirous to please. A larn^e j)art of them were on pleasure excursions, in which they delight to spend their spare cash. On one or two occasions during oin* late tour in the newly-settled districts of New^ York, it was intimated to us that we were expected to sit down to dinner with our driver, usually tlu^ son or brother of the farmer who owned our vehicle. AN'e were invariably struck with the propriety of their manners, in which tliere was self respect without forwardness. The only disagreeable ad- venture in the way of cominc: hito close contact witli low and coarse companions, arose from my taking places in a cheap canal-boat near liockport, j.artly filled with emi- grants, and corresponding somcAvhat in the rank of its passengers with a third-class railway-carriage in Eng- land. "Q,ue diable allait-il faire dans cefte galore ?" would have been a diflicult {piestion for me to answer, especially as I afterwards learnt that I might have hired a good private carriage at the very place where I embarked. This convenience indeed, although there is no posting, I invariably found at my conmiand in all the states of the Union, both i.jrthern and southern, which I visited during my stay in America. Travellers must make up their minds, in this as in other countries, to fall in now and then with free and easy people. I am bound, how ever, to say that in the two most fflarim^ instances of vulgar familiarity which we have experienced here, we found out that both the olfciiders had crossed the Atlantic only ten years before, and had risen rapidly from a humble station. What- f/'iiAP. m. TllAP. III. PROGRESS OF CIVILIZATION. 89 'lie most \ ith their ad inter- ease. A sions, in uv in the ntiniated iner with mer w Iio ick with was sclf- icable ad- wit h low laces in a vith enii- uik of its ! in Eng- galcre '?" ) answer, <^]\i have 3 whore I gh there itiand in southern, his as in free and at in the ty which lioth the rs before, AVhat- ever good breeding exists heie in the middle classes la certainly not of foreign importation ; and John Bull, in particular, when out of humour with the manners of the Americans, is often unconsciously beholding his own image in the mirror, or comparing one class of society in the United States with another in his own country, which ought, from superior atlluence and lei- sure, to exhibit a higher standard of refinement and intelligence. We have now seen the two largest cities, many towns and villages, besides some of the back settlements, of New York and the New England States ; an ex- enjpiilicatioO; I am told, of a population amounting to about five millions of souls. We have met with no beggars, witnessed no signs of want, but everywhere the most une([uivocal proofs of prosperity and rapid progress in agriculture, commerce, and great public works. As these states are, some of them, entirely free from debt, and the rest have punctually paid the interest of Government loans, it would be most unjust to ap|)ly to them the disparaging connnent " that it is easy to go ahead with borrowed money." In spite of the constant intlux of uneducated and pennyless ad- venturers from Europe, I believe it would be impossi- ble to find five millions in any other region of the globe whose average moral, social, and intellectual condition stands so high. One convincing evidence of their well- being has not, I think, been sufficiently dwelt upon by foreigners : 1 allude to the difficulty of obtaining and retaining young American men and women for a series of years in domestic service, an occupation by no means considered as degrading here, for they are highly paid, and treated almost as equals. But so long as they en- ii 41 ea PHILADELPHIA. Chap, m i:,. J :1 I.,,, , i' llfi III l'„ II fM liU I !• i' l:'!! joy such facilities of bettering their condition, and can marry early, they will naturally renounce this bondage as soon as possible. That the few, or the opulent class, especially those resident in country places, should be put to great inconvenience by this circumstance, is unavoidable, and we must therefore be on our guard, when endeavouring to estimate the happiness of the many, not to sympathise too much with this minority. I am also aware that the blessing alluded to, and many others which they enjoy, belong to a progressive, as contrasted with a stationary, state of society ; — that they characterize the new colony, where there is; abundance of unoccupied land, and a ready outlet to a redundant labouring class. They are not the results of a democratic, as compared with a monarchical or aristocratic constitution, nor the fruits of an absolute equality of religious sects, still less of universal sulliage. Nevertheless, we must not forget how easily all the ge- ographical advantages arising from climate, soil, Ihie navigable rivei-s, splendid harbours, and a wilderness in the far West, might have been marred by other laws, and other political institutions. Had Spain colonized this region, how different would have been her careei of civilisation ! Had the puritan fatliers landed on th( banks of the Plata, how many hundreds of large steam- ers would ere this have been plying the Parana and Uruguay, — how many railway-trains flying over the Pampas, — how many large schools and universities flourishing in Paraguay ! Sept. 28. — We next went by railway from New York to Philadelphia through the state of New Jersey. Large fields of maize, without the stumps of trees ris- ing above the corn, and villas with neat flower-gardens, i ■U Chap, ni Chap. hi. FIRE-ENGINES. ei and can bondage opulent ;, should tance, is r guard, s of the linority. to, and gressive, T ; — that there is : outlet to c resuhs ;hical or absolute niHrage. 1 the ge- soil, fine derncss ler laws, olonized careei on th( steam- na and iver the versities seemed a novelty to us after the eye had dwelt for so many hundreds of miles on native forej^ts and new clearings. The streets of Philadelphia rival the finest Dutch towns in cleanliness, and the beautiful avenues of various kinds of trees lillbrd a most welcome shade hi summer. We were five days here, and every night there was an alarm of fire, usually a false one ; hut the noise of the firemen was tremendous. At the head of the procession came a runner blowing a horn with a deep unearthly sound, next a long team of men (for no horses are employed) drawing a strong rope to which the ponderous engine was attached with a large bell at the top, ringing all the way ; next followed a mob, some with torches, others shouting loudl}' ; and before thev were half out of hearinir, another enoine follows with a like escort; the whole allair resemblino- a scene in Der Frelschutz or Robert Ic Diable, rather than an act in real life. It is, however, no slicun, for these young men are ready to risk their lives in extinguish- ing a fire ; and as an apology for their disturbing the peaci? of the city wlien there was no cause, we were told " that the youth here require excitement !" They manage these matters as ellectively at Boston without turmoil. II 1 1 ii i!| -. ; li ,,[11 v .'A Tfi New Jersey, rees ris- ^ardens, ::rv 62 EXCURSION TO NEW JERSEY. CUAT IT. It -I CHAPTER IV. m \h ExcJireion to New Jersey. — Cretaceoutt Rocks compared to European- — General Analogy of Fossils, and Distinctness of Species. — Tout to the Anthracite Region of the Allcghanies in Pennsylvania.— Long parallel Ridges and Valleys of these M'luntains. — Poltsville — Absence of Smoke. — Fossil Plants same as in Bituminous Coal — Stigmnri;i!sted iiiterccl a in:l.stone tioned at itic and fifty-two I at the :l ridges 111 chain t of the s, which a great ite, large denuda- ong and eyf like ch mark hese ex- be inti- nt of the strnfified rocks. The Ion? and narrow ridgr?, rarely risins? more ihan 20(10 \'vv\ above ibe valleys, and usu- ally not more than half that beiirlif, are broken iierc and there by transverse (issures, wbieh "j^ive passage to rivers, and bv one of which the .Schuylkill flows out at Heading. The stratu are most disturbed on the south- eastern llank of the mountain chain, where we first entered, and they become less and less broken and in- clined as they extend westward. After passing several belts of the inferior fossiliferous ptratn. We came to (he Anthracite coal-measures of Pottsvillo on tlu; .Schuylkill. Here I was agreeably surprised to see a nourishing manufacturing town with the tall chimn<'ys of nnn)erous furnaces, binning night and day, yet quite free from smoke. Leaving this cljur atmosphere, and going down into one of the mines, it was a no less pleasing novelty to find that we could liandle the coal without soiling our fingers. The slow combustion of anthracite can be overcome by a strong current of air, not only in large furnaces, but by aid of a blower in the fire-places of private dwellings, and its drying efCcci on the air of a room may be counteracted by the evaporation of water. As managed by the Americans, I have no hesitation in preferring its use, in spite of the occasional stove-like heat produced by it, to that of bituminous coal in London, coupled with the penalty of living constantly in a dark atmosphere of smoke, which destroys om* furniture, dress, and gar- dens, blackens our public buildings, and renders clean- liness impossible. In the neighbourhood of Pottsville, there are no less thnn thirteen seams of,anthracite coal, srveral of which are more than two yards thick. Some of the lowest i 1 i :! I .■ t , 68 VAST SEAM OF ANTHRACITE. Chai. it ii:ij VI II' t' of these alternate with wliite sprits and a coiiG^lomerate of coarser texture than I had ever seen in any produc- tive coal-measures, some of the pehbles of (luartz being of the size of a hen's egg-. 1 was curious to know whether the Stigmariai would be found here in the un- derclays, as at Blossberg before-mentioned, situated 120 miles to the westward. It was easy to ascertain the fact, for several of the coal seams, from eight to ten feet thick, were quarried in the open air, and the strata being vertical, a void space was left after the removal of the fuel, like a straight open fissme, in whicli we could walk, and see, in the wall on the one side, a stratum originally above, and on the other, that which had been immediately below the coal. On the former, or what is usually termed the roof, were shales with distinct impressions of ferns ; among others, the British species Ptcopteris lonc/iifica and Ncitropteris cor- ddLdi together with trunks and stems of tSigillarla^ Lapidodendrou^ and Calamiles ; while on tlie oppo- site or south-eastern side, was an underclay with nu- merous Stigmariae, often several yards, and even in soiiie cases thirty feet long, with their leaves or rootlets attached. In this coal-field, as in all the others hitherto ob- served in America, particular seams of coal are found to be far more persistent than the accompanying beds of shale, sandstone, or lime^tane. As we proceeded from Pottsville, by Tamacpia, to the Lehigh Sununit Mine, we found the beds of grit and shale gradually to thin out, so that several be;'s of aiuhracite, at first witlely separated, were i)rought uf'arer and nearer to- getiier, until they united, and formed one mass about fifty feet thick, without any greater interpolated matter Chap. iv. GUKAT THICKNESS OF STRATA. 69 ihnii two tlr-Ji liiyors of day witii SfigiiKuiir. At Maurh Cliiink, or tlio Ij^-ur -Mouiit;iiii, this ronKukable bed of aiitliiuciu; is (luanied in iIk' open air, aiul icinovod hoilily lo'^eilit'i- willi the overly iiiij;- .saml-tone, Ibrly feet thick, thesuMuuitof the liill being '-scalped,' as one of the nuners expressed it. The vc^jfetable matter, which is represented by this enormous mass of anthra- cite, must, before it was condensed by pressure and tiie discharge of its hydrogen, oxygen, and other volatile ingre(hents, have been probably between 2(K) and 300 feet thick. Tlie accunudation of such a thickness of tiie remains of plants, so unmixed with earthy ingre- dients, would be most dillicult to explain on the hypo- thesis of their having been drifted into the place they now occupy ; but it becomes intelligible if we suppose them to have grown on the spot. Wlu'tiier we regard the Stigmariic as roots, accoriling to the opinion of M. Adolphe Brongniart and Mr. Oinney, or embrace the doctrine of their being a^piatic plants, no one can doubt that they at least ar<; fossili-jed on the very spot where they grew ; and as all agree that they arc nut niarinc plants, tliey go far to establish the doctrine of tlic mowth iiL a'du of the materials of the overlvintir coal seams riie prodigious thickness of tlie carboniferous ro<"k3 in this part of the Appalachian chain, is in harmony with the theory already alluded to, which re([uires the repeated sinking down of many si»ccessive terrestrial surfaces, allowing an indefmite quantity of sediment to be superimjx)sed vertically in one continuous series of beds. The surveys of Pennsylvania and A irginia show that the south-east was the qujuter whence the coarser materials of the carboniferous rocks were derived, and i- :! f rl ^?i 70 VAST EXTENT OP Chap, it |lS' •:;■!. there are proofs fliat tlic ancient land lay in (bat direc- tion. Tlie conglomerate which forms the general base of the coal-mea.sures is 1500 feet thick in the 8harp ]Mountain. where I saw it, near Pottsville ; whereas it has only a thickness of 500 feet, about thirty miles to the north-west, and dwindles gradually away when followed still farther in the same direction, till its thick- ness is reduced to thirty feet. {Rogers. Trans. Assoc. Anier. GeoL, 1810 — 42, p. 410.) The limestones, on the other hand, of the coal-measures, augment as we trace them westward. Similar observations have been made in regard to the Silurian and Devonian forma- tions in New York ; the sandstones and all the me- chanically-formed rocks thinning out as they go west- ward, and the limestones thickenijig, as it were, at their expense. It is, therefore, clear that the ancient land was to the east ; the deep sea, with its banks of coral and shells, to the west. I at fust supposed that some deception might have arisen res{)(cling the alleged thickness of the older fcs- siliferous rocks of the Appalachians, owing to the dis- locations and inverted position of the beds, but I was soon convinced that due regard had ])een paid to the apparent repetitions caused by these disturbances, and ^ have little doubt that those Silurian and Devonian strata, which do not exceed in their aggregate thick- ness a mile and a half in the State of New York, acquire more than three times that thickness in the Pennsvlvanian Allcghanics. A few dnys' observation of the identity of the fossil plant>, and the relative position of t!ic antlua'-it.e, satis- lied me that it was of the same age as the bituminous coal which I liad seen at Blossberg. This opinion was, Cjiap. *|J V 4 Chap. iv. THE APPALACHIAN COAL-FIELD. n I believe, first promulgated by Mr. Fcatherstonehaugh ill 1831, at a time when many geologists were disposed to assifu a higher antiquity to the anthracite than to the bituminous coal-measures of ihe United States The recent surveys have now established tliis fact be- yond all question, and hence it becomes a subject of o-reat interest to inquire how these two kinds of fu(?l, originating as they did from precisely the same species of plants, and formed at the same porioil, should have l>ecome so very dillerent in their chemical composition. In the first place, I may mention that the anthracite coal-measures above alluded to, occurring in the eastern or most disturbed part of the Appalachian chain, arc fragments or outliers of the great continuous coal-fu^ld of Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Ohio, which occurs about forty miles to tlie westward. This coal-field is remarkable for its vast area, for it is descriijed by Pro- fessor H. D. Rogers as extending continuously from N. E. to S. W., f >r a distance of 720 miles, its greatest width being about 180 miles. On a moderate estimate its superficial area amounts to 03.000 sfjuare miles. It extends from the northern border of Pennsylvania as far south as near Huntsville in Alabama. This coal formation, before its original limits were reduced by denudation, must have measured, at a reasonable calculation, 900 miles in length, and in some places more than 200 miles in breadth. By reference to the section (fig 5., p. 74.), it will be seen that the strata of coal are horizontal to the westward of the mountain in the region d, e, and become more and more inclined and folded as we proceed eastward. Now it is invariably found, as Professor II. D. Rogers has shown by chemical analysis, that (he coal is most n i \'\ 1 ) ! »l It ,!l !^, •.|; III iJi fl ^41 3^ DEniTUMINIZATION OF COAL. Chap, i? m K'fi ■i.jir :lfi bituminous towards it> vost(M-n limit, wlioro it remains level and uul>roketi, anil that it becomes pioipessively debit uminizcd as we travel south-eastward towards the more bent and distorted rocivs. Thus, on the Oh.io, tlie |)ro|)ortion of hydrog-en, oxygen, and other volatile matters, rang'es from forty to fifty per r^Mit, Eastward of tliis Unc, on the Mononjjahela, it still approaches forty per cent., where the strata begin to experience some gentle flexures. On entering the Alleghany JNlountains, where the distinct anticlinal axes begin to show themselves, but before tiie dislocations are con- siderable, the volatile matter is generally in the propor- tion of eighteen or twenty per cent. At length, when we arrive at some insulated coal-fields (5'. fig. 5.) asso- ciated with the boldest llexures of the Appalachian chain, where the strata have been actually turned over, as near Pottsville, we find the coal to contain only from six to twelve per cent, of bitumen, thus becoming a genuine anthracite. [Trans, of Ass. of Aincr. GcoL, p. 470.) It appears from the researches of liicbig and other eminent chemists, that when wood and vegetable mat- ter are buried in the earth, exposed to moisture, and partially or entirely excluded from the air, they decom- pose slowly and evolve carbonic acid gas, thus part- ing with a portion of their original ox\'gen. By this means, thev become graduallv converted into lignite or wood-coal, which contains a larger proportion of h}^- drogen than wood does. A continuance of decomposi- tion changes this lignite into common or bituminous coal, chiefly by the disciiarge of carburctted hydrogen, or tlic gas by which we illumine our streets and houses. According to Bischofl', tlie inflammable gases which Chap, r. THE APrALACIIIAN CHAIN. ra nrc nlwaj's p^cnpinr::^ from niinoral coal, and are so often ihc cans!' of (atal accidents in mines, always contain .•:i!!)'.))iic aci;!, carhuretted hydroiron, nitrogen, and oli- fiaiit jrHH. The diseiijagement of all these gradually tiMii-^forjus oidiiiary or hitinninons coal into anthracite, to wliicli the various names of splint, coal, glance coal, ciilii). and many others, have heen given. V.'c have ^^rvn that, in Uk Appalachian coal-field, there is an intimate connection hetween the exU-^nt to wiii.-h the coal has j)arted with its gaseous contents, and the amount of disturhance which the strata have undergone. The coincidence of these phenomena may !)e attributed partly to the greater facility alford- ed far the escape of volatile matter where the fractu- ring of the rojks had produced an infinite number of cracks and crevices, and also to the heat of the gases and water penctiating these cracks, when the great movcmeiifs took place, which have rent and folded the Appalachian strata. It is well known that, at the pres- ent j)eriod, thermal waters and hot \apours burst out from the earth dining earthquakes, and these would not fail to promote the disengagenx^nt of volatile mat- ter from the carboniferous roc'i. + ■■ I >! -m •. ^'U '•■ t ; I h\ i M Ti Stuucture and Origin of ti-k Appalachian Chain. The subjects discussed in the preceding pages, lead me naturall}' to say something respecting the structure of the Appalachian chain, and its geoi rjfical relations to the less ele\ated reixions east and west of it. The annex'^d ideal section (lig. 5.), to which I shall have frecjuently occasion to refer in the sequel, will give some notion of the principal phenomena, omitting a great 1, 1. 1 '■ ;i 74 GEOLOGICAL SECTION. Chap, it im :i I << a u n w K>-C4;>. » eg. 3 cj fc- y t? y "^ i ,t' rt S cu^ > c i: *_& i-^ « M 'S" lO lO ih I , Chap. iv. THE APPALACHIAN CITATX. 75 nmiiber of dctnik Starting IVoni the sjjores of die Atl;u»?ic, on the easteru siilc of tlie ConliiKiit, \vc (irst com'! to a low region (a, b), wincli was calletl the allu- vial plain by the lu'st geographers. It !?< occupie I by tertiary and cretaceous strata ncLirly iiori/-ont:il, and containing in general no hard and solid rocks, and is usu:Ulv not more than from 50 to lUI) feet high, from New Jersey to Virginia. In these states this zone is not many leagues in breadth, but it acipiires a breadth of lUO and 150 miles in the Southern State-, and a heiglu of several hundred feet towards its west- ern limits. The next belt, from u to c, consists of granitic rocks (hypogenc), chielly gneiss and mica- schist, covered occasionally with unconforina!)le red sandstone. No. 4 (New Red ?), remarkable for its orni- thicnites. Sometimes also this sandstone rests on the edges of the disturbed paleozoic rocks (as seen in the Section). The region (b, c), sometimes called the "At- lantic Slope," corresponds nearly in average width with the low and ilat })lain (a, b), and is characterised by hills of moderate height, contrasting strongly, in tlieir rounded siiape and altitude, with the long, steep, and lofty parallel ridges of the Alleghany moiuUains. The out-crop of the strata in these ridges, like the two belts of hypogene and newer rocks (a. b, and b, c), above alluded to, when laid down on a geological map, e'.- hibit long stripes of dilFerent colours, running in a N. E. and S. W. direction, in the same way as the lias, chalk, and other secoTMiary formations in the mid- dle and eastern half of England. The narrow and parallel zones of the Appalachians here mentioned consist of strata, folded into a sucL-es- gion of convex and concave llexures, subsequently laid i! I . \ m !ll ! n t 76 STUUCTURE AND ORIGIN OP ClIAP. IV Chap. I*. !* open by doini l:iti')M. Tlio coiiij)onrnf ^ock^; arc of great tliickiicss, all rt'lcrahle to llio Silurian, nevoiiian, and Carhoiiircroiis foiinalioiis. Tliero is no |)riiui|)il or (U'lilral axis, as in llie Pyrenees and nunv other cliains — no nucleus to w hicli all the minor ridLfes con- fbrni ; hut the chain consists of many nearly ccjual and |)arallel Ibldini^s, havini,' what the jreoloi^ists term an anticlinal and synclinal arran![i:ement. This sys- U'.m of hills extends, jieoloi^ically considered, from Ver- mont to Alabama, being' more than lOOO miles long-, from 50 to 15(1 miles broad, and varyiiig in height from 2000 to 0000 feet. Sometimes the whole assem- blage of ridges runs perfectly straight for a distance of more than 50 miles, after which all of them wheel round tog(!ther, and take a new diieclion, at an angle of 20 or 30 degrees to the lirst. ]Mr. K. C Taylor had made considerable j)rogre?:s in unravelling the structure of certain portions of this chain, before the commencement of the State Surveys of Virginia and Pennsylvania, the fornKU* conducted by ProferNiii!^ in intensity, hi^eonies •gradually upheaved, fractured, and dis'tentled, the lower part of the newly opened fissures l)ecoining fdled witli fused matter, which soon consolidates and crystallizes. These up- lifting- movements may be propagated along narrow belts, placed side by side, and may have been in prog- ress simultaneously, or in succession, in one narrow zone after another. ^Vhen the expansive force has been locally in opera- tion fur a long period, in a given district, there is a ten- dency in the subterranean heat to diminish ; — the vol- canic energy is spent, and its position is transferred to some new region. Subsidence then begins, in conse- quence of the cooling and shrinking of subterranean seas of lava and gaseous matter : and the solid strata collapse in obedience to gravity. If this contraction take place along narrow and parallel zones of copniry, the incumbent llexible strata would be forced, in pro- portion as they were let down, to pack themselves into a snmller space. «i3 they conformed to the circumfer- ence of a smaller arc. I'he manner in which undula- tions may be gradually produced in pliant strata by subsidence is illustrated on a small scale by the creejis in coal-mines ; there both the overlying ar^d underlying shales and clays sink down from the ceiling, or rise up from the floor, and fdl the galleries which have been left vacant by the abstraction of the fuel.* In like manner the failure of support arising from subterranean causes may enable the force of gravity, though origi * See " Elements of Geologj'," by the author. 2d ed. vol. i.» p. 110.— Boston cd. vol. i. p. 108. ; I t ! ! ' I : 1 ) t; i • . ', t ' I' I' ! t « ; ]i; : I. ,.'^.. IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 1.1 11.25 145 US Hi 125 ^,.. ^ Hiotographic Sciences Corporation v «^ 4^ •>^ \\ V !^ '^:;j^'V^ 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716) S73-4S03 ) K %o 80 THE APPALAf'IIIAX CHAIN. Chap, rr. nally exerted vertically, to bond nnd i^(|ucczc tlie rocka as if ihey had been subjected to laJcral pressure. " Earthquakes have raised to ht'avoii the luunblc valo, And ^■ulph.s the mountain's rni;:rhty mass outomh'd, And wliero l!i' Atlantic rolls, wide cci\tinent.s have bloom'd." In ap])iying these hues to the pliysical revohitions of the territory at present under consideration, we must remember that the continent which bloomed to the eastward, or where the Atlantic now rolls its wa\es (see p. 70.), was anterior to the origin cf the carbonifer- ous strata which were derived from its ruins ; wliereas the elevation and subsidence supposed to have given rise to the Appalachian ridges was subsequent to the deposition of the coal-measures. But all these great movements of oscillation were again distinct from the last upheaval which brought up the whole region above the level of the sea, laying dry the horizontal New Red Sandstone (No. 4., fig. 5.), as well as a great part of, if not all, the Appalachian chain. The larcfest amount of denudation is found, as mijxhl have been expected, on the south-eastern side of the chain, where the force of expansion and contraction, of elevation and subsidence, has been greatest. The llrsl set of denuding operations may have taken place when the strata, including the carboniferous, were first raised above the sea; a second, when they sank again; a third, when the Red Sandstone (No. 4.), after it had been thrown down on the truncate;! edges of the older strata, participated in the waste. The orreat extent of solid materials thus removed, must add, in no small degree, to the difliculty of restoring in imagir.ation the successive changes which have occurred, and of ac- counting in a satisfactory manner for the origin of liils mountain chain. tit n Chap. V. WOODED RIDGES OFV ALLEGIIANIES. 81 CHAPTER V. Wooded Ridges of the Alleghany Mountain^. — German Palois in Pennsi/lrania. — Lehigh Summit Mine. — I'Jffncts of Ice dnriuv a Flood on the Delawitre. — Election of a Governor at Tieuti>n and at Philadelphia. — J )nrney to Djstnn. — Antmnnnl Tints of the Foliage. — Btston the Seat of Commerce, of G jcprnuisnt, inid of a University. — Lectures at the L-)well Institute. — Lijlucnrc of oral Instruction in Literature and SrAence. — Fes of Fahlic Lcttuers. — Educational Funds sunk in costly Buildings. — Advantages of anti-huilding Clauses. — Blind A ^iylnni. — Ltwell Fuct'irics. — Na- tional Schools. — Equality of Sects. — Society in Boston. October 7. 1811. — The steep slopes, as well as the summits of the lidges in the anthracite region of Penn- sylvania, are so densely covered witli wood, that the surveyors were obliged to climb to the of tops trees, in order to obtain general views of the country, and con- struct a geographical map on the scale of two inches to a mile, on which they laid down the result of their ge- ological observations. Under the trees, th(i ground is covered with tlic RJtodnriotdroii., Kalmia and another evergreen called Sweet Fern [Comptonla aspletiifolia), the leaves of which have a very agreeable odour, re- sembling that of our bog-myrtle {Mi/ricaGale\ but fainter. The leaves are so like those of a fern or Pteris in form, that the miners call the impressions of the fos- sil Pecopteris, in the coal-shales '• sweet fern." We found the German language chielly spoken in this mountainous region, and preached in most of the churches, as at Reading. It is fast degenerating into a patois, and it is amusing to see many Genuanized English words introduced even into the newspapers, % 'f ^ .: ■i:' ; < II. = ■"'I ■ *l II ■ 1 tiil % i ; \ \ ^\ 62 EFFECTS OF it'K DURING A FLOOD. CllAp. v. m 'n such as tirrnpci/c for turnpike, fcnsc for i'cncc,Jlaiier for Hour, or otlierts, such as jail, wliich have beeu adopt- ed witliout alteration. F'-oiu the Leiiigh Sunmiit Mine, we descended for nii.f miles on a railway impelled by our own weight, in a siuail car at the rate of twenty miles an hour. A man sat in front checking our speed by a drag on the steeper declivities, and oiling the wheels without stopping. The coal is let down by the same railroad, sixty mules being employed to draw up the empty cars every day. In the evening the mules themselves are sent down standing four abreast, and feeding out of mangers the whole way. We saw them start in a long train of waggons, and were told, that so completely do they ac- quire the notion that it is their ))usiness through life to pull weights up hill, and ride down at their ease, that if any of them are afterwards taken away from the mine and set to other occupations, they willingly drag heavy loads up steep ascents, but obstinately re- fuse to pull any vehicle down hill, coming to a dead halt at the commencement of the slightest slope. The general effect of the long unbroken summits of the ridges of the Alleghany Mountains is very monoto- nous and unpicturesquc : but the scenery is beautiful, where we meet occasionally with a transverse gorge tlirough which a large river escapes. After visiting the Beaver Meadow coal field, we left the mountains by one of these openings, called the Lehigh («ap, wooded on both sides, and almost fdled up by the Tieliigh Kiver, a branch of the Delaware, the banks of which wc now followed to Trenton in New Jersey. On our way, we heard nmch of a disastrous Hood which occurred last spring on the melting of the snow H CnAP. V. ELECTION OP GOVERNORS. 83 and swept away several bridges, causing the loss of many lives. I observed the trees on the right bank of the Delaware at an elevation of about twenty-four feet above the present surface of the river, with their bark worn througli by the sheets of ice which had been driv- en against them. The canal was entirely filled up with gravel and large stones to the level of the towing path, twenty feet above the present level of the stream, which appeared to me to be only explicable by suppo- sing the stones to have been frozen into and carried by the floating ice. Oct. 11. — Reaching Trenton, the capital of New Jersey, late in the evening, we found the town in all the bustle of a general election. A new governor and representatives for the State legislature were to be chosen. As parties are nearly balanced, and the suf- frage universal, the good order maintained was highly creditable. Processions, called " parades," were peram- bulating the streets headed by bands of music, and car- rying transparencies with Hghts in them, in which the names of different counties, and mottoes, such as Union, Liberty, and Equality, were conspicuously inscribed. Occasionally a man called out with a stentorian voice, "The ticket, the whole ticket, and nothing but the tick- et," which was followed by a loud EngUsh hurra, while at intervals a single blow was struck on a great drum, as if to imitate the firing of a gun. On their tickets were printed the names of the governor, officers, and members for whom the committee of each party had determined to vote. The next day on our return to Philadelphia, we (bund that city also in the ferment of an election, bands of music being placed in open carriages, each drawn ( ■ r * ■! !■. ■ :N! 'Ifjl ■Hi.-' ■V 'in '■ii\ I \ m I' 1 1 ■ !' n M I .1; 84 JOURNEY TO BOSTON. Chap, v by four horses, and each horse decorated with a flag, attaclied to its shoulder, whicli has a gay etfect. All day a great bell tolls at the State house, to reniirid the electors of their duties. It sounded like a funeral ; and on my inquiring of a bystander what it meant, one of the democratic party answered, " It is the knell of the whigs." In their popular addresses, some candidates ask the people whether they will vote for the wliiga who will lay on new taxes. As it is well known, that such taxes must be imposed, if the dividends on the State bonds are to be paid, these popular appeals are ominous. The rapid fall in the value of State securi- ties shows that the public generally have no confidence that the majority of the electors will be proof against the insidious arts of these demagogues. Oct. 14. — We came from Philadelphia by New York to Boston, 300 miles, without fatigue in twenty- foLU" hours, by railway and steam-boat, having spent three hours in an hotel at New York, and sleeping soundly for six hours in the cabin of a commodious steamer as we passed through Long Island Sound. The economy of time in travelling here is truly admi- rable. On getting out of the cars in the morning, we were ushered into a spacious saloon, where with 200 others we sat down to breakfast, and learnt with sur- prise, that, while thus agreeably employed, we had been carried rapidly in a large feny-boat without per- ceiving any motion across a broad estuary to Provi- dence in the State of Rhode Island. Many trees in New Jersey, Connecticut, and Massa- chusetts, have now begim to assinne tiieir aulunmal tints, especially the maples, while the oaks retain their vi\dd green colour. I can only compare the brightness I I ClIAP. V. BOSTOX. 85 of the fculed leave?-, scarlet, purple, anil yellow, to that of tulips!. It is now the Indian sunnner, a season of warm sunny weather, which often succeeds to the Ihst frost and rain, a time which the Indians employed in hunting- and laying- up a store of game for the winter. Boston^ Oct. 11. to Dec. 3. 1841. — It is fortunati- that Boston is at once a llourishinf^ commercial port, and tiie seat of the best endowed university in Ameri- ca, for Cambridge, where Harvard College is situated, is so near, that it may be considered as a suburb of the inetropohs. The medical lectures, indeed, are delivered in the city, where the great liospitals are at hand. The mingling of the professors, both htcrary and sci- ontiiic, with the eminent lawyers, clergymen, physicians, and principal merchants of the place, forms a socie<} of a superior kind ; and to these may be added scvera persons, who, having inherited ample fortunes, liavf. successfully devoted their lives to original researches in history, and other departments. It is also a political advantage of no small moment that the legislature as- sembles here, as its members, consisting in great part of small proprietors farmii^g their own land, are thus brought into contact with a community in a very ad- vanced state of civilisation, so that they are under the immediate check of an enhghtened pubhc opinion. It is far more usual to place the capital, as it is called, in the centre of the State, often in some small village or town of no importance, and selected from mere geogra- phical consideratians, which might well be disregarded in a coiuitry enjoying such locomotive facilities. An innnense sacrifice is then required from those men of independent fortune, who, for patriotic motives, must leave the best society of a large city, to spend the win- 8 •f\. 'f \ \ ■ " V i i i' I I I ; i' '! :^\ 4' ','.1 m ■ M\ . *\ i' * I! ! 86 LECTURES AT THE LOWELL INSTITUTE. Chaf. T. ter in some remote spot in the discharge of public du- ties. I had been invited when in England by Mr. Lowell, trustee and director of a richly endowed Uterary and scientific institution in tins city, to deliver a course of twelve lectures on geology during the present autumn. According to the conditions of the be(|uest, the public have gratuitous admission to these lectures; but by several judicious restrictions, such as requiring applica- tions for tickets to be made some weeks before, and compliance with other rules, the trustee has obviated much of the inconvenience arising from this privilege, for it is well known that a class which pays nothing is irregular and careless in its attendance. As the num- ber of tickets granted for my lectiues amounted to 4500, and the class usually attending consisted of more than 3000 persons, it was necessary to divide them into two sets, and repeat to one of them the next afternoon the lecture delivered on the preceding evening. It is by no means uncommon for professors who have not the attraction of novelty, or the advantage which I happened to enjoy, of coming from a great distance, to command audiences in this institution as numerous as that above alluded to. The subjects of their discourses are various, such as natural history, chemistry, the fine arts, natural theology, and many others. Among my hearers were persons of both sexes, of every station in society, from the most affluent and eminent in the va- rious learned professions to the humblest mechanics, all well dressed and observing the utmost decorum. The theatres were never in high favour here, and most of them have been turned to various secular and ecclesiastical uses, and among others into lecture Chap. v. INFLUENCE OF ORAL INSTRUCTION. 87 roonig, to wliich many of tlic public resort for aiiuise- ment as they miglit fjrnicrly have done to a play, after the labours of the clay are over. If the selection of teachers be in good hands, institutions of this kind can- not fail toexert a powerful inlluence in improving the taste and intellectual condition of the people, especially where college is quitted at an early age for the business of ac- tive life, and where there is always danger in a c( in- mercial community that the desire of money-making may be carried to excess. It is, moreover, peculiarly desirable in a democratic state, where the public mind is apt to be exclusively absorbed in politics, and in a country where the free competition of rival sects has a tendency to produce not indifferentism, as some at home may be disposed to think, but too much excite- ment in religious matters. We are informed by Mr. Everett, late governor of Massachusetts (since minister of the U. S. in England), that before the existence of the Lowell Foundation, twenty-six courses of lectures were delivered in Boston, without including those which consisted of less than eight lectures, and these courses were attended in the aggregate by about 13,500 persons. But notwithstand- ing the popularity of this form of instruction, the means of the literary and scientific institutions of the city were wholly inadequate to hold out a liberal and certain reward to men of talent and learning. There were some few instances of continuous courses deliver- ed by men of eminence ; but the task more conmionly devolved upon individuals who cultivated the art of speaking merely to become the vehicles of second- hand information, and who were not entitled to speak li ii:*'! < H n • Hi mi i 1 .HI u !'■■ ■ryh ■:.:r,i 88 INFLUENCE OF ORAL INSTRUCTION. CiUP. V l|!|« with aiitlioiily, mid from the liihicss of tlicir own knowkvlgc* Tin; ricli \\ ho have had a liberal cchication, wlio know how to select the hest i)ooks, and can allord to j)nrchar:e them, who can retreat into the (juiet of their lihrari(.'s hom the noi.se of their children, and, if they pleasie, obtain the aid of private tnition, may doubt the utility of public lectures on the fine arts, history, and the physical sciences. But oral instruction is, in fact, the ojily means by which the great mass of the niiddlini:; and lower classes can have their tiiou"hts turned to these subjects, and it is the fault of the lii^h- er classes if the information they receive be unsound, and if the business of the teacher be not liekl in high honour. The whole body of the clergy in every coun- try, and, under popular forms of government, the leading politicians, have been in all ages convinced that they must avail themselves of this method of teaching, if they would iidluence both high and low. No the- ological dogma is so abstruse, no doctrine of political economy or legislative science so ditricult, as to be deemed unfit to be preached from the pulpit, or incul- cated on ttie hustings. The invention of printing, fol- lowed by the rapid and general dispersion of tlie cheap daily newspaper, or the religious tract, have been by no means permitted to supersede the instrumentahty of oral teaching, and the powerful sympathy and excite- ment created by congregated numbers. If the leading patrons and cultivators of literature and physical science neglect this ready and efficacious means of interesting the multitude in their pursuits, they are wanting to • See «• Everett's Memoir of John Lowell." Boston, 1840. *JB,i Chap. v. FUNDS SINK IN CoSTLV HUILDINGS. 89 tlH'insclvi's, and lifivo no right to (;ojiij)Iaia of the apa- thy or iiidilli'R'ncc of tlie piihlic. To obtain the services of oniiiicnt men eng-aii^jul in oriijinal researcliees, for th(; delivery of systematic courses of lectures, is impo.-sihle without the commjind of much larjn^er fluids than are usually devoted to this olijtct. A\'hen it is stated that the i'cv:^ at the liuweil Institute at Boston are on a scale more than three times higher than tiie remuneration awarded to the best literary and scientific public lecturers in London, it will at first be thought liopelesd to endea\(jur (o cany similar plans into execution in otlier large cities, w he- tlier at home or in the United States. In reahty, iiow- ever, the sum beciueatlied by the late Mr. John Lowell for his foundation, though numificent, was by no means enormous, not much cxceedin<^ 7(1,0017., which, according' to the usual fate awaiting donations for edu- cational objects, would have been all swallowed up in the erection of costly buildings, after which the learned would be invited to share the scanty leavings of the '• Committee of Taste,'' and the merciless architect, "relit|uias Danaitm atque innnitis Achillei." But in the present case, the testator provided in his will that not a single dollar should be spent in brick and mortar, in consec|uence of which proviso, a spacious room was at once hired, and the intentions of the donor carried immediately into eficct, without a years delay. If there be any who imagine that a donation might be so splendid as to render an anti-building clause su- pcrfiuous, let them remember the liistory of the Ctirard bequest in Philadelphia. Half a million sterling, w ilh the express desire of the testator that the expenditure on architectural ornament should be moderate ! Yet i (. ii ■f' 1 m 1 m m i -I ■ 1' I ^ ' ':'it> i\ ', y\'^ i ■ IS iliM 90 SINKING OF EDUCATIONAL FUNDS CilAP. V. til; |ilV- tluH vast Sinn is so noailv ronsninod, that it is iloiiblfiil wlhMlicr tlic icnKiiiiin'j;" funds will siillico for the (.-(nn- plction of llie palnci;- splcndiil, intlccd, luit cxtronKdy ill-fifted for a school-! lonso ! It is cvidciil that wIumj a passion so stroni( as that fiv l)nil(lin!j;" is to ho icsiritt'd, •:otal al)stinr into an upper story, where his lecture room was placed. Still these collegiate buildings, in support of which the public came forward so liberally, were left, like the Girard College, half Ihiished ; whereas, if the same funds had been devoted to the securing of teachers of high acquirements, station, character, and celebrity; and if rooms of moderate dimensions had been at first hired, while the classes of pupils remained small, a generation would not have been lost, the new Institu- tions would have risen more rapidly to that high rank which they are one day destined to attain, and testa- mentary bequests would have flowed in more copiously for buildings well adapted to the known and ascertain- ed wants of the establishment. None would then g^rudge the fluted column, the swelling dome, and the stately portico ; and literature and science would con- tinue to be the patrons of architecture, without being its victims. Prescott, in his admirable work on the Conquest of Mexico, remarks, when discussing the extent of the ancient Aztec civilisation, that the prog ess made by the Mexicans in astronomy, and especially the fact of their having a general board for public education and the flne arts, proves more in favour of their advance- ment, than the uoble architectural monuments which m • tii ■. 'I! > ! ; '-1 I ■:; t'ii Ml I ( ■ :'■ ' *• 92 BLIND ASYLUM. CitAP. ▼ "•^ I they and their kiiuhetl tribes erected. '• Arcliitecture," he observes, " i?; a sensual gTalilicalion,and adthesses it- self to the eye ; it is the lorin in which tl:e resources of a semi-civilised people are most likely to be lavished."* Air. John Lowell, a native of jMassachusetts, after having carefully studied the educational establishments of his own country, visited London in 1833, and having sojour'ied there some months, paying a visit to the Uni- versity of Cambridge and other places, he pnrsued his travels in the hope of exploring India and China. On his way he passed through Egypt, where, being at- tacked, while engaged in making a collection of an- ti(|uities, by an intermittent fever, of which he soon af- terwards died, he drew up his last w ill in 1835, anndst the ruins of Thebes, leaving half of his noble fortune ibr the foundation of a Literary Institute in his na- tive city. It has already appeared how admirably he a[)preciated the exact point of "semi-civilisation' which the Anglo-Saxon race had then attained on both sides of the Atlantic. I spent an agreeable day at Cambridge, visiting sev eral of the piolessors at Harvard University, and hear- ing one of them, Henry Ware, author of "'^I''he Chris- tian Character,'' a work reprinted, and nmcli read in England, preach a sermon in the College Chapel. Hif text, "Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself," led Isim to treat of self-love, and to explain how this natu- ral passion might be indulged to any extent, provided, in obedience to the divine connnandment,our love for others increases in the like ratio. I Iiea.d afterwards, with great regret, of the death of this able and amiable man. In liie Blind Asylum I saw Laura Bridgman, now * Conquest of Mexico, vol. i. p. 155 m Chap. v. LOWELL FACTOR IKS. 93 i'i ill her twelflh yen.)'. At llie af^e of two slio losi her rii-^^ht aii-.l hearing by a Sv)Vcro ilhien^, but ahlioiiLrh deaf, (liinib, aiitl bliiil, her ininJ lias been so ad- vanccd by tlie nietluKl of instiiictioii j)uisiied by Dr. Howe, that she shows more iiitellii,^ence and ([uickness of feeling than many girls of (he same age who are in full possession of all their senses. The excellent re|)orf3 of Dr. Howe, on the gradual development of her mind, have been long before the public, and have recently been cited by Mr. Dickens, together v ith some judicious observations of his own. Perhaps no one of the cases of a somewhat analogous natine, on which Dugald Stewart and others have philosophised, has f:irnished so many new and valuable facts illusl rating the extent to which all intellectual development is dependent on the instramentaUtv of the senses in discerning external objects, and, at the same time, in how small a degree the relative acuteness of the organs of sense determine the moral and intellectual superiority of the individual. Nov. 15. — AVent twenty-six miles to the north of Boston, bv an excellent railway, to ihe manufacturinsr town of Lowell, which has sprung up entirely in the last sixteen years, and now coiitains about 20,000 in- habitants. The mills are remarkably clean, and well warmed, and almost all for making cotton and woollen goods, which are exported to the West. The young woujoii from the age of eighteen to twenty-five, who attend to the spinning-wheels, are good-looking and neatly dressed, chielly the daughters of New llngland farmers, sometimes of the poorer clergy. They b(?long, therefore, to a very diflerent class IVom our manufac- turing population, an 1 after remaining a few years m the factory, return to their homes, and usually marry. I>. ]i\ i ■' ■ ! If- :'..r:; ' ,t. [%■' I :]■■ I • •'1 i PI :*.; Il i'.i 4 't;i:li| i m It. '"1 ■i ,'.'(•- M .4 i '4 1 . AiJi ti ay- , 94 LOWELL FACTORIES. Chap. ▼. We are told that, to work in these factories is consid- ered far more eligible for a yoim^^ woman than domes- tic service, as they can save more, and have stated hours of work (twelve hours a day !), after which they are at hberty. Their moral character stands very high, and a girl is paid off, if the least doubt exists on that point. Boarding-houses, usually kept by widows, are attached to each mill, in which the operatives are re- quired to board ; the men and women being separate. This regard for the welfare and conduct of the work- people when they arc not on actual duty is compara- tively rare in England, where the greater supply of labour would render such interference and kind su- perintendence nmch more practicable. Still we could not expect that the results would be equally satisfactory with us, on account of the lower grade of the opera- tives, and the ignorance of the lower classes in Eng- land. In regard to the order, dress, and cleanliness of the people, these merits are also exemplified in the rural districts of Lancashire, and it is usually in our large towns alone, that the work people are unhealthy and squalid, especially where a number of tlie poor Irish live crowded together in bad dwellings. The factories at Lowell are not only on a great scale, but have been so managed as to yield high prof- it?*, a fact whicli should be impressed on the mind of every foreigner who visits them, lest, after admiring the gentility of manner and dress of the women and men employed, he should go away with the idea that he bad been seeing a model mill, or a set of gJMitlemen and ladies, playing at factory for their amusement. There are few children employed, and those under fifteen are compelled by law to go to school three months in the I : I* ! Chap. v. NATIONAL SCHOOLS. 95 year, under penalty of a heavy fine. If this regulation is infringed, informers are not wanting, for there is a strong sympathy in the public mind with all acts of the legislature, enforcing education. The Bcstonians submit to pay annually for public instruction in their city alone, the sum of 30,000/. sterling, which is about equal to the parliamentary grant of this year (1811) for the whole of England, while the sum raised for free schools in the state this year, by taxes for wages of teachers, and their board, and exclusive of funds for building, exceeds 100,000/. sterling. The law ordains, that every district containing fifty families shall maintain one school, for the support of which the inhabitants are required to tax themselves, and to appoint committees annually for managing the funds, and choosing their own schoohnasters. The Bible is allowed to be read in all, and is actually read in nearly all the schools ; but the law prohibits the use of books "calculated to favour the tenets of any par- ticular sect of Christians." Parents and guardians are expected to teach their own children, or to procure them to be taught, what they belie\e to be religious truth, and for this purpose, besides family worship and the pulpit, there are Sunday-schools. The system works well among this church-building and church- going population. As there is no other region in Anglo-saxondom, con- taining 750,000 souls, where national education has been carried so far, it is important to enquire to what combination of causes its success is mainly to be attrib- uted. First, there is no class in want or extreme pov- erty here, partly because the facility of migrating to the west, for those who are without employment, is so 1 ' (s >t n .. ■■;!:;': s ■'! m ■i .1 ■ ■ i' . V. ;s i ! • ,111 ' - ■ ;M ' ' •' ; 4'' 'ill ■ M ■ M I ,■ : m ?'{ ,fi la :.i ' 06 EQUALITY OF SECTS. CirAP. ■? s^ront. an! also, in p:irt, from the chock to inipiovi- (li'iit \n u-ri;ii;c^, created hy the hi^^h sstiiiidaivl of liviiiir to whioli tlio lo\ve:.4 \V'jr!v-|)eJi)lc aspire, a stinJard which education i.-; rai-;iii'^ hi'dier and hi^'her from day to day. Secondly, 1 have often iieard politicians of op- posite parties declare, that there is no safety for the re- pul)lic, now tliat the electoral suffrage has hecn so much extended, unless every exertion is made to raise the moral and intellectual condition of the masses. The fears entertained hy the rich of the dangers of igno- ntnce, is the only good result which I could discover tending to counterbalance tiie enormous preponderance of evil arising in the United States from so near an ap- proach to imivorsal suflrage. Thirdly, the political and social equality of all religious sects, — a blessing which the New Englanders do not owe to the Ameri- can revolution, for it was fully recognised and enjoyed under the supremacy of the British crown. This equal- ity tends to remove the greatest stumbling block, still standing in the way of national instruction in Great Britain, where we allow one generation after another of the lower classes to grow un without being taught good morals, good bchavioin*, and the knowledge of things useful and ornamental, because we cannot all agree as to die precise theological doctrines in which they are to be brought up. The religious toleration of the different sects towards each other in Massachusetts is, I fear, accompanied by as little Christian charity as at home, and families are often divided, and the best relalions of private life disturbed, by the bitterness of sectarian dogmatism and jealousy ; l)ut, politically, all sects are ready to unite against the encroachments of any other, and a great degree of religious freedom :;* Chap. v. THANKSGIVING-DAY. 97 i-^: enjoyed, in consequence of there being no sect to which it is nimentecl to belong", no consciences sorely tcnij)ted by ambition to coalorni to a more fashionable creed. In New York the Roman Catholic priests have re- cently agitated with no small success for a separate al- lotment of their share of the education fund. They have allied themselves, as in the Belgian revolution, with the cxirouke democracy to carry their point, and may materially retard the general progress of educa- tion. But there is no reason to apprehend that any one sect in New England will have power to play the same game ; and these states are the chief colonizers of the West — g-eniis cftttctbula, by the rapidity of wliosc multiplication and progress in civilization the future prospects of the whole confederacy of republics will be mainly determined. During our stay at Boston the citizens gave a splen- did ball to the Prince de Joinville, and the Mayor po- litely sent us tickets of invitation, which gave ine an opportunity of satisfying myself that foreigners have not said too much of the beauty of the young Ameri- can ladies. In general I was so much occupied wdth my lectures, or in communicating to the Geological So- ciety of London some of the results of my observations during my late tour, that I had no time to enter hito society, or to accept the hospitalities of the inhabitants. As soon as it was understood that I wished to live qui- etly, all prcs=;ing invitations were politely abstained from until I had riiii^hed my course of lectures ; and, afterwards, when I foimd it necessary to decUnc a large number of them, no olTcnce was taken. The t\venty-fif|.h of iXovcmber was appointed by the 9 ' 1 *' ' : r 1 i J ... i i 1 , ■ M ■I, . [•.lil! 11 ]• I i i il h': 1 1 s i : :' ) Ml ,:» '■ Y:\ i _ ; ' ' :; l' 1 1 ' ' - t .\:fi l;. :■ 5 m 4 m m 1 ! M\ • I- Lt J I '•■ri'* 98 SOCIETY IN BOSTON. Chap v. lil^ Governor of the Slate to be what is here called Tlianks- giving-Day — an institution as old as tlie times of the Pilgrim Fathers, one day in the year being set apart for thanksgiving for the mercies of the past year. Az a festival it stands very much in the place of Chrir^tmas Day as kept in England and Germany, being always in the winter, and every body going to church in tlic morning and meeting in large family parties in the evening. To one of these we were jyiost kindly wel- comed ; and the reception which we met with here and in the few families to which we had letters of introduc- tion, made us entirely forget that we were foreigners. Several of our new acquaintances indeed had travelled in England and on t-he Continent, and were in con- stant, correspondence with our own literary and scien- tific friends, so that we were always hearing from them some personal news of those with whom we were most intimate in Europe, and we often rellected wiih sur- prise in how many parts of England we should have felt less at home. I remember an eminent English writer onqe saying to me, when he had just read a recently-published book on the United States, "I wonder (he author went so far to see disagreeable people, when there are so .many (Of them at home." It would certainly l)e stiange if persons of refined habits, even without being tastidiou^*, who (travel to see life, and think it their duty, with a view of studying character, to associate indiscriminately with aU lands pf people, visiting the first strangers who ask them to their houses, and choosing their com- panions without reference jto congeniality of taste, pur- suits, manners, or opuiionsj did not find society in their own or any othpr ppuntry in the wojjd intolerable. COAP. VI SLEIGH-DRIVING AT BOSTON. 99 CHAPTER VI. Ffill of Snow and Slei-rh-drjimng at Boston. — Journey to New Ha- ven. — Ichthyolites of Durham, Connecticut. — Age of Re'l S.in:l' stone. — Income of Farmers. — Baltimore. — Washington. — Nutional Museum. — Natural Impediments to the Growth of Wasliinarl. a cluiracferistic species of the I^iiropean Trias, that the Connecticut snndstonc be- lon'^s to the l.'pper New Red or Tiiassic sysleni. In the neig[d)ourho()d of Durham we learnt tliat a -ii(>\v slorni, which O'cuned there in the llrst week of ()ct)ber, had seriously injure 1 the woods, weiLihing- down the houghs then in full leaf,an 1 snapj)in i> f ri- ll ' ¥'] ■ ' *■■ ■ I ■ ■ - ' I ' : i II, ,1 ^'•■mH I i I ri'^ :i %> 102 WASniNtJTON. — NATIOXAI. MUSEUM. UlUF. vi. Chap. (Doc 13.) tlio weather beo-nn t-i resonihio tluit of an I'jU^Iish sj)!iji-LAnOlR. Chap vi. '4 several prr.-ons to v.lioni wo li:ul KMtns. av^ were warned l)V a sliulit .-prialJin''- of^iiou ll!:il it was I'.ino to depart and ini^riate fnrtlier soiilhwanls. ( 'lo.-sin;,'' the Potomac, therefore, I proi'eeded to Kiilnnoiwl, in Viri^inia, where J resolved to sail down ihe James Kiver, in order to examine tlic gi'ology of the tertiary btrata on its si^horcy. On enterinj^ the station-house of a railway wliich was to carry u.s to oar place of emharkation, we found a room witii only two chairs in it. Oiu? of tjujse was occupied by a rcr-pcctable-looking woman, who imme- diately rose, intending- to ^ive it up to me, an act 1 e- traying that she was Eni^lish, and newly-arrived, a:- an American gentleman, even if already seated, would have felt it necessary to rise and oiler the chair to any woman, whether mistress or maid, and she, as a mat- ter of course, would have accepted the proH'cied seat. After 1 had gone out, she told my wife that she and her husband liad come a few months before fronj Hert- fordshire, lioping to get work in Virginia, hut she had discovered that there was no room here for jH)or white peoj)le, who were despised by the very negroes if they laboured with their own hands. She had found herself looked down upon, even for ca/rying her own child, foi they said she ought to hire a l)lack mirse. 'i'hese pooj emigrants were now ajixious to settle in some IVcc state. As another exemplification of the imjiediments to im provement existing here, I was told that a New V]ng- land agriculturist had bought a farm on the south side of the James river, sold olF all the slaves, and intro- duced Irish labourers, being persuaded that their ticv- vices would prove more economical than slave-labour. m 1 1 Chap. VI. MIOCENE STRATA OF VIROINIA. 105 Tlio schcmo wns nnswcrin:? well, till, by t.lic onil of (he fliird year, tlu; Iiisli bcciinu; very iim '> dissatislieil uiili their position, feeling' degraded hy lo.sing ih'' respect of the whiles, and i)ein^ exposed to iIh; < oiiteiin>( o'' the surrounding negroes. Tiiey had, in fact, lov^ered iheni- sclves by the habitual perfDrniance (,f otlices which, south of the Potomac, arc assigned U hereditary bondsmen. MiocEXE Tertiary Strata of Virginia. We have already seen that between the hillv coini- trv and the Atlantic there occurs in the Unittul .States, a low and nearly level region (a, n, lig. 5, p. 71.), occu- pied principally by beds of marl, clay, and sand of the cretaceous and tertiary formations. I\'aclure, in 1S17, ia his work on geology, laiil down with no small accu- racy on a coloured map the general hmits of this great plain, and of the granitic district lying immctliately t/ the westward. He also pointed out that al the juno tion of these great geological provinces (a, n, and n, c, fig. 5.), at the point //, as indicated in the section, al- most all the great rivers descend sudtlenly bv falls or rapids of moderate height, as the Delaware at Trenton, the Schuylkill near Philadelphia, the Potomac near Washington, the James river at Ri-hmond, Virginia, the Savannah at Augusta in Georgia^ and many others. At these points, therefore, the navigation is stopi)ed, and a great many large cities have sprung up precisely at this limit, so that the hne which marks the western boundary of the tertiary, and the eastern of the grani- tic region, is one of no small geological, geograpbicy.l and political interest. it' 1' : 1 1 t t 1 1 I d Si • I. ; I Si Jii I Of) MIOCENE STRATA OF VIRGINIA. Chap. Ti The (Tonoral elevation of flic great plain does not exceol a limidrtvl feet, altliough sometimes considera- bly lii'jchcr. Its width in the middle and southern stated is very commonly from lOU to 150 miles. The tid(^, except in the more southern states, (lows entirely across it, and the livcn-s intersecting it form large estu- aries, which mny have been due to the facility witli whicli the incoherent materials of the clills were un- dermined and swept away, a process of waste whicli is still going on. Tinougliout the greater part of the Atlantic plain, the cr(;tace:)us rocks, if present, are concealed by the overlying tertiary deposits, which consist chietly of Mi- ocene strata, extending from Delaware bay to the Cape Fear river, and occupying portions of Delaware, Mary- land. Viiginin, and North Carolina, an area about 400 ]niies lojig from north to sou;h, and varying in breadth from 10 to 70 miles. There are, besides, some patches of the Miocene f>nnation in South Carolina and Geor- gia, wlicre the Eocene or older tertiary deposits pre- dominate almost exclusively. I began my examination of these tertiary strata in the subuibs of Kiclnnond, Virginia, where I saw in Shock(je creek some Eocene marls with characteristic shells, on which reposed Miocene red clay and sand. Between the two formations a remarkable bed of yel- low siliceous clay intervenes, from twelve to twenty- five feet thick, marked on tlie surface by a band of meagre vegetation. This clay was found by Professor W. B. Rogers to be entirely composed of tbe siliceous cases of Infusoria', so minute as only to be detected by a powerful microscope, and yet exhibiting distinct spe- Chap. vi. HOSPITALITY OF THE PLANTERS. 107 cific characters, enabling us to refer them to the Mio- cene period. Going down the James river about twenty miles be- low Richmond, I found, at a place called City Point, on the right bank, a cliff thirty feet high, in which yellow and white sands appear, with shells very analogous to tliose of tJie Suffolk crag, and referable to the same age ; resting on Eocene marl and green earth. Several miles lower, at Evergreen, I collected abundance of shells in the upper or Miocene formation, with great numbers of an Astarte, resembling one of the com- monest kinds of the Suffolk crag, and accompanied by the teeth of sharks, and bones of cetacea. Landing then at Coggin's Point, several miles farther eastward on the Virginian shore, I was conducted by Mr. Ruflin, son of the editor of the Farmer's Register, to a locality where shell-marl is procured and used for improving light soils, just as in Suffolk and on the Loire, strata of the same age, called crag and falun, have for cen- turies afforded a fertilizing mixture. Here, and at Evergreen before mentioned, large flat- tened masses several feet wide, of a lameUiform coral resembling an Astrcea, were lying on the beach, washed out of the Miocene marls. The species has been called by Mr. Lonsdale Column aria sexradiata, and differs from the genus Astriea, as defined by Ehrenberg, in the stars not being subdivided. All the planters in this part of Virginia, to whose houses I went without letters of introduction, received me most politely and hospitably. To be an English- man engaged in scientific pursuits was a sufficient pass- port, and their servants, horses, and carriages, were most liberally placed at my disjwsal. iiif '\ ' ' \ i III '' ' i '\ i 1 '^^^B^^B> '7 J. W' M'l i 1 . ■' I'lr ■ i ' 1 1 ■ i' ■ !- i -* V- I r I t 1 i ■■ V; i t ! •i; •1, •'! ■' • ■' ' i . il • , 1 1 ' m ;1 ! 1 . 1 ■ lif ; 1 r 'i f Ml m .^ I 108 WILLIAMSBURG. Chap, vt i I then crossed to the north side of the James river, being rowed out at sunrise far from tlie siiore to wait for a steamer. The hour of her arrival being soine* what uncertain, we remained for some time in the cold. muflled up in our cloaks, in a small boat moored to a single wooden pile driven into a shoal, with three ne- groes for our companions. Tiie situation was desolate in the extreme, both the banks of the broad estuary appearing low and distant, and as wild and uniiiliabitcd as when first discovered in 1()U7, by Captain Siiiitii, bo- fore he was taken prisoner, and his life saved Ijy the Indian maiden Pocahontas. At length we gladly hailed the large steamer as she cainj down raj)idiy tj wards US; and my luggage was inunediately taken charge of by two of the sable crew, who called themselves Lord WelUngton and Jidius Caisar. We disembarked in a few hours near the old desert- ed village of Jamestown, at the Grove Landing, se\cn miles south of Williamsburg. Here 1 found the beach strewed over with innumerable fossil shells, washed out of the sandy Miocene marls of a cli.'l" fjrty feet high. Some large varieties of the genus Pcctcii were mo.-t abundant, closely packed together in a dense bed, above which was another layer composed almost wholly of the shells of a Chama (C cnngregata)^ both valves being united in each individual, from the same clitf I also procured shels of the genera Conit, ■ 1:| ' i !■* i ^ :^i 'i i • ; :li''| J . Ud ' • 1 1 •\'\ ' i f • ili 110 MIOCENE FOSSILS. Ciur. VI surprised to learn that I have only met with nine American Miocene slielk, agieeing with fossils of the same period in Europe. It is also worthy of notice that the shells identified with recent species agree witii testacea, now living on the western side of the Atlan- tic, some of which, as some kinds of Fulgur, a sub- genus of Pt/rttla, and Gitat/iodoii, an estuary shell, are forms peculiar to America. In Uke manner, the fossil shells found in the Miocene strata of Europe, which agree with recent kinds, belong to species in- habiting the British seas, the Mediterranean, or the African coast of the Atlantic. Hence it follows that at the remote period called Miocene, the seas were not only divided as now into distinct geographical provinces, but already that peculiar distribution of the living mol- lusca which now exists had begun to prevail. This conclusion is remarkable when we recollect that at the geological era alluded to, the fauna was so distinct from the present, that four fifths of the species now living had not yet come into existence. In regard to the climate of the Miocene period it is not uninteresting to observe that the fossil shells of Maryland and Virginia resemble those of Touraine and Bourdeaux more nearly than the fossils of Suliolk. This might have been expected from the nearer cor- respondence in latitude ; and it is the presence of such genera as Conus, Oliva, Marginella, and Crassatella (represented by large species), forms belonging to warmer seas, which assimilate the American and French deposits, and contrast both of them with the English, where no representatives of these genera are met with. Nevertheless, it is singular that there should be so much resemblance between the Miocene shells of ChaF. VI. MIOCENE FOSSILS. Ill the Loire and Gironde and those of the James rivtr and other estuaries in tlic United States which lie ten degrees of latitude farther south than the Frencii fa luns, the latter Ijeing in the 47th, wliile the American strata of the same age are in the 37tii of north lati- tude. This circumstance may probably be accounted for by curves in the isothermal lines similar in their prolongation east and west, to those now existing as pointed out by Humboldt, in his essay on Climate. i^j t i t I ii :%-.. I i^rl I) i-m 112 FINE BARRENS OF VIRGINIA. CilAP. TU CHAPTER VII. 4 Pine Barrens of Virginia and North Carolina. — Railwny Train slopprd III/ S/iow and Ire. — The Great Di.tmtil Swnvip. — Soil J'nii ed. entire!// of Verretable Mitter. — Rises hiisJier tlian the con- I'igiions firm fj-inil. — Buried- Timber. — Lal:e in the Mddle. — The Ori ''( ' ^ .' ^ 1 ■ 1 i . , 1 V ■[ l'" i i 1 i 1 ■i i f' '^W . 1 ■ 1 ' \"'* ' 1 ; i ' ' 1 i ■M , ! r. 1 i ■ ■ '1 ]■■ , ; 1 . i ■ 1 t 1; ■ . ♦ 1 1 i '■., i-!. "■^•ifllil 1 ii i / * ■ ■ -■■ "<» ■->' '*: ' I :! . fV^^ 'f IIG SOIL FORMF-n or VEGETABLE MATTER. Ciur. VI li Vaii llic stroniiH lo the wostwnrfl do not bring down li (|ui'.l niiiv, and arc not cliiir^cl will) any scdinirnt. 'lliii soil of tlie swamp is CornifMl of vegetaMe mailer usually willioul. any admixture of earthy pai tides. ^Vc have here, in fact, a deposit of peat from ten to fiftc en r-et in tliickn(?.-9, in a lafiMrle where, owinj^ to the heat of the sun, and length of the snmnier, no peat mosses like those of lOurope would ho looked for under ordi- nary circumstances. In countries like Scotland and Ireland, where tlie climate is dain|). and tlie snnnner short and coo!, the natural vegetation of one year does not rot away du- ring the next in nioist situations. If w^it 'r Hows into such land, it i-; absorbed, and promotes the vigorou:^ growth of mosses and other atpriti.; plant.-, and when they die, the same wafer arre-ts their putrefaction But as a general rule, no such accumulation of peal can take placi; in a eountrv like that of Viriiinia. wher(! the summer's heat canscs amnially as large a (juantity of dead plants to decay as is eipial in amount to the vegetable matter producc'd in one year. It has been already staled that there are many trees and shrubs in the region of the Pine Barrens (and the saiuc may be said of the United States generally) which, like our willows, llourish luxuriantly in water. The jimiper trees, or white cedar {Cnj)ressi(s tliy- oiili's\ stand lirmly in the softest part of the quag- mire, supported by their long tap-roots, and ailbrd, with many other evergreens, a dark shade, under which a multitude of ferns, reeds, and shruhs, from nine to eighteen feet high, and a thick carpet of moss- es, fonr or live inches high, spring up and are pro- tected from the rays of tlie sun. When these are most I , Ciur. vii. GREAT DISMAL SWAMP. 117 powerful, the larn^e codar {CHpressus dlstlcha) and many other dcciduoiH trees am in lull leaf. 'IMic black soil formed beneath this shade, to which the mosses and the leaves make annual additions, does not per- fectly resemble the peat of Europe, most of the plants hc\ng so decayed as to leave little more than soft black mud, without any traces of organization. This loose goil is called sponge by the labourers ; and it has been ascertained that, when exposed tj the sun, and thrown out. on the bank of a canal, where cleanings have been made, it rots entirely away. Hence it is evident that it owes its preservation in. the swamp to moisture and tl;e shade of the dense f)liage. The eviiporation con- tinually gouig on in the wet spongy s;)il during sunnncr cools the air, and generates a teuipcrature resembling that of a more northern climate, or a region more ele- vated above the level of the sea. Numerous trunks of large and tall trees lie lnn'*cd in tli^ bkick mire of the mora?^s. In so loose a soil they are ea.^iiy overthrown by wiiids. and nearlv as many have been fnmd lying beneath the surface of the peaty soil, as standiiig (;rcct upon it. When thrown down, they are soon covere 1 by water, and keephig wet tliey never decompose, except the sap wood, which i- less than an inch thick. ]\Iuch of the timber is obtained by sounding a foot or two below tin; surface, and il is sawn into jilanks while half under water. The Great Dismal has been described as being higji est towards its centre. Here, however, there is an ex- tensive lake of an oval form, seven miles long, and nnre than five wide, the depth, where greatest, Hftce:! feci; aiid its botloni, consi^-tingi>f nuid like the swamp, but sr-nietimes with a pure white sand, a foot deep, coy* I A H, ' M f:.u\ : i H '■ i : ^-^iu^] •w m ;.J I^^^ 118 ORIGIN OP COAL. ClIAP. VII. ering the mud. The water i^^ transparent, though tinged of a pale hrown-colour, like tliat of our [)eat- mosses', and contains ahundance of fish. This sheet of water is usually even with its hanks, on which a thick and tall forest grows. There is no beach, for the l)ank sinks perpendicularly, so that if the waters are lowered several fiM.'t it makes no alteration in the breadth of the lake. Much timber has been cut down and carried out from the swamp by means of canals, which are per- fectly straight for long distances, with the trees on each side arching over and almost joining their branches across, so that they throw a dark shade on the water, which of itself looks black, being coloured as before mentioned. When the boats emerge from the gloom of these avenues into the lake, the scene is said to be "as beautiful as fairyland." The bears inhabiting the swamp climb trees in pcarcii of acorns and niim berries, breakiuir olV larTC boughs of the oaks in order to draw the acorns near to them. These same boars are said to kill hogs and even cows. There are also wild cats, and occasionally a solitary wolf, in the morass. That the ancient seams of coal were produced for the most part by terrestrial plants of all sizes, hot drift- ed, but growing on the spot, is a theory more and more generally adopted in modern times, and the growth of what is called sponge in such a swamp, and in such a climate as the Great Dismal, already covering so man} square miles of a low level region bordering th«^ sea, and capable of spreading itself indefinitely over the adjacent country, helps us greatly to conceive the rianner in which the coal of the ancient Carboniferous ».riAf ni ORIGIN OP COAL. 110 •ocks may have bcon formed. The heat, porhnps, may not have hocn excessive wlieii flu? (•o:il-m(*asures orii;!- natcil, hut the entire a])seiice of frost, with a wjirm and dam|) atmosphere, may have onahled tropical forms to tlonrish in latitude;^ far (hstant from tlie hne. IIne;i in liavf! floinishcLl. Sonio imaccinc the air to have boon so full of chokt'-danip diirin<^ the ancient era alluded to, that it was unfitted for the rei^piration of warm-blooded quadrupeds and birds, or even reptiles, which rec|uire a more rapid oxygenation of their blood than creatures lower in the scale of organization, such as liave alone been met witli hitherto in the Carboniferous and older strata. It is assumed that an excess of oxygen was set free when the plants which elaborated the coal sub- tracted many bundled million tons of carbon from the carbonic acifl gas which previously loaded the air. All this carbon was then permanently locked up in solid seams of coal, and the chemical composition of the eaitli's atmosohere cs?entialiv altered. But they who reason thus are bound to inform us what may have been the duration of the period in the course of which so much carbon was secreted by the powers of vegcUd,)lc life, and, secondly, what accession of fresh carbjiiic acid did the air receive in the same. V\'c kiiovv that in the present state of the globe, the air is contimudly supplied with carbonic acid from several sources, of which the three principal are, first, the daily jiutrefactien of dead animal and vegetable su'ostances : secondly, the disint(\2'i'ation of rocks char- g.'A \v\\\\ carbonicaci I and organic matter; and, tiiirdly, the copious evolution of this gas from mineral springs and the earth, especioUy in volcanic countries. By that law which causes two gases of dilFerent specilic gravity, when brought into contact, to become uni- formly dirfused and mutually ai)-n!!)ed through the whole spiC(.' which tlu^y occupy, the heavy car!)onic acid Ihido its way upwards throii jh all parts of the at- iiiii I ; : ni »1 ClUP. Vll. CIIAUGED WITH CARBONIC ACID. 121 I , mfi»-iei(\ am] the solid rnalerials of largo forests are given out from the earth iii an invisible form, or in bu!)hli's rising through the water of springs. Peat- mosses of no slight depth, and covering thousands of squaie miles, are thus fed with their mineral constitu- ents without materially derangmg the constituents of the atmosphere breathed by man. Thousands of trees grow up, Iloat down to the delta of the Mississippi, and other rivers, and are buried, and yet the air, at the end of many centuries, may be as much impregnated with carbonic acid as before. Coral reefs are 3^ear after year growing in the ocean — springs and rivers feed the same ocean with carbonic acid and lime ; but we have no reason to infer that when mountain masses of calcareous rock have thus been gradually formed in the sea, any essential change in the chemical composition of its w^aters has been brought about. We have no accurate data as yet for measuring whether in our own time, or at any remote geological era, the relative supply and consumption of carbon in the air or the ocean causes the amount of those elements to vary greatly ; but the variation, if admitted, would not have caused an excess, but rather a deficit of carbon in the periods most productive of C09.I or peat, as compared to any subsequent or antecedent epochs. In fact, a climate favouring the rank and lux urious growth of plants, and at the same time check ing their decay, and giving rise to peat or accumula tions of vegetable matter, might, for the time, diminish the average amount of car])onic acid in the atmosphere — a state of things precisely the reverse of that assu- med by those to whose views I am now objecting. 11 :|'l' 5i ff I 1 r.-v-' ■,ij !l- \ .1 i '\l' 7 I y\ I , 122 VOUR TO CHARLESTON. Chip, m I* I r CHAPTER VIII. Tour to Charleston, South Carolina. — Facilities of Locomotion Augusta. — Voyage down the Savannah River. — Shell Bluff. — Slave-labour. — Fever and Ague. — Millhaven. — Pine Forests of Georgia. — Alligators and Land -Tortoises. — Warmth of Climate in January. — Tertiary Strata on the Savannah. — Fossil Remains of Mastodon and Mylodon near Savannah. — Passports required of Slaves. — Cheerfulness of th.e Negroes. Dec. 28. — Charleston, South Carolina. We ar- rived here after a journey of 160 miles through the pine forests of North Carolina, between Weldon and Wilmington, and a voyage of about 17 hours, in a steam ship, chiefly in the night between Wilmington and this place. Here we find ourselves in a genial cli- mate, where the snow is rarely seen, and never lies above an hour or two upon the ground. The rose, the narcissus, and other flowers, are still lingering in the gardens, the woods still verdant with the magnolia, live oak, and long-leaved pine, while the dwarf fan palm or palmetto, frequent among the underwood, marks a more southern region. In less than four weeks since we left Boston, we have passed from the 43d to the 33d degree of latitude, carried often by the power of steam for several hundred miles together through thinly peo- pled wildernesses, yet sleeping every night at good inns, and contrasting the facihties of locomotion in this new country with the difficulties we had contended with the year before when travelUng in Europe, through populous parts of Touraine, Brittany, and other prov- inces of France. be '^i: •.■*■■; i Chap, viil AUGUSTA. 123 I' i I ■ n At Charleston I made acquaintance with several persons zealously engaged hi the study of natural nis- tory, and then went by an excellent railway 130 luilea through the endless pine woods to Augusta, in Georgia. This journey, which would formerly have taken a week, was accomplished between sunrise and sunset ; and, as we scarcely saw by the way any town or vil- lage, or even a clearing, nor any human habitation ex- cept the station houses, the spirit of enterprise displayed in such public works filled me with astonishment which increased the farther I went South. Starting from the sea-side, and imagining 'hat we had been on a level the whole way, we were surprised to find in the evening, on reaching the village of Aikin, sixteen miles from Augusta, that we were on a height several hundred feet above the sea, and that we had to descend a steep inclined plane to the valley of the Savannah river. The strata cut through here in making the railway consist of vermilion-coloured earth and clay, and white quartzose sand, with masses of pure white kaolin in- termixed. These strata belong to the older or Eocene tertiary formation, which joins th«_ clay-slate and gra- nitic region a few miles above Augusta, where I visited the rapids of tlie Savannah. I had been warned by my scientific friends in the North, that the hospitality of the planters might greatly interfere with my schemes of geologizing in the South- ern states. In the letters, therefore, of introduction fur- nished to me at Washington, it was particularly re- qi;ested that information respecting my objects, and fa- cilities of moving speedily from place to place, should be given me, instead of dinners and society. These injunctions were every where kindly and politely com- ■ I '!;,-. \r ! I ■*• fl 'l H |i i if'-* I h 124 SIIETL RLUFF. Chap. viii. plied with. It was my intention, for the sake of get- ting a correct notion of the low country hetween the granitic region and tlie Atlantic-, to examine the clilfs bounding tiie Savannah river from its rapids to near its mouth, a distance, including its windings, of about 250 miles. After passing a few days at Augusta, where, for the first time, I saw cotton growing in the fields, I embarked in a steam-boat employed in the cotton trade, and went for forty miles down the great river, which usually flows in a broad alluvial plain, with an aver- age fall of about one foot per mile, or 250 feet between Augusta and the sea. Like the Mississippi and all large rivers, which, in the Hood season, are densely charged with sediment, the Savannah has its inunedi • ate banks higher than the plain intervening between them and the high grounds beyond, which usually, however distant from the river, present a steep cliff or " bluff" towards it. The low flat alluvial plain, over- flowed in great part at this rainy season, is covered with aquatic trees, and an ornamental growth of tall canes, some of them reaching a height of twenty feet, being from one to two inches in diameter, and with their leaves still green. The lofty cedar (Cf/pressiis distl- ch(i), now Ic^adess, towers above them, and is remarka- ble for the angular bends of (he top boughs, and the large thick roots which swell out near (he base. 1 landed first at a cliff about 120 feet high, called Shell Bluff, from the large fossil oysters wliich are con- spicuous there. About forty miles below Augusta, at Demary's Ferry, the place where we disembarked, the waters were so liigli that we were carried on shore by two stout negroes. In the al)sence of the proprietor to whom 1 had letters, we were hospitably received by his Chap. vm. SLAVE LABOUR. 12iA overseer, who came down to the river hank, with (avo led iiorses, on one of wliicii was a lady's saddh. lie conducted us through a beautiful wood, whore the ver- dure of the evergreen oaks, the pines, and hollies, and the mildness of the air, made it difficult for us to be- lieve that it was mid-winter, and that we had been the month before in a region of snow storms and sledges. AVe crossed two creeks, and after riding several miles readied the house, and were shown into a sj)acious room, where a great wood fire was kept up constantly on the hearth, and the doors on both sides left open day and night. Returning home to this hospitable mansion in the dusk of the evening of the day following, I was siu- prised to see, in a grove of trees near the court-yard of the farm, a large wood-fire blazing- on the ground. Over the fire hung three cauldrons, filled, as I after- wards learned, with hog's lard, and tluce old negro wo- men, in their usual drab-coloured costume, were leaning over the cauldrons, and stirring the lard to clarify it. The red glare of the fire was reflected from th ,l'l *. ■i I 138 TERTIARY FORMATIONS. Chap, ix Charleston n February, 1835. so severe that wine wag frozen in bottles. The tops of the Pride-of-India tree, of Chinese origin, were killed : all the oranges, of w hith there were large orchards, were destroyed. Beds of oysters, exposed between high and low water mark, perished in the estuaries, and the effluvia from them was so powerful as to injure the health of the hihabi- tants. Several planters attribute the failure of the cotton crop this year (1812) to the unusual size and number of the icebergs, wliich floated southwards last spring fi'om Hudson's and Baffin's Bays, and may have cooled the sea and checked the early growth of the cotton plant. So numerous and remote are the disturbing causes in meteorology ! Forty degrees of latitude in terve.ne between the region where the ice-lloes are generated and that where the crops are raised, whose death-warrant they are supposed to have carried with them. Before I visited the Southern States, I had heard fiom several American geologists that calcareous rocks occurred there intermediate in age between the chalk and the tertiary formations, and helping to fill the void which separates those two well-marked eras in the Eu- ropean series. Having satisfied myself that all the white limestone of the Savannah river was referable to the Eocene epoch, I now set out to determine whether the same could be said of that exposed to view on the Cooper river and Santee canal, about thirty miles north of Charleston. I was accompanied in an excursion of a week by Dr. Ravenel, who kindly offered to be my guide ; and we first visited a plantation of his, called " The Grove," near the mouth of the Cooper river, : 1 'il' i , Chap, ix- FOSSIL MASTODON. 139 where, in the marshes, there are deep deposits of clay and sand, enclosing the stools and trunkvS of the cy- press, hickory, and cedar, often imbedded in an erect position, which must have grown in fresh water, but are now sunk six and even sixteen feet below the level of high water. Every where there are proofs of the coast havmg sunk, and the subsidence seems to have gone on in very modern times ; for some old cedars still standing on the surface have been killed by the encroach- ment of the salt water. We had come from Charles- ton in a small private steam-boat, and after passing Strawberry Ferry and entering the Santee Canal, were allowed by favour to pass through the locks without paying tolls, and, contrary to the usual regulations, which exclude steam-boats. The thoughtless negroes allowed the chimney of our vessel to get so choked up with soot that we were soon forced to quit this convey- ance, and travel by land. The barges on the canal are constructed of different sizes, so that, after going down laden with cotton, they are put one into another when returning empty, and thus escape a large part of the tolls at the locks. The slaves are fond of cock- fighting ; and on the prow of each barge there stood usually a game-cock, perched as if he were the ensign of the vessel. We passed the Brygon Swamp, about forty miles north of Charleston, where the remains of the masto- don were found when the canal was cut. Wild ani- mals might still be mired in the same morass, latitude SS*^ 20' N., showing that these fossils in the Southern States occur in precisely the same geological position as in New York and Canada. We slept at Wantcot, and then went by Eutaw to Vance's Eerry on the Santee I '' I ') ,< 1 'i 1 '1: i' 1 >s I;! ]■ i ' /. , •! 1; i i : :.! k: ) i'--:i B* i)| i I,' 1 1 *« . "" 1 1 n nflJBi 't KhI 140 EOCENE SHELLS. Chap. IX. river, tlien to Cave Hall, examining" the tertiary wliite marl and limestone, and collecting the shells and cordis contained in it. Lime-sinks, or funnel-shaped cavities, are frequent in this country, arising from natural tun- nels and cavities in the subjacent limestone, through some of which subterranean rivers How. An account was given me of a new hollow which opened about fif- teen years ago, about two miles south of the Santee river, into which a mule drawing a plough sank sud- denly. About a hundred yards from the same spot, I saw a large cavern sixty feet high at its entrance in the white limestone, from the mouth of which flowed a small stream. The undermining effect of such rivers explains the hnear arrangement so common in lime- sinks in South Carolina and Georgia. The walls of such "sinks" are vertical, and the strata exposed to view consist usually of clay and sand, which rest upon the limestone. From Cave Hall we went in a north-westerly direc- tion to Stoudenmire Creek, a tributary of the Santee, where the siliceous burr-stone and brick-red loam ap- pear above the white limestone. In the covnse of this examination, I satisfied myself that the limestone and white marl, a formation which must sometimes amuimt to 120 feet in thickness, in the low region of Cooper river and tlie Santee canal, are a continuation of the same Eocene deposit which I had seen at Shell Bluff, at Jacksonboro', and other places on the Savannah riv- er, and which I afterwards observed at Wilmington, in Ncrth Carolina. I found many species in all these places, common to those of Claiborne, in Alabama^ where the largest number (more than 200) of Eocene shells in a good state of preservation have been met Chap. ix. EOCENE FOSSILS. 141 witli ; and are described and figured in the works of Mr. Conrad and Mr. Lea of PhildJeiuliia. Dr. Ra- venel pointed out to me some remarkable new species of ScHltlla at the Grove, near the mouth of tlie Coop- er river, and these were accompanied by several w ell- known Eocene shells hke those of Claiborne. The same white Umestone and marl may be said to be continuous for forty miles, from the Grove to the San- tee river. At Eutaw and other points, corals of the genera Id/nonea, Acystis, PusfMlopora, Vincularia, and Es- cliara occur, with a species of iScalaria, and other shells. These fossils, and the rock containing them, reminded me so much of the straw-coloured limestone of the cretaceous formation seen on the banks of Tim- ber Creek in New Jersey, that I do not wonder that some errors had arisen from confoimding the tertiary and secondary deposits of the south. The species, however, prove on closer inspection to be diliercnt. This lithological resemblance of tiie rocks seems to have led to the admission into Dr. Morton's list of the cretaceous fohsils of North America; a Ust for the most part ver}'^ correct, of the following seven tertiary species wliicli really came from the Eocene strata of South Carolina. The^jc are, Balanus percgrinus^ Ptcten calualns, P. j/ufiihrfutosits, Tcrebratnla la- chryina, Conns g'i/ra(ust, Scntdla Lyelll^ and Ecfd- ims infulatus (sec Morton's Synopsis, pi. 10.). The belief that all these species were common to the chalk and tertiary strata led naturally to the opinion that in the Southern States a foriiiation existed intermediate hi character between the rocks of the secondary and those of the tertiary periods. f V. t i ' I I ! ii! I 1 \ 1 !i ■if;' iK '!■ ■' * , 1 142 EOCENE SHELLS. Chap, u I consider the burr-stone and associated clays and sands of Stoudcnniiie and Aikin, South Carohna, aid of Augusta, Millhavcn, and Stony Bluff, in Georgia, to belong also to an Eocene deposit, and to be higher in the series than the white limestone formation. Out of 125 species of Eocene shells which I collected in the Southern States, or which were presented to me, I have only been able to identify seven witli European species of the same epoch. These are Trochus ag- glutinarisi^ iSolarium canaliculatum, BonelUa tere- bellaia, InfundibulumtrGchiformc, Lithodomiis dac- t'l/lns, Cardiia platticosia. and Ostrea bellovacina. But there are a considerable number of representa- tive species, and an equal number of forms peculiar to these older tertiary strata of America. The Ostrea sellcB/ormis, which may be considered as representing the O. Jlahellula of the Paris and London basins, appears to be one of the most charac- teristic and widely disseminated Eocene shells in Vir- ginia, South Carolina, and Georgia, for I found it at Shell Bluff and on the Santee river, and the James riv- er, i 1 Virginia. On the banks of the Cooper river, we heard occa- sionally the melodious and liquid note of the mocking- bird in the woods. It is of a fearless disposition, and approaches very near to the houses. I can well imagine that in summer, when the leaves are out, and the flow- ers in full splendour, this region must be most beautiful. But it is then that the planters are compelled by the fever and ague to abandon their country scats. It was not so formerly. When the English army was cam- paigning on the Cooper and Santee rivers in the revo- lutionary war, they en^^^imped with impunity in places (tip * Ciur. IX. MALARIA IN SOUTH CAROLINA. 143 where it would now be death to remain for a few days in the hot season. I inquired what could have caused so great a change, and found the phenomenon as much a matter of controversy as the origin of the malaria in Italy. The clearing away of the wood from large spaces is the chief alteration in the physical condition of this region in the course of the last sixty years, whereby the damp and swampy grounds undergo an nually the process of being dried up by a burning sun. Marshes which are overflowed by the tide twice in every twenty-four hours near the neighbouring coast, both in South Carolina and Georgia, are perfectly healthy. Dr Arnold remarks, in his Roman History, that Rome was more healthy before the drainage of the Campagna, and (vhen there was more natural wood in Italy and in iiorthern Europe generally. In the southern States of the Union there arc no fevers in winter, at a season when there is no large extent of damp and boggy soil cxpcsed to a hot sun, and undergoing desiccation. On our way home from Charleston, by the railway from Orangeburg, I observed a thin black line of charred vegetable matter exposed in the perpendicular section of the bank. The sand cast out in digging the railway had been thrown up on the original soil, on which the pine forest grew ; and farther excavations had laid open the junction of the rubbish and the soil. As geologists, we may learn from this fact how a thin seam of vege- table matter, an inch or two thick, is often the only monument to be looked for of an ancient surface of dry land, on which a luxuriant forest may have grown for thousands of years. Even this seam of friable matter may be washed away when the region is submerged, and, if not, rain-water percolating freely through the 1 i i ; ji 1 , ■'1 ) ■ ; i ■1 1 i i >:iu i mmsi-Y I'l ■ff nM * P I r (t ill 1 144 CIIFJEllFULNESS OF TIIK NIM.ROKS. Chap, ix sand may, tii tlic course of agos, giadiially cany away the carhan. As there were no inns in that part of Soutli Carolina throujjl "'hich we nassed in this short tour, and as we were every wnore received hospitably by tiie plant( rs, I had many opp -rtunitiesof seeing tbeir mode of life, and the condition of the domestic and farm slaves. In some rich houses maize, or Indian corn, and rice were entirely substituted for wheaten bread. The usual style of liv- ing is that of English country gentlemen. They have well-appointed carriages and horses, and well-trained black servants. The conversation of the gentlemen turned chiefly on agricultural sid))ects, shooting, and horse-racing. Several of the mansions were surrounded with deer-parks. Arriving often at a late hour at our quarters in the evening, we heard the negroes singing loudly and joy- ously in chorus after their day's work was over. On one estate, about forty black children were brought up daily before the windows of the planter's house, and fed in sight of the family, otherwise, we were told, the old \vomen who have charge of them might, in the absence of the parents, appropriate part of their allow^ance to themselves. All the slaves have some animal food daily. When they are ill, they sometimes refuse to take medicine, except from the hands of the master or mistress; and it is of all tasks the most delicate ior the owners to decide when they are really sick, and when Ciily shamming from indolence. After the accounts I had read of the sufTerings of slaves, I w^as agreeably surprised to find them, in gener- al, so remarkably cheerful and light-hearted. It is true that I saw no gangs working under overseers ou sugar- \\\ ClIAP. IX. NEGRO VANITY. 145 planlnlioui^, but out of two millions and a half of slaves iii tlic I'nitcd States, the largLT proportion arc engaged in su( li farming occupations and domestic services as I \vi(n(;ssed in (jJeorgin and >Soutl» Carolina. I was often for days together witii negroes who served me as guides, and found them as talkative and chatty as children, usually boasting of their ma-ter's wealth, and their own peculiar merits. At an inn in Virginia, a female slave asked us to guess for how many dollars a year she was let out by her owner. AVe named a small sum, but she told us exultingly, that we were much under the mark, for the landlord paid fifty dollars, or ten guineas a year for her hire. A good-humoured butler, at another inn in the same state, took care to tell me that his owner got 30/. a year for him. The coloured steward- ess of a steam- vessel was at great pains to tell us her value, and how she came by the name of dueen Vic- toria. When we recollect that the dollars are not their own, we can hardly refrain from smiling at tlie childlike simplicity with which they express their satisfaction at the high price set on them. Tliat price, however, is a fair test of their intelligence and moral worth, of which they have just reason to feel proud, and their pride is at least free from all sordid and mercenary considerations. AVe might even say that they labour with higher mo- tives than the whites — a disinterested love of doing their duty. I am aware that we may reflect and phi- losophise on this peculiar and amusing form of vanity, until we perceive in it the evidence of extreme social degradation ; but the first impression which it made u|)on my mind was very consolatory, as I found it inipossiblo to feel a painful degree of commiseration for persons so exceedingly well satisfied with themselves. 13 » ! : ^1 i' ' ., v*' s 146 NEtJRO WEDDING. ClIAF. i«. !,iM i ■' South Carolina \h one of the few states where llirre is a numerical preponderance of slaves. One nii^lit, at Charleston, I went to see the guard-house, wl'.cre tlu ro is a strong guard kept constantly in arms, and on the alert. Every citizen is ohiiged to serve in person, or find a substitute ; and the maintenance of sucii a force, the strict laws against importing books relating to eman- cipation, and the prohibition to bring back slaves who have been taken by their masters into free states, show that the fears of the owner, whether well-founded or not, are real. During our stay at Charleston, we were present at a negro wedding, where the bride and bridegroom, and nearly all the company, were of unmixed African race. They were very merry. The bride and bridcmaids all dressed in white. The marriage service performed by an Episcopal clergyman. Not long afterwards, when staying at a farm-house in North Carolina, I happened to ask a planter if one of his negroes with whom we had been conversing was married. He told me, Yes, l:c had a wife on that estate, as well as another, her sifter, on a different property which belonged to him ; but that there was no legal validity in the marriagt; cere- mony. I remarked, that he must be mistaken, as an Episcopal minister at Charleston would not have lent himself to the performance of a sacred rite, if it weie nugatory in practice, and in the eye of the law . He replied, that I'e himself was a lawyer by profession, and that no legal validity ever had been, or ought to be, given to the marriage tie, so long as the right of yah could separate parent and child, husband and wife. Such separations, he said, could not always be prevented, when slaves multiplied fast, though they were avoided ClIAl'. IX I NCnr.ASii; OK HT.AVKS. 1:7 I M by (he masters as far as possible. Ho (Irfeiulcd the custom of briiigiiij*' up ibc cbilchen of llio sanu^ eslaU; ill common, as it was far mon; limiiaiic not to clu'rish domestic ties amo4J<^ slaves. On tliesame farm I talUed with several slaves vvlio had been set to fell timbei by task-work, and bad finished by the iniddin of the day. Tbey never appeared to be overworked; and the la- pidily with wliicli they increase beyond the whit(?s in tlie United States shows that they are not in a state of discomfort, oppression, and misery. Doubiless, in the same manner as in Ireland and parts of Great liriiain, the want of education, mental culture, and respect lor themselves, favours improvident marriages among the poor ; so the state of mere animjd existence of the slave, and his low moral and intellectual condition, coupled \\\\h kind treatment and all freedom frouicare, promote their multiplication. The ellisct of the institmion on the progress of the whites is most injurious, and, after travelling in the northern States, and admiring their rapid advance, it is most depressing to the s|iirits. There appears to be no place in society for poor whites. If they are rich, their slaves multij)ly. and from motives of kindly feehrig towards retainers, and often from false . pride, they are very unwilling to sell them. Hence they are constantly tempted to maintain a larger estab- lishment than is w^arranted by the amount of their capi- tal, and they often become involved in their circum- stances, and finally bankrujit. The prudence, temper, and decision of character recpiired to manage a planta- tion successfully is very great. It is notorious that the hardest taskmasters to the slaves are those who come from the northern free States. I often asked myself, when in the midst of a large t if yf our slaves, so insignificant in com- parison to their two and a half millions, had made an indemnity to tlie owner possible ; also that the free ne- groes, in small islands, could always be held in subjec- tion bv tlu^ Hiitish lleets : and. lastly, that Enirland had a right to interfere and legislate for her own colonies, whereas the northern State-^ of the Union, and foreis^n- ers, had no constitutional right to intermeddle with the domestic concerns of the slave States. Such interven- tion, by exciting the fenrs and indignation of the plant- ers, had retarded, and mu-^t always be expected to re- tard, the progress of the cause. They also reminded i i ; Chap. ix. ABOLITION MOVEMENT. 149 me liowlon^ and obstinate a struirrrle tl j West Indian proprietors luul made against the eniancip:ilioijists in liie British Honse of Connnons ; and liiey hinted, tiiat if the dilFerent isbiida had been directly represented in the Lower House, and there had been Dukes of Ja- maica. Marquises of Antigua, and Earls of Oarbadocs in the Upper Ilou^e, as the slave states are represented in Congress, the measure would never have been car- ried to this day. The more 1 reflected on tlie condition of the slaves, and endeavoured to iliink on a practicable plan for hast- ening the period of their liberation, the more dillicuk the subject appeared to me, and the more I felt aston- ished at the confidence disjjlayed by so many anti-slavery speakers and writers on both sides of the Atlantic. The course pursued by these agitators shows that, next to the positively wicked, tlie class who are usually called "well-meaning persons" are the most mischievous in society. Before the year 1830, a considtM'able numljer of the planters were in the habit of regarding slavery as a great moral and political evil, and many of them openly proclaimed it to be so in tlie Virginia debates of 1831-2. The emancipation party was gradual 'v gain- ing ground, and not uiu'easonable hopes were enter- tained that the States of Kentucky, Virginia, and Mar} land would soon fix on some future day for the manumission of their slaves. This step luid already b'TH taken in most of the States north of the Potomac, and slavery was steadily retreating southwards. From the moment that the abolition movement began, and lliat missionaries were sent to the southern States, a re-action was perceived — the planters took the alarm — laws were passed against education- -the condition of 13» ; •! . 1; il i^ 1; i '• ! ■ 1 y ' 1 l«:i 150 CONDITION OF THE SLAVES. Cha?. u tlift slav(; was worse ; and not a few of tlio planter?, by dint of dcfendiniT (heir iii.-tilutions agiiins-t the argu- mejils and ini.r^fepresentations of their assailant:?, came actually to delude themselves into a belief that slavery was legitimate, wise, and expedient — a positive good in itself There were many, indeed, who thought dif- ferently, but who no longer dared to express their opin- ioiM freely on the subject. It is natural that those planters who are of benevo- lent dispositions, and indulgent to their slaves, and Avho envy tlie northern proprietor, who, now that the Indians have passed away, has the good fortune not to share his country with another race, should be greatly irritated when the cruelty of the slave-holders, as a class, is held up to the reprobation of mankind. A deep sense of in- justice, and a feeling of indignation. disincUnes them to persevere in advocating the cause of emancipation. I was so much occupied and absorbed in my scientific pursuits that I never felt tempted to touch on this ex- citing subject, and therefore, perhaps, the planters spoke out their sentiments to me more freely. "Labour," they said, " is as compulsory in Europe as here ; but in Europe they who refuse to work have the alterna- tive of starvation ; here the slave who is idle has th.3 alternative of corporal punishment; for, whether he works or not, he must always be fed and clothed.'' They complained to me much of the manner in which the escape of runaway slaves was favoured in the free States. Their innocence, they said, is always as- sumed, and the cruelty and harshness of their owners, taken for granted ; whereas the fugitives often consist of good-for-nothing characters, who would have been put into gaol in Europe, but who here are left at large, llAP. gies. riAP. IX. EFFECTS OF St Dlii.N t.MANClPATION. 151 (I ' ; I «| because their innsters are imwilling to lose their ser- vices by iiiiprisoMrncnt, wiiile they are compelled to support thein. If the t^aine delinquents, they say, were flying from the constable in a free State, tlie pub- lic would sympathise with the police and the magis- trate, and if they bore on their backs the marks of for- mer chastisement in gaol, the general desire to appre- hend them would be still more eager. These apolo- gies, and their assurance that they found it to their interest to treat their slaves kindly, had no effect in inducing me to believe that, where such great power is intrusted to the owner, that power will not be fre- quently abused ; but it has made me desire to see a fair statement of the comparative statistics of crimes and punishments in slave states and free countries. If we could fairly estimate the misery of all offenders in the prisons, penitentiaries, and penal settlements of some large European province, and then deduct the same from the sufferings of the slaves in a large south- ern state of the Union, the excess alone ought, in fair- ness, to be laid to the charge of the slave-owners. AVhile pointing out the evil unreservedly, we should do tile owner the justice to remember that the system of things which we deprecate has been inherited by him from his British ancestors, and that it is rarely possible or safe to bring about a great social reform in a few years. Had the measure of emancipating all the slaves been carried iln-ough as rapidly as some abolitionists have desired, the fate of the negroes might have been ahuost as deplorable as that of the aboriginal Indians. We must never forget that the slaves have at present a monopoly of the labour-niarket ; the planters being ^f:l Ml •Ml m I,' >' 'I W i 'Si i 152 DYING OUT OF SLAVKIIY. CiiAi', ::c IJil i ] bound to feed and clotlie tlicr and l)oing- nnabio to turn them ofl' and take white labourers in their place. Tlie coloured population, therefore, are protected ag-aiii;jt the free competition of the white emig^ranh«, with whom, if they were once Uberated, they could no longer BUCcestifuUy contend. I am by no means disposed to assume tliat the natural capacities of the negroes, w ho always appeared to nie to be an amiable, gentle, and inotrensive race, may not be e(iual in a moral and in- tellectual point of view to those of the Europeans, provi- ded the coloured population were placed in circumstan- ces equally favourable for their development. But it would be visionary to expect that, under any imagi- nable system, this race could at once acquire as much energy, and become as rapidly progressive, as the Anglo- Saxons. To inspire them with such an aptitude for rapid advancement must be the work of time — the result of improvement carried on through several successive generations. Time is percisely the condition for which the advocates of the immediate liberation of the blacks would never suf!iciently allows The great experiment now making in the West Indies afibrds no parallel case, because the climate there is far more sultry, relaxing, and trying to Europeans, tlian in the Southern Slates of the Union ; and it is well known that the Wci 1 Indian proprietors have no choice, the whites being so few in ninnber, that the services of the coloured race aie indispensable. Professor Tucker, of Virginia, has endeavoured to show, that the density of population in tlic slave States will amount, in about sixty years, to fifty persons in a square mile. Long before that period arrives, the most productive lands will have been all cultivated, and some «',i; lies HO lace to lost irie Chap. ix. ABOLITION -jV .JLAViJtV. 153 of the inferior soils rcsortctl to: tlic price of laboiir will fall gradually as compared to the means of subsistence, and it will, at length, be for the interest of the masters to liberate their slaves, and to emplo}' the more eco- nomical and productive labour of freemen. Tiie same causes will tlien come into operation which formerly cmancipaled the villeins of western Europe, and will one day set free the serfs of Russia. It is to be hoped, liowever, that the planters will not wait for more than half a century for such an euthanasia of the institution of slavery ; for the increase of the coloured population in sixty years would be a formidable evil, since in this instance they are not, like villeins and serfs, of the same race as tlieir masters. They cantmt be fused at once into the general mass, and become amalgamated with the whites, for their colour still remains as the badge of their former bondage, so that they continue, after their fetters are removed, to form a separate and inferior caste. [low long this state of things would last must depend on their natural capabilities, moral, intellectual, and physical ; but if in these they be ecpial to the whites, the ' would eventually become the dom- inant race, since the climate of the south, more con- genial to their constitutions, would give them a decided advantage. A philanthropist may well be perplexed when he desires to devise some plan of interference which may really promote the true interests of the negro. But the way in which the planters would best consult their own interests appears to me very clear. They should ex- hibit more patience and courage towards the abolition- ists, whose influence and numbers they greatly over- rate, and lose no lime in educating the slaves, and r ( I 1 / ; II 'i|;l J' ! I ' 'V, ^■' 154 ABOLITION OF SLAVERY. Chap. u. f. 1 I':' ji ill i ■I r |i ijr & m H ■ 41 lli:k, i I '' cncoiir.'igiiig^ private manumission to prepare the way for general einancipalian. All seem agreed that the states most ripe for this great reform are Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Missouri. Experience has proved in the northern States that emancipalion immediately checks ihe in- crease of the coloured population, and causes the rela- tive number of the whites to augment very rapidly. Every year, in proportion as the north-western States fill up, and as the boundary of the new settlers in the west is removed farther and farther, beyond the Mis- sissippi and Missouri, the cheaper and more accessible lands south of the Potomac will offer a more tempting field f)r colonisation to the swarms of New Englandcrs, who arc averse to migrating into slave states. Before this influx- of white labourers, the coloured race will give way. and it will require the watchful care of the philanthropist, whether in the north or south, to pre- vent them from being thrown out of employment, and reduced to det:titution. If due exertions be made to cultivate the minds, and protect the rights and privileges of the negroes, and it nevertheless be found that thev cannot contend, when free, with white competitors, but are superseded by them, siill the cause of humanity will have gained. The coloured people, though their numbers remain stationary, or even diminish, may in the mean time be happier than now, and attain to a higher moral rank. Tliey woiild^ moreover, escape the cruelty and injus- tice wliich are the invariable consequences of the ex- ercise of irresponsible power, especially where authority must be sometimes delegated by the planter to agents of inferior education and coarser feelings. And last. CniF a. ABOLITION OP SLAVERY. 155 not least, emancipation would effectually put a stop to the breeding-, selling, and exporting of slaves to the sugar-growing States of the South, where, unless the accounts we usually read of slavery be exaggerated and distorted, the life of the negro is shortened by se- vere toil and suffering. Had the white man never interposed to transplant the negro into the New World, the most generous asserters of the liberties of the coloured race would have conceded that Africa afforded space enough for their development. Neither in their new country, nor in that of their origin, whether in a condition of slavery or freedom, have they as yet exhibited such superior qualities and virtues as to make us anxious that ad- ditional millions of them should multiply in the south- ern States of the Union ; still less, that they should overflow into Texas and Mexicc. ''I!!,-' I ! - ! 1 ; I r' „ 13 >.1 ■ Xi Mi mmti ^^ 166 WILMINGTON. Chat CHAPTER X. Wilmington, N. C- -Mount Vernon. — Return to Philadelphia.-^ Reception of Mr. D^ckeus. — Museum and Fossil human Bones.—. Penitent iary. — Churches. — Religious Excitement. — Coloured Peo- ple of Fortune. — Obstacles to their obtaining Political and Social Equality. — No natural Antipathy between the Races. — Negro Reservations, I ' i w. R) * Jan. 22. — I now turned my course northwards, and, after a short voyage in a steamer from Charleston, landed at WUmington, in North Carolina. Here I col- lected fossils from tertiary formations of two ages, the Miocene marls, and an underlying Eocene limestone, harder than that of Shell BhilFand the Santee canal before mentioned ; but containing many of the same shells, corals, and teeth of tishes. I then went Iw rail- way to South Washington, visiting several farms on the banks of the north-east branch of Cape Fear river. Here I found cretaceous green marls, similar to ihose which I had seen 350 miles to the N. E. in New Jersey, with belemnites and other characterir^tic organic re- mains, some of species not previously known. On several of the small plantations here 1 found the proprietors by no means in a thriving state, evidently losing ground from year to year, and some of thejn talking of abandoning the exhausted soil, and migra- ting with their slaves to the south-western States. If, while large numbers of the negroes were thus carried to the South, slavery had been aboHshed in North Car- olina, the black population might ere this have been III Cjup. X. MOUNT VERNON. 157 retliiced considerably in numbers, vithont suffering those privations to wiiicli a free competition with winte labourers nuist expose them, wherever great tacihties for emigration are not allbrded. A railway train sliooting rapidly in the dark through the pine forests of Nortii Carolina has a most singular [ip[)earaiu:e, resembling a large rocket 'hcd horizontally, with a brilliant stream of revolving sparks extending behind the engine for several hundred yards, each spark bL'ing a minute particle of wood, which, after issuing from the cuinmey of the furnace, remains ignited for several seconds in the air. Now and then these fiery particles, which are invisible by day, instead of lagging in the rear, find entrance by favour of the wind through the open windows of the car, and, while some burn holes in the travellers cloak, othcis make their way into his eyes, causing them to smart most painfullv. At Petersburg, Mr. Rufiin, the agriculturist, and Mr. Tuomey, accompanied me in an excursion to collect tertiary fossils in the neighbourhood, and I examined v.ith nuich instruction the organic remains in their cabinets. At Washington I saw M. Nicollet, and had n long conversation with this eminent astronomer and naturalist, who died the year after. He had just re- turned from a geographical and geological survey of the Far West, and higher parts of the valley of the iMississippi and Missouri. He showed me the ammo- nites, bacuhles, and other chalk fossils brought by him from those distant regions, which estabhsh the wide range of that peculiar assemblage of organic remains characteristic of the cretaceous era. From the deck of our steam-boat on the Potomac we saw Mount Vernon, formerly the plantation of General .,), ii 1 ip'n 1 ■ f 1 ''\'i I M ■ 1 ^ ! t Y'. i 158 PHILADELPHIA. ClUP. U.f Washington. In^teiad of exhibiting, 'ike the fauns in ilie northern States, a lively picture of progress and improvement, this property was described to me by all as worn out, and of less value now than in the days of its illustrious owner. The bears and wolves, they say, are actually re-entering their ancient haunts, which would scarcely have happened if slavery had been abolished in \irginia. The air was balmy on the Potomac the last day of January, and the winter had been so mild in the south- ern States, that we were surprised, on recrossing the Susquehanna at Havre de Giace in Maryland, to see large masses of floating ice brought down from the Appalachian hills, and to feel the air sensibly cooled while we were ferried over the broad river. It struck me as a curious coincidence, and one not entirely acci- dental, that, precisely in this part of our Journey, I once more saw the low grounds covered with huge boulders, reminding me how vast a territory in the South I had passed over without encountering a single erratic block. These far transported fragments of rock are decidedly a northern phenomenon, or belong to the colder lati- tudes of the globe, being rare and exceptional in warmer regions. P/tilade/j)hia, Feb. 1. — The newspipers are filled with accounts of the enthusiastic reception which Mr. Charles Dickens is meeting with every where. Such homage has never been paid to any foreigner since Lafayette visited the States. The honours may ap- oear extravagant, but it is in the nature of popular enthusiasm to run into excess. I find that several of my American friends are less disposed than I am to sympathise with the movement, regarding it as more -o" Chap. x. RECEPTION OF MR. DICKENS. 159 » I'lp ^" 1 *• ^;i' '"^\ akin to lion-luinlintr than liero-worsliip. They ex- press a ilouht whether Walter 8cott, IkuI he vissircd the v. S., would l»ave been so much ulolised. Perhaps not ; for Scott's poems and romances were less exten- sively circulated amongst theinillions than the tales of Dickens. There nmy be no precedent in Great Britain for a whole people thus imreservedly indulging their feelings of admiration for a favourite author ; but if so, the Americans deserve the more credit for obeying their warm impulses. Of course, many who af rend the for- eigner's crowded levee are merely gratifying a vulgar curiosity by staring at an object of notoriety ; but none but a very intelligent population could be thus carried away to flatter and applaud a man who has neither rank, wealtli, nor power, who is not a military hero or a celebrated political character, but simply a writer of genius, whose pictures of men and manners, and whose works of fiction, have been here, as in his own country, an inexhaustible source of interest and amusement. When at Philadelj)liia I was present at several meet- ings of the American Philosophical Society, and of the Academy of Natural Sciences. In the museum of the former body 1 was shown a limestone from Santas, in Brazil, procured by Captain Elliott, of the U. S. navy, which contains a human skull, teeth, and other bones, together with fras^rnents of shells, some of them retain- ing a [X)rtion of their colour. The rock is less solid than that of Guadaloupe, which it resembles. We are informed, that the remains of several hundred other human skeletons, imbedded in a like calcareous tufa, were dug out at the same place, about the year 1827.* The soil covering the solid stone supported a growth of * American Philosophical Transactions, 1828, p. 285. :i:l t i. i'^ . •! v'l m i 1 ^ If H^ 9i f *i P tiir' if* ^ 160 SKELETON OF FOSSIL MASTODON. Ciup. x. lar^re trees, which covered tlic face of a hill on the side of the river SanUis. The height ahove the sea is not meiuioiied, and it i.^ to be regretted that the notes ob- tained by Dr. Meigs from Captain Elliott were not fuller. I observed scrpulie in the rock, a shell which tb(! natives woidd not have carried inland for food. On the whole, therefore, 1 shoidd infer, though we need further evidence, that this stone has emerged from the sea, and that there had been previously a submergence of dry land, perhaps the site of an Indian burial-ground. Dr. Harlan, the zealous and accomplished osteolo- gist, who, to njy great regret, died the year after (1813), at Mew Orleans, took me to see the entire skeleton of the large fossil mastodon, or so-called Missouriun), brought by Mr. Koch from the state of Missouri, lie pointed out several errors in the manner in which the tusks and bones were put together. This s))lendid fo.-^sil has since been purchased i)y the British Museum, taken to pieces in London, and correctly set up again under the direction of Mr. Owen. It is the largest in- dividual of the species [Mustadon. gi^antcus) yet dis- covered ; for Dr. Harlan and I compared the femur with that of the largest mastodon previously known, from the state of New York, and preserved in Peale's Museum in this city. The dimensions of the Phila- delphia skeleton are less gigantic. I spent six weeks very agreeably in this city, rmich of my time being occupied in delivering a short course of lectures on geology, and in comparing, with the friendly aid of several naturalists, especially Mr. Conrad, the fossils collected by me in the South with those pre- viously known, most of which are preserved in the pub- lic and private cabinets here. Mr. Lea's collection of Ciur. X. PIlII.ADr.I.lMIlA PKMTKNTrARV. 161 shelL-?, which wc visited inon' th:ir. onco, rich in ihe lliiviatilc sjHu'ics of North Amcric.'i, \v;i!< m )si iiitercsliiii; li) n»e. 'Micic ! iVi'shwator nnisscLs (if the •rcnus Unio^ as well as) otiicr Ihivialik' loiins, ^uch as Mildiiki, which have heen created lo people the waters of a continent unrivalled in the lunnher of ils rivets, all so copion.! ,!:|.| I II ^lA .M ! > :l '/. "> 162 CHURCHES. ClIAP. I. been pleased willi liis reception, ?iu(\ lie lind been often invited out (o dinner, Ixit. no one dnrins" bis wliole stay bad oHered bini a seat in tbeir pew in cburcb. At Pbiladelpbia, besides otber kinds ofbospitalitN', we bad certaiidy no reason to complain of any want of atten- tion in tbis respect, for we bad pressing invitations to private pews in no less (ban six dillerent Episcopal cburclies soon after our arrival, of wbicb we availed ourselves on as many successive Sundays, and were struck witb tbc bandsome style of tbe buildings, and tbe conifv)rtable lilting up of tbe pews. In regard to tbe preaching in tbese and in most of tbe Episcopalian, Presbyt(;rian, Baptist, and Unitarian cburclies wbicb I entered in tbe United States, I tbougbt it good, and tbere seemed to me to be two great advantages at least in tbe voluntary principle: first, tbat tbe ministers are in no danger of going to sleep; and, secondly, tbat tbey con<'ern tbemselves mucb less witb politics tban is tlie case witb us. To be witbout a bod}'^ of dissenters, dis- satisfied wiib their exclusion from ecclesiastical endow- ments is a national blessing, wbicb not only every statesman, but t "ery cburcbman, will admit. I am by no means prepared to say whether there may not be a balance of evil in tbe voluntary system sufficient to outweigb tlie gain alluded to. Wliile here. I beard complaints of tbe religious excitement into wbicb the city bad been just thrown by tbe arrival of a popular New England preacner, who attracted such crowds tbat at lengtb all the sittings of bis cburcb were monopo- lized by the ^air sex. American gallantry forbids that a woman should reniain standing while gentlemen are comfortably seated in tbeir j)ews, so tbat at last tbe men were totally exi^luded. Notice was immediately given !^ Chap. x. EPISCOPAL CHURCHES. lOH e n n iliat certain services wero to be entirely reserved for the men, an ainioimcenicnt well calculated to provoke cu- riosity, and to tonipt many a stray sheep from other folds. It was then thought expedient for the ministers of rival sects to redouble their zeal, that they might not be left behind in the race, and even the sober Episco- palians, thoni^h highly dir^approving of the movement, increased the number of their services; so that I was assured it would be possible for tiie same individual between the hours of seven o'clock in the morning and nine in the evening, to go seven times to church in one day. The consequences are too like those occasionally experienced in the "old country," where enthusiasm is not kindled by so much free coujpetition, to be worth dwelling upon. Every day added new recruits to a host of ascetic devotees, and places of public amusement were nearly deserted ; at last even the innocent indul- gence of social intercourse was not deemed blameless : and the men who had generally escaped the contagiori in the midst of their professional avocations, found a gloom cast over society or over their domestic circle. The young ladies, in particular, having abundance of leisure, were filled with a lively sense of their own ex- ceeding wickedness, and the sins of their parents and guardians. Many of the most respectable Quaker families have recently joined the Episcopal church, which is very nourishing here, not only in this city, but in the United States generally, having ({uadrupled its numbers in a period during which the population of the Union has only doubled. It is true that immediately after the revolutionary war, when tins form of worship was idcii- tified with royalist opinions, and when not a few of its I; I- :$.. : ''^l'- !;;■ •i.) ; I ■k- a, ¥■ *! 164 RICH MAN OF COLOUR. Chap, x profrssoi-i lefl, tlic country for Caruula, Nova Scotia, or ilie luotlier couii«ry, the Episcopal e:?tal»Ii^lim(M)t wag depressed belmv its natural level. Itrf revival anil rapid progress are nevertheless remarkable in this republican country, anJ are perhaps partly owing to the possession of large endowments, especially in the State of New York, rendering it less dependent on voluntary contri- butions, and partly to the better station of the foreign imimgiants from Great Britain belonging to the Angli- can chinch. I am assured, that if the salaries paid to the whole clergy of all sects in the Union are compared to those of the ministers of any other church in the world they will be found to be in excess in proportion to the pop- iilal:o;i. Whether this be true or not, there is certainly no lack of divinity st h;vols, nor of ecclesiastical build- ings, nor of crowded congregations, the men being as regular in their attendance as the women ; and the rapidity with which new churches spring up in the wilderness is probably without example elsewhere. A rare event, the death of a wealthy man of colour, took place during my stay here, and his funeral was attended not only by a crowd of persons of his own race, but also bv many highly respectable white mer- chants, by Y !m. he was hold in higli esteem. He had made his lortune as a sail-maker, and is said to have been worth, at one time, sixty thousand pounds, but to have lost a great part of his riches by lending money with more generosity than prudence. I was rejoicing that his colour had proved no impediment to his rising in the world, and that he liad l)een allowed BO much fair play as to succeed in over-topping the majority of liiii white competitors, when 1 learnt, on t( -} \(f is LS 10 In Chaf. X. FREE MEN OF COLOUR. 1G5 further inquiry, that, after giving an excellent educa- tion to his children, he had been made unhapp3\ by finding they must continue, in spite of all their ad- vantages, to belong to an inferior caste. It appeared that, not long before his death, he had been especially mortified, because two of his sons had been refused a hearing at a public meeting, where they wished to speak on some subject connected with trade which concerned them. In many states, the free hlacks have votes, and exert their privileges at elections, yet there is not an in- stance of a single man of colour, although eligible by law, having been ciiosen a member of any state legis- lature. The schools for the coloured population at Boston are well managed, and the black children are said to show as much quickness in learning ns the whites. To what extent their faculties i; jght be de- veloped as adults we have as yet no means of judg- ing; for if their Ih'st eflbrls are coldly received, or treated with worse than indilT'ercnce, as in the case of the young Philadelpliians before alluded to, it is im- possible that the higher kinds of excellence can be reached in literature, the learned professions, or in a political career. If any individual he gifted with finer genius than the rest, his mind will be the more scr.si- livo to discouragement, especially when it proceeds from a race whose real superiority over his coloured fellow-citizens, in their present condition, he of all others would be the first to appreciate. It is after many trials attended with success, and followed by willing praise and applause, ihat self-confidence aiul intellectual power are slowly act[uired ; and no well educated black has ever yet had an opportunity of ; 1 ^ : 1 ■ Vi . 1.,- ■^t' '% ;;.! 1:|1 il '1 H .i I'k ' : ♦ 'i ) "f *' I » I 'I' t< 166 DEPRESSION OP NEGRO RACE. Chat. ripening or displaying superior talents in this or any Other civilised country. Canada and Ireland teach us how much time and iiow many generations are re- quired for the blending together, on terms of perfect equality, both social and j)olitical, of 'wo nations, the conquerors and the conquered, even where both are of the same race, find decidedly ecjual in their natural capacities, though dilfering in religion, manners, and language. But when, in the same community, we have two races so distinct in their physical peculiari- ties as to cause many naturalists, who have no desire to disparage the negro, to doubt whether both are of the same species, and started originally from the same stock ; when one of these, found in Afiica in a savage and unprogressive state, has been degraded, by those who first colonii'.ed North America, to the lowest place in the social scale — to expect, under such a combina- tion of depressing circumstances, that, in half a cen- tury, and in a country where more than six-sevenths of the race are still held in bondage, tlie newly-eman- cipated citizens should, under any form of govermnent, attain at once a position of real equality, is a drearn of the visionary philanthropist, wliose impracticable schemes are more hkely to injure than to forward a great cause. In the West Indies, where circumstances are flir more favourable to a fair experiment, we have found how much easier it is to put an end to slavery than to elevate the blacks to an equal standing with the whites in society, and in the management of public all'airs. They are however advancing slowly ; and, although we hear complaints of commercial losses, consequent on emancipation, and of exports of sugar Ch*p. X. FREE MEN OF COLOUR. 167 I H gar and coffee falling- off, there seems little doubt that the negro population, comprising the great bulk of the in- li:ii)itanls, are better informed, better clothed, and li.tppier, in their own way, than during tiie peiiod wlien all were slaves. A gradual transfer of land is going on in Barbadoes, Jamaica, and other large isl- aiuls, from the original proprietors to the negroes, who are abandoning the cultivation of sugar, and raising such crops and fruits of the earth ar. they can obtain with moderate labour. There has not been time to ascertain whether the freed men will ever have aspi- rations after tliat iiigher civilization, which distin- guishes a few of the more advanced among the na- tions of western Europe ; but this problem has still to be solved with regard to the Chinese and many other large sections of the human familv. ^'he near approach to universal sudiagc in the United States appears to jno one of the most serious obstacles, both to the disfrauclusoment of the slaves in the South, and to their obtaining, when Ucl'l], a proper station relatively to the whites. V> herever property confers the right of voting, the men of colour can at once be admitted without danger to an absolute equahty of poHtical riglits, the more industrious alone becoming invested with j)rivilcgos which arc witliheld from the indigent and most worthless of the dominant race. Such a recognition of rightt? not only raises the negroes in their opinion of themselves, but. what is of far more consequence, accustoms a portion of the other race to respect them. In the free states, we were often painfully reminded of the wide chasm which now sep- arates the whites from the emancipated man of colour. If there be any place ^vl^ere distinctions of birth, '!■ ■ I ^iii fi- 1 1; ," It! li- f w. r 108 DEPRESSED CONDITION OF CiFAP. X. wealth, station, and rare should be forgotten, it is the temple where the Christian precept is inculcated that ail men arc equal Ijefore God. On one occasion in New England, wlien we were attending the admin- istration of the sacrament in an Episcopal church, we saw all the wliite communicants first come forward, and again retire to their pews, before any of the col- oured people advanced, most of whom were as well dressed as ourselves, and some only a shade darker in camj)lexion. In another Episcopal church in Ntw York, the order and sanctity of the service was, foi a moment, in danger of being disturbed because some of the whites had been accidentally omitted, so that they came to the altnr after tlie coloured conununicants. After a slight confusion, however, our feelings were re- lieved by the ofiiciating minister procec'ding and show- ing his resolution not to allow any interruption from this accident. J had no opportunity of witnessing th< good example said to be set by the Roman Cathol,'* clergy in prohibiting all invidious distinctions in thei' cluirches ; but we know in Europe how nnich mor.* the jx)or and the rich are mingled together indifferently in the performance of their devotions in Romanist, churches than in most of the Anglo-protestant con- ffregatioHs. The extent to which the Americans carry their re- ))tignnnce to all association with the coloured race on e(|ual terms remained to the last an enigma to mc. Tlu-y feel, for example, an insurmountable objection to sit down to the same table with a well-dressed, well- informed, nnd well-educated nin-i of colour, wliile the same persons would freely welcome one of their own race of meaner capacity and ruder manners to boon Chap. x. FREE MEN OF COLOUR. 169 rompanionship. I have no doubt that if I rcmamed lieie far some years I should imbibe the same feeUngs, and sympathise witli what now appears to me an al- most incoiuprchcnyiblo prc^judice. If the repugnance arose from any physical causes, any natural antipathy of race, we sliould not seethe rijh Southerners employ- in [^ black slav(3s to wait on their persons, prepare iheir fjoil, nurse and suckle their white children, and live with ibem as mistresses. We should never sec the black lady's maid sitting in the same carriage with her mistress, and supporting her when fatigued, and last, thou'Tli not least, we should not meet with a numerous mixed breed springi?ig up every where from the union of (he two races. \Vc nnist seek then for other causes of so general and powerful a nature as lo be capable of inliuencing almost equall3'tlie opinions of thirteen millions of men. We well know that the ajjolition of villeinage and serf- lom has never enabled the immediate descendants of i'n^ednien, however rich, talented, and individually meritorious, to intermarry and be received on a footing of perfect c(uiahty with the best families of their coun- try, or with that class on vv'hich their fathers w^cre re- cently dependent. If in Europe there had been some indehble mark of ancestral degradation, some livery, handed down indefinitely from one generation to an- other, like the colour of the African, there is no saying how long the most galling disabilitit.-s rf the villein would have survived tlie total abohtioL '>y law of per- sonal servitude. But, fortunately, in Western Europe, the slaves belonged to the same race as their masters, whereas, in the United States, the negro cannot throw 15 "■A i' ■Ml I'! !^ I i ; ■ • ^: U' (•1; f'M] Wt N«:l mi\ 170 NEGRO RESERVATIONS. ClfAF. off the livery which betrays to the remotest jwsterity the low condition of his forefathers. There are Indian reservations, and I often asked why there should not be also negro reservations, or large territories set apart for free blacks, where tliey might form independent states or communities. It would be proper to select those districts where the cli- mate is insalubrious to Europeans, but where the blacks are perfectly healthy. I was assured that no scheme could be more Utopian — that the negroes, if left to themselves, would abandon the cultivation of sugar, cotton, and all the crops most appropriate to such laiuls. All this I can conceive ; but my friends went on to ob- ject that the negroes would soon sink into savage lite, and make marauding expeditions beyond their front ier. I have no doubt that if the two parties were left with- out a powerful check, some attempt would soon be made at territorial encroachments, but it is easy to foresee which party would be the formidable aggre!. '!' Chat, xi PHILADELPHIA. ITl «t CHAPTER XI. , i\ Philadelphia. — Financial Crisis. — Payment of State Dividemfs sus- pended. — General Distress and private Losse. and j^ardonc'rs arc ccasinj? to hriiii^ ihrir produce to markfl, allliouj^li tlio cro|)s are very ahiiii- ilaiit, and prices are risini,' hi<;li(!r and hijrlier, as if ilio cifv wns hesieijed. Mv American friends, anxious liiat 1 sli'iuid not Ite a lo-er, examined all my dollar notes, and persuaded me, before I set out on my travels, to convert tliem into gold, at a discoimt of ei<;lit per cent. In less than four weeks after this transaction, there was a general return to casii paymenis!, and the four baidvs by whicii the greater part of my paper had been issued, all failed. A parallel might perhaps be found for a crash of this kind in the commercial and fmancial history of Eng- land, or at least in some of her colonies, Australia, for example, where the unliountled facility all()rdcd to a new country of liorrowing the superabujidant caj)ifalof an old one, has caused a sudden rise in the value of lands, houses, and goods, and promoted tbe maddest speculations. But an event now occurred of a diirereiit and far more serious nature. One morning we weie told that the Governor of PcMinsylvania had come in great haste from Harrisburg, in consequence of the stoppage of one of the banks in the city, in which were lodged the funds intended for the payment of dividends? on state bonds, due in a few days. On this emergency he endeavoured to persuade otiier banks to advance the money, but in vain ; such was the general alaim, and feeling of insecurity. The cunsocjuent neci^ssity of a delay of payment was announced, raid many native holders of slock expressed to me their fears, that al- though they might obtain the diudend then actually Chap. xi. DEllT OF rilNNsJVLV AMA. 173 ' ', ' I* dufi, it mi^lit bo loui^ lu-foro thoy rrrrivod nnntlicr. At (lu- saiiR! liiiu; llit-y doflaicil (lit'ii ronviction, llial the icsoiircrsi ol" the ^Stalc, il' well inanai^cd, wcic aii.plc ; and that, if it depciidod on the more alllueiit Jiieicliaiiis ol' I'iiiladelphia, and ihc richer poriiun ol" ihe middle olas^ g'eiieruily, to impose and pay I Ik; taxes, th(; iiun- oiir of I'eiuisylvaiiia would not he compromised. Il was painful to witness t!»e ruin and distres-; occa- sioned by this last blow, following, as it did, so many previous disasters, yitni advanced in y<'ais, and re- tired from active life, after sueccs-^' in business, o'- at the bar, or after military service, too old to miurale vvilli their families to tlie West, and login the world again, are lel't destitute; many widows and single women hive lost their all, and great nundiers of the poorer classes are deprived of thiir savinj^s. yVn erroneous notion j)revails in England that the misciy created by iluse bankruptcies is confined chiclly to foreigners, but, in fact, n»any of the poorest citizens of Pennsylvania, and of other k?tates, had invested money in these sectt- riti(.'s. In 18-11, or two years after my stay in Fhil- adelphia, the Savings' Baidv of New York presented a petition to the letrislature at llarrisburg for a resunip- lion of payment of dividends, in which it was stated that their bank then held 3(){),()(K) dollars, and had held SOO.OtH), but was obliged to sell 5U().(^()0 at a great dc- j)reciation, in order to pay the claimants, who wcie compelled by the distress of the times to withdraw llieir deposits. The debt of Pennsylvania amounted to about LS,tH;0,0(lO/. sterling, nearly two thirds of which was held by British owners; and as a majority of these belonged to that party which always indulged the most 15* I'/ \. ■ r : f ^a ' m. \'^. y] % 3 ^> IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-S) 1.0 150 ■^™ i 2.5 2.2 1.1 ■UUu 1.8 Photographic Sciences Corporation 1.25 1 1.4 1 1.6 -1- 6" ► 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716)872-4503 174 DEBT OF PKNN.SVLVAXIA. Chap. xi. ik 1M *■'.',<, sang-iiine hopes of the prospects of the American re- public, and estimaled most liif^hly the private worth of the people and their capacity for self-government, tliey suiUMcd doubly, being disappointed alike in their pecu- niary speculations and their political views. It was natural, therefore, that a re-action of feeling should eiubitfcr their minds, and incline them to magnify and exaggerate the iniquity of that conduct which had at once injpugned the soundness of their judgment, and indicted a severe injury on their fortunes. Hence, not a few of them, confounding together the different States, have represented all the Americans as little better than swindlers, who, having defrauded Europe of many millions sterling, were enjoying tranquilly and with impunity the fruits of their knavery. The pub- lic works executed with foreign capital are supposed by many in England to yield a large profit on the outlay, which is not the case in any one of the delin- quent States. The loss or temporary suspension of the interest even of one third of the above-mentioned debt, in a country like Pennsylvania, where there is a small amount of capital to invest, and that belonging chiefly to persons incapable of exerting themselves to make money, a country where property is so much divided, and where such extensive failures had preceded this crisis, inflicts a far deeper wound on the happiness of the community, than the defalcation of a much larger sum in Great Britain would occasion. When we inquire into the circumstances which have involved the Pennsylvanians in their present difficul- ties, we shall find that, disgraceful as their conduct has been, their iniquity is neither so great, nor the pros- XI. 'J 5 ChAI XI. PUBLIC WORKS. 175 pcct of their affairs righting themselves so desperate, as might at first sight he supposed. Every holder of Peiinsylvanian bonds is undoubtedly entitled to assume that "there's; somethina: rotten in the state of Den- mai k," and to observe to any traveller who extenuates the delinquency of the State, " the better you think of the people, the worse opinion you must entertain of their institutions." How, under a representative form of government, can such events occur in time of peace, and, moreover, in a state so wealthy, that an income tax of 1^ per cent, would yield the two milions of dol- lars required,* and where the interest on the bonds was not usurious nor unusual in America — unless the ma- jority of the electors be".i m 'yi'4 ■ i.i 178 NON-PAYMENT OP DIVIDENDS. CiiAr. XL |4 ii '■' financiers. It is for them to consider what is to Imj done ; there is no experienced official Minister of Fi- nance, no chancellor of the exchequer, whose duty it is to come forward with a budget, and declare, like the English minister in 1842 : — " Here is an income-tax, to which you must submit, or we resign." The jeal- ousy on the part of the people, and their fears of the abuses of a strong executive, have induced them to circumscribe its powers so much, that they have vir- tually deprived it of all responsibility. In their attempt to avoid one evil, they have fallen into another as great, if not greater. The resources of the country were so paralyzed in 1842, amidst the general wreck, and crash of commer- cial houses and banks, that the suspension of the pay- ment of one or two State dividends had become un- avoidable ; but the non-payment even of a fraction of the interest in 1843-4, during a period of reviving pros- perity and sound currency, reiiects no small disgrace 3n the people, or discredit on the nature of their in- stitutions. It appears that in the year 1841, before the regular payment of dividends was suspended, a new property tax was imposed, which came into play in 1842, and yielded to the State 486,000 dollars ; and 558,000 more in 1843, and an additional sum in 1844, of 755,000 dollars. These retuins being inadequate, a new tax was laid on in 1844, with more stringent regulations for enforcing its collection, and it is now expected (De- cember, 1844) that the public creditor, whose arrears of unpaid dividends have, in the mean time, been funded, will receive his due. But how many bond- holdors have been already obliged to seU out, while \)} Chat. xi. CAUSES OF DEFALCATION. 179 others are dead and gone, so that restitution to all be- comes impossible ; and thus, to a certain extent, an irretrievable act of confiscation has been perpetrated ! Let us now consider how far these evils can be at- tributed to causes of so general, lasting, and deep-seated a nature, as to have justified the monied men of Eng- land and the Continent, in 1842, in the distrust man- ifested by them of the good faith of the whole Union. Such a want of confidence was displayed when the agent of the Federal Government failed to obtain in Europe a loan of a few millions sterling oflfered on very advantageous terms. On referring to the history of the United States, during the present century, we find that in the course of the war of 1812 — 1814, the nation had incurred a debt about equal to that now owing (1844) by all the delinquent States. A proposal was twice made in Con- gress to discontinue the payment of dividends to the English creditors, on the ground that they were ene- mies. On both occasions, the proposal was rejected, as dishonest, and with marked expressions of disapproba- tion ; at a time when direct taxes levied by the Federal Government pressed heavy on the people. The debt went on increasing after the close of the war, but was it length entirely paid off in 1835. These transactions raised the character of American securities throughout Europe ; and the altered tone of feeling evinced in 1842 is the more remarkable, as it occurred in a time of profound peace, when there was no immediate an- ticipation of war, and when it was well known that between the years 1812 and 1842, the wealth and ter- ritory of the confederacy had increased enormously, and tlie population more than doubled. In fact, "the ad* '. i ' ii ; M n ¥' 180 UNIVERSAL SUFFRAGE. Chap zi A ill IV 'I i'^1 H : 1 it ■J:' ' !F' l>'ii ; I!:; vance in the number of the inhabitants in this short interval was from eight to eigiitecn niilHons; tiie ex- cess alone amounting to more than the population of all England at the commencement of the present century. It cannot be denied that the course of events during the thirty years above alluded to has afforded grounds of anxiety to those who admire republican institutions and to every well-wisher of the prosperity of the Union. They who would make a permanent investment of money in U. S. stock must anticipate the possibility of war, and of a consequent reduction of revenue from the customs. If it then became necessary to lay on direct taxes, we have to consider, whether a majority of all the citizens would be likely to evince as much repu;j- nance to pay their dividends punctually to foreign and domestic creditors as the Pennsylvanians and Mary- landers have recently shown. If it has required several years to rouse the electors of these ancient States to a sense of their duty and honour, would the consciences of the new settlers in ruder and less advanced com- munities, constituting a large portion of the Union, be more sensitive ? As politicians, no people are so prone to give way to groundless fears and despondency respecting the pros- pects of affairs in America as the English, partly be- cause thej- know little of the condition of society there, and partly from their own well-founded conviction, ihat a near approach to universal suffrage at home would lead to anarchy and insecurity of property. To divide the land equally among all, to make an "equitable adjustment" of the national debt, or, in other words, to repudiate, are propositions gravely discussed at Chartist Chap. xi. t; n I V e II s a l s l I • I' u a g e . 181 meetings, and even embodied in numerously si;.rneil pelitioiis to juuliameiit. Tlic majority even of tiio ili'mocralic parly in tiie U. S. would probably assent to ibc opinion, tlitit in England, wlierc tliere is so nuicli actual want, wliere one tenth of the j)opulation, or 1,50(1.000 persons, receive parocliial relief, where edu- cation has made such slow progress amoni^' the poor, anil wbere tliere is hooutletin the Far West, no safety- valve for the escape of the redundant iidiabitant^;, it v.ould be most dangeious to entrust every adult male with the rigbt of voting. Yet in America they think the e.\j)eriment a safe one, or even contend tliat it has succeeded. LJul not a i'cw of the o|)posite paify, how- ever inexpedient and useless they may liiink it to agi- tate the question, agrc*; with the majority of l^uropean j)oliticians in considering that it has lowered and de- teriorated the character of the electoral body. it is undeniable that the rapidity with which the native population has multiplied throughout the Union, and still more the hillux of aliens into every State, has had a tendency to cause the whole country to resemble a new colony, rather than an old and long-established nation. Not only many new Territories and States, but even some of the old ones, such as New York and Pennsylvania, contain so much unoccupie . vTid tbat they are full of adventurers and speculators i om otlier j)arts of America, and of new-comers from Europe, speaking diilerent languages, often cherishing foreign prejudices, and disturbing the equilibrium of native jtarties, founded on broad and distinct views of home policy. I have already remarked, that, on the south- ern frontier of the State of New York (p. 59.), I saw the native forest yielding as fast to the axe of the new 16 n iM if Iff :?*. \* #, p-r- ' i! I i |i. !1' .il hM 182 PENNSYLVANIAN GERMANS. Chap, xl fit. li Ri. mm 9' Br i;'; Hi *i^i'h- Hm' ~''''^'' P'ii ■ftiiiii 1 settler, as if we had penetrated to the Far West, or the back wootis of Canada. When we turn to her north- ern confines, we learn from the Reports of the Geolwg- ical Surveyors employed by government in 1837, and subsequent years, tiiat in Essex County and elsewlu-re they had recourse to Indian guides in a pathless wil- derness, encountered panthers and moose-deer, found the beaver still lingering in sonje streams, saw lakes before undescribed, and measured the height of moun- tains for the first time. During my short sojourn in the metropolis of that State, 1 witnessed, among other illustrations of the heterogeneous composition of its people, a grand Repeal demonstration, an endless pro- cession of Irish parading the streets, with portraits of O'Connell emblazoned on their banners, and various mottoes, implying that their thoughts were occupied with party questions of British, not of j\merican pol- itics. A large number of these aliens have, contrary to old usage, been of late years invested with electoral rights ; and candidates for places in the magistracy, or the legislature, are degraded by paying court to theii sympathies and ignorant prejudices. This temptation is too strong to be resisted ; for, small as may be their numbers when compared with the native voters, they often turn the scale in an election where the great con- stitutional parties are very nearly balanced. In addition to some of these evils, Pennsylvania labours under the disadvantage of being jointly occu- pied by two races, those of British, and those of Ger- man extraction. The latter are spoken of by the Anglo-Americans as the Boeotians of the land. They appeared to me industrious and saving, very averse to speculation, but certainly wanting in that habit of Chap. xi. PE NSYLVANIAN GERMANS. 183 10 the to identifying tlicmselvos with the acts of tli?ir govem- mcnl, wliich can alone give to the electors under a rep- resentative system a due sense of responsibilily. Sonic of them talked of their public works as of commercial projects which had failed ; and when I remarked (hat, unlike the English, whose debts were incurred by car- rying on wars, they were at least reaping some advan- tage from their expenditure, they assured me I was mistaken — that such cheap and rapid means of locomo- tion were positively injurious, by facilitating migrations to the West, and preventing a country with a "sparse" population from filling up. For this reason, their lands had not risen in value as they ought to have done. They protested that they had always been opposed to railways and canals; and that for every useful line adopted, there was sure to be another unnecessary canal or railway made, in consequence of " log-rolling'' in their legislature. The representatives, tliey say, of each sectioji of the country, would only consent to vote money, if they could obtain a promise that an equal sum should be laid out in their own district, and to this end some new and uncalled-for scheme had to l;e in- vented. This kind of jobbing they compare to log- rolling in the back settlements, where the thinly-scat- tered inhabitants assemble and run up a log-cabin in a single day for the new-comer, receiving, in their turn, Bome corresponding service, whenever the union of numbers is required. From all I could learn, I felt inclined to believe, that as soon as these Germans were convinced that they really owed the money they would pay it. There are, however, a multitude of European immigrants who have recently been admitted to take part in the eleo- i ^-' j' .1; f !- )i^ '1:i f^i .' 1: I j ; > ■ 1 '■ ■• I, iM'^ 184 UXIVER.SAL SlFFHAOn. CilAt. XL tiniis I)y sli»ntoMiii<:: llif term ofyoars rof|nln'(l for tiatii- mlizaliiHi. It is also notorious that, owiiii"' totlio neg- lect of re i^n St rat ion, many aliein vote fraudulently, and others several tiniey over at (he same poll, hi various disiruiscs. "Co those nni^lish politicians who are not accustonu'd to look with favourifi*:;' eyes on democratic insliluliona in "general, iIk; task of reformini^ such abuses appears hopeless. By what el( (pience, they ask, can we per- suade an ii^iiorant mull if tide to abdicate power, if wo have once taken the false slej)of c:)id"erring sov, tiiid ubservt^ what is imw L(<>iiio on ii'. the U. S., we discover L,noiuidti for vi»'win.:• i > NeiD York City. — Geology. — Distribution of Erratic Blocks in Long Island. — Residence in Nrw York. — Effects on Society of inctensed Intercourse of distant States. — Separation of the Capital and Metropolis. — Climate. — Geology of the Taconic Mountains.-^ Stratum of Plumbago and Anthracite in the Mica Schist of War' cester. — Theory of its Origin. — Lectures for the Working Cliis<>es. — Fossil Foot-prints of Birds in Red Sandstone. — Mount Holyoke. — Visit to the Island of Martha's Vineyard. — Fossil Walrus. — Indians New York, March, 1842. — The island on which New York stands k composed of gneiss, as are tlie chflfs on the left bank of the Hudson, for many miles above. At Hol)okcn, on the opposite side of the river, clifTs are seen of serpentine, a rock which appears to be subordi- nate to the g^neiss. as in many parts of Norway and Sweden. All these formations, as well as the syenite of Statoii Island, correspond very closely with European rocks of the same order. Long Island is about 130 miles in length, and the town of Brooklyn, on its western extremity, may be considered as a suburb of New York. This low island is every where covered with an enormous mass of drift or diluvium, and is the most southern point in the United States, where I saw large erratic blocks in great numbers. Excavations recently made in the Navy Yard at Brooklyn have exposed the boulder formal i(>n to the depth of thirty fed ; the lowest portion there seen consisting of red clay and loam, with boulders of trap and sandstone, is evidently the detritus of the New ! ''■ •:;pt. ^wM' %^ h I i5 iU :!^ ■'At if'!'. I II. I j4; 190 STRATIFIED DRIFT. Chap, ^h. , i ' -I Red Sandstone formation of New Jersey. This mass, in the sections where I observed it, was alwut eighteen feet thick, and rudely stratified. Above it lay an un- stratitied grey loam, partly of coarse and partly of fine materials, with boulders and angular blocks of gneibs, eyenilic greenstone, and other crystalline rocks, dis- persed at random through the loamy base, the whole being covered with loam eight feet thick. One an- gular block of gneiss, which I measured, was thirteen feet long, by nine in breadth, and five feet high, but masses still larger have been met with, and broken up by gunpowder. Mr. Redfield, who accompanied me to Brooklyn, suggested that the inferior red drift may have been accumulated first when the red sandstone of the neighbouring country was denuded, and that after- wards, when the land was submerged to a greater depth. and when the gneiss and hypogene mountains of tlie highlands alone protruded above the waters, the upper drift with its erratics may have been thrown down. I am well disposed to adopt this view, because it coin- cides with conclusions to which I was led by indepen- dent evidence, after examining the districts around Lakes Erie and Ontario, viz. that the drift was de- posited during the successive submergence of a region which had been previously elevated and denuded, and which had already acquired its present leading geo- graphical features and superficial configuration. At South Brooklyn, I saw a fine example of strati- fied drift, consisting of beds of clay, sand, and gravel, which were contorted and folded as if by violent lateral pressure, while beds below of similar composition, and equally flexible, remained horizontal. These appear- ances, which exactly agree with those seen in the drift 8' ^liil rift Chap. xii. LONG ISLAND BOULDERS. 191 of Scotland or the North of Europe, generally accord well with the theory which attributes the pressure to the stranding of ice islands, which, when they run aground, are known to push before thein large mounds of shingle and sand, and must often alter greatly the arrangement of strata forming the upper part of shoals, or mud-banks and sand-banks in the sea, while the inferior portions of the same remain unmoved. Mr. Mather, in his Report on the geology of this portion of New York,* states an interesting fact in re- gard to the arrangement of the boulder formation on Long Island, W'hich, as before m( ntioned, extends for about 130 miles east and west. At its eastern ex- tremity the boulders are of such kinds of granite, gneiss, mica, slate, greenstone, and syenite, as may have come across the Sound from parts of Rhode Isl- and, immediately to the nortli. Farther westward, opposite the mouth of the Connecticut River, they are of such varieties of gneiss and hornblende slate as cor- respond with the rocks of the region through which that river passes. Still farther west, or opposite New Haven, they consist of red sandstone and conglomerate, and the trap of that country ; and lastly, at the west- ern end, adjoining the city of New York, w^e find ser- pentine, red sandstone, and various granitic and crys- talline rocks, which have come from the district lying immediately to the north. This distribution of the travelled fragments will remind every geologist of the manner in which distinct sets of erratics are lodged on the Swiss Jura, each set, whether of granite, marble, or gneiss, answering in composition to those parts of the Alps which are nearest and immediately opposite, as if • Report for 1837, p. 8S. liK^i: ! I ]} '1 1 * I 1 ( ( ( 1 r; ! ! 1 " m «! i ■' r i« i • 1 :.' ' '1- •><' , i ■ ii if I :.f'j ■mf' '■-.: ^m 192 NEW YORK. Chap, xh *,m-': 1 tliey liad crossed the great valley of Switzerland, more tiian fifty jniJes broad, in a direction at right angles to ts length. The Sound, which separates Long l^^iaiul from the main land, is from five to twenty-five ntile? broad. The fragments have doubtless been trans- ported by ice ; but we must suppose them to have been floated by ice-islands in the sea, as there ore no high mountains in tiiis part of North America from which glaciers can iiave descended after the continent had ac(|uired nearly iis present shape and altitude. We spent several weeks at New York, and soon found ourselves at home in the society of persons to some of whom we had letters of introduction from near relatives in England, and others whom we had met at distant places in the course of our tour. So many American citizens migrate from north to south for the saice of mild winters, or attendance on Congiess, or the supreme courts of law at Washington, or congregate in large watering places duriiig the summer, or liave children or brothers settled in tlie Far West ; every- where there is so much intercourse, personal or episto- lary, between scientific and literary men in remote states, who have often received their nniversity educa- tion far from home, that in each new city where we sojourn our American friends and acquaintances seem to know something of each other, and to belong to the same set in society. The territorial extent and politi- cal independence of the difierent States of the Union remind the traveller rather of the distinct nations of Eiuope than of the different counties of a single kirg- dom like England ; but the population has spread so fast from certain centres, especially from New Engla.id, and the faciUties of communication by railway and !! CiiAr. XII. NEW YORK. 193 ston!)i-boat are so groal, and arc alwaj's improving so nipi !ly. that tlio twcuty-.^ix r('pnl)Iics of 1842, having a [)i)|)nl.iti',)n of ^cveiitocn millions, are more united, ;iiitl hcloiiij;' more lliorouglily to one nation, than did lli(! thirlccn States in 177(), when their numbers were only three ]niUion?<. In spite of tlic continued decline of the federal authorit\', and the occasional conflict of toninjcrcial interests between the North and South, and the \iolent passions excited by the anti-slavery niDVcnuMit, the old colonial prejudices have been soften- ing down from year to year, the English language, h\\^. and literature, have pervaded more and more the Dutch, (Jerman, and French settlements, and the danger of the dismemberment of the confederacy ap- pears to all reflecting politicians less imminent now than formerly. I dined with Mr. Astor, now far advanced in years, whose name is well known to the readers of Washing- ton Irving's " Astoria." lie informed me that he was about to found a large public library in New York, wliich I rejoice to hear, as the scientific men and nat- uralists of this country can rarely afford to purchase expensive European works with numerous illustrations. I often regietted, during my short residence here, that the town of A!l)'iny, 150 miles distant, is destined, be- caiise ii is the capital, to possess the splendid collection of minerals, rocks, and fossils obtained during the late government sm'vey. The surveyors are now employed ill arranging these treasures in a nmseum, which would have Itc'cn far more useful and more frequently con- sulted if placed in the midst of this wealthy metropolis, having a j)opu!ation of 300,000 souls. Foreigners, in- deed, who have only visited New York for commercial 17 -1 i 'ir-' il ij ' f fc' . 194 VARIABLE CLIMATE. Chap. XIL i; purposes, may imagine that all the inhabitants are ex- clusively engrossed with trade and money-njaking ; but there is a college here, and many large and nour- ishing literary and scientific institutions. I received numerous invitations to deliver lectures on geology, but had scarcely time to finish one short course wlieii I was reminded, by the breaking up of winter, that 1 could resume my operations in the field. It was now the second week of April, and already the willows on " the Battery" were putting forth their yellowish-green leaves. The air was as warm as in an English summer, although a few days befoie l!ie ground had been covered with snow. Such sudden changes are trying to many constitutions ; and we are told that if we staid a second year in the United States we should feel the influence of the climate, and begin to lose that freshness of colour which marks the newly- arrived Englishman. The greater sallowness of com- plexion here is attributed to the want of humidity in the air ; and we ought to congratulate ourselves that there is no lack of that ingredient in the atmosphere of Great Britain. We continue to be surprised at the clearness of the skies, and the number of fine days and bright star-light nights, on this side of the Atlantic. April 12, 1842. — Left New York, and ascended the North River to Hudson City, to observe there the tran- sition or Silurian slates and Hmestones. Tliesc rocks have undergone so much disturbance that I was un- able to satisfy myself — perhaps from want of more time for observation — whether the alleged unconfoim- ability of the fossiUferous hmestone to the bkick slate is real or only apparent, and owing to shifts in the position of the strata. From Hudson City I followed m li 'fi ';:':?■ I;:! Chap. xii. TACOXIC GROUI' OV STRATA. 105 tlio line of the railway hy Chester and Wcstdeid, over what is called ihe Tacoiiic rji)L'"e of nioiiiitaiiis. 'I iiry iiKiv he coiisideieil, jxeaniviphicallv. as a comimiMiiDii of the Green Mountains of Veiinont ; and they do n(.t dillcr greatly in their geological structuie, the j)red(!ni- inant rocks being gneiss, mica schist, takose slate, and crystalline limestone, the larger portion of which would in the ordinary nomenclature of geology he called pri- iiuiry. They have, however, been termed metamor- pliic, because in some of the associated slates traces of fucoids and vermilorm bodies, called Nereites, have been discovered. Professors Hitchcock and li. L). Kogers have expressed an oj)inion, which nppeared to ine highly probable after a cursory examination of diese hills, tiiat they consist of altered Silurian strata. Dr. Emmons, on the other hand, contends that they are more ancient than the lowest sandstone of the old- est fossiliferous group of New York, — in a word, that they are sedimentary strata of an era anterior to the Silurian, in a metamorphic state. The order of ar- rangement of the masses, their mineral constituents and organic remains, are appealed to in support of this dicory ; and several sections are considered as proving that the most ancient sandstones of the New York series rest unconformably on the rocks in question, to which Dr. Emmons gives the name of the Taconic system. But the fossils are so few, and so analogous either to species found in the Silurian strata in the United States or in those now generally referred, like the Nereites (a species of annehdes ?), to the inferior division of that group in Great Britain, that the claim of this Taconic group to an independent place among die paleozoic formations ssems still very questionable. Irl 19G PLUMnAGlNOUS ANTHRACITE. Chap, xii r m w. 1 went aflcrwarcln to exaipino the mica scliist of Worcester, in Miissjacluisoils, to the east of the Tiico- nic raw'Ki aiul of the Comieciicut Kiver, and forty li\t; nnlerf d.ie west of Boston. 1 fouml, interstia tided witli the niif/ scliist and associated clay-slate of this place, a regnlar >ed of plumbaginous anthracite, or inipuio graphite, portions of winch give a streak on paper lilvo a lead pencil. It has been used for making pencils, while a part of tlie stratum has been worked for coal, but apparently without profit, as the mine is now- abandoned. The mica schist contains garnets and asbestus, and is nuich impregnated with carbonaceous matter. I searched in yain for yegetable inijiressioiis in the phmibaginous anthracite, which was in part iridescent, like coal, and so nuich resenjbled some df the carl by nnthracifes which 1 soon afterwards saw on ti:e borders of Massachusetts and Rhode Inland, at "Wr^'iithain, (Cumberland, Altleborough, and Mansfield, that 1 fi'ol sironglv inclined to believe that the AVor- c'ster be;]:-, however crystalliiie they may be, are no ether than carboniferous rocks in an altered or mola- niorj)hic state. At the various localities last men- tioned I found in the carbonaceous slates accompany- ing the anthracite the most common coal plants, such as Pecoptcris pluinosa, Neuropteris flexuosa, Spheiio- pbyllimj, Calamites, &c. Although the associated strata were not in a crystalline condition, they and tli'j coal were occasionally traversed with veins of cpiartz, like the plumbaginous bed at Worcester; and there are many |)Iaces in Rhode Island and Massachusetts^, pointed out by Dr. C. T. .Tackson and Professor Hitch- cock, in which the carboniferous and old red sandstone rocks pass into mica schist, and other hypogene rocks, m I '■•!■!: 1^1 CiiAr. XII. ANTHRACITE IN MICA SCHIST. 19' c'pocinlly in tlio neii?Ii))onihoo(l of nnsso^ of nTanifn aii;l syt.'iiitc. In sjiii'J ca?^l^s llit; p-ltltlcs of ilic coii- gloiiK.'rate reiiiain disiiiict, wliile llie sli;ily l);is(; lias \)W\\ luriietl into a well-cluuactcrised mica scliist, of wliicli 1 obtained specimens. 1 have already mentioned (p. 72.) that in cros-siir^ from the west of tlie Aile^Iiany mountains to the east- ern portion of the Appalachian coal-fu'ld the volatile ingredients (oxygen, hydrot^en, and nitrosfen) of the oii'^inal coal bear continually a smaller and smaller proportion to the carbon. In the specimens which 1 myself obtained from Pomeroy, Ohio, wiiere the coal is bituminous, and where the strata are undisturbed, the (juantity of gaseous matter has beejj found l)y my friend Dr. Percy to be in the proportion of PJ per cent., tlie rest being carbon anil ash. 2dly. In the coal at Frostburg, in Maryland, in the midst of the Alleghany chain, where the strata have undergone but slight dis- turbance, the proportion of volatile matter was found to be 9^ pur cent. 3dly. In the Pennsylvanian an- thracite of the Lehigh and Mauch Chunk mines, before alluded to (p. G9.), the volatile ingredients are about 5 per cent.* In the plumbaginous anthracite of Worcester the jnoportion of volatile matter is about 3 per cent., there being a slight trace of nitrogen. I conceive that a * Tlipse results were obtained from an elaborate analysis made for nif by tl'.e kindness of Dr. J. Percy of Biriningbani, sinoe the stute- inciit fT.wu at p. 72. was printed. They bear out tlie jreological in- fci'Miees, there referred to, of Professor H. D. Uoirprs ; but it will be ^'011 ihat t!ie proportions of the chemical constituents differ greatly, the }ra!>eoiis matter being only half the previously estimated qiiaulity. For deiiiils of the analysis and manipulations, see Appendix to a papei by the author, in the Journal of Geol. See, London, No. II. 1845. 17* .*,•• t^'t lOS ANTITUAriTi: IN MICA Sfllir^T. CllAP. xn V L ■fs ^ I inoic powerful acfion of lliosc same plufoiiic causes (liraf, and oilier suljloiraneaii a<,'"('Ucios) wliitli aic cii- pablc of coiivrrtiii*^ scdiiiKMiJary into cryHlallinn iocKn may liave (3.\'|)ell''(l nearly all the gaseous inuncdiciits from a stratum of coal or anthracite, and turned if info an impure plumbago, while the carboniferous grit.s and shales wen; changed into carbonaceous mica-schist, clay-slate, and (piartzite. At Little Falls, on the ^lo- liawk Hiver, and elsewhere in the U. S., and at the Falls of Montmorency, and other places in ('anada, I have seen the lowest Silurian strata resting uncon- formal)Iy on gneiss and other hypogene formations, liut we ought not to be surprised on that account, if we find on the American continent, as in the Swiss Alps and other regions in Europe, strata containing plants of tlie coal-measures, or of still newer dates, which have acquired the hypogene or metamorpliic structure. Near the Atlantic border of the United States, in particular, we should be prepared for such a discovery, for we know tliat those powerful movements which have given rise to the Appalachian chain, fold- ing and dislocating the solid rocks for a breadth of 150. and a length of more than 1000 miles, and the injec- tion into the eastern portion of the chain, of igneous rocks of the trappean and plutonic order, arc phenom- ena posterior in date to the deposition of the American carboniferous strata. During so long a series of sub- terranean changes as are implied by these disturbances it may well have happened that considerable masses of the coal-bearing, as well as of more ancient paleozoic strata, should have assumed a crystalline texture. At a small New England town in the Taconic hilb above mentioned I was getting some travelling in- began Ciur. XII. LKCTUUKS IN' NKW KNOLANU. 190 strnctions nt ihc lv\r of an inn, wlion a carpenter en- tered who had ju-^t iiiiidird Ids day's svork, and asked what It'cUire would bo y[Yfon that evening'. The re- ply was*, idr. X. on ihu Astiunoniy of tlie Middle Ages. lie then iunuired if il was gratis, and was an- swered in the ne), Fig. 6. N.E. S.W. Section at Oayhead. A. Lighthouse. h. Groensnnd with sharks' teeth. c. Osseous conglomerate with walrus. d. Drift. near the north-eastern end. They consisted of casts? of shells, teeth of large sharks, the vertebrae of a dol- phin, and of a whale of great size. 1 also discovered a tooth referred by Mr. Owen to the canine tooth of a seal. Together with these, I found numerous nodules of the shape of kidney potatoes, from one to two inches in diameter, smooth externally, which I presume to have been coprolites. They have been analysed for me by my friend J. Middleton, fJsq., F. G. S., and found to contain no less than 50 per cent, of phosphate of lime, the constitution of the latter being such as is pecuhar to organic substances. They also consist of fluoride of calcium, chloride of sodium, and other ele- ments. These coprohtes, therefore, seem closely anal- ogous in composition as in age, to those found by Professor Henslow in the Suffolk crag of Fehxstow, and which accompany the bones of sharks and cetacea. Near the hghthouse there is a great fold in the beds, where they are so bent as to have twice a north- easterly and once a south-westerly dip. One of these Chap. xii. FOSSIL WALRUS. 203 folded beds (c) consists of an osseous conglomerate, in wliicli I found several rolled cetaceous remains ; and J purchased from a llslierman residing near the pro- montory a fossil skull, which lie told me had fallen out of this conglomerate upon the beach below. It retained but a small portion of the original animal niatter, was slightly rolled, and Mr. Owen recognised it as the cranium of a Walrus, or ]\!orse, nearly allied to the existing species ( Trlcliecus Ros?ttants, Linn.). On comparison, it was observed to diiier from it, in having six molar teeth, instead of f;;ur, on each side of the upper jaw. There are eleven specimens of the recent species in the College of Surgeons, in all of which there are no more than lour grinders on each side. The tusk, also, of the Gayhcad fossil has a rounder form than that of the recent Morse. (See plate Y.) Near Chilmark, on the S.W. side of the island, I found the same b(?ds as at Ga3head, in a still more disturbed state. Upon the whole, the organic remains, especially the sharks' teeth, lead me decidedly to the opinion that the strata belong to a part of the tertiary series newer tlian the Eocene, to wdiich they were formerly referred. They must be at least as mode n as the Miocene marls of Virginia and Maryland, bcl e described (p. 134). Several of the sharks' teeth .re specifically identical with the fossils of those marls, and of the Faluns of Touraine and the Sullblk crag; and there are no greensands either of the Eocene or cre- taceous periods in Martha's Vineyard, as some have conjectured. These conclusions, in regard to the mod- ern date of this formation, are interesting, because, but for this small island, we should have had no evidence 18 Hi i t «| ! •i5 ■Hi 1 I . i'f . : t i-'' r. ^ h 206 Martha's vineyard. Chap. xn. of the development of a great series of subterranean movements in tliis part of the American continent. The disturbances in question occurred between the Miocene epoch and the Boulder period ; and we know not how far their influence may have extended over the hypogene rocks of New England. The tertiary clays and sands of Martha's Vineyard are for the most part deeply buried beneath a mass of drift {d, Fig. 0.), in which lie huge erratic blocks of granite, often from twenty to thirty feet in diameter, which must have come from the North, probably from the mountahis of New Hampshire. This covering of granitic detritus imparts to the soil a sterile character totally different fiom that which would naturally be- long to the tertiary clays and marls. I alluded to some Indians settled near Gayhead, a remnant of the aborigines, who have been protected by the Government of Massachusetts, all sales of land by them to the whites being null and void by law. They make excellent sailors in the whale-fishery of the South Seas, a source of great wealth to the inhab- itants of " the Vineyard," and of New Bedford on the main land. That occupation, with all its privations and dangers, seems admirably suited to the bodily con- stitution and hereditary instinct of a hunter tribe, to whom steady and continuous labour is irksome and injurious. The history of the extermination of the aboriginal Indians of New England is a melancholy tale, especial- ly after so many successful exertions had been made to educate and christianize them. When at Harvard College, a copy of the Bible was shown me by Mr. Jared Sparks, translated by the mispii-uH.y Father Chat. xii. INDIANS. 207 Elliott into the Indian tongue. It is now a Jead lan- guage, although preached for several generations to crowded congregations. On my return across the Vineyard from Gay head I saw several spotted tortoises with red heads migrating from one pond of fresh water to another. On the sea- shore another novelty attracted my notice — severa. large specimens of the King Crab ( Limidus iwlyphe- mus) were crawling about in the salt-water pools left by the sea on the retiring of the tide. rm 1 1 1' ■ ■ -i ^ ■ i i. . 1 1 ' i f ill ii 1 I I \\ 208 BOSTON. Ciur. xin CHAPTER XIII. M-flfing nf Association of American Geologists at Boston. — Popnlin Lihniiies in New Eiigl)ind, — Luge Sale of Literary Win ks ii the United States. — American Unicersities. — Harvard Citllcrc near li.tstin. — English Universities. — Pecaliarities nj their Sijs tini. — Historical Sketch of the Causes of these Peculiarities not nj Medieval Origin. — Collegiate Corporations. — Their altered Rela- tion to the English Universities after the Reformat ion. — ConslUn- Hon given tn Oxford hij Leicester and Laud. — System of Puh.'ic Teaching, how superseded hi/ the Culleginte. — Ejfeds of the Change. — Oxford Examination Statute of 1800. — Its subsequent Mid'ficiilion and Results, — Rise of Private Tutors at Oxford and Cambridge. — Consequences of this Linovatian. — Struggle at Ox- ford in ld3i) to restore the Professorial System. — Causes of its Rejection. — Tractarianism. — Supremacy of Eccleiiasfics. — Y(,u h- ful Examiners. — Cambridge. — Ailvocacy of the System followed there. — Influence of the English Academical Plan on the Cultiva- tion of the Physical Sciences, and all Branches of Progressive Knowledge. — Remedies and Reforms. April 25. — I returned to Boston to attend the third annual meeting of the Association of American Geolo- gists, who had held their previous meetings of 1840 and 1841 at Philadelphia. On the present occasion Dr. Morton took the chair, and in the course of the week papers were read and freely discussed on a va- riety of scientific questions by many of the leading American geologists, some of whom had come from distant parts of the Union. The patronage afforded by the state surveys has created a numerous class both of practised observers and able writers. Among those engaged ia these government undertakings, who took Chap. xiii. MEETING OF GEOLOGISTS. 200 pirt in these proceedin;^s, I may iniMUiDa Professor ilitclicock, ot" 31ussaclui-!i'lls, Prules.sor W . U. Rou'crs, of Virginia, Proft;t!sor il. D. lvo;^ers, oi' Peiin^yivaiiia, Mr. Vamixcin, Dr. Ejnmuiis, Mr. Hall, ami Dr. Dvck — all engaged on llie survey of New York ; Dr. Jac.k- .son, who has .surveyed Rhode Island, Now ITanipshire, and Maine ; and Dr. Lo(;kc, of Oiiio. There wtM'e also present. Professor Sillinian and his son, Messrs. Nicollet, Redlicld, Gould, Bailey, Dana, Cout.hoiiy, Ualdenian, lluhbard, J. L. ilayes, and others, all known as authors or contributors to scienfilic publica- tions. The structure of the Alleghany Hills, and of the c;)al-rields of Anjerica, ihe origin of coral reef<, the glacial theor}', the ell'ects of icei)ergs, the nature of t^e foot-marks in the red sandstone of Coimecticut valley, and other subjects, were debated upon during the week, in an animated but most amicable style, 'j'he citizens of Boston, learning that means were wanting for the publication of a series of valuable memoirs, read at this and former meetings of the association, came for- ward vv'ith their usual liberality, and supplied funds, by aid of which a volume entitled '* Transactions of the Association of xlmcrican Geologists for 1840-42," a work reflecting the hiirhest credit on the cultivators of geology and its kindred sciences in America, made its appearance soon afterwards. Munificent bequests and donations for public pur- poses, whether charitable or educational, form a stri- king feature in the modern history of the United States, and especially of New England. Not only is it com- mon for rich capitalists to leave by will a portion of their fortune towards tlie endowment of national in- stitutions, but individuals during their lifetime make IS* p "1 i !•' i 1 . , ■» t .( u'l! t ■■■ I'liii 210 SALE OF BOOKS. Chap, xm J,*. *■ magnificent granls of money for the same objects. I'liere is here no coiii|)ul>(>ry l;) of the dislanc«; ; but, in spite of the occasional elmili- tion in recent times of an intolerant spirit on both sides of the Atlantic, there ar(! many auspicious sii^ns of the ap|)roach of an era when dillerences of religious opinion will less interfere with national systems of education, botli in scho(»]s and colleges. The present state of academical allairs in ►Scotland will perhaps be thought inconsistent with tliis view, where one parly has been endeavouring to expel from the universities all profes- sors who favour " free church" opinions, while the seccders from the establishment, not satisfied with a new divinity-school, have aimed at a new univer-^ity for general instruction. There is now reason, how- ever, to iiope that the last-mentioned project will fail. There are already too many academical institutions in Scotland, in proportion to the means of adequately re- munerating the professors ; and their farther impover- ishment, by the withdrawal of students from them to a new college, would be an injury to science and civil- isation. The policy of the govermnent in IS35, when an attempt was made to unite King's and Marischal Colleges at Aberdeen, was wise and statesmanlike, but it was baffled by the local jealousies of the two ancient rivals. Every effort should now be made to confine the new academical foundation to the faculty of theol- mih Cnxr. xiif. SKCTARIAN SPITIIT. 213 r,i oj?y ; <^n(1, for the same renson, to prevent the estahlish- lueiit of rival parochial scIiojIs, for the existin;:^ parish sch(K)Is are often at present ina(le(|nately supported. It irf deplorable enough to be conipellcd to admit the ne- cessity of any new academical esiablishment, when wo reflect that there is absolutely no difference of doctrine between the new rival churches in IScoiland ; and that the points of dissent have been deemed for a century and a half of such subordinate importance, as not to atTord justifiable n^rounds for an open bre.ich. In the Irish Colletre at Belfast, endowed by governmenl. a professor of Greek of acknowledged ability, nomi..;i(ed originally by the crown, with the approbation of the Presbyterians, has suddenly been deprived of the greater part of his class in conserjuence of the "free church" movement, although no blame is imputed to him on the score of a proselytising spirit, or of a wish to incul- cate his own religious views. In the midst of these and otber discouraging circumstances, it is satisfactory to observe, that three out of the five Scotch universities have recently declared to Parlianient tlicir desire that the religious tests which now shackle tluni and impair their ctVicacy may be removed. In no subject do the Americans display more earnest- ness than in their desire to improve their system of education, both elementary and academical. They have sent missionaries to FiUrope, who have published elaborate reports on the methods of teaching now em- ployed in Britain, Germatiy, Holland, and l''rancf», and they seem ready to adopt whatever appears worthy of imitation in these diflerent njoilels. The great (IKfi- cuity under which they labour, and one inevilable in a new country, and common to them and the British >! 1 t'i u I,: 214 HARVARD COLLEGE. Chap. xiu ■V * Americani colonies, is the early age at which young men quit college, sooner by at least two years than in England. In Harvard College, Cambridge, near Boston, the best endowed university in the United States, there are thirty-two professors, each assisted by one or more tutors. Many of them are well known in the literary world as aufhors. F'ivc only of the thirty-two were educated for the pulpit, three of whom are professors of divinity, one of ethics, and one of history. All the students are ie(juircd to attend divine service in the churches to which they severally belong, but the divin- ity-school for professional education i Unitarian. The pupils are examined in the New Testament, also in Paley's '• Evidences," and Butler's " Analogy." The proportion of professors to students (about 400 in num- ber) is far greater than that of college tutors in the English universities. The tutors of Harvard CoUofxe maybe compared, in some degree, to our private tutors, except that they are more under the direction of the professors, being selected by them from among the graduates, as the best scholars, and each is specially devoted to some one department of learning. These tutors, from whose number the professors are very commonly chosen, usually teach the freshmen, or first- year students, or prepare pupils for the professors' lec- tures. Care is also bestowed on the classification of the young men, according to their acquirements, tal- ents, and tastes. To accomplish this object, the stu- dent, on entering, may offer to undergo an examina- tion, and, if he succeeds, he may pass at once into the second, third, or fourth year's class, the intermediate steps being dispensed with ; he may also choose cer- '" i w Chat. xiii. ENGLISH UNIVERSITIE'J. 215 1 tJl lain subjects of study, which are regarded as equiva- lents, or are excliangeable with otliers. Thus, in the four years of the regular academical course, a conipe- lent knowledge of Latin, Greek, and of various branches of mathematics, is exacted from all ; butj in regard to other subjects, such as moral philosophy, modern lan- guages, chemistry, mineralogy, and geology, some of them may be substituted for others, at the option of the pupil. There are public examinations at the end of every term for awarding honours or ascertaining the proficiency of students ; who, if they have been neg- ligent, or put back into a previous year's class, the period of taking their degree being in that case de- feried. Honours are obtainable for almost every sub- ject taught by any profesbor ; but cnudation is not relied upon as the chief inducement for study. After passing an examination for the fourth year's class, the student .! 216 ENGLISH CNIVERSITIES. CnAr. xiii »: instrucfion there, than tlie cause of tlic recent bani^n- nient from that seat of learning' of many sciences lor- mcrly tauijfht tlicre. M'he more I emleavonretl to ex- plain the present state of our academical course of study, and tlie peculiar organisation of the corps of teachers lo wlioni its superintendence is confided, the more strange it appeared to my New England friends ; and I myself became the more aware of its distinctive and anon)alous characler, when contrasted with the methods followed elsewhere. Many who liave been educated, like my- self, at Oxford, are ignorant of the system of education formerly acted upon in our English universities, and of the real natuie or causes of the present state of things. I shall, therefore, attempt to give, in the remainder of this chapter, a brief account of the leading peculiarities of our former and present academical machinery, and to point out its inevitable consequence, the very limited range of studies which can be pursued, so long as things remain unaltered. I shall do this the more willingly, because I know that any information which may throw light on the subject will be equally interest- ing to my readers on both sides of the Atlantic. It may awake:i curiosity in those who have never made any in(]uiries into these matters, if I make one or two preliminary statements. In the first place, then, tlie mass of students or undergraduates at Oxford is divided into twenty-foiu* separate comnumities or colleges, very unequal in number, the residents in each varying from 10 in the smaller to about 110 in the larger colleges, and the whole business of educating these separate sections of the youth is restricted to the tutors of the separate colleges. Consequently, two or three individuals, and occasionally a single instructor, ClIAP. XIII. ENGLISH UNIVERSITIES. 217 may be called upon to give lectures in all the depart- menliS ()\ hunnu knowledge eml'i* u-ed in the academ- ical course of lour yeaiv. If the college be small, there is only occupulion and salary sullicient to support one tutor ; any attempt, therefore, to subdivide the dillerent branches of learninfj and sciences amonsr distinct teach- ers is abandoned. There is no opportunity for one man to concentrate the powers of his mind on a single depart mc.ut of learning, to endeavour to enlarge its bounds, and carefully to form and direct the opinions of his pupil. In a few of the larger colleges, indeed, some rude approach to such a partition is made, so far as to sever tlse mathematical from the classical studies ; but even then the tutors in each division, are often called upon, in the public examinations, to play their part in both departments. Thus, a single instructor gives lectures or examines in the writings of the Greek and Roman historians, philosophers, and poets, to- trether with logic, the elements of mathematics, and theology. For the benefit of my foreign readers, it may be as well to remark that the scholars to be taught are nut boys between the ages of fourteen and eighteen, at which latter age the degree of Bachelor of Arts was vcr) commonly conferrel in the olden times at Oxford, but young men between eighteen and twenty-two, who. at the expiration of their academical course, u.uially quit college, and enter at once upon a profes- sion, or into political life. In the next place, I may slate, that the choice of teachers, to whom so arduous and ambitious a task is allotted, is by no means left o{.»en to free competition, like the professorships in most aiicient and modern universities ; but, on the contrary, 19 i' i 1 1 !' ' 1 :i i f ' ■ .5 % t ♦.'■■ "- 4 mu^ 218 ENGLISH UNIVERSITIES. Chap, xiii m is confined within very narrow bojnds. The collcfre tutors are selected from graduates who are on the foun- dation of their respective colleges, and who may have obtained their appointment originally, some because they happened to be founder's kin, or were educated at a particular school, others because they were born in a particular town, county, or diocese ; a few only being selected from merit, or as having distinguished them- selves in examinations open to all candidates. Tliis latter class, however, has, it is true, increased of late years. Most of these teachers forfeit their fellowships, and most probably with it their office of tutor, if tliey should marry, or if, after a certain number of years. they do not embrace the clerical profession. They also look to preferment in the Chinch, from their posi tion in their college, so that they have every induce- ment to regard the business of teaching as a temporary calling, subordinate and subsidiary to aiiotlier, of a dif- ferent, and t» tihem more advantageous and important, kind. Their office as instructors is, in short, a mere stepping-stone to something else ; and they hope to gain their reward, not when they are superannuated, for then they would be unfit for highly responsible ecclesiastical duties, but when they are still in the prime of life. In fact, their promotion is so contrived, as at once to cut short the career of usefulness in which they may have hitherto distinguished themselves. It will naturally be taken for granted, by those wlio have never investigated the history of the universities, that the restrictions and fetters above enumerated are all of monastic and medieval origin. The celibacy of the teachers, the almost entire monopoly of tuition by the clergy, seem clearly to point to a period more re- il. mt a.? J 'I .«' Chat. xiii. COLLEGIATE CORPORATIONS. 210 mote than tlie Reformation, and wlicn tlio suj)iemacy anil oxorliitaut power ol tlie cluirch of lionu; were still at their heiifht. LJut nolhinj of the students and the younger graduates in convo cation ; and many of them would have acquired an European reputation. The colleges might naturally feel jealous of allowing the growth of such a counter- poise to the power with which they had been recently invested. "When the old machinery was thus falling into dis- use, and before the plan of college tuition was fully organised, the academical discipline appears to have been extremely lax, and the provision for education defective in the extreme. It was often diilicult to find a college tutor competent to imdertake the ollico, and there was occasionally only one or two of the resident fellows willing to accept of it. Instead of these im- portant places being open to a free and fair conipi'li- tion, we may say that they were often held by self- appointed teachers. A regulation was made, that nil the undergraduates should lodge within the walls of some college, which had the efiect of preventing stu- dents from freely selecting those tutors who had the highest reputation, as rooms within the walls were h .:■ Chap. xin. EXAMTNATION .STVTUTK OF IS'lO. 225 soon (illotl, and no ()V(mIIo\v was •illowi'd of |)ii|)ils! loily i:)y ill t\ui town. 'I'lic rijlbiccmenf oi tlii- law was said (() liiive been jealoiis'.y watched by .souk; follegen, which would otherwise have been all but des(Mled, lowurds the ch)se of the last century. 'I'he nunieiouji scholarships and other endowments of the universitv, the college livings, and the acadenhcal degrees re(|uiied a?i tjualilications for entering holy orders, rendered the university very independent of public opinion ; and whether it taught nothing elViciently, or failed to ac- connnodate its form of instruction to the progress and spirit of the age, it could never apprehend a serious diminution of students. Occasionally, there were examinations and a revival of studious habits in a particular college, or some pro- fessor gave a popular course of lectures, and drew large audiences, "^rhus Bradley, the famous astronomer, delivered, between the years 17 Ki and 17GI), to a class of pupils averaging 57 in number, hn.tures on Natural Philosophy, not in Latin, ;'.s had been the old practice, but in English. I kit the general indolence of the in- structors, and the idleness and dissipation of the young men, became so notorious and llagrant towards the close of the eighteenth century, that a reform was loudly called for, and the governing body became deeply impressed with a sense of its expediency. Many plans were devised for carrying it into elfect. As the annual or terminal examinations in several colleges had been found most useful in maintaining orderly habits among the young men, it was jjroposed to im- prove the public examinations, which had become a mere form, and to compel every one to pass them be- fore obtaining his degree of Bachelor of Arts. Honours Hi. ^ 220 OXFORD. CriAP. xin 1: II %: * woro to l)c awardcil to those wlio distingiiUhcd tliem selves. It was now evident that the shape in which lliig new statute was framed would deteiniine what studii-d should henceforih he eni'ouiaged or discouraged in the univcrsiiy. It was clearly p'-'nted out, at the time, that all those suhjecJs which could not lead to acadeni- ical (li>iinctions would he virlually proscribed ; and thai the well-known maxim of our lawyers in the interprc- taliori of statutes would hold good in this case, " De noil apparentihus ct de non existentihus cadem est ratio." Vi'hatcver science was omitted in the list of studies selected for the trial of strength woidd be hence- forth not merely slighted, hut virtually blotted out of the academical course. Academical honours wore here no empty bubbles, but might be expected to lead to fellowships, tutorships, livings, and olher solid ad- vantages. If the Heads of Houses and Members of Convocation had been simply legislating for national object-^, and had not been the representatives of private and collegiate interests, which were not alway.s iden- tical with those of the public, it would have been easy to devise a comprehensive system of examinations, con- sist iiig of several boards, to which the professors, as well as tutors, would have been appointed, in stricter accordance with the spirit, and even letter, of the old statutes, than the new law which was then enacted. But tliis might soon have altered entirely the relative po-*ili:^u in wdiich the college tutors now stood to the pu!»lic readers and professors. The latter would soon have acquired greater consequence in convocation; and had such a measure been proposed by the Heb- domadal Board it would probably have been lost. Ac- Pl^. ■■:s,ji' Chap. xtri. EXAMINATION STATUTE OF 1800. 227 I M cordiiigly, it waa soon foimd that the new examination staliite of the year 1800 was to be worked by tiie col- lege tutors, yoiiJig- men for the most part about thirty years of age ; and sucii being the case, no one can deny tiiat studies embracing tlie Greek and Roman writers on liistory, pliilosophy, poetry, logic, rhetoric, and elhics, besides Clirislian tlieology, and the ele- ments of mathematics, was as extensive a range as was compatible wilh such an executive. If they erred, their error certainly consisted in enlarging the circle of subjects far beyond the capacity of the college tutor, be his talents ever so great. The legislators especially displayed discretion in excluding from the schools all ♦.he more progressive branches of knowledge ; for, in order to be a safe guide in directing the opinions of a pupil, or teaching what is known in such branches, liable as they are to be modified from year to year, by new facts, discoveries, and investigations, the preceptor nuist have leisure to devote his mind exclusively to one subject. The new statute did not pass without a severe strug- gle. The lector of liincohi College, in particular, op- posed it, as a measure that would extinguish all " thirst of knowledge." " There would henceforth," he said, ' be no tiniversity at all, but a system of cramming and partial teaching, after which the student would go out into the world with a narrow mind and darker understanding." The necessity, however, of preparing for the com- pulsory examination, before taking a degree, worked immediately a salutary change in the habits and moral conduct of the idler students. The more clever and ambitious amongst tliem began to be excited by th» hll! ■• > .J, ll ■m Wf 22S OXFORD EXAMINATIONS. Chap, xul competition for lionoiirs ; a marked improvement was soon apparent in academical discipline ; the university gained in public favour, and the lunnber of !*tudenls increased. The classes even of some of the professors were strengthened ; but this effect was of short (hira- tion. It was soon found that the honours awarded at the examinations led to fellowships and tutorships; and the honourable rivalry of many of the colleges indiked them to throw open their fellowships and scholarships much more freely than formerly to candidates of the highest merit ; the standard of merit, however, hciiig, for the most part, measured by the new examinations in the schools. New methods were from time to liiiio invented for classifying the youths according (o their intellectual qualifications. In 1S07, students who dis- tinguished themselves were arranged in two dasse-, in 1809 in three, and in 1826 in fortr. A preliminary examination, called the responsions, or "little go," was introduced at the end of the first two years, or in the middle of the student's residence at Oxford. The ex- aminations for degrees were made more and more stringent, and emulation at length stimulated to so high a pitch, that health was often sacrificed in the effort to gain the prize. Useful habits of application were often acquired, but the system was not calculated to foster a love of knowledge for its own sake. To some there was even danger of injury both bodily and mental ; for if they succeeded, they were tempted to believe that they had already achieved something great ; if they failed, their abihties were underrated, both by themselves and their contemporaries. Another important revolution now took place. As the biisinesH of education had previously passed from ■1^1 Chap. xiii. O.VFOIID PRIVATi: TUTORS. 229 tlic public reader- airJ pnifcssors to t!ie colles^e tutora, so the latter were now in no small deirree superseded by the j)rivate tiilor.s or ' crammers." Tl lesc were grndnale.s chosen by llie yoiin- teachers watch the examinations, are ac([uainted with the style 01 the (jiiestions, wlieLlier viva voce or on paper, and often with the neculiar views of the examiner. It i? pc liitMr busmess to prevent theu' pupd Iron] waslmg' his slreni^th on topics not likely to be adverted to, and often lo enal)le him to get by rote answers to certain i:iterro:*"atories. The students are fretpiently unable 10 obtain this aiti from the coUeg'c tutor, whose system of lecturini^ is more g^eneral, and who cannot direct his attention to the indivilual wants and capacities of every pupil. The underg-radualcs, tlierefore, may be recjuired to attend, between ten and one o'clock, the lectures of tlie college tutors. The next two hours (from one to three) are generally occupied by the pii- vate tutors, comprising that portion of the day during which the professors aie by statute recjuired to lecture. At three o'clock, it is bigh time for the young men to seek recreation and exercise ; so that all the youths, especially the cleverest ones, are so entirely absorbed in a routine of study connected with the examinations, that the professorial class-rooms must unavoidably be abandoned. Bachelors of arts, and other graduates, 20 230 PRIVATE TUTORH AT CAMBUIDGE. Chap. xin. f A had been herotofoio in the hiibit of attending public lecdnes; but most of tliem now became cngrosised with the new and luciative business of crannning. We learn from Dr. Peacock, now Dean of Ely, for many years an eminent tutor at Trinity College, Cam- bridge, that in that university, also, a similar revolution took place nearly at the same time.* " A large propor- tion," he says, '-of all the students, industrious or idle, rich or poor, resort to private tutors, to whom they pay, on an average, about 4U/. a year. These teachers," he continues, "are young and inexperienced, and not competent to convey enlarged views" to their pupils. The labour imposed on them is too absorbing and se- veie to allow of the ^simultaneous prosecution of origi- nal studies; and "this unhappy system has contribu ted, more than any other cause, to the very general, and, in some respects, just complaints, which have been made of late years, of the paucity of works of learning and research which had issued from the University of Cambridge." And here I may observe, that it is often the boast of writers who extol our university system above that of other countries, that we promote liberal studies, and lo not condescend to qualify students for a lucrative profession or trade. But what is the real lact } Do not the majority of the ablest students toil at Latin, Greek, and mathematics, with purely professiop'd ob- jects 7 Are they not preparing themselves for beconi- .ing private tutors, scliooimastcrs, and college-tutors; expecting to combine these avocations with fellow- ships, or with clerical duties? Are not the things they * See his excellent work on the Statutes of the University of Cam* bridge, p. 156. I CHAr. XIII. PRIVATE TUTORS. 231 learn regarded as tlie means of carninjr a livelihood, or wliat the German? call " Brodstiidien," in plain Eni;- lish, to '-make the pot boil?" That some students sliould be ipialifying themselves at the university to become masters in our public schools is highly desira- ble ; and it would be well if the station in society of the schoolmaster, apart from any adventitious aid de- rived from uniting with it the clerical fiuiction, ranked as high in England as it does in Germany and the New-England States ; but why should not the utilita- rianism of our universities comprehend equally, within the sphere of its educational training, those branches of general knowledge which are equally essential to the future statesman, divine, lawyer, physician, and men of other liberal callings? 1 am aware that it may be said, in regard to " cram- mers,' that, under every system, some kind of private tuition will be recjuired, and it will be asked, whether the assistants, under a professorial plan of instruction, would not be ecjually kept back in the improvement of their own minds? Certainly not — they would di- vide themselves at once into as many sections as there are departments of study recognised in the public ex- aminations. They would devote their minds steadily to subjects connected with theology, or with law, or medicine, or engineering, or literary criticism, or ap- plied mathematics, or other branches. Occasionally they would lecture for the professor, who, if worthy of his charge, must advance with his science, and not be ignorant of new discoveries and theories. Like him, they could not remain stationary. They would aspire in due time to fill his place, or some chair in another university. Such private tutors, whether lay or clerical, t ' : ■ ■ i ■ ' i 1 : 11 232 PROPOSED REFORM Chap, xiii 1 'ii 1 1 ^s 4' LkXi^BiwSBdi would not be fjiind, at tlie expiration of ten years of h.ud and |)aiiifal labour, j)it'ciriely at the point IVom vvl.icli they &ct out ininiediattly after taking llieir lirsl deurce. In ti)c year 1S39, a last and most vjtrorous attempt was made at Oxford to restore the fimclions of llie pro- lessoii il body, wl.ich bad now become contrr.cted wiib- iii the narrow(!st Ihnits. 'J'he professors of Experimen- tal Philosophy, Comparative Anatomy, Chemistry, Mineralogy, (ieology, l^otany. Geometry, and Astiono- iny, many of them well known in the literary and sci- entitic world, sent in a representation to tiie heads of Houses, in which they declared their inability to dis- charge the duties they had undertaken, notwithstand- ing their unabated zeal and devotion. They accom- panied their petition Avitli a printed statistical table, show ing how the number of their classes had falleji oil annually, during a period in which, as they truly ob- served, the branches of knowledge taught by them were rising in popular favour and importance. It ap- peared by their table, that the anatomy class had dwin- dled between the years 1819 and 1838 to less than half, and that of astronomy to one fiflh of its original numbers. The same had happened to the class of chemistry, between 1822 and 1838, many others hav- ing declined in the like ratio. The petitioners observed that, if no change were made in the examination stat- ute, their usefulness as professors was at an end. A majority of the heads of Houses were favourable to a reform, and they consecjuently proposed a new ex- amination statute, in which there was a provision re< quiring attendance on at least two series of professorial lectures, as a preliminary qualification for the bachelor m CiiAi'. xin. AT OXFORD IN 1S3'.). ii33 liem ap- iwin- lian ^inul of liav- Mvetl siat- of arts' degree. '^J'he subjects of tlie various jdofessoi?' lecturer were chssilied uiuier two head;;, and one course was to be selected by the sludeiit, from each ih vision. The professors were recpiiicd to keep a register of at- tendance, and give certilicaies. Ahiiough a new board of examiners to bestow lionorary distinctions was nut jjart of this plan, tlie measure might evcuLually liavo led to this and other improvements. IJul it was now too late — relorm was beyond I lie power of the Hebdomadal iioard. 8(?veral academical generations had grown up under liie innv older of things. The collegiate and private tutors were inter- ested in opposing the new provisions, and tliey w(-re accordingly rejected in convocation. Vet while they threw out that part of the proposed statute which would have gone far towards reviving tiie professorial chairs, they passed another part recjuiring the pro- fessors of Astronomy, Experimental Philosophy, Chem- istry, Geology, Mineralogy, Anatomy, Cotany, Medi- cine, Civil Law, English Ijaw, Greek, Arabic, Sanscrit, Anglo-Saxon, Poetry, Modern Histoiy, and Political Economy, to deliver regular courses of lectures. They were, in fact, bound not only by ancient statutes to re- quire the teachers above enunierated faithfully to dis- charge their duty, but in modern times, or since the exanunation statute of 18(J0, they had sanctioned the foundation of new chairs, such as Experimental I'hi- losophy, IMineralogy, Geology, Political Economy, and Sanscrit, and had accepted annual grants from the Crown to endow certain readerships. In homage, therefore, to the moral obligations they had incurred, not to render these new and old foundations nugatory, they continued to exo''t an outward conformity to the stat- i 'I 234 CHANGES OF SYSTEM CiMp. xia r iites. by onforrini^ llKMlcliveryof Icctiiief"', tli« efRciency of wliirli ilicy uilowcti oilier jmrls of tlu-ir system en- tirely to tleli-'Ut. Their coiuhiet leniiiids us of tlic oiders issued by Cliarles llie Fifth to oiler up pinycis thtnugh- out Spain for the deliverance of the Pope, uliile he sulTeied his army to retain him pri.soner iii the Castlo of St. Angelo. It mu^t not be inferred, however, from tlie prceetling observations, that 1 assume that the majority of the members of Convocation are not men of high jHinciple, and animated with a conscientious desire of discharg- ing faitiifully their public duties. They and their pre- decessors probably did not at any moment deliberately plan or avow to themselves the line of policy which they have followed out so systematically, and with so much unity of purpose. Tlic judgment of each gen- eftition has been constantly biassed by the same dis- turbing causes (the collegiate and clerical interests), which, like a current steadily setting one way, has in- sensibly carried the whole academical body out of its true course. In conformity to these interests, the origi- nal constitution has been gradually modilied, and the system, when changed, has formed the minds of the succeeding generation, preparing it for new innovations, all conceived in the same spirit. If any single individ- ual can be charged with a deliberate purpose of alter- ing, essentially, the ancient constitution of the univer- sity, it is probably Archbishop Laud. The year 1839 was memorable in Europe for anotlicr event, tending to prove how unpropiiious to the cultiva- tion of the physical sciences is the ecclesiastical spirit, whenever it obtains an undue power of interference with academical institutions. In the year alluded to, Chap. xiii. AT OXFORD. 235 in- tlie first "congrcss"of scientific men took plac^T in Italy. It a55sernI)le(J at Pi^^a, under tiic au-pice^j of the euli^lil- eni^d prince who now reigns in Tuscany. IMie Fope interdicted all the professoifi! of his colleges of Kon\c and Bologna, many of whom A\eic prepared to co-opeiate warndy with the new association, from attending it. The papal prohibition was continued at the subsequent meetings at Turin, Florence, jVIilan, and elsewhere. Nevertheless, the congress nourished, and, in spite of tiie Pontiff's opposition, drew together many of the most distinguished men from all parts of Emope, and of Italy, beyond the confines of the States of the Church. It has also given to the world live costly volumes of valuable scientific memoirs, which, but for such patronage, might have remained unpub- lished to this day. Doubtless the vote of the Oxford Convocation in 1839 was influenced by various motives ; among others, a conscientious corlempt for that sham professorial system which the graduates had so long contrasted wi'h a reality, in the form of compulsory tutorial lectures and examinations, leading to degrees, and often follow- ed by fellowships, livings, prebendal stalls, and bishop- rics. In addition to these causes, it has been very generally understood that many, both of the college and private tutors, were opposed to the cultivation of the phys- ical sciences on principle, on account of their alleged irre- ligious tendency. No one who reads some of the ar!,i- cles written by men who were fellows or tutors at Oxford, in the British Critic, against the " Eritish As-^o- ciation for tlie Promotion of Science," can wondir that such reports were credited, or that they provoked, from a prelate educated at Oxford, the remark that "men * 'i ;|^ 236 OPPOSITION TO PROPOSED Chap. xu\ who entertain siicli fears seem to forget that the book of Nat Hie aiul I lie bojk of ivcvelatiou were both wrticu by the same Author." Men are prone to untlervahie tliose branches of knowledge which are foreign to their own pursuits- ; ajul if physicians, or kiwyers, or civil engineers, iuul usmped as decided an ascendency in the legislation of a university, as the clerical graduates have now accjui- red at Oxford, complaints as loud and well founded might have been heard, that a due share of attention was not bestowed on studies connected with theology. In Uiis spirit, therefore, it was attempted to mix up re ligious instruction with the teaching of other subjects. By some tutors it was held desirable that all ethics metaphysics, and philosophy should be "christianized." Tbe practice of taking up for the examinations for honours such works as Butler's Analogy and Sermons had been encouraged after the year 1830, when a statute liad passed "that the philosophy of the an^'ients miglit be illustrated in the schools, 'ex neotericorum scriptis,' or by the writings of the moderns." This and otber changes had opened the door for considerable molifications in the course of academical study, and had given a new turn to the thoughts of many of the most rising and talented young men. It should be re- meiTibered that the last ten years has been liie era of the Tractarian movement at Oxford, and the active intellect of the university has been for the mo t part absorbed in theological controversy. He who aspired to honours was bound in prudence to consider that hi? young judge, the arbiter of his academical fate, miglit probably be an advocate of the views set forth in some one or more of the Tracts for the Times. He might i. ClIAP. XIII. REFORM AT OXFORD. 237 be one who was fully impressed with tlie flop-ma ilint "etiiics unconnected wilh tlie churcli is a rundnnieiital fallacy ;" dial " man without the cliurcli has no rijilit to educate man* ;" that '' youth is toonpt to deliohi in the inductive, instead of the deductive, leasoninj;- ;" — " to prefer novelty to antiquity," investigation to obedience to authority, &c. As an example of the deductive process, as applied to iry own favourite science, by a college tutor and pub- lic examiner of this period, I may cite a passage (n m lectures delivered in the university at the era under consideration, and since published : — " A geologist, deeply impressed with the niA^stery of nptism, by which a ' new creature,' ..,.;; Kr'nu, is form- ed, by means of water and fire, would never have fall- en into the absurdities of accounting for tlie formation of the glo!)e solely by water or solely by lire. He would not have maintained either a Viilcniiian or a Neptu- nian t!ieorv.''t The reader may well imaoine. that, if otiicr departnjents of science were "cluistinnized" after t! e like fashion, the scholar might rnn some risk of emerging into the world, from liis academical career, with bis reasoning powers enfeebled, and his intellects Riystified. But to conclude our historicnl sketch. After the year l8o9. we may consider three-fourlbs of I lie sciences, t^till nominally taught at Oxford, to liave been vhiual- ly e\iled from the University, "^riie ckii-s rooms of the professors were some of tb.em entirely, olliers nearly, deserted. — Cbemistry and botany attracted, between tile years ISV) an^ ni H^^HBV flK 11' " n ^wM 11 H HI || ; H Hi II IB ■^■^kI t BT 11 w ill (.) geometry, Jistronoinv, and experimental pliilosopliy, scarcely mare ; miner:il();i:y anil jj^ea!.)<:^y, still t.tiiglit by the same; professor wiio, lilleen years before, bad at traded crowded audiences, from ten to twelve ; pt)liii cal economy still fewer ; even ancient history and poe- try scarcely commanded an audience ; and, strange to say, in a country with whose destinies those of India are so closely bound up, the first of Asiatic scholars gave lectures to one or two pupils, and these mij^ht jjave been absent, had not the cherished hope of a IJo- den scholarship for Sanscrit induced them to attend. As if to complete the cycle of change, and to cause the system to depart as widely as possible from the original university, which secured for the students the services of public and permanent teachers, men of ma- ture age and acquirements, and often highly gil't'l the Oxford tuition now fell, from year to year, into the hands of younger graduates, whether in the cai)aciiy of private tutors or examiners. Several causes had concurred to accelerate the promotion of college fol- lows. Their number was still the same, not having increased with church extension, and the multiplica- tion of new schools in a growing population. It con- sequently became so diflicult in many colleges to choose for tutors, fellows who were not manifestly too yo'ing, that, to remedy the evil, several heads of Houses wisely permitted men who had forfeited their fellowshij) by marriage to continue as tutors. It would appear, from the Oxford Calendar for 1S35, that no less than seven of the Colleges, and fom* of the Halls, have been driven to this resource. Nevertheless, the ma joritv of the body of public examiners b- often un Jer the age of thirty, and Fome of them only twenty-five years old ! They go out Chap. xiii. CAMnRIDGE. 239 of office in succession, after servinj^ for two years. On lliis lluctiiatinf^ body of voudix men, responsible lo iio one for tbeir decisions, whellier in passini^ students! for de«rreei!, or in awardinj^ honours, a ))rKly havinj^ \\\e power of modifying- at their caprice the whole style and tenour of the public examinations, the direction of academical education in this great country has prac- tically devolved ! At Cambridge, the collegiate influence has, since the Reformation, caused the university to pass gradunlly through nearly all the same phases as at Oxford. Here, also, the transference of the business of instruc- tion from the public and permanent to the collegiate and temporary teacher, has coincided precisely, in point of time, with greater strictness in the examinations, and more studious habits and better discipline among the undergraduates. It is natural that, owing to this coincidence, a false notion should be engendered, that the subdivision of labour amongst a well oiganized body of professors is less elicctive than the method of college tuition. It might, perhaps, have been expected that such a subdivision would have been carried farther at Cam- bridge, in consequence of more than half the students being members of two, out of seventeen, colleges ; namely. Trinity and St. John's. These noble foun- dations contain, each of them, from 400 to 500 under- graduates, and might almost be regarded, from their numerical strength, as universities of themselves. But although the fellowships in both of them are awarded to merit, the educational functions must be, comnnra lively speaking, of secondary importance to the fellows- tutor ; for, being almost invariably a clergyman, hia A 1 ■• i ■i''. fa , ., i " I l> 240 P W OF F.SSOR r A 1, 1. 1 t T I K FS CiiAP. x:iL lii^^liost hope of All HIT pn'fcniirni is not in tlio I'nivrr- siiy, l)iit ill tin; Cliurcli. 'i'lu' propoiliin of (>.tii(l(i,t« iiihMidiiii,'' It) liiiic; oiilcrs i^>i not so lar;j,e hcie as fit C)x- lord, anil llu'y are not [('(jninnl to ^iihsciihe, on niiitiic- ulation, any I'ornnila of r«'lit-rate Latin scholar, preside in the examination for the Chancel- lor's medal for classics. Very recently at Cambridge, all branches of know- ledge taught by the professors — in a word, every sub- ject except what, is understood in our universiiics by classics and mathematics — have had sentence of ban- ishment pasjed upon them in the form of new com- pulsory examinalions, under the management of col- lege tutors, the Oxford plan of awarding lionoiu's to classical anil mathematical attainments alone being adhered to. The pi ofessors of chemistry and anatomy, who had formerly considerable classes, iiave only mus- tered six or seven j)upils, akiiougli slill compelled to give courses of til'ly lectures each. The chairs of Tvlo- dern History, and of tlu; application of jMachinery to the Arts, once mmibering audiences of several hun- dreds, have been in like manner deserted Yet dis- pensations are rarely granted for the discontinuance of useless duties, cveii when only two pupils present themselves. ClUP. XIII. AUANDONED AT CAMBRIDGE. 241 Moreover, here, rh at Oxford, it is not uncommon to give such chairs as Matheuiatics, Natural Philosophy, Chemistry, Botany, Astronomy, Cleology, Mineralogy, and otlicrs, to clergymen, who comhine them with cler- ical duties, or throw them up when they obtain prefer- ment, and who, however eminent, owing, as they must do, a mixed allegiance, partly to their ecclesiastical or- der, and partly to the professorial body, cannot stand up with heart and courage in defence of the public, as opposed (o the clerical and collegiate, interests. Dr. Whewell, now Master of Trinity, after many years' experience as a tutor at Cambridge, published, in 1837, his views on the plan of education adopted in the English universities. His arguments in favour of employing the learned languages as a main in- strument of education are unanswerable, and enforced with great eloquence and power. "In what a condi- tion should we be," he observes, "if our connection with the past were snapped — if Greek and Latin w^ere forgotten?"* No less cogent are his reasons for cjulti- vating mathematics as a means of strengthening the reasoning powers and disciplining the mind. But when we come to that part of his treatise in which he attempts to defend the exclusive monopoly enjoyed by these subjects in the education of young men at Oxford and Cambridge, from the ages of eighteen to twenty-two, including a period at the end of which the majority of them quit college altogether, his commendations of the system appear to me rather to resemble the pleadings of an advocate, than those enlightened and philosophical views which characterise his works in general. Obe- dience and deference to authority are held forth as if * Principles of University Education, London, 1837, ch. i. sect. 4. 21 1: ( fi. 242 ADVOCACY OF THE Chap. xiii. \ .■i^oS i 'II ■> V ^ ^ I'- ' m ';»* they were the chief and almost sole moral virtues to be instilled into the minds of young academicians. The students are treated more as boys and children than as men on the very point of entering on their several duties in Hfe, and who ought, without loss of time, to be acquiring habits of thinking and judging for themselves. " Mathematical doctrines are fixed and permanent," says the historian of the Inductive Sciences, of whose remarks on this subject I shall give a brief abstract in his own words. " The old truths will always be true. In philosophical doctrines a constant change is going on. The old system is refuted, and a new one is erected. There is nothing old, nothing stable. The student cannot but suspect that his teacher and his teacher's creed are but for a day. The mind of a young man employed in attending to teachers of this kind must fail to acquire any steady conviction of the immutable and fixed nature of truth. He becomes a restless speculator, criticising what has already been done in philosophy, attempting to guess what will be the next step. He is placed in the condition of a critic instead of a pupil." — " In mathematics, the teacher is usually the superior of his scholar, who entertains a docile and confiding disposition towards his instructor. He cannot give or refuse his assent when a system is proposed to him, nor feel in the situation of an equal and a judge. The subjects suitable for university teachitig are the undoubted truths of mathematics, and works of un- questioned excellence, such as the best classical authors. When engaged in these, the student respects his instructor ; they are the fit subjects of college lec- tures. A spirit of criticism is awakened by the study for Chap. xiii. CAMDllIDGE SYSTEM. 243 of philosopliy, which is a fit subject of professorial lecluics.''* In coniiuonting on the above passages, I cannot refrain fr.nn remarking-, that if the teacher of philosophy cannot command the respect of his pupils, he must be. ill-qualified for his post. No one who is master of his favourite science will fail to inspire the minds of his more intellectual scholars with a love of what he teaches, and a regard and admiration for their instruc- tor. " Addicti jurare in verba magistri," they will be only too prone to prefer Plato to truth, and defend the professor's theory, even when he himself has seen reason to modify it in accordance with new facts and reason mgs. When we inquire by what kind of training young men can best be prepared, before leaving the university, to enter upon the study or practice of their professions, whether as lawyers, physicians, clergymen, schoolman tcrs, tutors, or legislators, can we assent to the notion that, by confining instruction to pure mathematics, or the classical writers, more especially if the latter are not treated in a critical spirit, we shall accomplish this end? Do not thesr belong precisely to the class of subjects in which ther< is least danger of the student's ffoinjr wron?, even if he engages in them at home and alone? Should it not be one of our chief objects to prepare liim to form sound opinions in matters con- nected with moral, political, or physical science ? Here, indeed, he needs the aid of a trustworthy guide and director, who shall teach him to weigh evidence, point out to him the steps by which truth has been gradually attained in the inductive philosophy, the caution to l)e • University Education, pp. 46 — 53. If"^ v 1 l'" t I Hh J^ 244 ENGLISH UNIVERSITY SYSTEM. Chap. xiu. used in collecting facts and drawing conclusions, the prejudices which are hostile to a fair inquiry, and who, while his pupil is interested in the works of the ancients, shall remind him that, as knowledge is pro- gressive, he must avail himself of the latest acquisitions of his own agc^ in order to attain views more compre- hensive and correct than those enjoyed even by prede- cessors of far superior capacity and genius. It may appear strange, that while such great sacri fices of time are made in England to the exclu?:ive cultivation of classics, a larger proportion of the best modern editions of Greek and Latin are not the fruit of British scholarship. The cause, however, is easily ex- plained. The highest excellence in literature or in science can only result from a life perseveringly devoted to one department. Such unity of purpose and con- centration of power is wholly inconsistent with ouv academical machinery of tuition. The panegyrists, indeed, of the modern university system in England, seem never to admit candidly this plain truth, that the colleges have no alternative in re- gard to the course of study open to them. Take any flourishing university in Great Britain or on tlie Conti- nent, Berlin, for example, or Bonn, or Edinburirb, where a wide range of sciences are taught. Let the students be divided into fifteen or more sections, with- out any classification in reference to their age, acquire- ments, talents, tastes, or future prospects. Assign to each section a separate set of teachers, chielly clerical, and looking forward to preferment in the Church ;uul public schools, and from them select all your public ex- aminers. What must be the result? Tiie immediate abandonment of three fourths of the sciences now dr< Chap. xiii. ENGLISH UW7VERSITY S VST EM. 245 ; M taught, while those retained will belong of necessity to the less piogressive branches of human knowledge. Under conditions so singular as tiiose now imposed on Oxford and Cambridge, I am ready to join their warm- est eulogists, and to contend that their plan of education is the best. In the treatise on the universities, before alluded to, there are hints thrown out on the " ignoble influence of compulsory examinations, which act on the fears rather than on the hopes of young men," and which have "drawn off many students from professorial lec- tures ;" on "examiners not habitually pursuing partic- ular studies, and whose knowledge, therefo'e, has no fulncds, richness, depth, or variety ;" also "« private tutors having no ostensible and responsible situation in the university, and the tendency of modern changes to throw the whole academical education into their hands and those of the public examiners (ibid. ch. ii.) ; which may lead us to infer that the optimism of the Master of Trinity is not of that uncompromising kind which should make us despair of his co-operation in all future academical reforms. In considering the present state of feeling towards science and its cultivators in England. I cannot refrain from citing a passage (with the leave of both the coi- respondcnts) from a letter dated February, 1845, ad- dressed by Professor liiebig to Mr. F'araday : — " What struck me most in England was the percep- tion that only those works that have a practical ten- dency awake attention, and command respect, while the purely scientific, which possess far greater merit, are almost unknown. And yet the latter are the proper and true source from which the others flow. Practice 2V 246 UTILITARIAN SPIRIT. Chap, xin alone can never lead to the discovery of a truth or a principle. In Germany, it is quite the contrary. Here, in the eyes of scientific men, no value, or at least but a trifling one, is placed on the practical results. The enrichment of science is alone considered worthy of at- tention. I do not mean to say that this is better ; for both nations the golden medium would certainly be a real good fortune." What I have said of the method and course of in- struction now pursued in our principal universities will, I think, explain in no small degree the prevalence of the utihtarian spirit, so correctly pointed out by this dis- tinguished foreigner, and the want of a due apprecia- tion of the higher and more difficult departments of philosophical research. From what source is the public at large, whether belonging to the upper or middle classes, to imbibe a respect and voncratinu for those who are engrossed in the pursuit of pliilosopliicnl truth, and who live excluded from active life, if they who direct imiversity education do not foster, nay, if they positively discourage, the teacliing of the progressive sciences? How can the multitude learn, that, for one mind willing or capable of patiently working out nnd discovering a new truth or principle, there nre hundreds w^ho can apply to practice these principles, when once ascertained? Nothing can be more short-sighted, therefore, even on purely utilitarian grounds, than the usual policy of the herd of cvi bono philosophers, who award higher honours and emoluments to the applica- tion than to the discovery of scientific principles. It is truly fortunate that, in proportion as Oxford and Cambridge have withdrawn their countenance more and more from studies connected with piiysical science Chap. xtii. ACADEMICAL REFORM. 247 and natural history, the wants of a high state of civil- ization, and the spirit of the age, have atlbrded to them in England an annually increasing patronage. It is felt that astronomy is indispensable to navigation, chemistry to agriculture and various arts, geology to mining, botany to medicine, and so of other depart- ments. If the practical connection of any branch of science be not obvious, as in the case of zoology, scarce- ly any encouragement \6 given to it in any English place of education ; but even here, fortunately, the Biitish Museum and the College of Surgeon!^, by their extensive collections, step in, and in some degree supply the deficiency. After the rejection at Oxford of the moderate meas- ure of reform proposed in 1830, for combining together the professorial and tutorial systems, we can scarcely hope that any movement from within will effect flie changes so loudly called for. Time will, year after year, remove the older members of Convocation, who are favourable to more enlarged views, and will replace them, it must be feared, by the avowed |iarti:f^ans of the narrower system of study, adopted in more modern limes, and under which they have been brought up. Appeal under such circuinstances must therefore be made to an external authority. A royal commission like those which have more than once visited of late years the universities of Scotland, might prove a sufri- cient counterpoise to the power and vis inertim of forty learned corporations. They might suggest such reme- dies as the licensing of new Halls, the removal of tests on matriculation, tiie awarding of honorary distinctions for proficiency in the subjects of the professorial lectures, aad many others, which would doubtless be welcomed ■i % 248 ACADEMICAL REFORM. Chaf. xm. by the more enlightened members of Convocation. Fortnnatel}'^, no violent innovations are called for, no new endowments, or grants of money. The commis- sioners would have to recommend the renovation of what has fallen into disuse — the improvement of the old rather than the introduction of new and experimen- tal systems ; they would have to give force to existing academical statutes, now inoperative, rather than to enact new laws. They might undertake university reform in the temper recommended by Dr. Whewell (p. 138.), " bringing to the task a spirit, not of hatred, but of reverence for the past, not of contempt, but of gratitude towards our predecessors." No new foun- tains of knowledge are to be sought for in the deptlis of the earth ; tiiey are already at the surface, ready, on the removal of impediments, to overflow and fertil- ize the soil. When Lord Hastings conquered Delhi in 1817, he found an extensive wilderness near that city, sterile, and parched up by the sun's heat, which had once been cultivated and populous ; for in ancient times it had been irrigated by canals which brouglit the waters of the Jumna from a distance of 250 miles. The empire which had left these monuments of its an- cient grandeur had long passed away, and having fall- en to pieces, had formed a multitude of smaller king- doms, each governed by feebler rulers. In a few years, by the aid of several thousand labourers, directed by skilful engineers, these ancient watercourses were re- paired. They had been dry for two centuries and a half; and on the day appointed for the copious streams to flow once more through the streets of the ancient metropolis, the Hindoo priests went forth in solemn procession, while troops of virgins threw garlands of Chap. xiii. EXCLUSIVE SYSTEM. 24U flowers into the waters as they advanced. It was a day of national jubilee and thanksgiving, for the liand of a foreign power liad restored to tliein tlie works of their forefathers. But our ancient seats of learning, it will be said, so far from being depopulated, are full to overflowing. Oxford annually refuses to admit new students, because more cannot be accommodated within the college walls. Doubtless, the colleges are full, blit can this be said of the university? Have Oxford and Cambridge kept pace, since the commencement of the present century, with the growth of the population, wealth, and desire of education, in the British empire J So many millions have been added to our population, that the clergy have, of necessity, increased in number, and the English bishops have more generally required academical de- crees before ordination. This alone has caused a con- siderable augmentation of students. But is it not notorious that the expensive style of living, and the exclusion of branches of instruction coimected with the future professions and individual tastes of students, have kept down the number of academicians ? The sons of the aristocracy, and future divines, who, if poor, may eke out their academical income with scholarships and other endowments, constitute the mass of the undergraduates. The colleges have no desire to nml- tiply the number of their pupils ; they have already as many as they can teach. The academical fees, and the cost of board and lodging, are very reasonable ; but the style of living is so high, that students with small incomes feel themselves in a false position : and this objection has operated far more than religious tests to check the natural increase of the universities. 250 EXCLUSIVE ACADEMICAL Chap. xiii. Why, it may be asked, should we crowd all the British youth int) two ancient seats of loaininj^ ? Wliy not promote the growth of otl'-r institutions in London, Durham, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland / That sucli competition should he encouraged, I fully admit ; but it will still be desirable that Oxford and Cambridge should expand freely, and that they should cease to serve as models of an exclusive and sectarian principle. Before the Reformation their Spirit was catholic and national: since that period, they have dwindled, not into theo- logical seminaries, for they have never in practice afforded a complete professional course for divinity stu- dents, but into places for educating the clergy of the Established Church, and the aristocratic portion of the laity professing the same form of Christianity. Such a system, coupled with the abandonment of professional studies in general, tends to dissever throughout the country men of different callings, creeds, and profes- sions. It has a dissociating influence. It separates during the period of youth the nobility and gentry from the higher portion of the middle classes, the barrister from the attorney, the physician from the surgeon, the legislators and lawyers of England from those civilians to whom the government of eighty millions in India is to be consigned, the members of the Anglican church from the Romanists of Stonyhurst or the Dissenters of Hackney, the civil engineers of Putney from the medi- cal students of London. It disunites these and other sections of the same community, and throws them into antagonist masses, each keeping aloof from the other in cold and jealous seclusion, each cherishing sectarian or party animosities, or professional and social prejudices. Complaints are often heard, and not without reason, of , 1. ?T St Ciur. ziii. SYSTEM OP ENGLAND. 251 I *1 the harsh ouUines that often separate the difPerent grades of society in this country. It is in the season of youth, and when men are engaged in the common pursuit of knowledge, — especially if allowed as far as possible to follow the bent of their own tastes and genius, — that friendships might easily be formed lending to soften these hard outhnes. At college, they would be brought together on neutral, and usually on friendly ground, where kindly feelings and sympathies would spring up spontaneously, and would be cherished in after-life by congenial souls, however distant the station, or distinct the religious opinions or professional employ- ments of the former fellow-students.* * While these sheets were passing through the press, an important discussion took place in the House of Commons, in consequence of a motion made April 10th, 1845, by Mr. Christie, M. P. for Weymouth, for a royal commission of enquiry into the state of education in the English universities. I have added and altered nothing since reading this debate, and it will be seen that while there is a coincidence in some of my views with those so ably advocated by many of the par- liamentary speakers, there are other grounds taken up by me to which they have not alluded. END OF THE FIRST VOLUME.