IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) z 1.0 1.1 kijm 12.5 •50 ■^~ in^s u HK ^ 1^ lllil^ L8 1.25 ||U 1.6 — .4 6" — » V] r > ^;. /A '^ '/ Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14S80 (716) 872-4503 C5 CIHM/ICMH Microfiche Series. CIHM/ICMH Collection de microfiches. Canadian Institute for Historical Microreproductions / Institut Canadian de microreproductions historiques Technical and Bibliographic Notes/Notes techniques et bibliographiques The Institute has attempted to obtain the best original copy available for filming. Features of this copy which may be bibliographically unique, which may alter any of the images in the reproduction, or which may significantly change the usual method of filming, are checked below. D D D D D D D D Coloured covers/ Couverture de couleur Covers damaged/ Couverture endommag^e Covers restored and/or laminated/ Couverture restaurde et/ou pellicul6e Cover title missing/ Le titre de couverture manque Coloured maps/ Cartes gdographiques en couleur Coloured ink (i.e. other than blue or black)/ Encre de couleur (i.e. autre que bleue ou noire) Coloured plates and/or illustrations/ Planches et/ou illustrations en couleur Bound with other material/ Reli6 avec d'autres documents Tight binding may cause shadows or distortion along interior margin/ La re liure serr^e peut causer de I'ombre ou de la distortion le long de la marge int6rieure Blank leaves added during restoration may appear within the text. Whenever possible, these have been omitted from filming/ II se peut que certaines pages blanches ajout6es lors d'une restauration apparaissent dans le texte, mais, lorsque ceia 6tait possible, ces pages n'ont pas 6t6 film^es. Additional comments:/ Commentaires suppl6mentaires: L'Institut a microfilm^ le meilleur exemplaire qu'il lui a 6t6 possible de se procurer. Les details de cet exemplaire qui sont peut-dtre uniques du point de vue bibliographique, qui peuvent modifier une image reproduite, ou qui peuvent exiger une modification dans la mdthode normale do filmage sont indiqu6s ci-dessous. I I Coloured pages/ D y D D Pages de couleur Pages damaged/ Pages endommagdes n Pages restored and/or laminated/ Pages restaurdes et/ou pellicul6es Pages discoloured, stained or foxed/ Pages d6color6es, tachetdes ou piqu^es □Pages detached/ Pages d6tach6es Showthrough/ Transparence I I Quality of print varies/ Quality indgale de I'impression Includes supplementary material/ Comprend du matdriel supplementaire Only edition available/ Seule Edition disponible Pages wholly or partially obscured by errata slips, tissues, etc., have been refilmed to ensure the best possible image/ Les pages totalement ou partiellement obscurcies par un feuillet d'errata, une pelure, etc., ont 6t6 film6es d nouveau de fapon i obtenir la meilleure image possible. This item is filmed at the reduction ratio checked below/ Ce document est filmd au taux de r6duction indiqu6 ci-dessous. 10X 14X 18X 22X 26X 30X ■ 7 12X 16X 20X 24X 28X 32X ire details les du modifier |er une filmage The copy filmed here has been reproduced thanks to the generosity of: Library of the Public Archives of Canada The images appearing here are the best quality possible considering the condition and legibility of the original copy and in keeping with the filming contract specifications. L'exemplaire filmi fut reproduit grAce A la gAnArositA de: La bibiiothique des Archives publiques du Canada Les images suivantes ont M reproduites avec le plus grand soin, compte tenu de la condition et de la nettet6 de l'exemplaire film^, et en conformity avec les conditions du contrat de filmage. Original copies in printed paper covers are filmed beginning with the front cover and ending on the last page with a printed or illustrated impres- sion, or the back cover when appropriate. All other original copies are filmed beginning on the first page with a printed or illustrated impres- sion, and ending on the last page with a printed or illustrated impression. 6es Les exemplaires originaux dont la couverture en papier est imprimde sont fiimts en commenpant par le premier plat et en terminant soit par la dernlAre page qui comporte une empreinte d'impression ou d'illustration, soit par le second plat, salon le cas. Tous les autres exemplaires originaux sont filmto en commen^ant par la premiere page qui comporte une empreinte d'impression ou d'illustration et en terminant par la dernlAre page qui comporte une telle empreinte. The last recorded frame on each microfiche shall contain the symbol — ^ (meaning "CON- TINUED"), or the symbol V (meaning "END"), whichever applies. Un des symboles suivants appara?tra sur la dernidre image de cheque microfiche, selon le cas: le symbols — ► signifie "A SUIVRE ", le symbols y signifie "FIN". re Maps, plates, charts, etc., may be filmed at different reduction ratios. Those too large to be entirely included in one exposure are filmed beginning in the upper left hand corner, left to right and top to bottom, as many frames as required. The following diagrams Illustrate the method: Les cartes, planches, tableaux, etc., peuvent dtre filmte d des taux de reduction diff^rents. Lorsque le document est trop grand pour dtre reproduit en un seul clich6, il est film6 A partir de Tangle supirieur gauche, de gauche it droite, et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images n6cessaire. Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la mithode. errata id to n le pelure, pon d 1 2 3 32X 1 2 3 4 5 6 s ^5 c c; i / i r, o TRAVELS IN SOUTH AND NORTH AMERICA. 1 BY ALEXANDER MARJORIBANKS OF MARJOUIBANKS. AUTHOB OF TRAVELS IN NEW ZEALAND, AISTRALIA, &C '-— ' '-m '^' ■ M ^ ■ ^^ CO ;» P^ '™ [^ ,^ ^~< -^^B -^ • ' '•1b ^■^ 1^ ^uMJ^^B ^ ij LONDON: SIMPKIN, MARSHALL, AND COMPANY. D. APPLETON AND CO., 200 BROADAVAY, NEW YORK. 1853. ALBX WAIKBB, rBINTER, 6. JAMBS'S CODBT, EDlNBUBOn. '■{■■it , ?i n'^rrr^if / Ht/^( DEDICATION. Ca loljit Piller, ^sq., OF UPPER PARLIAMENT STREET, LIVERPOOL. My Dear Sir, — The high character for every thing that can adorn human nature, which you have so long maintained amidst the vast mercantile community where your lot has been cast, requires no additional testimonial from me, so I simply beg to dedicate to you the following pages, as a small, though sincere, mark of my personal esteem and regard. IV DEDICATION. But, in addition to the great kindness and at- tention whieli I have all along experienced at your hands, I am under a special debt of gratitude to you for having procured for me, through your powerful influence, a free cabin passage, in 1850, from Liverpool to Boston in the United St?tes of America. This act of true, genuine, and disinter- ested friendship, can never be effaced from my re- collection. Ever yours truly, ALEX. MARJORIBANKS. Balbardie House, Bathgate. PREFACE. Althouh a Preface be now somewhat unfashionable, yet I am under the necessity of having recourse to it, in con- sequence of the extraordinary changes produced by the gold mania in Australia since I first went to press. Com- mon labourers are making from two to three hundred a-year at these diggings, and whilst most of them are said to do this readily, some few here and there are mak- ing more. Four men, in particular, divided £40,000 sterling amongst them in three months at the Port Phillip diggings. I saw it stated in a letter dated Geelong, June 1852, that nearly every man who had been in the colony for twelve months was in possession of from £200 to £2000. The editor of that excellent newspaper, the *' Australian and New Zealand Gazette," published once a fortnight in London, by Alexander Eldr»- Murray, 15 Old Bailey, says in the Number of 1st May '852, — " It is now estimated that the annual yield of Port Phillip will be five millions, which, with the New South Wales esti- mate of three millions, will make eight millions sterling annually." The same Journal of 10th July 1852, gives the follow- ing as the present annual supply of gold throughout the VI PREFACE. world, from which it will be seen that the estimate for the gold of Australia is put down at a still higher figure : — Europe, exclusive of Russia, . Russia, . • Asia, exclusive of Russia, Africa, North America, , South America, California, Australia, . £200.000 4,500.000 300,000 400.000 200,000 . 1,200,000 13,000.000 10.000,000 £30.000,000 What a wonderful thing is the run for gold ! Shep- herds leave their flocks, and sailors their ships. Fifty ships were lately laying at anchor at Port Phillip, without almost a single sailor on board of any one of them. It ought to be kept in view, however, that we only hear of those who succeed, whilst little or no notice is taken of the thousands who have been unsuccessful. Taking, however, the whole numbers (100,000) now employed at the Australian diggings, their average earnings may be estimated at nearly £3 sterling each per week. The Governor of Victoria had to groom his own horse, as the groom who left him was looking out for a groom to him- self. The commotion produced in that country is beyond conception. When common labourers return to Sydney, Melbourne, or Geelong for a few days, in order to see how their families are getting on, they generally bring fifty or a hundred pounds in their pockets, and deck up their wives and daughters with silk gowns and gold watches. A cotton gown is now only remembered by them as a PREFACE. Vll matter of history. The convicts arc flocking over from Van Diemen's Lan'^, and are even more fortunate than the gentlemen diggers. Untrack'd in deserts lies the marble mine, Undug the ore that midst thy rocks shall shine, Fnborn the hands), but burn they yet shall be, Fuir Australasia, to dig up gold to thee. People from England, California, and the neighbouring colonies, are pouring so fast into Australia that no accu- rate account of tlie population could possibly be given, unless a new census were taken every month. This must be kept in view in reference to the statistics on this head, briefly alluded to in the following work. The circum- stance of 200,000 individuals having- flocked to the Port Phillip district alone, during the year 1852, sets all sta- tistics, in regard to population, completely at defiance. A new constitution has been given to New Zealand since I went to press. The country is to be divided into six provinces, namely, Auckland, Wellington, Canter- bury, Nelson, Otago, and New Plymouth, each of which is to have a Superintendent and a Provincial Council, for the management of their own aflairs ; whilst the colony generally, is to be managed by a " General Assembly," as it is termed, consisting of the Governor, a Legislative Council, and House of Representatives. The members of the Legislative Council are to hold their seats during life, whilst those belonging to the House of Representa- tives are to be elected every five years. The duration of every Provincial Council is to be four years. The Governor is to have a salary of L.2500 a-year. Vlll PRKFACE. A great fire broke out at Montreal on 6th June 1852, which consumed houses and stores to the amount of one milUon of dollars. But the mos^ awful conflagration that ever occurred in that unfortunate city, broke out on 8th July 18;>2, which consumed 1200 hoases, and raged over twenty acres of buildings, destroying property to the ex- tent of two million of dollars, and leaving 13,000 of the in- habitants, chiefly French Canadians, houseless and desti- tute. That quarter of the town called the Quebec sub- urbs, was almost totally destroyed. To my esteemed friend, William Lockhart, Esq. of Milton- Lockhart, the distinguished Member for the county of Lanark, I am indebted for the Return presented to the House of Commons, as inserted at page 50 of the following work. CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. New Zealand — Recent Settlements of Otago and Canterbury — AuBtralia in general — Western Australia — Tasmania, or Van Diemen's Land — Port Phillip or Victoria^South Australia — Cape of Good Hope, ...... P«Ko. CHAPTER II. Voyage from Australia to South America— The Falkland Islands — Arrival at Bahia— Discovery of America— Voyages of Coluicbus — Amerigo Vespucci— His name given to the Country, 24 CHAPTER III. History of the Empire of Brazil — Disjoined from Portugal — British Church at Rio de Janeiro— Description of Rio — Sunday in Brazil— Profligacy of the Priesthood — Description of Bahia, 36 CHAPTER IV. Decay of the Slave-trade betwixt Africa and Brazil — Lord Palmer* •ton's Speech — Report of the Committee of the House of Lords — Remarks by the Rev. J. L. Wilson, an American Missionary — Contrast betwixt American and British Missionaries — Evidence of Jose ClifFe, M.D. — Negroland or Nigritia — Mode of stowing away the slaves in the slave vessels betwixt Africa and Brazil — Mode of hiring slaves, ...... 49 X CONTENTS. CHAPTER V. History of the Slave Trade — Importation of Negroes into Virginia — Mohammed All's slave hunts — Difference between Christian and Mohammedan Slavery — Abolition of the Slave Trade — DifFe« rcnce between that and the Abolition of Slavery — Horrible Narrative by the Rev. P. G. Hill, .... Page. 69 CHAPTER Vr. Misrepresentations and delusions practised upon the people of Great Britain in regard to Slavery — Testimony of Captain Alexander— Of Vincent Paradise — Of a Norwich Artizan — Of M. De Lamar- tine— Of Caldcleugh— Of Gardner— Of the Rev. Dr Walsh— Of the Quarterly Review — Disquisition on the *' Licitness of the Slave Trade," by the Rev. R. Harris of Liverpool, 83 CHAPTER VII. The Cadeira or Sedan Chair used in Brazil — Anecdote of a Slare purchasing another Slave — Food of the Slaves — Insurrection of the slaves at Hayti or St Domingo — Massacre of the French- Island of Cuba — Strangulation by the Garotte— Grand Review of Troops at Bahia— Gold mines of Brazil — German, Swiss, and Irish Colonies in Brazil — No antipathy to Dissection — Mode of cbas. tiaing Slaves — Little chance of the Slaves in Brazil being emanci- pated — The CoflFee plant — The Pampas or Plains of South Ame- rica—Mode of catching Wild Cattle and Horses with the Lasso, CHAPTER Vin. Advantages of emigrating to America — The Menai Fridge — Voyage from Liverpool to Boston in the United States of America- Wonderful extent of emigration from Ireland— The United States more Irish than Ireland — Extent of Emigration from Liverpool — Banks of Newfoundland — Safely landed at Boston, 94 114 CHAPTER IX. Sketch of the rise, progress, and final establishment of the Independ- ence of th^ United States of America, . . . . 137 CONTENTS. XI CHAPTER X. Description of Boston— Origin of the word Yankee — The Mont- gomery House in Boston — Breakfasts and Dinners in America — French Cookery — Rapidity at their meals — Jenny Lind at Boston Sum realized by her in America — Sunday in Boston — Anec- dote of Admiral Montague — Monument at Bunker's Hill — No hangmen in America — Murder of Abraham Suydam, Esq , by Peter Robinson — Charge delivered by the Judge to the Jury, . Page. Idl r- tie 83 CHAPTER XI. Religious sects — The Mormonites — A Mormon sermon — Shakers — Millerites — Extent of Education in the United States — The Bath- gate Academy — Island of Jamaica — Doings of the Night Watch at Boston, ....... 187 ▼e of of sh u> ei- 94 114 CHAPTER XII. Lowell and its Manufactures — Spinning and Weaving Ladies — Slave-factories — Wonderful trade between Britain and America — Railway anecdote^Burlington — Lake Champlain — Arrival at Montreal, . . . . . . .204 CHAPTER XIIL Great Fires at Montreal — Letters of Introduction — Description of Montreal — The Rev. Mr M 'Gill's Prayers — Proper length of Prayers and Sermons — Improvements on the Liturgy of the Church of England in the United States — Police Court at Mon- treal — Population of Montreal — The Rapids of the St Lawrence Tour among the French Canadians — Visit to the Eastern Town- ships — Wonderful Adventures of a Dog — Description of Quebec —Extraordinary Scene on the Steamers betwixt Quebec and Montreal, ....... 220 CHAPTER XIV. Voyage on the St Lawrence from Montreal to Kingston in Upper Canada— Description of Kingston — Provincial Penitentiary — Horrible Murder of Mr Kinnear — Lake Ontario— Description of xu CONTENTS. ¥. Toronto— Price of Provisions — Mr William Lyon Mackenzie- Letter from him to the Author — Lunatic Asylum at Toronto — Interview with the Earl of Elgin — Dr Durie, KJI. — Change in the Climate of Upper Canada — Beauty and fertility of the country — Annexation of Canada to the United States— Mr James B. Brown's Work on Canada, ..... CHAPTER XV. Description of the Falls of Niagara — Accidents and Disasters at the Falls — Extracts from the Table Rock Album — Suspension Bridge at the Falls — Sanguinary Battles fought in their vicinity —Description of Buffalo on Lake Erie — The City of Cincinnati —Its wonderful rise and progress — The river Ohio— Route from Buffalo to Detroit — Chicago and Milwaukie— Habit of Swearing in America, ....... CHAPTER XVL Journey from Buffalo to Albany — Rochester — Genesee Flour — Geneva — Waterloo — Auburn — State Prison there — Syracuse — Rome — Utica and Schenectady — Description of Utica — A Bap- tism in the River Mohawk — Saratoga Springs — Scene of General Burgoyne's Exploits and Surrender — Death of General Fraser — Description of American Railways, .... CHAPTER XVIL Description of Albany — Sail on the River Hudson — Major Andre —New York — Its present state and future greatness — Omnibuses at New York — Visit to Schools there — Fatal Riot at the Opera House, New York — Emperor Napoleon's plan for quelling a Riot — The 4th of July — Psalms and Hymns used in certain Churches, composed with reference to the War of Independence, CHAPTER XVIIL Slavery in the United States — Number of Slave Owners — Slave- breeding States — Account of Virginia — Failure of the Liberian Colony — Population of the United States in 1850 — Governor Hammond's Letter to Thomas Clarkson — Dreadful Depression in the Island of Jamaica — Caus; of the Abolition of Slavery in the Free Stales of the Union — Slavery upheld by the Clergy in America— Selling Slaves by Auction, .... Page. 243 26ti 283 300 320 i - CONTENTS CIIAPTEU XIX. New Orleans — Bloody Victory over the British in its vicinity — The Emperor Napoleon's Account of the Battle of Waterloo — General Jackson's Proclamation — Anecdote of General "Washington and an Indian Chief — Petition from a Red Indian to the Councils of South Carolina — Climate of New Orleans — The Ship of Death — Punishment of Slaves — Prince Achille Murat's description of a Slave Plantation — Testimony borne to their humane treatment by Captain Barclay of Ury — Mr Buckingham — Lady E. S. Wortley Harriet Martineau — Sir Charles Lyell — The British Consuls in America — and Mrs Houstoun, ..... Xlll Pnije. 347 CHAPTER XX. The Fugitive Slave Bill— Public Meeting at New York — The Abo- litionists in America — Insurrection of Slaves in Virginia in 1831 — Horrible Massacre of the Whites — Capture and Execution of all the Insurgents — Nat. Turner's Confession — Authority of Scrip- ture in favour of the legality of the Fugitive Slave Bill — Reasons for not allowing Slaves to be educated — Extent of Sexual Inter- course on Slave Plantations— The celebrated Scottish Chieftain, the Laird of MacNab, . . , . 370 CHAPTER XXL The late Honorable Henry Clay's Compromise Resolutions on Slavery — Extracts from the Speech which he delivered in Senate on that occasion — The Honorable Daniel Webster's Sentiments on same subject — Enthusiastic reception given to great men in America— The Earl of Carlisle's description of the Congress of the United States — Distinction in regard to Color in the United States — Whether well founded, 385 CHAPTER XXII. Description of the various drinks used in America — The system of boarding — Its advantages and disadvantages — Early rising and breakfasting — Comparative absence of Nymphs of the Pave — Lynch law — Value of women in America — Fire Brigades — Uni- form rate of postage— Hostility of the Irish to the coloured and German population — The Constitution of the United States h XiV CONTENTS. i\u Erroneous notions regarding Equality — Titles in America — Anec- dote of the late Earl of Selkirk — Views entertained in regard to an equal division of property — The two leading parties in America, the Whigs and Democrats, .... 397 CHAPTElt XX[I[. System of Divorce in the United States — Visit to Philadelphia — Tenets of the Quakers— The Girard College— Fire Brigades — Hostility to the Coloured Population — The use of Bowie Knives and Revolving Pistols — The Earl of Carlisle's Description of Congress — Hospitality of tho Slave States, 424 CHAPTER XXIV. Professor Johnston's views in regard to the agriculture of the United States — Captain Barclay's agricultural tour in America — Preference given to the State of Illinois by Mr Stuart, Mr Buckingham, and Mr Shirreif — Mr Threshie's remarks on farming in the United States, ...... 44 li CHAPTER XXV. Taxes in the United States— Evils of direct taxation — Rate of Wages— Dr Houston — Charles Wilson, Esq. — The canvass-back duck — Alexander Watson, Esq His valuable receipt for curing gout — Steamer from New York to Glasgow— Advantages of the Northern passage, ...... 453 CHAPTER XXVI. Population in advance of the supply of fosd — Appalling scene on board the Caroline from starvation — Anecdote of an Irish convict in the Feejee Islands — Horrible confession of Alexander Pierce, a convict in New South Wales — Statistics of the famine in Ire- land in 1847 — Effect of education in checking surplus population — Proper views to be entertained in regard to the advantages of machinery — Wonderful influence of education in civilising man- kind, .... .... 464 TRAVELS IN NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA. CHAPTER I. New Zealand— Recent settlements of Otago and Canterbury — Australia in general — Western Australia — Tasmania, or Van Diemen's Land — Port Phillip, or Victoria— South Australia — Cape of Good Hope. Having already published my Travels in New Zealand and New South Wales, in two separate volumes, I must refer my readers to these works. New Zealand. — The whole settlements in New Zea- land are prosperous, and two new ones have been formed since I left that country, namely, Otago and Canterbury ; the one founded in 1847, chiefly under the auspices of the Free Church of Scotland, and the other in 1850, under those of the Church of England. The latter seems to be rather too much under sectarian surveillance, A Canterbury settler writes thus — " For Heaven's sake I leave bishops and deans, for a time at least, to that Providence which they profess to preach, but in which they do not like to trust, and make roads, bridges, and drains." Otago is situated near the southern end of the middle island, and consists of an oblong tract of land running from north to south. >l jl 1! il H W I '! li 2 SOUTH AMERICA. about 70 miles, with an average width of 12 or 14, and is a district well watered, fertile, and excellently adapted both for husbandry and pasturage. The capital of Otago has been called Dunedin, that being the Celtic name for Edinburgh. It is situated at the summit of a fine land- locked sheet of salt water, called Otago Harbour, or Port Otago, 14 miles from the ocean. Large vessels cannot reach Dunedin, the water being shallow, but anchor at Port Chalmers, 7 miles below it. Dunedin is well situated, being within 6 or 7 miles of extensive and fertile plains. It must be kept in view, however, that there is but little grass in New Zealand, until the endless ramifications of roots and fibrous substances be removed, which is attended with considerable labour and expense. The roots, how- ever, are very nourishing. The Canterbury settlement is situated about 180 miles to the north of Otago, on the east coast of the middle island, and consists of upwards of 2,000,000 of acres. Its capital is called Lyttleton, founded in Victoria Harbour, formerly Port Cooper. This port is an excellent one, and is situated at the north-west angle of Banks' Peninsula. The thriving French settle- ment of Akaroa, 50 miles from Lyttleton, is also on this peninsula, which contains 250,000 acres of mountain land, covered with the kouri pine, some of them 200 feet high. I am still of opinion that the capital of New Zealand should be transferred from Auckland to Wellington, at Port Nicholson, as being infinitely more central for that country, taken as a whole. The settlers are well pleased with the new constitution, as they have got biennial par- liaments, and a rate of suffrage nearly universal. They complain, however, of government or crown nominees. The New Zealand Company resigned its functions to the Crown in 1850. A uniform rate of postage came into operation throughout the country in 1851, by which letters SOUTH AMERICA. 3 are charged twopence each. Three vessels reached the Canterbury settlement with emigrants in 1850, making the voyage from England in 98 days. The British popu- lation in New Zealand is now 30,000, whilst it has been lately discovered that the whole native population does not exceed 00,000. The latter have been totally subdued, and are now peaceable and industrious ; and a number of the native women are married to British settlers. Their whole habits are becoming like ours, and though they have but few sheep and cattle, yet they are possessed of vast numbers of pigs. Almost all their chiefs arc dead. In the month of August 1850 no less than four of the leading northern chiefs died, viz., Heki, Pomare, Waharoa, and Taki Warn. In the southern province the same fate has awaited Warepori, Rauperaha, and Heko, the son of Te Pahi, who visited England many years ago. Rangi- laiata, who, along with Rauperaha, made himself so lotorious at the Wairau massacre in 1843, when 22 of )ur countrymen were killed, is still alive, but has lost ?aste, and is regarded by the natives themselves with feelings of aversion. E Puni is now old, and his influence is solely amongst the tribes at Port Nicholson, where I resided. Nature would seem to have decreed, that wher- }ver the Anglo-Saxon race plants itself, the native race [must expire. They say to us, " You are a great people I — we are a little people ; you kno\y everything — we know [nothing; we like you, and would learn from you, but we [die before your breath." Heki, before his death, sent a Ipresent of four head of cattle to the governor, Sir George Grey, as a proof of his love towards him. When dying, he said to a minister who visited him, " If the Great Cor- rector thus continue to press upon us, you will soon toll [your bell, but there will be none to answer it." This touching expression, in the symbolical Maori eloquence, kii 4 SOUTH AMERICA. was understood to refer to his gloomy fears, not only of his own death, but of the dying away of the native race. On his deathbed he charged those around him to *' sit at peace for ever, as war was a game at which all parties lost." Two of his acts deserve to be chronicled. In an attack upon one of his pahs (native villages) our troops being formed in line within musket shot and falling rapidly, he actually desisted from firing ; — both he and his men — (who could not understand our mode of fighting in ranks), calling out to the troops to go further away, and not stand together, as they did not want to kill them, but only to prevent them from taking the pah. The other instance was, when one of our officers had clumsily backed his men, whilst retreating before Heki, into a swamp, from which they could not extricate themselves, Heki ordered his men to cease firing, whilst the British troops scrambled out on the farther side of the swamp unhurt, and were permitted to effect their further retreat with im- punity, — though, whilst up to the middle in the swamp, every man's life was at the mercy of the humane chief, and his well-trained and well-armed followers. There are now 300,000 sheep and 30,000 horned cattle in New Zealand, besides horses, goats, and pigs. The sheep and cattle are chiefly in the Wellington and Nelson districts. Beef, pork, and mutton vary a little in the dif- ferent settlements from fourpence to sixpence the pound. A great demand for New Zealand produce, particularly potatoes, had sprung up in California, and some of the settlers in the valley of the Hutt, at Port Nicholson, and also at Auckland, had realised large profits. One man in 1 850 bought some potatoes at Auckland for £5, which he sold in California for £Q5. A vessel that left San Francisco, in California, reached Auckland in twenty-nine days. SOUTH AMERICA. 5 The following is an extract from a letter addressed by Thomas Moore, who left the village of Kirkstyle, Kinfaun?, Perthshire, in 1849, to Mr John M'Intyre, gardener at Seggieden, near Perth, dated Nelson, New Zealand, March 1850. •• Dear Juiin, — When we go out to walk here we almost lose ourselvft among the grapes, peaches, apricots, &c., and John, mind these things do not grow in hothouses, but out of doors. " Agnes was married in February to a very nice gentleman who has £3 a*week. She was only twenty-five days on shore when she was married. We would not think a dinner worth sitting down to without a roastcti goose. We never had a storm the whole way out. It was nice to bo en the sea ; I wish I was on it again. Oh, John, we are on the other sido i.f ihe world now, for when it is twelwnp'clock in the day with us, it is twelve o'clock at night with you. We would not come home although our passage was paid." When the road now forming from Nelson to the Wairaii plains is completed, it will be of great advantage to that district, as it will bring these extensive plains within 40 miles of Nelson, instead of 140 as at present. New Zealand must always be a favourable field for British emigrants, from the extraordinary salubrity of its climate. Now that the railway across the isthmus of Panama is completed, we shall soon be able to reach New Zealand by steamers from this country in 49 days, and Australia in 55. Though the route by the Cape of Good Hope may be the best for steam communication with Australia, yet the Panama route must always be the best for New Zea- land, as vessels would all naturally touch there first on their way to Australia. Indeed a company called the Australasian Pacific Mail Packet Company, has been formed to carry this into effect, and the time occupied may be stated pretty nearly as follows : — SOUTH AMERICA. I ill From England to Chagrct by tho West India Mail Steamers, Croiaing the Isthmus of Panama by rail, and detention un* loading and loading, ..... Screw Steamer once a month from Panama to New Zealand, touching at the Friendly Islands, New Zealand to Sydney, ..... DuTd 18 29 6 55 Australia With regard to Australia generally, great changes have taken place since I left it. The population of the whole colony now amounts to half a million, of whom nearly 300,000 are in Eastern Australia, commonly called New South Wales, and the rest at P^rF^-Phillip, now called Victoria, South, and West Australia. There are now 30 millions of sheep in Australia, producing 70 millions pounds weight of wool annually. Some stock -holders have 150,000 sheep. One million of sheep, and 60,000 cattle are yearly slaughtered, and boiled down for their tallow, &c. The imports, principally from Great Britain, amount to five millions sterling, annually; and the exports, consisting chiefly of wool, tallow, oil, gold, and copper, to six millions. The discovery of gold in 1850 and 1851, both in the Ba- ihurst and Port Philiip districts, 60 miles from Melbourne, has excited a great commotion amongst them. A poor but respectable Scotsman, of the name of Hen- derson, found one of the largest lumps of gold, weighing 46 ounces, for which Captain Hindson of Sydney, who was on the spot, gave him a cheque for £282. When the golden prize was first perceived by Henderson, he was struck both speechless and powerless, and fell prostrate on the earth. He would not have been a true Scots- man, if he had not fainted at such a discovery. Gold is the deity to which that religious and enlightened nation seem to offer up all their worship and all their adoration. SOUTH AMERICA. 7 When I crossed the Blue Mountains, and visited Ba- thurst, some years ago, I was not aware that I was then 80 near the gold region, otherwise I might have been induced to remain in that remote part of the world ; and like my worthy countryman, might perhaps have been called upon to fall prostrate also. The gold mines of Australia bid fair to rival those of California. Gold, to the amount of 30 millions sterling, has been produced by the latter since first discovered. Some captains of shipn, who had taken out some females there on a speculation, were obliged to sell them by auction to defray the cost of their passage. The plainest among them was knocked down at £4, 3s., and the highest at £11, 5s. Sydney, where I resided for two years, now contains, with the suburbs, 60,000 inhabitants; 5000 individuals had left Australia for California during the three years preced- ing 1851. The repeal of our navigation laws was hailed as a great boon to the colony. The revival of transportation, even under the name of exiles, or ticket of leave men, who had been sent to More ton Bay, and Western Austra- lia, was loudly condemned by the whole colonists, with the exception of the outlying stock-holders and squatters, who are at all times in great want of stockmen and shep- herds, and would rather employ a pickpocket, than have their pockets picked from want of hands to tend their sheep and cattle. The Anti-transportation Association at Sydney, de- nounce the continuance of transportation to Van Diemen's Land, as they maintain that indirect transportation sub» jects them to many of the evils of direct transportation to the sister colony. It appears that nearly 5000 convicts from Van Diemen's Land, whose sentences had expired, emigrated during the three years preceding 1850, to Aus- tralia, the greater part to Port Phillip, Of the petitions 8 SOUTH AMERICA. || I presented to the Legislative Council of New South Wales between the 30th of August and 28th of September 1860, those in favour of transportation numbered 525 signatures, while those against it were 30,589. They became so cla- morous for steam navigation to this country, that a com- mittee of the House of Commons was appointed in 1851, on eastern steam communication with India, China, and Australia, who reported that the route via the Cupe of Good Hope was the most advantageous for the transport of the mails, so far as Australia was concerned ; and the recommendation of the committee has been lately carried into effect by the government. Three plans were in com- petition, viz., the Panama route ; the Cape route, and the Indian route by Egypt and the Red Sea. The word Pa- nama, in the Indian language, signifies a place abounding with fish. There is still a great demand in Australia for female domestics, who are getting high wages, much higher, indeed, than in America. The settlers at the Moreton Bay district are willing to accept of convicts as shepherds, more from necessity than choice. Owing to the unprotected state of the frontier district, stockmen and shepherds are speared by the abo- rigines in great numbers, and free shepherds are conse- quently difficult to be got. The convicts, however, are at once placed on the out-stations, whether they will or not ; and when killed, they are easily replaced. In a letter from one of my brothers (Gilbert), who is in that district, dated Bungaban by Gayndah, 26th July 1851, he states, that at his station the shepherds are all Chinese, who are fond of keeping a great many dogs. Both the men and the dogs seem to have good appetites, as three of them consumed for their rations, four sheep in eight days. He mentioris, that the week before he wrote, a number of the blacks had made an attack on his out- \i SOUTH AMEUICA. 9 Station, and carried off a number of his sheep, and that the shepherd had liad two speais thrown at him, one ot which went through his trousers, hut without hurting him, and the other tlirou^h his hat. " Wo recovered," he adds, ** all the shcM p l>uf nine, and had two very fatiguing days through a very scru )by part of the country, in pur- suit of the black*. Six of us, well mounted and armed, formed a party, and <'»ne of the ?»ix was a native black, be- lonyfins: to another tribe, who knew all their haunts, and could, besides, have easily tracked them ; but, unfor- tunately, a heavy shower of rain which fell during the night having obliterated the track, wc were unsuccessful in our pursuit." The greater part of the wool in Australia is produced under the squatting system. The price of butcher's meat varies a little in the different settlements at Australia, but may be said generally to run from twopence to fourpence the pound, averaging threepence. For the information of my young historical readers it may be interesting to state the manner in which some of the colonies came into our possession. The Canadas capitulated in 1759 and 1760, and were ceded by the French Government at the peace of Paris in 1763. The other American colonies were originally fisheries and set- tlements, established soon after their discovery in 1492. Antigua and Barbadoes, Montserrat, St Nevis, St Kitt's, Tortola, Auguilla, the Bahamas and Bermuda, were set- tlements made during the 17th century; Dominica and Grenada were ceded by France in 1 763 ; Jamaica capitu- lated to the naval forces of Cromwell in 1 655 ; St Lucia capitulated in 1803 ; St Vincent and Tobago were ceded by France in 1763 ; Trinidad capitulated in 1797 ; British Guiana in 1803; Honduras was obtained by the terms of a treaty made in 1670; Gibraltar capitulated to Sir G. 10 SOUTH AMERICA. I- I I* f Rooke in August 1704, Malta in 1800, the Cape of Good Hope in 1806, Ceylon in 1795, Mauritius in 1810; St Helena was ceded by Holland in 1673; Hong Kong, by the Chinese treaty, in 1842; and the colonies of Australia and New Zealand were settlements formed between the years 1787 and 1850; New South Wales was made a settlement in 1787; Van Diemen's Land in 1803, Western Australia in 1829; Southern Australia in 1834; New Zealand in 1840; and Victoria or Port Phillip in 1850, having been that year detached from New South Wales, with which it was originally conjoined. Western Australia was colonised in 1829, and at that time was more frequently called the Swan River Set- tlement, from its being formed on that river, which derived its name from the number of black swans frequenting it. It is about 1200 miles long and 800 broad, and covers an area of one million of square miles or about eight times that of the United Kingdom. It is 11,200 miles from England, and there are now upwards of half a million of sheep depasturing on its extensive plains, though the whole population, including convicts, does not exceed 10,000 souls. The chief towns are Perth, the capital, and Free- mantle. Perth is built on the Swan river about twelve miles from Freemantle, which lies at its mouth, and may be called its shipping port, although the bar across the mouth of the river prevents the approach of ships of large burthen. A number of the convicts are settled at Free- mantle and its neighbourhood, and are said on the whole to be well-behaved, having almost all of them obtained tickets of leave. Mr Thomas Peel, a cousin of the late Sir Robert Peel, may be called the founder of the colony. Being possessed of a large capital, he obtained from Government, in 1829, SOUTH AMERICA. ]I a grant of land at the Swan river, amounting to a quarter of a million of acres, on condition of taking out a certain number of emigrants, being at the rate of one acre of land for every one shilling and sixpence of outlay. Peel with a few friends landed there himself in 1829, and the number of settlers during that year numbered 850 at its close ; and twenty ships had been employed in conveying them to their destination. Although the emigrants were under a nominal contract to work to him, yet he had no control over them after they landed, to keep them to their engage- ments. Had the expedition, instead of one great master and a number of servants, consisted of small working capitalists, trusting entirely to their own industry, they might probably have succeeded. As it was, however, the working people, losing sight of the noral obligation altogether, deserted their leader almost immediately upon landing — his stock was stolen or died, and his stores and implements actually rotted on the beach, as his servants would not even carry them to a place of shel- ter. The men, in the meantime, after deserting him, went some to Van Diemen's Land, though the greater part squatted in the bush, where they soon came to want and misery, whilst some were destroyed by the natives. In this dilemma they had the impudence to return to their generous master, who had expended his means in bringing them out, and demanded employment and supplies. Peel being a humane man would probably have overlooked their behaviour and complied with their request, but they had put it out of his power to do so, from having allowed his stores to rot on the beach, as formerly mentioned.^ When they found him thus unable to comply with their demands, some of them actually proposed that he should be hanged, and he with difficulty escaped that cruel fate. Such was the sad termination of an attempt at combined • '? jtiit r 12 SOUTH AMERICA. labour on a great scale without the power of enforcing obedience. The Swan river is about 4,000 miles from Calcutta ; 2,000 from Sydney by sea; 1200 from Van Diemen's Land; 4,700 from the Cape of Good Hope; and 3,300 from Canton in China. There are now 2,000 convicts there, most of whom, shortly after landing, obtain either conditional pardons, or tickets of leave. There is not any material difference in these terms, and, except in not being able to return to this country until the period of their banishment has expired, they must be considered as almost free emigrants in Wes- tern, and Northern Australia. After being subjected to a reformatory punishment at home, they are sent either to Bermuda or Gibraltar, and from thence to these pro- vinces. The convicts from Bermuda, who were denied an asylum at the Cape of Good Hope, were taken there and were well received, labour being in great demand. More- ton Bay in New South Wales, which is occasionally called Northern Australia, gets now also a portion of them. Tasmania, or Van Diemen's Land, is an island situa- ted at the extreme southern part of Australia, from which it is separated by Bass's Straits, averaging about 1 00 miles wide. It is about one-half of the size of Ireland, and is 12,260 miles from England. It was discovered in 1642 by Tasman, a Dutch navigator, who called it Van Die- men's Land, in honour of his patron of that name, who was Governor of the Dutch possessions in the East Indies. It was taken possession of in 1803, by a small detachment of military from Sydney, with the view of forming a penal settlement for the doubly-convicted felons of New South Wales; and in 1804 was formally taken possession of by the British Government, under Governor Collins, who SOUTH AMERICA. td landed there from England with 400 convicts and a guard of 50 marines, and it has ever since been a penal colony, though transportation to New South Wales ceased in 1840. It is very fertile upon the whole, there being '200,000 acres under crop, chiefly wheat, oats, and pota- toes. It was called at one time the granary of New South Wales. There are throe millions of sheep on the island, and 150,000 horned cattle. Mutton is 3d., and beef 4d. the pound. Its exports and imports are nearly equal, amounting to half a million sterling annually — the imports preponderating. Previous to the year 1830, the bush- rangers, or escaped convicts, had become a terror to the whole free settlers, and, after a desperate struggle, were put down, at least as a body, though single parties are always to be met with. There are not above 30 of the aboriginal inhabitants now left. They were such a horrible race of savages, and even cannibals, murdering and at- tacking without mercy the more distant and defenceless stock-keepers and farmers, that the Government, assisted by the free settlers, organised apian in 1830 for surround- ing them as the game is surrounded in hunting expedi- tions. Though this did not at first altogether succeed, yet eventually, partly by kindness, partly by compulsion, they were collected together, and with the exception of a few, were removed in 1835 to a small island in Bass's Straits, opposite Port Phillip, called Flinder's Island, where their ..umbers have dwindled down to 13 or 14, though at first they were 210. Hobart Town, the capital of the island, contains 20,000 inhabitants, and Launceston, (120 miles from Hobart Town,) 10,000. A screw-steamer plies regularly between Launceston and Melbourne at Port Phillip. It cannot be considered an eligible place for emigrants, as convict labour has rendered other labour cheap, and they are still annoyed by the bush-rangers, l! ! ii t 14 SOUTFi AMERICA. Property has become of late years much depreciated in value, and vast numbers of the free settlers (15,000) have left the colony altogether, chiefly for Australia, within the last ten years, whilst not a few of the convicts, and ticket-of-leave men have escaped. The following was the census of the population on 1st March 1851 : — Free population - - - - 53,031 Convict population, - - - 17,099 Making the total population, 70, 1 30 The greater part of the convicts are ticket~of-leave holders, who maintain themselves. Upwards of 60,000 convicts had arrived in the colony betwixt the years 1817 and 1850. They are becoming very clamorous in Tasmania that transportation should cease altogether. They state that almost all the crimes committed in the colony are by the convicts, and that while transportation continues emigra- tion is impossible, as free people will not go to a convict colony. The answer which Earl Grey gave to their remon- strances seems to resolve into this, that whatever pun- ishment might be inflicted in this country, the convicts on its termination almost invariably relapse into their old habits ; that therefore some portion of their time of pun- ishment must be passed out of the country. That the colony was originally established as a penal settlement, and that the free inhabitants went there with the full knowledge of this fact. His Lordship, however, regrets the necessity he was under of sending any more, and holds out a promise that their number shall be gradually di- minished. On looking carefully over the whole statements, speeches, accusations, &c., that have been thundered forth by the Tasmanians against Earl Grey during the five SOUTH AMERICA. 15 years previous to 1852, in reference to transportation, and notwithstanding that they burned him in effigy in August 1851, I am of opinion that they are in a great measure unfounded. At the same time every one must admit that transportation to Van Diemen's Land should now cease. It may be all very well for the Government, and the people of this country, to maintain that we must get quit of our convicts at all hazards ; but the free inhabitants of our colonies naturally say, " you are not entitled at all events to palm them upon us." All other countries have to employ them as they best can within their own territo- ries. In America they are frequently condemned to im- prisonment for ten and twenty years. That eminent young statesman, the Duke of Argyll," in a debate in the House of Lords on 9th May 1851, on the Van Diemen's Land convict question, very sensibly remarked — " The arguments of the noble Earl (Grey) were of a selfish kind, as being founded on the inconvenience we should sustain by keeping convicts in this country. But we could keep those convicts at home if we chose ; and the Government would soon only be able to send con- victs to those colonies who could not resist their arbitrary power. As the colonies rose in power and influence, we should be unable to continue the system." The Van Diemen's Land people protested against the introduction of 1,498 female prisoners, who were landed there in eight convict ships in the year 1850. Their presence in the colony had given rise to shocking scenes of immorality, with some of the details of which the local • The word Argyll is frequently spelt Argyle. I wrote to the noble Duke, requesting his Grace to acquaint me with the way in which he spelt it himself, and in reply ho politely says— " The Argyll family have uni- formly signed with the double /." H iii i I fi 16 SOUTH AMERICA. papers abound, but they are much too gross for insertion here. If I had been accompanied by the noble Earl (Grey) when I visited the penitentiary at Kingston, in Upper Canada in 1850, I think his Lordship would probably have changed his mind in regard to the expediency of retaining convicts in Great Britain, and adopting the admirable system there employed. Port Phillip ; — so named after Captain Phillip, the first Governor of New South Wales, was in 1850 disjoined from that province, and formed into a separate colony called Victoria. It covers an area of 62,000,000 of acres, has a coast line of 700 miles, and 120,000 inhabi- tants. It is considered the most fertile part of Aus- tralia, as it includes the district of country formerly called Australia Felix. There are two large towns in it. Melbourne, the capital, situated on the river Yarra Yarra, six miles from its embouchure, and containing 30,000 inhabitants; and Geelong, 50 miles to the S.W. of Melbourne, which now contains 10,000 inhabitants. Steamers ply daily between Geelong and Melbourne. Melbourne is 600 miles from Sydney by land. The ave- rage length of passage of vessels carrying wool, &c., from Port Phillip t-o London is 134 days. Out of 50 ves- sels the passage of the shortest was 100 days, and of the longest 170. Female domestics are engaged at Melbourne almost immediately upon landing, at wages varying from L.12 to L.20 per annum. There are 10,000,000 of sheep, and half a million of cattle in the colony. Sheep bring from 6s. to 10s., and cattle from 25s. to 50s a-head. Provisions of all kinds are remarkably cheap. Labourers get 4s a-day ; and carpenters, masons, &c., from 6s. to 7s. Shepherds realise from L.30 to L.50 SOUTH AMERICA. IT } for insertion a-year, with rations. The Geelong district suffered from a dreadful hurricane and conflagration that occurred in 1851, by which property was consumed to the value of L. 100,000. A building allotment was sold at Melbourne in 1851, at the rate of L.20 per foot. South Australia; — which was founded in 1834, lies to the west of Victoria, and is 11,640 miles from England. It covers an area of 20,000,000 of acres ; of which one- third is good for agriculture, one third for pasture, whilst the remaining third is barren. There are nearly 3,000,000 of sheep in the colony. Adelaide, the capital, situate six miles from the port of the same name, contains 20,000 inhabitants. The average passage from England to Adelaide is 101 days; the shortest on record being 89 days, and the longest 121 days. Adelaide is 1,065 miles from Sydney by land. The discovery of several copper-mines in 1845 has been of great advantage to it. They are all in the hands of joint-stock companies, but none of them have succeeded well except the Burra Burra Mining Company, which started in September, 1845,vvith a capital of only L. 12,320 divided into L.5 shares, and these shares are now selling at L.130. A dividend of from 200 to 400 per cent, on the original shares has been paid for several years. The Burra Burra mines are 100 miles from Adelaide, and give employment to 2,000 individuals. The miners earn from 30s. to 40s. a-week. I saw a specimen of the Burra Burra copper ore in the Great Exhibition at London in 1851. The ore varies in quality, from ore containing 30 per cent, of copper, to much that produces 60 per cent, of that metal. A large quantity of the copper is now sent to Singapore, and the East Indies, more, indeed, than to England. Prior to 1 850 a great part of the ore was sent 18 SOUTH AMERICA. I ' ^^ * to Swansea, in Wales, in order to be smelted. Since then, however, the grc.iter part (of the inferior ores at least) has been smelted on the spot, which has proved of great advantage. The mines, indeed, are the great sup- port of the country. The exports from South Australia amount now to one million sterling, annually, and the imports to about the same. Copper, and copper ore form the chief branches of its exports. The value of these for the year 1850 amounted in the aggregate to L.360,000; being L.232,712as the value of the copper, and L. 127,294 the value of the copper ore; and since then their value has been every year increasing. The population of South Australia in 1851 was as fol- lows : — Total whites, . - - - 63,700 Aborigines, ----- 3,730 11 1 ' Total population, - 67,430 The males exceed the females by several thousands. Of the whites there were 7,000 Germans, 48 French, 7 Dutchmen, 42 Chinese, 69 Americans, 3 Danes, 19 Swedes, 9 Italians, 22 Hindoos, 1 1 Portuguese, 8 Rus- sians, 21 West Indians, 4 Spaniards, 10 Africans, 40 Malays, 4 Belgians, 1 Maltese, 1 Greek, 1 Norwegian, 1 Mexican, 1 Arabian, and 1 Ionian, making in all 7,293 foreigners. A number of the Germans are employed at cultivating the vine, which seems to thrive well in almost all parts of Australia. The Aborigines, it will appear from the above census, have dwindled down to 3,730, and are now completely subdued. They wished at first to extirpate the whites altogether, as interlopers upon their soil. The number of shepherds and settlers killed by them during the first ten years of the settlement of the colony was very great, the whole tribes in that country, with the exception, per- SOUTH AMERICA " i haps, of those settled at Encounter Bay, eighty miles dis- tant from Adelaide, being very ferocious. The destruc- tion of the passengers and crew of the " Maria," a vessel that was wrecked on the coast between Adelaide and Portland Bay, produced a great sensation in that country. During the awful depression of the colony in 1840 and 1841, when gentlemen were to be seen working on the roads as common labourers, at a shilling a day, a party of them chartered a small vessel to take them and their families to some of the neighbouring colonies. The ves- sel, however, was unfortunately wrecked about 200 miles from Adelaide. The Encounter Bay blacks gave notice to the authorities at Adelaide that there were a number of shawls, rings, &c., at the station of one of the neigh- bouring tribes, and offered to conduct them to the place The commissioner of police, with all his force, was ac- cordingly despatched, and on coming to the spot he made an offer to the tribe to pardon them if they would give up their ringleaders. Having refused to do this, the police fired upon them, killed several, and hanged two on the spot. The shawls and rings when brought to Adelaide were found to have belonged to those who had been wrecked. It would appear that they had given all they had to this tribe on their promising to escort them to Adelaide. They had proceeded so far on their journey when the blacks refused to escort them any further, un- less they stripped naked, and gave them also the clothes on their backs. This the English having refused to do, the blacks set upon them, and murdered every individual, man, woman, and child, including the crew of the vessel, amounting in all to about forty individuals. The English, it would appear, had fought desperately, some of the bodies having been found shockingly mangled. Mr Angas, at vol. i. p. 66 of his work, called " Savage Life," narrates this tragedy in the following words : 20 SOUTH AMEIIICA, r'l sil ■(■' li " Thoie who escaped the dangers of the reef, after iiubiUting on roott and ihelli, toiled along the shore for ninety milei*, men, women, and chil- dren, hungry, thirsty, and barefoot, till they arrived at the Milmendura tribe. Two more days march, thoy trusted, would bring them to the tea mouth of the Murray, where the Encounter Bay natives had communica- tion with the whulors, and they there loolced to an end of their suiTeringi, But these terminated only in death. The savages stripped them of their few remaining garments, and deliberately murdered them as they came up in straggling parties, knocking out their brains with wirrics, or chasing them with the spear. Many of the bodies were found buried in the sand, and the fingers of some of the ladies had been cut off with shells in order to obtain their rings." The murder of a fine shepherd boy, in particular, only twelve years of a^e, in the neighbourhood of Port Lincoln, in October 1840, created a great sensation. This boy, whose name was Frank Ilowison, was attacked in his hut when alone, and though he made a noble defence, yet he was overpowered by the savages, who transfixed him with their barbed spears ; and, as they could not be extracted, the poor young sufferer lingered for six days in great agony, when he expired. Indeed Port Lincoln, from its splendid harbour, (though rather devoid of extensive inland pasturage) would have been ere now a favourite settlemor^t had it not been so remote from Adelaide (300 miles) and the outrages com- mitted by the natives upon the settlers. In 1842 Mr John Brown and his hut-keeper were both murdered in that district ; and almost immediately afterwards Mr Biddle, with his servant Fastins, and an elderly woman named Tubbs, were all barbarously murdered in the same dis- trict. During that same year (1842) Mr Dutton, with four of his men, were murdered on their way from Port Lincoln to Adelaide with cattle; and in 1844 Mr Darke was murdered about 150 miles from Port-Lincoln, when on an exploring expedition. - In a newspaper, called the ** South Australian," pub- SOUTH AMERICA. SI listing on roots omen, and chil- :he Miimendura them to the tea lad communioa* their sufferings, d them of their .8 (hoy came up ies, or chasing ed in the sand, I shells in order icular, only )rt Lincoln, This boy, d in his hut lice, yet he ^d him with : extracted, ^s in great iir, (though t'ould have ot been so cages com- 2 Mr John ed in that h Biddle, an named same dis- itton, with from Port Mr Darke oln, when f'.^ lishcd at Adelaide on 26th August 1844, it is ate«' hat thirty of the aborigines had been killed there n 'pv day before, by Mr Plenty's shepherds, two of wl.om were wounded. The Cape of Good Hope forms the extreme southern corner of Africa, and the British settlements there com- prise an area of 1 18,256 square miles. It was so named in 1495, by one of the kings of Portugal, from the hope which he then entertained of finding a passage to India beyond it. The whole population of Europeans and na- tives may be estimated at 300,000. There are three set- tlements at the Cape, — one at Table Bay, where Cape- Town, the capital, is situated ; another at Algoa Bay, founded in 1820, and a third at Port Natal. The first is 6500 miles from England, — the second 6860, and the third about 7400, so that Natal is nearly 1000 miles from Cape- Town. This latter town contains 30,000 inhabit- ants, of whom a great proportion are descendents of the Dutch, to whom it belonged from 1562 to 1806, when we took possession of it. The Dutch farmers at the Capo are a gigantic race, eating chiefly mutton, with very few vegetables, and are called Boors, or Boers, which is the Dutch for husbandmen. From eating so much animal food, they are not so long lived as those who partake more of a vegetable diet. The average passage from England to the Cape is sixty days for sailing vessels, and thirty for steamers propelled on the screw principle. Vast quantities of wool are sent from the Cape to this country. The climate is considered one of the finest in the world, as will appear from the return of the mortality at the fol- lowing military stations occupied by Great Britain. The deaths annually are taken in every 1 000 persons. Sierra Leone, 483; West Indies, 78; Madras, 48; Bermuda, 22 SOUTH AMERICA. I ¥ \U 28; Mauritius, 27; Gibraltar, 21 ; Malta and Canada, 16; Cape of Good Hope, 13. The Fingoes and Hotten- tots do all the heavy work at the Cape. The Fingoes, who have always continued faithful to the British govern- ment, bear towards the Kaffirs, as the enslavers and op- pressors of their race, a hatred which they imbibe with their mothers' milk, and unmitigated by anything approach- ing to mercy. The Hottentots, or original possessors of the soil at the Cape, do not now exceed 30,000, and arc said to be very fond of Cape brandy. None of the settlements, however, at the Cape, can be at present recommended as fields for emigration, owing to the constant inroads of that most insatiable, though brave and active set of savages, called the Kaffirs, or Caffres, who are supposed to be the descendents of some Bedouin, or wandering Arabs, who first settled, about the middle of the 17th century, in a district adjoining the Cape, now called Caffraria, and acquired territory by purchase and conquest from the neighbouring tribes. Caffraria is 300 miles in length, and 120 in breadth. There are two tribes of Kaffirs in Caffraria, numbering about 35,000 in each. In 1820, they attempted, with a force of 10,000 men, to storm the English barracks at Grahamstown, defended by 400 men, but were defeated with the loss of 1500 men. Another war raged during the years 1846 and 1847. But the most formidable of all was that which broke out to- wards the close of 1850, which was carried on in the most desperate and savage manner, during the whole of 1851 and part of 1852. They are very superstitious ; and attach great importance to the sayings and prophecies of false native prophets, or priests, who generally at- tend them in their campaigns.' At the commencement of the war of 1850, the native prophet, Umlangeni, who possessed great influence over the chief Sandilli, assured r-i SOUTH AMERICA. 23 lim that tlu Kngli.sh bullets would melt into water, that \hii English uiuld be transformed into cattle, and the |rces would !i cume Kaffirs, and thus the English could )c easily and offectually extirpated from the Cape. When Jandilli's nn .] fell dead in the field, ho lost faith in the )rophet, who cunningly attributed their deaths to the Kaffirs for liaving firrd the first shot, which was contrary lo his previrns admonitions. Had the trees become Kaf- irs, thev would have formed one of tlie most numerous irmies tliat ever appeared on a field of battle ; and it rould certainly have been a curious sight to have seen iOOO English troops transformed into cattle. The Kaffirs rould thereby have got a large supply of fresh beef, of vhich they stood so much in need, though they subsist :hiefly, like the Hottentots, on curdled milk, millet and jaize. During the month of July 1851, they swept off from one district alone (Somerset), 37,000 sheep, 6000 lead of cattle, 300 horses, and destroyed 200 farm houses )y fire, so that the poor settlers fled in all directions, and jome of them left the country altogether. The Kaffirs [are in the habit of killing both the women and children of [those with whom they are at war, — women, they say, in order to prevent their breeding any more thieves, and children, to prevent them becoming thieves like their pa- rents,— a most effectual way of getting rid of thieves. In February 1852 the Duke of Wellington, when refer- ring to the Kaffir war, vindicated the conduct of Sir Harry Smith ; the only mistake he committed consisting in his not having formed roads, or military communications with the interior, in order that the fastnesses into which the Kaffirs always retreated, and into which our troops could not follow them, might be destroyed. 24 SOUTH AMERICA. CHAPTER II. Voyage from Australia to South America — The Falkland Islands — Arrival at Bahia — Discovery of America — Voyages of Columbus— Amerigo Vespucci— His Name given to the Country. We left Sydney for South America in the barque Ca- therine Jamieson, with about forty passengers in all. On coming near to the " Heads," we were visited by the boarding officer, and two of his men, who came from the shore in a boat, manned by four New Zealanders, who seemed to enjoy a glass of grog as much as our sailors. The whole passengers were immediately mustered, in order to see that there were no convicts on board, nor any flying from justice ; and that all our names had been entered at the custom-house, and water police-oiSce, a necessary regulation, perhaps, in a penal colony. Those who had been prisoners, of whom we had three Irishmen, whose sentences had expired, and who were returning from banishment, exhibited their certificates of freedom ; and the two men, in the meantime, went poking through the whole ship with drawn swords, to try and discover if any had secreted themselves, when a touch of the sharp steel would probably have made them " sing out," as the sailors sav. We made at first for the North Cape of New Zealand, but the wind changing, we sailed down the west coast, k SOUTH AMERICA. 25 irsinall. On md then round the south cape. The voyage for two louths, till we rounded Cape Horn, was exceedingly cold ind stormy. The sea was often dashing over us, and wc lad close-reefed topsails a great part of the time. The mow also occasionally covered the deck, and hail-stones fell as large as marbles. We saw at a distance one of those icebergs so much dreaded by sailors, and upon one of [which the President steam-ship is supposed to have struck, |vrhen all of course must have perished. They are some- times several miles in circumference, and have all the ippearance of floating islands. We passed within one day's sail of the Falkland Islands, Bo called by an English navigator named Strong, who, in 1689, spent fourteen days there, though they were first liscovered by Sir Richard Hawkins, during the reign of ^ueen Elizabeth, in 1594. They were afterwards visited iby Commodore Byron in 1765, who took formal posses- jion of them for his majesty George III. The Spaniards having formerly used the islands as a prison for South American delinquents, disputed the claims of Great Britain, who, however, claimed the sovereignty )y virtue of her original discovery ; and the Spanish go- vernment finally conceded our right to them. As they lad been almost deserted by us since 1767, the Indepen- lent provinces of the Rio de la Plata took possession of lem in 1820; but when their sovereignty came to be lisputed by Frederica, they were once more taken pos- session of in December 1832, by Commander Onslow, in lame of Great Britain ; and Captain Smyth of the Royal Tavy was afterwards sent down with a boat's crew to settle on them. During the year 1833 a party of eight [Guachos and Indians landed at St. Louis during the ab- sence of most of the settlers at a seahng party, and mur- \ 'A m 1 I 26 SOUTH AMERICA. dered five gentlemen, two of whom, Messrs Dickson and Brisbane, were Scotch. These Guachos are the country peasants of South America, of Spanish extraction, cele- brated for their horsemanship, and for the use of the bolo and lasso (rope) with which they catch the wild cattle and horses. As there is no timber on any of them, they mak^ their fuel of peats, of which they have an abundant supply. Though they are 80 in number, there are but two of any size, called the eastern and western, divided by Falk- land Sound, about eight miles wide. East Falkland is 85 miles long, by about 40 broad, and is by far the richest of the whole, almost the whole cattle and horses being located upon it, and a settlement called Stanley formed upon it, and it lies in the direct course of vessels home- ward bound from Australia and New Zealand. The winter and summer are about equal in length, and the cold in winter is never below 26 degrees, nor the heat in summer above 75, and they raise excellent crops of oats, flax, and potatoes, though wheat does not grow there. Theic; are 3000 wild horses, and 50,000 head of wild cattle in East Falkland, so that the price of beef is mode- rate. A suggestion has been made that the Falkland Islands should be made a penal settlement for convicts. As screw- steamers seem destined ere long to replace sailing vessels on the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, they would be the natural coaling station for the vessels which would then pass through the Straits of Magellan from New Zealand and Australia. We intended at one time to have put in at Rio de Janeiro, the capital of Brazil, but the wind proving unfa- vourable, we directed our course to Bahia, 600 miles far- ther to the north, and consequently that much nearer to SOUTH AMERICA. 27 rreat Britain. We arrived there in a hundred days from Sydney, an unusually long voyage, as a vessel (the Cum- )erland) from Sydney also, which had been there a few reeks before, had made the passage in 60 days. Within few minutes after casting anchor we were all safely landed on the shores of that vast and magnificent country, the empire of Brazil in South America. The fame of being the discoverer of America is due to Christopher Columbus, who was born at Genoa in Italy, In 1436. After many voyages he repaired to Portugal, the Portuguese service being at that time extremely in- friting to every adventurer ; the great object being to find >nt a passage by sea to the East Indies. Having failed his negotiations with the king of Portugal, he next re- paired to Spain, and landing there in 1484, he laid his iroposals before Queen Isabella of Spain, one of the irest spirits that ever ruled over the destinies of a nation. Lfter great delay, having got matters at last arranged #ith the Queen, Columbus, in the 56th year of his age, let sail on the 3d of August 1492, with a small squadron ©f 3 vessels, fnanned with 120 sailors and adventurers, ind steered directly for the Canary Islands, where ho irrived in 10 days. Starting again almost immediately, |e sailed for several . eeks to the westward, without dis- )vering any trace of land, so that the sailors began to lutiny. They taxed their sovereign the Queen with in- lonsiderate credulity in paying such regard to the vain iromises and rash conjectures of an indigent foreigner as hazard the lives of so many of her own subjects. They Affirmed that they had fully performed their duty, by ven- uring so far in an unknown and hopeless course, and [ould incur no blame for refusing to follow any longer a lesperate adventurer to certain destruction. They con- jnded that it was necessary to think of returning to Spain B 2 n rr i •iH Ht'i 'I i i'; 1 il j f I j 1 i It 1 28 SOUTH AMERICA. while their crazy vessels were still in a condition to keep together; and some of them proposed that they biiould throw their commander into the sea, being persuaded that upon their return to Spain the death of an unsuccessful projector would excite little concern, and be inquired into with no curiosity. Columbus, fully sensible of his perilous situation, pro- raised to his men that he would comply with their request, provided they would accompany him, and obey his com- mands for three days longer; and if during that time land was not discovered, he would then abandon the enter- prise, and direct his course towards Spain. The presages of discovering land were now so nume- rous, that he deemed them infallible. For some days previous, the sounding line had reached the bottom, the flocks of birds, not only of sea-fowl, but of such land- birds as could not be supposed to fly far from the shore, — had increased ; and at the dawn of day on Friday, the 12th of October 1482, Columbus first beheld the New World, and gave the island the name of San Salvador, — forming one of the Bahama islands* The sailors after singing a hymn of thanksgiving to God, now threw themselves at his feet, imploring him to pardon their ignorance, incredulity, and insolence ; and pronounced the man whom they had so lately reviled and threatened, to be a person inspired by heaven with sagacity and fortitude more than human, in order to ac- complish a design, so far beyond the ideas and conception of all former ages. So soon as the sun arose, all their boats were manned and armed, and they rowed towards the island with war- like music and other martial pomp. As they approached the coast, they saw it covered with crowds of people whom the novelty of the spectacle had drawn together, whose SOUTH AMERICA. 29 I attitudes and gestures expressed wonder and astonish- Iment at the strange objects which presented themselves to Itfieir view. Columbus was the first European who set [foot in the New World which he had discovered. He [landed in a rich dress, and with a naked sword in his hand, and being conspicuous for his height and his com- [manding appearance, he excited the admiration of the Indians, who surrounded the Spaniards in vast multitudes, to whom their dress, the whiteness of their skins, their beards, and their arms appeared strange and surprising. jThe vast machines in which they had traversed the [ocean, that seemed to move upon the waters with wings, [struck them with such terror, that they began to respect jtheir new guests as a superior order of beings, and con- cluded that they were children of the sun, who had dcs- lended to visit the earth. In regard to the subsequent adventures of Columbus, flow he afterwards discovered the islands of Cuba and Hispaniola, now called Hayti or St Domingo, (named Hispaniola by Columbus from the resemblance it bore to Spain) where he left a party of 38 of his people ; how he [was received on his return by the whole Spanish nation ; I how the Queen ordered him to repair to Barcelona, and re- iceived him seated upon a throne, under a magnificent ca- fnopy ; how when he approached, her majesty stood up to receive him; how the fame of his voyage spread over Europe, and excited universal attention ; how the countries which he had discovered, were considered as a part of India ; how even, after the error which gave rise to this opinion was detected, and the position of the New World ascertained, the name has remained, and the appellation of IVest Indies given by all the people of Europe to the country, and that of Indians to its inhabitants ; how he was soon after appointed to the command of a second expedition of u I i Ijl !l» 30 SOUTH AMERICA. m a more magnificent description, consisting of no less than 17 ships, having on board 1500 persons, among whom were many of noble families, and furnished with all sorfs of domestic animals ; how in this expedition he discovered Jamaica, (called by him Santiago,) and most of the other West India islands ; how in one of the islands on which he landed, the first horses which appeared in the New World were objects of terror no less than of admiration to the Indians, who having no tame animals themselves, supposed them to be rational creatures, and imagined that the horse and the rider formed but one animal, (a curious animal they must have thought,) with whose speed they were astonished, and whose impetuosity and strength they considered irresistible ; how in another, when the Indians heard a bell, brought from Spain, sounding through the forest, as it rang for mass, and beheld the Spaniards hastening towards the chapel, they thought it talked, and that the white men obeyed it ; these, together with numerous others of his adventures, discoveries, and the misfortunes that attended him towards the close of his career, are they not to be found recorded at great length in that celebrated work by Washington Irving, en- titled " The life and voyages of Christopher Columbus." During his second expedition Columbus revisited Ilispaniola, where he had left the 38 Spaniart's, but found that they had been all massacred by the nadves, who were very numerous, amounting to two millions. After the departure of their commander, their licentious- ness and rapacity had known no bounds ; and the kind- hearted natives were at length aroused to madness, and destroyed in self-defence the abusive intruders. They had flattered themselves that their visit was but tempo- rary ; and from having at first considered them as children of the sun, they inquired when they intended to return to SOUTH AMERICA. 31 the heavens. When, however, they saw the Spaniards seizing upon their provisions, ravaging their women, and abandoning themselves to the grossest of earthly passions, they thought it was high time to get quit of them, so that the children of the "sun" had to finish their career of wickedness upon the earth, as the natives saw no pros- pect of their returning to the heavens. During a short absence from Hispaniola, the Spaniards who had arrived there at the second expedition, disobey- ing the commands of Columbus, irritated the natives by new excesses ; who, assembling in vast numbers, to the amount of at least 80,000 men, were preparing to drive from the land those terrible invaders. Columbus having in the meantime, fortunately, returned from his visit to Jamaica, 1 20 miles distant from Hispaniola, immediately assumed the command. Though the whole force which he could muster against this multitude, did not exceed 200 infantry and thirty horses, yet he had aid of another kind, consisting of twenty blood-hounds, animals scarcely less terrible to the Indians than the horses, and infinitely more fatal. They were fearless and ferocious ; nothing daunted them, nor when they had once seized upon their prey, could any- thing compel them to relinquish their hold. The naked bodies of the Indians offered no defence against their attacks. They sprang on them, dragged them to the earth, and tore them to pieces. Columbus was accompanied in this expedition by his brother Bartholomew, who had arrived from London, whose counsel and aid he sought on all occasions, and who had not merely great personal power, and undaunted courage, but also a decidedly military turn of mind. The Indian army was posted on a plain interspersed with clusters of forest trees. Having ascertained the 1*1 39 SOL'TH AMERICA. great power of the enemy, Bartholomew advised that their little army should be divided into detachments, and should attack the Indians at the same moment from several quarters, and at night. This plan having been adopted, the infantry separating into dilFerent bodies, advanced suddenly from various directions, with great din of drums and trumpets, and a destructive discharge of fire-arms from the covert of the trees. The Indians were thrown into complete confusion. An army seemed pressing upon them from every quarter, their fellow warriors to be laid low with thunder and lightning (the sound and the flash proceeding from the fire-arms) from the forests. While driven together and confounded by these attacks, Alonzo de Ojeda charged their main body impetuously with his small troop of cavalry, cutting his way with lance and sabre. The horses bore down the terrified Indians, whilst their riders dealt their blows on all sides unop- posed. The blood-hounds at the same time rushed upon the naked savages, seizing them by the throat, dragging them to the earth, and tearing out their bowels. The Indians unaccustomed to large and fierce quadrupeds of any description, were struck with horror when assailed by these ferocious animals. They thought the horses equally fierce and devounng. The contest was of short duration ; the Indians fled in every direction with yells and bowlings, many were killed, many taken prisoners, and their whole army dispersed ; so that he at length subjected the whole island to the Spanish government. Columbus, however, notwithstanding all his discoveries, was not destined to give his name to the fourth quarter of the habitable globe. " He was doomed in fact to yield a striking example of the reverses to which those are sub- ject, who have once launched from the safe shores of ob- scurity on the fluctuating waves of popular opinion. ^M ill SOUTfl AMERICA. 33 advised that hments, and from several een adopted, a, advanced din of drums of fire-arms were thrown ressing upon rs to be laid ind the Hash (sts. While cks, Alonzo isly with his h lance and ed Indians, sides unop- rushed upon It, dragging wels. The adrupeds of 1 assailed by rses equally rt duration ; id bowlings, their whole )jected the discoveries, irth quarter fact to yield )se are sub- lores of ob- nion. The spirit of enterprise, though but newly awakened in Spain, began soon to operate extensively. All the attempts towards discovery made in that kingdom had hitherto been carried on by Columbus alone, and at the expense of the sovereign. But now private adventurers, allured by the magnificent descriptions he gave of the re- gions which he had visited, as well as by the specimens of their wealth which he produced, offered to fit out squa- drons at their own risk, and go in quest of new countries ; and the Spanish Court, whose scanty revenues were ex- hausted by its wars against the Moors, as well as by the charge of its expeditions to the New World, was extremely willing to devolve the burden of discovery upon its sub- jects. One of the first propositions of this kind was made by Alonzo de Ojeda, a gallant officer who had accompa- nied Columbus in his second voyage, and had signalised himself in the battle formerly mentioned. His rank and character procured him such credit with the merchants of Seville, that they undertook to equip four ships, pro- vided he could obtain the royal license authorising the voyage. This having been granted, Ojeda set sail in May 1499, and ranged along a considerable extent of coast beyond that on which Columbus had touched. Amerigo (or according to some authors Americus) Vespucci, accompanied Ojeda in this voyage. He was born at Florence in Italy on 9th March 1451, of a noble family, and was at one time an enterprising and wealthy merchant there, but disasters in business having reduced his fortune, he left Florence and went to reside at Seville in Spain, and was in that city in 1496. Ojeda, along with Amerigo, after exploring that part of the coast of South America, now called the Republic of Colombia, returned to Spain and landed there on the 18th of June 1500. iif IP'l i III 84 SOUTH AMEIUCA. Ill 1501 Vespucci left Spain and engaged in the ser- vice of Emanuel King of Portugal, and made a voyage during that year from Lisbon to Brazil which had been discovered in 1500, the year previous, by two separate individuals, — Pinzon in the service of Spain, and Cabral in that of Portugal. Both these navigators, unknown to each other or to Vespucci, took possession of Brazil in name of their respective Sovereigns. Vespucci also claim- ed Brazil for his roaster, the King of Portugal, to whom it was allotted, because it extended east of the boundary line by which Portugal and Spain had agreed to divide their discoveries. Vespucci made several voyages to America when in the service of the King of Portugal, and transmitted an account of his adventures to one of hi» countrymen. Amerigo's account was drawn up not only with art, but with some elegance. It contained an amusing his- tory of his voyages, and judicious observations upon the natural productions, the inhabitants, and the customs of the countries which he had visited. As it was the first description of any part of the New World that was pub- lished, a performance so well calculated to gratify the passion of mankind for what is new and marvellous, cir- culated rapidly, and was read with admiration. The country of which Amerigo was supposed to be the dis- coverer, came gradually to be called by his name, though not invidiously assumed by him. The caprice of man- kind, often as unaccountable as unjust, has perpetuated this error; and by the universal consent of nations, Ame- rica w as the name bestowed on this new quarter of the globe. The bold pretensions of a fortunate adventurer have robbed the discoverer of the New World of a dis- tinction which belonged to him ; the name of Americus has supplanted that of Columbus ; and mankind may re- m SOUTH AMERICA. 3.1 i in the ser- ide a voyage •h had been wo separate , and Cabral unknown tu of Brazil in :i also claim- jal, to whom he boundary ed to divide voyages to ^ortugal, and ) one of hla ly with art, imusing his- ms upon the 3 customs of v&s the first at was pub- gratify the vellous, cir- tion. The be the dis- ime, though ce of man- jerpetuated ions, Ame- irter of the adventurer d of a dis- ■ Americus id may re- gret an act of injustice, which having received the sanc- tion of time, it is now too late to redress. It is proper, however, to mention that during several years (from 1492 to 1498) the discoveries of Columbus were confined to the islands of the West Indies ; and it was not until August 1498, six years after his first voy- age, that he discovered the main land, or rather an island, near the mouth of the Orinoco, a river on the N.E. coast of South America, to which he gave the name of Trini- dad, in English Trinity. This island lies at the entrance of the Gulf of Paria. It is stated by some authors that Amerigo gave his name to the Western Continent by artfully representing 1^9 ^ii^s<^^^ ^s ^^s ^rst discoverer, but that is not true. No jealousy on the part of Columbus existed towards Ves- pucci. Indeed they were on the most intimate terms, and after his death the latter received from the King of Spain the appointment of principal pilot, and a suitable salary. His office was to instruct shipmasters, and others engaged in expeditions to the Western World, how to manage their concerns with safety and success. Amerigo died at Seville in Spain on the 22d of May 1512, in the 62d year of his age. 3ei SOUTH AMERICA. I ' 'I ¥ III CHAPTER III. History of tho Empire of Hrazil — Disjoined from Portugal — British Cliurcii at Rio de Janeiro — Description of Rio — Sunday in Brazil — Profligacy of tlio Priestliood — Description of Baltia. The Empire of Brazil extends over two-fifths of the con- tinent of South America, having an area of three million square miles, and is consequently nearly as large as Europe. The climate is salubrious though hot, and al- most every part of the soil is rich and fertile. Some of the trees, in particular in the interior, attain the wonder- ful height of 400 feet. It was formerly under the dominion of Portugal, out the removal of John VI. of Portugal, and the Portuguese Government in 1808, to Brazil, in order to escape the power of the Emperor Napoleon, who had taken a fancy for his dominions, formed the commencement of that great South American empire. The Brazilian Government, on the arrival of the King of Portugal, opened their ports to all friendly nations, abolished (nominally at least) the slave trade after the lapse of a certain number of years, and entered into an advantageous treaty of alliance and commerce with England. In 1821 John VI. returned to Portugal, leaving his son Don, or Dom Pedro to adminis- ter the government as Regent. The Brazilians having discovered that their King, and the Portuguese who fol- I .qOUTfl AMEIIICA. 37 British Churiii —Profligacy of i of the coii- iree million large as lot, and al- . Some of he wonder- rtugal, but Portuguese escape the ten a fancy ' that great rnment, on 3ir ports to least) the r of years, iliance and eturned to to adminis- ins having 5e who fol- lowed him to Lisbon, had carried otf every farthing that was in the treasury, asserted their independence, formed a constitution, and in 1823 elected their Regent Emperor, under the title of Pedro I. lu 1825 Portugal acknow- ledged the independence of Brazil, which was thus lost for ever to that Crown. John VI. died in Portugal in 182G. Bf the constitu- tion of Brazil, Pedro the Emperor, to whom the Crown of Portugal now belonged, could not leave the now empire, and he resigned Portugal to his young daughter Donna Maria. Iler uncle Don Miguel, brother of Pedro, con- tested her right, and was aided by the nobility and the priests. The constitutionalists and patriots were in favour of Maria, who at their request crossed the ocean. But as Miguel was waging a war of extermination against her partisans, she was first taken to London, and then back to Brazil. In the meantime the native Brazilians had demand- ed reforms which were by no means agreeable to the Portu- guese. Pedro wavered between the two parties, and each was displeased with the concessions made to the other. Both the army and the people being against him, on the 8th of April 1831 he abdicated in favour of his infant son Pedro II., a native of Brazil, and then six years of age. A regency having been established, he embarked with his daughter and the rest of his family for Portugal. Leaving Maria in France, Pedro entered his heredi- tary dominions, and summoned his brother to surrender to the queen his daughter. The cruelties of Miguel had already arrayed against him the liberal party, who now rallied under Pedro. The clergy branded the adherents of Pedro and his daughter as heretics, with whom no faith was to be kept, and thus throughout Portugal the civil war was sharpened by religious persecution. The fleet f mi:; 38 SOUTH AMERICA. N lii of Miguel was, however, at last captured ; Lisbon surren- dered ; and the usurper fled to Spain. The populace rallied, proclaimed Maria, broke open the prisons, and liberated 5000 prisoners. This took place in 1833. Though the queen's right was acknowledged by the high powers of Europe, and many reforms in the internal government Hi the country introduced, still her uncle, Miguel, kept up a cruel partisan warfare, when on the 24th of April 1834, a quadruple alliance was signed be- tween the powers of Portugal, Spain, France, and Great Britain. This treaty guarantied the throne of Tortugal to Maria II., and also engaged to expel from Portugal the usurper Don Miguel. An adequate force was despatched from England to aid Maria in maintaining her authority, so that Portugal was, in some measure, ruled by that nation. Spain had, by a singular coincidence, its young queen Isabella II., whose claim was upheld by the liberal party, whilst that of her usurper uncle, Don Carlos, was sustained bj the royalists and clergy. The quadruple alliance also guarantied the claims of Isabella, and engaged to expel Carlos. Maria of Portugal was married in 1834 to a son of Eugene Beauharnois, and in 1836, soon after his death, to the Duke of Saxe Coburg. The present emperor of Brazil came of age in Decem- ber 1842, and in 1843 married a Neapolitan princess. One half of Brazil is in possession of Independent Indians, who are occasionally very troublesome. Insurrections, indeed, are a common occurrence there. In 1823, the garrison in Bahia, consisting of Portuguese soldiers, muti- nied, and kept possession of the town for many mouths, supported by some white Brazilians, and most of the black population, till wrested from them by the imperial troops, assisted by a few Indians, with great loss on both sides, I SOUTH AMERICA. 39 both of life and property, and the troops in the garrison embarked for Portugal. The celebrated Lord Cochrane was of infinite service to the Brazilians on this occasion. The commerce of Brazil is very extensive, especially with this country and the United States. Its whole im- ports may be estimated at nine millions sterling annually, of which about the one-half are from Grcal Britain, and we also receive about one-half of its exports, which amount to about ten millions sterling, and consist of sugar, cotton, hides, coffee, tobacco, rice, leather, dye-woods, India rub- ber, gold, and diamonds. Brazil now produces annually five hundred million pounds weight of cofiee. The population of that vast country is only 5,500,000, made up as follows — Whites, 1,500,000 Free Coloured Races, - - 500,000 Slaves, 3,500,000 5,500,000 This does not include the Indian tribes, who are nume- rous, but of whom no accurate census can be obtained. Some of these tribes act in a somewhat singular manner in respect to their marriages, as the men seldom choose a woman who has not been first patronised by somebody else, which they consider an infallible test of her having something pleasing in her. In other countries there are few who do not consider but that they themselves are perfectly competent to judge if there be anything pleasing in the ob- ject of their choice. Cannibalism still prevails among some of the tribes but is gradually diminishing. There are a great many monasteries and nunneries in Brazil ; and though the religion of the state be the Roman Catholic, yet the exercise of all others is permitted, either in domestic worship, or in particular edifices destined for the purpose, without, however, having any exterior ap- 40 SOUTH AMERICA. m pearance of a temple. In 1810, Lord Strangford, the British ambassador at Rio, made a treaty with King John VI. of Portugal, who was then in Brazil, and the Brazilian government, wherein it was stipulated that the British should be permitted to build a church at Rio, provided it was erected, not as a public edifice but as a private house, and did not use bells to assemble the congregation. The original plan of the building had arched windows, and when submitted to the king he objected that these would not resemble a private house. The present plan, with a por- tico and pediment, was then given in and approved of, though deviating infinitely more from the original stipula- tion. The Pope's nuncio, the Archbishop of Nisibis, hap- pened to be at Rio at the time, and he remonstrated strongly with the king against the permission about to be granted to the British to build a Protestant church at all. The Roman Catholic bishop of Rio, however, was a strenuous advocate for the measure, and his arguments prevailed. He said, " The English have really no reli- gion ; but they are a proud and obstinate people. If you oppose them, they will persist and make it an affair of in- finite importance ; but if you concede to their wishes, the chapel will be built, and nobody will ever go near it." This happened exactly as he had predicted, for though this chapel is capable of containing 600 persons, there are never, by any chance, more than 40 within its walls. The funerals of all persons of rank take place at night and by torch light, and with great pomp. The capital of Brazil is Rio de Janeiro, of which the population is estimated at 200,000, of whom two-thirds are blacks. It was first discovered in 1531 by M. A. de Souza, who thought it was the mouth of a river, and gave it the name of Rio de Janeiro, or River of January, from the first day of the month of the new year on which hu in. ^i*- SOUTH AMERICA. 41 had discovered it. The harbour is reckoned the finest in the world, the entrance to it being a narrow opening in a ledge of rocks half a mile wide. After passing through this strait, the mariner finds himself in a magnificent gulf 100 miles in compass, encircled by lofty mountains, and enclosing a number of islands. Vessels of all dimensions may enter and anchor in perfect security. The city is on the north-east side of the bay ; the streets in one part are narrow, and the whole appearance of the lower city is somewhat mean. It is, however, now greatly improved, by the erection of public and private buildings. The greatest portion of the mercantile inhabitants are Portu- guese and French, who far outnumber the English. There are whole streets occupied by French shopkeepers or their descendants. One of the most striking features of Rio is the immense number of churches with which it is [provided. Bahia, or St Salvador, the ancient capital, (founded in 1549,) is situated on the east side of the magnificent bay of . !)-Saints. The population is estimated at 130,000, ci u.. the one-half are slaves, the remainder consisting of iviulattoes, Brazilians, Portuguese, free coloured blacks, and a few of all nations, and it is consequently the second city iu Brazil. The seat of the vice-royalty was transferred from it to Rio in 1763. From its cen- tral situation the commerce is very extensive, Pernam- buco is the next city in size and importance, and is in- creasing so rapidly that new houses are built wherever space can be found, while the commerce is increasing in proportion. It is perhaps the handsomest city in Brazil, with broad paved streets and fine houses. The popula- tion is about 80,000. We arrived in Brazil, according to our time, upon Sa- turday the 2d of July, but according to Brazilian and Ill 42 SOUTH AMERICA. European time, on Friday the first, so that we had to can- cel a day. Dr Lang takes notice of this circumstance in the sermon which he preached in Sydney on the " Di- vine Institution and Perpetual Obligation of the Sabbath," as an insuperable argument against supposing that one day is more holy than another, this being afiFected even by geographical position. In Brazil I observed very little difference betwixt the Sunday and any other day, excepting that the slaves get that day to themselves. The shops were open as usual, as was also the theatre; there was a review of the troops; and all the public buildings were ilkiminated at night, it being the continuation of the festival of the preceding day ; and there was also a grand display of fireworks. The custom-house, however, and all the public offices were shut, and there was no appearance of inebriety, as the Brazilians are a remarkably sober race of people, though the price of rum is only twopence the bottle. In the town of Bahia there are, as formerly stated, 60,000 slaves, who seemed all to be barefoot. They are prohibited from appearing in the streets after 8 o'clock at night without a pass from their masters. There is an upper and a lower town at Bahia, the latter extending along the bay for two miles, whilst the ascent to the former is precipitous in every direction. In going from the lower town to the interior of the country, after ascending the hill, you proceed through the upper town for three miles, passing along the various streets in the most zig-zag manner imaginable. In the low town are the Custom-House, the Exchange, the markets, and the counting-houses of the merchants, &c. And in the upper town are the palace, the theatre, and most of the churches, which are numerous and magnificent. Some of the Roman Catholic priests are, however, not so exemplary as one i ! '' i ii SOUTU AMERICA. 4:5 had to can- ircumstance n the ** Di. B Sabbath," ig that one rected even 3etwixt the slaves get in as usual, the troops; at night, it jeding day ; )rks. The iffices were ety, as the ^le, though srly stated, They are ( o'clock at i, the latter the ascent In going ntry, after ipper town ets in the ' town are s, and the the upper churches, he Roman iry as one could wish, being accused of evincing too great an attach- ment to the other sex, one of the fruits of the celibacy of the clergy. I met the Archbishop of Bahia, who is the only Archbishop in the empire, and consequently the pri- mate of Brazil, taking an airing one day in a singular looking carriage drawn by four mules, with two black pos- tilions in livery, and a black boy standing as footman be- hind. Most of the people in the streets knelt down as he passed, thus obeying the scriptural injunction of giving honour to whom honour is due. His Grace had a lady on each side of him, said to have been his sisters, who are of spotless reputation and universally esteemed. Gardner in his travels in Brazil, published in 1846, mentions that during his residence at Crato in Brazil, the vicar or priest there ( Vigario) though an old man between 70 and 80 years of age, was the father of six natural chil- dren, one of whom he educated as a priest. *' During my stay there," Mr G. adds, " he arrived on a visit to his father, bringing with him his mistress, who was his own cousin, and eight children out of ten he had by her, having at the same time five other children by another woman. Besides the Vigario, there were three other priests in the town, all of whom have families by women with whom they live openly, one of them being the wife of another person." A sad memorial of the frailty of tiie Roman Catholic clergy in Brazil. The priests in France, before the great Revolution of 1789 in that country, were no less corrupt than those of Brazil at the present day, and at that dreadful era were either massacred or fled for safety to other countries. The late celebrated Mr Cobbett, M.P., seems to have thought their fate well merited, as in one of his works he says, — *' The priests of France had made vows of chastity, and for the far greater part, of abstinence also, and yet it was t*«wp 44 SOUTH AMERICA. :,;ii: I'v";:; I i:i ill computed that they were the fathers of more illegitimate children than all the other men in the kingdom ; and con- sumed more wine than a hundred times their number of men in any other rank of life. Ought such a band of men, such a horde of profligates, to have been permitted to exist ? Then, when men were enabled to look back to the injunctions to chastity, humility, mercy, and sobriety, put forth by the apostles and disciples, of which these men pretended to be the successors, how were their hands to be restrained from inflicting punishment on the daring and impious impostors?" With such facts as these before our eyes, it seems to be a very doubtful matter if the celibacy enjoined on the Roman Catholic priesthood ought to be continued. I observe also that Father Gavazzi, the chief chaplain to the Roman army of independence, in a lecture delivered at Edinburgh on 21st August 1851 says, — " All popish priests, in imitation of the Pope, belong to the same class. They form a sect which has no name in nat' re, for since Pope Hildebrand prohibited marriage to the Papal clergy, those clergy were put beyond the pale of nature, renounced the lav imposed by God on all His creatures, and thus became anomalous objects in the world they inhabit. Hence arises the celibate hostility of the Roman priest- hood to society. The priesthood has no country, and cannot therefore appreciate the feelings of a people bent on making themselves an independent and free nation." The Rev. Dr Walsh, chaplain to the British Embassy at Brazil during 1828 and 1829, in his travels in that country makes (for a clergyman) a remarkably charitable and liberal allowance for the failings of the Brazilian priesthood. After mentioning that they are in general temperate in their diet, assiduous in attending the sick, and charitable, so far as their limited, means will permit. > 1 i: ' IE .1' SOUTH AMERICA. ' .'15S 45 t,'!M he adds, (vol. i. p. 374) ** There is one serious charge, however, of which I cannot acquit them ; and that is, the too frequent violation of the vows of celibacy. Their attachments, however, are constant, and want only legal sanction to render them even laudable ; for they consider their connexion as binding as if it had taken place. Many of them are excellent fazendelkos, or farmers, and leave behind them a family in the midst of the wilderness to extend the improvements they have commenced ; and this is deemed in the country so important a benefit that the thing is not regarded with the same degree of scandal as it ought, or as it is in other places. The Brazilians are all anxious to have the rule of celibacy, which they say is a mere matter of regulation, and not of doctrine, imme- diately repealed, and the discipline of their church adapted to the state of the country." From this it would appear that the Brazilians think their clergy more usefully employed in peopling the wil- derness than in preaching and praying. " When the harvest is past, and the summer is gone, And sermons and prayers shall be o'er ; When the beams cease to break of the sweet Sabbath morn, And Jesus invites thee no more ; When the rich gales of mercy no longer shall blow. The gospel no message declare ; — Sinner, how canst thou bear the deep wailings of wo ! How suffer the night of despair ? When the holy have gone to the regions of peace, To dwell in the mansions above ; When their harmony wakes, in the fulness of bliss, Their song to the Saviour they love ; Say, oh sinner, that livest at rest and secure, Who fearest no trouble to come. Can thy spirit the swellings of sorrow endure ; Or bear the impenitent's doom !" i ..:'i! l-iv I 1 W'^ i :|| ■ i u j ^ 1 ri 1 1 46 SOUTH AMERICA. At Bahia slaves are made to supply the place of horses and carts, almost every thing being carried by them. They have a round pole, fifteen or sixteen feet long, and about six inches m diameter, and to the centre of this they attach with a chain barrels, boxes, or whatever they have to carry — so many going in front and so many in rear, their numbers being regulated by the weight of their load. For a heavy hogshead I have seen twelve strong muscular slaves employed. The pole rests upon their bare shoulders, and in order to mark time they have a singular sort of cry as they proceed along the streets, sung in a kind of melancholy cadence, that proceeding from those in front being on a higher key than from those behind. They are perfectly naked down to the middle ; and the perspiration runs in buckets down their fat glossy backs, thus evincing that this is the very salvation of those who live in a warm climate. The women are also naked down to the middle, with the exception of their chemise, and carry their burdens upon their heads, wear- ing a sort of thick round turban, with a cavity in the centre, on which they deposit their loads, which are fre- quently of immense weight. Their heads are generally shaved, or their hair closely cut, in order to allow the perspiration to flow freely. Both they and the men seemed to be the most happy contented race of people imagin- able. The female slaves wear thin gaudy petticoats, chiefly of Glasgow manufacture. They have a military police, who go generally in par- ties of three or four, armed with swords and muskets. I think it would be an improvement were they to adopt the Chinese fashion, and carry a whip also, as the police of Pekin, the capital of China, in addition to their swords are furnished with a whip, with which they chastise in a summary manner, and upon the spot, those who make a SOUTH AMERICA. 47 ce of horses d by them, t long, and itre of this atever they so many in ght of their 3lve strong upon their hey have a he streets, proceeding from those he middle ; r fat glossy alvation of n are also )n of their ads, wear- ily in the h are fre- generally allow the en seemed imagin- )etticoats, noise or any disturbance on the streets, not of sufficient consequence to warrant their being taken into custody. Nobody is allowed to carry bowie knives, or sticks above a certain size. The English were very unpopular amongst the Bra- zilians when I was there, on account of their interference with the slave trade, as it may be truly said that we almost compelled the government of that country to sign a treaty by which fresh importations were excluded by law. In 1818 we had given Spain the large sum of £400,000 in order to induce her to abandon this traffic, and as a full compensation for the losses consequent on the aboli- tion. It was stipulated in the treaty, that from and after the 30th of May 1820, it should not be lawful for any subjects of the Crown of Spain to purchase slaves, or to carry on the slave trade on the coast of Africa, on any pretext whatever. This treaty, even to the present day, seems to havo been considered by the Spanish govern- ment, no less than by private individuals, as a dead letter. Continued agitation in this country finally secured the purchase of freedom to our West India slaves in 1833, at an expense of twenty millions sterling. Slaves, how- ever, are smuggled into Brazil to a great extent, and the Brazilian government, till of late, winked at it. The treaty, in fact, would have been next to a dead letter, had it not been for the sharp look-out kept up by the British squadron stationed along the coast of that country, who are stimulated by the prize money they obtain, in which the common sailors, as well as the officers, participate. The Brazilians are rather an indolent and lazy set of people ; and were it not for these industrious slaves there would be but little sugar, tobacco, or coffee, cultivated at all. This accounts for their antipathy to the English. We saw where the slave market used to be held, but that f I: I 48 SOUTH AMERICA. is abolished, and they are now sold privately. Their price has risen considerably of late in Brazil, owing to the increased difficulty of smuggling them. The landlord of the ** Hotel de L'Univers," where I resided, told me that he had sold one shortly before for £100, which is about their average price, some selling as high as £120, and others bringing not more than £80. Good cooks always sell the dearest — a good female cook being nearly as valuable as a male. They are not allowed to marry without the consent of their master, but this is seldom objected to, provided he be the owner of the female, as he has a direct interest in their union, the children being slaves, and belonging, by law, as in the United States, to the owner of the mother. In the kitchen of the hotel, where I resided, I found five male slaves cooking, and two male slaves acted as chambermaids, makhig the beds, &c. There is one great advantage in travelling through a slave country, namely, that no demand is made for aer- vants at the different inns. In regard to the extent of the Brazilian and Spanish slave trade with Africa, I may mention that, for the five years ending with 1839, 65,000 slaves were landed annually in Brazil, and that since 1839 the average has been but 35,000. For fifteen years prior to 1835, the average im- portation into Cuba was 40,000 a-year ; but with the first Equipment Treaty in that year, it fell to 30,000 for the next five years. Since then it has diminished greatly, as will appear from the returns mentioned in the next chapter. m ii SOUTH AMERICA. 49 >ly. Their wing to the landlord of Did me that :h is about £120, and oks always ^ nearly as 1 to marry I is seldom female, as dren being 1 States, to the hotel, oking, and g the beds, ng through ide for ser- id Spanish 'or the five 3d annually been but verage ira- th the first )00 for the )d greatly, the next ^t CHAPTER IV. Decay of the SlavO'trade betwixt Africa and Brazil— Lord Palmerston's Speech— Report of the Committee of the House of Lords— Remarks by the Rer. J. L. Wilson, an American Missionary — Contrast betwixt Ame- rican and British Missionaries — Evidence of Jose ClifTe, M.D. — Negro- land or Nigritia — Mode of stowing away the slaves in the slave vessels betwixt Africa and Brazil<~Mod6 of hiring slaves. The slave trade betwixt Africa and Brazil has greatly ^diminished of late. That eminent statesman Lord Palmer- jston, in the course of his eloquent speech to his consti- [tuents at Tiverton, on 24th September 1851, after stating that great strides had been made, during the last tv/elve months in particular, towards its suppression, proceeds thus — '* There is every prospect, I think I may say, that our long-continued labours and great sacrifices may at length be crowned with glorious sue' cess. We have succeeded in inducing the Government of Brazil, which was the great culprit of late, to alter its course, and to go in the way of ; justice as far as it has been able to do. I do not mean to say that we ought to be so confident of its repentance as to entirely trust to its spontaneous exertions — the thing requires that we should be watchful and active— but the import to Brazil has dwindled down to next to nothing ; and that which is equally important is, that on the coast of Africa legitimate trade is taking the place of slave trade, and that the natives, to do them justice (with the single exception of some of their chiefs, who derive great profits from it), the people of Africa, when you come to look at it, arc as repug- nant to the slave trade as we are — they are the victims of it. (Hear, hear.) C 50 SOUTH AMERICA. 1 1 ) li h ■ They want European oommoditiea— they want our Sheffield and Birming- ham and Manchester gooda. They have been told hitherto—* If you want thom you must pay for them in human flesh and blood ;' and,human flesh and blood were produced. Now they are told—' Pay us in palm oil, and ground nut, and cotton, and ivory, and gold dutt ; and they say — * We would much rather pay in these than in flesh and blood— here is our palm oil, our cot* ton, our gold-dust, and give us your goods, and let us have the satisfaction of paying in these things.' " Should it so happen that the Brazilian Government it- self should at length cordially co-operate with us in abo- lishing the slave trade, it would verify the saying of that eminent statesman Edmund Burke, who declared that the slave trade could only be suppressed in the country where it ended — that was to say the country into which slaves were imported. Lord Palmerston's statement in regard to the diminu- tion of the slave trade betwixt Africa and Brazil is con- firmed by the following Return presented to the House of Commons, in March 1852, of the number of slaves em- barked on the coast of Africa, and landed in Cuba and Brazil during the ten years prior to 1852. CUBA. BRAZIL. YEAB. 1 NUMBEB. YEAB. IfUMBEB. 1842, . 1843, . 1844, . 1845, . 1846, 1847, 1848, . 1849, 1850, 1851, 3,630 8,000 10,000 1,300 419 1,450 1,500 8,700 3,600 5,000 1842, . . 1843, . . 1844, . 1845, . 1846, . 1847, . 1846, . 1849, . 1850, . 1851, . 17,435 19,095 22,849 19,453 60,324 56,172 60,000 54.000 23,000 3,287 SOUTH AMERICA. 51 Lord Palmerston's remarks are also amply corroborated by the able work of the Rev. J. Leighton Wilson, an American missionary at the Gaboon river, west coast of Africa, published in London in 1851, and entitled " The British Squadron on the Coast of Africa." This gentleman had passed twenty years of his life upon the African coast, and on learning that a committee of the House of Commons had given an opinion In favour of withdrawing the British squadron from the coast of Africa, he drew up this paper in order to show by the unbiassed experience of one apart from English prejudices, what has been the real effect of the policy of England ; and hoped that the honest testi- mony of a foreigner, and especially of a citizen of the United States, to the success of the British squadron, might not be without effect in assisting to disabuso the public mind of this country as to the alleged failure of our repressive efforts, and the impossibility of extinguishing the slave trade. Mr Wilson wrote this paper in April 1850, and r«jfers only to the report of the Committee of the House of CJom- roons, and had not heard of its being afterwards rejected by a large majority of the whole House. The Lords' Report was agreed to a few days before the MS. reached England, and the remarkable coincidence of the result of his experience with the conclusions of their Lordships, derived from the evidence before them, is worthy of the gravest consideration. The Select Committee appointed by the House of Lords in 1851 to consider the best means which Great Britain can adopt for the final extinction of the African slave-trade, after a full examination of all the evidence brought before them, expressed the following opinion : I. The past efficiency of the cruising squadron has been greatly under* talued. 2, That its cost has been much exaggerated. 3. That with pro< c2 ill il'l !'■' :i'l ill ■ ■:il( ' il i| I, k:. Ill 1 1 iW 52 SOUTH AMERICA. per precautions, it is not an unhealthy serTice. 4. That to withdraw the cruisers in part, and to administer a regulated slaxe trade (as has been sug. gested), would be impossible of execution, no material saving of the cost of the present system, and utterly at variance with every past profession of Great Britain on this subject since she abolished the British slave trade. 5. That against the present cost of the squadron should be set the advan* tage of nourishing and maintaining a valuable and increasing lawful trade, -/vhich must be utterly extirpated if the cruisers were withdrawn, and which might be developed to an unlimited extent if the slave trade were suppressed. 6. That to abandon the suppression of the trade, to which, in the face of the whole civilized world, Great Britain is solemnly and repeatedly pledged, would be a fatal blow to her national honour. In regard to the expense of keeping up the squadron, it was proved by a return to the committee that it amounted only to £250,000 per annum. The great unhealthiness arose from going at one time up the rivers, which they do not do now. Mr Wilson maintains that the share which Great Bri- tain had taken in promoting this nefarious trade made it obligatory upon her to do something to redress these wrongs ; while her prominence among the great Christian nations of the earth made it entirely proper that she should be the pioneer in rescuing Africa from this terrible scourge. Previous to the period when this traffic was declared to be illegal by the British Parliament and the Govern- ment of the United States, it was carried on very much in the same way as lawful trade is at the present time. Ves- sels which came out for slaves ran the coast down, touch- ing at all the principal native settlements, and purchasing such slaves as were offered for sale, until their cargoes were completed. In some cases whole cargoes were col- lected by kidnapping the natives who came off in their canoes to trade, and sometimes by capturing other slave- vessels that had completed their cargoes, and were ready to sail, but had not the means of self-defence. Besides, SOUTH AMERICA. 63 >rithdraw the ^^B asbMbeensug. |^B g of tbe cost of ^H t profession of JjH isb slave trade. f^M set tbe adran- ^^^B ig lawful trade, ^^B awn, and which ^^H ere suppressed. WKm , in tbe face of '^Km iatedly pledged, .^R squadron, it M it amounted B ihealthiness fm lich they do ^ Great Bri- ^ ide made it fv4 there were a few points along the coast occupied hy the Brit'sh, as well as other European governments, intended to facilitate the same trade. In this way the whole coast, from Senegal to Benguela, was, less or more voluntarily or involuntarily, implicated in this trade. When the trade became illegal, however, it was banished from most of the European settlements ; and the Spaniards, Portuguese, and others, who determined to persist in it, notwith- standing its illegality, had to adopt a new mode of opera- tions. They could no longer perform their usual voyages along the coast without multiplying the chances of being seized as prizes, and having their property confiscated. It became necessary, therefore, to erect barracoons on those parts of the coast where slaves could be collected with the greatest ease and in the largest numbers ; and at the ap- pointed time the vessels returned and took away these slaves without being detained on the coast more than 24 hours. The points thus occupied at one time could not have been less than fifty. The English had never any treaties with the Spanish, Portuguese, or Brazilian go- vernments, that would authorise them to destroy these barracoons. Hence they were compelled to do what they could, by guarding the coast, and seizing slave vessels in the vicinity of these barracoons. But as the number of the places occupied by the slave trade greatly exceeded the number of cruizers employed to watch them, and were seldom less than 100 miles apart, it will readily be seen that the cruizers had a difficult task to perform, and the frequent escape of slavers was inevitable. At the same time the profits of the trade were so great, that the escape of a single slaver would cover the loss of three captures. Notwithstanding all these disadvantages, such have been the diligence and activity of the officers of the squad- ron, that they have forced this trade out of more than 54 SOUTH AMERICA. n" three-fourths of the strongholds which it once occupied. Let any one open the map of Africa and ascertain the places where slaves are now collected and shipped, and compare the number with what it was 25 years ago, and it cannot result in anything short of profound surprise. From Senegal, near the borders of the Great Desert, to Cape Lopez, a few miles south of the equator, a dis- tance coastwise of something like 2500 miles, there is now, with the exception of three factories on what is called the Slave Coast, no trade in slaves whatever. In fact, the trade, with the exceptions just made, is now confined to what is called the Congo country, in which there are not more than eight or ten points where slaves are collected, and from which they are shipped. If we add to these the three above mentioned, we have, on the whole coast, not more than twelve or fourteen ; whereas there were, even within the knowledge of the writer, nearly four times this number. We scarcely know how such results have been overlooked, and yet these are facts tliat cannot be denied. More than 200O miles of sea-coast, and that forming the frontier of the best and fairest portions of the African con- tinent, has been relieved from this unparalleled scourge ; and perhaps more than 20,000,000 of human beings, inte- riorwards, have been restored to comparative peace and happiness by the operations of the squadron along the coast. Lawful commerce, or trade in the natural products of the country, in opposition to the slave trade, owes its existence almost entirely to the presence and influence of the British squadron. Previous to the period when a check was given to the slave trade, the lawful commerce of Western Africa consisted of small quantities of gold dust, ivory, and bees' wax, chiefly from the Gold Coast and Senegambia, and did not amount annually to more SOUTH AMERICA. 55 than £20,000 sterling. The insignificance of this trade, however, did not arise from any poverty in the natural resources of the country at that time, for they were as considerable then as they are now, but to the influence of the slave trade. During the prevalence of this trade, the African seas were almost wholly given up to piracy. No vessels could carry on lawful trade without the con- stant liability of being plundered. If these vessels were armed for self-defence, as was a,*^^tempted in some few cases, the expense was so great that it consumed all the profits of the voyage. Another thing that operated equally to the disadvan- tage of lawful trade was, the fact that the natives of the country were so much engrossed in furnishing victims for the slave trade, that they had neither the time nor the taste for the tamer pursuits of cutting dye-wood or ma- nufacturing palm oil. Indeed, the excitement connected with capturing and selling slaves was always more con- genial to savage natures ; and had it not been for the obstacles interposed by the presence of the British squa- dron, we scarcely see how their attention could ever have been diverted from this to pursuits so different, and so much less congenial to their natural tastes. The presence of so many vessels of war has put an efiectual stop to all piracy on the coast ; and the impedi- ments thrown in the way of the slave trade have left the great majority of the natives of the country no other alter- native than to betake themselves to the peaceful pursuits of lawful commerce, or give up all intercourse with the civilised world. They chose the former, and we have the fruits of this choice in the unprecedented prosperity of their commerce. We do not pretend to give precise sta- tistics, but suppose it entirely safe to say that the annual exports from Western Africa to the present time, cannot ■If 56 SOUTH AMERICA. !» i!;i. r i ! I be less than £2,000,000 sterling, whilst there is every reason to believe that it will treble itself in the next twenty- years, if it be only protected until it has struck its roots a little deeper in the soil of Africa. No less than 70 British palm oil ships arrived at Liverpool alone during 1S51. Still, however, we do not attach so much importance to this trade, on account of its present value, as we do to what it is capable of becoming, and is likely to become, if the agency which called it into existence be not prema- turely snatched away. There is no reason to doubt that palm oil will, in a few years, become one of the largest branches of commerce in the whole world. It can be produced to an almost unlimited extent, and the demand for it hitherto has always been equal to the amount pro- duced. Palm oil, however, is only one of a great variety of other products of the country, equally as valuable and capable of quite as much augmentation. In connection with such commercial results, present, past, and prospective, we do not see how the importance of tbr? squadron on the coast of Africa can well be exag- gerated. Regarded merely in a selfish point of view, England will be repaid (and that, perhaps, at no distant day) for every dollar she has expended upon this enter- prise, not only in the market she will have created in Africa for her manufactures, but likewise in the immense amount of valuable products that will be brought to her own shores from that country. But if these results acquire importance in connection with commercial enterprise, how must they appear when contemplated in the light of hu- manity ! We cannot contemplate this sudden and won- derful development of commerce in any other light than as one of those efficient agencies employed by Providence, not only to raise up Africa from the lowest depths of m are tl ■A # m 1^ SOUTH AMERICA. 51 savagisro, but to place her on a footing of respectability with the most favoured nations of the earth. And if this be a sober inference from the improvement already taken place, who will grudge the price of her deliverance ? Another object of importance effected by the squadron is the protection it has afforded to the various European and American settlements that have been formed along the coast. Of these, eight are English, seven are French, four belong to the Liberian Republic, two are Dutch, and one belongs to Denmark. Portugal has possession of most of the islands, but has only one settlement on the mainland. Of these settlements Sierra Leone and Liberia are the largest in point of population. The former re- ceives its accessions from the slaves that are recaptured by the British squadron, and contains a population of 60,000. The latter receives its accessions by emigra-> tions of free, coloured people, and emancipated slaves from I the United States, and has a population of 6000. Liberia in 1847 assumed the character of an independent Re- public ; whilst Sierra Leone, with a population ten times as great, continues the relationship of a colony to Great Britain. Natives are drawn from a great distance in the interior to these settlements, for the purpose of exchanging the products of the country for the manufactures of Europe ; whilst the traders themselves are employing a considerable number of coasting craft for the purpose of extending their commerce along the coast as well as in the interior. But these settlements, which promise so much for the future welfare of Africa, have always had, and still need, the protection of foreign governments. There are few, if any of them, that could withstand the combinations of hostile natives that would be formed against them, espe- cially when they were instigated and supported by Spanish :i !■!': II i 1 1 j ! il 58 30UTI1 AMERICA. and Portuguese slave traders. Foreign residents, all along the coast, are perfectly aware of this ; and there is no- thing that would be more heartily deprecated by them than the premature withdrawal of the squadron. It is not supposed that they will always continue in this de- pendent condition. The time will doubtless come when they will need no such aid. But those who have allowed themselves to be persuaded that they have already acquired sufficient strength to protect themselves, or depend upon them to do anything effective in putting down tbe slave trade without the co-operation of the squadron, will find out ere long that they have leaned upon a broken reed. All that has been said in relation to the importance of the squadron in developing the commercial resources of the country, and in promoting tbe cause of civilization, may be applied with equal force to the countenance it has lent to the cause of missions, and it will readily be granted by all those who have reflected seriously on the subject, that Africa can never be restored to peace and happiness, or enjoy any high degree of internal prosperity, without the aid of Christianity. Tbe highest degree of civilization and commercial prosperity, even if they could be attained withou^ her assistance, would be but a doubt- ful boon. Christianity is capable of doing for her what no other agency ever can ; and the missionary societies, both of England and America, have addressed themselves to the task of giving her the gospel, with a degree of energy which promises the most cheering results. So long as the African seas were given up to piracy and the slave trade, and the aborigines kept in constant excitement and warfare, it was almost impossible either to have commenced or continued a missionary statiou on the coast. And the fact that there was none any- where between Sierra Leone and the Cape of Good SOUTH AMERICA. m Hope previous to the year 1832, shows that it was re- garded as impracticable. Christianity does not invoke the aid of the sword; but when she can be shielded from the violence of lawless men by the intervention of " the powers that be," or when the providence of God goes before and smooths down the waves of discord and strife, she accepts it as a grateful boon, and discharges her duty with the greater alacrity and cheerfulness. And whilst the missionaries cherish the conviction that their strength and reliance is in the unseen arm, there is, never- theless, no class of men on the coast of Africa who would regret the removal of the squadron with more heartfelt sorrow. In all these varied ways it does seem to us that the British squadron has rendered important service to the cause of humanity. It has put down piracy on the African seas ; has restored peace and tranquillity to a line of sea-eoast of more than 2000 miles ; has called into existence a large and flourishing commerce, and, at the same time, has thrown the shield of its protection over the cause of Christian missions, and all the varied agency that has been employed to promote the cause of humanity and civilisation among the benighted inhabitants of this great continent. If these great objects are not worthy of British philanthropy, we know not where to find those that are. The opinion has long been entertained by many sincere friends of Africa that, so long as the demand for slaves in Brazil is so great, it will be impossible to break up the slave trade by any forcible measures; whilst more re- cently, but from a different source, we have heard the opinion gravely expressed that the most certain and effec- tual way of breaking it up will be to let the Brazilians have unlimited access to the coast of Africa, and so glut 'II', !;,1; 6 i! I: III eo* SOUTH AMERICA. their own markets that slaves will become comparatively valueless. But who can tell how many slaves it will take to glut the market of Brazil ? The half of the population of the continent of Africa would scarcely be sufficient to sup* ply the demand that would spring up under such circum- stances. Treated as her slaves are, and as the Brazilians think it their interest to treat them, the time will never come when they will dispense with the necessity of fresh importations from the coast of Africa. But let her be forced to adopt a different line of policy in relation to the treatment of her slaves, and be made to rely upon the natural increase of those already in the country, and the time is not far distant when we may reasonably expect the Brazilians themselves to be utterly opposed to any further accessions to her slaves from the coast of Africa. There is in the southern parts of the United States a state of feeling, in relation to slavery, that we may expect to see in Brazil before the lapse of many years. However strenuous planters in the Southern States are in defend- ing the institutions of slavery, it would be difficult to find an individual among them that would consent tb receive a fresh cargo from the coast of Africa. And the thing which awakens more serious apprehensions in their minds about the stability of the institution than anything else is, the unparalleled increase of the slaves among them. This one thing makes it perfectly obvious to every man of re- flection, that it cannot be controlled for any considerable length of time to come ; and the engrossing inquiry now is, what shall we do with our slaves ? Let Brazil take the same care of her slaves, the result will be the same, and the inquiry will soon follow, not how we shall wring more slaves from the coast of Africa, but how we shall dispose of those we already have ? American missionaries are not so rapacious a set of SOUTH AMERICA. 61 paratlvely ill take to mlation of nt to sup< h circum- Brazllians wiW never y of fresh et her be ion to the upon the r, and the >ly expect ;d to any )f Africa. States a ay expect However in defend- iilt to find receive a the thing leir minds ig else is, em. This lan of re- isiderable [uiry now azil take :he same, all wring we shall a set of I f men as most of our missionaries. Shortly after I left New Zealand one of the Church of England missionaries set- tled there, gave in a claim to the .Government Commis- sioners on Land claims for 40,000 acres. On being in- quired into, it appeared that it was a tract of land for which two of the northern tribes had been quarrelling and fighting for some years. To put a stop to bloodshed he offered to become an arbitrator between them, and after examining into their respective claims, he declared both parties to have such equal rights that it was impossible to come to any decision ; so to prevent further trouble and settle the dispute, he told them that it would be better for all parties that he should take the disputed territory him- self. The Church of England missionaries in New Zealand gave in claims to land there to the amount of nearly 200,000 acres. The opinion expressed by the Select Committee of the House of Lords, namely, " that the past efficiency of the cruising squadron has been greatly undervalued," appears to be completely borne out by the fact, that whereas from 1820 to 1840, a period of 20 years, the British squadron had captured only 333 slave vessels; yet from 1840 to 1 850, it captured no less than 744 — thus shewing that in the space of 30 years the number of captures amounted to the almost incredible number of 1077. The opinion which the Committee of the House of Commons had previously given, seems to have arisen in some measure from the evidence laid before them in regard to the increased horrors of the middle passage, since the traffic became illegal, from the necessity of stowing the unhappy creatures in small vessels, and from the scanty supply of water, in order to escape the legal evidence of equipment. A most remarkable witness cited before them was Mr Ill i^i lii^-i I 1^ I -I 1 ll C2 SOUTH AMERICA. Jose Cliffe, M.D., a native of the United States, settled in the Brazils, and for some time engaged in the slave trade, who it seems had made large profits by the slave trade, and vi^hen he had sufficiently filled his pockets to afford a conscience, he felt such a repugnance to the suf« ferings and destruction of life pertaining to the odious traffic, that he abandoned it. Notwithstanding the tardi- ness of his morality, the postponement of his humanity to his fortunes, Mr Jose Cliffe is a very shrewd and not an ineloquent witness. What he has seen he describes for- cibly, and he has witnessed scenes of the most hideous and sickening barbarity, though he pronounces the slave trade the most lucrative one under the sun, yielding from one to three hundred per cent., slaves being generally bought in Africa for £5, and sold in Brazil for £75. Of the counteracting exertions of our gallant squadron, he says, " They are doing every thing that men can do, with the mistaken view of attempting an impossibility." In answer to the question whether, when packed " like her- rings in a barrel," they suffer from bruises, he states — ** When they are first put on board they do bruise ; but afterwards they become so emaciated, and are so light, that the bruising is very trifling." In reply to a question put by Mr Gladstone, as to the way of feeding the living cargoes packed closely in layers, lying on shelves, as it were, often only eighteen inches deep, Mr Jose Cliffe naively answered, ** If I were to speak the truth, it would be this: The vessels are so excessively offensive, that serving out the food is perhaps the greatest punishment to which you can put any person on board. There is some half-witted person whom they generally have almost on purpose for it, to pass the food round to them, and he is in such a hurry in doing it, that those who are nearest to one of the hatchways are more SOUTH AMEBICA es likely to get a double portion of food rather than that ho should go round the sides of the vessel, which is so ill ventilated that it produces a sickening effect upon him. He has to get upon a mass of filth, and almost upon a mass of living bodies at the same time, because they roll out, and take up everything that they can." The prison- ers far from the hatchway frequently do not get any por- tion of the rations. The ships upon their arrival are often in so horribly filthy a state as to be abandoned, left to rot, or to be taken by any who would or could accomplish the cleansing. In some instances convicts are compelled to clean them. Mr Cliffe thus describes the state of the prisoners at the end of the voyage : — " The knee bones appear almost like the head of a person ; from the arm you may slip your finger and thumb up, the muscular part is gone ; it is a mere bone covered with a bit of skin. A man takes them up in his arms and carries them out of the vessel ; they are not capable of walking. They could not stand, even if they were not so emaciated. The muscles have not the power of supporting them. The eye has lost its specu- lation ; it has an idiotic appearance — a leaden appearance It is almost like the eye of a boiled fish." Of course the interest of the slaver is to take all care for the recovery of the poor creatures, but many are too far gone to rally . Their sufferings from thirst may be vaguely inferreo from the fact that a negro will drink a gallon of water a- day in his natural condition, and when packed so closely that he cannot turn round unless all his fellow-sufferers turn too simultaneously, and with the temperature at 1 20, their allowance is so small, that Mr Cliffe shrinks from specifying it. '* It is too horrid almost to say." He has heard that a teacup-full once in thre© days will support life for thirty days! I i,i';''i ri' •4 SOUTH AMERICA. The Portuguese is the universal language of Brazil, and the slaves have all to acquire that language, as the different tribes of Africa speak so many different lan- guages that they seldom understand each other. Though slaves were imported into Brazil from almost all parts of Africa, yet the greater number came from the Gold Coast, and from a large province in the northern part of Africa called Negroland, on the river Niger, and hence the term Megro, or the vulgar epithet " Nigger," is frequently applied to the whole of that race. The dif- ferent tribes there were governed by numerous petty chiefs, who were frequently at war with one another, like the New Zealanders of old ; and it was chiefly those taken prisoners on both sides who were sold for slaves. Dun- can in his Travels in Western Africa, says, (vol i. p. 115,) ** The price of slaves (owing to the suppression of the slave trade,) is very high, consequently the kings and chiefs in the interim go annually on a two or three months' slave-hunt, which they call a war. The result of this hunt is, of course, the capture of a number of slaves, who are sold at a high price to the white men, which is an encour- agement to the kings in the interior to follow up these annual hunts." Sometimes, however, the nearest of kin sold each other, and parents occasionally sold both them- selves and their children in a time of scarcity in order to escape starvation. Wilde, in his interesting travels, con- firms this statement, as in his description of the slave- market at Grand Cairo in Egypt, he says,^ — ** We next visited the slave-market, which is here of great extent. Within was a large open court, which contained the better class of slaves, who were all Abyssinian girls, from ten to eighteen years of age, with a yellowish olive complexion, long straight noses, handsome features, tall, light, and elegant figures, and particularly melting black eyes. Most SOUTH AMERICA. I ,1 of these girls have been either kidnapped by the slave- dealers, or sold by their own friends for a few trinkets." These are generally purchased for the Turkish harems, or for concubines to the shopkeepers or wealthy Arabs, at the rate of about 100 dollars each, and many of them afterwards get married to their masters and become ex- cellent wives. Till of late years the obtaining of slaves in Africa was the cause of tremendous internal wars. The strong as- saulted and captured the weak ; often, in order to obtain young persons, the whole of the remainder of a little na- tion, men, women, and children, were massacred, and the face of the country covered with desolation. The com- pensation for these evils consisted in ardent spirits, tawdry silk dresses, and paltry necklaces of beads. Denham, the African traveller, says that on one occasion 20,000 negroes were killed for 16,000 carried away as slaves. On the march to the coast, the captured wretches experienced dreadful cruelties, and died in great numbers. M. Men- dez, the author of a learned treatise on the mortality of negro slaves, states that nearly a half of those captured died before reaching the coast. At Obeid alone, 6000 human beings were annually dragged into slavery, and that at the cost of 2000 more, who were killed in the capture. The king of Durfur also imported for sale yearly 8000 or 9000 slaves, a fourth of whom usually died during the fatigues of a forced march, being compelled, by the scarcity of provisions, to hurry forward with all speed. In vain the exhausted wretches supplicated for one day's rest ; they had no alternative but to push on, or be left behind a prey to the hungry jackals and hyaenas. When the slave-trade was not forbidden, the vessels employed to carry the slaves from Africa to the colonies. 66 SOUTH AMERICA. not being under any fear of confiscation, were built on a principle of capacity, and the ordinary allowance of room was comparatively liberal. British vessels, of 150 tons and under, were not allowed to carry more than five men to every three tons. Now, from the danger of seizure, slave-vessels are built on a principle of quick sailing, and the space allowed for the slaves is so small that they are forced to lie between the decks almost as closely packed aR herrings in barrels, or even in the most favourable cases are stowed away in places not above three feet in height, sitting between each other's legs, and packed so closely together, that there is no possibility of their lying down, or changing their position by night or day. The disgust- ing filth and misery, the sickness and mortality, which re- sult from these arrangements, are dreadful. Formerly, one-fourth was calculated to be the amount of loss of life on the voyage ; now a slaver considers himself fortunate if he retain a half, and often, when chased, scruples not to lighten the vessel by throwing a number of them over- board. It was calculated by the late Sir T. F. Buxton some years ago, that the loss of life in the seizrre, march, de- tention on the coast, the voyage, and in seasoning, amount- ed in all to 145 per cent. In other words, out of ?very 245 slaves carried away from Africa, 145 died or were killed before reaching the place of their final destination. SOUT;t AMERICA. 67 The total annual loss to Africa he makes out to be not much less than half a million ; and he adds, ** Even this is but a part of the total evil. The great evil is, that the slave-trade exhibits itself in Africa as a barrier, excluding every thing which can soften, or enlighten, or civilise, or elevate the people of that vast continent. The slave- trade suppresses all other trade, creates endless insecu- rity, kindles perpetual war, banishes commerce, know- ledge, social improvement, and, above all, Christianity, from one quarter of the globe, and from 100,000,000 of mankind." When well treated, as they generally are, the slaves in Brazil who have been imported from Africa, soon lose much of their attachment to their native country. Dun- can in his Travels in Western Africa, during the years 1845 and 1846, mentions that several returned or liberated slaves, whom he had met in his travels in that country, declared that they had spent their happiest days at Bahia, in the empire of Brazil. Indeed, if they have 1 en long removed from it, few think of returning, even alter they have purchased their freedom, which they are allowed to do, and most of them no doubt, the moment they have amassed suflBcient funds, avail themselves of this permis- sion. Should their master demand an unreasonable sum from them, they have it in their power to refer the price to a tribunal, constituted partly for that purpose by the laws of that country — the master being obliged to take whatever sum the court awards. Slaves in the country have seldom an opportunity of amassing as much as will purchase their freedom, but in towns it is otherwise. At Bs.Iiia and Rio de Janeiro, their owners, among whom there are many free blacks, who had even been slaves themselves, occasionally hire them out, both the male and female slaves, as people in Europe do horses and mules, f. 68 SOUTH AMERICA. when they have no employment for them themselves ; but what is more common, they adopt the same plan as the owners of hackney coaches and cabs in London, namely, they make them give them a certain sum daily, and allow them to appropriate all above that to their own use. One shilling per day of our money may be considered as about the sum usually exacted from a male slave ; and as thay often make two, and even three, they soon become rich if they are strong, steady, and active, and in general they are very sober, seldom tasting any thing stronger than a very palatable drink, composed of vinegar, sugar, and water, almost equal in my opinion to lemonade. Pork is the chief meat used in Brazil, as is also beef, but mutton is never seen in the markets of Rio or Bahia, as the Brazilians seem to have as great a prejudice to it as the Jews to pork. Mutton, however, is occasionally pur- chased at Rio and Bahia by Europeans, for whose use alone it is killed. SOUTH AMERICA. 69 CHAPTER V. History of the Slave Trade — Importation of Negroes into Virginia — Mohammed Ali's slare bunts — Difference between Christian and Mobam* medan Slavery— Abolition of the Slave Trade — Difference between that and the Abolition of Slavery — Horrible Narrative by the Be v. P. G. Hill. Slavery is coeval nearly with the creation, having ex- isted in the days of the Jews, and amongst the ancient Egyptians, Greeks, and Romans, the three most civilized nations of antiquity. Dr Keith in his " Evidences of Prophecy," says that in these days slaves were far more numerous than freemen, even where liberty prevailed the most. The rich citizen of Rome, at the commencement of the Christian era, possessed slaves of all nations, filling appropriate offices in his establishment ; and out of this promiscuous system of slavery arose the form of slavery with which we in modern times are best acquainted — Negro slavery. Negroland or Nigritia is that part of the interior of Africa stretching from the great desert on the north to Cailreland on the south, and from the Atlantic on the west to Abyssinia on the east. In fact, the entire interior of this great continent may be called the land of the negroes. The ancients distinguished it from the com- paratively civilized countries lying along the coasts of the m ' iter I 70 SOUTH AMERICA. Mediter. anean and the Red Sea, by calling the latter Libya, and the former Ethiopia. It is upon Ethiopia in an especial manner that the curse of slavery has fallen. At first, as we have already said, it bore but a share of the burden ; Britons and Scythians were the fellow-slaves of the Ethiopian ; but at last all the other nations of the earth seemed to conspire against the Negro race, agree- ing never to enslave each other, but to make the blacks the slaves of all alike. Thus, this one race of human beings has been singled out, whether owing to the acci- dent of colour, or to their peculiar fitness for certain kinds of labour, for infamy and misfortune ; and the abolition of the practice of promiscuous slavery in the modern world was purchased by the introduction of a slavery con- fined entirely to negroes. The nations and tribes of negroes in Africa, who thus ultimately became the universal prey of Europeans, were themselves equally guilty in subjecting men to perpetual bondage, and being thus in the habit of buying and selling each other, it soon became a custom for the negroes Hy- ing on the southern border of the great desert to sell their countrymen to the foreigners with whom they came in con- tact. Although the use of negroes as slaves by the Arabs may be said to have given the first hint of negro slavery to the Europeans, the latter are quite entitled to the credit of having found it out for themselves. The Por- tuguese were the first to set the example of stealing negroes ; they were the first to become acquainted with Africa. Till the fifteenth century, no part of Africa was known except the chain of countries on the coast of the Mediterranean and the Red Sea. But before the year 147C, the whole of the Guinea coast had been ex- plored. As early as 1434, Antonio Gonzales, a Portu- SOUTH AMERICA. Tl guese captain, landed on this coast, and carried away with him some negro boys, whom he sold to one or two Moorish families in the south of Spain, and from that day, it be- came customary for the captains of vessels landing on the Gold Coast, to carry away a few young negroes of both sexes. The labour of these negroes, being found valu- able, they soon came to form a part of the cargo, as well as gold, ivory and gum. The ships no longer went on voyages of discovery, but for profitable cargoes ; and the inhabitants of the negro villages along the coast, delighted with the beads, and knives, and bright cloths which they got in exchange for gold, ivory, and slaves, took care to have these articles ready for any ship that might land. Thus the slave trade, properly so called, began. America was discovered in 1492. The part of this new world which was first colonised by the Spaniards, consisted of those islands called the West Indies. When the Spaniards took possession of these islands, they employed the natives, or Indians, as they were called, to do all the heavy kinds of labour for them, such as carryinrj burdens, digging for gold, Szc. As early as 1503, a few negroes had been carried across the Atlantic ; and it was found that not only could each of these negroes do as much work as four Indians, but that, while the In- dians were fast becoming extinct, the negroes were thriv- ing and propagating wonderfully. The plain inference was, that they should import liegroes as fast as possible ; and this was accordingly done. At first the Spani.^'-ds had all America to themselves ; and as it was in America that negro labour was in de- mand, tue Spaniards alone possessed large numbers of negroes. But other nations came to have colonies in America, and as negroes werj found invaluable in the foundation of a new colony ; other nations came also to T2 SOUTH AMERICA. lliT i : -I- 1 1 tS ' i iiei"'ii < EWitiiM I' t ii: V patronise the slave trade. The first recognition of the trade by the English goTernment was in 1562, in the reign of Elizabeth, when an act was passed legalising the part of their cargo. It was in the year 1616 that the first negroes were imported into Virginia ; and even then it was not an English slave-ship which supplied them, but a Dutch one, which chanced to touch on the coast with some negroes on board bo!md for the Spanish colonies. These negroes the Virginian planters purchased on trial ; and the bargain was found to be so good, that in a short time negroes came to be in great demand in Virginia. Nor were the planters any longer indebted to the chance visits of Dutch ships for a supply of negro labourers ; for the English merchants, vigilant and calculating then as they are now, immediately embarked in the traffic, and in- structed the captains of their vessels visiting the African coast to barter for negroes as well as wax and elephants' teeth. In a similar way the French, the Dutch, and all other nations of any commercial importance, came to be involved in the traffic, so that, before the middle of the seventeenth century the African slave trade was in full vigour ; and all Europe was implicated in the buying and selling of negroes. As an improvement on the former method of trading, the plan was adopted very early of planting small settlements of Europeans at intervals along the slave-coast, whose busi- ness it should be to negotiate with the negroes, stimulate them to activity in their slave-hunting expeditions, pur- chase the slaves brought in, and warehouse them until the arrival of the ships. These settlements were called slave factories, and were planted all along the western coast, from Cape Verd to the equator, by English, French, Dutch, and Portuguese traders — that of Cape Coast Castle being the principal establishment of the English ; SOUTH AMERICA. T8 and eacli company was in the practice of annually sending a certain number of ships to its respective establishments, freighted with European goods suitable for traffic ; while its factors in Africa had, in the meantime, been collecting slaves, ivory, gum-arabic, and other productions of the country ; so that the vessels on their arrival suffered no detention, but always found a return cargo ready for them. In 1794, the king of the southern Foulahs, a powerful tribe in Nigritia, was known to have had an army of 10,000 men constantly employed in these slave-hunting expeditions into his neighbours' territories. The slaves they procured made the largest item in his revenue. While a wholesale deportation of slaves from Central Africa was actively organised and conducted in order to supply the American market. Nubia and some other dis- tricts were equally laid under contribution for slaves by Egyptian and Turkish invaders. The main difference ! e- tween the two trades was, that while the Europeans gene- rally bought slaves after they had been captured, the less fastidious Turks captured slaves for themselves, and the slave markets of the Levant have long been supplied in this manner. Mohammed Ali, the late ruler of Egypt, brought this system of plundering to a high degree of per- fection; Nubia being his principal slave-preserve, into which he permitted no intruder with similar objects to his own. Mohammed's slave-hunts were conducted on a grand scale ; the expeditions taking place annually after the rainy season, with as much regularity as the collecting of a tax. So soon as they arrived at the nearest mountains in Nubia, the inhabitants were asked to give the appointed number of slaves as their customary tribute. This was usually done with readiness, being well aware that, by an obstinate refusal, they exposed themselves to far greater D 74 SOUTH AMERICA. sufferings. If given without resistance, tlie inhabitants of that mountain were preserved from the liorrors of an attack. But if the sheik did not yield to the demand, an attack was made upon the village. The cavalry and bearers of lances surrounded the whole mountain, the in- fantry climbed the heights, and the village was at last taken in spite of the most desperate resistance, when the revenge that followed was horrible. When slaves to the number of 500 or GOO were ob- tained, they were sent to Lobeid, with an escort of country people, and about fifty soldiers, under the command of an officer. In this way, the men carrying the sheba, which is a young tree about 8 feet long hung round their necks to prevent escape, the boys tied together by the wrists, the women and children walking at liberty, and the old and feeble tottering along leaning on their relations, the whole of the captives are driven into Egypt, there to be exposed for sale in the slave-market. Thus negroes and Nubians are distributed over the East, through Persia, Arabia, India, &e. It is to be observed, then, that there have been two distinct slave trades going on w ith Africa — the slave trade on the west coast, for the supply of America and the Euro- pean colonies, which is the one we are best acquainted w ith ; and the slave trade on the north-east, for the supply of Egypt, Turkey, and the East. The one may be called the Christian, the other the Mohammedan slave trade. We have been accustomed to interest ourselves so much in the western or Christian slave trade, that we are apt to forget that the other exists. But the fact is, that while the one trade has been legally abolished, the other is carried on as vigorously as ever. A traffic in negroes isj at present going on between Negroland and the whole of the East, as well as the semi- Asiatic countries of Africa. SOUTH AMEIllCA. 75 While it is illegal for a European to carry away a negro from the Guinea coast, negroes are bought and sold daily in the public slave-markets of Cairo and Constantinople. The Mohammedans treat their negroes with more kind- ness than the Christians do. In the cast it is customary to hear a poor wretch boast that he is a slave, and not a servant. And there is this difference to be observed be- tween the slavery of the east and the slavery of the west, that whereas in the west the negroes are the only slaves known, it is not so in the east. In the east there are slaves of all countries, Asiatics as well as Africans ; as was the case in Greece, Rome, and other countries of the anciiMit world. To return to the western slave trade, with whose his- tory we are most concerned. About the year 1750 this trade was carried on with extraordinary vigour. All the great nations had factories or negro warehouses on the Guinea coast, and ships of all nations came periodically to carry off their valuable cargoes. It is impossible to arrive at any exact conclusion as to the number of negroes annually carried off by the traders of various nations about this lime ; but there is every reason to believe that during the two centuries, from 1650 to 1850, Africa must have been defrauded of a population equal in numbers to that of the British islands, or nearly 30,000,000. And it was not a mere experiment in emigration that these poor negroes were undergoing for the sake of a country over- burdened with population ; they were torn from Africa, not because Africa was tired of them, and desired to spew them forth — instead of that, Africa could have received the whole of Europe, and never felt the difference, its vegetation is so rank, its fertility so inexhaustible, its streams so full of fish, its forests so stocked with game but they were torn awav to be the drudges of the white D 2 u SOUTH AMERICA. I i; races, wherever tlicy chose to take them. The principal slave importing places were the West Indian islands, the British colonies in North America, Brazil, and other set- tlements in South America. So much has the demand for slaves been confined to America, that it may be said that, but for the discovery of America, negro slavery would never have existed. Negro slavery was a device struck out in a bold and unconscientious age to meet a great emergency. When Europe, as we have seen, had discovered the new world with all its riches, and found that the aborigines there were useless as labourers, and were fast disappearing broken-hearted into their graves, pro- voked at so untoward an occurrence, she looked about in no very scrupulous mood, for some other population less delicately framed, whom she might compel to help her through the crisis. Her eye lighted on the brawny figure of the negro, and the whole difficulty vanished. Here was the individual that had been specially designed to dig in mines, and work in sugar plantations. What so con- venient as to use the old continent for the purpose of sub- jugating the new ! Having sketched the origin and progress of the slave trade, and presented an idea of its extent, we have now to trace the history of its nominal abolition. In England, about the year 1765, the case of a poor negro, whom his master had cast adrift in London, at- tracted the notice of the benevolent Granville Sharpe. Led by this case to take up the cause of the negroes in general, Mr Sharpe, by persevering in making public all instances of the sale or seizures of negroes in London, drew from the bench in 1772 the famous decision, that '* when a slave puts his foot on English ground he is free." What could be done for the negroes, became now a sub- ject of conversation among educated people. SOUTH AMKUICA. i I >> In 1783 Bishop Porteous made tho slave trade the sub- ject of a pubHc sermon ; and in 1 185 Dr Pickard pro- posed the ahive trade as the subject of a prize essay at Cambridge. The prize was gained by Thomas Clarkson, who, from that day, devoted liis Hfe to tlie abolition of slavery. We do not suppose that any other prize essay ever did as much. Besides Clarkson, there was another individual, of whose mind the subject took a deep hold. This was William Wilberforcc, whose annual motion for the abolition of the slave trade was carried in the House of Commons in 1804, but the Lords threw it out. At this time there was such an increase in the number of slaves imported in British ships, owing to the capture of the Dutch colonies, that the nation became indignant, and would have no more delay. Accordingly, in 1805, the importation of slaves into the new colonies was prohibited ; next year the slave trade with foreign countries was also abolished; and in 1807 came the climax. The bill for the total abolition of the British slave trade on and after the 1st of January 1808 received the royal assent on the 25th of March 1807. The slave trade was also abolished by the Congress of the United States on the same day, 1st January 1808. Meanwhile the example and the diplomatic influence of Great Britain were rousing the governments of other countries. Ere long all the foreign powers imitated Great Britain in prohibiting the traffic to their subjects. Two of them went the length of making the traffic piracy, punishable with death, as England had ; namely, North America and Brazil. By a convention between the British and Brazilian governments, signed at Rio de Janeiro on 26th November 1826, it was agreed that from and after 23d March 1830, the slave trade should cease, and be branded as piracy wherever it was carried on. 9, ^0. V] vl A / :^ ^> /A IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 li^lM 12.5 |: 1^ -B4 i I.I 2.2 2.0 Hiotographic Sciences Corporation Zi 1 1.25 1.4 ||l.6 ^ 6" ► #' N^ \ iV \\ rv 6^ '-^^^l* 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716) 872-4503 i ^ >v ;\ \ ^ V- Il I a m 78 SOUTH AMERICA. The Brazilians made a desperate effort to import as many slaves as possible prior to this eventful period. Into Rio alone they imported, during 1828, 43,555, and in 1829 no less than 52,600. The rest did not go quite so far, but all of them made the traffic illegal, and, with the excep- tion of the United States, have agreed to what is called the mutual right of search ; that is, each agreed to per- mit its ships to be searched at sea by the ships of the others, so as to detect any slaves who may be on board. And at this day a line of British cruisers is stationed along the African coast, to chase and capture slave vessels. It is necessary here to remind ouv readers, that the abolition of the slave trade, and the abolition of slaver?/, are two distinct things. It was not till 1833 that Great Britain abolished slavery in her colonies. Other states, though they have abolished the slave trade, or declared the importation of any more negroes from Africa to be illegal, have not abolished slavery ; that is, emancipated the negro population already formed. In the United States, for instance, to import any more negroes from Africa is piracy by the law ; but at the same time slavery exists in full force in the southern states ; negroes are bought and sold, and marched in droves from one state into another. It is important, then, to bear in mind that the abolition of the slave trade is a different thing from the abolition of slavery. The British government, in abolish- ing slavery, has in effect laid down the proposition, that no human being has a right to enslave another ; the govern- ment, of the United States, in stopping short at the pro- hibition of the slave trade, has only said, '* We can do with the negroes we have, and we don't need any more." To import negroes from Africa is now, therefore, an illegal act by the law of all civilised nations. Some states still keep up slavery, but all have abolished the slave SOUTH AMKKICA. 79 traffic with Africa. Those nations, accordingly, which do keep up slavery, such as Cuba, Brazil, and the United States, are supposed to breed all the slaves they require within their own territories out of the existing slave popu- lation, and not to receive any ship-loads from Africa. But is such the fact in Cuba or Brazil ? Africa, however, loses far more than America gains, as, for every ten negroes whom Africa parts with, America receives only three ; the other seven die. This enormous wastage may be divided into three portions — the wastage in the journey from the interior of Negroland to the coast, the wastage in the passage across the Atlantic, and the wastage in the process of seasoning after landing. The first is estimated at one-half of the original number brought from the interior, the second at one-fourth of the number shipped, and the third at one-fifth of the number landed. In other words, if 400,000 negroes are collected in the interior of x\frica, then of these one- half will die before reaching the coast, leaving only 200,000 to be shipped ; of these one-fourth will die on the passage across the Atlantic, leaving only 150,000 to be landed ; and of these one-fifth will die in the process of seasoning, leaving only 120,000 available for labour in America. This is, how- ever, more than twice as large as the wastage which took place under the legal traffic, for whereas now it requires 400,000 Africans to give America 120,000 available negro labourers, it would only have required 250,000 to do so while the traffic was legal. While the trade was legal the ships designed for carrying slaves were in a great measure constructed like other vessels ; though, in order to make the cargo as large as possible, the negroes were packed very closely together, and the number which a vessel was allowed to carry was fixed by law. British vessels of 150 ! f' r , .{WJ p 80 SOUTH AMERICA. tons and under were not to carry more than five slaves to every three tons of measurement. But in order to escape the British cruisers, all slave ships now are built on the principle of fast sailing. The risk of being captured takes away all inducement, from mere selfish motives, to make the cargo moderate ; on the contrary it is an object now for the slaver to make use of small vessels, in order to divide his ventures as much as possible, and to make the cargo as large as possible, for then the escape of one cargo out of three will amply repay him. Accordingly, the negroes now are packed in the slave ships literally (and this is the comparison always used) like herrings in a barrel. They have nei- ther standing room., nor sitting room, nor lying room, and as for change of position during the voyage, the thing is impossible. They are cooped up anyhow, squeezed into crevices, or jammed up against the curved planks. The height between decks is frequently only 18 inches, so that the only possible posture is on the side. Lastly, it has been proved that, in too many cases, the condition of the negroes at sea is far from being improved when the slaver falls into British hands. In confirmation of this we may refer to the pamphlet published by the Rev. Pascoe Grenfell Hill, entitled " Fifty Days on Board a Slave Vessel, in April and May 1843." The Progresso, a Brazilian slaver, was captured on the 12th of April, on the coast of Madagascar, by the British cruiser Cleopatra, on board of which Mr Hill was chaplain. The slaver was then taken charge of by a British crew, who were to navi- gate her to the Cape of Good Hope. Mr Hill, at his own request, accompanied her, and his pamphlet is a narrative of what took place during the fifty days which elapsed be- fore their arrival at the Cape. We cannot here quote way, SOUTH AMERICA. 81 the details of the description of the treatment of the ne- groes given by Mr Hill ; but the following account of the horrors of a single night will suffice. Shortly after the Progress© parted company with the Cleopatra, a squall arose, and the negroes, who were breathing fresh air on the deck, and rolling themselves about for glee, and kiss- ing the hands and the clothes of their deliverers, were all sent below. »» *• The night," says Mr Hill, " being intensely hot, 400 wretched beings thus crammed into a hold twelve yards in length, seven in breadth, and only three and a half feet in height, speedily began to make an eft'ort to re-issue to the open air. Being thrust back, and striving the more to get out, the after-hatch was forced down on them. Over the other hatchway, in tlio fore-part of the vessel, a wooden grating was fastened. To this, the solo inlet for the air, the suffocating heat of the hold made them press ; and thus great part of the space below was rendered useless. They crowded to the grating, and clinging to it for air, completely barred its entrance. They strove to force their way through apertures in length fourteen inches, and barely six inches in breadth, and in some instances succeeded. The cries, the heat, I may say without exaggeration, ' the smoke of their torment.* which ascended, can be compared to nothing earthly. One of the Spaniards gave warning that the consequence would be ' many deaths.' Next day the prediction of the Spaniard was fearfully verified, as fifty-four crushed ami mangled corpses were lifted up from the slave deck, brought to the gang- way, and thrown overboard. Some were emaciated from disease, many bruised and bloody, and some were found strangled, their hands still grasp- ing each other's throats, in the hopes of procuring room to breathe, and their tongues protruding from their mouths. The bowels of one were crushed out. They had been trampled to death for the most part, the weaker under the feet of the stronger, in the madness and torment of sufTucation from crowd and heat. Some, still quivering, were laid on the deck to die ; salt water thrown on them to revive them, and a little fresh water poured into their mouths. Antonio reminded me of his last nigiit's warning. He actively employed himself, with his comrade Sebastian, in attendance on the wretched living beings now released from their confinement below ; dis- tributing to them their morning meal of farinha, and their allowance of water, rather more than half a pint to each, which they grasped with incon- ceivable eagerness, some bending their knees to the deck, to avoid the risk ■i (. 82 SOUTH AMERICA. ilt of losing any of the liquid by unsteady footing ; tlieir tliroats doubtless parched to the utmost with crying and yelling through the night. When the Progresso parted company with the Cleopa- tra, there were 397 negroes on board, of whom only 222 were landed at the Cape, no fewer than 175 having died. The crew escaped, there being no court empowered to try them at the Cape. Abundantly does the narrative of Mr Hill justify the bold sentence with which he concludes — " While we boast the name of Wilberforce, and the genius and eloquence which enabled him to arouse so ge- neral a zeal against the slave trade ; that trade, so far from being annihilated, is still carried on under circum- stances of greater atrocity than were known in his time, and the blood of the poor victims calls more loudly on us as the actual, though unintentional aggravators of their miseries." They often found the poor negroes impressed with the strongest terror at their deliverers. The slave dealers persuaded them that the English were cannibals, who only took them to eat them. When undeceived, their joy and gratitude were proportionately great. ! i H, f ill SOUTH AMLllICA. 83 CHAPTER VI. Misrepresentations and delu&ions practised upon the people of Great Britain in regard to slavery — Testimony of Captain Alexander — of Vin- cent Paradise— Of a Norwich Artizan — Of M. De Lamartino — Of Cald- cleugh — Of Gardner — Of the Kev. Dr "Walsh — Of the Quarterly Review — Disquisition on the *' Licitness of the Slave trade," by the Kev. II. Harris of Liverpool. Though I certainly have no desire to hold myself up as an advocate for slavery, yet I must confess that a great deal of delusion and misrepresentation has been practised upon the people of this country, and particularly upon the female part of it, by certain individuals, who, possessed of great natural eloquence, have been in the habit of going through the country haranguing the people, and raising a sort of hue and cry against this unfortunate though ancient practice. I have attended meetings in Edinburgh, and have seen a thousand ladies bathed in tears, at some of the scenes of cruelty represented to their view. And really, I could not wonder at it, as these tales of woe were got up and painted in such glowing colours as quite to get the better of their weak nerves. What I object to, how- ever, is their selecting with great care some solitary in- stances of cruelty practised by a few tyrannical masters or overseers, (and among so many we must expect to find some who are a disgrace to human nature,) and impressing the public with the notion that such is the universal treatment to which the whole of that unfortunate race are 84 SOUTH AMKKICA. MM subjected. They lead us to infer that tlie exception is the rule itself. Now I have no interest whatever in the matter but the cause of truth, and Ucfore thy saorcd altar, heavenly Truth, T kneel in monhood as I knelt in youth ; Thus let me kneel till this dull form decay, And life's last shade be brighten'd by thy ray ; Then shall my soul, now lost in clouds below, Soar without bound, without consuming glow. In the sacred cause of truth, therefore, I proclaim to the world that a more disreputable attempt to impose on the credulity of mankind than this was perhaps never made. I have now been in slave countries myself, I have read and heard all that can possibly be said on the subject ; and have been personally acquainted with some remarkably humane men who were slave owners, and I confidently assert that slaves in general, whatever may have been the case formerly, are now treated with a con- siderable degree of care and humanity. No doubt they are occasionally half-starved, and treated with great cruelty and barbarity, but these are the exceptions and not the rule itself. Slavery in any shape is bad enough, without polluting the fountain head of truth to make it appear worse. Captain Alexander in his travels in North and South America, says, — " One would have imagined, from the in- cessant outcry in England about ameliorating the condition of the black population in the colonies, that the negroes are in a very deplorable condition, emaciated, borne down with hard labour, badly fed, badly clothed, and sounds of suffering, and of the driver's whip every where heard. No such thing. The men were well clothed and well fed, — the negresses were decently clad in printed gowns, and there were no sounds but those of merriment." i.|.1' SOUTH AMERICA. 85 But perhaps the most convincing piout' of their heing well treated, is the testimony of the slaves themselves ; and of this we have a memorable instance in the case of the Grand Fancy Ball which was given by Vincent Para- dise on Christmas Eve, 1839. 3Ir Paradise was a black labourer, who had formerly been a slave on the estate of Mr Gladstone in British Guiana, in South America, and in addition to the other labourers on the estate, he in- vited all the gentlemen and ladies in the country round to his ball, which cost him L.300 sterling ; and did any one ever hear of a white labourer in this country having L.300, or even 300 pence to spend on a fancy ball ? Mr Mathieson took the chair at the supper table, and after drinking the Queen, which was received with accla- mation, Mr Paradise rose and returned thanks in her name, and as her representative, and I doubt much if ever her Majesty had a white representative who made a better speech. He spoke as follows : " Ladies and gentlemen, in the name of the labourers upon this estate, I will re- turn thanks for the health of her Majesty Queen Victoria. We all feel grateful for the gift of our freedom. I have been head man on Vreeden Hoop (the name of the estate,) in slavery time, in prentice time, and since free, and have always seen good men well treated ; and I do not think that good honest labourers, who were willing to work, were ever badly treated ; they might be by some masters, but not many." It is impossible to conceit " a more honest, candid confession than this, and that too from a slave who had just been emancipated. But I have it in my power to lay before you an equally strong testimonial from a white artizan of our own country. A public meeting was held in Norwich in October 1841, for the laudable purpose of propagating the gospel in foreign parts, at which the Lord Lieutenant l;-|; 8(5 SOUTH AMERrCA. of the county, Lord Wodehouso, presided. This meeting, in addition to a number of the clergy of the Church of England, and a large assembly of fashionable ladies and gentlemen, was attended also by a few of the sijualid and starving artizans of Norwich, who interrupted the meeting by calling out " more food and less bibles," and other similar exclamations, and on one of them crying out *' hand us 20 millions of money as you did for the slaves," the Rev. Mr Croft asked, " do you grudge the slaves their liberty ?" ** No," answered the chartist, *' but you try to enslave us," *• Upon this a man got upon a form and said— I was six years in the West Indies, between St Thomas and Barbadoes, and saw how the slaves ate and drank, and I do, standing here, say, so help me God, I would rather be a slave in the plantations than be as I am now. The men that had slaves had an interest in them, as their property, and that they should be able to do their work ; and five Englishmen would do as much in one day as twenty of them. — (Mr Croft, " With the whip.") Yes, with the whip. In the morning the whip did crack, certainly, as our bells ring; but after that there was a certain time allowed for them to get to their work ; and if they were after that time, they were not flogged, but the driver merely ran after them with the whip, and they might perhaps occasionally get a cut at them. Then when they were in the field they dug a square hole for four or perhaps six sugar canes; but they were always singing, and were merry. Now, what is the case with me ? I am a slave to the classes above me. I work hard and cannot get food for myself and children, and 1 have no one to own me or to care for me. Every one with %vhom I deal is en- deavouring to take all he can from me ; they have all an interest in cheating and not in feeding me ; and I therefore lie down on my pillow with an empty stomach. I am, therefore, %vhipped in the belly, while the black slave was only beaten on his fat back. " Hewett — I know a man who has only had five dinners since last Easter, and you cannot produce a person in that state." The Editor of the Leeds Timest from which journal I have selected this paragraph, after giving a detailed ac- count of this meeting, concludes with the following remark. '• Such is a scene between the peoi)le and their clergy, between the flock and their shearers. Surely this meeting ought to teach the clergy that at SOUTH A.MLUICA. .s7 least tliero is a great deal of work for tlicin to Jo at iioiui', l Gold mines ntipathy to 3 Slaves in r Plains of I with the ey use a 3p of it, e before given to ti of the lows the the cur- 1. This e streets ^lish and and fat and the in these in their for ten- oot from the ground, even though they were to stumble, you could not fall far. One of our passengers who had got rather hearty, stepped into one of them, and not being able to balance himself properly, tumbled out on the street, to the no small amusement of the slaves who were carrying him, and all those passing at the time. There are supposed to be a thousand of these cadeiras in Bahia; some of the higher classes keeping private ones of their own, so that you frequently meet cadeiras carried by two slaves dressed in livery. The cost of a cadeira is about L.20 sterling. The owners of them generally let them out to their slaves at a certain sum per day, allowing them to pocket as much more as they can, and this makes them very active, and occasionally somewhat importunate, as when they see a decent person walking they are apt to ask if he wants a cadeira; but withal they are remarkably civil and obliging. When well treated, as they are in general in Brazil, the slaves become very grateful and attached to their mas- ters. Mr Alexander Wilson, a Scotch gentleman, who had been a merchant there for many years, and whose hospitality I shall never forget, told me that a friend of his and a countrymen of our own, resident in Bahia, had a slave with him for many years, who said to him one day that he wished to purchase his freedom with the little money which he had saved. His master said that he had no objections, and named the sura he was willing to take, which the slave at once agreed to give. The master, however, stated that when free it would be necessary for him to leave his service, upon which the slave became quite dejected, saying that he had intended to remain with him as formerly, and that as he could not think of leaving him he must remain a slave, if that were the condition attached to his freedom. Having thus the money he had saved still to invest, he went and bought another slave — , j; I . IW. :»:»• •' 9(5 SOUTH AMERICA. that here was the singular circumstance of one slave being the master of another slave. This is a rare case, though there are numerous instances of slaves, when they become free, investing their spare money in the purchase of other slaves. In fact there are nearly as many negroes as whites interested in perpetuating the systematic bondage of their own countrymen ; and it is a singular fact, that both in Brazil and the United States of America, negroes who had been slaves, when they come to be slave- owners them- selves, almost invariably treat their slaves worse than the whites. Female owners of slaves are also proverbial in both countries for cruelty to their slaves. I observe that the same takes place in Cuba, as Walton in his work on the Spanish colonies says, " the females are often found more inexorable and severe to the slaves than the men." Though most of the slaves, no doubt, purchase their freedom so soon as they are able, yet there are some who prefer remaining in bondage and investing their money otherwise. They are apt to reason thus : It is better for us, they will say, to remain as we are, for in case of sick- ness or old age coming upon us our masters are bound to provide for us. And even though nominally free we would still be slaves in reality, and would have to work as hard as ever in order to obtain a livelihood, and if unable to find employment might be left to starve, whereas, when slaves, our master is obliged to keep us whether he has work for us or not, and provide for us moreover in our old age. Reasoning such as this throws all the logic of Locke, and Bacon, and even of Lord Brougham, with all his hor- ror of slavery, into the shade. Comparatively few of the slaves return to their own country after purchasing their freedom, and those who do are, it is said, not very happy, as they find every thing so much changed, and almost all their relatives and friends either dead or scattered abroad. SOUTH AMERICA. »r e being though become )f other roes as idage of at both )es who s thera- han the rbial in ve that i^ork on n found men." 5e their me who money tter for of sick- ound to e would as hard able to 3, when he has our old Locke, lis hor- lir own who do hing so friends The chief food of the slaves in Brazil consists of jerked beef, which is meat cut in stripes, and hung up to dry with little or no salt in it, and a species of vegetable called farinha, which is a sort of flour or meal ground from the mandioca. The root from which it is prepared re- sembles a parsnip. Mandioca meal is the great bread- fruit both of Africa and of South America, and for that reason is called farinha. When ground, it resembles coarse oatmeal, and they make it into a sort of porridge, on which I breakfasted one morning, and found it ex- tremely palatable. They frequently eat with their fingers, an instrument in use long before the invention of knives and forks. In this they are not singular, as Lamartine mentions in his travels in the Holy Land, having paid a visit to the commander-in-chief of a powerful Arabian King, who could raise within his dominions a million of Bedouin Arabs capable of bearing arms, who was in the habit of eating with his fingers, and laughed heartily when he saw Lamartine making use of a fork and spoon, merely remarking " that every nation believed its cus- toms to be the best possible, and each was therefore con- tent with its condition." Mr Lane in his excellent work on the manners and customs of the modern Egyptians, says in like manner, *' that the Turks have been led to imitate us in our luxuries, several of the more wealthy now using the knife and fork." In regard to the Bedouin Arabs mentioned above, Mr Stephens, the American traveller, states that the chastity of their women is protected by sanguinary laws, the guilty woman having her head cut off by her own re- lations, whilst her paramour, unless caught in the act, is allowed to escape. The Arabs proceed on the ground, that the chastity of a woman is a pearl above all price ; that it is in her own keeping ; and that it is but part of B jr- 98 SOUTH AMERICA. r ■Hi 11);. the infirmity of man's nature to seek to rob her of it ; a very charitable deduction. The slaves in Brazil have still some abstract notions of freedom, and a conspiracy amongst them for effecting this object was fortunately discovered at Bahla many years ago, before their plans had been properly matured. Indeed, though, as I said before, they are in general well treated, yet it is absurd to say that they are reconciled to their fate, and happier in slavery in America, than in freedom in their own country. Slaves in general have made but little of their insurrections, with the solitary ex- ception, perhaps, of the revolt at Ilayti or St Domingo. This is the largest of the West India Islands, except Cuba, being 400 miles long, and 180 in its average breadth — and consequently nearly double the size of Jamaica, from which it is distant about 70 miles. Its original name of Hayti signifies " hi(/h land" The Span- iards were in possession of it for 120 years, during the first 18 of which they reduced the inhabitants from one million to 60,000 ; — but in 1795, they gave it up entirely to the French, who in 1722, had acquired right to about the one-half of it. The French seem to have behaved with greater cruelty to their slaves than even the Spaniards, as in the year 1793 they rose up against them, and being joined by the free negroes and mulattoes, 100,000 were soon in arms. The negroes obtained the ascendancy, and the massacre of the French was awful beyond description, scarcely a single individual, man, woman or child, having been spared. The troops sent from France by the Emperor Napoleon to quell the insurrection either fell a sacrifice to the climate, or were massacred also, so that they had at last to abandon it altogether after a loss, from first to last, of 40,000 individuals. In 1801, Hayti proclaimed its independence, and in 1803, the French evacuated the SOUTH AMERICA. 99 island. The i;vhole of the sugar plantations and buildings upon the island were consumed by fire during the revolu- tion, and but few of them have been rebuilt. Although St Domingo at one time supplied the whole of Franco with sugar, they do not at present raise sufficient to sup- ply the island itself. Its exports prior to the revolution amounted to five millions sterhng annually, but at present they do not much exceed one million, and that chiefly of coffee, wood, and tobacco. They chiefly grow coffee, in- digo, cotton, and tobacco, the growth of coffee requiring but little capital, and but little labour compared to sugar. The blacks elected as their chief, Christopher, who had been a slave, and in 1811, he was proclaimed King; but in 1820, in consequence of a revolt, and considering things desperate, he shot himself. They then proclaimed a republic, and remained in that state for many years, till their black president Souloque took it into his head, in 1849, to have himself proclaimed Emperor of Hayti, which he very properly considers a much more dignified and imposing title. They still speak the French and Spanish languages, and those holding official situations are dressed in uniform, all blacks being fond of a gaudy dress. No person with white blood in them is allowed to hold houses or land, or any public situation. They say that if ever they resign their authority to any other nation, it will be to the English, from their gratitude to them for having emancipated their slaves; and all the English who live there, or who land at any of their ports, are treated with great respect. This revolution in Hayti seems, however, not to have been productive of much good to that country, as the free blacks do comparatively little work. In a work published in London in 1828, by James Franklin, entitled " Present State of Hayti," the author says e2 V mi- ' :P!ii ! 4' m ■ m i 100 SOUTH AMERICA. ( Pago 343.) " For my part I have seen nothing in Ilayti to induce me io alter the opinion which I have always entertained, that unless coercion be resorted to, the negro will not labour. The impulse for indulging in sloth and indolence is too irresistible, and as a few hours' labour in each week, suffice to answer all the purposes of the culture required to produce food enough for himself, the rest of his time is then allowed to dwindle away in the most puerile pleasures and inconsistencies. In some of the districts, when in possession of the French, from the extreme luxuriance of the soil, a planter could obtain from the labour of one man 6,000 pounds of cotton annually ; but under the free labour system, not more than 600 can be ob- tained. It is indisputable therefore that the declaration of freedom to the slave population of Hayti, was the ruin of the country. They are not slaves, it is true, but they are suffering under greater deprivations than can well be imagined. Whilst slaves they had nothing to apprehend, being clothed, fed, and receiving any medical aid in the time of sickness ; whereas the free labourer in Hayti, from innate indolence, and from his state of ignorance, obtains now barely enough for his subsistence. He cares not for clothing, and as to aid under sickness he cannot obtain it. He is thus left to pursue a course that sinks him to a level with the brute creation, and the reasoning faculties of the one are almost inferior to the instinct of the other, and will be so until moral instruction effect a change." The evidence given by Admiral Fleming before the committee of the House of Commons in 1832 is at vari- ance with the above, as he says that the most happy, the richest, the best fed, and the most comfortable negroes that he saw in the West Indies, were at Hayti. "From 1 804 downwards," says Mr Baird, *' the history of this unfortun- ate island has been little or nothing else than the history of rapine, one black rising up to contest the sovereignty with another, and filling the island with scenes of confusion and misery, which go far to prove the theory of those who maintain that the negro race is by natural incapacity un- fitted for self-government." There is one striking circumstance, however, in regard to Hayti, namely that its population has nearly trebled since the revolution, for whereas, in 1804, it was only 400,000, it is now upwards of a million. Although 150,000 SOUTH AMERICA. 101 ylaves had been imported into it from Africa during the ten years previous to the revolution, the population not only did not increase, but did not even keep up its num- bers. It takes, in fact, so little to maintain them, and their bodies now undergo so little fatigue, that they have degenerated into their primitive state, and increase and multiply like so many rabbits. In Cuba, the slaves are so hard wrought, that the average duration of the lives of those imported from Africa, does not exceed 9 years after their arrival in that island. Indeed, my esteemed friend Robert Baird, A.M., of Glasgow, in his admirable work entitled " Impressions of the West Indies and North Ame- rica", states, when visiting Cuba in 1849, that the great mass of the agricultural slaves there are treated in a brutal manner. * It is proper, however, to add that the Spanish slaves in general have always been the most orderly in the West Indies, and though surrounded with incentives to re- volt, have uniformly adhered to their masters. When General Lopez and his followers landed at Cuba from New Orleans in 1851 they could not get one single slave to join their standard. To make up for the mortality among the slaves in Cuba, I see it stated by Mr Baird that till of late years 30,000 were annually imported from Africa, notwith- standing the treaty made with Spain, and the money we had foolishly given her in order to induce her to abandon the traffic. The garotte, ** the instrument used in Cuba for the exe- cution of General Lopez in 1851, and in Spain in 1852 ^ Mr Baird's Travels were published in this country in two volumes in the year 1850, at the price of a guinea, but I bought a copy of them in New York, re-printed and handsomely got up in one volume, within 2 months after they appeared here, for a dollar. The copy which I purchased was publish- ed by Lea and Blanchard of Philadelphia ; but Mr Baird tells me that a still cheaper edition of his work has been published in New Orleans. ii!| 102 SOUTH AMERICA. for that of the assassin of tho Queen of Spain, is the most rapid and humane of all methods of execution, and may be called strangulation by machinery. Tho victim is placed seated on a bench before the upright piece of wood in which the machinery is fixed to strangle him. His feet are fastened to the legs of the bench on which he is seated, the arms are bound behind, above the elbow, and the neck is fixed in a sort of iron groove or collar, which fits closely about it. When tho signal is given, the collar is suddenly tightened by the executioner turning the screw or lever with one sharp jerk, and the moment the tourniquet is twis- ted the head droops immediately, and all is over. Hang- ing, and the guillotine are both barbarous modes of execu- tion compared to the garotte. The slaves in Brazil, in common with the whole of the African race, have, like the New Zealanders, excellent ap- petites. One of the Maories at New Zealand, lately set up an eating-house at Waikanahi in that country, and had an ordinary on the Saturdays for his countrymen, after the week's work was done, and paid for. He provided a din- ner of pork, potatoes^ bread, and coffee, for which he de- manded the moderate sum of one shilling a head. At first he gave every one as much as he could eat for this charge, but he soon found, to his cost, that his countrymen were not so easily to be dealt with, for most of them, by way of getting as much as possible for their shilling, made a point of taking nothing whatever the whole day before, so that they came to the scratch as ravenous as wolves. He was under the necessity therefore of changing his system, and now gives them for their shilling two pounds of pork, two pounds of potatoes, and a pint of coffee with sugar. Few savage nations indeed approve of the maxim laid down by philosophers of leaving off when hungry, or rising with an appetite. They seem to think it as absurd, as to ask a SOUTH AMERICA. 103 man when shaving to leave off when half shnved ; and main- tain that the claim of the stomach heing a just one must be sustained, and that the only rational ground for bring- ing a repast to an untimely ond is when one has finished every thing, and can get nothing more to eat. They have a custom in IJrazil of clubbing together a number of festival days, and celebrating the whole on one I particular day with additiona) splendour, One of these occurred on 2d July during my residence tliere. There was a review of all the troops on that day both cavalry and infantry, including the militia or national guard of the town. The regular Brazilian infantry are dressed in white wool- len cloth and caps'of the same, with blue facings ; but the national guard have dark blue short coats, with dark green facings, black covered buttons, black epaulettes, white cot- ton trowsers, with green feathers in their caps. I never saw a more plain, elegant dress. The men, however, were singular looking beings. Nearly one-fifth of them were jet black negroes, and a number of boys, not more than 14 or 15, were interspersed amongst them, some of them not exceeding four feet and a half in height ; and the operation of shouldering arms seemed nearly to capsize them alto- gether. The Emperor Napoleon was fond of little soldiers, as he found that they withstood the hardships of a cam- paign better than big men, so that these Brazilian war- riors would have been an object of great interest with him. In battle, too, they have the advantage of escaping the bullets, unless the muskets of the enemy be aimed at their legs. The cavalry wore the most wretched look- ing beings I ever saw, ill-mounted, ill-dressed, and badly accoutred. There are six newspapers published weekly at Bahia, all in the Portuguese language. The streets reminded me much of Paris, being narrow, seldom more than 30 i 1^ ^' 1 i ! I " It i; 1 1 iiii 104 SOUTH A.MEKICA. feet, and sloping towards the centre, so as to allow the water to run down. Brazil, as is well known, has been long celebrated for its goldmines, which are scattered over a vast extent of country, and were discovered in 1695. Gold is also found in the beds of most of the rivers that rise among the mountains in the interior. The total produce of the Brazilian gold mines, from 1695 to 1803, was 192 millions sterling, but as the produce has diminished since the latter date, by estimating the produce from 1803 to 1853 at one million sterling annually, the whole value of the gold from 1695 to 1853, will amount to 242 millions sterling. Diamonds are also extensively found in the beds of some of the rivers, and particularly in a river near the gold mines of Serro- frio, of which they turn the course, in order to separate them from the pebbles in its bed. The largest diamond in the world, weighing 14 ounces, and valued at five millions sterling, was sent from Brazil to the Queen of Portugal in the year 1746. There are also topaz mines. The late proprietor of these mines was called the man with two fathers, for two rich proprietors laid claim to him as their son, and evinced their sense of paternity by leaving him each a large fazenda or estate. He is said to be a wise son that knoweth who his father is, but this man was fortunate in having two fathers. Most of the gold mines in Brazil belong to private in- dividuals, and are worked by slaves, who are also em- ployed in extracting gold from the beds of the rivers in the interior. The gold is conveyed chiefly to Rio on horses and mules, under the protection of a strong guard. There were two or three English companies formed betwixt 1824 and 1828 for obtaining gold, which have been tolerably successful. The chief of these, the " Im- perial Brazilian Mining Association," commenced their 1 ' SOUTH AMERICA. 105 operations in 1825 by purchasing from private individuals one or two districts which were known to be rich in gold. Several hundred English, besides Germans and negroes, are employed by the mining companies, and the employment is said to be a healthy one, as some years ago there were two doctors at their principal station, one of whom left because he could get no patients, whilst the other for a long time had no patient but himself. There is a proverb there that Brazil is a country where a physician cannot live, and yet he never dies. The women of the country are remarkably prolific They marry at the early age of 12 or 13, and continue to have children to a late period. Marriages also, take place between persons of very diiFerent ages, and the dis- parity is not consideied singular. Men of 60 frequently marry girls of 12, and have a family about them where the wife seems the daughter, and the little ones the grand- children. When both the parties marry young their families increase to an incredible number. As a proof of the salubrity of the climate, the Rev. Dr Walsh mentions having paid a visit to an old major, who, though past ninety, had a family of young children about him, the eldest of whom was not ten years old. There are two German, one Swiss, and one Irish colony in Brazil located in different parts of the country. The first German colony was founded in 1818 in the province of Porto Seguro, which in 1826 contained 600 persons, and 15 coffee plantations. Another German colony was founded shortly thereafter, in the district of St Pedro de Rio Grande, which is also very flourishing, and in 1828 con- tained a population' of 6000 persons. The Swiss colony founded in 1820, and consisting of upwards of a thousand individuals, owing to a variety of causes did noi succeed, most of the colonists who survive being now scattered 11 106 SOUTH AMERICA. about throughout the country. A great many died in the voyage from Hamburg and Amsterdam. In 1828, after the unfortunate affair at Rio, the Emperor sent 220 Irish as a colony to a district not far from Bahia, where they still form a thriving community. There is one thing in which the Brazilians shew a great deal more good common sense than my countrymen the Scotch, and this is, that there is no prejudice existing among them against the dissection of dead bodies, and no law to prevent it. That important part of medical edu- cation is accordingly perfectly free and unrestricted. Though it is known to every one that anatomy can only be taught by dissection, and the constant practice of the students, yet not the smallest repugnance is ever ex- pressed on the subject in Brazil ; nor do poor or destitute persons show the least dislike to enter the hospital, al- though they know that their bodies will be subjected to the knife of the anatomist. If the Scotch did not call them- selves a religious and enlightened nation, I believe that no other country in the world could ever possibly find it out. One of their chief manufactures is that of Brazil mats for covering floors, &c., instead of carpets, and much used in warm countries. They have also extensive distilleries for making rum out of sugar, and most excellent rum it is. The price at which it is sold, namely twopence the bottle, brings it within the reach of every one. A great deal of cotton is now also produced at Brazil. When masters have occasion to chastise their slaves they make use of a whip composed of ox or cow hides about an inch broad, cut into two parts, and fastened to a wooden handle. For smaller offences they use the Palraa- toria, a wooden instrument resembling a cork driver, and which, as the name implies, they apply to the palms of the i' SOUTH AMERICA. 10' hands. I bought one cf these palmatorias in a shop in Bahia, and brought it home with me. When slaves com- mit any serious crime they are occasionally handed over for punishment to the police, but from having to pay according to the number of lashes given, this has a wonderful effect in making them apply as seldom as possible to that quarter. There is but little chance I think at present of the Brazil- ians emancipating their slaves. Being an indolent race, they are well aware that if the cultivation of the coffee, cotton, and tobacco plant, or sugar cane, or working at the gold mines, depended upon them, they would scarcely have enough even to supply themselves, and they are well aware that slaves when free do but little work, compared to what they are compelled to do when in a state of bond- age. Caldcleugh, in his travels, mentions having paid a visit to the owner of one of the gold mines in Brazil, who remarked that the moment a man became free he worked no longer; and that, were the slaves emancipated, the Brazilian mines could no longer be wrought. Moreover, it must be kept in view that the Brazilian government has no funds, as we had, to indemnify the planters for the loss of their slaves. Besides, when they look to our slaves who have been emancipated, they discover that they can scarcely be induced to work at all ; so that our emancipa- tion has proved rather a warning than an example to other nations. The grcE^^er part of the capital of Brazil is em- barked in these slaves, and were their owners to set them free without receiving any compensation, they would nei- ther have funds for paying them for their labour after they became free, nor for importing other labourers into the country. It is not therefore at all likely, that they will voluntarily relinquish what they consider their property, and consent to become absolute paupers, merely to gratify the abstract lovers of freedom in other lands. H': I 108 SOUTH AMERICA. ;; R . i i|i ^ ' M h is now perfectly well ascertained that the natives of no country in the world work with so much advantage in tropical climates as those of Africa ; so that every encour- agement should be given by our government to the impor- tation into the West Indies, the Mauritius, &c., of free black labourers from that country. This has already been done to some little extent, the emigrants, according to the government regulations, being required to be hired at a current rate of wages on their arrival, and to be in- sured a passage home at the end of five years, if they be desirous of returning ; equality in the number of both sexes being imperative. Coffee is very extensively cultivated in Brazil, and in point of quality, holds the third rank in the European market. It thrives best in rocky ground, having rich de- composed mould in the fissures. Each plant is allowed a space of six or eight feet square to develop itself, and the holes are made two or three feet deep, in order to secure a constant supply of moisture. Though the coffee plant grov, s to the height of 8 or 9 feet, yet it is generally kept down by pruning, to about 4 feet high, which in- creases the produce, and renders it more convenient for cropping. It begins to yield the third year, but it is not in full bearing till the fifth, and generally ceases to bear at 40 years of age. In roasting coffee, it is apt to be in- jured if it lose more than 20 per cent, of its weight. The Martinique and Bourbon coffee is perhaps superior to the Brazil, but as both of these islands belong to France, most of it goes to that country. Martinique is one of the West Indian Islands, and Bourbon is a small island in the East Indies close to the Mauritius or isle of France, which now belongs to us. The finest coffee of all comes from Mocha, a town of Arabia, containing about 30,000 people, situate in a bay of the Red sea at which our steamers SOUTH AMERICA. 109 touch on the voyage from Suez to Bombay. Though a great part of the Mocha coffee comes to this country, yet a still greater finds its way to the East Indies. At Mocha the better classes of females never appear during the day, but visit each other in the evening, and on meet- ing with men, stand close up to the wall in order to allow them to pass, a practice worthy of imitation by the ladies in this country, who, so far from making way for the lords of the creation, expect them to step into the gutter in order that they may have plenty of room to soar past. There is an excellent treatise on the preparation of coffee in Chamber's Journal, No. 446. The great defect in its preparation in this country arises from its not being in general sufficiently roasted, this having the effect of materially diminishing its weight, rendering it of course not so profitable to the merchant. Coffee loses much of its aroma or flavour after being roasted 30 hours. Before concluding my narrative of Brazil, I think it proper to give an account of the method of catching wild cattle and horses in South America, and particularly those that rove over the Pampas or plains of Buenos Ay res, which are found in incredible numbers, amounting to many millions. At one time they may be said to have been almost common property, belonging to any one who could catch them, as they could not be identified, but their owners now brand them all, in order to distinguish the one from the other. Till of late years the cattle were killed chiefly for their horns, hides and tallow, but they now salt part of the carcase. The Pampas extend 1500 miles from north to south as far as Patagonia, — and 300 from east to west, and present one uniform expanse of waving grass, uninterrupted by either wood or eminence, although in some places parched and barren, and perfectly uninhabited, unless by innumerable herds of wild oxen, 1 , 1 •■: 1 1 H 1 ; H 1 i' itvSt : ■■ ' ^ i;i" 110 SOUTH AMERICA. horses, ostriches, and other animals. Over these pampas lies the only route by land from Buenos Ayres to Chili, which journey was formerly performed by large companies, as the plains were infested by hordes of roving Indians, who went there to hunt, catch wild horses, and plunder. From the absence of all permanent landmarks, the travellers over these immense plains shaped their course by the compass, and their caravans were in reality moveable houses, solid and defensible. Of late years, regular post- houses have been established along the whole line of road betwixt Santiago (the capital of Chili) and Buenos Ayres a distance of nearly 1400 miles — and a regular com- munication is kept up betwixt the two republics by means of couriers, who perform their journeys with un- common speed. The cattle though wild, are quite gentle in their disposition, but there are no sheep found on these plains. The method of catching these wild cattle is a practice almost peculiar to the South Americans. The in- strument used is called a ^Hasso" from the Spanish word " lazo,'* which signifies slip-knot or noose, and the operation of using it is called " lassoing.'' — It consists of a rope made of untanned hide, ten or twelve yards long, and about as thick as the little finger. One end of it is firmly fixed to the hinder part of the saddle, generally on the right side ; and at the other end is an iron ring about two inches in diameter. The horseman, or "^wac/w," as he is called, about to use the lasso, forms a sort of running noose by passing a portion of it through the ring, and this is taken iu the right hand, so as that the ring may be at the opposite part of the circle. The noose is then swung with care over the head, until the extreme part of it, including the ring, acquires a considerable momentum. The instrument thus prepared, is in due time discharge^. SOUTH AMERICA. Ill and carries off the remainder of the rope, which before hung loosely in coils on the fingers of the left hand. When whirling the noose round the head, by a peculiar turn of the wrist, it is made to assume a circular form ; so that, when delivered from the hand, it preserves itself open till it falls over the object at which it has been aimed. A well trained horse, though at full speed when the lasso is thrown, instantly stops, and turns half round, the bull continuing its course till the whole cord has run out. The horse meanwhile, knowing by experience what is going to happen, leans over as much as he can in the op- posite direction from the bull, ready to pull as hard as he can, and stands trembling though firm, in momentary ex- pectation of the violent tug which will be given to him by the bull when brought up by the lasso. The shock is so complete and instantaneous, that the captured animal is frequently dashed to the ground as if he had been shot. They are occasionally captured also with what is called in the language of the guacho, "las bolas," or balls — which consist of three thongs or cords of hide, each a yard i ! 112 SOUTH AMERICA. long, having balls about two inches in diameter, made of hard leather, like the golf balls used in Scotland, attached to the extremities, the three thongs being united by a knot at two feet distance from the balls. This may be called the handle of the instrument, for the " boleador," or he who is going to fling the balls, takes the knot in his right hand, and having given it the necessary velocity by swinging it over his head, throws it at the hind legs of the horse or ox which he wishes to secure, and the balls, spreading in their progress to the utmost distance which the strings or thongs will allow, on reaching the legs generally pass round them, so that the animals are entangled, and thus captured. The South Americans are taught from their infancy to use the lasso, as even boys three or four years old may be seen lassoing dogs, cats, and poultry ; so that they acquire by degrees, that matchless skill in lassoing cattle and horses for which they are so celebrated. In Central America the Indians use the lasso also, but instead of fastening it to the overall girth or pommel of the saddle, they tie it to the horse's tail. An Indian be- ing asked what would happen if a bull, instead of being checked when noosed, got the best of it, replied, " He go away, lasso, tail, and all." The Indians who use the lasso in Mexico and Califor- nia, are great robbers, and throw the noose not only over cattle and horses, but occasionally over men ; so that if a pedestrian or an equestrian traveller do not keep a sharp look out as he is passing by a bush or thicket, one of these lassos may be thrown out, when the noose falling over his head will be jerked right round his body, and in the twinkling of an eye he will be dragged oft' his horse and away into the bush to be stripped of every thing he has. Robbers, however, in Mexico are very considerate, as SOUTH AMERICA. 113 they will give you, if you wish it, a certificate of your I having been plundered, which protects one from any further molestation. In Mexico, on one occasion, two Roman Catholic priests were lassoed and plundered, but before the rob- bers would let them go they insisted on their giving them " absolution" a request with which the priests at once politely complied. Bryant in his celebrated travels in California, published in London and New York in 1849, says — " I had often enjoyed the advantage of seeing the lasso used by the Cali- fornians, and ever marvelled exceedingly at the dexterity and strength they exhibit in securing the very largest animal in the herd. Whatever its power, the lasso overcomes it ; and it is really wonderful to witness the skill with which they adapt their movements, and the action of their horses to those of the ensnared animal ; now bringing it short up, half dead with fatigue, then, after allowing it to breathe again, giving it rope to scamper oiT to the end of its tether ; driving it sometimes with marvellous swiftness in one direction, then permitting it to follow the bent of its own inclina- tion in another, until the wearied animal becomes a mere plaything in their hands, and is either quietly secured, or as quietly allows itself to be driven into a shed." ? 114 NORTH AMERTCA. NORTH AMERICA. CHAPTER VHI. Advantages of emigrating to America — The Menai Bridge — Voyage from Liverpool to Boston in the United States of America — Wonderful extent of emigration from Ireland^The United States more Irish than Ireland — Extent of Emigration from Liverpool— Banks of Newfoundland— Safely landed at Boston. I ■ t ^ 1 Having been often asked " What are the general in- ducements to quit Europe for the purpose of settling in America ? " I have no hesitation in replying, the total absence of anxiety respecting the future success of a family. In Great Britain, perpetual exertion, incessant, mremitting industry, daily deprivation of the comforts of life, and anxious attention to minute frugality, are almost incum- bent on a man of moderate fortune, and in the middle class of life ; and the probabilities of ultimate success are certainly against some of the members of a large family, however virtuous or industrious they may be. In Ame- rica it is otherwise, for as every man can find employment, he may reasonably reckon upon a comfortable settlement, according to his situation in life, for every part of a family however numerous. The common comforts and conveni- ences of life are there, from their abundance and cheapness, NORTH AMERICA. ||^ 80 universally diffused, that no man of moderate desMllll feels anxious about a family even in the larger tow ns ; whilst in the country, where the mass of the people dwell, the increase of a family is considered in the light of an in- crease to one's riches. ' Dr Adam Smith, in his celebrated work called the " Wealth of Nations," written prior to the American Re. volution, brings the advantages of a family in America, even in his day, to a sort of practical test, by calculating the services of each child there on an average at L.lOO sterling before leaving the parental roof. A large family, instead of being a misfortune or an incumbrance, is in fact considered a positive blessing, and they are turned to im- mense account almost as soon as they can walk. From their earliest infancy they learn to be of assistance to their parents ; and thus acquire, both from natural instinct and the force of example, a degree of smartness quite astonish- ing to our less practised senses. Mrs Houstoun mentions having seen a little fellow of ten years old, the son of her host, sent oflf alone and at night, in a high carriage, with a pair of horses to drive, and a difficult commission to exe- cute, some thirty miles off. No one, not even his mother, she says, seemed to think the undertaking a dangerous one, and as to the necessity of any grown up person being sent to take care of the youthful charioteer, they would have laughed at the idea. I myself have been attended in a country inn by a little damsel eleven years of age, who in any other country would have been still in the nursery, but there, where everything and everybody are so precocious, (ripe before the time,) she was head waiter, chambermaid, and, perad- venture, housekeeper besides. A youth of 12 in America, is as much of a man as a lad of 16 in Europe. Children, on the contrary, in Great Britain, instead of ' ; I i 1 .1. 1 1 1 i t no NORTH AMERICA. being worth 100 pounds, as in Amcria« arc seldom worth 100 pence, though called by silly, stupid people a blessing. In this country, moreover, the young man, particularly in the middle and higher ranks of life, is unfortunately too apt to have recourse to illicit intrigues, from fear of the expense of a family establishment. Celibacy, indeed, be- comes a part of prudence ; it is openly commended, and as steadily practised as the voice of nature will allow ; whilst the married man, though extremely anxious to con- sider every addition to his family in the light of a blessing, has often great difficulty in discovering wherein the bless- ing consists. Emigrants, therefore, may well exclaim — Let us go forth from our old homes for ever, Why should wo linger on this crowded way; Think how we've striv'n, yet with vain endeavour, Then let's go forth from hence, far, far away. Or in the simple words of the poetic weaver — No space for us — no space for us "Within the crowded town; No want of us — no want of us Upon the breezy down. A score of hands for ev'ry plough, A throng for ev'ry loom ; Oh, ask mo not, dear wife, to stay, And struggle with the gloom. So from this land of want and wealth The parting let us bravo, And say farewell, as hand in band "We trust the friendly wave. For there is bread, if we but work, Beyond the heaving main, Where summer skies are softly blue, And lands are broad and men are few. Although it may appear to many, that, after having sailed round the world, and visited New Zealand, Aus- tralia, and South America, my travelling propensities NOUTH AMEUICA. 11 might have been sufficiently gratified, and that I might have been prepared t • say in the words of the poet — "If solid liappinost wo prize, Within our lircast i\\\» jowol lion, And till'* iro fools who roam : Tho world Hs notliiiig to bestow, From our own selves our joys must tlow, And that dear hut our homo." Yet, as WashiiL t^on Irving, the celebrated American anthor, could not mst satisfied until ho had left for a time his own country, a country on which the charms of nature had been so prodigally lavished, in order to visit Europe, rich in the accumulated treasures of ages ; and see tho gigantic race from which he himself had sprung ; so, in like manner, following in a remote degree the footsteps of that eminent individual, I had long formed a desire to visit the United States of America, and contemplate with my own eyes her magnificent scenery ; her mighty lakes ; her mountains and valleys ; her tremendous cataracts ; her boundless plains ; her trackless forests ; and, above all, her majestic rivers, rolling in sublime and solemn silence to the ocean. I was anxious also to observe the workin of democratic institutions in that great republic; and, above all, to plant my foot, though but for a day, on a land which was destined, ere long, to contain the most numerous branch of the Anglo-Saxon race, the present state and future prospects of mankind having always ap- peared to me more important than their past history, inasmuch as we have more to do with things as they arc, than with things as they were. I was thus impelled, as it were, by the force of circumstances, to exclaim — Ere gladly I return once more, Fair Scotia's land ! to thee. My foot must press another shore, Beyond the stormy sea. o i ■.;■ '> I .!:^:. 118 NORTH AMERICA. '' Small bliss is theirs, whom Fate's too heavy hand, Confines through life to some small square of land ; More wretched they, whom heaven inspires to roam, Yet languish out their lives, and die at home. God gave to man this wide extended round. No climes confine him, and no oceans bound ; But sordid cares our short-liv'd race confine, Some toil at trades, some labour in the mine ; No happier scenes their wand'ring fancies fill. Than one dark valley, or one well-known hill ; To other shores their minds, untaught to stray, Dull and inactive, slumber life away." Having been detained at Liverpool for fourteen days, waiting for the emigrants from Ireland, I devoted one of them to a visit to the celebrated bridges across the Menai Straits, betwixt Wales and the Island of Anglesea. I accordingly embarked on board of the steam-boat that sails daily from thence to the straits ; and after touching at Beaumaris and Bangor, landed in the Island of Angle- sea, close to the Suspension bridge, within five hours, the distance being 60 miles, and the cabin fare four shillings. After walking across the Suspension bridge, I proceeded to the Britannia or tubular bridge, constructed for the Holyhead railway, and was politely allowed to walk through the tube. This bridge is exactly one mile above the Suspension bridge, and the scenery, both on the Welsh and the Anglesea sides of the Straits, which are there about half a mile wide, is exceedingly beautiful. It would be foreign however to my purpose, to dwell more in describing works of art of so stupendous a nature as to excite the wonder and admiration of strangers who come to visit them from all parts of the world. I took up my quarters for the night at the George Inn, kept by Miss Roberts, a remarkably nice lady, about half a mile below the Suspension bridge, on the Welsh side of the straits. Her house, though large, is generally so crowded during NORTU AMERICA. 119 the summer season that it is with diflBculty one can get a bed. There are several comfortable, though inferior inns on tlie Anglesea side, at the Menai village, exactly opposite. During my residence at Liverpool the news arrived of the melancholy death of Sir Robert Peel, an event pro- ducing a great sensation, and a deep feeling of regret for his loss, which pervaded all ranks of the community, not only there and throughout the kingdom at large, but also in France, and still more, as I afterwards found, in the United States of America, where he was held in the very highest estimation. Indeed, it may be affirmed, that the Americans take almost as much interest in the affairs of this country as we do ourselves, and that all our public men have Transatlantic fame. On the 1 1th of July 1850, we sailed from Liverpool for Boston, on board of the " Jessica," a splendid ship of 1000 tons burthen, belonging to New Brunswick, com- manded by a Captain Hayes of Nova Scotia, an officer well qualified, from his steadiness, activity, and great ex- perience, for the command of so large a vessel. We had 335 emigrants on board, including women and children, all of whom were Irish, with the exception of three or four English, and about as many Scotch. The Irish who have emigrated for many years past have been almost all Roman Catholics, so that the Protestants of Ireland now constitute nearly one-third of its population. Daniel O'Connell used to boast that the Catholics were seven to one. On getting out into the Mersey they were all mustered on deck by the agents at Liverpool, whilst some Wore employed searching below in every possible quarter to see that none had stowed themselves away without having paid for their passage, a thing of daily occurrence at Liverpool. The search produced four " Stoiv-awai/s" 120 NORTH AMERICA. '! '.^I f! r as they are called, viz., two men, a woman, and a boy, who were handcuffed and sent on shore, with the excep- tion of the woman, who, being young and rather comely, excited the sympathy of the young owner of the vessel and the captain, who gave her a free p.' ssage, on condi- dion of her making herself useful during the voyage. There was only one cabin passenger besides myself, a Mr Russell from Wiltshire, a very frank, agreeable young man. We had also Charles H. Eastman, Esq., from New Brunswick, son of the owner of the vessel, who, though only 17 years of age, seemed to be a youth of great pro- mise and wonderful talent. I would take this opportunity of expressing to my young friend the deep obligation which I am under to him, as well as to the captain, for their extreme politeness in furnishing me with a free passage on board of their ship, and for their uniform attention and kindness during the voyage. The tide of emigration that has set in from Ireland, during the last ten years in particular, is almost incre- dible, and may ^3 said to be truly appalling; it being computed that two millions of its inhabitants have landed during that short space of time on the vast continent of America. Every one knows that poverty and not Popery is the grand evil that affects Ireland, as Roman Catho- lics, who eject their tenants, or who are installed into the lands of others, are apt to be massacred fully as readily as the Protestants. The pig, which an Irishman rears, is almost invariably for the landlord, and he would as soon think of eating the landlord himself as of eating the pig. The whole misery, in short, of that country, must be at- tributed to over-population, which produces a constant struggle for the very means of subsistence. The two great evils, however, namely, the subdivision of the land into what may be called minute particles, and NORTH AMERICA. 12t surplus population, are now being fast remedied. In sonic countries the subletting of land is restrained by law as in- consistent with the social welfare of the community. Thus in Austria no property is allowed to be less than 66 acres, and in Bavaria and Nassau there arc similar provisions. The French Canadians, who crowd both banks of the St Lawrence and the high roads of Canada East, have carried out the partition of lands, as in France, to the ex- treme length to which it will go, and their poverty con- trasts painfully with the plenty that rewards the toil of the backwoodsman, who has a more extended field for his skill and his enterprize. In France the soil is now divided among ten millions of proprietors, whereas in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, there are not above T00,000 landowners. Hard, and apparently cruel, however, as the ejectments in Ireland may appear to be, there can be no doubt that they will prove to be for the ultimate benefit of that country. A great number of Scotch and English farmers, with ca- pital, have lately settled there. The words of a celebrated poet are, however, not alto- gether inapplicable to this unfortunate state of things — •* Have wo not seen, at v'easure's lordly call, The smiling long frequented village fall ? While, scourg'd bj famine from the smiling land The mournful peasant leads his humble band ; And while he sinks, without one arm to save, The country blooms — a garden and a grave. Good Heaven I what sorrows gloom'd that parting day That call'd them from their native walks away; When the poor exiles, ev'ry pleasure past, Hung round the bovvers, and fondly look'd their last, And took a long farewell, and wish'd in vain For seats like these beyond the western main. Ill fares the land, to hast'ning ills a prey. Where wealth accumulates, and men decay ; w 1 ■ i 1, 122 NORTH AMERICA. Princes and lords may flourish, or may fade — A breath can make them, as a breath has made ; But a bold peasantry, their country's pride. When once destroy *d, can never be supplied." The " Times," says, in reference to this, " We see the population of Ireland flowing off to the United States in one continuous and unfailing stream, at a rate that, if un- interrupted, will reduce them to a third of their present numbers. It is impossible, however, that so considerable a change should be attended with unmixed advantage, or that human forethought should be able to compass all the results." The Irish invariably follow their relatives, and hence their route will as invariably be to the United States. Few Irish have relatives in Australia who were not sent out for their country's good, and these have little influence with those at home about to emigrate. In 1841 the population of Ireland was 8,175,124, and before the year 1846 had increased to near 9,000,000. In 1851 the population was only 6,515,794, which number has been still further reduced through subsequent emigra- tion. The United States census of 1850 showed a gross po- pulation of 23,000,000. According to the statistical tables presented by William F. Robinson, M.A., in his lecture delivered on the 22d of July 1851, before the delegates of some American Universities and Colleges assembled at Clinton, in the State of New York, that mixed popula- tion was made up as follows : — Irish born, .... Irish by blood, French and other Celts, by birth or blood, German, by birth or blood, Anglo-Saxon, by birth or blood, Coloured, free or slave. 3,000,000 4,500,000 3,000,000 6,600,000 3,500,000 3,600,000 23,000,000 NORTH AMERICA. 123 From these figures it appears that in 1850 the total number of Irish, by birth and blood, inhabiting either Ire- land or the United States, was about 14,000,000, of whom about 6,500.000 were then in Ireland, and the remaining 7,500,000 in the States, where they constituted the most industrious and enterprising portion of an active popula- tion. Before the next American decennial census of 1860, the above 14,000,000 of Irish will have increased to 16,000,000, of whom (should Irish emigration continue to proceed at a rate exceeding a quarter of a million per an- num) it is not improbable that about 12,000,000 may be found in the United States, and not more, perhaps, than 4,000,000 in Ireland, including among the latter number most of the impotent poor, and the least energetic portion of the Irish people. The United States would thus be- come three times as Irish as Ireland. At the ** great demonstration," as it was termed, for the county of Tipperary, in support of the Irish tenant league, held on the race course at Cashel, on 16th October 1850, and attended by many thousands of the most influential people in that county, the very Rev. Dr Burke, P.P., Clonmell, in addressing the vast assemblage, said — " The system of emigration having been alluded to, he begged to state that on that very night week, 54 cars loaded with emigrants had passed through the town of Clonmell, on their way to Waterford, to embark for America. There were two large steamers in "Waterford; but the rush of people was so great that the police were called on to prevent them from rushing in too great numbers into the vessel ; and another vessel was supplied to convey them to Liverpool, for shipment to America. The landlords themselves would feel this, because they would have no persons to act as farmers upon their properties, if the Encumbered Estates Court left them any. If the stream of emigration were not checked, the result would be that all the sound and laborious portion of the population would have transported themselves out of the country, leaving no one remaining 2 F 'Mln 124 NORTH AMERICA. hut the aged, dccropid, sick, and lazy inhabitants of their poor-house*. (Hear, hear.) "When those people Avcnt to America, they carried with them their enmity to England, and infused that spirit into all hearts about them, thus increasing ill fotling against England to an extent of which people were not aware. America now was contending for the sovereignty of the ocean ; and if any contest arose between her and England, America would find in the expatriated sons of Ireland, her best and bravest men to fight against the army of England. In a short time, my friends, you and I shall bo alike forgotten, but the sufferings of our country during the years of her famine and her distress, will be recorded by some future historian, whilst the reader will turn in horror from its revelation." (Great sensa- tion.) '■■ i; :i :i.i| Never were truer words spoken, as ii is well known by every one who has been in America, that the Irish when they land in that country, soon become thoroughly Americanized, and, sad to say? speak generally of the land of their birth with anything but affection. Instead of imputing their misery, as they ought to do, partly at least, to their own improvidence in marrying at an early age, before they have made the smallest preparation for a wife and family, they readily allow themselves to be convinced that the hard condition of the poor at home is the work of a tyrant aristocracy, enriched by their unre- warded toil, and imagine that a good catalogue of wrongs excuses their throwing off their attachment to the mother country. They are too apt, by bitterness of speech, to keep their resentment warm against England ; and it is well known in the States that none are so fierce against this country as the natives of the Emerald Isle. With the native-born citizens this feeling prevails now to a very limited extent, and is every day diminishing. With Scotch and English emigrants this feeling prevails to a certain extent, but the Germans are but Httle behind the Irish in abusing their own country, and the votes of both Irish and German emigrants are almost invariably given v: J NORTH AMERICA. 125 at their elections to those candidates * who profess the greatest degree of inveterate animosity to Europe and its institutions. People may extol the land of their adoption, without abusing that of their birth. Some little allowance ought perhaps to be made for the democracy of the Irish, from their having been for centuries the victims of the op- posite doctrine. The Germans however attend more to farming than to politics ; and though they are more unani- mous in their votes than the Irish, yet they seldom agitate much in the political counsels of the nation. Their influence is chiefly felt by the large masses which they oppose to, or employ in favour of particular measures. They or their descendents constitute by themselves a majority in Pennsyl- vania, and a highly respectable and wealthy party in many other States. They are remarkably industrious, and pos- sess the finest farms in the United States. The dwelling of a German farmer is generally humble ; but his granary, and stables are of huge dimensions, and exhibit the pro- vident husbandman. The habit of remaining together, and settling whole townships and villages, serves to render their exile less painful, so that they hardly feel that they are strangers in the land of their adoption. But as a counterpart to this unfortunate feeling which the Irish carry with them to the land of their adoption, it deserves to be recorded to their everlasting honour, that no antipathy which they may entertain towards their native country, or rather to England, seems to efface their strong attachment to the relatives whom they leave behind, embracing as it does, not only their fathers and mothers, brothers and sis- ters, but extending even to cousins, nephews, and nieces, * Magistrates in the Roman republic, previous to their election, were called Candidali (clothed in white) from the white robes which they wore while soliciting the votes of the people. Hence the origin of the word " Candi- date," 12G NORTH AMERICA. 1 I uncles and aunts, though step-mothers unfortunately do not come in for any share of their step-children's great regard and affection. It is computed that not less than five mil- lions sterling have been remitted, during the last 7 years, by the Irish in the United States and Canada to the assist- ance of their poorer relatives at home, or to pay the expenses of their passage to America, a sum almost incredible. In the year 1850 alone, the sum remitted was£957, 000 sterling. They are quite unhappy moreover when they lose sight of any of their relatives, and bestow both their time and money in seeking them out by advertising for them. The ** Boston Pilot" seems to be the chief newspaper in the United States in which these advertisements appear, pro- bably from the editor and proprietor of it (Patrick Donahoe) being an Irishman also. On counting the number of ad- vertisements, under the head of " Information wanted," in one single number of that journal (28th September 1850) I found that they amounted to 101, belonging to almost every county in Ireland, and filling with the descrip- tion of the people, no less than three columns of that paper. Not a single advertisement, of a similar import, appears from the natives of any other country. The following will show their general tenor — INFORMATION WANTED. COBK. Of Daniel Hegarty and liis daughter, natives of Skibbereen, co. Cork. Daniel left Ireland in May 184 1, and Catherine in May I84(). Last March they sent home £'10 for Catherine's mother and sister, who came to New Orleans as they directed. They are now over two months here and have no means of proceeding farther. They mentioned in their letter they would send money to the Bishop of New Orleans to pay their expenses to Peters- burgh, Pike County, Indiana, where they resided. Catherine was married to Patrick Hegarty, also from co. Cork. Any information of them will be thankfully received by his wife and daughter, who are in great distress. Address Mrs Daniel Hegarty, New Orleans, La. Ill NORTH AMERICA. V2] Of John Conneli., (carpenler by trade,) native of Racecourse, co. Cork, who left Ireland about two years ago, and landed in New York ; when lait heard from was in Brooklyn. Any information respecting him will be thankfully received by his sister Julia. Address, Daniel O'Donnell, Salem, Ms. MONAGHAN. Of James Keeoan, from co. Monaghan; he was in Milwaukee, at Mr Patrick M'Grath's in March last, and sent i,'15 : 9 : 9 to his wife and child- ren, requesting them to come to him. Tho money not being sufficient to bring all, his daughter Ann and three others of bis children have arrived in this city, and are unable to proceed farther. He will please write immedi- ately to tho Emigrant Office, No, 4. Congress Square, Boston, care of Edward Ryan, Agent. It will be observed, that at the end of the first of the above advertisements there are the letters La., and at the end of the second Ms. This is the American plan, (and not a bad plan it is,) for contracting the names of the States by giving merely their first and last letters. Thus La. signifies the State of Louisiana, and Ms. the State of Massachusetts. The steward of the Jessica, Adolph Augustuff, was from Norfolk in Virginia. His father keeps a tavern there, but was once an officer in the French army, and served under the Emperor Napoleon for eleven years. Having been wounded at the battle of Leipsic, the Emperor granted him a pension, which, having been withdrawn by the Bourbons after the battle of Waterloo, he left France in disgust, and repaired to Virginia. The steward told me that at the Christmas preceding he had been attacked by a slave at Wilmington, in the state of North Carolina, who was drunk, and drew out a razor with which he inflicted on him one or two wounds, the marks of which are still visible. He succeeded, however, in wresting the razor from his hand, and gave the negro a deep cut with it in the throat, from the effects of which he died within 20 I iK'j " i S:| i; 128 NOIITII AMERICA. hours. His owner said he would not have lost him for 1200 dollars. The Captain of our ship, from some cause or other, took an umbrage at the steward, which I regretted much, as he was always remarkably civil to me. I forgot to mention that Liverpool is the chief port from which emigrants are embarked, as out of the 300, OOO who left the united kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland during the year 1849, no less than 153,902, or rather more than the one-half, embarked from Liverpool. Dur- ing the year 1850 the emigration from Liverpool was greater than it had ever been during any preceding year, being 174,187 persons, of whom 154,739 were steerage, and the remainder cabin passengers. The number of emigrants during that year exceeded even that of the year of famine. In 1847, the gross number of emigrants from Liverpool was 134,524; m 1848, it was 131,121; in 1849, 153,902; and in 1850, 174,187. Of the emigrants who sailed during 1850, not less than 160,109 proceeded to the United States of America, 4831 to Canada, 1104 to Australia, 599 to the Cape, 198 to New Brunswick, 37 to Nova Scotia and Cape Breton, 97 to Newfound- land, and 39 to Prince Edward's Island. Thus it will be seen that the States got quite the lion's share. The num- ber of emigrant vessels which sailed from Liverpool dur- ing that year was 5G8. The number of emigrants from Liverpool in 1851, was 206,000, almost all for the United States. The number of vessels that enter Liverpool yearly is 22,000. I may mention that for many years 80,000 Germans have landed yearly in the United States. Our ship was what is called a "temperance ship," that is, the sailors were allowed no grog, a practice which is now fortunately becoming almost universal with American ships. The English sailors are proverbial for their love NORTH AMERICA. 129 of drink, though now improvhig. About a century ago, the Emperor Akbar in the East Indies, in whoso domi* nions the vine grew, forbade the use of wine. Being in need of gunners, he got them from on board of English vessels trading to his dominions. A cunning tar being n ordered to fire at a carpet suspended as a mark, that the Emperor might see his dexterity, purposely missed it. Being told by the Emperor that he was an impostor, he answered, with great pretended humility, that his sight was bad from having been debarred the use of wine, but that if the Emperor ordered him a cup, he would hit a much smaller mark. Having been furnished with a full quart, which he finished at one draught, he then fired again, and hit the mark to the applause of all present. The Emperor ordered it to be recorded, that wine was as necessary to the English as water to fish, and to deprive them of it was to rob them of the greatest comfort of their lives. The steerage passage money was £3, 10s. for adults ; two children, if above I and under 14 years of age, being reckoned as one adult ; and infants under 12 months not computed. By the present Passenger's Act it is pro- vided, that in addition to any provisions which they may have of their own, each adult shall be furnished with a weekly allowance during the voyage of 2^ lbs. of biscuit, 1 pound of flour, 5 lbs. of oatmeal, 2 pounds of rice, 2 ounces of tea, | a pound of sugar, and ^ a pound of mo- lasses, with a daily allowance of three quarts of water. In addition to this the master of every vessel has to pay for each passenger, on landing in America, what is called " head money" which varies somewhat in amount. Although, under the Passengers' Act, ships carrying a certain number of passengers are obliged to have a medical practitioner on board, yet there is a special ex- ception in regard to ships bound for North America, pro- 130 NORTH AMERICA. vided they have 14 clear superficial feet unoccupied hy stores, for each passenger on board. As our ship camr under tiiis exemption we carried no surgeon, but had a medicine chest, and the chief mate, (Mr Rogers,) a re- markably nice young man, acted as surgeon. From long practice he had picked up some little knowledge of tlu' art, and I was often struck at the tremendous doses ho gave them, sufficient, in my opinion, to have turned their inside out ; and was no less amused at the looks of agony and despair which his patients exhibited, when preparing to swallow the copious draughts, which this disciple of Nep* tune administered to them. On my mentioning this one day to him, he said there was nothing like giving them a good " clearing out." This seemed with him to be the " alpha" and the *' omega" of the science of medicine, and a most effectual one it was, as it kept them all in good health during the passage. But to return to the voyage. On leaving the Mersey we soon reached the Island of Anglesea, and skirted along its northern corner, from which we had a tolerably dis- tinct view of Holyhead,, distant about two miles, which seemed to be well sheltered from the westerly wmds. Shortly thereafter the southern coast of Ireland opened up to our view, and most of the emigrants appeared on deck. I watched with some degree of emotion to see if I could catch but one sorrowful look, or discover one parting tear, amid the crowds now standing before me, as they took their last view of their native isle and its rocky shores, as these faded and disappeared on the distant horizon ; but alas ! I watched in vain. The land of their nativity seemed to have become the land of their abhorrence. Their thoughts were fixed on the country to which they were hastening. They may be said indeed to have sung in their hearts. jpied by lip came ut had a 8,) a re- rom long \i of thf doses ho ed their of agony »reparing 5 of Nep- this one J them a be the [:ine, and in good Mersey :ed along ably dis- 8, whicii y winds. ;)ened up on deck. f I could parting as they ts roeky ! distant of their orrence. ich they ive sung NOKTII AMKUICA. \[^{ " Farewell to the homo of my childhood, Farewell to mjr cottage and vino, I (to to the land of the stran^jor, Whore ploasure alone will he mitu\ When life'* fleeting journey is o'er, And earth again niinglus with earth, I can rest in the land of the stranger, As well as in that of my birth." We had rough weather for the tirst ten days, and on the '21st of July had a pretty severe storm, which lasted 24 hours. The Irish, who were all Roman Catholics, now offered up their prayers to the Virgin ; and one man was observed throwing into the sea a consecrated stone, (probably brought with him from Ireland), in order to quell the storm ; and as it began to abate shortly after- wards, I guess they imputed it to the wonderful ellicacy of this little stone. A young man who was so sick from the effects of the storm that he thought himself dying, came to the chief mate, exclaiming — *' My sovvl I my sowl I oh, what will become of my poor sowl ? " The mate said that he could not answer for his soul, but that as for his body, if he died, he would have it thrown ovei -board with- in five minutes. This gentle reproof gave his acute feelings such a violent shock that he recovered immediately. The Irish were chiefly from the county of Cork, and the passage money of no less than 130 of them had been paid by their friends in America ; which both shews that they were doing well there, and that time and space had not obliterated their attachment to their native country, or, at all events, to those whom they had left behind. They were in general very poor, and some of them in- deed were so much struck down with poverty, that they had not even a bed to lie in, nor a blanket to cover them, but lay down every night on the bare boards. v^'iiliil i m li a Mi I ill' * !« 8 1 1 / 132 NORTH AMERICA. We had as usual thick fogs when off the banks of New- foundland, an island discovered in 1497 by the commander of a small squadron of ships which sailed from Bristol in search of a north west passage to India, who called it Newfoundland. In 1534 the brave Jacques Cartier, with only 60 men, sailed from St Malo in France, in two small vessels, and nearly circumnavigated this island, which they found to be about 000 miles in circumference, but with a soil every where unfruitful. Two Englishmen named Elliot and Thorn, with a body of their dependants, traded there for some years under the protection of Henry VIII. ; but having unfortunately determined to remain there during one of the winters, their provisions failed, none of them survived, and tradi- tion says that they ate each other. Many years afterwards Sir Humphry Gilbert took possession of it in the name of Queen Elizabeth ; and in 1621 Sir George Culvert, afterwards Lord Baltimore, landed there from England, having with him seeds, grain, and cattle. His settlers were successful, and some of their descendents founded, in a commodious harbour, the capital, St Johns. The French, from the beginning of the 17th century, had a settlement at Placentia, on the south coast, but at the treaty of Utrecht in 1713, Louis XIV. of France was compelled to give up his claim to the island, which pro- bably he did not care much about, as his subjects retained the right of fishing. It has ever since remained an English colony, and is garrisoned by a few artillery and infantry. The barren soil and ungenial climate defy the skill and industry of the husbandman, as wheat docs not grow at all, whilst oats and potatoes are but scanty crops ; so that they require supplies of almost every thing but cod-fish NORTH AMERICA. 133 from other countries. There are 9000 cattle and 6000 sheep on the island. The town of St Johns is irregular and dirty, though its trade is large, as they receive in return for the immense quantities of dried cod fish and oil which they export, nearly all the luxuries and necessaries of life, the annual exports and imports averaging nearly £2,000,000 sterling. They get port wine direct from Portugal in exchange for their dried fish. The population of the island is 100,000, one-half of whom are Roman Catholics, principally of Irish descent, or emigrants ; the remainder of English race, and various creeds. Thousands of lean dogs stalk about the streets of St John's, quarrelling with each other for the off'al of the fish, which lies plentifully scattered in all directions ; and though this be their recreation, their business is to draw go-carts. There are also great numbers of cats, which, on account of the hostile relations existing between them and their canine neighbours, generally reside on the tops of the houses, from which they look down with contempt on their fierce assailants. Few people in this country have any definite idea of the' extent of the fisheries on the banks of Newfoundland. Upon this extraordinary bank, enveloped in almost per- petual fog, which divides the Gulf of St Laurence from the wide Atlantic, and extends OOO miles in length, and 200 in breadth, the nations of Europe and America have for centuries been labouring with nets, lines, and every process that can be imagined, whilst not the slightest di- minution of supply has ever been observed. From the arctic shores large fields of ice are annually floated down in the neighbourhood of this island, and on fi 134 NORTH AMERICA. their surface are conveyed large herds of seals, which are captured for their skins and oil. I observe it stated in the essay on the canals of Canada, written by Thomas C. Keefer, civil engineer, who gained the prize of £50, awarded by the Earl of Elgin, &c., and published at Toronto in 1850 under the title of *' Prize Essay," that the French employ at their fisheries 25,000 men, and 500 large vessels ; the Americans 37,000 men, and 2,000 schooners ; whilst the British have 25,000 men, 520 sealing vessels, and 10,082 open boats. The Americans take 1,500,000 cwts. of fish, and the French and British 1,000,000 cwts. each ; in all three and a half millions of cwts., or 175,000 tons of fish annually, which, at £10 the ton, and adding the value of the seals and oil, amount to at least 2,000,000 sterling. My esteemed friend Mr Armour, of the firm of Andrew H. Armour & Co., booksellers, Toronto, and of that of Armour & Ramsay, Montreal, published this valuable essay, and politely presented me with a copy of it. There were ten competing essays given in. We spoke several vessels during the voyage — one from London to Quebec with emigrants — out 23 days — another, the Fingalton of Glasgow, belonging to Pollock, Giimour, & Co., bound also for Quebec, out 24 days ; and we also spoke the splendid steam ship belonging to the United States called the Washington^ bound from New York for Southampton in England, and Bremen in Germany. On Sunday the 28th of July, one of our sailors, a Maltese, fell overboard, but being an excellent swimmer he kept up, and made for the life-buoy, which was imme- diately thrown out to him, which he reached in ten or twelve minutes, and the boat which was instantly des- patched, picked him up after he had been in the water jU. NORTH AMERICA. 135 about a quarter of an hour. It was fortunate that the weather was calm, as, if we had had a stiff breeze he must have been lost. We were boarded by a pilot when about 1 2 miles from Boston. The captain invited him to dine with us at the cabin or cuddy table, and being asked whether he would take a glass of porter or of brandy, he replied, " I guess I have not felt altogether smart to-day, so will take the brandy." * The pilot told us of the death of General Taylor, the President of the Republic. We came to anchor in the evening near the light-house, and were examined next day, on reaching the quarantine ground, by two medical officers, appointed, one by the State of Massa- chusetts, the other by the city of Boston ; and, after a voyage of 37 days, and traversing a distance of 3,000 miles, landed at Boston, on the shores of that mighty re- public, the United States of America. '• Does there exist, or will there come An age with wisdom to assume, The rights by heav'n design'd ; The rights which man was born to claim. From Nature's God, which freely came. To aid and bless mankind. — Republics ! must the task be your's To frame the code which life secures. And right from man to man — Are you, in Time's declining age, Found only fit to tread the stage Where tyranny began ?" The emigrants, preparatory to landing, appeared dressed in their best apparel, some of them having tossed their * The word smart in America means clever, but the latter word is only applied to good-natured, obliging, and well-meaning people, who are often regarded by them as any thing but smart. 106 NORTU AMEIIICA. tattered garments into the sea, and seemed all to be happy, delighted at the prospect of exchanging a country in which they had been doomed to want and misery, for one from which poverty and privation, sorrow and sighing, had for ever fled away. They considered, no doubt, that they had reached at last the promised land, and that the memorable words addressed to the Israelites of old, as recorded in Deuteronomy, were no less applicable unto them. •• For the Lord thy God bringcth thoc into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains, and depths, that spring out of valleys and hills ; a land of wheat, and barley, and vines, and fig trees, and pomegranates, a land of oil — olive, and honey. " A land wherein thou shalt eat bread without scarceness, thou shalt not lack any thing in it ; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills thou maycst dig brass." , I' NORTH AMERICA. 137 CHAPTER IX. Sketch of the rise, progress, and final establishment of the InJcpentlence of the United States of America. Having already given a brief narrative of the discovery of America, I shall devote a few pages to a rapid sketch of the rise, progress and estabHshment of the Indepen- dence of the United States ; simply premising, that American authors maintain, that previous to the war of Independence they had reached that point at which for- bearance ceased to be a virtue, and were obliged to have recourse to the only reserved right that was left them, namely, that of revolution ; the last right to which op- pressed nations resort. America had not been long discovered before it excited the envy of all the European nations, who, putting aside altogether the claims of the aborigines of that country, adopted by tacit consent, and as a new law of nations, the simple principle, that the countries which each explored should be the absolute property of the discoverers. Amidst the scramble that now took place for new terri- tories. Queen Elizabeth of England was not very far be- hind, as in 1584 she gave, under certain conditions, to Sir Walter Raleigh, *' all such remote, heathen and barbarous lands," as he should discover in North America. Under this roving commission. Sir Walter despatched two vessels, who took possession of a part of the American i • -} 138 NORTH AMERICA. coast, to which the Queen on the return of the navigators to England, gave the name of Virginia, as a memorial that the happy discovery had been made under a virgin Queen ; a name which it still retains. Many settlers afterwards went out, who either perished or were destroyed by the natives, but no permanent settlement was effected till the reign of James the First, and with the exception of the comparatively modern charter of Georgia, in 1732, all the English colonies ob- tained their charters, and their greatest number of Euro- pean settlers, between the years 1603 and 1688. Though the English possessions in America were in- ferior in natural riches to those which fell to the lot of other Europeans, yet the security of property and liberty derived from the English constitution, gave them a great ascendancy. Neither ancient nor modern history can pro- duce an example of colonies governed with equal wisdom, or flourishing with equal rapidity. In the short space of 150 years their numbers had increased to three milLons, and their commerce to more than a third of that of Great Britain. They also extended their settlements to 1500 miles on the sea coast, and 300 to the westward. The New England provinces improved faster than others, which were blessed with a superior soil, and milder climate. The population of the State of New York, which in 1756, contained 83,233 whites, had 150,000 by the year 1771, thus nearly doubling its population in 15 years. Pennsylvania at first settled under the auspices of the celebrated Quaker, William Penn, improved so rapidly, that whereas in the year 1704, that province im- ported goods from the mother country, amounting in value only to eleven thousand pounds sterling, by the year 1772, it imported to the extent of £508,000, or nearly fifty for one in little more than half a century. NORTH AMERICA. 130 ivigators )rial that a virgin perished rmanent le First, modern )nies ob- of Euro- were in- le lot of d liberty a great can pro- wisdom, space of milLons, )f Great to 1500 a. The others, milder York, 1,000 by n in 15 pices of »ved so nee im- in value le year irly fifty Under these favourable circumstances, the British colonies in the new world had advanced nearly to the magnitude of a nation, while the greater part of Europe was almost wholly ignorant of their progress. One of the first events which drew on the colonies a share of public attention, was the takirg of Louisburg, in the island of Cape Breton, from France, while that country was at war with Great Britain. This enterpri e was projected by the governor of Massachusetts, and un- dertaken by the sole authority of the Legislature of that province. Having raised 5000 men, and been joined by a British marine force of 40 armed vessels from the West Indies, and 12,000 men under the command of General Aiiiherst, their combined operations were carried on with so much judgment, that on the 17th of June 1745, the fortress capitulated. At this time France was in possession of the country on both sides of the mouth of tho Mississippi, as well as of Canada, and laid claim also to the country on the Ohio as part of Canada. This being considered an encroach- ment by the French on the British colonies, the policy of repressing it was generally approved of both in England and America ; and it was resolved to take effectual measures for driving them from the Ohio, and also for re- ducing Niagara, and the other posts which they held within the limits claimed by the king of Great Britain. In the prosecution of this war, the advantages which Britain derived from the colonies were immense. No less than 500 privateers which were fitted out of the ports of her American colonies, successfuly cruized on French property.. Besides distressing them by privateering, they furnished 25,000 men to co-operate with the British regular forces in North America. The success of their privateers, which not only ravaged the West India Islands, 8 n I.' II i < ^i li ;•' ; ■ ■■ ■1 jt:i; J i' ■ 1 i t 1 i ilf. ■ J 7..*^ 140 NORTH AMERfCA. then chiefly belonging to France, but made many captures on the coast of France itself, joined to the co-operation of their land forces, made the colonies great acquisitions to Britain, and formidable adversaries to France, who soon felt that their growing importance, and their continued union with Great Britain, threatened the whole of her American possessions. Victory everywhere crowned the British arms ; the French were dispossessed not only of all the British territories on which ihey had encroached, but also of Quebec, the capital of their ancient province of Canada. After hostilities had raged nearly eight years, a general peace (called the peace of Paris,) was consti- tuted in 1763, by which France ceded Canada to Great Britain. The Spaniards having also taken part in the war, were, at the termination of it, induced to relinquish to the same power both East and West Florida. This peace gave Great Britain possession of an extent of country equal in dimensions to several kingdoms of Europe. The possessions of Canada in the north, and of the two Fieri- das in the south, joined to her other colonies, made her almost sole mistress of the whole of the North American continent. Till 17G4, the colonial regulations seemed to know no other object but the common good of the whole empire. But in that fatal year the sad story of colonial oppression commenced. Great Britain then adopted new regula- tions respecting her colonies, which after disturbing the ancient haimony of the two countries for 8 years, termi- nated finally in the dismemberment of this great empire. At the conclusion of the peace of Paris in 1763, the national debt of Great Britain amounted to 148 millions sterling, for which an interest of five millions was annually paid. While the British minister was digesting plans for diminishing this debt, he conceived the idea of raising a ? NORTH AMERICA. 141 revenue in the British colonies, from taxes imposed by the Parliament of the parent state ; and maintained that as the late war originated on account of the colonies, and had terminated in a manner so favourable to their interest, that they should contribute towards defraying tlie ex- penses it had occasioned. He also contended that her Parliament, as the supreme power, was constitutionally vested with an authority to lay them on every part of the empire. This doctrine, plausible enough in itself, and perhaps conform to the Iclter of the British constitution, when the whole dominions were represented in one assem- bly, was reprobated in the colonies, as contrary to its spirit, wdien the empire had become so far extended as to have many distinct representative assemblies. The colonists believed that the chief excellence of the British constitu- tion consisted in the rights of the subjects to grant or with- hold taxes, and in their having a share in making the laws by which they were to be bound ; and maintained that it had been acknowledged to be essential to the constitution of Great Britain, that the people could not be compelled to pay any taxes, nor be bound by any laws, but such as had been granted or enacted with the consent of them- selves, or their representatives. They appealed to ancient usage as being also in their favour, as during the first 150 years of their existence, they had been left to tax them- selves, and in their own way ; and argued that if a British Parliament in which they were unrepresented, and over which they had no control, could take from them any part of their property by direct taxation, they might take as much as they pleased, and lay on taxes without end, until either their rapacity was satisfied, or the abilities of the colonists exhausted. " We could not," they said, *' at future elections, displace these men who so lavishly grant away our property, as their seats and their power are in- ii :i!l rrii 1 I !' !:i i;!i 142 NORTH AMEUICA. dependent of us ; and vvc would, in fact, have no security for anytliing that remains, hut a forbearance on the part of the British Parliament, less likely to be exercised in our favour, as they lightened themselves of the burdens of government in the same proportion that they imposed tliem upon us." In the year 1760, the people of the State of New York petitioned Lord Lovelace, the second English governor of that State, for a representative government, and protested against being taxed for the support of a government in which they had no voice. Lovelace, however, not only treated their petition with disdain, but declared, that to keep the people in order, such taxes must be laid upon them as should give them time to think of nothing else but how to discharge them. A very wise maxim, but one which the Americans in after ages seem unfortunately to have lost sight of. Notwithstanding all the remonstrances above alluded to, the House of Commons passed resolutions in March 17G4, in favour of an American Stamp Act, after little or no opposition. But when the bill founded on these reso- lutions was introduced the following year, it was strongly opposed by several members, but carried by a large majo- rity ; and meeting with but little opposition in the House of Lords, received the royal assent on 22d March 1765. It is a melancholy fact, though too important not to be recorded, that an American revenue, though reprobated by the mass of the people, was upon the whole rather a popular measure in Great Britain amongst the majority of the higher classes, who unfortunately at that time pos- sessed the power of silencing the voice of the numerous petitions to the contrary. The "equity," as they termed it, of compelling the Americans to contribute to the com- mon expenses of the empire, satisfied moreover many who. NORTH AMEUICA. 143 without inquiring into the policy or justice of taxing their unrepresented fellow-subjects, readily assented to the measures adopted by the Parliament for this purpose. Self-interest thus exercised its due weight, and the pros- pect of casing their own burdens at the expense of the colonists, seems to have dazzled the aristocracy and gen- tlemen of landed property so much, as to have made them shut theh oyes to the probable consequences of the inno- vation. The Americans in abusing the British indiscri- minately, have not adverted sufficiently to this important fact. The passing of this act caused a tremendous sensation in America, and in addition to speeches, essays, and the whole writers in the public journals, they adopted a new mode of displaying their resentment against the friends of the Stamp Act. The State of Massachusetts took the lead, when in the morning of 14th August 1705, a few gentle- men hung out on the limb of a large tree towards the en- trance of Boston, two effigies, one designed for the stJimp master, the other for a jack-boot, with a head and horns peeping out at the top. In the evening the whole was cut down and carried in procession by the populace, shout- ing ** Liberty and property for ever ; no stamps." They next proceeded to the house of Mr Oliver, the Stamp^ master in Boston, and after breaking his windows, they beheaded his effigy. At New York, the people having a great dislike to the political sentiments of the Lieutenant-Governor of the fort there, broke open his stable, took out his coach, and carried it in triumph through the principal streets to the common, where a gallows was erected. On one end of this they suspended the effigy of the Governor, having in his right hand a stamped bill of lading, and in his left a figure of the devil. They then carried the apparatus to H4 NORTH AMERICA. the gale of the fort, and from tlienec to the bowling green, wliero a bon-lirc was made, and burned the whole pageantry, includhig the carriage, amidst the acclamations of thou- sands. From the decided and unanimous opposition to this Act which had been adopted by the whole of the States, it be- came necessary for Great Britain either to enforce or re- peal it. Fortunately the latter course was adoj)ted, and after much opposition the repeal of the Stamp Act was carried in the House of Lords on the 18tli of March 1700, and was the fust direct step to American independency. Elevated with the advantages they had gained, from that day forward, instead of feeling themselves dependent on Great Britain, they conceived that, in respect to com- merce she was dependent upon them; and while the pride of Britons revolted at the thought of their colonies refus- ing subjection to that Parliament which they obeyed, the Americans, with equal haughtiness, exclaimed, " shall the petty island of Great Britain, scarce a speck on the map of the world, control the free citizens of the great conti- nent of America ? " Had Great Britain at this time generously relinquished for ever all claim to the right, or even the exercise of the right of taxation, the union of the two countries might have lasted for ages. But it was otherwise ordained. Though the Stamp Act was repealed, an American reve- nue v.as still a favourite object with many in Great Bri- tain ; and accordingly, in 1767 the Chancellor of the Ex- chequer brought into Parliament a bill for granting duties in the British colonies on glass, paper, painter's colours, and tea, which was afterwards enacted into a law. These several duties were afterwards repealed in 1770, with the exception of the duty on tea, which was unfortunately still retained, and though it was but trifling, only threepence goes. NORTH AMERICA. 14.J the pound weight, yet the principle which it involved (tax- ation without representation) aroused the howtility of the colonists as much as the Stamp Act had done. As Bos- ton had taken the lead in ( pposing the Stamp Act, two regiments of infantry were nent to it from Great Britain in 1768, to keep the Bostonians under suhjection. This produced deadly irritation, and constant scuffles betwixt them and the soldiers. Though the colonists had ent( red into a non-importation agreement against tea, as well as all other commodities from Great Britain, it had neverthe- less found its way into America, though in smaller (quan- tities than before. But in 1773, the British East India Company having complained to the British government of the loss they were sustaining by the great accumulation of tea in their warehouses, in consequence of the pertina- cious and successful exclusion of it from the American markets, it was agreed that the British duty of one shilling a pound, should be drawn back on its import into Ame- rica, and one of only threepence imposed. Several ships were accordingly freighted and despatched with the com- modity, and proper agents appointed for disposing of it. The Americans now perceiving that the tax was thus likely to be enforced, whether they would or not, determined to take every possible method to prevent the tea from being landed, knowing that it would be impossible to hinder the sale of it if once brought on shore. . In the midst of this confusion three ships laden with tea arrived at Boston ; but so much were the captains alarmed at the disposition which seemed to prevail among the peo- ple, that the) offered, providing they could obtain proper discharges from the tea consignees, custom-house, and governor, to return to Britain without landing their car- goes. The parties concerned, however, though they durst not order the tea to be landed, refused to grant the G I ltl^¥\ S.fri j|.^! 146 NORTH AMERICA. discharges required. The ships therefore, would have been obliged to remain in the harbour ; but the people, apprehensive that if they remained there the tea would be landed in small quantities, and disposed of in spite of every endeavour to prevent it, resolved to destroy it at once. This was done with equal speed and secrecy. The very evening after the above-mentioned discharges had been refused, a number of people dressed like Mohawk Indians, and in the presence of thousands of spectators, boarded the ships, and threw into the sea their whole cargoes, consisting of 342 chests of tea ; but retired with- out doing any more damage. When I visited Boston in 1850, I saw the wharf where this celebrated event took place, which is now called the " T Wharf." No tea was discharged in other places, though the same spirit was every where manifested. At Philadelphia the pilots were enjoined not to conduct the vessels up the river ; and at New York, though the Governor caused some tea to be landed under the protection of a man of war, he was ob- liged to deliver it up to the custody of the people, to pre- vent its being sold. The destruction of the tea at Boston, which happened in 1773, was the immediate prelude to the disasters at- tending civil discord. The Parliament of Great Britain met immediately to take into consideration a message from his Majesty acquainting them with the undutiful behavi- our of the city of Boston, as well as of all the colonies, and recommending at the same time most vigorous exer- tions to reduce them to obedience. A bill was accord- ingly brought in for imposing a fine on the town of Bos- ton equal to the value of the tea which had been destroyed, and shutting up its port by armed vessels until the refrac- tory spirit of its inhabitants should be subdued. This bill though strongly opposed was carried, and passed into a law % NORTH AMERICA. 147 in the spring of 1774. The cause of Boston was now espoused by the whole colonists, and a general Congress composed of delegates from the whole States, and consist- ing of 51 delegates, assembled at Philadelphia in Septem- ber 1774, who agreed upon and published what they termed " A Declaration of Rights," which was circulated throughout the whole country. The Americans now began to furnish themselves with arms and ammunition, and to train their militia. Provi- sions were also collected and stored in different places, particularly at Concord, about twenty miles from Boston. The British commander, General Gage, who was quar- tered with his army at Boston, despatched Colonel Smith, with 800 men to destroy the stores at Concord, and wish- ing to accomplish this without bloodshed, they marched from Boston at eleven o'clock at night, on 18th April 1775, in order that they might eflFect their object by sur- prise. They were attacked, however, by the American militia, both at Lexington and Concord, and having done their business began their retreat towards Boston. The militia, joined by the adjacent inhabitants who had assem- bled in arms, now began to attack them in every direction, from trees, and hedgerows, and they suffered severely, par- ticularly in passing through Lexington, where they were fired upon from behind stone walls, which caused great havoc among them. A little after sunset they reached Bunker's Hill, in the vicinity of Boston, worn down with excessive fatigue, having marched that day 40 miles. The regulars had lost that day 65 killed, 180 wounded, and 28 made prisoners. Of the provincials 50 men were killed and 38 wounded and missing. This skirmish, called by historians the battle of Lexington, is rendered celebrated for two reasons : first, from its being the first battle fought for American independence, and second, because it not g2 I i- III' ^:m m Till :l 111 1,48 NORTH AMERICA. an ' furnished them with a justifying apology for raising army, but inspired them with ideas of their own prowess. The British general at Boston having received large re- inforcements from Britain began now to act with more decision, and an eminence overlooking the city of Boston, called Bunker's Hill, situated on a peninsula in the vicinity of the village of Charlestown, now annexed to Boston, having been taken possession of by the Americans, who had secretly, and in the course of one night, thrown up a small breastwork round it, General Gage found it neces- sary to drive them from it. He, accordingly, detached Generals Howe and Pigot with the flower of the army, con- sisting of 3000 men. The number of the Americans engaged amounted to about 2000, who, cheered on by thousands of the inhabitants of Boston, who assembled as spectators, fought most desperately ; and though at last driven from the peninsula, may be said to have gained the victory. Colonel Putnam, an English officer settled in America, who commanded the Americans, told them not to fire till they could see the whites of the soldiers' eyes, and then to aim at their waistbands. At the battle of the Plains of Abraham at Quebec, in 1759, General Wolfe, in like manner, before he fell, ordered his troops to reserve their fire till the French were within 40 yards. There have been few battles, either in ancient or mo- dern times, in which, all circumstances considered, there was a greater destruction of men than in this short engage- ment, which only lasted about an hour. The loss of the British in slain and wounded, as acknowledged by Gene- ral Gage, amounted to 1124, of whom 226 were killed. Nineteen commissioned officers were killed, and seventy more were wounded. The battle of Quebec in 1759, which gave Great Britain the province of Canada was not NORTH AMERICA. 149 SO destructive to British officers as this affair of a slight entrenchment, the work only of a few hours. That the officers suffered so much must be imputed to their having been aimed at ; for though none of the provincials in this engagement were riflemen, yet they were all good marks- men. The dexterity which by long habit they had ac- quired in hitting beasts, birds, and marks, was thus now fatally applied to the destruction of Brit sh officers; and much confusion being expected from their fall, they were therefore particularly singled out. The spirited conduct of the British officers, indeed, merited and obtained great applause, even from the Americans ; but the provincials are no less entitled to a large portion of the same, for hav- ing, with so small a force, made the utmost exertions of their adversaries necessary to dislodge them from lines which were the work only of a single night. The Ame- ricans lost five pieces of cannon ; their killed amounted to 139, and their wounded and missing to 314. The acti- vity and boldness which they displayed in this action asto- nished the British officers, who, previous to this, had been accustomed to entertain rather too mean an opinion of their courage. After this battle, Washington, who had been appointed commander-in-chief, arrived at Cambridge, in the vicinity of Boston, and entered upon his important duties. The war now began to rage in different quarters, and, by the end of the year 1775, Britain beheld the whole of America united against her in the most determined oppo- sition. Her vast possessions in that country were now reduced to the single town of Boston, in which her forces were besieged by an enemy with whom apparently they were unable to cope, and by whom, of course, they must expect in a short time to be expelled. The Americans, however, knowing that it was in the power of the British ,h: . "' 150 NORTH AMERICA. m * .. ! r- general to reduce the town to ashes, offered no obstruc- tion to their retirement ; so that, for the space of a fort- night, the English troops were employed in the evacua- tion of the place, from which they carried along with them two thousand of the inhabitants, who durst not stay on account of their attachment to the British cause. From Boston they sailed to Halifax, but all their vigilance could not prevent a number of valuable ships from falling into the hands of the enemy. A quantity of cannon and am- munition had also been left at Bunker's Hill ; and in the town an immense quantity of goods, principally woollen and linen, of which the provincials stood much in need. The estates of those who fled to Halifax were confiscated, as also those who were attached to government and had remained in the town. The Americans now formally renounced all connection with Britain, and published a declaration, wherein, after setting forth all their grievances, they proclaim the United Colonies to be thenceforward " Free and Independent States." This celebrated declaration was published on 4th July 177C, a day which has ever since been cele- brated annually throughout the United States with a de- gree of enthusiasm of which the cold-blooded citizens of Great Britain can form no possible conception. The war, however, unfortunately, still raged for some time longer in different parts of the country, and with various success. My limits, however, will only allow me to record a few of the more important engagements. On the 27th of August 1776, a most desperate battle was fought on Long Island, in the vicinity of New York, by the British troops under Lord Howe, and the Americans under General Putnam, when the latter were completely defeated with the loss of nearly four thousand men, of whom two thousand were killed in the battle or pursuit. NORTH AMERICA. 151 Among these a regiment consisting of young gentlemen of fortune and family in Maryland was almost entirely cut to pieces, and of the survivors not one escaped vvithout a wound. Eleven hundred, among whom were tliree gene- rals, were taken prisoners. Of the British only Gl were killed, and 257 wounded. General Washington, however, met with better success in a battle which he fought at Trenton, the capital of the state of New Jersey, situated on the left bank of the Dela- ware, at the head of steam-boat navigation, 60 miles from New York, and 27 from Philadelphia, and now containing 15,000 inhabitants. He had retreated across the Dela- ware into Pennsylvania, when he ascertained that three regiments of Hessians, consisting of about 1300 men, hired from Germany to assist in putting down the British colonists, were posted, with a troop of British horse, at Trenton. On a bitter Christmas night, Washington, ■with 2,500 men, recrossed the Delaware, marched 9 miles, and fell of a sudden at 7 in the morning upon the astonished foreign mercenaries, captured the greater num- ber of them, with 1200 stand of arms and six field pieces, and whilst those who were not killed or taken fled in all directions, the British horse escaped. Washington was again across the Delaware the same day with his prison- ers and booty, before the British general thoroughly com- prehended what had taken place. The capture of the re- doubtable Hessians, of whom immense things had been ex- pected, cost the Americans only two men killed and two frozen to death. This action took place on 26th Decem- ber 1776, and though seemingly of no very decisive nature, was sufficient at that time to turn the fortune of war in favour of America, as reinforcements were poured into Washington's army from all quarters. Thus ended the campaign of 1776, with scarcely any real advantage to the p, M ' !! >« 152 NOllTH AMERICA. British other than the acquisition of the city of New York. In 1777, it was resolved that the army at New York should make an attack on Philadelphia. At first it was thought that this could be done through the Jerseys, but Washington having received large reinforcements, and posted himself strongly, it was found necessary to make the attempt by sea. The force employed, consisted of :^6 battalions of British and Hessians, who landed in the Chesapeake in August. General Washington upon this, left the Jerseys, and hastened to the relief of Philadelphia, and on the 11th of September, gave battle to the British near Brandywine Creek, between the head of the river Elk and Philadelphia. Being defeated however, with the loss of one thousand in killed and wounded, besides four hundred taken prisoners, the British took possession of Philadelphia. But though the campaign of 1777 in Pennsylvania con* eluded successfully in favour of the British, matters in the north wore a very different aspect. An army of 5000 chosen British troops, with 3000 Germans, under General Burgoyne, were ordered to march from Quebec, in order to effect a junction with the army of General Clinton, then at New York. On the 21st of June 1777, the army encamped on the western side of Lake Champlain, and having been joined by a considerable number of Indians, the campaign was opened with the siege of Ticonderago, which the Americans were soon obliged to evacuate, and taking the road to Skenesborough, a place to the South of Lake George, they were defeated with the loss of 200 killed, about as many taken prisoners, and above 600 wounded, many of whom perished in the woods for want of assistance. The American army had taken up its head quarters at NORTH AMERICA. 153 Stillwater, on the Champlain canal, 24 miles north from Albany. General Burgoyne having thrown a bridge of boats over the river Hudson, crossed it about the middle of September 1777, and encamped on the hills and plains near Saratoga. He then marched to Stillwater, where a bloody engagement took place on the 19th of that month, in which the British, after a most desperate struggle of four hours, and with much inferior numbers, were victo- rious. But though on this occasion they only lost 330 In killed and wounded, whilst the Americans had lost nearly 1500, yet they were much alarmed at the obstinate resolution shown by the latter ; added to which their allies the Indians now began to desert in great numbers. As the British army had long been labouring under great distress for want of provisions, notwithstanding every exertion to procure them. General Burgoyne in the beginning of October, was obliged to diminish the soldiers' allowance, and to think of a retreat. On the 7th of that month, having determined to move towards the enemy, he sent a body of 1500 men to reconnoitre their left wing; intending if possible to break through it, in order to effect a retreat. The detachment however, had not proceeded far, when a dreadful attack was made on the left wing of the British army, which was with great difficulty preserved from being entirely broken by a rein- forcement brought up by General Fraser, who was killed in the attack. After the troops had with the most des- perate efforts regained their camp, it was most furiously assaulted by General Arnold the American General ; and though the attack failed on the left, yet the camp of the German reserve was forced on the right ; Colonel Brey- man their Colonel killed, and his countrymen defeated with great slaughter, and the loss of all their artillery and baggage. i I 'I' rm m 11^ ': . f 1 j,' 1 i .it ; ! ff, i . i; ■ 's ' ) , M if 4 . ; I lf ! ]■ 'I 4 {■! k ; !i ! ^■^■i^^ 1 ; . 1* i ?l-ii ? ■ i 1 : I'l u i 154 NORTH AMERTCA. This was by far the heaviest loss the British army had sustained since the action at Bunker's Hill. The list of killed and wounded amounted to 1200, exclusive of the Germans ; but the greatest misfortune was, that the enemy having now an opening on the right and rear of the British forces, threatened the army with entire destruction. General Burgoyne now directed a retreat towards Sara- toga, and though he offered the enemy battle, they were now too well assured of obtaining a complete victory by cutting off all supplies from the British, to risk a pitched battle. The career of this brave general was now drawing to a close. The boats which conveyed provisions to his army down the Hudson river were exposed to the incessant fire of the American marksmen, who took many of them. The American army was increasing by the continual arri- val of militia and volunteers from all parts, so that the whole force under the American Commander, General Gates, was computed at 18,000 men, while the army under General Burgoyne scarcely amounted to 6000, who, be- sides their inferiority in numbers, had only provisions suf- ficient to last for three days. In this emergency a coun- cil of war having been called, it was unanimously agreed that there was no resource now left but to treat with the enemy. A negotiation was accordingly opened next day, which terminated in the capitulation of the whole B \tish army, who were sent to Boston to be transported to Eng- land. On this occasion. General Gates, with a degree of feeling that does him honour, ordered his army to keep within their camp whilst the British soldiers went to the place appointed for them to lay down their arms, in order that the latter might not have the additional mortification of being made spectacles of so melancholy an event. The number of those who surrendered in 1777 near Saratoga NORTH AMERICA. 155 amounted to 5750, besides 528 of sick and wounded left in the camp. Seven thousand stand of arms, with cloth- ing for an equal number of men, besides artillery and other stores, constituted the booty on this occasion. We must now take a cursory glance of the transactions in the southern colonies, to which the war in the year 1780 was so effectually transferred, that the operations there became at last decisive. On the 4th of May 1780, the garrison of Charleston, the capital of South Carolina, surrendered to the combined British forces by sea and land. The number of prisoners taken amounted to 5618 men, exclusive of nearly a thousand sailors in arms. Pre- vious to this, France had set about her preparations for the assistance of the Americans, and on the 14th of April 1779 had despatched Count D'Estaingfrom Toulon, with a large squadron, consisting of twelve ships of the line be- sides frigates, which, exclusive of its complement of sailors, had 6000 marines and soldiers on board. They arrived off the coast of Virginia in July following. In the same province of South Carolina, Earl Cornwallis, on 16 th August 1780, obtained a signal victory over General Gates. The British armv did not exceed 2000, while the Americans, who had now been joined by the French troops, amounted to 6000. Of the British troops, the killed and wounded amounted to 213, whilst the allied army lost above one thousand in killed and wounded, be- sides about an equal number taken prisoners. Shortly after this, means were found to detach Major- General Arnold, who had engaged so ardently in the cause of America, from the interests of the Congress. Major Andre, Adjutant- General to the British army, was the principal agent in this transaction, but was taken prisoner by three American soldiers, to whom he offered consider- able rewards if they would allow him to escape, but with- 1 ■; 1 ' '' .\ f h \ 156 NORTH AMEBIC A. out effect. General Washington referred his ease to the examination and decision of a board of general officers, consisting of six Major* Generals and eight Brigadier- Generals, who, after examining him before them, and in- quiring into the whole particulars of the case, reported that Major Andre came on shore from the Vulture sloop of war in the night, on an interview with General Arnold, in a private and secret manner ; that he changed his dress within the American lines; and under a feigned name and in a disguised habit passed the xVmerican works ; that he was taken, on the 23d of September 1 780, at Tarrytown, he being then on his way for New York ; and that when taken he had in his possession several papers which con- tained intelligence for the enemy. They, therefore, de- termined that he ought to be considered as a spy ; and that, agreeable to the law and usage of nations, he ought to suffer death. Sir Henry Clinton, the British command- ing officer, along with several others, including General Arnold himself, all wrote pressing letters to General Washington on the occasion, in order to prevent the de- cision of the board of general officers from being put in force. Their applications, however, were ineffectual, and he was hanged at Tappan, 27 miles from New York, near Piermonton the river Hudson, on the 2d of October 1780. He met his fate with great firmness ; but appeared some- what hurt that he was not allowed a more military death, for which he had solicited. General Washington himself would have granted his request; but on consulting the board of general officers who signed his condemnation, they deemed it necessary to put that sentence in force which was laid down by the maxims of war ; at the same time evincing the sincerest grief that they were forced to comply with, and could not deviate from, the established custom in such cases. He was a gentleman of very amiable if. NOUTII AMKRICA. 157 qualities and was highly accomplished. His death, there- fore, was regretted even by his enemies, and the severity of his fate was much exclaimed against in Great Britain. It was, however, generally acknowledged by impartial persons, that there was nothing in the execution of this unfortunate officer but what was perfectly consonant to the rules of war. General Arnold afterwards published an address to the people of America, stating that his reason for deserting their cause was the disgust he had conceived at the French alliance, and at the refusal of Congress to comply with the last terms offered by Great Britain, which he thought equal to all their expectations and to all their wishes. The war was now drawing to a close. Notwithstanding the advantages that Lord Cornwallis had obtained over the Americans and the French in Virginia, his situation in that province began to be very critical, chiefly from not having received those reinforcements from Sir Henry Clinton, the British commander-in-chief at New York, which he had expected, and conceived to be necessary for the success of his operations. Sir Henry, however, was prevented from sending these reinforcements to his Lord- ship from his fears respecting New York. Li fact Gene- ral Washington had thoroughly outgene railed General Clinton, by adopting a variety of measures all calculated to impress the latter with the belief that he intended to make a formidable attack on New York, where Clinton had been for some time with a considerable army. Hav- ing succeeded in his manoeuvres, Washington suddenly quitted his camp at White Plains, crossed the Delaware, and marched towards Virginia. Finding that Lord Corn- wallis had taken possession of a village called Yorktovvn, situated on the right bank, and near the mouth of York river, 70 miles from Richmond, the capital of Virginia, 158 NOUTII AMERICA. 1 1 ;'' li! : If i • ' li-l he immediately adopted the most eftoctual measures for surrounding the Hriti^h army. A large body of French troops under the command of the Count de Rochamheau, assisted in the enterprise. The Americans amounted to 8000 continentals and .0000 militia. General Washing- ton was invested with the authority of commander-in- chief of these combined forces of America and France. On the 29th of September, the investment of Yorktown was complete, and the British army having been quite blocked up. Lord Cornwallis, on the 19th of October 1781, surrendered himself and his whole army to the com- bined armies of France and America. He made a de- fence suitable to the high character he had acquired for courage and military skill ; but was compelled to submit to untoward circumstances and superior numbers. The British prisoners amounted to (iOOO ; but many of them at the time of surrender were incapable of duty. Hostilities now ceased, and on 30th November 1 782 the provisional articles of peace between Great Britain and the Ameri- can States, by which the former acknowledged the inde- pendence of the latter, were signed at Paris, and ratified by a definitive treaty dated 3d September 1783. Thus ended an arduous conflict which had been kept up for eight years, in which Great Britain had expended a hundred millions of money, with a hundred thousand lives, and gained nothing. America endured every cruelty and distress from her enemies ; lost many lives and much trea- sure ; but delivered herself from a foreign dominion, and gained a rank among the nations of the earth. George Washington, the commander-in-chief of the American army, was the eldest son of Augustine Wash- ington, a respectable planter, whose grandfather emigrated from Yorkshire in England in 1657 and settled fn Vir- ginia. He was born on 22d February 1732, and died on m ill iili #' ^Hf r NORTH AMEUICA. 150 17th December 1700, on his estato of Mount Vernon, near Washington, now the cajjital of tlu; United States, and named after him. When on his way to New York to be proclaimed the first President of tiie United States, he had to pass tliroiigh a triumphal arch which had been erected on the bridge at Trenton, by the direction of the ladies of the place. Three rows of females were posted at the arch in order to welcome his approach. On the first row were ranged a number of young girls dressed in white, with garlands of flowers on their heads, and baskets of flowers on their arms ; in the second row stood the young ladies, and behind them the married ladies of the town. The instant he passed the arch, they began to sing the following ode : — Tune — " Scots wha hue wi Wallace bled," Welcome mighty chief, once more, Welcome to this grateful shore : Now no mercenary foe, Aims at thee a blow. Virgins fair, and matrons grave, These thy conqu'ring arm clitl save ; Build for thee triumphal howors, And strew thy way with Howers. As they sang the last lines they strewed their flowers on the road before their beloved deliverer. It is a curious circumstance that Washington, besides ten others of the Presidents of the United States, were natives of Virginia. Indeed almost all the Presidents of the United States have been born and bred in the South, and although they held slaves, have advanced the cause of freedom. Though the United States of America be thus for ever lost to Britain, yet it must be some consolation for the latter to know that she has been the origin of a commonwealth «■. ; m •1 > i Ul 1 I i I U I 100 A'OKTII AMERICA. greater and more durable than any former monarchy ; and that her language and her manners are destined to flourish among a people who will one day become a splendid spec- tacle in the vast eye of the universe. This flattering idea of immortality no other nation upon earth can ever pos- sibly hope to attain. It is important also to reflect, that from her commercial intercourse with independent America, Great Britain has derived infinitely more profit than she could have gained, had the growth of the former been stunted by the opera- tion of restrictive laws. Descrip IIous Cook realiz Mont Murd by th( Bos body ( were c to the Lincol year, establi harboi though Bosi chuseti ing th Massa( " Yan people derisio speakii States, unless apply 1 NORTH AivTERlCA. IGl CHAPTER X. Description of Boston - Origin of the word Yankee — The Montgomery House in Boston — Breakfasts and Dinners in America — French Cookery — Rapidity at their meals — Jenny Lind at Boston — Sum realized by her in America — Sunday in Boston — Anecdote of Admiral Montague — Monument at Bunker's Hill — No hangmen in America — Murder of Abraham Suydam, Esq , by Peter Robinson — Charge delivered by the Judge to the Jury. Boston was settled in the year 1633, by a considerable body of emigrants from different parts of England, who were called puritans or non- conformists. Out of respect to the Rev. Mr Cotton, formerly minister of Boston in Lincolnshire, who arrived from England during that year, and was appointed minister of the first church established there, they called the place Boston. The harbour is large enough to contain 500 ships at anchor, though the entrance is very narrow. Boston is the capital not only of the State of Massa- chusetts, but of the six new England provinces, compris- ing the states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island. The term *' Yankee," an epithet applied indiscriminately by the people in Pritran, (some from ignorance and others in derision,) lO all Americans without distinction, is strictly speaking, applicable only to the natives of the above six States. Even when used there, it is apt to give offence, unless when used by themselves, but were a stranger to apply that epithet to a native of the Southern or Western 1(32 NORTH AMERICA. ■i ^ li :!:: States, he must lay his account with being knocked down. The natives of these latter states, call the natives of the New England States more frequently Doicn Easters than Yankees. The epithet of " Brother Jonathan," when used at all, is applicable to the whole natives of the United States. The origin of the word Yankee is said to he this. The Puritans from England embarked for the wilderness of America, in order that they might enjoy unmolested the inestimable luxury of talking, denied to them at home. No sooner did they land than they all lifted up their voices at once, and for the space of one whole year did keep up such a joyful clamour, as to frighten every bird and beast out of the neighbourhood. The simple aborigines and Indians, for a while contemplated these stranger folks in utter astonishment, but discovering that they wielded harmless, though noisy weapons, and were a lively, ingenious, good-humoured race of men, they became very friendly and sociable, and gave them the name of ** Yankees," which, in the language of Maistchsuaeg, a tribe of Indians, signifies " silent men," a waggish ap- pellation, first applied in derision, which they retain unto the present day. I observe it stated however, by my friend, George Combe, Esq. of Edinburgh, the celebrated phrenologist, in his learned work on America, that the word is supposed to be r-?, Indian corruption of the word English, Yang-gleese, Yankees. Mr Combe also says, that the inhabitants of the New England States are proud of the appellation, but of this I have my doubts. I took up my abode during my residence in Boston, at the " Montgomery House," in Tremont Street, of which Mr James S. Parke was the manager, and Mr Thomas P. Wilson the proprietor. This hotel which I can strongly recommend, was most superbly furnished, and contained between one and two hundred apartments. The charge ill NORTH AMERICA. 1G3 d down. 3 of the ers than " when of the be this, iderness sted the t home, p their ear did ;ry bird simple d these ing that I were a became lame of uaeg, a psh ap- lin unto by my ebrated hat the le word o says, e proud ston, at f which Ihomas ;trongly ntained charge of one dollar and a haU pe?' day,* was exceedingly mode- rate considering the style kept up, and the admirable cookery, which both there and throughout the states is almost entirely in the French style in all the principal hotels ; most of the men cooks in the States being either natives of France, or negroes, who make first-rate French cooks, while the female servants are almost invariably natives of Ireland. We generally dined about a hundred every day, the ladies and the gentlemen with them dining at the same time, and in the same room, but at a different table. The breakfast hour was 1 o'clock, the dinner at a quarter past 2, the tea at half past 6, and the supper from 9 to 12. Very few partook of supper. The gong was sounded at half-past six in the morning to rouse us from our beds ; but those who had occasion to go off by the earlier railw^ay-trains or steamboats, could have had their breakfast at any time they might name, by merely inti- mating this to the book-keeper at the office the night pre- vious. Every thing is done either by the clerk or book- keeper at the office. On entering any hotel, you immedi- ately repair to the office, enquire if you can get apart- ments, and if so the clerk hands you the journal in which you insert your name and place of residence. The pro- prietor of the house is seldom seen by the guests unless specially asked for. On going away, you call at the office and ask the dark to make out your bill or account, and after you pay him he discharges it. There was a daily bill of fare printed, and a copy placed at every seat. The covers are removed by the waving of the hand or other signals, which vary at different hotels. At the large hotels in the States, the waiters are privately * Throughout this work, the value of a dollar will always be held as equivalent to four shillings and twopence sterling. A cent is a half-penny, and a York shilling, sixpence sterling. I 164 NORTH AMERICA. drilled by the head waiter or landlord, with empty plates, instructed to remove the covers by signal, and distribute themselves among the guests. The number of waiters at the Montgomery House was 15, and the following bill of fare for one of the days I was there, will give an idea of the system pursued. MONTGOMERY HOUSE. Tuesday Au(j. 20. 1850. FISH. Codfish — Paraley Sauce. SOUP. BOILED. V^ermicelli. Turkey — Oyster Sauce. Chickens and Pork. Leg of Mutton — Caper Sauce. Ham. ENTREES. Cutlet de Veau, larded — with "Vegetables. Sweetbreads, larded — Tomato Sauce. Chicken, glace — with Turnips. Maccaroni — with Cream. Fricassee Chicken. Mutton Cutlets— Sauce Piquante. Lamb —en papilotte. Codtish — Madeira Sauce. Orange Fritters. Omelette — with Ham. ROAST. Beef. I Veal. Pork. I Chickens. Lamb — Mint Sauce — Ducks. VEGETABLES. Irish Potatoes — Mashed do. — Squash — Turnips — Shell Beans— Green Corn — Beets — Tomatoes. PASTRY, PUDDINGS. &c. Apple Pies — Peach Pies — Whortleberry Pies — Boiled Whortleberry Pudding — Charlotte Russe. DESSERT. Apples — Pears — Peaches — Nuts — Raisins — Water Melons — Cantelopes— Grapes. NORTH AMERICA.. 165 plates, stribute liters at r bill of idea of 3e. r;auce. From the above it will be seen that the Americans have, with singular good sense and good taste, discarded to a great extent the common English, or plain roast and boiled cookery, which is that of a half-civilized people, and adopted the scientific and elaborate cuisine of France, wliich must be always admired and appreciated wherever taste is not mere gross appetite, and wherever the quantity of solid meat consumed is not held to be the test, as amongst us, of the excellence of the entertainment. The only difference indeed betwixt a public dinner in France and in America, (keeping of course the light, claretty, banquet-breathing wines of France out of view,) consists in this, that the French, though using the same knite and fork throughout, merely wiping the former occasionally on a piece of bread, have their plates changed at each successive course. In America, on the contrary, this is but seldom done, and though I should be sorry to call them *' dirty feeders," as Mr Dickens has done, yet I have occa- sionally felt somewhat shocked at seeing the variety of ditFerent dishes they crammed into one plate. This evi- dently arises however in some measure from the extreme haste they are in to bring their repast to an untimely end, as the waiters are always ready to change the plates cf those who desire it. The beds in America are in general very good, and the head is not raised so high as in this country by bolsters and pillows. Indeed, when in bed, we ought not to lie in a forced or constrained po&'Mon. but almost horizontal, the head being only a little raised. Nothing is more pre- judicial than to lie in bed half sitting as it were, as the circulation in the belly is thus checked, and the spine too much compressed. By this custom, one of the principal ends of sU ep, a free and uninterrupted circulation of ihe blood, is defeated. 160 It NORTH AMERICA. ■i t not generally known that a blanket is a cooler covering than a sheet in summer as it allows the perspi- ration to escape. Sheets no doubt feel colder at first, because they carry off the heat of the body much quicker, but when they become as warm as the body, they feel warmer, by confining the perspiration. Breakfasts in America generally consist of tea and coffee, delicious bread of all kinds, hot Indian corn bread, hot buckwheat cakes, eggs, potatoes, beef-steaks, and broiled chickens. The beef-steaks, however, are invari- ably tough, and I often wondered how they could swallow them, but owing to their violent hurry they are too much given to bolting their food without sufficient mastication. American butcher's meat of every description, with the exception always of pork, is decidedly inferior to British; their potatoes too are inferior to ours ; but the broiled chickens, and poultry indeed of every description, are always good. The potato was first brought from America into Ireland in 1565. Turkeys also were first introduced into this countrv from America. The dinner at these Ordinary's or " Tables d' Hote," generally lasts about twenty-five minutes, and people get up abruptly just when they feel inclined, and without any ceremony whatever. When one or two hundred are din- ing together, you may probably see a few retiring before that time has expired, some perhaps in 15 minutes ; yet, as a general rule, and at all the more fashionable hotels, that is about the time usually occupied, and within half an hour from the commencement of dinner you will not find one single individual left in the room, excepting of course the waiters, who are almost all either Irish or free negroes, called coloured people. I remarked, however, that at the inferior hotels, where they charge only a dollar a day, and where of course the company is not so select, they were m ^ 1 NORTH AMERICA. 167 considerably more rapid in their movements ; and Miss Sedgwick in her travels published 30 years ago, states, that at that time it was considered unbusiness-like to spend above ten minutes at dinner. When there are only female American helps in attendance, as sometimes happens in country inns, they are apt to sit down when their services are not required, a very good plan, as they tliereby get a rest. When American females go to service, which is now but seldom the case, they are called domestics or helps, the word '* servant" being hurtful to their feelings. Ameri- can helps, particularly females, generally expect (in country places at least, though not in towns) to sit at the same table with their "employers," that being the word generally used, as they do not like the idea of calling them master or mistress. With this slight deference to their acute feelings in regard to independence, they do as much work as servants in this country, rising at five in the morning to milk the cows, clean the house, go to market, and appearing in the evening, when their work is over, arrayed in their best apparel, ready to receive company if any should happen to arrive. American helps would not remain a day with a family, were they to enforce, as in Eng- land, the absurd and tyrannical injunction of " no callers allowed." A simple country girl one day at Boston some years ago, obeyed the instructions exactly about putting the dinner upon the table and then summoning the family. As they delayed a few minutes, she set down and helped herself to a fowl, as she said it was a pity to see it getting cold. I did not observe above one in about every fifteen who took any thing but water during dinner, and into this the waiters invariably during the hot weather put one or two pieces of ice ; indeed the consumpt of ice through- out the States is quite extraordinary. There is hardly any talking at an American dinner. They say, very pro- ilr *■ ! > rii, 1 ,1 ! i ■ t i 1(58 NORTH AMERICA. perly, that they meet not to talk but to eat, and in gene- ral they are not less temperate in their eating than in their drinking. Indeed, though the Americans have many good points, I do not think that their social propensities are of the first order. A grace is never said at public tables, and the Chinese gong is almost in universal use for summoning the inmates to their meals at all the prin- cipal hotels throughout the Union, and also in Canada, while the secondary hotels use a bell. The ruling maxim throughout the States seems to be ** time is short ;" and all the actions of that wonderful people have this senti- ment stamped upon them. Their motto is — •* Sound the clarion, fill tlie fife, Tlirou^h all the sensual worltl proclaim — One crowded hour of glorious life, Is worth an age without a name." There is one thing, however, in which the Americans show superior good breeding to the English, namely, they eat what is placed before them without ever allowing themselves to make any remark about it. Indeed they never exhibit the least symptoms of impatience except at meal times. They allow themselves to be overturned and their ribs broken by drivers of stages, and suffer them- selves to be drowned or blown up by captains of steam- boats, without uttering a complaint or a reproach. ** We are born in haste," says an American writer, *' we finish our education on the run, we marry on the wing, we make a fortune at a stroke, and lose it in the same manner." Professor Johnston, I observe, after alluding to their unsociable qualities, and endeavouring to make some ex- cuse for them from their time being so valuable, and many of them being absent from their families, having no induce- ment to linger over their food, and from usually abstain- ini; from wine, having none to remain at table after the subs in genc- than in 'e manv tensities ; public ■sal use tie prin« I!anada, [ maxim t;" and s senti- NOUTII AMEUICA. 1G9 lericans ly, they llowing ;d they cept at led and them- steam- " We finisii make er." their ■ne ex- many iduce- )stain- er the substantial of the meal arc over, makes the following remark. ** Whether this silence at table and rapidity at meals be a cause of indigestion, or a consequence of disease arising from other causes, it is certain that diseases of the digestive organs, and deaths from such diseases, are much more frequent than in Great Britain. More than one- half the population appear to be affected by such diseases in the United States, and only one in every ten in Great Britain." Mrs Iloustoun, an English lady who resided some years in the States and published her tour in 1850 under the title of " Travels in the W^est," says, when residing at the Pavilion Hotel in Boston, " I never saw people so little curious about other fulk's matters, or so imper- turbably and seriously engrossed with their own in my life. As for the tahle-d" hote dinner {alias ordinary,) it was, without exception, the most gloomy banquet it was ever my bad fortune to assist at. Milk in glass jugs was placed by each guest, and the * strong men* having bolted large quantities of the meat fit for them, washed it down with large draughts of the * food for babes,' and, as might be expected, seemed in no way en- livened thereby." Mrs Houstoun complains of the young ladies being noisy in the ladies* saloon, and sitting and swinging themselves for hours together on rocking-chairs, doing nothing and apparently thinking as little. " Some of them," she says, ♦* were very pretty, and delicate-looking, and, moreover, would have been well-dressed, if they could have con- tented themselves with fewer colours. If I could summon up a wish about them, it would be, that they would pitch their voice in a lower key, and, if possible, not speak through their noses. Why is it, that throughout the H K.y 170 NORTH AMERICA. l! , I III 1 ii , || ; ■, 1 .i s || 1 (1 ll,'.| .{ whole of this vast continent, the nasal tuang should inva- riably prevail ? I have given up trying to account for this peculiarity." Though the nasal twang be exceedingly prevalent in the States, yet it is absurd in Mrs H. to say that it is universal. It ought always to be remembered, however, that American ladies display many estimable qualities as good wives, good mothers, and good members of society ; and there is an unusual proportion of happy marriages, though they mariy at too early an age. Their union is in general based upon affection, and we ought to bear in mind that if men and women marry those whom they do not love, they will love those whom they do not marry. American ladies chiefly follow the French fashions, and when decked out in Parisian bonnets are apt to boast that they unite French grace with English modesty. A new bonnet seems to have a wonderful effect on the female mind. Mrs Houstoun makes the following remark on the Ame- ricans in general : — " I believe that tlie Amoricans them&elTes do not dispute the fact, that (as a race) they are considerably inferior in physical strength to their an- cestors. That the ' Anglo-Saxon* breed has degenerated, as far as outward appearance goes, is undeniable ; but why it is so it is impospible to say. It is, perhaps, still more difficult to account for the different breeds of English sheep beconning invariably in America wretched animals instead of fine ones. It is, in fact, quite as unusual a sight to meet a really fine-looking man in New England as it is to taste a good leg of mutton. The biped grows up long, thin, and weedy, with hollow cheeks, narrow shoulders, small hands and feet, and a good deal of nose — as for the woolly animal, there is no ap- parent reason why it should not retain its peculiar characteristics of * Lei- cestershire' or ' Southdown' to the end of time; but it does not, and though the greatest care and attention are paid them — though the parent stock is imported from England, and not unfrequently their own shepherds also — though turnips are grown for their support in winter, and no expense is spared by the New England farmer to keep up the breed in perfection, notliing succeeds. The experiment has been tried in the barren soil of New NOUTII AMERICA. in id inva- for this ilent in at it is )wever, lities as ocietv ; rriages, inion is bear in they do marry, ns, and ast that A new I female e Ame- fact, that their an- outward say. It f English fine ones. ig man in grows up all hands is no ap< of • Lei- d though stock is is also — xpense is irfection, I of New England, in tho fertile valleys of Kentucky, and also in the wild mountain* of Georgia, and always, I havo been told, with the same ill success." Though I am inclined to think that there may bo some truth in these remarks, yet I doubt much if the Ameri- cans themselves admit their inferiority, and guess it would be no easy matter to find one who would confess anything of the sort. There is certainly in general not that plump- ness and rotundity of form among the men and women there which one meets with in this country. No doubt, you see many beautiful faces among the females, particu- larly at Baltimore, yet their sallow complexion, joined to the premature decay of their teeth, so very prevalent, and arising partly from the pernicious habit of eating so much of preserved fruits, tends, I am sorry to say, to throw them somewhat into the shade when compared with the women in this country. The fresh, pure glow of the Saxon cheek is seldom seen in American faces. It is also worthy of remark that an old person is rarely to be met with, so that human life is considerably shorter there than here. Old people, indeed, are reckoned rather an encum- brance, particularly among the working classes, and the moment they cannot go a-head, they are considered of no further use. Life at best is but of little value in the United States, and as to death they have no time to think of it. There is one thing, however, for which they de- serve credit, namely, that comparatively few amongst them spend their lives in anticipations, in determining to be vastly happy at some period or other, when they have time. They consider very properly that the present time has one advantage over every other — it is their own. Past opportunities are gone, future are not come. We may lay in a stock of pleasures as we would lay in a stock of wine, but if we defer the tasting of them too long we shall H 2 I ; t : ! #, IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-S) /. /L C^ 1.0 I.I 1^ mil 2.2 2.0 18 1.25 1.4 1.6 •• 6" ► V] <^ iS^. 7: f^ .>^ 7 ^ •# ^ J Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716) 872-4503 ^ ^ ) ^, J lit hu i 1 1 : L if' t : '^1 , 172 NORTH AMERICA. find that both are soured by age. True wisdom consists in not being too prodigal when we are young, nor too par- simonious when we are old, otherwise we shall fall into the common error of those, who, when they had the power to enjoy, had not the prudence to acquire, and when they had the prudence to acquire, had no longer the power to enjoy. Had Mrs Houstoun's remarks been confined exclusively to the New England States, I believe they would have been tolerably correct, and corroborate those of a very sensible Scotch baker whom I met one day at Boston, where he had been for 30 years, who remarked to me, that it would take the whole of the six New England States to supply Boston alone with provisions for a year. 1 laughed at this remark at the time, thinking it absurd ; but after travelling 250 miles through these States, I must say that I found the crops everywhere so poor and scanty, and the sheep and cattle not only so few in number, but so wretched in appearance, that I began to think that the Scotch baker was, after all, not so very far wrong. Jenny Lind excited, if possible, more enthusiasm at Boston than even at New York, at least if we are to judge by the prices which the tickets brought at auction ; for whereas at New York the highest price for the first ticket was 225 dollars, at Boston the first ticket was knocked down at 600 dollars, or L.125 sterling, a sum which would purchase 500 acres of excellent land in the western states of Wisconsin or Illinois. In short, the Americans are a singular race of people, having often more money than wit to guide it, and if anything strike their fancy, or rather their vanity, they will have it, whatever almost the cost may be. I recollect of having given a guinea to hear the Swedish nightingale sing in Edinburgh some years ago, but as I only received 3s. 6d. worth of enjoyment, I NORTH AMERICA. 173 considered that I lost 17s. 6d. by the transaction. I tra- velled in the railway betwixt Buffalo and Albany with a French gentleman named Sundstron, who now practises at New Orleans as a lawyer, of whom there is but one class in the United States, namely the advocates, who perform the duties of notary, proctor, attorney, &c., and their legal title is counsellor-at-law. He was acquainted with Jenny, but having never heard her sing he left me at Albany, and proceeded to Boston (200 miles by railway) for that purpose. The crowd was so immense that in the scuffle he had his pocket picked of sixty dollars. About fifty others shared the same fate, and this in spite of hand- bills put up everywhere warning people to beware of pick- pockets. The names of all the sufferers were published in the Boston newspapers, with the sums which they had respectively lost, but appearing in print was their only consolation, as not a single stiver was recovered. One Englishman lost 45 dollars. When my French friend called upon Jenny the day following, he told her of his loss, at which she laughed heartily. I met him at New York afterwards, when he narrated the above anecdote. Jenny received a thousand dollars per night for the 100 days of her engagement with Barnum, besides a share of the profits, a sum which 250 years ago would have pur- chased the whole State of New York. The whole island of Manhattan, on which New York is built, was purchased 250 years ago for 24 dollars. Having heard the late Madame Catalani sing, I must say that, in my opinion, Jenny must yield the palm to that wonderful woman, but the star of the former had set, before that of the latter arose. Jenny was married at Boston, on 5th February 1852, to Otto Goldschmidt of Hamburgh. Throughout the United States Jenny Lind was called the ** Queen of Song," and Barnum, who had engaged 1 ,j ! • y \ •■ 174 NORTH AMERICA. If I? f f' her, the " King of Humbugs." Among the numerous squibs with which he was daily assailed by the newspaper press in that country, the following appeared in the " New York Herald" of 15th October 1850 :— liAUNUM ! Ahoy! — A Call to the Unconverted. — Again we say, where is Barnum ? Has any one seen him of late, putting his hand into bis pocket for charity's sake, A la Jenny Lind? In the last fifteen years, he has pocketed nearly 250,000 dollars, by exhibiting Joice Heth, the Woolly Horse, Tom Thumb, the Feejee Mermaid, and many other humbugs. Did any one ever hear of his giving any odd ten thousand dollars for the chari- ties of New York ? He is now exhibiting a very angel from heaven — Jenny TJnd — who has already given, out of her own earnings, nearly 20,000 dol- lars. Why does he not catch a ray of her light — a spark of her benevolence —and also give a little to the poor, out of the vast proceeds which he boasts of receiving from her concerts ? Come, Barnum, how much ? Barnum, though now immensely rich, has never been accused during his life of having given a single fraction to any charitable institution under the sun ; and although it is written " Charity never faileth," yet it seems to have failed in Barnum's case, whose motto through life hath been — " Charity begins at home." A Boston paper said of him that he had been so thoroughly devoted to humbug for so many years that he could not break away from his good old habits. He commenced his career of humbug by exhibiting the nurse of General Washington, a poor wretch of a negress, whose teeth were extracted, and her face painted in appropriate wrinkles for the purpose. Every one, of course, flocked to see this wonderful black nurse. He cleared 200,000 dollars by Jenny Lind, after paying all expenses, which was more than Jenny herself did. Upwards of half a million of dollars were received for the hundred nights of her engagement with Barnum. After her engagement, however, was ended, she did a little business on her own account, visiting various parts "! :^' NORTH AMERICA. 175 of the Union and Canada, so that she pocketed 160,000 dollars by her trip across the Atlantic, and that within the short space of a year and a half. On the Sunday evening of the day of our landing, 1 stepped into a church with a lofty spire, situate at the cor- ner of Tremont Street, and the beautiful park or " Com- mon," as they call it, of 75 acres which adorns the city. This I afterwards learned was an Unitarian church. It was splendidly fitted up and very large, capable, I should suppose, of holding 2000 persons, and so crowded that the people were standing in the passages. The num- ber of males and females was about equal, unlike this country, where the females generally predominate. The heat was dreadful, and as every lady in church had a fan in her hands, and as every female in church, without ex- ception, was a lady, it had a curious effect to see a thou- sand fans in constant motion both during the sermon and prayer. The organ and band were in the gallery oppo- site the pulpit or rather platform, and the whole audience rose at the singing, turning their backs to the minister and their faces to the organ. The tune I heard (being some- what late for the earlier part of the service) was the Old Hundredth psalm, and the addition of 2000 human voices to the notes of the organ produced a most sublime and striking effect. They keep the Sunday very strictly in Boston. About 70 years ago the late Admiral Montague, when in Boston walked the streets on Sunday during di- vine service, for which he was taken up by the " saints" and put into the stocks. On the day he meant to sail for England he sent his cards to the " select-men" to dine on board his ship, an invitation which they readily ac- cepted. After dinner he called all hands, and ordered the boatswain to give them a dozen lashes apiece, which cooled their ardour in the cause. The punishment of the « M ,' ^^■'t ;^t I 1 I • t ■■ ■ ! 176 NORTH AMERICA. -:} ii.i \ i 13.1 Stocks is the oldest one known, as in the 13th chap- ter of the book of Job, it is written, ** Thou puttest my feet also in the stocks." The *' Select-men" were at that time a class of men in Boston employed as overseers to their meeting-houses, who regulated the affairs of the parish, and reported persons for non-attendance at church ; compelling those walking on the streets, or travellers on a Sunday, to go to some place of worship. I ascended to the top of the State House, which is 250 feet above the level of the sea, and had the most charming view imaginable, both of the city and surrounding country. They charge nothing for admittance, but at the Bunker's Hill monument at Charlestown, about two miles from the heart of the city, they charge a trifle. I, of course, like every one else that visits Boston, went to see this latter monument, so celebrated throughout the whole of the States, from the circumstances attending its erection. It has been so often described however, that I shall merely mention generally that it is in commemoration of, and stands on the site of the first battle that was fought in the war of independence, on the 17 th day of June 1775, when the Bostonians behaved so nobly; that it was completed in 1842; that its form is that of an obelisk, 30 feet square at the base, 16 feet at the top, and 221 feet high ; that it is built of hewn granite, with stones of enormous size ; that the interior is hollow and circular, and is ascended by 294 steps ; and that at the top is an elliptical chamber, eleven feet in diameter, with four small windows, affording a most beautiful view of Boston, its harbour, and the sur- rounding country. The number of people that come to visit this monument daily from all parts of the world is almost incredible. During the short space of half an hour that I spent at the spot, I am certain that I saw a dozen of omnibuses arrive from Boston, some of them drawn bv ^ , NORTH AMERICA. 177 four horses, and all loaded with people, hesides other carriages of every description, and pedestrians innumer- able. There are a great many free negroes at Boston, not less than 2000. They chiefly reside in a district of the city at the back of the State House. Their employment cannot be said to be of a very domestic nature, as they arc to be found walking about in every direction. Having been invited by a Scotchman of the name of Anderson, who filled the situation of head-waiter of the private side in the Revere House, to visit that establish- ment, I availed myself of his polite offer. Jenny Lind put up there when she visited Boston in September 1850, and it is not only the largest hotel in that city, but surpassed by few in the United States. It contains 300 rooms, but can make up 400 beds, or as the Americans term it, " can sleep 400 individuals," besides the accommodation re- quired for the domestics in the house. There were 47 male waiters, of whom 46 were Irish; 12 boys for answering bells, also Irish ; 4 French men cooks, with 12 female Irish assistants; 50 chambermaids, and wash- ing and ironing girls, all Irish, with the exception of an American matron, besides housekeepers, stewards, clerks, porters, &c., forming altogether an establishment of nearly 150 persons, for this single hotel. I paid my respects to the whole members of this wonderful estab- lishment, which may be called an Irish colony, and re- ceived the utmost courtesy from them all. At the Mont- gomery House, Boston, where I resided, the servants, both male and female, were, I believe, in like manner, all Irish, with the exception of two French men cooks. After being a few months in the United States, the Irish become all so " smart," that one couhl hardly sup- pose that they were the same miserable beings that you. . i. '^::/i 178 NORTH AMERICA. see stepping ashore, when they first plant their foot on that wonderful country. Though the Americans do not like the Irish much, yet they are obliged to confess that they could not now do well without them ; and my es- teemed countryman, Charles Wilson, Esq., originally from Lasswade near Edinburgh, who has been at New York for 30 years, and has employed workmen of various nations at his large distillery at Brooklyn, told me that the Irish though lazy at home, become totally changed on coming to America, and turn out the most industrious of any nation he had employed. They discover on landing in America, even more perhaps than in their own country, that if they do not work, neither must they expect to eat. Both in Boston and Baltimore, the greater part of the mechanics are proprietors of the houses in which they re- side. I visited the splendid market called the Faneuil Hall Market, 536 feet long and 50 wide, and found on inquiry that the price of beef, which seemed to be very good, was twelve cents the pound for roasting pieces, or sixpence sterling, and other meat in proportion. Boiling pieces throughout the States are generally one-half lower than roasting pieces. I asked the price of a pair of chickens and was told 72 cents, which is exactly 3s. sterling. I could have bought the same in the Glasgow market for 2s. The supply of fish was immense, and very cheap. Some of them were of a species unknown in this country, and must, from their size, have weighed nearly as much as many of the sheep which I saw in New South Wales. The cattle are all slaughtered at Brighton, about five miles from Boston. Meat and every thing else is preserved in ice during summer, almost every family having an ice-cellar, and carts going daily through the streets of Boston selling ice to those who have run out, as they do in Edinburgh NORTH AMERICA. i:!> selling coals. The ice is cut into blocks about twenty inches square, by means of a machine invented expressly for the purpose, and called an ice-cutter. A gentleman told me that his ice cost him about £5 sterling per annum. The ice must be quite pure, in order to its being put in lumps into the water for drinking. I saw the wharf where the tea was thrown into the sen which they now call the T. wharf, '• When a certain great king wliose initial is G, Forces stamps upon paper, and folks to drink T ; When these folks burn his tea, and stampt paper iiku stubble, You may guess that this king is then coming to trouble." I visited also the college where Dr Webster murdered Dr Parkman on 23d November 1849, and afterwards called at the jail in Leverett Street, where he was con- fined ; and though, of course, no one was allowed to see him, yet the jailer told me I was within a few feet of him, and politely pointed out to me the place where he was to be executed the week following. His trial lasted eleven days, and as the public were all anxious to see him they admitted them in groups of about 100 at a time, allowing them to remain for ten minutes, and then turning them out in order to make way for a fresh group. In this way not less than 30,000 people had an opportunity of seeing the learned professor — one of the numerous advantages and privileges of living in a free country. The execution of Professor Webster took place on Friday the 30th of August 1850, and not only thv streets but the very house-tops in the neighbourhood of the jail were crowded with human beings, anxious to witness the conclusion of a tragedy which had excited so much in- terest, not only in America but throughout the civilized world. At 20 minutes past 9 o'clock, the procession moved, ^1 i I , ; ■,■■■< ■ ' }' 180 NOUTII AMERICA. lit •.■^ and the prisoner ascended the scaffold with a firm step. Mr Andrews, the jailer, then proceeded to tie his legs with a leather helt, while he sat in a chair over the drop. This done the prisoner rose, and one of the Sheriffs ad- justed the rope, and Dr Wehster took his last look of earth. The black cap was drawn over his eyes by Mr Holmes, when the High Sheriff announced that hn should, in compliance with the laws, proceed to perform his duty. At half-past 1) o'clock the rope was loosened, and the wretched man was launched into eternity. The fall was about eight feet, and he died without a struggle. After hanging thirty minutes, Drs Stedman, the city physician, and Clark, physician to the jail, pronounced the prisoner dead. The Sheriff then announced that the requirements of the law had been enforced, and returned, on behalf of the Commonwealth, his thanks to the wit- nesses, and to the executive officers, who had rendered their assistance in the discharge of this painful duty. Professor Webster, m his confession, said, that Dr Parkman called him " scoundrel," and *' liar," and went on heaping upon him the most bitter taunts and opprobrious epithets, and that being excited to the highest degree of passion, he had seized whatever was handiest, which was a stick of wood, and dealt him an instantaneous blow, with all the force that passion could give it. It was on the side of the head, and there was nothing to break the force of the blow. He fell instantly upon the pavement. There was no second blow. He did not move. Blood flowed from his mouth, which he wiped away, and applied ammonia to his nose, but without effect. He spent ten minutes in attempting to rescuscitate him, but found that he was absolutely dead. I certainly think that our employment of a regular pro- fessional " hangman" is, on every ground, most repre- NOUTII AMERICA. 181 hensiblc and wrong. The punishment of death is the highest award of penal law ; and its infliction ought to be studiously accompanied .vitli every circumstance which could tend to solemnity. The work of carrying into effect the fatal sentence should be unhesitatingly undertaken by the most honourable executive of legal judgment. The High Sheriff is the legal executioner ; and he should not be allowed to delegate to meaner hands his ])ainful duty. This would lend to the demoralising execution spectacles a dignity and impressiveness which they can never have, so long as wc encourage the bribing of a callous wretch to undertake hanging as a profession. The fact that ten or twenty guineas are paid to the hangman for each exe- cution, proves that their oftice is one which people gene- rally are ashamed of, and which every good and indus- trious citizen, even of the humblest class, views with dis- gust and abhorrence. The Americans are right in causing the ordinary functionaries of the jail to pinion the victim, and adjust the fatal apparatus ; and in requiring the Sheriff himself to touch the spring that shivers the " golden bowl of life." In the state of Michigan, they at one time abolished capital punishments even for murder, but found it would not do, as they began to increase so fast that they were glad to restore that good old wholesome salutary punish- ment. They have a curious custom in the United States of ascertaining how long it is before life is extinct in those who are hanged, as will appear from the following account of the execution of two men named Harry Foote, and James M'Caffrey, each for a double murder, and on the same gallows, at Newhaven, the capital of the state of Connecticut, on 2d October 1850, Foote was 38 years of age. M'Caffrey was a native of Ireland, and about the 4i II \ ' ^■■i Mlf ' •91 182 NORTH AMEUICA. warne ago as Foote, but a much more powerful man, and if anything a more desperate character. Foote, according to his own confession, induced his own cousin, a young girl, by the name of Emily Cooper, of only 14 years of age, to accompany him into the woods, under the pretence of picking some grapes, when he in- humanly violated her person, and then took her life by stabbing her in the neck with a knife. The body he left in the woods, and returning to the house of his mother, he beat her to death with a hammer. M'Caftrey murdered a Mrs Ann Smith and her hus- band, two aged persons, who resided on a small farm of their own. Having called on Mr Smith, under a pretence of wishing to purchase the place, they went out together, and when at a little distance from the house, M'Caffrey drew from his pocket a double barrel pistol, and shot the old man in the abdomen ; the ball, however, glanced, and did not inflict a mortal wound, and the murderer then despatched him with a stone. He then returned to the house, and with the other loaded barrel shot the old woman through the body, causing almost instant death. The villain then ransacked the house with a belief of finding considerable money, but to his utter disappointment, a very small amount was obtained. He then fled to New York, and from thence to Canada, where he was subse- quently arrested. The culprits were dressed in long white frocks, tied round the waist. All being in readiness, at eleven o'clock the Sheriff led them to the gallows. The ropes were then adjusted around their necks, and the legs of each strapped together. They then shook hands with each other, and took their last parting on earth. The white caps were drawn over their faces, the Sheriff touched the spring, and down went the drop, a fall of some six feet, NORTir AMEUICA. 183 instantly suspending them by the neck. M*Catl'rey ap- parently died easy. Footc made several eonvulsive strug- gles, and all was over. Drs Jewett, Hubbard, and Taylor, the medical attend- ants on the occasion, immediately examined the pulses, &e. of the executed men, and ascertained that the last struggle of Foote occurred 7 minutes after the drop fell, that the pulse in the wrist ceased in 8 and a half minutes, and at the heart in 10 minutes. M'Caffrey's pulse beat 110 to the minute for four minutes after he fell ; the pulse ceased in six minutes at the wrist, and the heart ceased to beat in nine and a half minutes. Though the Judges in America are elected only for a term of years, do not receive in general above one-third of the salary of the Judges in this country, wear no flow- ing wigs, ermine, or silk gowns, and in short no peculiar dress to distinguish them from others, and in some of the states (the state of New York for instance,) have to re- tire when 60 years of age, at the very time they have ac- quired the most experience, and without receiving any pension or retired allowance ; yet, notwithstanding these drawbacks they are in general men of great eminence and of great eloquence. I happened accidentally to pick up at a book-stall in New York a work in two volumes, con- taining an account of the most awful murders that have been committed in the country ; with a report of the trials, judges' charges to the jury, and the confessions and execu- tions of the criminals, from the period of the American Revolution to the year 1842. In regard to murders they make a distinction betwixt murder in the first and second degree. A verdict of murder in the second degree, means that it has been committed under certain extenuating cir- cumstances, and is never punished with death, like murder in the first degree. I may take notice of the charge to ill 184 NORTH AMERICA. ?■ I li ■ the jury in two of the cases there recorded. The first is that of John Tiernan, an Irish labourer, who murdered Patrick Campbell, a countryman of his own.^ and a fellow- labourer on the turnpike road near Pittsbtirg, on 5th De- cember 1817. They slept together, and Tiernan murdered him with an axe when he was asleep, in order to obtain some money which he had received that night. His Honor Judge Robberts, in passing sentence of death upon him, said, — " John Tiernan — After a fair and impartial trial you have been convicted of murder in the first degree, a crime at which human nature shrinks with horror, and which, in your case, has been attended with circumstances of peculiar atrocity. The man whom you murdered was your countryman — with whom you met in a land of strangers. These were circumstances calculated to ex- cite fraternal feelings in the bosom of each. They were cherished in the generous and manly breast of Campbell ; he became your friend and benefactor — he received you under his humble shed, and reposed, as he believed, and had a right to expect, in safety by your side. If we seek for your motives for perpetrating a deed so shocking, we shall find them the most base and sordid. Your object was to grasp the whole of that little pittance which a generous man had daily shared with you," &c. I shall only take notice of one other case which excited at the time a trreat sensation — namely, the murder of Abraham Suydam by Peter Robinson, on 3d December 1840, at New Bruns- wick, in the State of New Jersey. The trial came on, c r was " called up" as they term it, on IGth April 1841, and lasted 8 days. The following are a few of the most in- teresting particulars. Robinson was a carpentei' by trade, and Suydam, besides being president of the farmer's and mechanic's bank, was a speculator, and operated exten- sively in building lots in the town of New Brunswick it NORTH AMERICA. 185 His rr being customary in America to purchase land in large quantities, and retail it in small lots. R. had purchased a lot from him, and erected a house upon it. S. had loaned him 780 dollars, and taken a bond and mortgage on the property. 11. insured his house for 1000 dollars, and transferred the policy to S. In order to get possession of these papers R. resolved to murder S., and decoyed him into his house under the promise that the mortgage should be paid off. S. accordingly took the papers with him, and shortly after entering the house was attacked by R. ; but, in the struggle, S., who was a strong, muscular, thick-set man, got the better of him at the onset, and they both fell. R. then seized his mallet, and hit S. on the back of the head with it, which stunned, but did not kill him. He then took from him all his papers. In a short time he came to his senses, and R. had great difficulty in dragging the body down stairs into the front basement. He then tied and bound his half insensible victim, who begged hard for his life, promised to give all he had taken, and not to punish him. S. groaned so horribly that he eould not bear to hear him ; he therefore gagged his mouth, and left him in that condition from the Thursday to the Satur- day in a cold cellar, on the bare ground, in the month of December. Early on Saturday morning Robinson went to the house, dug a grave 3 feet deep before his still living victim, threw him into it alive, and then struck him over the head with the spade, dashed in his skull, and thus killed him. 1 he address of his Honor Chief Justice Horn- blower, in passing sentence upon him, is rather too long for insertion here, but the following are the most striking passages in it : — " Mr Suydam was a husband and a father as well as yourself; to him hfe was as dear as it was to you. But unmindful of those ties which bound him to his home, to his wife and his children — unmindful of the rela- ^ ! 186 NORTH AMERICA. ;(■■ tions in which he stood as your neighbour, your friend, and benefactor — unmindful of that tribunal to which you hurried your victim, and before which you would have to appear; unmindful of the vengeance of a just and holy God — forgetting that his eye was upon you then, and would be upon you through eternity, you committed this cold-blooded murder. " The outraged majesty of the law demands your life, and nothing else will satisfy it. Your blood falling upon the ground cannot restore the life of him whom you mur- dered, nor prepare him for that eternity into which you sent him without a warning. But unlike his sad close of life, some time is allowed you to prepare for the awful change you have shortly to undergo. " You cannot intend to assume an idle indifference to your fate, to the solemn death that awaits you, or to the scenes of everlasting life you have to pass through. You may indeed affect an indifference to all this ; you may de- ceive men, and die as the fool dieth ; but that is the most you ^an do — you cannot deceive God. His eye is upon you, as it was at that moment when you struck the fatal blow — and as it will be until the moment when the breath ceases to animate your body — and it will follow you to an. other world ; and his wrath will rage against you through the unwasting ages of eternity, if his justice be not satis- fied by the atoning blood of his redeeming Son." NORTH AMERICA. 187 r friend, lich you have to ind holy en, and ted this our life, ig upon ou mur- ich you close of e awful ence to r to the I. You may de- tie most is upon le fatal breath 1 to an. hrough »t satis- ^ CHAPTER XL Religious sects — The Mormonites — A Mormon sermon — Shakers — Miiler- ites — Extent of Education in the United States — Tlie liathgate Academy — Island of Jamaica — Doings of the Night Watch at Boston. There are thirty different religious sects in the United States, including the Mormonites and Owenites. The Owenites are a sect founded by the great philanthropist Robert Owen, formerly of New Lanark, Scotland, who visited America about thirty years ago, and founded the settlement of New Harmony; but from being founded partly on social principles, it has not altogether succeeded. The "share and share alike*' system, as it may be called, though sounding well in theory, does not seem to answer in practice. Mankind require a motive for action ; and those who are diligent do not relish the idea of the idle and lazy coming in for a share of the fruits of their indus- try. Dr Chalmers shrewdly observes, that " when men are not to profit, they will labour little ; and when all are fed from a common granary, few will concern themselves how it is filled." A sect called the Mormonites, or " Latter-day- Saints, who practice polygamy, is making considerable progress in America, numerous accessions being made to it from this country. After various struggles and combats, and dreadful persecutions in the states of Ohio, Missouri and p. -■1 !Ss 1 i 188 NORTH AMERICA. • r ,' ■: Illinois, their chief, Joseph Smith, better known as the " Prophet Joe," (a person of mean appearance,) and some of his unfortunate "saints," were killed in 1844, after a violent struggle in Illinois. Joe was taken prisoner along with his brother, and were confined in the jail at Carthage for safety, but the mob overpowered the guard stationed at the prison door, rushed into the room where they were, and shot them both dead. The rest then fled, and after traversing the wide prairies, the deserts of 'the far west, and the rocky mountains, they finally in 1846, pitched their tents near the Great Salt Lake in Oregon. Here they increase and multiply in the midst of a vast cham- paign, running north and south for hundreds of miles, iso- lated by sandy deserts, or the briny lake, separated from the elder states by the Rocky mountains, and from Cali- fornia by the Sierra Novada, and here they are building their Cities of the Plain, in the settlement called by them Deseret, where 20,000 are now assembled. They already form the nucleus of the new State of Utah, which it is probable may be admitted ere long into the Union, as one of the sovereign States. It seems probable, for several reasons, that the great majority of Mormons have already crossed the Rocky mountains. The present head of the " Church" has urged in the strongest manner the union in Deseret of all the saints ; he has painted the fertility of the country, and the happiness of the community in glowing colours ; and,, with no little skill and eloquence, he attracts all who have faith in the New Revelation to the city of the Salt Lake, by enthusiastic assurances of the spiritual advantages to be gained by "a Communion of Saints." " There," he tells them, " the wicked cease to trouble, and the weary find rest." On the other hand, public opinion in the Union still runs with unabated pre- judice against the Mormons ; and their presence in any nui aga Mi 85?; ill I NORTH AMERICA. 189 number in any State would, it is to be presumed, lead again to the dreadful persecutions they before suffered in Missouri and Illinois. . By a late account, I see it stated that they have de- posited in Liverpool, four tons of Californian gold, worth L.400,000 sterhng, for the purpose of enabling the des- titute *' Saints" to emigrate ; that the great valley of Deseret is as large as all England, and very fertile ; and that to whatever extent may have been their credulity in accepting Joe Smith's " revelations," the superstition of the Mormons does not prevent their being industrious, and skilful work-people, and a very thriving community. Their journey across the Rocky mountains which com- menced in 1845, must be considered the most extraordi- nary migration of modern times. Some in their flight were killed by hostile Indians; others perished of cold and hunger in passing the great wilderness. Numbers re- turned to the States, among whom were many substantial farmers, who had lost their all, besides numberless poor wretches from different parts of England, mostly of the farm-labouring class, with their wives and families, who had all been led, as they were told, to a land flowing with milk and honey. My only wonder is, how, from the scarcity of women in America, where so many find difficulty even in getting one wife, that these latter-day saints should be so lucky as to pick up a number. A much better field for their operations would be Edinburgh. By the census of 1851, though in the Old Town of Edinburgh the females exceed the males only by 8 per cent., yet in the New Town there are 150 women for every 100 men. Good heavens ! what a field for the Mormonites! By the census of 1851, it appears, that owing to the vast emigration going on of up- wards of 300,000 annually, the population of the three ii- 190 NORTH AMERICA. »•* I ■ i ! it mm kingdoms is only increasing at the rate of 1000 a-week, instead of 1000 a-day, as it did at one time. His Excellency, Governor Young, had 24 wives in 1852. He drove down the streets of Deseret in March 1852 with 16 of them in a long carriage, 14 of them hav- ing each an infant at her hosom ; and Heber C. Kimball has about an equal number, among them a mother and her two daughters. Mr Kimball is one of the members of the Tribune Council. One of their preachers called " Cap'en Brown," by reason of his commanding a company of Mormon volun- teers, addressed his congregation in 1848 in the following eloquent words. After turning to an elder named Brother Dowdle, this learned divine proceeded thus : — " Brother Dowdle, I feel like holding forth a little this afternoon, before we glorify the Lord in the holy dance. As there are a many strange gentle- men now present, it's about right to tell them what our doctrine just is, and so I tells *em right off what the Mormons is. They are the chosen of the Lord ; they are the children of glory, persecuted by the hand of man. They flies here to the wilderness, and, among the Injiue and the buffler, they lifts up their heads, and cries with a loud voice, Susannah, and hurray for the promised land. Do you believe it ? I know it. " They want to know whar we're going. Whar the Church goes — thar we goes. Yes, to hell, and pull the devil off his throne, that's what we'll do. Do you believe it ? I know it. "That's milk and honey in that land. as we're going to, and the lost tribes is thar, and will jine us. They say as we'll starve on the road, bekase thar's no game and no water ; but thar's manna up in heaven, and it '11 rain on us, and thar's prophets among us can make the water come. Can't they, Brother Dowdle ?" ^, " Well they can." ** And now, what have the Gentiles and the Philistines to say against us Mormons ? They say we're thieves, and steal hogs ; yes, d 'em. They say we has as many wives as we like. So we have — I've 20 — 40 myself, and mean to have as many more as I can get. But it's to pass unfortunate females into heaven that I has 'em— yes, to prevent 'em going to roaring flames and damnation that I does it." NORTH AMERICA. 191 The Mormon ladies must no doubt feel grateful to the gallant captain, their distinguished pastor, for rescuing them from such an awful fate. Though in America they have a law against bigamy, yet I believe there is none against polygamy. The punishment for bigamy, however, is very trifling — merely a month or 1 two's imprisonment. A man who was tried for this offence in one of the States was asked by the Judge how he came on with his two wives? '* Never better, please your honor. When I had only one she used to thrash me, but now that I have got two they thrash one another." There is a sect called " Shakers ;" so named from a strange and disagreeable mode of dancing, and from their violent gesticulations, which occasion at intervals a shud- dering not unlike that of a person in a strong fit of ague. They sprang up in Europe, and part of them went over from England to New York in 1774, and being joined by others settled at Niscayuna, 8 miles to the north-west of Albany. The late Anna Lees, the wife of a poor black- smith who was born in England, antecedent to the revolu- tionary war, and fled from persecution there to America, whom they called the " Elect Lady," was the head of the sect. Her followers asserted that she was the woman alluded to in the 12th chapter of the Revelation ; — that she spoke 72 tongues, and though these were unintelligible to the living, yet that she conversed with the dead, who perfectly under- stood her language. There are 3064 languages spoken throughout the world, viz. : 587 in Europe ; 437 in Asia ; 276 in Africa; and 1264 in America. They also alleged that she was the mother of all the elect, so that she must have had a numerous offspring. This " Elect Lady" herself used to assert that she was immortal, that the day of judgment had commenced, and that she and her followers were already set to judge the world. The unfortunate I: ! ! Mm 192 NORTH AMERICA. u n <]'•!■ ' fa circumstance, however, of the followers of Anna having discovered one morning that she hud been suddenly and unexpectedly gathered to her fathers, proved the absurd- ity of her pretensions to immortality, so far at least as re- spected her bodily presence amongst them. Many of her followers were thereupon led to suspect the veracity of her other doctrines ; whilst others totally renounced her en- thusiastic scheme. The Shakers, unlike the Mormons, practice celibacy and community of goods. They have 3000 acres of land in admirable cultivation. Revivals and camp meetings are now but rare in Ame- rica. As after such violent stimulants there is invariably a reaction, or what they call a flat or dead season, the New England clergy of all sects have of late rather discounte- nanced and consequently discontinued them. A recent traveller mentions having attended in 1850, a camp meet- ing in Virginia which lasted several days, and had been the scene every night of disgraceful fights and riots. Still- born infants had been discovered on the ground ; and every species of immorality had been carried on. There was one sect in particular, called the Millerites, or followers of one Miller, who had appointed the 23d of October 1844 for the final destruction of the world. Many of his followers would not reap their harvests dur- ing that year, though after the above day had passed, and they found themselves still upon the earth, they saved what they could. Some of the Boston shops during that year advertised ascension robes for going up to heaven. Sir Charles Lyell in his late work, entitled, " A Second Visit to the United States of America^*' mentions that seve- ral houses were pointed out to him between Plymouth and Boston, the owners of which had been reduced to poverty by their credulity, having sold their all towards building the tabernacle in which they prayed incessantly for six NORTH AMERICA. 193 weeks previous to their ascension. As no ascension took place, this tabernacle was afterwards sold and converted into a theatre, which the Americans think a more useful purpose. . The United States excel all other nations in the gene- ral education of the people. England herself suffers pain- fully in the comparison, as it is the prevailing opinion amongst us that education should be left to supply and demand. But we have in the United States the autho- rity and example of the freest republic in the world in favour of a very different principle, viz., that whilst reli- gion may be left to support itself without aid from the State, it is not so with education ; as from not feeling the want of knowledge the people may be content to remain in ignorance. In order to guard against this evil, they have made education, or rather the expense attending it, com- pulsory — as they consider universal education necessary to the permanent existence of a free state. They also consider it expedient that the state should train all its subjects to the duties of men and citizens upon a basis of absolute religious equality, so that school committees are enjoined not to purchase or use any school books which are calculated to favour the tenets of any particular sect of Christians. They conceive that a state religion might be acceptable to all men if there were but one religion in the state, but where there are so many, that it would be found altogether incompatible with an universal or har- monious system of public education. They have accord- ingly delivered themselves from the difficulties with which we in this country are beset, by rejecting a state religion altogether, and putting all sects upon one footing. The following is one of the articles in the constitution of the United States : — ■t. bi :| j 194 NORTH AMERICA. h i f " That all men have a natural and indefeasible right to worahip Almighty God according to the dictates of their own consciences ; that no man can, of right, be compelled to attend, erect, or support any place of worship, or to maintain any ministry against his consent ; that no human authority can, in any case whatever, control or interfere with the rights of conscience ; and that no preference shall ever be given by law, to any re- ligious establishments or modes of worship." The history of the world furnishes the melancholy de- monstration that the disposition of one man to coerce the religious homage of another, springs from an unchastened ambition rather than a sincere devotion to any religion. Religious zeal enlists the strongest prejudices of the human mind, and when misdirected, excites the worst passions of our nature under the delusive pretext of doing God service. Nothing so infuriates the heart to deeds of rapine and blood. Nothing is so incessant in its toils, so persevering in its determinations, so appalling in its course, or so dangerous in its consequences. Every religious sect, however meek in its origin, commenced the work of persecution as soon as it acquired political power. The Americans have drawn a proper distinction be- tween secular and religious instruction, confining the church to its own duties, and leaving the schools free in the exercise of theirs. They have not fallen into the ridi- culous error of supposing that education is '* Godless," when it does not embrace theology. Education has both its secular and its religious elements. As men cannot agree as to the latter, let not the former, on which they are agreed, be prevented from expanding by unnecessarily combining them. In America the children of all denomi- nations meet peaceably together to learn the elements of a good ordinary education, whilst the parents attend to NORTH AMERICA. 19.5 their religious duties themselves, or entrust them to the church and the Sunday-school. The area of Massachusetts in which Boston is situate, is about 8000 square miles, divided into 374 towns or cities, each town and city being a body politic and corpo- rate, required by law to provide one or more schools for the free admission and free education of all its children. So impressed are the people of the United States with the importance of education that they actually tax them- selves in some cases for an amount of schooling greater than the law requires. One million of dollars are spent in teacbing a population of one million of souls, indepen- dently of the sums expended in private instruction, which in Boston are supposed to equal the amount levied by taxes for the free schools. Each town in public meeting determines its school districts, votes the money, collects and deposits it in the town treasury, and determines the distribution of it, for the wages and board of teachers, and fuel for the schools. The " Prudential Committee" takes charge of the school fabric and furniture also at the public expense. They then elect inspectors of common schools, who have the general charge and superintendence of all the public schools in the town. Their duties as pre- scribed by law are, to keep a record book of all their own proceedings ; to select and contract with teachers ; to examine them, and certify to their qualifications, 1 st, in respect to morals ; 2d, in respect of literature ; 3d, in re- spect of " capacity to govern ;" and, 4th, in respect of " good behaviour," ue. good manners ; also to visit the schools at least quarterly, and prescribe the books that shall be used in them.* Then the State of Massachu- * The Bible is allowed to be read in all schools, but no books teaching denominational tenets. Parents are expected to- teach their children what they believe to be religious truth. I 2 w- 19G NORTH AMERICA. y • i' , setts has what is termed a ** Board of Education," whoso duty consists in obtaining information respecting the true principles of education, and the best means of promoting it, and diffusing that information among the people. To this end they have school registers, directions and expla- nations, inquiries and returns, school committee reports, school abstracts, reports of the board of education and its secretary, school libraries and apparatus, State normal schools, teachers' institutes, aids and encouragements to- wards universal education, teachers' associations, county associations of teachers, schools for the Indians, for the deaf and dumb, for the blind, for idiots, for prisoners, and a State reform school ** for the instruction, employment, and reformation of juvenile offenders." The above, with slight alterations, may be held as a summary of the system of education that prevails through- out the whole of the United States, so that no one there can complain of ignorance, as the Irishman did when he landed at Boston ; who, when apologising for it, said that it arose from the want of education, as he had only been at school one afternoon during the whole course of his life, and that afternoon the schoolmaster happened to be ab- sent. This was a most unfortunate occurrence for one who meant to have finished his whole education at one sederunt. An Irish schoolmaster who used to box the ears of his pupils pretty frequently, said that it was to ac- custom the head to its proper position. I have been thus particular in giving the above details, as from the great interest I have all along taken in the academy at Bathgate in Scotland, my native parish, I considered it my duty to embrace every opportunity dur- ing my tour, of witnessing the admirable system of educa- tion that prevails in the United States, and enquiring into all its details. NOKTII AMERICA. 107 * whose ;hc true mioting le. To 1 expla- reports, :ion and J normal lents to- , county , for the lers, and loyment, leld as a through- )ne there when he said that nly been his life, o be ab- for one n at one box the as to ac- e details, n in the parish, I nity dur- of educa- iring into X »" 97- THE BATHOATE ACADEMY. The fund for the building and endowment of this aca- demy, which, when it came into the hands of the trustees, amounted to £14,500 sterling, was bequeathed by the late John Newlands of Jamaica, who was born and edu> cated at Bathgate, and dying in a distant country, took this method of bearing testimony to the benefit he had derived through life, from the education of his earlier years in his native land. There are at present four teachers, and 500 children constantly in attendance at this academy, who are all taught gratis, with the excep- tion of a few who are not parishioners, or have not ac- quired a legal residence, so as to entitle them to the benefit of a free education. The present rector, Mr Inglis, is a very eminent scholar, teaching both Greek and Latin, French and German, and there being an admirable house in the academy attached to his situation as rector, he has superior accommodation for boarders. l\ 108 NORTH AMERICA. *»;■■ j i • I: -i fcl !' The present trustees, as the heirs and representatives of those named in the will executed in 1 799, and in the order left by the testator, are — Alexander Marjorihanks of Marjoribanks. Andrew Gillon, Esq. of Wallliouse. Sir William Baillie of rolkemmet, Bart., and The Minister of the Parish of Bathgate for tho time being. John Newlands was bred a carpenter, which must be considered the most honourable of all the trades, inasmuch as Joseph, the father of our Lord, was a carpenter, and Peter the Great, the Emperor of Russia, was also bred a carpenter. Did any one ever hear of a tailor, a shoe- maker, or a weaver becoming an emperor ? 1 guess not. He was born on 17th April 1737, and left Bathgate about a century ago, probably in the year 1754 or 1755. The cause of his leaving it, is said to have been a love affair, or, as the French call it, ** un affaire du coeur" an oflFence which, even in its most simple form, the Scotch clergy of those days called a crime, and punished with great seve- rity. Not deeming it expedient to adopt the law of Moses, which enacted that the culprit should be stoned ; and finding no punishment for this crime laid down, either in the Christian law, the Roman law, the law of England, or of Scotland, nor indeed in any code of laws under the sun, they invented a punishment of their own, and a singular sort of punishment it was. They ordained that the offender, whether male or female, should appear in church on three successive Sundays, sit on a particular seat set aside for the purpose, hence called the *' repent- ing stool," and at the conclusion of the service should be admonished or "rebuked," as it was termed, before the whole congregation, or, in other words, before those of whom perhaps the greater part were equally guilty. NORTH AMERICA. 199 sentatives and in the €ing. h must be , inasmuch enter, and ilso bred a ir, a shoe- guess not. gate about J55. The love affair, an offence clergy of reat seve- of Moses, Dued ; and either in ngland, or under the vn, and a ained that appear in particular " repent- should be 3efore the those of lly guilty. Failing their doing so, they were denied what is called in Scotland " church privileges ;" that is, the clergy would not marry them, nor baptize their children, nor admit them to the communion service. The Scotch clergy, in instituting this punishment, and in their mistaken zeal for the purity of their church, dis- regarded entirely, as they were apt to do, the example of their Divine Master in the memorable case of this nature that was brought before Him, a case, moreover, of a more aggravated description, inasmuch as it was a breach of one of the ten commandments, which is thus recorded in the 8th chapter of the Gospel according to St John : — " Jesus went unto the mount of Olives. And early in the morning he came again into the temple, and all the people came unto him : &..d he sat down, and taught them. And the Scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery : and when they had set her in the midst, they say unto him. Master, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act. Now Moses in the law commanded us, that such should be stoned ; but what sayest thou ? This they said, tempting him, that they might have to accuse him. But Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not. So when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself, and said unto them, He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. And again he stooped down, and wrote on the ground. And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last : and Jesus was left alone, aud the woman standing in the midst. When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, woman, where are those thine accusers ? hath no man condemned thee ? She said. No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee : go, and sin no more." It would appear from this that not a single stone was thrown at that remote era of the world, and it would be curious to see what would happen at the present day if a similar test were applied. Brackenridge makes mention of a singular custom among the red Indians on the river Missouri in the United States, ■ ! '. I 200 NORTH AMERICA. ii If f : ; where prizes are publicly exhibited for such of the girls as continued virgins. The old men who resided in the temple proclaimed that whoever was yet a virgin should come forward and touch the bough and take the prize. The young men were, moreover, required to declare against any one who should attempt it, all they knew. The daughter of the interpreter, a beautiful girl of 16, came forward, but before she could ascend to touch the bough, a young fellow stepped out, and begged her to remember a certain place. She withdrew, confused and abashed. " There was a pause," Mr B. adds, " for a con- siderable time. I began to tremble for the maidens of Arikara (a village on the Missouri,) when a girl of 17, one of the most beautiful in the village, walked forward and asked, * where is the Arikara who can boast of having received favours from me ?' then touched the bough, and carried off the prize." Rather than pass through an ordeal, such as I have above described, and submit to a punishment so degrad- ing, so arbitrary, so absurd, and so unchristian, inasmuch as it was at direct variance with the example of Christ himself, the founder of the Bathgate Academy left his native country. His destiny was Jamaica, which, under the system of slavery then prevailing, was in a more flourishing condition than it is now, and where, from his superior talents, wonderful energy and perseverance, and highly honourable conduct, he soon raised himself to great eminence, obtained several government contracts, and realised a large fortune ; a portion of which he left as an endowment for the above academy, having never, amidst all his wanderings, lost sight of the place of his nativity. As good sometimes comes out of evil, I think it may be safely said that we are indebted for our Academy to < W^'^' NORTH AMERICA. 201 this adventure in early life on the part of its benevolent founder. John Newlands died in Jamaica in July 1799, in the 63d year of his age. Some parts of Jamaica are rather unhealthy, but most parts of it, though hot, are as healthy as any other country. No less than 700,000 of the un- fortunate aborigines fell victims to the cruelty of the Spaniards within the first fourteen years of its discovery by Columbus in 1494. It is fortunate that he had the wisdom and the courage to make a will, otherwise the whole of his fortune must have gone to his heir-at-law and executors, to whom he was unknown ; and he left no legitimate issue. Some folks are so weak they can scarce avoid crying. And think when they're making their will they are dying, 'Tis surely a serious employment — but still, Who e'er died the sooner for making hia will ? The island of Jamaica, on which the founder of the Bathgate Academy resided for upwards of 40 years, is 165 miles long, and about 40 in its average breadth, giv- ing an area of four million of acres. Nearly one-half of it is under cultivation, the remainder being mountainous. Its staple productions are sugar and coffee, though indigo, cotton, and rice, are cultivated to a small extent. In 1833 when slavery was abolished, the population consisted of 400,000. The commissioners of compensation placed the number of slaves at 311,692, the free coloured and black people being estimated at 40,000. The proportion of the general compensation assigned to this colony was £6,161,927, which gave an average allowance for the slaves of a little more than £20 sterling. It appears from these statistics, that about one-half of the slave population in the British West Indies belonged to Jamaica ; and that nearly one-third of the whole compensation fund was ap- I 1 202 NORTH AMERICA. propriated to that island. These facts shew the great comparative importance of this colony. There are fewer resident proprietors in Jamaica than in any of the other islands. In 1832 an insurrection broke out among the negroes in Jamaica, when martial law was immediately proclaimed, and the bloody work of execution commenced. No less than 200 negroes were killed on the field ; and about 500 were executed by the sentence of a court martial. Although Boston be reckoned the most moral city in the whole of the United States, yet the following extract from the Boston Journal of 12th October 1850, proves that the Bostonians, with all their pretended sanctity, are not altogether exempt from the vices which prevail in other cities of the Union. — Doings of the Night Watch During the three months ending Sep- tember 30. 1830, the night watch of this city, under charge of Captain James Barry, have taken in charge no less than 3,355 persons, for the fol- lowing causes: — Common drunkards, 123, of which number 63 were females; drunkenness, 1480, of which number 232 were females; lodgers^ 728, of whom 213 were females ; found drunk in the streets and conducted to their homes, 350; fighting, 46 ; firing Indian crackers, 15; noisy and disorderly persons, 20 ; vagabonds, 20, of whom 3 were females ; assault- ing watchmen, 25; assaulting citizens, 51 ; assaulting females, 1?; night walkers, 73 females ; larceny, 61, of whom 4 were females ; house and store breaking, 27 ; abusing their families, 9 ; creating false alarms of fire, 2 ; disturbances in the street, 175 ; arrested on warrants, 5 ; males in female attire, 2 ; females in male attire, 1 ; attempt to rescue prisoners, 7 ; per- sons taken out of the docks, 8, of whom 2 were females ; taken as wit- nesses, 2 ; robbery from the person, 9 ; wounded persons, to whom physi- cians were called, 1 1 ; truant children, 9 ; females taken from houses of ill-fame and restored to their friends, 7 ; fornication, 18; insane, 1 ; sus- picious persons, 22 ; assuming to be a watchman, 1 ; keeping houses of ill- fame, 2 ; boys taken from stables, 8 ; children taken to the poor house, 6 ; pulling down shades, 1. During the quarter, the watch found 110 stores open, and properly secured the same. They were called 296 times to quell disturbances in NORTH AMERICA. 203 houses and bar-rooms ; discovered and extinguished three fires without creating alarms ; found four stray horses and carriages in the streets and took proper care of the same. They also discovered six dangerous places in the streets, and took measures to have the same put in safe condition ; and in ten instances they have found goods in the streets, which they have taken to the station-house and adopted measures to return the same to their rightful owners. Of the 3355 persons taken in charge by the watch during the quarter, only 532 were committed to jail, and 586 of the whole number were females. Verily here is a goodly quarterly catalogue of crime. Assuming that the remaining three quarters of the year were in the same proportion, we have the melancholy fact that in this the most moral city of the most enlightened republic on the earth, with a population of only 150,000 individuals, there are no less than 13,420 among that number annually given, or as the Americans more deli- cately express it, " taken in charge." If they do these things in a green tree, what shall be done in the dry ? Though they have once or twice steamed it from Boston to New York in 1 7 hours, yet the average is 20 hours. I .1 ■i {>im ['>!'! i (. :i«i I" ' I*. J ,\ i, ^]^! j:n •204 NORTH AMERICA. CHAPTER XII. Lowell and its Manufactures — Spinnin:; and "Weaving Ladies — Slave-fac- tories — Wonderful trade between Britain and America — Railway anec« dote — Burlington — Lake Champlain — Arrival at Montreal. On leaving Boston I proceeded by railway to Lowell, (26 miles,) a town which has had a most rapid rise, inas- much as its population, which in 1820 was 200, and in 1828 only 3,532, amounts now to 50,000. It is situated at the confluence of the rivers Merrimack and Concord, and derives its name from Francis Lowell of Boston, who first introduced the manufacture of cotton into the United States. Lowell, as well as the other cotton manufactures in the United States, at one time rivalled England in the Indian, Chinese, and Brazilian markets for the coarser kinds of cotton cloths, where a large quantity of the raw material and comparatively but little labour was required ; but in the fabric of the finer sorts, and in the printing of all, they could never compete with the manufacturers of this country. They may be said, however, to rest on an arti- ficial foundation, being kept up by the highly protective duties of from 25 to 35 per cent., which the Americans impose on foreign goods in order to foster their own manu- factures, though imposed ostensibly for purposes of re- NORTH AMERICA. 205 i venue. This has had the effect of making the w hole inha- bitants of a country, containing three million of square miles, and 30,000,000 of people, pay one-fourth more for their goods than they would otherwise do ; a degree of folly which it is difficult to account for. Though it may appear remarkable that the weight of cotton consumed at Lowell should be only one-third less than is used at Glasgow, and that the former already pro- duces more than one-half the number of yards of power- loom cloth which are woven in Glasgow, yet these are all coarse and heavy, such as sheetings, shirtings, drillings, calicoes, &c., and made of low-priced cotton. The cost of transport from Europe upon goods of this class forms so large a per-centage of their whole value, as to give the American manufacturers the entire command of their own market for these articles. Glasgow chiefly produces cotton goods, into the price of which labour enters to the extent of from 50 to 60 per cent, of the whole cost ; and such goods Lowell does not produce, owing to the high price of labour, and the expensive way in which manufac- turing is conducted. In heavy goods, and in such as in- volve little labour, the Americans may still however com- pete successfully whenever the price of cotton is low. The high price of cotton, however, is more destructive to them than it is to us. In the year 1850 the price of cot- ton rose to eightpence a pound, so that some of the mills in Lowell and elsewhere had to be shut up. By the month of July 1851 the same article had actually fallen to fivepence the pound, a fall of nearly 50 per cent, in nine months, so that the Lowell mills all started again. Lowell, like all the manufactories of America, is in- debted for its rise and progress to the protective duties imposed on foreign goods. The proper meaning of the word " protection," is, that unprofitable labor should be H ' 20() NORTH AMERICA. h made remunerative, by taxing the country to make up the difference. The Americans themselves are so perfectly aware of the necessity of this, that the New York Tribune of September 1851, says, ** Abolish protection here, and in six months there would scarcely be a cotton or woollen mill, or furnace, at work in the country." Were the Americans to look to Switzerland for example, they would discover that her prosperity was owing to her entire free- dom of trade. She exchanges what she can best produce and spare with whatever country has the most of what she wants, and gives them at cost price, instead of augment- ing them to her domestic consumers by a duty. As for protecting duties, the Swiss people believe that if a trade cannot support itself without a protecting duty, that is sufficient proof that the trade is not suited to the capacities of the country — the proof being that the articles in question can be produced for less money elsewhere. This is taken as sufficient evidence that it is injurious to the country to continue or to protect any such trade ; first, because consumers in Switzerland must lose the difference between the low price of the foreign article and the higher price of the home article ; and, secondly, be- cause the trade in articles which Switzerland can pro- duce, is injured to a greater extent than the other is bene- fited, by preventing the far greater sale of its produce to the foreigners who produce the goods excluded. The produce which is capable of being sold in other countries is the most profitable to the producing country ; and so far from protecting others which cannot be exported, it is the interest of a community to discontinue it. The fact that a trade wants protection is an amply sufficient reason why it should not be protected. Dr Adam Smith in his " Wealth of Nations," written pri( wei III NORTH AMERICA. 207 prior to the American revolution, and before manufactures were introduced into that country, says, It has been the principal cause of the rapid progress of our American colonies towards wealth and greatness, that almost their whole capitals have hitherto been employed in agriculture. Were they to stop the importation of European manufactures, and by thus giving a monopoly to such of their countrymen as could manufacture the like goods, direct any considerable part of their capital into this employment, they would obstruct inntcad of promoting the progress of their country towards real wealth and greatness. If a foreign country can supply us with a commodity cheaper than we our- selves can make it, better buy it of them with some part of the produce of our own industry, employed in a way in which we have some advantage. The Americans should ponder well those words of this eminent man, and should constantly bear in mind that under a restrictive or protective system every trade is ex- posed to great disadvantage. A commercial country like America, though it may by protection compensate in some measure to its own manufacturers so far as regards the home trade, for the disadvantages under which they suffer, has evidently no means of doing so with its foreign trade. In neutral markets they must either meet the competi- tion of the whole world, or abandon their foreign trade altogether. I observe that M. Thiers, one of the great- est living authors and statesmen in the world, in his elo- quent speech on free trade, delivered in the Chamber of Deputies in France, in June 1851, takes the same view of American manufactures as Dr Adam Smith. He says in the course of his remarkable speech, Two great nations are now entering on a manufacturing career — America and Russia — one has a democratic and the other a despotic form of govern- ment. Both are making rapid strides. The Americans have good reasons for advocating the system of free trade. They have all they require for food and clothing. But if Washington were to return on earth, what ad- vice would he give his fellow-countrymen ? I am sure that he would advise them to remain agriculturists, as the surest means of liberty and of great- ness. (Hear, hear, and sensation.) y\ ■> I ■( lllp li III ^' '9 1 ii| I 208 NORTH AMERICA. Almost all the mills in Lowell of any great size are owned by incorporated companies, of which there are 12 or 13, who are proprietors of nearly 40 of the large mills. Besides these, there are about 50 small factories at Lowell. The large mills employ about 10,000 females and 5,000 males, who are engaged in spinning and weav- ing carpets, cassimeres, flannels, broad cloths, coarse sheeting, shirting, drillings, and printed calicoes, which are made of low-priced cotton, and are heavy to trans- port. The mills are all propelled by water-power, but the larger ones, being all on the joint-stock system, renders it difficult for them to compete successfully with private en- terprize. Even with the protective duty of 25 per cent. the stock of most of these companies, as well as that of joint- stock companies in other parts, is at a discount, and none of them divide more than might have been obtained as interest on money lent on mortgage. Excepting at Lowell, Rochester, Lancaster in Pennsylvania, and some other places, most of the machinery in America is now propelled by steam, which, in some respects, is more ad- vantageous. There are about 10,000 females and 5000 males employed at the 12 larger mills at Lowell, the females being generally from 15 to 24 years of age, and on an average do not work more than five years in the factory, when they return to their homes to be the wives of the farmers and mechanics of the country towns. The hours of attendance at the mills are 13^, one hour and a half being allowed for meals, thus making the actual working time 12 hours. What will the " Ten Hours' Bill" people of England say to this ? The wages of the female opera- tives average from 3 to 5 dollars per week, and they pay a dollar and a quarter for their board and lodg- ings. The carpet weavers, who are all " young ladies," NORTH AMERICA. 209 Bizc are \ are 12 e mills. Dries at females d weav- coarse which trans • but the nders it ^ate en- •: ; A •■ i [ I h ) Vi m^i i ■'■■ ! I i ity, and cannot, therefore, be so much affected by this new and unforeseen application of slave labour as the manufactories in the free States. I think it may be confidently asserted that were ever a dissolution of the Union to take place, an event certainly by no means probable, the separation would be produc- tive of more serious evil to the free than to the slave States. The latter are nearly as wealthy as the former, the value of the slaves alone being 300 millions sterling, and the vessels of the free States would still have to come to them for their cotton, tobacco, and sugars, whilst, if disjoined, they would have duties to pay, and would thus be in no position to support a competition with the British or other foreign manufactures. The slave States would then naturally obtain their supplies of manufactured goods from the cheapest markets, and would thereby consign to their own pockets the 25 pe7' cent, in the shape of cus- toms, which they have now, indirectly no doubt, though no less assuredly, to pay to the Federal Government. By the employment of slave labour they will also escape the pernicious effects of the " Strikes" that are constantly occurring in this country, and have proved a great social evil, from which the operatives themselves are the great- est sufferers. Strikes for wages have never yet led to any good, for though employers may be induced to listen to reason, they will never be found yielding to coercion. In order to shew the wonderful extent of the commerce at present existing between Great Britain and the United States we shall give a few statistics. The American tonnage entering American ports during the year ending 30th June 1850, was 2,573,000 tons, and the foreign ton- nage, 1,775,000 tons, of which the British tonnage reached the enormous proportion of 1,450,000 tons, or four-fifths of all the tonnage of the world, entering United States' J ': NORTH AMERICA. 213 ports. Turning to the trade, the exports from the United States in 1850 amounted to 151 million dollars, and the imports to 178 million dollars. Of those imports there were from the British empire eighty-five million dollars, or ahout seventeen million sterling, being nearly one-half of the whole imports into the American ports from all parts of the world. Of the above exports from America in 1850, the proportion to the British empire amounted to eighty-eight million dollars. These combined exports and imports between Great Britain and the United States gave, in 1850, upwards of thirty-two millions sterling, in 1 85 1 , forty-one millions, and in 1 852 nearly fifty millions ster- ling. In the article of cotton alone, which the Americans grow for us, and which we manufacture, the total exports of the manufactured article from Great Britain amounted, in 1850, to L.28,252,000, and the total amount of British cotton manufactures for the same year to L. 52,000,000, sterling. Of the proportion exported a large quantity finds it way back to the United States, which furnished us with the raw material, so that the trade in this article between Great Britain and the United States may be re- garded as the principal item in the commerce of the two countries. But while those vast results in the mutual increase of the commerce of Great Britain and the United States have flowed from the free-trade policy of 184G, it must be kept in view, that the Americans have not iproceeded pari passu with Great Britain in the unfettering of commerce. During that year. Great Britain abolished protective duties, but the United States still retain the samo in a modi- fied form. In the cotton manufacture, for example, there is still a duty of twenty-five cents the square yard, which our exports must bear ere they can enter into competition with the untaxed American article. But such is the fl^ V. l;! 4', 2lt NORTH AMERICA. Il!f ; ' 1 superiority and skill of our manufacturers, that they can produce an article, which, notwithstanding, the extra cost it bears in import and export between the two shores, and lastly, the excess of the duty, still can be sold with a pro- fit in the American markets. There is still an average duty of thirty percent, on our manufactures, which presses hard on those which have to encounter the greater com- petition with the American home manufacture. The Hon. R. J. Walker, late Secretary to the United States' Trea- sury, in the speech which he delivered in 1851 at Liver- pool, admits this inequality, and avows that in due time he will be in favour of a farther reduction. But in the mean- time, he gives us a friendly hint that we are not guiltless of high duties, seeing we levy a tax of \ 200 per cent, on tobacco. Now this duty may be too high, in as far as it oiFers such an inordinate premium to the smuggler as seri- ously to curtail its produce. If it could be shewn that a diminished duty, by lessening the chances of the illicit trade and increasing the consumption of the article, would pro- duce a greater revenue from tobacco, then a case for re- duction is completely made out. The British Government only look to tobacco for the sake of revenue, it being a luxury, and, therefore, its taxation inferring a legitimate hardship to none. Mr Walker, therefore, fails in deduc- ing any analogy between the principle of the British to- bacco-tax and that of the American tax on foreign manu- factures, which acts as a protection to the American manu- factures. If we grew tobacco within the British Isles, and made it either free as corn or any other agricultural pro- duce, or subjected it to an Excise still greatly under the Customs on the foreign article, then Mr Walker might re- taliate, and set our tobacco duty against the protective duties of his own country. It is a curious illustration of the operations of commerce NOJftTH AMERICA. 215 re- tive that about a third of the enormous amount above stated is made up of cotton, which the Americans sell us raw, and which we re-sell them manufactured. The interest which we thus possess in the course of American events and the struggles of American parties, is plain enough — it is a greater material interest, at least directly, than we possess in the affairs of India, or those of all our colonies. >^or does it much deduct from the value of that interest that the States levy heavy duties on most of our articles, while in India and the colonies the Customs are light ; — the fact remains that the States take all these goods, and that we are paid just the same for them as we are paid for the goods sold to any duty-free colony. But it is true and important that our dealings with one another might be much larger than they are, did the Americans follow out the policy on which they entered in 1846. There are two reasons for hoping that they will take that course. The change towards Free-trade has been eminently suc- cessful — they have sold more and have bought more, and have doubled the Customs' revenue. And the tone taken by men in the position of Mr Walker shows that there are not wanting American statesmen who perceive the right course, and are prepared to urge an advance. There is another reason still why we may hope that the Americans will progress owards Free trade — the example and success of Britain. If the trade between the countries has been greatly increased by the reform of the American tariff in 1846, it has owed as much to the repeal of the British corn and provision laws in the same year. It is not unreasonable to complain that Mr Walker's speech fails to bring out this point. He not only avoids the fact that Britain has far preceded America in freedom of trade, but points to the amount of our Customs' duties as show- ing that we are lagging behind. This is confounding two 216 NORTH AMERICA. in if t ; k \ \ ; V' ' U things that differ — duties for revenue, and duties for pro- tection — and the instance which he takes, tobacco, forms as complete an illustration as we could desire of the difference between British and American Customs' duties. Mr Walker complains, as I said before, that a duty of 1200 per cent, is levied on tobacco, an article of American pro- duce. If that duty is so excessive as to render smuggling profitable, then it ought to be reduced ; but it has no con- nection with Free trade. Its object and effects have re- lation purely to revenue. We must tax something, and tobacco, a questionable luxury, seems a fitter subject than windows, or soap, or many other things. We pay it all ourselves, and its only effect on Americans is, that we consume a little less of their tobacco than we otherwise might. If we pay a tax on American tobacco, we pay one also on British spirits, and on many other articles of less questionable utility ; while the Americans raise almost all their revenue by Customs, without the aid of excise, stamps, or assessed taxes. Out of 53 millions of dollars raised in the United States, as the whole of the present annual revenue per- taining to the Federal Government, not less than 50 millions are raised by customs' or import duties ; the other 3 millions being raised by land sales, &c. But the American Customs' duties, besides being proportionally much larger than the British, are founded in great part on quite a different principle. The tax on American tobacco is so purely a tax for revenue, and not for the purpose of burdening American producers in their competition with British, that tobacco is not even allowed to be grown in Britain ; and in a similar way other articles looming largely in our Customs' returns are only imposts equiva- lent to the excise levied on the same article when of home production. Take as a contrast the American duties on NORTH AMERICA.. 217 for pro- tobacco, re of the ;' duties, r of 1200 can pro- nuggling 5 no con- have re- ing, and ject than )ay it all that we therwise , we pay [•tides of se almost f excise, 3 United inue per- than 50 the other But the ortionallv it part on n tobacco urpose of tion with grown in looming s equiva- 1 of home duties on the import of cotton manufactures, which range from 25 to 35 pe?' cent., while the home manufactures are free from all contributions to the State. The chief etfect of that tax is to place British manufactures at a disadvantage compared with the American manufactures ; and that it happens also to produce a revenue is only ascribable to British manufactures being 25 per cent, better or cheaper than American, although the cotton of British manu- factures has had to be taken twice across the Atlantic, while the Americans manufacture at the place of growth. On leaving Lowell, I proceeded to Manchester, (59 miles from Boston), which is beautifully situated on the east side of the Merrimack, and is fast rivalling Lowell in manufactures, having already a population of 20,000. Concord (76 miles from Boston,) the capital of the State of New Hampshire, through which we also passed, is also delightfully situated on both sides of the Merrimack, and contains 10,000 inhabitants. Betwixt Concord and Burlington, a circumstance happened to me which is worth recording. At a place called the White River Junction, where the railway cars stop, and passengers are allowed twenty minutes for dinner, I was standing speaking to the engineer of the locomotive engine, not being aware that he was about to start. He rang the bell however, and before 1 had actually time to get into the cars, the train was in motion and off. Seeing another engine close at hand, and a per- son seemingly with authority ; I stated my case to him, when he immediately said that he would send off an ex- press engine with me, which he thought would overtake the train about 3 miles distant, where they had to wait for two or three minutes to take in wood for the engine. I accordingly took a seat beside the engineer, accom- panied by this manager, and overtook it exactly at the K t ■ 21!^ NORTH AMERICA. 1^ ■• ■ 1,11' :' ; I* ' m-- spot which ho had calculated upon. Upon thanking hhn for his civility, he replied that I had no occasion to do so, as he guessed the train had started five minutes be- fore its time. Amidst all my travels, I never met with a degree of politeness that can be in the most remote de- gree compared to this. I have generally remarked that the officials in America, as well as the store -keepers, though less obsequious in their manners, are more obliging than in Britain. We arrived at Burlington, in the state of Vermont, at he evening, distant from Boston 240 miles by the m route we took. This is a remarkably well laid out town, rising with a gentle slope from lake Champlain, and con- tains 15,000 inhabitants. Lake Champlain was named after the celebrated French governor, Samuel de Cham- plain, the founder of Quebec, who discovered it in the year 1609. It is 140 miles long, though in general very narrow, its greatest width, unobstructed by islands, being opposite to Burlington, where it is ten miles wide. The navigation of this lake, although lying wholly in American territory, is secured to us by treaty. The view of this lake from Burlington, looking across to the state of New York, is not unlike that from the beautiful seat of my esteemed friend David Bell Esq. of Craigmore, in the island of Bute, and of Blackball in the county of Lanark, looking across the Frith of Clyde towards Largs and the adjacent district in Ayrshire. Ardencraig, the charming residence of my valued friend .Tohn Miller Esq. of Liver- pool, contiguous to that of Mr Bell, from being more ele- vated, commands a prospect which it would be difficult to find surpassed. We embarked at 8 the same evening on board of the steamer, and sailing all night, arrived at 6 in the morning at St Johns, situated at the head of steam- boat navigation, on the Richelieu River. At St Johns we toe crc boj arr Bo 26 Th 321 lanking )n to do ites be- :, with a ote de- ed that eepers, jbliging noiit, at by the t town, nd con- named Cham- t in the al very 3, being . The nerican of this Df New of my in the anark, and the larming Liver- ore ele- icult to ling on ed at 6 steam- )hns we NORTH AMERICA. 210 took the railway to Laprairic, (15 miles) and from thence crossed the river St Lawrence to Montreal in a steam- boat, a distance of nine miles in an oblique direction, and arrived there at 9 in the morning ; the whole distance from Boston being by this route, 340 miles ; the time occupied 26 hours ; and the fare for the whole journey 9 dollars. There is another route from Boston to Montreal only 329 miles in length. 2 K 220 NORTH AMERICA. CHAPTER XIII. ii Great Fires at Montreal — Letters of Introduction — Description of Montreal — The Rev. Mr M 'Gill's Prayers — Proper length of Prayers and Ser- mons—Improvements on the Liturgy of the Church of England in the United States — Police Court at Montreal — Population of Montreal — The Rapids of the St Lawrence — Tour among the French Canadians — Visit to the Eastern Townships — Wonderful Adventures of a Dog — Doscriplion of Quebec — Extraordinary Scene on the Steamers betwixt Quebec and Montreal. So soon as I had breakfasted, I sallied forth to see the great fire which had broken out early that morning, and which, in the short space of 7 hours, had consumed several streets and upwards of a hundred houses. I found a party of British soldiers keeping order at the fire, which v.as still burning, though nearly extinguished. Another fire had occurred at Montreal just three or four months before, which had consumed 200 houses. Shortly after my arrival at Montreal, I delivered, among others, a letter of introduction from the late rector of a celebrated academy in Scotland, to his brother Thomas A. Gibson, Esq., M.A., who holds a prominent situation in the High School at Montreal, and whose pohte atten- tion and hospitality I shall ever bear in remembrance. As in addition to its being so very complimentary, it is the only testimonial which I ever received ; I consider it too valuable a document not to be here recorded. ; t: ?J NORTH AMEIUCA. 221 Montreal and Scr- nd in the ontreal — nadians — a Dog — s betwixt see the ig, and several bund a which Another months among or of a Thomas ituation 3 atten- brancc. it is the iT it too Batuoatc, 3d July 1849. ** My Dear Brother, — I have the honour of introducing to you the bearer, Mr Marjoribauks, a leading trustee of our academy, being the only one of them whoso estate is situate in the parish. Mr Marjoribanks is an entbu. liastic traveller; and having visited the other three quarters of the globe. he has made up his mind to gratify his curiosity to the full, by comparing them with America. Mr M. is the representative of an ancient family, n fact, however, on which he does not plume himself. His knowledge of the world, both men and things, his kindly disposition, and his unafTeeted urbanity of manners, are his best recommendations ; but when I tell you that I have experienced much kindness and attention from himsi-lf and family, I trust you will not, on that account, feel the less disposed to |>:iy him any attention in your power. " I had also a letter of introduction to another country- man of my own, G. D. Watson, Esq., of 8. St Sacra- ment Street, Montreal, a remarkably clever man, and one of the most extensive merchants in that city, as well as iu New York, where he has also an establishment, and from him also I received every possible attention. Having mentioned to him that I meant to return to Scotland by the City of Glasgow steamer from New York, he told me that he had crossed the Atlantic 25 times, and that the American steamers to Liverpool were better conducted than the English. He approved of the City of Glasgow, as he considered an iron ship safer than a wooden one, as it was stronger, and could neither take fire nor founder. Being impelled by a screw he considered a great advan- tage, particularly in a heavy sea, whilst the machinery took up only one half of the room, and required only one halt of the fuel of a steamer with paddle wheels. The only safe steamers at sea are those made of iron built in com- partments, as they cannot take fire. Had the West In- dian steamer the " Amazon" been built of iron instead of wood she would have escaped the fatal fire which con- sumed her on 2d January 1852; and whilst the lives of -' t. t! »' ■ :n, !'■ :1 L>-22 N'OIlTIf AMERICA. hU ■■ f !'''■ J 15 individuals would thus have been preserved, £200,000 worth of property would have been saved. To my esteemed friends Robert Leckie, Esq. of the house of Buchanan & Co., merchants, Montreal, and to Major Timstall, I am also under a lasting obligation for their politeness and hospitality. In 1.53/5 Jacques Cartier, an experienced navigator of St Malo in France was despatched by the French govern- ment on a second voyage in search of possessions in the New World with the view of founding a colony. He had discovered Newfoundland on his first voyage the year be- fore. His fleet consisted of three small ships, the largest being only 1*20 tons burden. He touched again at New- foundland, and proceeding onwards came to a gulf filled Avith numerous and beautiful islands, to which he gave the name of St Lawrence, having discovered it on that saint's festival day, 10th August 1535. Having been told by the two Indians whom he had taken to France the year previous, and who had now returned with him, that far up the stream to the westward was a large town, the capi- tal of the whole country, he proceeded up the river to which he gave the same name. On arriving at the Indian settlement, called by the natives " Hochelaga," he was welcomed by the inhabitants. The village, which con- sisted of about fifty large huts, stood in the midst of great fields of Indian corn. Warburton, in his celebrated work called " The Conquest of Canada," says, — " Three miles from Hochelaga there was a lofty hill well tilled and very fertile ; thither Jacques Cartier bent his way, after having examined the town. From the summit he saw the river and the country for 30 leagues around, a scene of singular beauty. To this hill he gave the name of Mont Royal, in honour of his royal master the King of France, since NORTH AMEKICA. 22a 00,000 of the and to ion for ;ator of Tovern- in the He had ear be- largest t New- If filled ;ave the : saint's told bv he year hat far le capi- river to Indian he was ch con- of great ad work ee miles nd very having tie river singular Royal, e, since extended to the large and fertile island on which it stands, and to the city below. Time has now swept away every trace of Ilochelaga ; on its site the modern capital of Canada has arisen ; 50,000 people of European race, and stately buildings of carved stone, replace the simple In- dians and the huts of the ancient town." The meaning' of the word Canada in the original or Indian language, is a '* collection of huts." Montreal, in point of beauty of situation, must be con- sidered as almost unrivalled by any other city, either in the Old or New World. It extends for three miles alons.' the magnificent St Lawrence, which is there about throe miles wide, and nearly two miles backwards to the base of the beautiful wooded eminence in its vicinity, Mont Royal, from which it derives its name of Montreal. The view from this mountain, whose summit attains an eleva- tion of G76 feet above the level of the river, surpasses al- most anything I have ever seen, and could not fail to hav(* impressed Cartier with admiration. The chief market - house is perhaps tjie most superb building for such a par- pose in the world, with a splendid dome in its centre, n - sembling in fact, particularly in its southern elevation to- wards the river, a palace rather than a market. In pass- ing through it, however, one might almost, be inclined to call it a market-place without a market, as the limited supply of the various articles presents a sad contrast to the magnificent building in which they are exhibited. There is another market at the west end of the town. The Roman Catholic cathedral at Montreal is one of the largest buildings on the continent of North America, having cost £100,000 sterling in its erection, and being capable of containing 8000 persons. In one of the towers in front, which are 220 feet high, there is the largest bell in America, weighing thirteen tons, and cast in London i ■ m 224 NORTH AMEUICA. hi S Mi- I fr' ■■' m i 'i :;' m expressly. The tower shakes when it is sounded. A story is told of one of the priests, that, in order to free himself from the great labour of confession in Lent, he gave notice that on 31onday he would confess the liars, on Tuesday the misers, on Wednesday the slanderers, o!i Thursday the thieves, on Friday the libertines, and on Satiu'day the frail sisterhood. His scheme succeeded, as no one attended. The English cathedral and the Scotch clnirch, built for my friend the Rev. Dr Mathieson, are also superb buildings. I visited also the Gray Nunnery, or General Hospital of the Gray Sisters, designed as an asylum for orplians, foundlings, and lunatics, as also for infirm and superannuated persons ; and there are at pre- sent two hundred residents within its walls. Over the gateway there is the following inscription : — " Mon pere et ma mere m'ont abandonnee, mais le Seigneur m'a re- cueilli." This is the French translation of the 10th verse of the 27th Psalm, which in our language is in these words, — '* When my father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take me up." The proper pieaning, however, of the word in the original or Hebrew language i-^, " will gather me," so that the French word " recuellli' is per- fectly appropriate. My friend Mr Gibson having a seat, and being an elder in St Paul's church, where the Rev. Mr M'Gill officiates, I attended that church during my residence of three weeks at Montreal. I was much struck, and particularly pleased, with the shortness of his prayers at the morning service, as of the three prayers which he gave us, the first was about seven minutes in length, the second five, and the third six, making 18 minutes in all. We had once a mi- nister in the parish of Bathgate in Scotland, to which I belong, whose first prayer at the morning service was gene^ rally 25 minutes in length. This had the effect of driving pre her NOIlTil AMERICA. *2*J5 id. A to free L»nt, he ars, on ?rs, oil !ind on Lied, as Scotch on, are innerv, \ as an also for at pre- fer the on pere m'a re- h verse words, hen the )\vever, «, " will is per- in elder ficiates, e weeks ^leased, service, irst was uul the e a mi- which I as gene- driving some people from the church altogether, and seems to ho denounced even in the Scriptures themselves, as in tlio 23d chapter of St Matthew it is written, *' Woe unto you, scribes and pharisees, hypocrites ! for ye devour widows' houses, and for a pretence make long prayers : therefort; ye shall receive the greater damnation." We are entitled to deduce from this, not only that pious and sincere Christians in the days of the apostles made short prayers — those who made long ones being denounced as hypocrites, for whom great damnation was in reservation — but that they must have been extempore also, as if written (printing not having been then discovered) they would have been al- ways of the same length. The Scotch, in imitation of tiie apostles, make use of extempore prayers also. A distinguished friend of mine, the principal heritor in a parish adjoining to Bathgate, stated to me lately, that the first prayer of the minister of his parish generally oc- cupied half an hour in its delivery, and that before it was ended a number of the congregation had to sit down. It is a fortunate circumstance that he has a congregation at all.* Though the liturgy of the Church of Endand, as 1 said before, be of too great a length, yet the variety that is in it, such as sometimes standing, sometimes sitting, and sometimes kneeling, removes, in some measure, the ob- jection against remaining long in one position, particularly ■■• The worthy clergyman of a small parish in the county of Sutherland. where that amiable and patriotic nobleman the Duke of Sutherlang stream is pent into several narrow channels among wooded islands, and tumbles fiercely along over its rocky bed, so that occasionally and for a short distance, with the stern of the vessel nearly out of the water, we were going at the rate of 30 miles an hour, producing a sensation of grandeur mixed with horror and awe, such as it is impos- sible to describe. In 1759, when General Amherst pro- ceeded from New York to Quebec, to assist General Wolfe, on entering Canada his advanced guard of 300 men was embarked in boats above the Cedars ; the in- tention being to float down, and take up a position on the opposite side of the river. Scarcely had they entered the boisterous waters, when the boats became crowded to- gether, and most of them were dashed to pieces upon the rocks. No less than 88 men and G4 boats, with some artillerv and stores, were lost by this terrible disaster. Next day the lifeless bodies of the British soldiers, clothed in their well-known red, floating past the town of Montreal, gave the first notice of invasion. The excitement when sailing down the Rapids, is en- hanced by a sense of the risk accompanying the vessel as she sweeps with such velocity close past islands and rocks, whilst her straight course in the channel is main- tained by the steady exertions of eight voyageurs at the wheel and rudder. The principal railway in operation at present in Lower Canada, is the St Lawrence and Atlantic Railway. This railway starts from the river at Longueil opposite to Mon- treal, and will have its Atlantic termination at the town of Portland, State of Maine. The distance is 280 miletj, of which 130 miles are on the Canadian side and 150 on the American. A considerable portion of that on the Canada side has been already finished and is now in ope- ration. When completed the whole way through to Port- i i' •: 236 NORTH AMEUICA. 1^ ■■.- SI- -■ I m m. land on the Atlantic, it is intended to join another more extensive line leading to Halifax, the first point of land in America at which the English mail steamers touch. This line to Halifax would he 450 miles from Montreal. There is at present a railway in operation betwixt Port- land and Boston, a distance of 105 miles. A newspaper called " La Minerve," is published in the French language at Montreal, a copy of which my polite cousin transmits to me regularly, and should 1 ever have the pleasure of seeing him again I have no doubt I shall find that his knowledge of French has been, as the Ame- ricans say, pretty considerably improved. Having been kindly invited by my esteemed cousin above alluded to, who had a carriage of his own, to take a short tour among the " habitans" as far as the eastern town- ships, I gladly availed myself of his offer. We crossed at the ferry situated at the extreme east end of Montreal to the south side of the river St Lawrence, which is there about 3 miles wide, and slept at a beautiful village called Va- rennes, 15 miles from Montreal. Next day we proceeded through a fine level country to Sorel, distant 30 miles from Varennes and 45 from Montreal, where we remained all night. Sorel is a fine old town situated at the mouth of the river of the same name, (called also the river Riche- lieu,) where it debouches into the St Lawrence, and con- veys into that river the waters of Lake Champlain. Next day we reached Drummondville, one of the eastern town- ships (40 miles from Sorel) where we dined, and remained till next day, having been most hospitably entertained by Mr and Mrs Heriot, formerly of Berwickshire in Scot- land. A dreadful storm of thunder, lightning, and rain, occurred betwixt Sorel and Drummondville, the whole of which we had to encounter, there being no place to which we could fly for shelter till the fury of the storm was over- NORTH AMERICA. 231 r more )f land touch, •ntreal. : Port- l in the ' polite ?r have I shall ; Ame- 1 above a short 1 town- (1 at the to the 3 about ed Va- (ceeded miles mained mouth lliche- d con- Next town- mained ned by Scot- d rain, hole of which s over- past. The darkness of night overtook us in the midst of it, so that the state of our feelings, botli of mind and body, may be more easily imagined than described. My friend Mr B. had a favourite dog which he took with him in this expedition. He was like the Irishman's dog, half hunter and half setter, that is, he "hunted bones when he was hungry, and ' set' by the stove when satis- ilcd. We lost him the second morning of our journey, thtJugh he was foimd again after many days. The ex- ploits of the first day will, I have no doubt, be long re- membered by him, as during that memorable day he was engaged in no less than 30 actions of one kind or another. He had 18 slight skirmishes without any very decided success on either side, though it was generally remarked that our hero took the earliest opportunity that offered of quitting the field, having discovered by long experience " That he that fights and runs away, IVIay live to fight another day." Our friend having fortunately escaped the other sad alter- native, — " But he who is in battle slain. Can never rise to fight again." He fought 7 pitched battles, in most of which he was de- feated; and saved himself by flight from the combined forces of five successive villages, who, though at war with each other, thought it necessary to turn out against the common enemy. He had evidently retained in his mind a vivid recollection of the lines in Hudibras, — *• That when the fight becomes a chase. They win the day who win the race." From Drummondville, we proceeded next day to Port St Francis, on the river St Lawrence, (37 miles) which we reached at 7 in the evening. Here my friend left his ii > M :'t 23S NORTH AMKKICA. liorsc and carriage, and .ifrcr supping, we embarked at 1*2 o'clock at night on board the steamei that sails daily from Quebec to Montreal, wlich touches there, and arrived at Montreal at 7 in the morning, the distance I'rom Port St Francis being 84 miles. I may mention that during our short tour in Lower Canada, the hahitans throughout the whole journey were exceedingly polite, every one tak- ing off their hats to us as we passed. Few of them could speak English, but from my superior knowledge of French, I undertook the management of the " Cuisine' depart- ment, whilst my learned friend fortunately could give directions in French about his horse, though about noth- ing else, so that upon the whole, wc got on admirably. As property is generally divided nearly eijually among the sons in a family, and as they are very neighbourly, and consider it essential that each should have a portion of his share of the division bordering upon the river or high road, we saw hundreds of farms a mile or two in length, but only a few yards, or at most a field in width, with the houses at the extremity adjoining the public road. They are much attached to their country, and few of them can be induced to leave *' La belle Canada,'' They remained faithful to the British crown during the American revolution. When there are only two sons, the eldest takes two thirds of the land, besides the chateau, mill, &c., and the younger one third. When there are several sons, the elder claims half the lands, and the rest have the other half divided among them. Previously to 1844, the wheat crop in Lower Canada was greater than they could consume, so that they ex- ported the surplus, but in that year an insect called the wheat fly or midge, attacked the crops, and ever since has produced such devastation, that they have not sufficient to supply themselves ; and great distress has been the re- mm. NORTH AMintlCA. TM) \ at VI [y from ived at ^rt St ng our ughout mc tak- n could ?rcnch, depart - Id give It noth- nirably. among ibourly, portion river or two in 1 width, public and few 'anacla,'^ ing the ons, the bateau, ere are the rest Canada ley ex- led the nee has ufficient the re- sult. The potato diseaHO which foUouid not long aftor, tended to add to their mistortunea, so tiiat a great propor- tion of the French Canadians have been obliged of late years, to have recourse to tlie use of oatnieai, an artich' to which they arc by no means very partial. Necessity however has no law. Quebec which Woa 350 miles from the Atlantic ocean, may bo said'to be at ])resent in a very prosperous condi- tion, having entirely recovered from the ellects of the two great fires v.hich broke out there in IMay and Jnne 184.">. These fired will be long remembered, as during rhcir pro- gress, ICOO buildings were consumed, and 14,000 people, chiefly the poorer classes, burned out. The value of the property destroyed was estimated at one million sterling, and 37 charred and mutilated corpses v/ere found among the ruins. The houses have been now all rebuilt of more durable materials than those destroyed, whilst the stroets have been widened, and wonderfully improved. To this (lay, Quebec may be reckoned the coldest and hottest place in the civilized world. Sir Francis Head, in his w'ork called the Emigrant, published in 1847, says that the *' cold of the Canada winter must be felt to be imagined ; and when felt, can no more be described by words than colours to a blind man, or music to a deaf one." Though in a calm, almost any degree of cold is bearable, yet Sir Francis mentions having seen at Quebec the left cheeks of 20 soldiers simultaneously frost-bitten in marching about 100 yards exposed to a strong and bitter cold north-west wind. The sentinels have sometimes to be relie'cd every quarter of an hour at Quebec. The seat of Government having been transferred to it in 1851, has contributed to its prosperity. Floating rafts of timber of enormous size are frequently seen in summer on the St Lawrence, coming chiefly 240 NORTH AMERICA. HI' iir i '! it , 1 ; 1 '( f >| :.| f '!• :| ;l; i. y-' ■ ■* ^■=' '"fill' 1 ;;; • i^ |i: ?' '.I. ill^i . i m. In III from the Ottawa, and many hundred miles in the In- terior, and covering the surface of nearly an acre, bound together by clamps of wood into a solid stage, on which are erected small wooden houses, the dwellings of the raftsmen, from 30 to 50 in number. In the winter, these white pines are felled, the trees topped of their branches and squared, and dragged by horses over the deep snow to the rivers, where upon the ice the rafts *are formed. When the thaw in the spring opens up the mountain streams, the stout lumberers boldly trust themselves on these rafts, directing their course with long oars, and hoisting occasionally square sails, until after a sail of many weeks, and encountering much danger and hardship, they arrive at Quebec. Quebec is not so healthy as Montreal, as one death occurs there annually in every 4 1 , whereas at Montreal there is only one in every 5 1 . Taking the whole of Lower Canada, there is one death in every 53 ; whereas taking the whole of England, there is one in 46, which shews that Lower Canada is healthier than England. This explains why the French population increase so rapidly. Tliey not only marry when very young, but continue fruitful till an advanced period of life ; thus exhibiting the beautiful oflfects of a genial climate upon the female constitution. Many French Canadian mothers have 15 children, and there are two cases mentioned of them having 25 ! O what a blessing? " Nous sommes terribles pour les enfants," as a French Canadian remarked. It is owing to this remark- able fecundity that the population of Lower Canada doubles itself every 28 or 30 years, with but comparatively small addition to their numbers by immigration. The average of births there is 1 in every 21, and the deaths 1 in 53 ; whilst in England the births are 1 in 33, and the deaths I in 46. IS SIX T Queb Mon from searc Norw Irish, talkin £uro{ NORTH AMERICA. 241 he in- bound which of the ', these anchcs mow to ormcd. Duntain Ives on ■s, and )f many irdship, 3 death al there !!^anada, e whole Lower ns why ley not 1 till an eautitul bitution. en, and O what ints," as iremark- Canada Liatively The ieaths 1 and the The line of railway, projected from Halifax to Quebec, passing through Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, is almost essential to the future possession of Canada, as the emigrant from home, and the produce from the west, would then pass through British waters and over British territories only, without enriching the coffers of a foreign state. The Americans, with their great mercantile acute- ness, are making every effort to direct the trade of Canada into their own channels, and to make us in every way de- pendent on them for our communications. The Draw- back Bill, by which the Customs' Duties on foreign goods are refunded on their passing on into our provinces, has already been attended with great success in obtaining for them a portion of our carrying trade, especially during the winter, when the great highway of the St Lawrence is closed by the ice for five months, viz. from about the 1st of December to the 1st of May. This railway from Quebec to Halifax will be 600 miles long, and sixteen millions of dollars were voted for it by the Canadian Parliament in 1851. The distance from Halifax to Galway, on the west coast of Ireland is 2100 miles, so that supposing a steamer to sail 300 miles a-day, Halifax will be reached in seven days from Galway. The average passage of sailing vessels from England to Quebec is six weeks, and from Quebec to England four weeks. The several decks of the magnificent steamer from Quebec, on which we embarked at Port St Francis for Montreal, presented such a motley group of individuals from different parts of the world as it would be in vain to search for anywhere else. Here were assembled together, Norwegians, Dutch, Swedes, Danes, Germans, English, Irish, and Scotch Highlanders, with their blue bonnets, talking Gaelic, all hastening from their ancient abodes in Europe to the new, though distant land of promise in the L ' il 242 NORTH AMERICA. p. P h ' a. I, it I i ;J far west ; whilst numbers of French Canadians and Roman Catholic priests, in their well-known costumes, inter- spersed with Red Indians, Upper Canadian farmers, United States' citizens, &c., formed altogether a scene such as I never saw before and never expect to meet with again. I heard ten different languages spoken in about as many minutes. Though called Red Indians, their complexion is not red, but somewhat darker than untar- nished copper. A great intercourse betwixt Quebec and Montreal takes place in the steamers that ply daily during the season. The distance betwixt the two places is 180 miles, and they accomplish the voyage in 1 1 hours on de- scending, and 13 in ascending the river, the fare being 3s. 9d. currency in the steerage, and 10s. currency (7s. 6d. sterling) in the cabin, where you are furnished with tea and bed gratis. The seat of government was transferred from Toronto to Quebec in 1851. Before leaving this part of my subject, I may mention, that amidst all their drawbacks, farmers in Canada East have a great advantage, in being able to fatten their stock during the abundance of summer ; and by killing them at the first cold weather, they keep frozen, to be disposed of at their pleasure ; so that in all the markets of that pro- vince, during winter, you purchase frozen masses of beef, mutton, deer, fowls, cod, and even milk, which is sold in lumps by the pound. M' i NORTH AMERICA. 243 loman inter- rmers, scene ;t with I about , their untar- )ec and during is 180 \ on de- eing 3s. (7s. 6d. tea and •ed from nention, da East jir stock them at posed of lat pro- of beef, sold in CHxVPTER XIV. Voyage on the St Lawrence from Montreal to Kingston in Upper Canada — Description of Kingston — Provincial Penitentiary — Horrible Murder of Mr Kinnear — Lake Ontario — Description of Toronto — Price of Pro- visions — Mr William Lyon Mackenzie — Letter from him to the Author —Lunatic Asylum at Toronto — Interview with the Earl of Elgin — Dr Durie, K.H Change in the Climate of Upper Canada — Beauty and Fertility of the Country — Annexation of Canada to the United States — Mr James B. Brown's Work on Canada. Having taken leave of my kind friends at Montreal, I proceeded by the steamer up the St Lawrence to King- ston in Upper Canada, distant 180 miles from Montreal. The sail is the grandest one imaginable, and for 25 miles below Kingston the " thousand isles," as they are termed, adorn that majestic river. Between Prescott and King- ston, the county of Glengarry, the residence of many thou- sand Highland families, most of whom still speak Gaelic, lay on our right. In the steamers on the St Lawrence the fare generally includes the expenses of the table for cabin, though not for steerage passengers. On reaching the river Hudson, however, and sailing from Albany to New York, the pas- sage money is exclusive of provisions, so that you have there, as the Americans emphatically term it, " To eat i/ourself" Kingston contains 15,000 inhabitants, and is beauti- l2 ■) ■■; It 244 NORTH AMERICA. 1* I I' i ! 1 ;■ I ■ i 1 It fi';: I4>. ■ii' *('[ If! ■ [H I tiff |l; ^'1 , 1 llli a fully situate at the junction of Lake Ontario with the stream running out of it, which is now for the first time called the St Lawrence, and is there 12 miles broad. It rises with a gentle slope from the river to the summit- level of the town, about 50 feet above that of the river. The market-house is a magnificent building, but like that of Montreal, it may be called a market-place without a market. By far the finest thing however, to be seen, is the penitentiary, and having been furnished with a letter of introduction from my esteemed friend Mr Hopkirk, col- lector of the Customs there, to the Warden, I readily pro- cured admittance. Though called the provincial peniten- tiary, it is for the whole of Canada. The system pursued in this penitentiary is similar to that of the state prison at Auburn, in the State of New York, and may be called the " silent, but not the soli- tary system." The prisoners all work at their various occupations in different rooms, without being allowed to speak to one another, and keepers are set over them to enforce silence. A long account of the Auburn prison will be found in Stuart's Travels in America. Mr Mac- donell, the warden of the penitentiary, was exceedingly polite, and gave me a list of the number of prisoners as on 16th September 1850, the day of my visit, which I found to be 366 males and 34 females, making 400 in all. The building is on a magnificent scale, and no one who visil*' Kingston should omit seeing it. They were in the act of building a large addition to it, and the stone-masons and stone-cutters employed were all prisoners. It was a singular thing to walk among so many hundred desperate characters and never hear a word spoken. The area of ground enclosed within the high walls which surround it, amounts to several acres, and a few sentries, not prison- ers, are placed on the walls with loaded guns, so that NORTH AMERICA. 245 escape is impossible. At their meals in the dining-hall they all eat facing one way for supervision sake. About one-third of the prisoners were Irish, who in all countries maintain their proverbial character for exemplary conduct. Some of the prisoners were confined for 3 years ; some for 5 ; some for 10 and 14 ; and a few for life. There were very few Scotch prisoners, though there were a great many natives of the United States. The number of na- tives from the two provinces of Upper and Lower Canada was nearly equal. There were 4 confined for life for murder. Grace Marks was in the penitentiary at Kingston, having been condemned to death at Toronto on 4th No- vember 1843, as an accomplice for the murder of Mr Kinnear and Nancy Montgomery. Her sentence, how- ever, had been commuted to imprisonment for life, and she appeared happy and contented. The murder of Mr Kinnear and his housekeeper excited a great sensation at the time of its occurrence throughout the whole of Canada, and the following are a few of the particulars of that tragic event. Mr Thomas Kinnear was a son of the late Mr Kinnear of Kinloch, a very old family in the county of Fife, in Scotland, near to Cupar-Fife, and passed as a writer to the signet in Edinburgh. Not liking however the pro- fession of the law, he left Edinburgh in 1836, and went to Upper Canada, now called Canada West. Being pos- sessed of a considerable fortune, he bought a farm about 15 miles from Toronto, which was pointed out to me from a distance, when on a visit to Dr Durie, K.H., my es- teemed friend, at Craigluscar. He had frequent occasion to be at Toronto on business, and was much esteemed by all who knew him. Mr Kinnear was not married, but kept a housekeeper (said to have been a very nice young f'i i. t i M' '/ m 246 NORTH AMERICA. I?: i »*y woman) named Nancy Montgomery, a man-servant named James M'Dermott, who looked after his horse, and a female servant of all- work, named Grace Marks. Both M*Der- mott and Grace Marks were Irish, whilst Nancy Mont- gomery was Scotch. Mr Kinnear was in a weak state of health, and told James Newton (a witness on the trial) that he was dying, and that the reason he did not marry was, because the state of his health gave him no prospect of living long. Having had occasion to go to Toronto on the 27th of July 1843 for a couple of days, M'Dermott and Marks formed a conspiracy to murder both the house- keeper and him ; Grace Marks, it is said, having first proposed it, as Nancy had given her up, or dismissed her from the service. On Friday the 28th of July they accor- dingly murdered Nancy Montgomery by strangulation, and put her body into a barrel in the cellar. When Mr Kinnear arrived at home the following day, he naturally inquired for Nancy, when they said she had gone to call on a neighbour. He then sat down on the sofa in the parlour, and took up one of the numbers of Alison's His- tory of Europe, reprinted at New York. M'Dermott having asked him to go to the harness- room to look at a saddle that had been damaged, Mr Kinnear got up with t'le book in his hand in order to do so, when just as he was at the end of the passage leading into the kitchen, which communicated with the harness-room, M'Dermott shot him dead, he exclaiming, as he fell, and pressing the book to the wound, " Oh, I'm shot !" M*Dermott was executed at Toronto on 21st November 1843. Mr Kinnear was reputed wealthy, and his murderers had cal- culated on getting money on his person ; but he had deposited his money at Toronto, so that they were dis- appointed. This circumstance, indeed, viz., the want of money, led to their apprehension in a very remarkable NOIITH AMERICA. *247 manner, after they had landed at Lewiston, in the United States, whither they had fled. A spirited young man, Mr Capreol, chartered a steam-boat at Toronto at mid- night, and pursued them to Lewiston. Mr Kinnear's agent at Toronto shewed me an affectionate letter from his mother in Scotland, addressed to her unfortunate son, which arrived after he was murdered. A boy of twelve years of age was also pointed out to me in the penitentiary, to which he was condemned for life, for having murdered, about a year before, when only eleven years of age, a young girl about the same age. This girl and the boy both lived in one house, but the girl, who was an orphan, being a great favourite with the family, excited the jealousy of this young murderer, when he attacked her with a hoe in the field, where they were working to- gether, and murdered her. There was nothing ferocious- like in his appearance. In America they begin to work at an early age. Kingston was the head-quarters of the British army and navy during the last American war, and is celebrated, among other things, as being the place to which the British government sent a quantity of water-casks to the fleet during that campaign, thinking that Lake Ontario was a salt-water lake. " Go, my son," said the philosopher, *' and see with how little wisdom the world is governed." Immediately on leaving Kingston for Toronto you enter Lake Ontario. The mean or medium length and breadth of the five principal, or largest of the American lakes, is as follows : — Mean Length. Mean Brtinitli Superior, 400 miles. 80 miles. Michigan, . 220 „ :o „ Huron, 240 „ 80 „ Erie, . . 240 „ 40 „ Ontario, . 180 „ 35 „ 248 NORTH AMERICA. M lU ■ ■M If it ■1r 11 The boundary line runs through the middle of these lakes. The mean depth of Lake Superior, the largest fresh-water lake in the world, being 1500 miles in circum- ference, is 900 feet; of Michigan and Huron, 1000; of Erie, 84 ; and of Ontario, 500. Whilst Lake Superior has an elevation of 599 feet above tide water of the Atlan- tic Ocean, Ontario has only 232. These lakes, from their depth, are almost never frozen, though often visited by dreadful storms, when the waves rise as high as those on the Atlantic. Toronto, the capital of Upper Canada, distant from Kingston 177 miles, was founded in 1793 by Governor Simcoe, who named it Little York. There were only two Indian families in it at that time, who were surrounded by myriads of wild fowl. In 1813 the Americans destroyed almost the whole of it with fire ; but after the peace it was rebuilt, and the name changed to ** Toronto," the original or Indian word, which signifies the place of meeting or of council ; as in former times the Indian tribes on the shores of Lake Ontario assembled there to make peace or war. Toronto is situated in the county of York, better knowp as the Home District. I resided during my residence in Toronto at the North American Hotel, which I can strongly recommend as be- ing remarkably reasonable, and the landlord, Mr Hor- wood, uncommonly civil. Toronto, (starting from the Lunatic asylum^ extends upwards of three miles along the banks of Lake Ontario, on a dead level plain, elevated 20 or 30 feet above the level of the lake. It is remarkably well laid out, having broad streets, and handsome houses, and is in a most flourishing condition, new houses being raised up in every direction. The population, which in 1826 was only 2000, is at present not less than 50,000, of whom a great pro- 1-1 >4 -■■ :« NORTH AMERICA. 249 portion of the wealthier merchants and shopkeepers are Scotch. The trottnirs or side walks, like those of Mon- treal, are formed of wood. The spires of some of the -churches are magnificent, too much so indeed for the churches themselves. A splendid new market-place had just heen finished, and unlike to Kingston and Montreal, it has an admirably supplied market, as well as a market- house, and from the following list of prices, as on 19th September 1850, it will be seen that every thing is ex- ceedingly reasonable. TORONTO MARKET. Flour, per barrel, 196 lbs., "Wheat, per bushel, 60 lbs., Barley, per bu&hel, 48 lbs., Oats, per bushel, 34 lbs.. Oatmeal, per bbl., 196 lbs.. Potatoes, per bushel, Beef, per lb., Veal, per lb., PQrk, per lb.. Mutton, per lb., . Fresh Butler, per lb., Eggs, per dozen, . Turkeys, each. Geese, each, . Ducks, per pair. Fowls, per pair, . Hay, per ton, • From the above prices being all in Halifax currency, 25 per cent., or one-fourth part falls to be deducted to re- duce them to sterling money. Thus, in the above list, it will be seen that the highest price for the bushel of wheat is 48., which is exactly 3s. sterling, or 24s. the quarter. Though the above were the prices in September 1850, yet they are nearly the same at the present day. The Toronto market regulates in some measure the price s. d. 8. d. . 13 9 to 21 3 3 to 4 . 2 4 to 2 8 1 2 to 1 b . 17 6 to 20 1 3 to 2 6 . 2J to 4 2 to 4 n to 3i 2 to 3i . '" 1 '5 to 9 6 to 7 1 10 to 3 9 1 3 to 1 8 1 5 to 2 10 to 1 6 . 35 to 60 I. I %■ II? ■^1 250 NORTH AMERICA. ; 1 li 'I ' f' I of provisions throughout the whole of Upper Canada, or Canada West. The average price of *♦ fall" wheat, (somewhat higher than spring wheat) in Toronto, for the last 10 years, is Ss. 6d, sterling per bushel. Fire wood is one of the dearest articles at Toronto as well as at Quebec and Montreal, higher in fact than coals in this country, with the prospect of increasing, as every year the stock is diminishing. The principal streets of Toronto, like those of Montreal, have the foot pavement constructed of wood instead of stone. I had not been many days in Toronto before I was in- troduced to that celebrated individual, William Lyon Mackenzie, Esq., formerly the editor of a republican newspaper at Toronto, and the first mayor of that city. From his anxiety to render the legislative council elective by the people, he laid aside the pen and seized the sword ; and in 1837 became the principal ring-leader in what has been called the " Canadian Rebellion." On 4th Decem- ber 1837 he assembled 500 men at a place called Mont- gomerie's Tavern, four miles from Toronto, which I pass- ed in company with Mr Walter M*Kenzie when proceed- ing with him to partake of his hospitality at his residence five , miles up Yonge Street. Sir Francis Head, the lieutenant-governor of the province, with 3000 militia, marched from Toronto on 7th December, attacked the patriots, as they called themselves, or rebels, as they were named by the British, and put them to flight with the loss of a few men, whilst not one man fell on the side of the loyalists. The patriots had taken their stand on an ele- vated position near the tavern. In the meantime the ex-editor had escaped in disguise to Bufl'alo, in the United States, where he collected a force of what were termed ** sympathising Americans," who took possession of Navy Island, a little above the Falls af NORTH AMEUICA, 251 nada, /heat, >r the wood as at n this ar the Tonto, ructed vas in- Lyon iblican ,t city, lective 3word ; lat has )ecem- Mont- 1 pass- roceed- idence id, the militia, :ed the jy were the loss of the an ele- disguise a force J," who Falls Qf Niagara, and committed many excesses on the Canadian side. Amongst their other depredations, a pillar raised at Quecnston by the Canadian Parliament, to the memory of the brave Sir Isaac Brook, slain at the head of an English force at the bloody battle of Queenston in 1812, during the last American war, was blown up with gunpowder and much injured, by a man of the name of Lett, who was afterwards imprisoned in Auburn state prison for a rob- bery he had committed. On the 28th of December 1837, the small steamer Caroline, employed in carrying arms and supplies to Navy Island, (an island containing 304 acres belonging to Canada) was boarded by some loyal- ists, led by Captain Drew of the British royal navy, while moored to a fort on the American shore, and carried after a slight skirmish. She was then set on fire and suffered to drift over the great falls. The sympathisers were com- pelled, by a superior force, to evacuate Navy Island iu January 1838. Mr M*Kenzie was outlawed, and lived in the United States for nine or ten years, but an act of indemnity hav- ing been passed, he returned to Toronto shortly before I saw him. In personal appearance he is somewhat dimi- nutive, with nothing indicative of great talent ; but he is remarkably laborious and persevering, and has a wonder- ful facility in writing. So far however as I could judge, his ardent love of republican institutions had been pretty considerably cooled by his long residence among the free citizens of the great republic. This corroborates the re- mark made by Mr Combe, who says, " A democracy is a rough instrument of rule in the present state of education and manners in the United States, and I have not yet met with a British radical, who has had the benefit of five years experience of it, who has not renounced his creed, and ceased to admire universal suffrage." I: ■ i m i I ■ '^11 '" u 252 NORTH AMEIIICA. An excellent account of the rebellion in which Mr JVl. played so conspicuous a part, will be found in the first volume of *♦ Ilochelaga ; or England in the New World ;" edited by the late Eliot Warburton, who was unfortunately drowned on board of the West Indian steamer, the Amazon, when that vessel took fire off the coast of France on 2d January 1852. This work was published in London by Henry Colburn, in 1840, and reprinted in America, but on enquiring for it in 1850, when at New York, I found that the whole impression had been sold, so that they were preparing another edi- tion. When Mr Mackenzie arrived at Toronto in 1848 he was so ill used by some of the inhabitants that he again retired to New York, and transmitted an address to the resident landowners of the county of York, Upper Canada, in which Toronto is situated. Mr M. politely furnished me with a printed copy of this address, which was pub- lished in the Toronto Examiner of 23d November 1849, and fills no less than seven columns of that journal. I glanced it over, and found it to be a laborious and de- tailed record of all his exploits in the glorious cause of freedom, and of promoting the welfare of Canada in every possible way, during the long period of thirty years that he had been in that country. The sum and substance of it, in fact, may be compared to the declaration of the celebrated Roman emperor, who boasted " that he had found Rome brick, but had left it marble." Hid address must, I think, be considered in the light of a peace-offering, and as a forerunner to his second appear- ance at Toronto in 1850, where, 1 am happy to say, the excitement against him has abated, so that he is now re- siding there not only quietly and peaceably, but has actually been since returned as a member of the Canadian Parliament. ii' NORTH AMERICA. 253 Mr the New ) was ndian r the L was , and 1850, cssion ir edi- B48he '. again to the lanada, rnished ls pub- • 1849, nal. I ind de- ause of n every sirs that ;ance of of the he had light of appear- say, the now re- )ut has anadian 1 had requested him to furnish me with a few notes on Canada for this ^^ork, and had, at the same time, presented him with a copy of my Travels in New Zealand, and as a proof of his indefatigable industry, I may mention, that before I had actually got back to my hotel, the following letter was awaiting me, which il will be seen is sufficiently modest. YoNOE Street, Sept. 20. 1850. Sir, — I have read your instructive book upon New Zealand, where the desire to possess large tracts of land appears to have produced even more horrible results in some cases than even on this continent, where the struggles of the adventurers from more civilized nations, who emigrated from the Old World to wrust from the aborigines in the New their ancient posses* sions, produced scenes of great cruelty, as early as the days of Cortez and his comrades. The idea of making a woman prepare an oven for cooking a feast, and then going to work and cooking hertelf in it ai one of the di»he$ ! eiceeds anything I ever read of. So, too, the killing of 1000 men in a struggle among the New Zealand chiefs for the mastery, and eating 300 of them, goes far beyond the horrors even of pictures painted by men of gloomy imaginations in romances. I perceive that you went out with Mr, Mrs, and Miss Strang. There are Strangs here from the west of Scotland. A minister up at Gait, and bis brother, also a minister, in Wyoming Co. N.Y. The 16,400 British whom you describe aa having settled among the can- nibals, so much more numerous than them, will doubtless become a great and powerful people, if they can keep from intestine divisions ending in wars, which I perceive you are no friend to. M'Leod's affair, which you notice page 73, seemed at one time to indicate war between England and America. That affair, however, was, as I think, merely an incident arising out of illegal resistance of misrule in Canada, and, like the Wairoa massacre, shewed those whom example or experience will teach, the necessity of exer- cising rule or sway in distant countries by men of intelligence, wi(h a strict adherence to justice. Sir George Gipps, of whom you speak, was formerly a Commissioner at Quebec, appointed to inquire into the affairs of Lower Canada ; it seems they have since sent him off to the other end of the world. I met with him at Quebec in Nov. 1835. In page 85, I see that you arrive at the same conclusion as Jefferson came to, that the march of intellect interferes with the progress of a kindlier 254 NORTH AMERICA. m I [i }'-i i:}\ Li f i^' il I ■ I ; I i I natural affection in communities. Dr Samuel Johnson, however, than whom I have found few more accurate observers of men and manners, alarms in his Journey to the Western Islands, that " without intelligence man is not social, he is only gregarious." On reflection, I have come to the conclusion that I could write nothini; for your proposed work on Canada and the United States that would be really useful. In a new and thinly settled country men of very ordinary abilities may write themselves into some notoriety, but such persons, of whom I am one, travel out v.'' their sphere when they attempt literary composi- tions to be read by the learned and well-informed of Britain. Some un- known friend may have mentioned my name to you, who had higher notions of my powers of observation and description than I have myself. I oiTer these few private lines as a respectful apology for the essay you was so kind as to offer to consider had I submitted it to you. When 1 was in London in 1832, Mr Black of the Morning Chronicle and Mr Rintoul of the Spectator took mc to see the late Mr Stuart of Dunearn then residing in London. Mr Stuart had resided three years in America, and written a book about it in two vols., containing much useful and accu- rate information. He was so kind as to present me with a copy, which I preserve, as also a copy of Mr M'Gregor's book about the N. A. Colonies. In both these publications I found many valuable hints. Permit me. Sir, to hope that your exertions to make the people of Bri> tain better acquainted with other countries, in the welfare of which they have so deep an interest, will prove as pleasant to yourself as they must be instructive to others. In Dr Johnson's words, " All travel has its advan> tages. If the passenger visits better countries he may learn to ini prove his own, and if fortune carries him to worst he may learn to enjoy it." With groat respect, I remain, Siu, Your obliged and most humble Servant, AVm. L. MACKENZIE. Alexander Marjoribanrs, Esq., North American Hotel, Toronto. I paid my respects to his Excellency the Earl of Elgin, &c , the Governor in chief of the British Provinces in America, at the Government House in Toronto^ and found him very frank and agreeable. He told me that he had ju&t returned from a visit to New York, which he looked upon as perhaps the " most remarkable phenomenon" (thcbe were his words) in the world for luxury and extravagance. NORTH AMERICA. 255 He mentioned as a proof of it, that among other things he had been shewn at an upholstery warehouse in Broadway, three window-curtains that had been commissioned by a slave-owner in the State of Tennessee, which were to cost 10,000 dollars ; so that here was an instance of a wealthy planter in the southern states actually spending upwards of £2000 sterhng on three window-curtains alone. I visited the Provincial Lunatic Asylum at Toronto, which is on a magnificent scale, though not quite finished. When finished it will cost in all £100,000, and accommo- date 500 patients. It is situate in the suburbs of the city to the west, and the town is rapidly extending in that di- rection. Fifty acres of ground are included within the high walls surrounding it. I was taken through nearly the whole of the building, and rubbed shoulders with most of its inmates, upwards of 250 in number. I only saw one man in a straight jacket or waistcoat. They asked many questions of the keeper who conducted me, all of which he answered in the most polite manner imaginable. From long practice he seemed to be very expert at answer- ing questions. The females asked ten questions for one that the males did, thereby sustaining their proverbial character for curiosity and talkativeness. There was a white inmate in the asylum at New York some years ago, whose delusion consisted in imagining himself black. I devoted one day to a visit to my esteemed friend Dr Durie, K.H., at his estate of Craigluscar, ten miles from Toronto, proceeding by what is called the northern route, ir one of the public coaches that ply daily betwixt Toronto and Lake Simcoe, a distance of 32 miles. They cross Lake Simcoe by steamboats; and having passed the portage of 14 miles, from thence to Sturgeon's Bay on Lake Huron, (which is done in coaches) they again take the steamboat which brings them through Lake Huron to ",< I Si ,V li!f - ft It 2o6 NORTH AMERICA. the Sault St Marie at the foot of Lake Superior, the whole distance from Toronto being 469 miles. The great high road betwixt Toronto and Lake Simcoe is called Youge Street, and being 32 miles in length, is the longest street I ever traversed. They have another street of 40 miles in length betwixt Toronto and Dundas, and called Dundas Street. There was an elderly Scotchman in the stage-coach along with me who was proceeding to Lake Simcoe. He told me that he now lived near Milwaukee, in the State of Winconsin. He also mentioned that great numbers of people were leaving the prairies of Illinois and settling in Wisconsin or Michigan. He assigned four reasons for their doing so. First, from fever and ague being so pre- valent; second, from there being no timber for luel or rails ; third, from there being a great scarcity of water at certain seasons ; and, fourth, from there being no shelter for cattle either from the cold of winter or heat of summer. They are called the " rolling" prairies from their undu- lating surface, resembling the long heavy swell of the ocean, when its waves are subsiding to rest after the agi- tation of a storm. The prairies have in general a sur- rounding margin of woodland. When the plain is large, the forest outline is seen in the far perspective like the dim shore when beheld at a distance from the ocean. The country improves gradually for several miles after leaving Toronto, and when about ten miles distant from it, becomes truly magnificent, being every where cleared of the primeval original forests, with a rich fertile soil, pro- ducing splendid crops ; whilst the trees that remain, are no more than suflBcient to impart an uncommon degree of beauty to the surrounding landscape. The greater part of the best land in Upper Canada, does not lie immedi- ately on the lakes, but commences 8 or 10 miles back- Is? .1 NORTH AMERICA. 257 are wards. The number of waggons that one meets going to and returning from Toronto, most of them drawn by two horses, and all upon springs, and proceeding at a smart trot, is calculated to fill one with amazement, when we reflect that little more than half a century before, the very spot where all this bustle, and all these tokens of wealth and civilization are now displayed, was but a trackless wilderness, untrodden by the foot of civilized man, and the retreat only of the Red Indian, the wild deer, the ferocious wolf, the untameable buffalo, and the savage bear. Dr Durie accompanied me through the whole of his farm, (alias estate,) and we also called on a neighbouring farmer, (alias laird,) who gave me a tasting of some of his maple sugar, which has a peculiar flavour. Five million pounds weight of maple sugar are made annually in Upper Canada, and three millions in Lower Canada. The greater part of the landlords in Upper Canada farm their own land ; and few men like to be tenants, where all wish to be landlords. I shall ever retain a grateful recollection of the politeness I experienced at his hands, and those of his amiable wife and family, not forgetting his excellent son-in-law, Walter M*Kenzie,Esq., and his lovely and most affectionate spouse, whose hospitality I also experienced at their beautiful residence at Kingsland, five miles from Toronto. It is not to be wondered at, that I left Toronto after a ten days* residence, with deep feelings of regret at parting probably for ever, with so many friends who had shown me such marked civility and attention, and of these I can- not omit making special mention of Dr Primrose and his kind lady. Dr P. is one of the most eminent physicians in Toronto. I was sorry that I had not an opportunity of visiting Hamilton before leaving Canada, as by all If'* 258 NORTH AMERICA. I I i ii^; accounts, it is a delightful and most flourishing place. It is situate at the west end of Lake Ontario, 40 miles from Toronto by water, and 45 by land, and contains 15,000 in- habitants. The road to it from Toronto is called Dundas Street. Among the British in Canada, many no doubt are in favour of being annexed to the United States, chiefly I think from motives of self interest, as a duty of 20 per cent. has been imposed on all produce, such as wheat, cattle, &c., entering the States. Were they annexed to the States, they naturally consider that this duty would be taken off^, and that they would consequently get a higher price for their produce. At Rochester, wheat is generally from 1 to 20 per cent, higher than at Toronto. The Rochester millers oc- casionally cross the lake, buy Canadian wheat at Toronto, pay the freight across, and the 20 per cent, dut), and after all, make a profit of their flour (celebrated as the Genesee flour,) in New York. In January 1850, wheat was selling in the Toronto markets at 80 cents a bushel, while at Roches- ter, the same quality brought 110 cents. Though the great mass of the Canadians be attached to Britain and its institutions, yet patriotism, however strong, is apt to give way to self interest. Were the 20 per nt^.t. duty abolished, and reciprocity established, I believe that the doctrine of annexation, though somewhat prevalent in 1849 wiih the British party, in consequence of that un- fortunate measure the Indemnity Bill, would soon come to be a matter only of history. The population of the two provinces of Canada is now nearly equal, being one million each, of whom there are about 40,000 coloured persons of African descent, and 15,000 Indians in the two provinces. In 1 791, by an Act ot the Imperial Parliament, Canada, till then one province, was divided into separate provinces, designated Upper and Lower Canada. The two provinces were again re- NORTH AMERICA. 259 ;e. It 18 les from ,000 in- Dundas oubt are chiefly I per cent. ;tle, &c., States, iken off^, for their 10 to 20 illers oc- loronto, md after Genesee selling in Roches- )ugh the tain and s apt to :}t. duty that the ^alent in that iin- )on come la is now- here are :ent, and an Act ot province, Upper igain re- united in 1841, and their designation changed to Canada West and East. The eastern boundary of Canada West, commences about 20 miles above Montreal. The seat of government was removed in 1841 to Kingston; in 1844 to Montreal; in 1849 to Toronto; and in 1851 to Quebec. It may therefore be called a very changeable govern- ment. Elections occur every 4 years, and the House of Assembly, elected by the people, consists of 84 members divided equally betwixt each province, who have an allowance for their services during session. There is also the Legislative Council nominated by the Governor. The seasons have so much changed of late years, that whereas the 16th of November 30 years ago was the middle of a Canadian winter, no snow now falls, nor does the winter fairly set in till after the middle of December in Upper Canada. This change has arisen mainly from the clearing of the forests and the draining of the swamps. The snow never now lies deeper than two feet, and the earth is never frozen to a greater depth than 1 8 inches. As the weather breaks up, and the frost and snow entirely disappear before the end of March, they cannot now be said to have more than three months of winter, and have thus five weeks less winter than at Quebec, whilst at the extreme western section they have three weeks less win- ter than in Toronto. In some sections of Canada West the occurrence of winters with scarcely any snow at all is not unfrequent of late years, but this is reckoned a great misfortune, as it obstructs most of their operations, and proves injurious to the taW crops of wheat. In former years, the coach-builders of Toronto kept always a stock of sleighs or sledges on hand ready for sale, but of late they never make any unless commissioned. On an average of y ars, there are now in Canada West 96 rainy days, 50 snowy days, and 219 perfectly dry days. Warm weather sets in the ii ">i , 1 Wfi: it'! I' ■ I i- III i ; * ^i*-! ill 2G0 NORTH AMERICA. moment the snow disappears, and the vegetation is so rapid that every thing looks green within a week. Wheat, on an average, is ready for cutting in Canada West three weeks earlier than in England, and dries so fast that it is sometimes cut and carried in on the same day. A farm on one of the leading roads in the Home and Gore districts, consisting of 100 acres, good in quality, within four miles of a market, and having a farm-house and barn, with a clearing of 50 acres, ought to be purchased for L.6 sterling per acre. It is far from being an ad- vantage, in making a purchase of a small quantity of land, to have too much of it cleared. The emigrant must re- member that he will have to depend for years to come upon the wood of his property for his firing, and therefore a farm entirely cleared is not on any account desirable. Fifty acres of well cleared land will be ample both for pas- ture and crop, and each year's chopping will add to the arable portion of it as much as his resources for cultivate ing it will probably warrant. It may be laid down, however, as a general rule, that no gentleman in Canada, if he be destitute of other sources of income, can live upon a farm, even though it be his own property, if all the operations upon it are to be carried on by hired labour. No man works so hard for others as he does for himself. Most of the farmers in Canada are pro- prietors also of their farms, and do a great deal of the work with their own hands. People in this country may be apt to think that so long as the Canadian farmer has the British market free of duty open to him, with the freight down the noble St Law- rence so very cheap, he has not much cause to complain. But their great ground of complaint is, not that the Ame- ricans are admitted into the English market on the same terms with themselves, but that being so admitted* they L. .-. i ^,f NORTH AMERICA. 261 Dll 18 SO Wheat, sst three that It is ome and quality, ouse and urchased ^ an ad- f of land, must re- jme upon erefore a desirable, h for pas- Id to the cultivat- rule, that r sources e his own arried on lers as he \ are pro- al of the at so long jt free of 3 St Law- complain, the Ame- the same ted, they should by a high duty, virtually shut them out of their markets ; in other words, that whilst the American has the choice of two markets free of duty, the Canadian farmer on the other side of the line has only one. This is reciprocity with a vengeance. With a few more in- stances of reciprocity like this we would soon have to turn up our Dictionaries in order to ascertain the meaning of the word. Had the Home government attended suffi- ciently to the welfare of its colonies, they would have pro- vided against an act so glaring in its injustice, and so pernicious in its consequences. Upper Canada is fully a healthier country, and in all agricultural produce, with the single exception of Indian , corn, is superior to most parts of the States ; producing twice as much as she consumes. Captain Marryat, in his travels in North America, says, *' Upper Canada is the finest corn country in the world, and the most favou- rite spot for emigration, being so much healthier than the United States." The produce of wheat is, on an average, 20 bushels per acre ; whilst the average of the United States, taken as a whole, is only 15. It is therefore perfect nonsence to talk, as some authors have done, of the *' miserable in- feriority" of Upper Canada to the great Republic. It may be proper to state that the Home, Niagara, Gore, London, and Western districts, are the five best and favourite spots in the Western province. Upper Canada is much healthier now than formerly, and the winters neither so long nor so severe. Indeed, a story is told of a military man who had settled there 35 years ago, who left it, notwithstanding the offer of a grant of land if he would but remain, assigning as his reason, that on looking round in every direction for 50 miles, he had not been able to discover a single individual older than himself, ■■T?^ 262 NORTH AMERICA. !| ' I' M ! 1 t. '■ li CI ^1 'i : and he was only 40, so that he thought it high time to be off. Though whisky in Upper Canada is only three-pence the bottle, there is but Uttle drunkenness. It is certainly a curious fact, that in those countries of the world where liquors are the cheapest, drunkenness should prevail the least. Great complaints were made at one time of the manner in which licenses for the sale of liquors were issued, the magistrates in some places being tavern- keepers themselves, and many of them either distillers or wholesale sellers of drink, and thus directly interested in the increase of their traffic, and the multiplication of grog shops. Some years ago a justice of peace, who kept a tavern in one of the back townships, sold liquor to some people till they got drunk and fought in his house. He then issued a warrant, apprehended them, tried them on the spot in the room adjoining to where they were fighting, and besides fining them all pretty smartly, made them treat each other to a further dose of the liquid in order to make up the quarrel. The fines he very considerately consigned to his own pocket, being anxious, no doubt, to count their money for them, as they were unable to count it themselves. It is not the multitude of public houses that occasions a general disposition to drunkenness among the common people, as some foolishly suppose, but that disposition arising from other causes, necessarily gives employment to a number of public houses. It cannot, however, be denied, that there are two great tendencies constantly at work in these colonies, one to make them British, the other American. Some years ago the current rather favoured the latter, but at present the former ; and it may be affirmed that among the worthy, the educated, and the prosperous, lies the strength of the tendency to England, There are no doubt many respect- ii time to ree-pencc certainly rid where rev ail the me of the lors were 5 tavern- stillers or erested in )n of grog ho kept a »r to some (Use. He I them on e fighting, ade them in order siderately doubt, to B to count lie houses ess among but that irily gives two great s, one to )me years at present 18 worthy, gth of the ly respect- \ORTH AMERICA. 203 able people who consider that a connection with the United States would be more advantageous to their individual interests than with Britain. I am inclined, however to think, that they are in a minority, and the citizens of the United States are not quite so anxious about being an- nexed to Canada as they once were. This is a question however on which there must necessarily be always a great diversity of opinion. They are all however aware that they would have to submit to an infinitely greater amount of taxation if annexed to the States than at present — at the very least in the proportion of three to one — and the Canadians, like the British, have no great love for taxes. Many thousand of the citizens of the United States, on the other hand, would gladly exchange the security and veal independence enjoyed under the British crown in Canada for the constant political ferment arising from contested elections, and the tyranny of public opinion, which forms, it may be a necessary, but at the same time a sad accompaniment of the democratic rule in the great Republic. And in using the word tyranny ^ I do not mean to say that that term is applicable to the mere fact of the majority in such bodies carrying their own measures into effect, or enacting laws in favour of them- selves to the prejudice of the minority, as this is not the case; by the tyranny of public opinion I merely mean to state, that in matters of opinion in the United States there are comparatively few who dare to think, or at least to avow what they think, in opposition to the majority. I have only to remark in conclusion, that those who cry out for annexation, make use of all those arguments which have proved as it were the stock in trade of revolutionists in all regions, and in all ages. That a large party, however, in the United States are still anxious for an annexation with Canada, will appear m li\ u III 264 NORTH AMERICA. ;l i r^ * from the following resolution, submitted to the House of Representatives in the session of 1850, by Mr Wheeler, member for Franklin county, (a county in the State of New York, bordering on Canada,) which was ordered to " lie on the table ;" where 1 trust it may lie for a cen- tury. " Whereas it wo» provided that Canada, acceding to this Confederation, and joining the measures of the United States, shall be admitted into and entitled to all the advantages of this Union. " And whereas, recent occurrences in the Provinces of Canada indicate a strong and growing desire on the part of the people thereof to avail them- selves of the advantages of the foregoing offer, and to apply for admission among the sovereign States of this Union; therefore, " Resolved, (if the Senate concur) that the annexation of Canada, and the other provinces of Great Britain in North America, effected by nego- tiating with the British Government, and with the voluntary consent of the people of said provinces, upon equitable and honorable terms, is an object of incalculable importance to the people of the United States. It would re-unite into one family, and make citizens of a brave, industrious, and intelligent people, who are now our brethren in interest and language. It would save this country the expense of maintaining a line of custom-houses and fortifications 3500 miles in extent, and give to the whole continent the blessing of free and unmolested trade." It would no doubt put an end to the smuggling carried on from Canada to the Unite I States, which, notwith- standing all the exertions of the oflScers of the great Re- public, is computed to amount to at least one million of dollars annually. This, from the saving to the revenue of the States, enabling them to dispense with the services of the large body of custom-house officers they are obliged to employ, seems evidently to have been the chief reason which influenced this patriotic member in tabling the above resolution. A very agreeable view of the comforts possessed by many of the colonists, is afforded by the number of 6000 carriages kept in Upper Canada for pleasure, in addition NOKTII AMKUICA. 265 louse of k' heeler, State of ordered r a cen- 'ederation, d into and indicate a ivail them* admission tnada, and 1 by nego- lent of the 8 an object It would ;r{ou8, and ;uage. It om-houses itinent the carried lotwith- eat Re- lillion of revenue services obliged reason le above to a mucli larger number used for farming purposes, which are not liable to assessment. The only taxes imposed are exceedingly light rates, levied on certain descriptions of properly by the people themselves for municipal and local purposes, and also expended by them for purposes within their respective localities. The general government is chiefly supported by very moderate customs' duties. In bringing my short tour through Canada to a close, T have purposely, for the sake of brevity, left unnoticed a variety of statistical details, such as the different religious sects, costs of travelling, rate of wages, agricultural pro- ductions, railways commenced and projected, canals, pro- gress of the different settlements, varieties of soil, mari- time advancement, price of land, public revenue, taxes, and the means provided for educational and religious pur- poses. These, however, are all amply supplied in the admirable work (containing 468 pages) of my esteemed friend Mr James B. Brown, an eight years* resident in Canada, designated ** Views of Canada and the Colonists," and published in 1851 by Adam and Charles Black of Edinburgh, and Longman and Co. of London, at the low price of 4s. 6d. This work is well worthy of attentive perusal, and ought to be found in every library. ssed by of 6000 iddition M IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) V. 6/ S^A^ 4?, A :/. % ^ 1.0 1^1^ 1^ Ki lii 12.2 II ^ "- IIIIM I.I If. ""^ ^= IIIIH 1.25 1 1.4 1.6 .11 ^ '" — ^ ^ ^ 7] 7 7 Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716) 872-4503 / V \\ 6^ > 2(i(> NORTH AMERICA. CHAPTER XV. i.M I i I j J I » t Description of the falls of Niagara — Accidents and Disasters at the Falls — Extracts from the Table Rock Album — Suspension Bridge at the Falls — Sanguinary Battles fought in their vicinity — Description of Buffalo on Lake Erie — The City of Cincinnati — Its wonderful rise and progress — The river Ohio — Route from Buffalo to Detroit — Chicago and Milwaukie — Habit of Swearing in America. On leaving Toronto I proceeded in the steamer across Lake Ontario to Lewiston in the United States, situated seven miles from the mouth of the River Niagara; the distance from Toronto to Lewiston being 43 miles. Ex- actly opposite to Lewiston is Queenston on the Canadian side, and on the heights above the town is the spot where the celebrated battle of Queenston was fought in 1812. The monument erected to Sir Isaac Brock, who fell on the field of battle, though much shattered, is admirably seen from the American side. At Lewiston I took the railway to the Niagara Falls village, in the state of New York, on the American side, a distance of 7 miles; the whole distance from Toronto to the Falls being 50 miles. I slept all night at this village, within a few hundred yards of the Falls, but cannot say that the noise of the mighty waters disturbed ray sleep, though frequently heard at the distance of ten miles. Next day I stood before the Falls of Niagara, beyond comparison the greatest natural won- NORTH AMERICA. 207 it the Falls — t the Falls — )f Buffalo on d progress — id Milwaukie ner across 3, situated gara; the es. Ex- Canadian pot where in 1812. 10 fell on admirably took the of New ailes; the 50 miles. red yards le mighty ard at the the Falls ural won- der on the globe, which have commanded the admiration of the civilized world since their existence became known. " Great spirit of the waters ! I have come From forth mine own indomitable home, Far o'er the billows of the eternal sea, To breathe my heart's deep homage unto thee, And gaze on glories that might wake to pra)er All but the hopeless victim of despair. Years will roll on as they have rolled, and thou Wilt speak in thunder as thou speakcst now; And when the name that I inscribe to-day Upon thine altar shall have passed away. Thou wilt be sung, and other hands than mine Shall wreath a worthier chaplet for thy shrine." Niagara River, upon which the Falls are situated, re- ceives the water of all the upper lakes, Erie, St. Ciair, Huron, Michigan, Superior, and a number of smaller on(;s. The most distant source of the Niagara is probably the river St. Louis, which rises 1250 miles north-west of the Falls, and 150 miles west of Lake Superior; it is 1200 feet above the level of the ocean, and falls 551 feet botore it reaches the lake. Lake Superior is 450 miles long by 100 wide, and 900 feet deep ; it is discharged into Lake Huron by the Strait St. Mary, 60 miles in length, making a descent of 45 feet. This lake receives the waters of about forty rivers. Lake Michigan is 300 miles by 50, and about 900 feet deep, and empties into Huron, through the Straits of Mackinac, 40 miles in length* Lake Huron is 218 miles by 180, and 900 feet deep, and is discharged into Lake Erie, through the rivers St. Clair and Detroit, 90 miles, making a descent of 31 feet. Lake Erie is 290 miles by 63, and 1 20 feet deep, and 564 above the level of the sea. It empties itself through Niagara river, 35 miles in length, into Lake Ontario, making a descent of 334 feet, viz., M 2 1 4 I r II \ ili 2f)8 NORTH AMERICA from the lake to Schlosser, 1 2 feet ; thence down the rapids, 52 feet; the perpendicular falls, 164 feet ; from the falls to Lewiston, 104 feet; and thence to Lake Ontario, 2 feet. Lake Ontario is 180 miles long by 50, and 500 feet deep, and discharges itself through the river St. Lawrence into the Atlantic Ocean, 710 miles distant. The four inland seas above the Falls — as the great lakes may properly be called — with the hundreds of rivers, great and small, that flow into them, cover a surface of 150,000 square miles, and contain nearly half the fresh water on the surface of the globe. From these sources of the Nia- gara, some idea may be formed of the immense quantity of water that is constantly pouring over the Falls. Niagara River, as it flows from I^ake Erie, is about three-fourths of a mile in width, and from twenty to forty feet deep ; for three miles it has a rapid current, and then it becomes calm and smooth till within one mile of the falls. Five miles from Lake Erie the river begins to expand, till it becomes more than eight miles in width, measured across Grand Island, and embraces, before it reaches the Falls, about forty islands. Of these the largest are Grand and Navy. Navy Island, belonging to Canada, contains 304 acres of good land, and terminates near Chippewa point. This island has acquired some notoriety in conse- quence of being the resort, during the winter of 1837-8, of a large body of men, headed by William L. Mackenzie, whose object was a revolution in the government of Upper Canada. Below the termination of Grand and Navy Islands, the river is compressed to the width of two and a half miles; and pressing forward with accelerated motion, it commences about three-fourths of a mile above the Falls a rapid descent, making within that distance a succession of chutes, amounting to fifty-two feet on the American side, and fiftv-seven on the other. NORTH AMERICA. 2(iJ) le rapids, le falls to 3, 2 feet. 500 feet iawrence eat lakes !rs, great 150,000 water on the Nia- quantity is about 1 to forty id then it the falls, expand, neasured hes the re Grand contains hippewa in conse- 1837-8, ickenzie, 3f Upper id Navy wo and a notion, it le Falls a ession of can side, The river at the Falls is a little over three-fourths of a mile in width, but below it is immediately compressed into a narrow channel of less than one-fourth of a mile in width ; its depth, as ascertained by sounding, being 250 feet. The best view of the Falls is from Table Rock, on the Canadian side, where you not only see both the Falls to great advantage, but have a splendid view of the rapidss above them, dashing down with frightful velocity. The number of people, from all parts of the world, who now come to visit the Falls, is computed at 100,000 an- nually. The hotels on both sides, though overflowing with visitors in the summer and fall months, are most of them shut up during the winter and spring months. The " Maid of the Mist" had ceased to ply the day before I arrived. Though the American Fall be 1G4 feet high, whilst the Canadian is 158, yet the latter is twice as broad, and dis- charges four times more water than the former. I ob- serve that Montgomery Martin, in the new edition of his celebrated and voluminous work on the British Colonies, computes the quantity of water constantly passing over these Falls at one hundred million tons per hour. In 1843, a Canadian of the village of Chippewa, in dragging sand from the river three miles above the Falls, having lost his balance, was carried down the stream, and precipitated over them. A large canal boat which had come down lake Erie in 1850, and the boatmen of which had saved themselves by getting out at Buifalo, was suspended quite entire on the very brink above the centre of the Horse- shoe Fall when I visited them in September 1850, and presented a singular appearance. There was a cargo still in it worth two thousand pounds, but nobody could venture on board. This boat was precipitated into the boiling cauldron below three months afterwards, a small part of the rock where it stuck having given way. f' u ) i !i ¥ i -I! 270 NORTH AMERICA. Amidst the numerous accidents that have occurred at the Falls, the following are some of the most striking : — In the year 1820, two men, in a state of intoxication, fell asleep in their scow which was fastened in the mouth of Chippewa Creek ; while there, it broke away, and they awoke finding themselves beyond the reach of hope, dash- ing over the rapids. In the year 1822, two others, engaged in removing some furniture from Grand Island, were by some care- lessness drawn into the rapids, and hurried over the cata- ract. In 1825, two men, in attempting to smuggle some whisky across to Chippewa, were hurried into the rapids and shared a similar fate. In September 1827, notice having been given in the newspapers that the Michigan, a large vessel that had run on Lake Erie, would be sent over the Falls, thirty thousand people, it was supposed, assembled to witness the novel spectacle. On board of this vessel were put two bears, a buffalo, two racoons, a dog, and a goose ; the bears leaped off in the midst of the rapids, and mira- culously almost, finally reached the shore in safety. The others went over and perished. The Michigan, before she reached the Falls, having been considerably broken in the rapids, sunk to a level with the surface, and went over near the centre of the Horse-shoe Fall. In 1844, Miss Martha Rugg of Lancaster, Pa., while on a visit to the Falls, in attempting to pluck a flower near the edge of the precipice, on the Canada side, near Barnett's museum, lost her balance and was precipitated nearly 100 feet down the precipice on the rocks below. She was alive when taken up, but died in about two hours after the accident. She was sensible to the last, and frequently exclaimed, ** what will my poor mother say ?" V n a a I P d tl NORTH AMERICA. 271 jcurred at rikiiig : — oxicatlon, ;he mouth , and they 3pe, dash- removing )me care- • the cata- [gle some he rapids ven in the that had lis, thirty witness were put a goose ; and mira- ity. The ,n, before ly broken and went a., while a flower ide, near scipitated is below. :wo hours last, and er say ?" But perhaps the most appalling tragedy upon record is that which occurred in 1849, when a party of pleasure, composed chiefly of the members of two families about to be more closely united by intermarriage, had visited the Falls from the New York side, and were enjoying the superb view of them from Goat Island. One of the party, a little girl about twelve years old, with the giddiness natural to youth, had gone too near the rapids, and had been frequently called back. On her repeating it, a young gentleman, the affianced of the child's sister, fol- lowed her to bring her back, and having caught her by the dress, playfully attempted to frighten hor by holding her forward towards the water, as if he would drop her into the river. Fearful to narrate, the part of the dress by which he held her having given way in his grasp, the child fell into the hurrying, eddying, tossing waters. In the vain hope of saving her, or maddened to desperation by the scene, the youth sprang after her, and both were instantly launched into eternity, by being thrown with great force into the boiling cauldron below. The spot where this happened was pointed out to me by the ferry- man who rowed me across the river below the Falls. I visited the museum kept by Mr Barnett close to Table Rock, on the Canada side, where I saw two living and very savage bufialoes, from the Rocky Mountains, and purchased from him a curious work called the " Table Rock Album," of 108 pages, consisting of compositions in prose and verse, by persons who had visited the Falls during the last twenty years. The following will shew the nature of these ebullitions : — " I came from Wall Street, To see this water sheet ; Having seen this water sheet, I return to Wall Street." i i 1^! -, f ■ .• : W': K IK < ; i i i hi B J? 272 NORTH AMERICA. *' To view Niagara Fulls one day, A parson and a tailor took tlieir way ; The parson cried, whilst wrapt in wonder, And list'ning to the cataract's thunder, Lord ! how the works amaze our eyes, And fill our hearts with vast surprise ; The tailor merely made this note, Lord ! what a place to sponge a coat ! !" " Adieu Niagara ! I'm off for New York, To measure out sugar, molasses, and pork." '• Great is the mystery of Niagara's waters ; But more mysterious still are some men's daughters.'' *' Boast not thyself, though God hath set His seal of glory on thee now ; For He shall veil thy glory yet, And take the rainbow from thy brow. " Though thou may'st sing a requiem o'er The grave of millions yet unborn ; Thy sun of glory too shall set — The universe for thee shall mourn." " Once on a time, with nought to do at home. My wife and I deterrain'd we would roam ; But to agree upon the route Admitted much domestic doubt. If I said east, she said 'twas best. She thought, to travel to the west ; So after many arguments and brawls. She brought me, nolens, volens, to the Falls." '* Fall on. Fall on, ye mighty Falls — I'm going now to make my calls. When I come back I hope I will Just find you falling, falling still.'' " I stare with wonder, and alas ! How bad a body feels. To think how difficult this pass For emigrating eels 1" " Here fools from all lands take of gaaing their fill, In wonder that water will run down a hilL" NORTH AMKUICA. But next to that wonder of nature, the Niagara Falls, tnay be placed that wonder of art, the Suspension bridge, which has been thrown across the river about a mile be- low them. This bridge, which was erected in 1848 for the transit of carriages, horses, and pedestrians, though not above ten feet in width is perhaps the most sublime work of art in the world. It makes the head dizzy to look at it, and yet it is traversed with as much security as any other bridge of the same width. While the work- men were engaged in hanging the planks over the fearful chasm, it looked like a work of peril, but it was prose- cuted with entire safety. Not an accident happened since the first cord was carried across the river at the tail of a kite. It is impossible to give the reader a clear idea of the grandeur of the work, though the drawing at the frontispiece is a most accurate representation of it. Ima- gine a bridge 650 feet in length, hung in the air at the height of 230 feet, over a vast body of water 250 feet deep, rushing through a narrow gorge at the rate of thirty miles an hour. If you are below, it looks like a strip of paper suspended by a cobweb — being made of wires. When the wind is strong, the frail gossamer looking structure sways to and fro as if ready to start from its fastenings, and it shakes from extremity to centre under the tread of the pedestrian. But there is no danger. Men pass over it with perfect safety, while the head of the timid looker-on swims with apprehension. The first pers^ ii who passed over it was Mr Ellett the builder. His courageous wife soon followed him, and for two days, hundreds, attracted by the novelty of the thing, took the fearful journey. It is worth a trip to the Falls to see this great work, although numbers of people have not the nerve to cross upon it. For, strange as it may seem, there are those who had no liesitation in sliding over the awful chasm in a basket, i ■1 ^- ^ i >'.i > ; ^^ 1^^ 274 NORTH AMERICA. upon a single wire cable, who cannot be induced to walk over the bridge. And this aerial excursion is thrillingly exciting. A seat on a locomotive, travelling at the rate of sixty miles an hour, is nothing to it. When you find yourself suspended in the air, with the roaring, rush- ing, boiling Niagara 230 feet below you, if your heart don't flutter, you will have nerve enough to swing over Vesuvius ! When I arrived at this bridge I stood for some time in amazement, looking at numbers of people in gigs, on horse- back, and on foot, crossing it. Having at last mustered all the courage of which I was possessed, I paid the toll or pontage for crossing it, which was 25 cents ; but after having proceeded along it for a few yards, my courage failed, my head began to swoon, and I had to turn back. From this bridge you have a beautiful view of the Fall on the American side, though you only see a part of the Horse-shoe Fall. No horse nor carriage is allowed to cross the suspension bridge at a faster pace than a walk, under a severe penalty. One mile north from the Falls, near a road called Lundy's Lane, or Bridgewater, there was fought, on 25th July 1814, during the last American war, the celebrated battle of Lundy's Lane, which is considered one of the most sanguinary actions ever fought in America, the Americans having lost in killed and wounded, 854 men, and the British 878. The numbers engaged on both sides were 7000; the Americans numbering 4000, and the British 3000. The action commenced at six in the after- noon, and continued till eleven in the evening, a period of five hours, two of which were in the dark, producing a scene of awful confusion and carnage. The battle of Fort Erie, twenty miles above the Falls on the Canadian side, fought much about the same time, was also very sanguin- NORTH AMERICA. L>75 i to walk hrillingly the rate you find ng, rush- )ur heart ving over le time in on horse- mustered I the toll hut after f courage urn hack. the Fall ,rt of the llowed to 1 a walk, ad called ;, on 25th elebrated le of the rica, the ^54 men, )oth sides and the he after- period of ducing a e of Fort lian side, sanguin- ary. The battle of Cliippewa, 2 miles above the Falls, fought on 5th Jul" 1814, twenty days before that of Lundy's Lane, was also a most bloody atfair. The Mar- quis of Tweeddale was severely wounded at this battle. The battle of Queenston, 7 miles below the Falls, in which Sir Isaac Brock was killed, was fought in October 1812. On leaving Niagara, I proceeded to Butl'alo, 22 miles by railway, from the cars on which you have a beautiful view of the river Niagara the whole way. Butlalo is finely situated on the outlet of Lake Erie, at the head of Niagara river, and will soon be a magnificent place, as from its situation it commands the whole trade of the four great Western Lakes; Superior, Michigan, Huron, and Erie. It has had a most extraordinary rise, having been only laid out in 1801. In December 1813, every building in it save two, was burned by a party of British, assisted by a few Indians. I happened to call accidentally on a gentleman who occupies one of the two houses in Main Street, that was saved, having brought a letter of intro- duction to him from Montreal. In the year 1825, the population was only 2,4 1 2 ; whereas, at the present moment, it is estimated at 80,000, several thousands of whom are Germans. The German correspondence is so extensive, that a separate bureau is established at the post-office for German letters. The people of Buffalo, and in many other parts, generally call them Dutch, an appellation bestowed in common upon the Germans, and the emigrants from Holland, though of the latter there are comparatively few. The principal street, called Main Street, is one of the finest in the world, being three miles long, and 120 feet broad ; 40 feet broader than Broadway, New York. This street rises with a gentle acclivity from Buffalo Creek, and at its summit height, 60 or 70 feet above ' ; til 270 NORTH AMF.HICA. I'-' \'ii m ii the level of Lake Krio, you have a mngnificcnt view of that beautifiil Tiako, and the Canadian shore on the opposite side of tiie river Niagara, which presents the appearance of a dense mass of forest, as far as the eye can reach. You can now go from Buffalo to Cincinnati in 30 hours. You take the Hteam-l)oat to Sandusky, 250 miles, touching at Cleveland on Lake Erie, a flourishing town, containing 25,000 inliabitants ; and at Sandusky there is now a railroad to Cincinnati (218 miles), the fare for the whole distance being ten dollars in the cabin and railway, and four dollars and a half in the steerage. The cabin fare includes provisions. I went on board one of the Lake Erie steamers at Buffalo (the Mayflower) and found it magnificent beyond description. The city of Cincinnati deserves to be specially noticed. It was named after L. Q. Cincinnatus, a celebrated Ro- man who flourished 450 years before the birth of Christ. Having been informed, as he ploughed his land, that the senate had chosen him dictator, he left his fields and oxen with regret, and after leading the Romans to victory, returned in 16 days to his rural occupations. In his 80th year he was again summoned against Prsenesti as dictator, and after a short and successful campaign, he resigned the absolute power he had enjoyed only 21 days, disre- garding the rewards offered him by the senate. Cincinnati has outstripped every other city in the Union in the rapidity of its growth, inasmuch as in 1796 it was only a small village with a dozen of wooden huts. Its population in 1800 was only 750, and in 1810 only 2540; whereas at present it amounts to 200,000, of whom above 50,000 are Germans. It now ranks equal with New Orleans and Baltimore, which have each about 200,000 inhabitants also. Baltimore is the greatest flour market fi ;i NORTH A>n;i{rcA V*7 t view of e on the sents the e eye can iti in 30 sky, 250 ourishing Sandusky , the fare !abin and igc. The rd one of )wer) and y noticed, rated Ro- lf Christ. , that the and oxen > victory, 1 his 80th ; dictator, resigned ys, disre- he Union 96 it was luts. Its ily 2540 ; om above ith New 200,000 market in the world. The " Unmet House" at Cincinnati is the largest hotel in the United States, having six or seven hundred apartments, and can make up a thousand beds. It was opened in 1H50. Vast numbers of pigs roam about its handsome streets, and as they beKmg to no one in par- ticular, any citizen is at liberty to take them up, fatten, and kill them. When they increase too fast the town council interferes, and sells oil' some of them. It is a favourite amusement of the boys to ride upon the pigs ; and two or three years ago there was a sagacious old hog that was in the habit of lying down whenever a boy came in sight, as he professed himself not over- fond of ecjues- trian exercise. The use of the bowie-knife and revolving pistols is now unfortunately very prevalent in Cincinnati, scarcely a night passing without some rencounters, many of them fatal ones. Indeed for some years past it has outstripped even New Orleans in this respect. The markets are all open at 5 in the morning, and at that early hour are crowded. There are 3 principal markets, which are there held every day, and the number of country waggons which daily bring in the supplies, some of them from a dist.ance of a hundred miles, if placed in a row, would extend 4 miles. The average price of pork and mutton is about 5 cents, and beef 7 cents the pound. You will see thousands of females catering about at that early hour, and making all haste to gcf home by six, in order to have breakfast ready for the household shortly after that hour, as the people throughout America com- mence their work at seven, and always breakfast before they begin. Labourers, as well as mechanics, eat butcher's meat three times a-day, the same as in Australia. Their dinner hour is 12, and their supper hour 7 ; tea and sup- per being generally taken as one meal. With the excep- 278 NORTH AMERICA. I' "f H-' i III 4[ 1 1 I III- III ill hi tion of house rent, every thing is so abundant and cheap at Cincinnati, that mechanics who receive from 7 to 12 dollars a-week, according to trade and proficiency, may be said to fare sumptuously every day. The cattle killed at Cincinnati are many of them fed on the rolling prairies of Illinois, and are called beeves. The name prairie is French, denoting a meadow. Cincinnati is distant from Philadelphia 617 miles, from Pittsburg (by the Ohio) 496 miles, and from New Orleans (by the Ohio and Missis- sippi) 1548 miles. An Irish labourer, shortly after his arrival at Cincinnati, wrote home to his friends in Ireland, and shewed his master the letter. " But, Pat," said his master, why do you say that you have meat three times a- week, when you have it three times a-day ?" " It is," replied Pat, *' because they would not believe me if I told them so." The " packing business," as it is called in the State of Ohio, has been g^'adually concentrating itself in Cincin- nati, where a million of hogs are now annually sold, killed, and packed, being about a fourth of those in that State. In the whole United States, the entire hog stock is estimated at 50 millions, of which one fifth part, or 10 miUions are in the States of Ohio, Kentucky, and In- diana. The hogs are allowed to run in the woods, and feed on the acorns, &c., till five or six weeks before killing- time (the middle of November), when they are turned into the Indian corn-fields to fatten and harden their flesh, and the longer they are in the corn-fields the better is the pork. When killed they are generally from a year to 18 months old, and sell from two to three dollars each : those weighing 1 75 lbs, bringing the former, and those weighing 250, the latter sum. The blood is collected in tanks, and, along with the other oflFal, disposed of for certain manu- factories. The carcase is cured into barrelled pork, or NORTH AMERICA. 279 nd cheap I 7 to 12 y, may be ! killed at ►rairies of prairie is ant from )hio) 496 1 Missis- after his Ireland, said his times a- " It is," ( if I told State of Cincin- lly sold, ; in that og stock part, or and In- )ds, and killing- ned into esh, and is the ar to 18 those eighing ks, and, 1 manu- •ork, or into bacon and hams. Of the lard, the finest is exported, mostly to the Havannah, where it is used instead of but- ter. Cincinnati is also the great centre of the whisky manu- facture, as fifteen millions of gallons of it are either made in the distilleries there, or brought into it from more or less distant distilleries, most of which is shipped down the Mississippi. All this whisky is manufactured from Indian corn, and even for the mashing, barley is not necessary, as sprouted Indian corn makes a malt as serviceable to the distiller as that from barley. Whisky sells at 3d. the bottle. Finally, this wonderful town of Cincinnati may be said to be the centre of the wine growing district of America, as the State of Ohio, in which it is situate, seems well adapted, from soil and climate, for vineyards, where the Catawba grape thrives admirably, producing a species of dry hock of excellent flavour, and champagne of the first quality. Mr Longworth of Cincinnati, the celebrated grape- grower, has 50 or 60 acres in vineyard, under the care of Germans and Swiss; and as the large German popula- tion on the Ohio are every year planting new vineyards, he states his belief that this river will soon be as cele- brated for its wine as the Rhine. The vineyard of a neigh- bour of his yielded from the Catawba grape 900 gallons an acre, and the wine meets a ready sale among the Ger- man population, at prices varying from three to five shil- lings sterling a gallon. Mr Longworth, however, says, " that if we want large crops we must go to the fertile lands of North Carolina, where, from jtheir famous Scuppernong, they make 2000 gallons per acre, each gallon being worth a dollar." This is truly miraculous. r:l •1 t \ f H I- 280 NORTH AMERICA. ;?:[i I m- 1 'Si The river Ohio, on which Cincinnati is situated, is exactly 1000 miles from the bridge at Pittsburg to its junction with the Mississippi, though not above 600 in a direct line. It rises during the spring months from 30 to 60 feet. The French, when they first discovered it, called it " La Belle Riviere," which, like the Indian name " Ohio," means the beautiful river. Its general or average breadth is little more than half a-mile. In some places it is only 500 yards wide, but its breadth at noplace exceeds 1200 yards, and at its junction with the Mississippi neither river is more than 1000 yards wide. It commences at Pittsburg, where the two rivers, the Alleghany and Monongahela, join together, and by their union form the Ohio. The annual inundations generally commence in March, and subside in May. Coal from Pittsburg is generally sold at Cincinnati for about sixpence sterhng the bushel of 80 lbs. The word *' Mississippi" is said to denote the whole river, or the river formed by the union of many ; and its original Indian name, *' Mes-cha-ce-be" signifies the " Father of Waters." But the great route now is from Buffalo to Detroit, in the State of Michigan (containing 30,000 inhabitants) and from thence to Chicago, in the State of IlHnois, and Mil- waukie, in the State of Wisconsin. You get by steamer from Buffalo to Detroit (285 miles) in 17 hours without landing, and from Detroit you are carried along the Michi- gan Central Railroad to New Buffalo in 1 1 hours, a dis- tance of 218 miles, and at New Buffalo a steamer takes you across Lake Michigan to Chicago in 4 hours, reach- ing Chicago in 34 hours from Buffalo, and Milwaukie (90 miles from Chicago) in 44 hours. The distance from Buffalo to Chicago by this route is 518 miles. The population of Chicago is now 45,000, NORTH AMERICA. 281 ituated, is urg to its e 600 in a From 30 to d it, called e"Ohio," ?e breadth 3 it is only eeds 1200 pi neither mences at hany and I form the imence in nnnati for ;he whole ; and its ifies the etroit, in ants) and and Mil- J steamer 3 without le Michi- rs, a dis- [ler takes s, reach- lukie (90 i route is 45,000, and of Milwaukie 35,000, and both towns are in the most flourishing condition. Six daily newspapers are now published at Milwaukie, — two of them in German ; and as a proof of its wonderful progress, 1 may mention that in the year 1834 Solomon Juneau was the only white inhabitant. In 1850, out of a cargo of 150 Norwegian emigranrs embarked at Buffalo for Milwaukie, 54 died on the passage and were thrown overboard. They were victims of ship-fever, contracted during a voyage of 3 months from Europe. The Chicago Tribune gives the following — New Recip£ for making Bread. Take three pounds of flour, mix with three tea-spoonsful of soda, pass* ing the whole through a sieve, in order that the soda may be well mixed with the flour, add one quart of water and a table-spoonful of muriatic acid in the liquid form, pour the mixture in the flour, and mix the whole just enough to get the ingredients fairly incorporated together. Wet the hand in cold water and mould into shape, and clap it at once into the oven. During the cooking of any meal, with five minutes labor, you can have excellent bread. The soda and acids constitute the elements of common salt, and they not only raise the bread by combination, but salt it to the bargain. Try the experiment, ladies. Those however who prefer going by steamboats the whole route, can proceed by way of Lakes Erie, St Clair, Huron, and Michigan ; the whole distance from Buffalo to Chicago by this route being 1056 miles. Many people in summer go by the lakes, as they only take four days to perform the whole distance from Buffalo to Chicago, and charge only eight dollars as the cabin fare, including three admirable meals every day, which is about the &ame as you would pay if living in an hotel, being thus actually carried upwards of a thousand miles for nothing. Oh what a country I One day during my residence at Buffalo I stepped into a tobacconist's shop in order to smoke a cigar, and remained h\ n. : i i i . ■ ■A 282 NORTH AMERICA. If' ^1 .ll'j P i ■1 Ij -S I 1 1 1 ,' il ii about half-an-hour. A German who spoke tolerably good English, happened to be conversing at the time, or rather disputing with the shopkeeper about the settlement of an account. The volley of oaths which the latter poured forth during this altercation surpassed any thing I had ever heard before. I am sorry to say that this practice is too common among the citizens of the great Republic. They seem to forget that it is no mark of a gentleman to swear. The most worthless and vile — the refuse of man- kind — the drunkard and the prostitute — swear as well as the best dressed and educated gentleman. No particular endowments are requisite to give a finish to the art of cursing. The basest and meanest of mankind swear with as much tact and skill as the most refined ; and he that wishes to degrade himself to the very lowest level of pol- lution and shame should learn to be a common swearer. Any man has talents enough to learn to curse God, and imprecate perdition on themselves and their fellow-men. Profane swearing never did any man any good. No man is the richer, or wiser, or happier for it. It helps no one's education or manners. It commends no one to any society. It is disgusting to the refined, abominable to the good, insulting to those with whom we associate, de- grading to the mind, unprofitable, needless, ard injurious to society ; and, wantonly to profane His name, to call His vengeance down, to curse Him, and to invoke His vengeance, is, perhaps, of all offences the most awful in the sight of God. How can a common swearer join in the song to the Great Creator of the universe. Sun, moon, and stars convey thy praise Round the whole earth, and never stand'; So when thy truth began its race, It toueh'd and glanc'd on ev'ry land. NORTH AMERICA. 283 rably good J, or rather ment of an ter poured ling I had lis practice ; Republic, ntleman to se of man- as well as particular the art of swear with nd he that !vel of pol- 1 swearer. God, and ellow-men. No man : helps no one to any ninable to ociate, de- i injurious le, to call nvoke His I awful in ng to the CHAPTER XVI. .Tourney from Buffalo to Albany — Rochester — Genesee Flour — Geneva — Waterloo — Auburn — State Prison there — Syracuse — Rome — Utica and Schenectady — Description of Utica — A Baptism in the River Mohawk — Saratoga Springs — Scene of General Burgoyne's Exploits and Sur- render — Death of General Eraser — Description of American Railways. On leaving Buifalo I proceeded to Albany, a distance of 326 miles by the railway. I went in what are called the " Emigrant Cars," which go once a day, and are chiefly intended for emigrants, as the fare is only about the one-half of the other trains, or five dollars the whole way to Albany. An express train runs once a-day from Buffalo to Albany in 13 hours. On our route we passed through the towns of Rochester, Geneva, Waterloo, Auburn, Syracuse, Rome, Utica, and Schenectady. Rochester, situated 74 miles from Buffalo, and 7 miles south from Lake Ontario, is a thriving place, containing 50,000 inhabitants, though in 1812 it consisted of but one single log hut. It owes its rapid growth to the vast water- power created by the three falls in Genesee river, which runs through it, and amount to 268 feet within the bounds of the city, besides rapids. On these rapids and falls there are about thirty of the largest flouring-mills in the world, grinding 15,000 bushels of wheat daily ; and hence the price of Genesee flour and wheat is now invariably : >» I 284 NORTH AMERICA. Ik, ■,' ft isS "II III 11^ /; !E;- quoted in all the markets of the United States, as well as in this country. There are also eotton and paper-mills, and carpet manufactories. The county of Genesee in which Rochester is situate, is by far the most fertile county in the State of New York. I did not stop to examine the large state prison, contain- ing 1000 prisoners, when passing through Auburn, (152 miles from ButFalo,) having seen the same system in ope- ration at Kingston in Upper Canada, as formerly men- tioned. A detailed account of this prison, occupying no less than twenty pages in print, has been given by my lamented friend, the late James Stuart, Esq., in his cele- brated travels in North America. I shall merely remark en passant, that the system pursued may be called the " silent system ;" the essence of this system consisting in solitary confinement in separate cells when not at work, also at night and on Sundays, and in constant but abso- lutely silent labour, in company, in large well-ventilated work-shops, and under strict superintendence. It is dis- tinguished from that of Philadelphia by the additional rigour of solitary labour which is adopted in the latter. The work performed by the prisoners almost pays the whole expense of the prisons in America, owing to the higher price of labour, and the higher price for the goods than can be obtained in Europe. In the penitentiary at Philadelphia the prisoners live and work in solitary con- finement, are unseen by each other, and unknown, except by their numbers, even to the keepers. Exclusive solitary confinement without labor* was abolished at Auburn in 1823, as it produced insanity, and none had been found so stubborn as to hold out against this awful punishment. When La Fayette revisited the I have occasionally throughout this work adopted the American plan of spelling, throwing thq letter " u" out of such words as labori honor, favor, color, &c. • ii il NOUTII AMF-lirCA. 285 as well as iper- mills, is situate, iew York. I, contain- urn, (152 ini in ope- crly men- upying no n by my 1 his eele- ly remark tailed the isisting in at work, but abso- ventilated It is dis- additional he latter. pays the ng to the the goods entiary at itary con- n, except bor* was mity, and It against isited the (lerican plan ibor. honor, United States in 1825, and heard of the experiment of exelusive solitary confinement without labor, he said it was just a revival of the practice in the Bastile in Paris, (which was demolished in 1789 at the period of their great Revolution,) which had so dreadful an effect on the poor prisoners. *' I repaired," he said, " to the scene on the second day of the demolition, and found that all the prisoners had been deranged by their solitary confinement, except one. He had been a prisoner 25 years, and was led forth during the height of the tumultuous riot of the people whilst engaged in tearing down the building. He looked around with amazement, for he had seen nobody for that space of time ; and before night he was so much aflFected, that he became a confirmed maniac, from which situation he never recovered." The labor of the prison- ers at Auburn pays the whole expenses of that extensive establishment. Syracuse, through which we also passed, (178 miles from Buffalo) contains 10,000 inhabitants, and is celebrated for the manufacture of salt. We reached Utica (231 miles from Buffalo) at 4 next morning, but as it happened to be Sunday, we had to remain there till the following morning, as the cars on that railway do not run on Sundays. This was lio great disappointment to me, as (to use the American phrase,) ** I guess I felt pretty considerably tired." A 'great many Germans are to be found in the valley of the Mohawk. Utica is beautifully situate on the south or right bank of the Mohawk river. We often read of the right and left banks of rivers, and many people are puzzled to find out which is the right and which the left bank. But my readers will have no difficulty in future in ascertaining this, when I inform them that by turning your back to the source of any river and looking down the stream, the right hand side is invariably the right bank, and the left 'li. ■ .', i»y isv: 286 NORTH AMERICA. m Hi-: ■!!ll| f \ 1 ii' f i hand side the left bank. The same plan is to be observed in ascertaining the " starboard" and " larboard" of a ship. By standing with your back to the poop, or stern of a vessel, the starboard is the right hand side of the ship, and the larboard the left. Utica contains 20,000 inhabitants, and is really a fine town, or " city," as the Americans call most of their towns. The streets are wide and remarkably well laid out ; whilst the valley of the Mohawk, in which it is situated, has long been cele- brated for its beauty. The lunatic asylum, built by the State of New York, has a very imposing appearance. I attended divine service at the Methodist church, and found the males occupying the pews on the one side of the church, and the females the other, a custom I was not aware of until I found myself seated among the females, who seemed to be much flattered by my appearance amongst them. The singing was accompanied with in- strumental music, hautboys and bassoons, the band as usual occupying part of the centre gallery. Most of the churches in the United States of all denominations have either organs or bands of instrumental music. When that beautiful instrument, the organ, was first played at a Presbyterian church in Glasgow about sixty years ago, some of the congregation were so shocked that they be- came actually deranged. Ti'he people in America are not so sensitive on this point as that most religious and most enlightened nation, the Scotch, and have not as yet be- come deranged on hearing an organ played. The whole service in the Methodist church at Utica only occupied one hour and a quarter, an example of brevity worthy of imitation by Christian ministers of all sects, of all coun- tries, and in all ages. The Methodists and Presbyterians in America kneel at prayer, and stand while singing. When taking a walk after service along the banks of f.h #. NORTH AMERICA. 28T e obiaerved ard" of a p, or stern lide of the ns 20,000 y," as the itreets are e valley of been cele- iilt by the irance. lurch, and )ne side of I was not le females, ppearance d with in- e band as lost of the ions have ^hen that lyed at a ^ears ago, t they be- ca are not and most as yet be- rhe whole ' occupied worthy of ' all coun- 5byterians ging. banks of the Mohawk, I saw about twenty people assembled close upon the river, and upon enquiring at a by-stander the cause of the meeting, he told me that it was a baptism of one of the Anabaptists about to be performed. Never having seen a ceremony of the sort, I availed myself of the opportunity that had thus unexpectedly occurred. The clergyman, after praying, walked deliberately into the river, and on coming to the middle of it, where the water was about four feet deep, he turned back. On reaching the shore he addressed a few words to the person about to be baptized, who turned out to be a beautiful young married lady, splendidly dressed in blick silks. Her female friends having taken off her bonnet and shawl, the minister took her by the hand, and led her forth into the waters. On arriving at the spot where he had turned back, having ascertnined, I presume, that the river there was of a proper depth, he put his right hand round her neck, and dashed her with all his force completely over the head. On coming out of the stream, trembling with cold, she was hurried by her friends into a carriage which was awaiting her close by, and driven off at a rapid rate, in order, no doubt, to have dry clothes put on her with as little delay as possible. From having been so much taken up looking at the lady, I did not see what became of her partner in the waters, but guess that he must have been glad to sound a retreat also. I heard afterwards that they were Welsh, a great number of emigrants from Wales having settled in the county of Oneida, State of New York, in which Utica is situated, and many of them being Anabaptists. On leaving Utica early next morning, we proceeded to Albany, 95 miles distant, by the lovely valley of the Mohawk, where a great quantity of broom-corn is raised. Mrs Trollope says of this valley, " Who is it that says '^ / I •. ! is if ■i t Mi \ 288 NORTH AMERICA. America is not picturesque ? I forget ; but surely he never travelled from Utica to Albany through this match- less valley of the Mohawk." Though the Americans are inclined to abuse Mrs Trollope for her work, entitled '* Domestic Manners of the Americans" yet they have the candour to confess that the great reform which has taken place in their manners and customs during the last twenty years, is mainly to be attributed to the influence of that celebrated work, which produced a great sensation, when it appeared, throughout the length and breadth of the Union, and was universally read. In a theatre at New York, a gentleman in one of the boxes who had placed himself in a peculiarly uncouth attitude, was saluted by the audience with cries of " Trollope! Trollope!" On the route we passed through Schenectady, a pretty large town, 1 7 miles from Albany, from which there is a rail- way to Saratoga springs, i!2 miles from Schenectady. This is the most popular watering-place in the United States. The main street is enormously wide, and shaded by trees. Though the town itself does not contain above 5000 inhabitants, yet during the three summer months of July, August, and September, the numerous hotels and boarding-houses are filled with a fluctuating population of eight or ten thousand visitors, four or five thousand gene- rally arriving and departing in a week. Some of the hotels, such as the United States' Hotel, and Congress Hall, are on a scale of great magnificence ; Congress Hall being 200 feet long, with two immense wings. Some idea may be formed of the extent and magnitude of the United States' Hotel at Saratoga, kept by the Messrs Marvin, from the following list of provisions consumed daily in August 1850. There were then 700 guests at the house, to which may be added 100 children, and 300 servants, making 1100 persons to feed daily. They con- NORTH AMERICA. 289 surely he his match- jricans are k, entitled y have the has taken ast twenty ce of that tion, when 1th of the e at New lad placed saluted by pe!" On retty large 3 is a rail- tienectady. le United nd shaded tain above months of lotels and )ulation of land gene- tne of the Congress Congress igs. nagnitude he Messrs consumed guests at and 300 They con- sumed, besides many other articles, the following each day : — 500 lbs. beef, 500 lbs. mutton, 500 chickens, 150 ducks and turkeys, 2,500 eggs, GOO lbs. butter, 1,500 rolls for breakfast, and 4 barrels of flour. Most of the hotels at Saratoga are shut up during eight months in the year. The late ex-king of Spain, Joseph Bonaparte, frequented the United States' Hotel when ho visited Saratoga, which he did annually ; and though at first he kept somewhat aloof, yet he afterwards associated at the public table as an American citizen. The use of the water is chiefly recommended in bilious, dyspeptic, and calculous complaints, for diseases of the skin, and for chronic rheumatism ; but the great bulk of the people who resort to these celebrated springs, come for amusement, and for the preservation, rather than the recovery of their health. The field of General Burgoyne's chief battles, and of his surrender, lies about two miles west from the Mud- son, in the vicinity of Saratoga. On leaving Canada Burgoyne's army was 10,000 strong, well equipped, and with a formidable train of artillery. Before the British army reached Saratoga, General Gates, an Englishman, who had adopted America as his country, had superseded Generals Schuyler and St Clair, and commanded the American army, now considerably more numerous than the British, and daily increasing. The armies were for some days posted near each other, not far from the river Hudson ; the light troops in ad- vance of the artillery, by the river side, and the rest of the army on the heights. At length general engage- ments took place at Stillwater, on 19th September, and near Saratoga on 7th October 1777. The first action was not decisive ; but the second battle terminated un- favourably for the British, the German reserve having N fj^ 290 NORTH AMERICA. f !^*'i •' 'I ^j'l! III'' i' f''l 1 , ' I r i i, given way after a fierce and deajjcrate struggle of 50 minutes. Burgoyne w.is obliged to retreat after this last action, but finding that ))art of the American army had taken up a position in his rear, which cut him otf from the supply of all provisions for his army, of which he stood greatly in need, he, on 17th October 1777, surrendered to the American forces by capitulation, or convention, as it was afterwards called. In this convention it was stipu- lated that the British troops should return to Britain, and should not serve again in the American war; and also that the arms and artillery of the British army should be delivered up. General Gates showed great delicacy in directing that the American soldiery should not witness the humiliating spectacle of the piling of their arms by the British army. The following is an extract from an address to General Burgoyne, written by an American, and published at Philadelphia in 1788. " Foe to the rights of man, proud Burgoyne, say Had conquest crown'd you on that mighty day, When you to Gates with sorrow, rage, and shame, Resign'd your conquests, honors, arms, and fame, When at his feet Britannia's wreaths you threw, And the sun sicken'd at a sight so new ; Had you been victor — what a waste of woe ! What souls had vanish'd to where souls do go ! What dire distress had niark'd your fatal way. What deaths on deaths disgrae'd that dismal day ! Circumstantial details of these battles were published by General Burgoyne ; by General Wilkinson of the American army ; and by the Baroness de Reidesel, the wife of Baron Reidesel, who commanded the German troops in British pay. In the first engagement on 19th September, a very dis- proportionate number of British officers fell, as the Ame- i I ;le of 50 r this last army had from the he stood rrendered ention, as M'as utipu* itain, and and also should be elicacy in )t witness r arms by o General blished at NORTH AMERICA. 20! published )n of the desel, the German very dis- the Ame- rican sohlicrs, who were pla,jd on the houghs of the trees in the rear and flanks, took evory opportunity of destroy- ing them by sin«;lo shots. General Burgoyne, in his nar- rative of this hattle, states "that few actions have bien characterised l»y mort' obstinacy, in attack or defence, the British bayonet being repeal 4. i '■A ! i i 1 :!; m il ]?.; i-l MM h, 1 300 NOKTII AMERICA. %': v'f i : I ?■!. ■' :f1 fri m CHAPTER XVII. Description of Albany-i— Sail on the river Hudson — Major Andre — New- York — Its present state and future greatness — Omnibuses at New York — Visit to Schools there — Fatal Riot at the Opera House, New Yorlf — Emperor Napoleon's plan for quelling a Riot — The 4th of July — Psalms and Hymns used in certain Churches, composed with reference to the War of Independence. Albany, the political capital of the State of New York, at which I had now arrived, is beautifully situated on the west, or right bank of the river Hudson, 145 miles above the city of New York. It has had a rapid rise, the popu- lation in the year 1800 being only 4000, whereas now it is 50,000. It was founded in 1612 by people from Hol- land ; but on the capture of New York, and the surrender of the other Dutch possessions to the English in 1 664, it received its present name in honor of James, Duke of York and Albany, (to whom it had been given by his brother Charles II.) who afterwards became James II. The capitol, in which are the legislative halls, situated at the head of State Street, 130 feet above the river, is a splendid building, and from the observatory at the top of it, to which I ascended, there is a commanding view of the city, the river, and surrounding country. You have also a fine, though distant view of the thriving city of :yv Andre — New it New York New York — July — Psalms jrcnce to the jGw York, ;ed on the iles above the popu- as now it rom Hol- surrender n 1664, it Duke of Bn by his James II. ituated at •iver, is a : the top g view of iTou have g city of NORTH AMERICA. 301 Troy, seven miles from Albany, farther up, and on the left bank of the river, which now contains 30,000 inhabi- tants. The river Hudson was named after Henry Hudson, an English mariner of some celebrity, who, during the years 1607 and 1608, when in the employ of a company of London merchants, made two voyages to the northern coasts of America, with the hope of finding a passage through those icy seas to the genial climes of Southern Asia. His employers being disheartened by his failure, he next entered the service of the Dutch East India Com- pany, and in April 1609 sailed on his third voyage. After examining the waters of Delaware Bay, and following the eastern coast of New Jersey, he anchored his vessel on 13th September 1609 within Sandy Hook, a low sandy island 17 miles south from New York. After a week's delay he passed through the Narrows, nine miles below New York, which are scarcely a mile wide, and form the entrance to New York harbour, between Long Island on the east, and Staton Island on the west. Dur- ing ten days he continued to ascend the noble river that bears his name ; nor was it until his vessel had passed beyond the present city of Hudson (116 miles north from New York,) that he appears to have relinquished all hopes of being able to reach the Pacific by this inland passage. He returned to Europe and landed in England on 17th November 1609, but the King (James I.) jealous of the advantages which the Dutch might derive from the discovery, forbade his return to Holland. The Hudson on which I was now about to embark for New York, is one of the most beautiful rivers in the world, yielding the palm perhaps only to the Rhine and the Ohio, whilst the multitude of vessels with their white sails constantly sailing up and down her noble stream, v4 §y 302 NORTH AMERICA. i,f I impart a greater degree of liveliness to the scene than her rivals can boast of. The steamer ^^ New World'' in which we sailed down the Hudson, was 376 feet long, 41 in width, 80 feet over all, with engines of 1500 horse power, and cost fifty thousand pounds sterling. Having three decks it must be capable of accommodating 2000 people, and may not in- appropriately be called a floating village. The helmsman, or rather steersman, occupies a small glass house on the upper deck, near the head or bows of the vessel, the wheel being connected with the rudder by chains working the whole length of the deck. The fare of two dollars in the cabin does not include provisions, but there was an admir- able restaurateur on board, where, if so disposed, you may (as the Americans say) *' eat yourself." On leaving Albany we soon arrived at the city of Hudson on the east bank of the river, containing 10,000 inhabitants and situate 29 miles from Albany. On reach- ing Sing- Sing, also on the east bank, 33 miles from New York, we had a fine view of the celebrated State Prison erected there, 500 feet in length, and occupying 130 acres of ground. It derives its name from the Indian terms ossin sing^ (stony ground) a nost apposite name. The Croton river enters the Hudson two miles above Sing- Sing, but I shall have occasion afterwards to make more particular mention of this river, in reference to its supply of water for New York. Six miles below Sing- Sing and on the same side of the river, is Tarrytown (27 miles from New York) celebrated as the place where the unfortunate Major Andre, Adjutant- General of the British army at New York, was captured. He had undertaken to have a personal interview with the traitor General Arnold, within the American lines, in order to make arrangements for the surrender to the British of the im- f."^ [;.; { NORTH AMERICA. 303 cene than liled down ' feet over cost fifty s it must lay not in- lelmsnaan, ise on the the wheel [>rking the lars in the an admir- osed, you le city of ng 10,000 On reach- from New ed State occupying he Indian ite name, les above s to make nee to its lew Sing- town (27 •vhere the he British idertaken General to make f the im< > portant post of West Point, which Arnu.^ cd^nan^od. We had about two hours before passed ^^ st Poir 32 miles from New York which is now th( seat ol the national military academy. On his return from the meeting, Andre was arrested by three American militia men, (since called the cow-boys) who were patrolling between the outposts of the armies. He made them several offers which were rejected, and at last offered them a draft on Sir Henry Clinton, the British Com- mander-in-chief at New York, for ten thousand guineas if they would let him go, he to remain a hostage with two of the party, until one of them could ride to the British quarters and return with the money ; but this offer was also rejected. Nearly opposite to Tarry- town, on the right bank of the river, is Piermont, and 3 miles to the west of it lies the village of Tappan, celebrated as having been the head-quarters of Washing- ton during the Revolution, and the place where the ami- able, though unfortunate, Major Andre was executed. He was conducted there after his arrest at Tarry town, and brought for trial before a board of 14 general officers, among whom was the celebrated young French General, La Fayette, * who found that he ought to be considered as a spy, and to suffer death. The sentence was put in execution on 2d October 1780. It became known, long after Andre's death, that General Washington had been most anxious to save him ; and with this laudable and humane object in view, had tried two or three plans, but all of these having unfortunately failed, he had no alter- native left but to sign the warrant for his execution, * When La Fayette in 1825 revisited the United States, 45 years after- wards, his journey was one continued scene of triumph, throwing all the other triumphs, either of ancient or modern times, completely into the shade. i ■■ * ♦ ■ ! ;U I fi n I I '^; |f ■■■. 304 NOHTIl AMERICA. which he reluctantly did, with tears in his eyes, the feel- ing against the British being then very strong, as pre- vious to this period, various American officers had been put to death by the British, from liaving been found within British lines. Among others, Captain Hale from Con- necticut, who, in 1770, four years previous, had volun- teered to bring to General Washington information regard- ing the British army on Long Island. Having entered the British lines in disguise as a spy, and obtained the requisite information, he was apprehended on his attempt to return, carried before the liritish General, (Sir Wil- liam Howe,) and by his orders was executed next morn- ing. After passing the palisades, a remarkable range of precipices rising to the height of 500 feet, and extending from Tappan, 20 miles on the west side of the river, nearly as far down as New York, we arrived about 5 in the after- noon at that wonderful city, having taken ten hours to come from Albany. The farmers on the right bank of the Hudson were at one time chiefly Dutch, and their descendents, while those on the left bank were mostly of German origin ; but the pure Dutch families are rapidly becoming extinct. My description of New York will be but brief; its leading features being so well known, and having been so often described by other and more talented authors. Suffice it to say, generally, that it ranks now as the third commercial city in the world, being surpassed only by Liverpool and London in the extent of it commerce. It possesses unrivalled facilities for trade and commerce, having a splendid and beautiful harbour, perfectly safe and easy of access, extending 8 miles S. of the city to the " Narrows," (an entrance about three-quarters of a mile wide,) and 25 miles in circumference. Manhattan Island, on which it is built, is 13 miles in length, averaging nearly NORTH AMERICA. 3or) , the fecl- ^, aa pre- had boon tnd within rorn Con- ad volun- an regard- g entered ained the is attempt (Sir VVil- 3Xt morn- range of extending er, nearly the after- hours to t bank of and their mostly of e rapidly )rief ; its 'j; been so authors, the third only by )mmerce. )mraerce, ctly safe ity to the 3f a mile n Island, ig nearly 2 in width, and contains 14,000 acres of land. It is hounded on the south by the harbour ; on the east by the East and Harlem rivers, the former separating it from Long Island Sound ; on the west by Hudson river, called general'^ the North river, which separates it from New Jersey ; and on the north by Harlem river. It has thus an extent of 2(i miles of deep and secure water frontage, which fast being taken up, already extending 8 miles round tne city, and will ere a century have elapsed, when ten million of human beings will be seen hurrying along its crowded streets, present to the astonished eyes of the nations then standing upon the earth, a spectacle such as it is hardly possible for the human mind even to con- ceive, throwing, most assuredly, every other city in the habitable globe, infallibly, immeasurcably, and irretriev- ably into the shade. In order to shew that this is not an imaginary picture of its probable future greatness, take the population of New York proper, that is on Manhattan Island, at 750,000 in 1855, then in 1880 we shall have 1,500,000, in 1905 3,000 000, in 1930, 6,000,000, and in 1955 no less than twelve millions. Assuming in like manner, that the population of the United States doubles itself every 25 years, and taking it at 30,000,000 in 1855, then in 1880, we have 00,000,000 ; in 1905, 120,000,000; in 1930, 240,000,000; and in 1955, no less than 480,000,000 ; about the one-half of the whole inhabitants at present in the world. Professor Newman calculates, that if the existing population of the world were to encrease for twelve centuries as fast as they do in the United States, there would be no room left in the solid earth, for men, women and children to stand upon, allowing only a square foot for each. I am happy to think that I shall have left the earth before that time. f t ■ i I ; li 306 NORTH AMERICA. \ si: i, , New York has had a most extraordinary rise. In the year 1677, it contained only 2000 inhabitants, in 1790, only 33,000, and in 1800, 75,000, whereas by the census of 1845, its population had increased to 371,228, and by that of 1850, to no less than 522,766; having thus dur- ing these five years alone, added 150,000 to its numbers. In 1855, it will no doubt contain 750,000, and that ex- clusive of Brooklyn, and Williamsburg, which though divided from it by the East river, (half a-mile wide), may be called its appendages or suburbs, the former containing at present 120,000, and the latter 40,000. The popula- tion of the whole, therefore, will amount in 1855, to one million. Of this vast multitude, there is no city in the world composed of so many different nations. You have here 20,000 free negroes, or as they are called people of color; 50,000 Germans and Dutch; 100,000 Irish, be- sides French, Danes, Swiss, Welsh, English, Scotch, Italians, Turks, Chinese, Swedes, Russians, Norwe- gians, Poles, Hungarians, Spaniards, Sicilians, Africans, and, in short, a few of all the nations upon the earth ; though you see neither priests, beggars, soldiers, nor drunken men. There are supposed to be 50,000 people who arrive at and depart from New York every day. Though this beautiful city occupies but a part of Man- hattan Island, yet the ambitious design is, that it should eventually fill up the whole ; and it is obviously destined to bear out the anticipation of the founders. Already Broadway, its principal street, is 5 miles long, and will, when completed, be 13 miles in length. It has two de- fects however, which it is impossible now to remedy. It is badly engineered, and not sufficiently wide, being only 80 feet, whereas it ought to have been at least 1 00. The crowd of omnibuses constantly passing along Broadway, particularly the south end of it, is astonishing, amounting I ■:■ r NORTH AMERICA. 307 e. In the s, in 1 790, the census 28, and by thus dur- s numbers, id that ex- ich though wide), may containing he popula- S55t to one city in the You have i people of ) Irish, be- h, Scotch, s, Norwe- , Africans, the earth ; Idiers, nor [)00 people y day. irt of Man- It it should ly destined Already and will, las two de- ;medy. It being only 100. The Broadway, amounting 3> to no less than 500, so that vou have often have to wait ten minutes before you arc able to cross the street. They have no conductor attached to them. The driver has the entire charge of the machine ; he drives, opens and shuts, or ** fixes"* the door, takes the money ; exhorts the pas- sengers to be " smart," all by himself; yet he never quits the box. He keeps command of the door, by having beside him the end of a leather strap, which is fastened to the door, and passes along the roof through a number of rings, to a catch by his side. When he wishes to open the door, he slackens, when he desires to shut it, he tightens the strap, and thus no one can give him leg-bail, and be off without paying their fare. The money is paid to him, and directions to stop given, through a hole in the roof just behind the seat; and it is marvellous with what celerity and sang froid he takes your money, and perhaps give you change with one hand, while driving his team with the other through a crowded street. Although there are 3000 omnibuses in London, yet the great difference betwixt London and New York is the comparative absence in the latter of private carriages, and cabs, or hackney coaches. This arises from the circum- stance of the different hotels of New York having all private coaches of their own to drive travellers to or from railways and steam-boats, which render the use of other carriages, to a certain extent, unnecessary. People of all classes, however, make use of the omnibuses, and the numbers of them are consequently so great, and they are driven with such rapidity, that Mike Walsh, descanting * The word **fix" is used in America in the sense of the French word '^* arranger." To fix the hair, the table, the fire, and the door, nneans to dress the hair, to lay the table, to make up the fire, and to shut the door. When a person tells you that he has got his son comfortably '* fixed," he means to intimate that he has procured for him a good situation. vf 1 i 1 ;:i V i ' 308 NORTH AMERICA. upon the superiority of the people of New York city over those of the other parts of the State, says that it requires more intelligence to get out of the way of omnibuses in the city of New York, than it does to be a justice of the peace in the country. Had Broadway been as wide and as straight as Oxford Street, London, it would have been, from its great length, incomparably the finest street in the world ; whereas, by this great blunder, it must yield the palm to its great rival street in the metropolis of the British Isles, and still more to the Boulevards of Paris. New York has been visited by some awful conflagra- tions. In 1835 a fire burned over 52 acres of the richest part of it, destroying property to the amount of eighteen million of dollars; and in 1845 another fire destroyed houses and stores to the value of six million of dollars. The pigs that used formerly to roam about the streets have almost disappeared, though the rats seem to be numerous. A mathematician calculates that one pair of rats, with their progeny, will in 3 years produce 640,808 rats, which would consume daily as much food as 64,680 men, leaving 6 rats to starve. The Rev. Dr Hawes of Hartford, State of Connecticut, in a sermon which he preached on 27th October 1839, said, that there was only one young man in twelve, who began business in New York, who succeeded and became rich ; the rest passed through speculation and variou^< fortunes to bankruptcy and ultimate ruin. The Scrip- ture proclaims, that ** He that hasteth to be rich hath an evil eye, and considereth not that poverty shall come upon him." The whole taxes payable by houses in New York may be computed, as nearly as possible, at 10 per cent, on the rental. : I ' . .f- I NORTH AMERICA 309 )rk city over ,t it requires imnibuses in istice of the It as Oxford l^reat length, whereas, by to its great les, and still il conflagra- f the richest of eighteen e destroyed f dollars. the streets seem to be one pair of ice G4G,808 d as 64,680 Connecticut, tober 1839, welve, who and became ind various The Scrip- ich hath an come upon York may jent. on the It is a very healthy place, as a Mrs Elizabeth Fitz- patrick died at Brooklyn on 1st April 1852, at the won- derful age of 145. She was a native of Scotland, and had led to the altar no less than 8 husbands, 4 in Scot- land and 4 in x\merica. She left 30 children. New York is the principal port of debarkation for the numerous emigrants from Europe, who now land annually in the United States. In the year 1848 there were 189,176, and in 1849 no less than 220,603. Of these these there were from Ireland, England and Wales, Scotland, Germany, . Holland, Norway, and Sweden, France, II 2,59! 30,103 8,840 6,754 2,683 Inthe year 1850— 2 12,796 landed there,of whom 144,677 were natives of the United Kingdom, namely, 116,552 Irish, and 28,135 English and Scotch, and every year since that the numbers have been increasing. Being desirous of visiting some of the schools, I was favoured with the following letter of introduction from my polite friends, Harper and Brothers, the greatest pub- lishers in the '..orld, (principally reprints of the most celebrated English works) to Joseph M'Keen, Esq., county-superintendent of common schools of the city and county of New York. One of the Harpers was formerly mayor of New York: — No. 82 Cliff Stiieet, October 10, 1850. Dear Sib — We take the liberty of introducing to you Mr Marjoribanks, author of several interesting books of travels, who wishes to examine some of our public schools. We are, dear Sir, yours respectfully, Haupes & Brothebs. Joseph M'Keen, Esq. \ \ I'M tm m f P: 'it in ^4-. il 'n 310 NORTH AMERICA. I accompanied Mr M'Keen, who was exceedingly polite, to Ward school, No. 23 eighth Ward, and remained three hours. I never was more delighted in my life. There were nearly 1500 children in the different class rooms, some of them not above four years of age, and the first lesson taught those youngsters is to repeat their names and places of abode, thus securing their return home, if by any accident they should be lost. So complete was the system of moral training without coercion, that I did not observe, during these three hours, a single instance of one child talking to another. A girl of six years of age who was examined in the multiplication table, did not commit a single blunder. I was particularly pleased with the universal and most accurate knowledge of arithmetic displayed by the older pupils. There were fifteen female and six male teachers in this school. They have but one meeting throughout the year, — from 9 to 3 — with an inter- val of a quarter of an hour. There are 150,000 children attending schools in the city of New York, and 250 schools. The number of days teaching in the year is 240, and the whole annual expense of their education, includ- ing books, all furnished gratis, amounts to about six dollars each. The masters furnish them with monthly certificates of their attendance, progress, and deportment, on printed forms, with the blanks filled up in writing, which they have to exhibit to their parents, who mark " examined," and sign their names, when they are again returned to the teacher, who has thus evidence that the parents have seen them. At the top of this certificate there is printed the following quotation from Scripture, " the diligent hand maketh rich ; but the sluggard shall want in time of har- vest.' The chief punishment employed in the States is the imposition of extra tasks, or placing them " in trouble," in corners, with their faces to the wall. lingly polite, nained three ife. There ?la8s rooms, nd the first their names rii home, if implete was I, that I did ^le instance lix years of ihle, did not ileased with f arithmetic "teen female ave but one ith an inter- 00 children and 250 year is 240, ion, includ- t six dollars certificates on printed 1 they have ined," and ned to the 3 have seen )rinted the gent hand tne of har- 3 States is them 1. (( m NORTH AMERICA 311 Teachers are not so well paid in the States as they ought to be. When engaged by the trustees of a school district, neither party is bound, except by express agree- ment, for more tlian three months. Two years in a place is considered a long period for a teacher to remain, and it has hitherto been rare for a teacher to follow the pro- fession for more than four or five. This unsettled cha- racter of the teachers, so detrimental to the scholars, is in the course of being gradually remedied. Clergymen may be called tenants at will, being generally hired for a limited period. If both parties are pleased, he is engaged again, and will sometimes remain upon renewed engagements for 10 or 12 years, though the average does not exceed 6 or 8. The laborious services of the teachers and clergy throughout the United States are seldom sufficiently re- munerated, keeping in view, of course, the high price with which labour of every other kind is rewarded. The pro- fession of teacher is embraced by large numbers of men, who, though qualified for the office, resort to it only as a temporary means of subsistence, which they quit so soon as an opportunity of preferment offers itself in some other quarter. This is an evil that ought to be remedied. The Americans have a much shorter period assigned to them for the completion of their studies than Euro- peans ; but the quantity of knowledge acquired in that time is really prodigious. In some country places it is customary for the men in the church on a hot day to take off their coats during the sermon. The minister must be mortified at the coolness with which they listen to his discourse. The female teachers treat the boys with a kindly in- terest, obviously influenced by sex, and the feeling is re- ciprocal. The boys, when studying under the young women, are more gentle and refined in their manners than V M X\ \ 1 ! i * t iir. hi' P •. p :.! „] 312 NORTH AMERICA. when taught by male teachers, and they perform then' tasks more obviously from a desire to please. This is as it should be. The system of employing female teachers has been attended with great success in the United States. I visited also a colored or African school in Thomas Street, but was somewhat struck with the inferiority of the colored children to the whites, in answering the questions put to them. They are educated by themselves, not being allowed to mix with the whites, but one of the girls was so remarkably fair, that I enquired of Dr M'Cune Smith, (himself a gentleman of color), the super- intendent of the school, if there was any color in her, to which he replied, that if she had not some color in her, she would not have been there. This forms one striking peculiarity of the institution of slavery, that it is a taint in the blood, which no length of time, no change of re- lationship, no alteration of color can obliterate. Hence it is that you see people of all hues in a state both of bondage and freedom, from jet black to pure white. If the mother have been a slave, the whole of her descendents have to share her misfortune. I visited also in company with the physician of the establishment, the above Dr M'Cune Smith, who politely drove me in his gig, the Asylum for Colored Orphans, on Fifth Avenue, between Forty-third and Fourty-fourth Streets. This asylum is situated about four miles from the heart of the city, and on our way to it, we passed close to the *' distributing reservoir," of the celebrated Croton water-works, in 40th street.* The children in the 55! • I I! f. * The Croton water-works for supplying New York with water, is the most stupendous work of the kind, either in America or in the world, hav- ing cost nearly three millions sterling. The aqueduct commences on the river Croton, five miles from the river Hudson, and is about 40 miles from NORTH AMERICA. 313 •form their This is as le teachers ;he United in Thomas iferiority of wering the themselves, one of the ired of Dr , the super- ' in her, to ;olor in her, one striking t is a taint lange of re- Hence it I of bondage the mother nts have to cian of the vho poUtely Orphans, )urty-fourth miles from we passed celebrated Idren in the h water, is the Lhe world, hav- iimences on the , 40 miles from establishment are all colored, and are either orphans or half-orphans as the Americans call them ; that is, those who have lost one of their parents only. I never visited an institution that was better conducted. From the top of the building, we had a magnificent view of New York. I visited the Broadway theatre, and saw Sir Willaim Don make bis first appearance. The theatre was crowded, and he was uncommonly well received, the more so perhaps, as the Americans are now much hurt, and ashamed of the treatment which Macready, the cele- brated English actor experienced when he appeared at the New York Opera House in May 1849. The riot which there occurred, instigated, partly it is alleged by the friends and admirers of his American rival, Mr Forrest, reflects everlasting disgrace on the Americans, or more properly, on the Irish party settled amongst them, who seized upon this opportunity of exhibiting their antipathy to the mother country, by an unworthy attempt to wreak their vengeance on a solitary and inoffensive native of the British Isles. It is gratifying to record, that almost the whole press of the United States, to their honor be it spoken, were loud in condemning the attack thus made upon a stranger, who had come peaceably to visit their hospitable shores. The riot, though beginning from an apparently trivial cause, lasted for six hours, and the difficulty of suppressing it, exhibits in a striking manner, the danger of mobocracy in a republic, as it required the united exertions of a division of the State militia, a batal- lion of the national guards, a regiment of cavalry, and two the city hall, crossing valleys and rivers. The reservoir created by the dam, is five miles in length, covers a surface of 400 acres, and contains 500,000,000 gallons of water. There is now no city in the world better supplied with pure and wholesome water than New York ; and the supply would be abundant if the population were five times its present number. O i! * 1 1 li; 314 NORTH AMERICA. m > 4i ■1 I . Mi i' f L i , % 1 ,1 ' j^ i' ( ?: ■ t \ t. '8 M if , '"l ' k ■u. pieces of artillery, to restore order. The riot indeed was not quelled until 28 persons were killed, several of whom were females, and above 30 wounded. It is stated that the person who commanded the troops on this occasion, (the City Marshal, I believe), from the most humane motives no doubt, unfortunately committed the great mis- take of ordering the military to fire blank cartridge only, at first. It would have been a fortunate circumstance, if that individual had previously made himself acquainted with the sentiments which the Emperor Napoleon enter- tained on this subject, as thus recorded in that celebrated work, entitled " Napoleon in Exile, or a Voice from St Helena," written by O'Meara his late surgeon. " I then asked how many men he supposed had lost their lives in the biisinesa of the 13th Vendemiaire ? He replied, ' Very few, considering the circumstances. Of the people, there were about seventy or eighty killed, and between three and four hundred wounded ; of the conventionalists, about thirty killed, and two hundred andYifty wounded. The reason of there being so few killed, was, that after the first two discharges, I made the troops load with powder only, which had the effect of frightening the Parisians, and answered as well a3 killing them would have done. I made the troops at first fire ball, because to a rabble who are ignorant of the effect of fire-arms, it is the worst possible policy to fire powder only in the beginning. For the populace after the first discharge, hearing a great noise, are a little frightened, but looking around them, and seeing nobody killed or wounded, pluck up their spirits, begin immediately to despise you, become doubly outrageous, and rush on without fear; and it is necessary to kill ten times the number that it would have been, had ball been used at first. For, with a rabble, every thing depends upon the first impression made upon them. If they receive a discharge of fire arms, and perceive the killed and wounded falling amongst them^ a panic seizes them, they take to their heels instantly, and vanish in a moment. Therefore, when it is necessary to fire at all, it ought to be done with ball at first. It is a mistaken instance of humanity to use powder only at that moment, and in- stead of saving the lives of men, ultimately causes an unnecessary waste of human blood." There is one thing, however, which ought to be borne ideed was I of whom tuted that I occasion, )t humane great mis- •idge only, nstance, if icquainted eon enter- celebrated ce from St ir lives in the onsidering the eighty killed, nventionalists, eason of there i, I made the rightening the lone. I made norant of the er only in the aring a great seeing nobodj o despise you, s necessary to been used at rst impression and perceive ;e8 them, they erefore, when first. It is a ament, and in- ssary waste of ,0 be borne NOIITII AMEiaCA. 31.5 in mind, namely, that in none of the riots wliich have taken place in the United States have the people mani- fested the least disposition for plunder. Tliey have some- times destroyed the private property of individuals, and come in hostile collision with one another, but in no in- stance have they shown the least design to enrich them- selves. There are too many people in America interested in the preservation of order, from having more or less property to defend against any encroachment upon it. To one rioter there are one hundred admirers of order, and a hundred more ready to preserve it, with all the power in their hands. Though we may occasionally hear of Lynch law, or no law at all, yet we may rest assured that a criminal in America is looked upon as the enemy of the human race, and the whole of mankind are against him. To show the strong feeling that still exists against this country, a mob (mostly Irish) gathered round the Irving House, New York, on 1 0th December 1851, from the dome of which the English flag, along with those of the United States, Hungary, and Turkey, was flying in honor of Kossuth, who was stopping there, and threatened, that if not instantly pulled down, they would do it them- selves. It was pulled down accordingly by the landlord. I called one Sunday at the Astor House, where my esteemed friend Alexander Stuart, Esq., of Edinburgh, resided, (and where they make up 500 beds,) and accom- pa lied him to church. After walking about a mile along Broadway, we struck down towards the East river, and landed in one of the Reformed Dutch Churches, where we were politely accommodated with seats, and where the service seemed to be conducted in every respect like that of the Church of Scotland. I found in the seat a stereo- type edition of the Psalms and Hymns used by that church ; and the clergyman, Dr M'Elroy, whom I had o 2 P • ! I : ; ; H . I I '■I » "^ f 316 NORTH AMERICA. •■>■■■', . I' (> r I 1: ': l,'*J ■ ■' if J occasion to sec next day, politely presented me with a copy. The following are two of the verses in one of the hymns we sang — And ifl it true, that many fly The sound that bids my soul rejoice ? And rather choose in sin to die, Than turn an ear to mercy's voice. Alas for those I— the day is near, When mercy will be heard no more ; Then will they ask in vain to hear The voice they would not hear before. In looking over this large collection, consisting of 500 pages, I was somewhat surprised to find that some of the Psalms, instead of being those of David converted into metre, were of their own composition, and that these were chiefly devoted to celebrating their exploits in the war of independence. One would have thought that their annual great demonstration on the 4th of July would have been sufficient for the purpose. But is it necessary that that day should be celebrated in the manner it is ? Now that nearly a century has passed away is it indispensable to the pleasures even of that day, to revive feelings in the children, which, if found in the parents, are to be excused only by the extremities to which they were pressed ? Is it generous, now that they have achieved the victory, not to forgive the adversary ? Is it manly, now that they have nothing to fear from Britain, to indulge in expressions of hate and vindictiveness ? No. The safety and prosperity of America does not require the exercise of the degrad- ing and ignoble feeling of jealousy of the land from which she sprang. She should scorn the patriotism which cherishes the love of one's own country by the hatred of another. This is to forego her vocation. And since the destiny of the republican model of government is justly NORTH AMERICA. 31 s with a le of the g of 500 le of the ted into ese were le war of ir annual ave been hat that ^ow that le to the in the excused Id? Is it not to ley have ssions of osperity degrad- ni which which latred of lince the is justly considered as deeply, nay perhaps as finally staked on the experiment intrusted to her people, America should feel that her destinies are thus high and peculiar ; and should she accomplish her important mission by wielding more noble weapons, she would be entitled to reap a degree of glory such as Greece, with all her platonic imaginings never sought ; and such as Rome, with all her real triumphs, never found. The psalms to which I have just alluded must have the effect, even more, perhaps, than their political demon- strations, of keeping alive in their minds that feeling of enmity against their former oppressors, as they call the British, which might now, with safety, be allowed to sub- side; besides administering to their national vanity, already sufficiently great, in thus constantly reminding them of the achievements of their ancestors, which, however, glo- rious they may have been, ought now to be consigned to the pages of history rather than to those of a hymn book. I shall give three extracts from this collection. The first is from a psalm styled " The Conqueror's Song." " To thine Almighty arm we owe The triumphs of the day ; Thy terrors, Lord, confound the fo«, And melt his strength away. 'Tis by thine aid our troops prevail, And break united pow'rs : Or burn their boasted fleets, or scale The proudest of their tow'rs. How have we chas'd them through the field, And trod them to the ground, While thy salvation was our shield. And they no shelter found!" The two following verses are from the 18th Psalm, ■;• I S! ! \ " J I- iU-fil m mn NORTH A Mr, RICA. a: PU ■ ^ iff' i and denominated " Thanksgiving ; applied to the Ame- rican revolution." •• When fir'd to rn;{e, n^ninst our nation rose CliiorH of proud imnio, niid bands of haughty fope ; He trniii'd our hosts to ti»;ht, with arnisarrajr'd, Witli health invjijorM, and with bounty fed; Gave Ui) his chusoii chief our sons to guide ; Heard cr'ry pruy'r, and cv'ry want supplied. He gave their armies captive to our liands, Or sent them frustrate to their native lands : Rurst the dark snare, disclos'd the miry pit, And led to broad, safe grounds, our gliding feet ; Bounteous for us, oxtondcd regions won, The fairest empire spread beneath the sun." The last is from the 2 1st Psalm. •• In theo, great God, with songs of praise. Our favour'd realms rejoice ; And, blest with thy salvation, raise To heaven their cheerful voice. Thy sure defence, from foes around. Hath spread our rising name ; And all our feeble eft'orts crown'd With freedom and with fame. In deep distress our injur'd land, Implor'd thy power to save ; For peace we pray'd, thy bounteous hand The timely blessing gave. Thy mighty arm, eternal pow'r, Oppos*d their deadly aim ; In mercy swept them from our shore. And spread their sails with shame. When sinners fall, the righteous stand, Preserv'd from ev'ry snare ; They shall possess the promis'd land, And dwell for ever there." NORTH AMrnic.v. 310 he Amr- They have a splendid French church at New York, whore tl»e service is reguhirly pert'ormed l)y tUe minister in the French language. The greater part of the audience attend for the sole purpose of studying the idiom of a fashionable tongue. ! I . * ^^■:U ♦'t^ ! 1'L si;'' \ . 320 NORTH AMERICi%. I' k *■ I I If i •4' % CHAPTER XVIII. Slavery in the United States — Number of Slave-owners — Slave-breeding States — Account of Virginia — Failure of the Liberian Colony — Population of the United States in 1850 — Governor Hammond's Letter to Thomas Clarkson — Dreadful Depression in the Island of Jamaica — Cause of the Abolition of Slavery in tho Free States of the Union — Slavery upheld by the Clergy in America — Selling Slaves by Auction. Having discussed the subject of slavery when treating of the Empire of Brazil, it now only remains that I should give some little account of it as it exists at present in the United States. It may be proper, however, to mention a fact, of which few are aware, that there are not above 300,000 individuals who hold slaves in the United States, so that the property vested in three and a half millions of human beings is all held by that comparatively small body of slave-owners. And now that the importation of fresh slaves from Africa has been prohibited, the chief part of the trade carried on at present, consists in the rearing of slaves in one province, and selling them in another. The former may be called the slave-breeding States ; the latter the slave-using States. Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, and part of Ken- tucky, are the chief provinces employed in rearing slaves for exportation to New Orleans, Alabama, and the valley WA NORTH AMERICA. 321 lave-breeding — Population r to Thomas Cause of the >ry upheld by a treating \t I should ent in the mention not above ed States, nillions of mall body ftves from the trade slaves in le former atter the t of Ken- ing slaves the valley of the Mississippi, where, from the great demand, a stout young male slave will bring from £150 to £200 sterling. The trade is carried on in the larger towns of Virginia and Maryland by regular dealers, who purchase the young slaves from those who have either reared them or col- lected them like sheep from some other quarter, selling them of course again with a profit ; and the nature of the trade may be understood from the following advertise- ments of the Baltimore and Virginian merchants : — " Cash for Negroes. — The subscriber being desirous of making another shipment to New Orleans, will give a good market price for fifty negroes from ten to thirty yea.r8 old. — Henrv Davis.'' " The subscriber wishes to purchase 100 slaves of both sexes, from the age of ten to thirty, for which he is disposed to give much higher prices than have heretofore been given. He will call on those living in the adja- cent counties to see any property. — Ansley Davis." A Card. " A. Woolfolk wishes to inform the owners of negroes in Maryland, Vir- ginia, and North Carolina, that he is not dead, as has been artfully repre- sented by his opponents, but that he still lives to give them Cash and the highest prices for their negroes^ Persons having negroes to dispose of will please give him a chance, by addressing him at Baltimore, when imme- diate attention will be paid to their wishes." '* Notice This is to inform the public generally, that I yet continue in the slave-trade, at Richmond, Virginia, and will at all times buy and give a fair market price for young negroes. Persons in this State, Maryland, or North Carolina, wishing to sell lots of negroes, are particularly requested to forward their wishes to me at this place. Persons wishing to purchase lots of negroes are requested to give me a call, as I keep constantly on hand at this place a great many on sale, and will sell at all times at a small advance on cost to suit purchasers. I have comfortable rooms, with a jail attached, for the reception of the negroes ; and persons coming to this place to sell slaves, can be accommodated, and the reception of the company of gentle- men dealing in slaves will conveniently and attentively be received. — Luwis A. COLLIEB." The more extensive slave-dealers have all a large depot which they call a jail, into which they put their slaves. :«i! I ! ! ! it 11 •I ! ' M ii I : 322 NORTH AMERICA. I m i:.i r*-!' I:: ■ill- i r. #1 rt and it resembles a prison in every respect, being provided with chains, handcuffs, and other means of preventing escape. Purchasers inspect them in these jails, select those that will suit them, and then make the best bargain they can. Though slave-traders are a class of men much abused in England, yet, as slaves are property, and must, like all other property, frequently change owners, it necessarily follows that slave-dealers are but the merchants, by whose intervention the article changes hands, and are conse- quently no more deserving of our censure than the drover who takes the hogs and horses of Tennessee to a market in the Atlantic States. In 1829, it was estimated that the annual revenue to Virginia from the export of human flesh, was one million and a half of dollars, and in 1832 it had arrived at so high a pitch, that T. J. Randolph declared in the legislature of the State, that Virginia had been converted into " one grand menagerie, where men were reared for market, like oxen for the shambles." Slave-rearing, in fact, brings now more money into Virginia than all its cotton or tobacco. It generally takes all their labour to clothe and support them, so that the chief profits of the owners are derived from the sale of the young ones. In the year 1613, Mr John Rolf, an Eng- lishman, settled in Virginia, married Pocahontas, the daughter of Powhatan, a celebrated Indian chief. Three years afterwards he took her to England on a visit, where she was treated with great respect, but died the following year at Gravesend, in the 22d year of her age, just as she was about to embark for America. She left a son, who having received his education in England, went over to Virginia, where he lived and died in affluence and honour, leaving behind him an only daughter, whose descendents y provided preventing lils, select St bargain ch abused 1st, like all necessarily , by whose ire conse- the drover ) a market 'evenue to me million at so high legislature into " one arket, like oney into rally takes that the sale of the an Euii- )ntas, the f. Three >sit, w here following ust as she son, who nt over to d honour, scendents NORTH AMERICA. 323 are among the most respectable families at present in Virginia. The brother-in-law of Pocahontas accompanied her to England, and was directed by Powhatan to bring him an exact account of the numbers and strength of the Eng- lish. For this purpose he provided himself with a bundle of sticks, intending to cut a notch in them for every person he should meet with. On landing at Plymouth he became appalled at the magnitude of his task, but not- withstanding, he notched indefatigably till he entered Piccadilly in London, when he instantly threw away his bundle. On his return to America, being asked by Pow- hatan how many people there were, he replied, " Count the stars in the sky, the leaves on the trees, and the sands on the sea-shore ; for such is the number of the people of England." The whole Indians now in America do not exceed 300,000 individuals. In the year 1616, the cultivation of tobacco was first introduced into Virginia, and sells there at sixpence the ,'• und. The plant grows to the height of about 5 feet. \:i 1619 the first convicts, amounting to 100, and called " dissolute persons," were transported from England to Virginia, and were, at that period, very acceptable to the colonists. During that year also, the first cargo of ne- groes, consisting of 20, was imported from Africa into Virginia, in a Dutch vessel, of whom the Virginians made slaves. The year 1622 was remarkable for a massacre of the colonists of Virginia by the Indians, which was executed with the utmost subtlety, and without any regard to age or sex. A well concerted attack on all the settlements, destroyed, in one hour, and almost at the same instant, 347 persons, men, women, and children, who were de- fenceless, and incapable of making any resistance. The >'■ 324 NORTH AMERICA. I. Ml M: ^1 im miseries of famine were soon superadded to the horrors of massacre; so that in 1624, out of 80 plantations which were filling a-pace, only 8 remained, and of the 9000 emigrants who had arrived from England, no more than 1800 survived those manifold disasters. In 1712 a similar massacre was perpetrated by the In- dians in the State of Carolina, where a number of Pala- tines from Germany, who had been reduced to indigence by a calamitous war, took up their residence. The Tus- corora tribe of Indians formed a conspiracy with profound secrecy during that year, to murder and expel this infant colony. Having surrounded their principal town with a breastwork to secure their families, they mustered in it to the number of 1 200, and sent out small parties to the dif- ferent settlements under the mask of friendship. On the night agreed upon for the attack, they entered the houses of the planters, demanding provisions, and pretending to be OiTended, fell to murdering men, women, and children without mercy or distinction ; 137 settlers, among whom were almost all the poor Germans who had lately arrived, having been slaughtered the first night. A few however escaped, and flying to South Carolina, gave the alarm. The Governor of that province immediately sent a force of 600 militia, and 400 friendly Indians of different tribes, to their assistance. In their first encounter with the Tus- corora Indians, they killed 300 and took 100 prisoners. After this defeat the Tuscororas retreated to their forti- fied town, which they were obliged shortly after to sur- render to the commanding ofiicer of the Americans. The Tuscororas having lost 1 000 men in this expedition, aban- doned the country, and joined the Five Nations, with whom they have ever since remained. After this the infant colony remained in peace, and continued to flourish till 1729, when seven of the largest proprietors sold their pro- NORTH AMERICA. 325 lorrors of ns which the 9000 lore than >v the In- r of Pala- indigence The Tus- profound :his infant wn with a ed in it to to the dif- On the he houses ;ending to 1 children )ng whom y arrived, r however le alarm. nt a force x\i tribes, 1 the Tus- Drisoners. leir forti- to sur- is. The on, aban- ons, with ;he infant urish till ;heir pro- perties to the Crown of Great Britain, and the colony was divided into two separate provinces, by the name of North and South Carolina. Virginia produces yearly 50,000,000 lbs. of tobacco, and 2,500,000 lbs. of cotton ; but its virgin soils are becom- ing exhausted, so that breeding slaves for the southern markets is becoming more profitable than the rearing of either tobacco or cotton, and this state of things is likely to increase. " The two great drawbacks to Virginian prosperity," as President Jefferson remarked in 1786, "are the exces- sive cultivation of tobacco, which exhausts the soil, and is ruinous to the interests and comforts of those engaged in its culture ; and the system of slavery, which produces the smallest amount of unskilful labour, in return for the largest outlay of capital in its purchase and subsistence. Were these two causes removed, Virginia would soon overtake all her competitors in the race ; whilst even under these great disadvantages, she presents the aspect of a magnificent country with immense resources." The men of Virginia are the finest, the most robust, and healthiest of the whole of the States, and the women are neither so diminutive in size, so spare or slender in figure, so pale in complexion, nor so consumptive in constitution, as the women of the North. When the celebrated Sir John Sinclair of Ulbster in Scotland, applied to General Washington, asking his advice as to the best portion of the Union for a gentle- man-farmer to settle in, Washington recommended him to fix on the central parts of Virginia, between the Blue Ridge and the eastern-most of the Alleghannies, as the Arcadia of that continent. Mr Buckingham says, in like manner, '* I can hardly conceive a more ehgible spot for an emigrant family from England, with small means, to 1, 1 I; *•« 1 H'.M .) i 1 ;■ r ■isai (■ ] /'' ^'k 320 NORTH AMERICA. settle in, than at Abingdon in Virginia, or in its neigh- bourhood." We must not infer, that bv the term *' negroes" onlv black-skinned persons are rieant, as the following notices offering rewards for runaway slaves will shew that white men are classed as negroey, and pass by that name when they happen to be the descendents of an African mother who had been a slave, and where the legal act of manu- mission had not been performed : — '* One hundred dollars reward will be given for the apprehension of my npgro Edmund Kcnney. He has straight hair, and complexion so nearly white, that it is believed a stranger would suppose there was no African blood in him. He was with my boy Dick a short time since in Norfolk, and offered him for sa!c, and was apprehended, but escaped under pretence of being a white man — Anderson Uowles." *' One hundred dollars reward. — llun away from the subscriber, a bright mulatto man slave, named Sam. Light sandy hair, blue eyes, ruddy com- plexion ; is so white as very easily to pass for a free white man.— Edwin Peck." " llun away from the subscriber, working on the plantation of Colonel H. Tinker, a bright mulatto boy named Alfred. Alfred is about 18 years of age, pretty well grown, has blue eyes, light flaxen hair, skin disposed to freckle. He will try to pass as free-born — S. G. Stewakt.*' It may be proper here to mention that the attempt of an influential body in the United States to send their emancipated slaves to Liberia in Africa has signally failed, as the whole they have been able to send, or rather who have been induced to go, during the last 30 years, amount only to the insignificant number of 6000, whilst the slaves born during that period amount to millions. Emancipated slaves have no desire to leave America. They abhor Liberia, and consider it as a place of banishment from the country which gave them birth. It is perfectly ab- surd, indeed, to suppose that any number who could be practically transported to that country, could ever sen- sibly arrest the rapid increase of the colored race in the NORTH AMEKICA. its neigh- oes" only \g notices hat white ime when n mother of manu- nsion of my on so nearly no African in Norfolk, lor pretence )cr, a bright ruJdy com- in. — Edwin of Colonel ut 18 years disposed to tempt of nd their ly failed, ;her who amount le slaves ncipated y abhor (nt from ctly ab- ould be ver sett- le in the United States. An attempt might as well bo made to drain the Atlantic Ocean. About 20 years ago a colored Baptist missionary of the I name of Jones was sent out from Georgetown in the State of Ohio, to inquire into the state of the colony at Liberia. In the report which he published after his return, he says, — *' there are hundreds there who would rather come back and be slaves, than stay in Liberia, '^he poor crea- tures, squalid, ragged, hungry, without employment, were all praying most fervently that they might return to their native country. Even the emancipated slaves craved the boon of returning again into bondage that they might once more have the pains of hunger satisfied. They would weep as they talked of their sorrows here, and their joys in America." Prior to 1850 the free and slave States in the Union were exactly equal, being 15 of each, but by the addition in that year of California as one of the sovereign States, the free States have now a preponderance of one. The free and slave population of the United States, by the census of the year 1850, was as follows : — rOPULATION OF THE States. Maine, New Hampshire, Massachus>ietts, Vermont, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, . AVisconsin, Michigan, UNITED STATES Free rcpuLition, 582,026 318,003 . 994,724 314,322 147,549 370,913 3,098,818 489,868 2,341,204 1,981,940 990,258 305,596 397,576 Slav. It '5 t'i, . it -, m % Kf H iV 1 1 i v?| if \ 1 328 NORTH AMERICA. states. Free Population. Slaves. Illinois. 850,000 — Iowa, . . . . 192,000 — California, 200,000 — Maryland, . 492,661 90,355 Virginia, 940,000 460,000 North Carolina, 480,000 280,000 South Carolina, 280,000 350,000 Georgia, 655,000 365,000 Florida, . . 45,000 22,000 Alabama, . 440,000 330,000 Mississippi, 300,000 320,000 Louisiana, . . 250,000 200.000 Texas, 100,000 60,000 Arkansas . 150,000 45,000 Missouri, , . 590,000 91,647 Tennessee, . . , 800,000 750,000 Kentucky, 782,000 2n,000 Delaware, 90,277 2,332 ENTIRE POPULATION. Free. Slaves. Free States, 13,574,797 Slave States, 6,294,938 3,067,234 District and Territories, 197,986 3,500 20,067,720 3,070,734 In the year 1790 the slaves in the United States were only 700,000. There are comparatively fevi^ men either in this country or America, who uphold slavery " in the abstract," as it is termed ; which means to say, that if society could be reduced to its first elements, and all disturbing causes, such as its divine institution ; human frailty ; the errors of our fore -fathers, and the like, could be left out of account, such an institution as slavery would no doubt be considered tyrannical and unjust. And in regard to its divine institution, we must constantly bear in mind that \ • NORTH AMERICA. 329 Slaves. 9U,356 460,000 280,000 350,000 365,000 22,000 330,000 320,000 200,000 60,000 45,000 91,647 750,000 2H,000 2,332 SlaveH. 1,067,234 3,500 3,070,734 States were lis country jstract," as ciety could ing causes, the errors left out of I no doubt }gard to its mind that our Saviour hath expressly declared " tliat he came not to abolish the law and the prophets, but to fulfil them." There are some, however, who uphold slavery in the abstract, and among others is J. H. Hammond, Esq , late Governor of South Carolina, who addressed two letters to the celebrated Thomas Clarkson, the English aboli- tionist, which appeared in a newspaper called the •* Weekly Georgian^' published at Savannah (the largest city in the State of Georgia,^ on 20th June 1845. These letters fill no less than ten closely printed columns of that journal, and the following passages occur in them. " Having abundant leisure, it will be a recreation for me to devote a portion of it to an examination and free discussion of the question of slavery, as it exists in our Southern States. Besides, it maj be possibly a novelty to you to encounter one who conscientiously believes the domestic slavery of these States to be not only an inexorable necessity for the present, but a moral and humane institution, productive of the greatest political and social advantages, and who is disposed, as I am, to defend it on these grounds. I do not propose, however, to defend the African slave-trade. That is no longer a question. Doubtless great evils arise from it as it has been, and is now conducted; unnecessary wars and cruel kidnapping in Africa; the most shocking barbarities in the Middle Passage, and perhaps a less humane system of slavery in countries continually supplied with fresh labourers at a cheap rate. On the passage of the Act of Parliament prohibiting this trade to British subjects, rests what you esteem the glory of your life. It required twenty years of arduous agitation, and the intervening extraordinary poli- tical events, to convince your countrymen, and among the rest, your pious King, of the expediency of this measure ; and it is but just to say, that no one rendered more essential service to the cause than you did. In reflect- ing on the subject you must often ask yourself. What, after all, has been accomplished ; how much human suffering has been averted ; how many human beings have been rescued from transatlantic slavery ? It was esti- - mated, at the commencement of your agitation in 1787, that 45,000 Afri- cans were annually transported to America and the West Indies. Not- withstanding your Act of Parliament, the previous abolition by the United States, and that all the powers in the world have subsequently prohibited this trade — some of the greatest of them declaring it piracy, and covering the African seas with armed vessels to prevent it->Sir Thomas FoweU 330 NOIITII AMERICA. n .1 H i Huxton, a coadjutor of yours, declared in 1840, that the number of Afrlcam then annually sold into slavery beyond tlio sen, amounted at tiie very least, to 150,000 souls, while the mortality of the .Middle I'assago had increased, in consequence of tlio measures taken to suppress the trade, to 30 per cent. And of the 160,000 slaves who have been captured and liberated by British men of war since the passage of your Act, Judge Jay, an American aboli- tionist, asserts that 100,000, or two-thirds, have perished between their capture and liberation. Thousands of valuable lives, and fifty millions of pounds sterling have been thrown away by your Government in fruitless at- tempts to overturn it. I hope you have not lived too long for your own happiness, though you have l)ccn spared to see, that in spito of your toil, and those of your fellow-labourers, and the accomplishment of all that human agency could do, the African slave-trade has increased three- fold under your own eyes, and that your elTorts to suppress it have effected nothing more than a three-fold increase of its horrors. There is a God that rules this world — All powerful — Far-seeing: lie does not permit Uis creatures to foil Ilis designs. It is lie who, for His all-wise, though to us often inscrutable purposes, throws " impossibilities'' in the way of our fondest hopes and most strenuous exertions. Can you doubt this ? If kidnapping, both secretly, and by Avar made for the purpose, could be by any means prevented in Africa, the next greatest blessing you could bestow upon that country would be, to transport its actual slaves in com- fortable vessels across the Atlantic. Though they might be perpetual bonds- men, still, they would emerge from darkness into light — from barbarism to civilization — from idolatry to Christianity — in short, from death to life." The grand question, however, for the consideration of the citizens of the United States is, now that they have slaves, what are they to do with them ? To give liberty all at once to the three millions and a half of slaves now cultivating their soil, would be neither just nor advan- tageous, nor in the long run humane. In fact, it would be the essence of madness, and the horrors of so rash an attempt, in the French settlements, may be quoted as a forcible example. The effect of it would be to plunge the finest States of the Union into irretrievable ruin, as it has done, in a great measure, the West Indies, where many of the finest estates have been abandoned, not so much from the price which the free negroes demand for NORTH AMERICA. 331 bor of African] le very least, to ad increased, in to 30 per cent, rated by Britisli \morican aboli- I between their fifty millions of t in fruitless at- g for your own to of your toil, nent of all that lased three-fold t havo effected riicro is a God not permit Llis se, though to us the way of our >t this ? trpose, could be sing you could slaves in com- lerpetual bonds- )m barbarism to leath to life." ideration of t they have give liberty slaves now nor advan- ct, it would ■ so rash an quoted as a to plunge e ruin, as it lies, where ned, not so iemand for tlieir labour (that having of late years been considerably reduced) as from the difficulty tluy have in inducing thrni to work at all, their wants being so few and their ambi- tion 80 limited, that they prefer being idle for a great part of the day, or cultivating some small patch of their own, sufficient to furnish them with almost all they re(|uire. So desperate, indeed, did the West India proprietors become for a renewal of the protection which they formerly en- joyed, that the House of Assembly in Jamaica appointed a committee in 1847 to inquire into the depressed state of agriculture in the island, the cause of such depression, and the extent of abandonment of cultivation and breaking up of sugar and coffee factories which had taken place, who reported to the House, — *' That since the passing of the British Slave Emanci- pation Act in 1832, of the (353 sugar estates then in cul- tivation in Jamaica, 140 had been abandoned, and the works broken up, containing 108,032 acres of land, and having then employed in their cultivation 22,5;33 labourers. " That during the same period 405 coffee plantations had been abandoned, and their works broken up, contain- ing 188,400 acres of land, and having employed in their cultivation, in the year 1832, '20,830 labourers. " That upon certain estates shewn to have engaged in their cultivation, in the year 1832, 41,820 labourers, there now remain resident on those properties only 13,073, the others, amounting to 27,847, having generally become independent settlers. '* That the plough and other instruments of husbandry had been used in all cases where practicable, and that machinery could not be made more available as a substi- tute for labour. " That in respect to immigration, the Asiatic labourers had not been found to answer the purposes of the country ; lif i :ik n\ p :j32 NOUTII AMERICA. while, on the other hand, the Africans had proved emi- nently useful. ** That from the now independent condition of the mass of the people, the command of labour had become exceed- ingly precarious, often not to be had at all when most wanted ; that the average time of field labour was from five to six hours a-day ; that the labour given for the wages was not only inadequate in quantity, but generally ill performed ; and that labour continued to become more scarce every year by the people withdrawing from the plantations. " That, even with protection, many of the properties had been ruined by the Emancipation measure, whilst all had been most seriously injured; that sugar cannot be pro- duced in Jamaica under 22s. per cwt., while in Cuba 12s. per cwt. is a remunerative price." Though it appears that sugar cannot be produced in Jamaica under 22s. the cwt., whilst in Cuba 12s. is a remunerating price, yet it was stated by the Rev. Mr Knibb, a West Indian Missionary, at a meeting of the British Anti-Slavery Society, held in London on 1 7th May 1845, that the reason why sugar was produced cheaper in Cuba than in Jamaica was not because the slaves in the former were ill treated, nor because the free blacks in the latter were unwilling to work, but because in Cuba they manage their own properties, which few of the planters in Jamaica do, most of them being absentees resident in Great Britain. As it seems, however, quite absurd for our West Indian planters ever seriously to expect that protection will be again restored, the only way to save them from impending ruin is to open the markets of the whole world to free labour in these colonies ; and slavery will never terminate till free labour is cheaper than slave labour; and then proveu emi- 1 of the mass jome exceed- l when most Dur was from iven for the >ut generally become more ng from the roperties had whilst all had mot be pro- in Cuba 12s. produced in t)a 12s. is a he Rev. Mr eting of the Ion on 17 th IS produced because the because the work, but erties, which them being West Indian Btion will be n impending orld to free Br terminate '; and then SOUTH AMl-ttfCA. .33.1 slavery will terminate, because then and then only it will have become unprofitable. At a public meeting of West Indian proprietors, held in London two or three years ago, the Karl of Hare wood stated, that he had latterly been losing twelve hundred a-year by his estate in Jamaica, and that, in consequence, he had ordered it to lie fallow. I observe also that that talented individual Lord Stanley, son of that distinguished nobleman the present Earl of Derby, who visited the West Indies in 1850, states, in his letter to the Right lion. W. E. Gladstone, M.P., that an estate which, pre- vious to 1840, was sold for L. 150,000, in 1840 brought only L. 17,602, and all other estates in proportion ; and that an estate in Jamaica, which at one time had yielded L. 11,000 a-year, was actually sold in 1850 for L.1G50. Since the ravages of the cholera in Janjaica during the years 1850 and 1851, the wages of the free negroes have risen 25 per cent. Some of the Jamaica proprietors resident in London, have intimated to their attorneys in that island to discon- tinue the growth of sugar, except it can be produced for 9s. the cwt., but this is absurd, as the people of Jamaica maintain that it cannot be produced under 22s. Its pros- perity is evidently at an end. It is perhaps not generally known that the present Earl of Derby, when Mr Stanley, travelled about 30 years ago in Canada and the United States, with a party of friends, who made themselves very popular by evincing a total absence of those intense prejudices in favour of the institutions of their own country, which the Americans find very frequently prevent the British from considering or discussing the expediency of their institutions. He after- wards, publicly in the House of Commons, bore testimony to the hospitable reception which he had experienced in Ml |i :m 334 NORTH AMERICA. -■■■l>i that great country, and to the love and attachment felt by the United States to the mother country. Though the West Indian planters have been all half ruined by the emancipation of their slaves, and may call out for a renewal of protection, yet there are none amongst them who would declare either the possibility or the wisdom of returning to the enslaved state. From the introduction of sla.ery down to the time of emancipation every island was suujcc^ to insurrection. Dr Madden enumerates not less than 22 open rebellions, 6 conspi- racies to assassinate the white inhabitants detected on the eve of execution, and one mutiny which took place in Jamaica during that period. The common language there was, that they lived on a volcano, and did not know when they were safe. But since emancipation, such apprehen- sions have all vanished, the free negroes manifest the most quiet and peaceful tendencies, and are more disposed to sustain than to violate public order. It is also proper to mention, that on those estates in the West Indies which have conciliating and judicious managers, who give piece or task work in due proportion, there has been compara- tively little falling off in labor ; and the plough, which of late years has been introduced, does the work, in plant- ing cane, of 35 men, at one time employed in this opera- tion. However dear slave labour may be made in a slave State, it must always be cheaper than free labour ; were it not, the masters would abandon their slaves. Slave labour is chiefly valuable where a very humble grade of labour is required to gather in and make use of the pro- lific fruits of the soil ; but where the heat of the climate is so oppressive, and has such a fatal influence on the white labourers employed in the open field, that only the races of tropical descent can with impunity give even that i.i acliment felt been all half and may call re are none possibility or J. From the emancipation Dr Madden ns, 6 conspi- tected on the ook place in nguage there t know when ch apprehen- ifest the most B disposed to Iso proper to Indies which ho give piece sen compara- igh, which of 3rk, in plant- in this opera- le in a slave abour ; were aves. Slave ible grade of 3 of the pro- f the climate lence on the that only the ive even that NORTH AMERICA. 335 amount of labor, while they will not give it sufficiently unless under compulsion. The necessity of employing black labourers exclusively has been proved to demon- stration, from the circumstance of the various attempts that were made to introduce Europeans into the West Indies as field labourers having all signally failed. Some years ago 100 Scotch labourers were introduced into the island of Tobago, of whom 90 died within the short space of three months after their arrival. The exhalation from the soil, which may be called malaria, produces a raw damp chillness hi the air after sunset (sun-down in America) which has a fatal effect on white labourers who have been exposed to the dreadful perspiration, arising from work- ing during the heat of the day under a tropical sun, though it has no effect upon the colored race. The attempt to cultivate the southern soil without the assistance of negro slaves, was also made in the settlement of Georgia, but did not succeed ; and the British govern- ment was therefore obliged to concede to that State also the right of introducing slaves. It is vain to suppose that slavery can be put down by mere empty declamations regarding its unchristian and iniquitous character. Convince the slave-owner that free labor will be more profitable to him than slave-labor, and when he is made to feel that slavery is unprofitable, he will not be long in discovering that it is inhuman. x\l- most all the free States in the Union were once slave States, but when, by the influx of Irish and German emi- grants, they found thai they could get their work cheaper done by free than by slave labor, they gradually abo- lished slavery in their different States ; and slavery was thus from time to time abolished in them, not certainly from philanthropy, but absolutely as a matter of self-inte- rest. When the northern States emancipated their slaves. !:' if! !I i tihle with the most fraternal regard to the best good of those servants whom God may have committed to our charge." Synod of Virginia. Resolved unanimously — *' That we consider the dogma fiercely promul- gated by said associations, that slavery, as it exists in our slave-holding states, is necessarily sinful, and ought to be immediately abolisiicd, and the conclusions which naturally follow from that dogma, as directly and palpably contrary to the plainest principles of common sense and common humanity, and to the clearest authority of the word of God." Harriet Martineau says, (vol. ii., p. 319, American edition,) " Of the Presbyterian as well as other clergy of the south, some are even planters, superintending the toils of their slaves, and making purchases, or effecting sales in the slave markets during the week, and preaching on Sun- days whatever they can devise that is least contradictory to their daily practice." As it seems to be admitted on all hands that the south- ern states of the Union cannot be cultivated except by negro labor ; and if this can only be obtained by the bondage of the labourer, it seems doubtful how far we are justified in converting smiling provinces into a howling wilderness, for the mere purpose of gratifying a mock sentimentality, which has proved so injurious elsewhere. Undoubtedly, stringent laws must be passed for the pro- tection of the slave, against being maltreated, and this, so far as practicable, has been done, though, of course, if masters or overseers are disposed to be tyrannical, it is impossible to provide against every contingency. And if slaves were to reflect on the trratment which the free p 2 M rl p ;54() NORTH AMERICA. It,' ■t-^ I Hi M negroes have to undergo, they would come to the conclu- sion that they had better remain as they are, though there would, no doubt, be great difficulty in convincing them of this. Tiieir labor in general, ih extremely light, the only severe labor they have to undergo, lasting but nine or ten weeks the year, called " hurrying times," when engaged at in j)icking the cotton, and extracting the sugar from the sugar-cane by boiling, &c. The hurrying time in cotton growing is the picking season, which lasts from the end of September till the middle of December. * The negro does not repine, he is not a student of Cicero ; what he wants is simply to be well-fed and well-treated, which in nineteen cases our of twenty, (were it only for the owner's interest,) he will be found to be. The food of the slaves consists in general, of weekly rations of ten quarts of maize or Indian corn meal, and live pounds of pork or bacon, and also an allowance of molasses. Some make use of salt fish instead of pork, but this is generally thought objectionable, on account of its tendency to create violent thirst. The negroes com- monly choose to receive their corn meal rather than its equivalent in bread, that they may cook it for themselves and convert it into hominy, bread, or whatever they think I)roper. The cost of their annual maintenance may be estimated at 40 dollars ; and the very fact of their rapid multiplication, whilst those employed in the West Indies never kept up their numbers, clearly indicates a milder * The cotton slirub is an annual plant, growing to the height of 6 or 6 feet, and throwing oat a number of branches, on which form large and beautiful whitish-yellow blossoms. The process of picking commences in September, and is renewed from time to time as successive stages ripen and open. Children at 9 years of age can be employed to advantage in picking the cotton, and a negro will pick 60 pounds in a day. The quantity of cotton produced on an acre varies from 600 to 1200 pounds, and 700 pounds may be considered an average crop. NORTH AMERICA 341 le conclu- lugh there em of this, nly severe ten weeks ngaged at from the ! in cotton n the end The negro ; what he , which in he owner's of weekly meal, and ilowance of d of pork, account of ^roes com- Br than its themselves they think ice may be their rapid /est Indies es a milder LMght of 5 or 6 orm large and commences in ;ages ripen and tage in picking he quantity of ands, and 700 trBvatment, though no doubt instances of great cruelty occasionally occur, which all respectable slave-owners re- probate, as much as the emancipists can do. When they sell children they occasionally do it by weight, and in advertising for slaves who have run oi\\ they frequently mention their weight also. The follow- ing is an instance of this, taken from among the adver- tisements for the capture of run-away slaves, wliich ap- peared in the " New Orleans fVeekli/ Delta' of (Jtii October 1851 :— $bO REWARD. " Ran away or was stolen from the subscriber, the negro boy Peter, aged 35, weighs 150 lbs. ; about 5 feet 8 inches high; black complexion ; stout built; teeth much decayed ; thumb and forefinger of one hand tlis- figured, and has little or no beard. The above reward will be paid for the thief and boy ; or $2b for the boy. "J. F. CBAwLty. Red River Landing. Had Peter, (who was a pretty old boy. being 35 years of age,) when caught, lost a few pounds or flesh, if weighed in the balance he must have been found wanting. At- tempts to escape are, however, more frequent in the breeding than in the using States ; and it is calculated that over the whole of the slave states, one-thirtieth part of the slave population consists of negroes who have attempted to run away some time or other. The following advertisement of an auction of slaves appeared in the same Journal of 18th April 1850, and ir will be observed that they always say *' at auction," in- stead of " by auction," as we do in this country. SLAVES! SLAVES I!— WITHOUT RESERVE. By J. A. Beard, Auctioneer. This day, 18th instant, at 12 o'clock, will be sold at auction, at Ufink's Arcade, without reserve — fi '■ ^ ■; -\ 342 NORTH AMERICA. Ist, The negress Fjsdy, aged 30 years, an excellent cook, washer, and ironer, and one of the most confidential servants in the south ; a grifTe woman and her child, 9 years, an intelligent girl, fully guarantied against the vices and maladies prescribed by law. 2d, The negress Lucv, aged 30 years, a good field hand, and her child, 1 year old, fully guarantied against the vices and maladies prescribed by law. , ' Terms — Nine months' credit, for a note endorsed to the satisfaction of the vendor, bearing interest of 6 per cent, per annum. 55 I New Orleans is frequently called the *' Crescent city," from its being built along a curve on the left bank of the Mississippi, and those streets which follow the river make a curve also, somewhat in the form of a crescent. New Orleans has several particular races in it, speak- ing different languages, many of them Spanish, and living in separate parts of the town. One class speak French, have French manners, French-built houses, French hotels, and French names to their streets. Another class in- variably speak English, and are either from England, or originally of English families. Then they have the work- ing black population (or slaves) of the African race. Most of them are quite black, with the flat nose, thick lip, and the woolly hair peculiar to this people. The climate agrees with them, and they invariably look line, healthy, happy, strong creatures. The*' are all born in America, but of real African blood. Many are sold there every day — sometimes hundreds change hands in a few hours. To a Briton the sight is of course at first some- what repulsive, but from being so common an occurrence it produces as little sensation among the Americans as a sale of cattle ; and the sobs, and the tears, and the cries of a mother bewailing the loss of a child, are no more regarded than the lowing of a cow for the calf that is carried off to be fattened for the butcher. I i NORTH AMERICA. washer, and uth ; a griffo ntied against ind her child, »rescribed bv latisfaction of cent city," ank of the river make It. it, speak- and living ik French, nch hotels, r class in- ngland, or the work- •ican race, lose, thick pie. The look fine, all born in sold there in a few irst some- accurrence icaus as a e cries of a e regarded ried off to 34;i When a young man is called up on the auction-plat- form, he looks about him, and does not appear to care much. Perhaps he may not have been very well pleased with his late master, and thinks he may get a better. " Come along, my fine young fellow ! " says Mr Beard, a short, thick man, with a red face — the best auctioneer there. "That's it! Why, my friends, you can see at once that he is as powerful as an elephant, and as active and quick as an Arabian. What's your name, my fine fellow ?" '• Samson, sir." (They have seldom any surname.) '• Now, gentlemen, how much shall I say for this fine-grown, healthy, powerful young man, Samson ? Excellent name for him — descriptive of his qualities. Now, gentlemen, give me a bid — a bid — a bid!' * 500 dollars.' * Thank you — 500 dollars only is bid for one of the finest men I ever sold. Youth, health, power, and character all in his favour. I assure you, gentlemen, that he is worth 1200 dollars at this present moment, l^ook at his build, limbs, chest, carriage ! 600 dollars now bid — 600 — 600—600 ! Double it, my friends ; come— come I' • 650.' ' Thank you ; 650—660 I ' •7oO,' 'Now, that is more creditable, lam happy to see gentlemen that you begin to warm a little. ' 800.' ' 800 bid ; 900—900 ; now, my fritnds ! Gijntlemen, you will never have such a chance again — only 900! 900 once —900 twice 1' •950— '960.' '960!' • 1000' ' Now, gentlemen, 1000 only is bid for this valuable, splendid young man, free from all blemish, Jhease, or vice, as prescribed by law. Now, gentlemen, are you all done !' I ' I:.- 344 NORTH AMERICA. ■'i I, si w r; |l ; ! ^0 il if. It 1 1000 once — lOOO twice—lOOO tliHcel Mr Jefferson, he's yours! Samson, there's your mnster ! and poor Samson is led away to ill usugo or to kind treatment, just as it may happen." This sum was L.200, a dollar boinj; eeiiorally calculated there at four shillings. Girls and young women are sold in the same way. ' Come up Lucy I Now, gentlemen, here we have a fine specimen of everything desirable in a good servant — young, healthy, active, and Indus- trisus ; can cook, wash, iron, wait ut tiihle. In fact, she is highly recom- mended to our attention, and is guaranteed free from all blemish, disease, or vice, as prescribed by law.' Poor Lucy was knocked down at 600 dollars — L.I 20. These were both high prices. The men under thirty years generally sell fur about L.I 40 to L. ItiO, and the women under thirty, from L.60 to L.90. When above forty they are not worth more than half that price. Such persons as the above do not care much about being sold. They are generally purchased, or at least many of them, by persons who hire them out as servants to families ; and many of them have good places, and may get hired out to go to the same street, or near to where they were before. But a very different feeling is mani- fested at a sale of slaves belonging to a plantation. Their old master, always kind to them, may have died, or failed ; and to see fifty or sixty of the slaves brought i.o auction is a painful scene. All of them, old and young, may have been born on the same estate, and become en- deared to one another. They think of the happy planta- tions, the snug little wooden whitewashed cottages sur- rounding their master's dwelling and garden, the summer- evening meetings, when they played the banjo, sung their native songs, and danced their cheering reels with light feet and lighter hearts ; for a negro with a good master is extremely happy ; being clothed, fed, comfortably housed, and well cared for. But now they are all about to be sold, and torn from each other. They are standing in rows in the auction mart, ready for any rude hand to examine them, feel their muscle, criticise their shape, their height, sura! Samiion, ugc or to kind there at four e specimen of ive, and indua- liighljr recom- L'niisli, disease, down at COO 1 under thirty n under thirty, more than half nuch about or at least as servants s, and may ir to where ig is mani- plantation. have died, brought to nd young, |)ecome en- py planta- tages sur- 6 summer- sung their with light master is ly housed, to be sold, in rows in ) examine ;ir height. NORTH AMERICA. :Hr> their strength, or healthy appearance, and, opening their mouths with finger and thumb, inspect their teeth. A raiddle-aged man and woman may be seen standing together; moist are their eyes, anxiously they gaze anuuid them — they are the picture of helplessness. They kn<»w the awful doom of separation that may be pronounced iii ten minutes between them and the handsome family that cluster around them ; but that doom thev cannot alter or control. The sons and daughters, old enough to kdow what awaits them, press close together, with full eyes and still fuller hearts ; while the yoimg favourites, are rejoicing, in perfect innocence, in the clothes which they are decked out in for the day, to enhance their appearance and their value ; and they gaze with pleasurable amusement at the novelties of the scene, like a child at the pageantry of a fmieral — the trappings of the horses, and the pliitnes (»n the hearse that bears to the grave the remains (tt a parent. They are at length called up; and alrliough husband and wife go together, and are seldom separated, the children are all taken from them, and sold into different districts ; and as the mother tries to look at their retreating figures through eyes blinded with tears, i^he knows that in a few years they are probably fated ui their turn to endure the same agony — " And thou, my son. yet have a son foredoom'd a slave to be, Whose mother, too, must weep o'er him the tears I weep o'er thee ! " Removal at mature age or in early life, from one's parents, kindred, and companions, and separation from the scenes of childhood, though often painful events, are unfortunately not peculiar to the American slave. They are the lot of the European emigrant, who seeks ui the new world an asylum from the oppression and poverty of the old, and they are voluntarily encountered by a large portion of the enterprising youth of the British Isks, who I! i||i •>l (.•! ni ■' i ir 34f) NOllTII AMERICA. leave their country, their kindred, and their father's house for a settlement in the western wilderness. These, indeed, arc all animated by the hope that their circumstances in life m.ay be improved by their removal ; but the slave too may be animated by the same hope, for slavery like free- dom, has its different degrees of joy and sorrow, of fear and hope, of pleasure and pain. NORTH AMI.IUCA. .14; thcr's house esc, indeed, instances in he slave too ry like frec- ow, of four CHAPTER XIX. Now Orleans — Hloody Victury ovor the Ih-itUii in its vlciiiit)— Tiie Ktiiporor Napoleon's Account of the Hnttle of Wnlurloo — (ieiieral Jikeksou'ii rrui'lainntion — Anecdote of General Washington and an Indian Chief — Petition from a lied Indian to the Councils of South Carolina— Climate oi N'e'v Orleans — The Ship of Death — Punishmi-nt of Slaves — Prince Achilla IMurat's description of a Slave Plantation — Testimony bornt3 to their humane treatment by Captain Barclay of Cry — Mr Ouckinglium — Lad\ E. S. Wortley — Harriet Martincau — Sir Charles l^yell — The IJritish Con- suls in America — and Mrs Houstoun. New Orleans was founded in 1717, under the Regency of the Duke of Orleans, and was named after him. It stands on the east or left bank of the Mississippi, which is there scarcely a mile wide, continuing of an average width of about a mile, as far up as its junction with the Missouri. New Orleans is situated 105 miles from its entrance into the Gulf of Mexico. In 1787, it contained 1100 houses, of which 950 were consumed by tire in 1788. The shipping extends along the " Levee," as it is; called, not less than 5 miles parallel with the river, and the space betwixt the river and warehouses being at one part 300 feet wide, is covered with whole acres of bales of cotton, casks of sugar, and provisions, tobacco, and mountains of bags of corn. It has had a rapid rise, as, in 1800, there were only GOOO inhabitants, whereas now there are no less than 150,000 in the unhealthy, and 200,000 in the healthy season. r ',: m:ir w^ 348 NORTH AMERICA. ^'' Mi * New Orleans is the capital of the State of Louisiana, so named in 1683 by a Frenchman, in honor of his Kin^', Louis XIV. It would probably by this time have been the first commercial city in the Union, had it not been in general so unhealthy at the fall of the year. Both that State, with the lower parts of Virginia, east of the Alleghany range, including most parts of N. and S. Carolina, are all more or less subject to malaria, which may be defined a fluid of air or vapour of the most pesti- lential quality, which issues from the cracks in the ground occasioned by the droughts and great heat at the end of summer, which becomes more dangerous after the crops are cut down, as when standing, they have the effect of consuming it when it rises. All the white inhabitants, therefore, who can, move off during these months, though of course all the professional people are obliged to remain. The malaria is productive of fevers and ague ; the yellow fever being the most prevalent, and the most fatal. In the sugar plantations of Louisiana, it requires about 20 slaves for every 100 acres of sugar-cane land. New Orleans is celebrated for duels. In 1834 there were no less than 365, or one for every day in the year ; 15 having been fought on one Sunday morning. In 1835 there were 102 duels fought in that city, betwixt the 1st of January and end of April. The duels are almost in- variably between boys, or young lads, for frivolous causes. Those who fight the most frequently and fatally, are the French Creoles, who use small swords. New Orleans is 1644 miles from New York by the shortest route. It is celebrated amongst other things for the bloody battle that was fought five miles below it during the last American war, where General Jackson acquired so much fame. This battle was fought on 8th January 1815. The American force consisted of only '" A'ORTH AMERICA. 349 Louisiana, f his King, have been lot been in Both that ast of the S. and S. aria, which most pesti- the ground the end of r the crops le effect of nhabitants, ths, though 1 to remain. the yellow ; fatal. In ;s about 20 1834 there the year ; In 1835 ixt the 1st almost in- frivolous ently and words, rk by the her things es below it Jackson ht on 8th id of only il 3700, whilst that of the British was 8000. Jackson posted the main body of his army behind a breast-work extend- ing about 1000 yards, with the right resting on the Mississippi, and the left on a cypress swamp, almost im- penetrable, having previously cut a shallow ditch in front of his line across the field, from the river to the swamp. The breast- work was raised and strengthened by huge bales of cotton, brought from New Orleans, and behind which the Americans were so much protected, that the British when they came to the attack, were mowed down like stubble. During the short space of only one hour after the battle began, it was all over. The British com- mander-in-chief was killed, 700 of his brave soldiers lay dead on the field of battle, 1400 were wounded, and 500 taken prisoners, in all 2G00, whilst the Americans had only 7 killed, and G wounded. Most of the English troops were veterans who had just been in the Peninsular war under Wellington, and it is said that the ^' atch-word of the day was " beauty and hootif" two words admirably calculated to rouse the passions, and captivate the hearts of British soldiers. They were excited not only by the hope of plunder when they reached the city, but because the dark-eyed beauties of Spain, whom they had lateiy left, were represented as not more attractive than the far-famed beauties of New Orleans. General Jackson in addressing his troops shortly after the battle, called them *' the Sriviours of their country, who had triumphed over the luvincibles of Wellington, and conquered the con- querors of Europe." The Emperor Napoleon used to call the Russians bar- barians, to whom every country was better than the one which gave them bii th. " When, '* he added," the Cossacks entered France, it was indifferent to them what women they violated, old or young were alike il;;^- 1 J V ; ■ Hi ' U 'i ::.: !■ i' li ■ III !' ')' 'I If 11; !i mm ' ^H i iiU . i ^ 350 XOHTII AMERICA. to them, as any were preferable to those they had left behind." When the Duke of Wellington was asked by George IV., then Prince Regent, what his opinion was of the Emperor Napoleon's mode of fighting the battle of Waterloo, his answer was, " that he fought his battle with the most consummate skill, perseverance, and bravery ; and if there could, by any possibility have been a fault, with, perhaps a little too much precipitation." That the Emperor Napoleon had not such a high re- spect for the Duke, as the Duke had for him, will ap- pear from the following extract from O'Meara's work, en- titled *' Napoleon in Exile, or a Voice from St Helena." Napoleon conversed a great deal about the battle of Waterloo. The plan of the battle, said he, will not, in the eyes of the historian, reflect much credit on Lord Wellington as a general. In the first place, he ought not to have given battle with the armies divided ; indeed, I could scarcely believe that he would have given me battle, because if he had retreated to Antwerp, as he ought to have done, I must have been overwhelmed by the armies of three or four hundred thousand men that were coming against me. By giving ine battle there was a chance for me. The English and Prussiaii armies should have been united before the 15th, as he must have known that I intended to attack him. Moreover, it was folly in him to give na- battle where, if defeated, all must have been lost, for he could not retteat, as there w^as a forest in his rear, and only one road to gain it. To effect a retreat well, it is necessary to have several roads by which an army can retire in large bodies, and with celerity, and also be able to defend them- selves if attacked. It would have required twelve hours, without being molested, to enable Wellington's army to have got into the forest. The confusion of a beaten army attempting to retreat by one road, would have been such as to cause its total destruction when attacked. lie also com- mitted a great fault, which might have proved the destruction of all iiis army, without its ever having commenced the campaign, or being drawn out in battle ; he allowed himself to be Fuvprised. On the ]Sth I was at Charleroi, and had beaten the Prussians without his knowing any thing about it. I had gained forty-eight hours of mananivres upon him, which was a great object ; and if some of my generals had showed that vigour and genius which they had displayed in other times, I should have taken his NORTH AMERICA. :J;> I ?y had left by George was of the battle of battle with d bravery ; en a fault, a high re- in, will ap- 3 work, en- t Helena." "aterloo. The itorian, reflect )lace, he ought could scarcely 1(1 retreated to helmed by the ing against me. h and PrusRian t have knoivn m to give me d not retieat, To effect a an army can defend them- without being forest. The i, would have lie also coni- tion of all his being drawn ]5th I was at ing any thing n him, wliich hat vigour and ave taken his army in cantonments, without ever fighting a battle. I3ut they were di>- .couraged, and fancied that they saw an army of a hundred thousand men every where opposed to them. I had not time enough myself to attend to the minutim of the army. I counted upon surprising and cutting (hem up in detail. I knew of Bulow's arrival at eleven o'clock, but I did not re- gard it. I had still eighty chances out of a handred in my favour Not- withstanding the superiority of force against mu, I was convinced that I should obtain the victory. I had about seventy thousand men, of whom fifteen thousand were cavalry. I had also two hundred and fifty pieces of cannon, and Bulow had thirty thousand, making a hundred and twenty thousand. Of all those troops, however, I only reckoned the English as being able to cope with my own ; the others I thought little of. 1 believe that of English there were from thirty-five to forty thousand. These I esteemed to be as brave and as good as my own troops ; the English army was well known latterly on the continent, and besides, your nation possesses cour- age and energy. As to the Prussians, Belgians, and others, half the number of my troops were sufficient to beat them. I only left thirty-four thousand men to take care of the Prussians. The chief causes of the loss of that battle were, first of all, Grouchy's great tardiness and neglect in executing his orders ; next, the yrenadiers ti chetul and the cavalry under (Jenera! Guyot, which I had in reserve, and which were never to leave me, engaged without orders and without my knowledge ; so that after the last charge, when the troops were beaten, and the English cavalry advanced, I had not a single corps of cavalry in reserve to resist them, instead of oi'e which I esteemed to be equal to double their own number. In consequence of this the English attack succeeded, and all was lost. There was no means of rallying. The youngest general would not have committed the fault of leaving an army entirely without reserve, which however occurred here, whether in conse(|uence of treason, or not, T cannot say. These were the two principal causes of the loss of the battle of AVaterloo. Wellington owes his victory more to the firmness and bravery of his troops, and to the arrival of the Prussians in the evening, than to his own conduct as a general. Ik- is, however, I believe, a man of great firmness, and the glory of sutli a victory is a great thing. General Jackson was afterwards made President of the United States, and died on the 8th of June 1845, in the 79th year of his age. He was descended from a Scotch family, who emigrated to the north of Ireland at a very remote period. His father, Andrew Jackson, after whom *■ -, 'J • If I 352 NORTH AMERICA. I r ;'J ■ 11 I.- V \i il : I i'i II he was named, having suffered much from the oppres- sion exercised at that time by the nobility of Ireland over the laboring poor, resolved to emigrate with his wife and family to America. He landed in 1765, at Charleston, in South Carolina, and afterwards pur- chased a tract of land, 45 miles above Camden, and near the boundary line of North Carolina, where he settled with his family. His son Andrew was born on the 15th day of March 17G7, about two years subsequent to the arrival of his parents in that country. His first military exploits were among the Creeks, and other Indian tribes in the southern parts of the. Union, chiefly in the States of Tennessee and Florida, who were very numerous and remarkably savage, murdering every one, sparing neither age nor sex. It is the custom among all savages when they begin a battle, to endeavour to in- spire the enemy with terror, by means of grim visages and hideous yells — and these have often produced a panic even amongst the bravest of men. At the horrible massacre at Wairoa, New Zealand, in the year 1843, when 22 of the British were killed by the New Zealanders, the hideous yells which the savages set up at the commence- ment of the contest, was the chief cause of so many of :/Ur countrymen taking flight ; thus leaving the': comrades to the mercy of the savages, who first tomjhawked all the wounded, and then massacred the nine who had sur- rendered, in the same way. They said that it was their custom, after a fight, to kill the chief men of their enemies. Had our countrymen been aware of this singular custom, they would probably have fought a little longer, as it would have been better to have fallen in battle, than been brained one after another by Rangihaiata's tomahawk. General Jackson, knowing the powerful effects of these yells, issued the following proclamation in the year 1813, NORTH AMERICA. 333 before one of his celebrated victories over the Creeks, and other hostile Indians, where out of 1080 they lost 600 killed, whilst his loss was only 15 killed and 80 wounded. Great reliance will he placed hy the enemy on the constornafion they may he ahle to siJi'ead through our ranks hy the hideous yells with which they commence their battles ; hut hrave men will laugh at such efforts to alarm them. It is not by bellowings and screams that the wounds of death are inflicted. Y^ou will teach these noisy assailants how weak are their \\ ciiiions of warfare, by opposinj^ them with the bayonet. AVhat Indian ever with- stood its charge ? What army of any nation ever withstood it long ? A Sunday-school teaciier once asked a cliild, "• Who killed Abel," '• General Jackson." Another inquired of a scholar, *' In what state were mankind left after the fall ?" " In the State of Vermont." The British have often suffered dreadfully from the Indians in America. In 1755, when General Braddock, who was sent with an army from England to expel the French from the Central States of America, was pro- ceeding through Virginia with a part of his army, con- sisting of 1200 men, to attack Fort du Quesne, where Pittsburg in Pennsylvania now stands, he was attacked when not far from the fort, in a narrow valley with high rocks on both sides, by the Indians, in alliance with the French, who had secreted themselves behind trees, rocks, and thickets, from which, unperceived, they shot down our men like so many squirrels. The Briti.sh soldiers were thio>vn into a panic by the wild and hideous yells proceeding from the rocky sides of the valley, and at the same instant hundreds of muskets flashed from the hiding places of the enemy. They did not come out in regular platoons to be fired at, as Braddock foolishly ex- pected, but remained in their covers, shooting down the British soldiers hke a herd of deer. One by one they ill 354 NORTH AMERICA. If Ji' ' r,: if were shot down, and Braddock himself at length fell. The British soldiers then fled in dismay. Washington, though then only 23 years of age, with his Virginia troops sheltered the flying army from the French and Indians who pursued them ; and but for him the whole of the British troops would have been massacred ; as it was, 600 of them perished in this inglorious manner. Braddock was warned of his danger, but though brave, he was a rash and head-strong man, and had he not fallen himself, would in all probability have been brought before a court-martiaL Some of the Indian tribes joined the French and others the British party on this occasion. Many of their cus- toms are peculiar. They consider it the greatest mark of hospitality they can shew to a guest to offer him their wives, sisters, or servants, according to the estimation in which they hold him. About 30 years after the fatal expe- dition with the British army under General Braddock, General Washington invited an old Indian chief, who formed part of the detachment which he had saved, to dine with him at Mount Vernon. After the repast, the chief intimated signs of disappointment. When Wash- ington inquired by the interpreter the cause of his chagrin, the savage stood erect and told his host that many years ago when he was in the Indian castle, he, the chief, had offered him the embraces of his squaw, (wife) and that he was surprised that the General had not returned his civi- lity by a similar offer of Mrs Washington. The General got the savage at last appeased, by answering that it was not from any disrespect towards him, but that it was not the custom of his country. Mrs Washington express- ed great gratitude for this deliverance, as she had the candor to confess that she preferred the embraces of her own General to those of an Indian chief. In 1 829 a party of Indians at Alexandria, in the State tl n c c !:S !' !■ ri length fell. Washington, ginia troops ind Indians hole of the as it was, Braddock e was a rash nself, would >urt-martiaL h and others f their cus- eatest mark 3r him their stimation in e fatal expe- l Braddock, chief, who id saved, to repast, the hen Wash- his chagrin, many yearss chief, had and that he led his civi- he General that it was t it was not on express- he had the aces of her in the State NORTH AMERICA. :]5r) of Louisiana, having indulged in a drunken frolic, one of them was slain by another in the street. In cases of murder, the law among the Indians places the fate of the criminal at the disposal of the nearest relative of the de- ceased, and an attempt to escape is never heard of. On the day following, the offending Indian exhibited himself in various parts of the town, and conversed composedly respecting his execution, with the utmost indifference to his fate. He afterwards went to the place fixed upon for the scene of slaughter, a large body of the citizens of Alexandria being present. Death was to have been in- flicted by shooting, but after many endeavours, no gun could be procured, and the victim, impatient of delay, threatened, if he was not immediately punished, to leave the ground. Upon this, the brother of the deceased ad- vanced upon him with a spade, prostrated him, and split his skull with the blow. Whenever the Indians scalp, they seize the head of the disabled or dead enemy, and placing one of their feet on the neck, twist their left hand in the hair, by which means they extend the skin that covers the top of the head, and with the other hand draw from their breast their scalping knife, which is always kept in good order for this cruel purpose, and with a few dexterous strokes, take off the part that is termed the scalp. In 1757, when Colonel Munroe was obliged to sur- render Fort William- Henry, on lake George, to the French General Montcalm, who appeared before it with an army of 10,000 French and Indians; Montcalm, at the capitulation promised to protect the garrison, consisting of 3000 English troops, from the savages, but this he either did not, or could not do. They first fell upon the sick, whom they killed and plundered. Then they surrounded the dis- armed English soldiers whe had no means of defence. k-fe I ■ f ^:-:: 356 NORTH AMERICA. There were several thousands of the savages, and they now filled the air with their horrid yells. They struck down the English with their tomahawks, and tore the reeking scalps from their heads. Not less than a thousand of the British soldiers were thus slaughtered, or carried captives into the wilderness. General Montcalm after- wards fell along with General Wolfe, at the celebrated, battle of Abraliam Plains, at Quebec. Some of the Indian tribes joined the Americans during the revolutionary war. About half a century after the war was ended, an aged member of one of these tribes sent the following petition to the councils of South Caro- lina, which is couched in the simple and beautifully figura- tive language of savage life : — T am one of the lingering embers of an almost extinguished race ; our graves will soon be our habitations. I am one of the few stalks that still remain in the field when the tempest of the revolution is past. I fought against the British for your sake. The British have disappeared, and you are free. Yet from me the British took nothing ; nor have 1 gained any thing by their defeat. I pursue the doer for my subsistence ; the deer are disappearing, and I must starve. God ordained me for the forest, and my habitation is the shade ; but the strength of my arm decays, and my feet fail in the chacc. The hand which fought for your liberty is now open for your relief. In my youth I bled in battle, that you mi^ht be independent. Let not my heart in my old age bleed for the want of your commiseration. The population of New Orleans which in 1810, was only 25,000, is now 200,000. Tiie /Vfrican race consti- tute about one-half of the population, but of these not above one-sixth are free blacks ; not less than two- fifths of the whole population of New Orleans being still held in bondage. The business season lasts from Nov- ember till July, after which one-fourth of the population, or in other words, one half of the white population (esti- mated at 100,000), disperse themselves through the north NORTH AMERICA. 3;37 s, and they rhcy struck lid tore the 1 a thousand , or carried tcalm after- 3 celebrated icans during ry after the these tribes South Caro- ifuUy figura- isbed race ; our stalks that still past. I fought )eared, and you ve 1 gained any e ; the deer are forest, and my ys, and my feet is now open for be independent. commiseration. I 1810, was race consti- )f these not than two- s being still from Nov- ) population, ilation (esti- h the north and west for health and pleasure. Indeed, few enjoy good health, without the northern reviving excursion. Of the resident white population, a great part are Creoles, that is, persons of European descent, born in America. Thus there are in New Orleans, French Creoles, Spanish Creoles, &c. The Creole women are of a brunette cotnplexion, have large black eyes, full of languor and expression ; jet-black glossy hair ; line lips and teeth ; and countenan(*es beam- ing with amiability and tenderness. French and S[)anish are the languages chicily spoken among them, though they all understand Knglish. Quadroons are si called from being of the class of coloured females, with the smallest mixture of African blood ; as they are suj)posed to be four removes from the j)ure African. The cpuidroon girls of New Orleans are i)rought up by their mothers, to be what they have been, the mistresses of white gentlemen. A mulatto is of mixed European and African blood, and is the first remove formed by a white father and black mother, and called mulattoes. The next remove called brown or yellow, as either shade predominates, is the offspring of a white father and mulatto mother. The third remove are called meztisoes, and the fourth, or the (juadroons, furnish some of the most beautiful w omen that can be seen. There is no danger from fever for a stranger remaining in New Orleans, until the middle of July. The Creoles remain all the year round, and the Americans who are acclimated by one or two summers, stay without danger ; whilst the medical men, the clergy, the public officers of government, and the great bulk of the inhabitants are stationary throughout the year. New Orleans is indeed much healthier than is generally |f1 358 NOIITII AMERICA. !. UL i. I I s supposed, as the annual mortality is only 8000, in a popu- lation of 200,000, or four per cent. And whilst in Boston there is only one person in 01,372, who attains 100 years of age, and in New York one in 1,570, in New Orleans there is one in 997. It is calculated that about 1000 strangers die every year in New Orleans, in passing through the acclimating process. It is rather an expensive place to live in, and is no\\', from the greater attention paid to sewerage and cleanliness, much more healthy than it was. Indeed at one time it was called the *' wet grave." In a charity sermon preached some years ago by the Rev. Mr Clapp, he said, '* That he had resided twenty years in New Orleans, and during that time had witnessed eleven epidemic yellow fever years, and two cholera — each epi- demic carrying away to a sudden grave, never less than three thousand beings, and often five thousand. Within that twenty years, one hundred thousand human beings had found a grave in New Orleans, and of that immense host, twenty-five thousand were young men between the ages of eighteen and twenty years, each one the repre- sentative of a distant family, with whose fate that family was connected, rising when he rose, and with his fall sinking hopelessly and for ever." Time, like an ever rolling stream, Bears all its sons away ; They fly, forgotten, as a dream Dies at the op'ning day. During some years they have little or no fever, but in others the ship of death may be said to cast anchor for a time on the banks of their noble stream ; and I cannot do better than insert here the following beautiful odo addressed to that ship which appeared not long ago in a NORTH AMKIircA. 3.'0 , 111 a popu- bt in Boston IS 100 years ew Orleans s die every acclimating ve in, and is iwerage and Indeed at ) by the Rev. jnty years in essed eleven El — each epi- 9er less than nd. Within uman beings hat immense between the the repre- that family ith his fall [ever, but in anchor for ind I cannot eautiful ode )ng ago in a New Orleans newspaper, which was politely handed to me by my friend Mr Giles. THE SHIP OF DKATII. I3y the gliorc of lime now l^ing, On the inky Hood benuath, Patiently, thou soul undying', Waits for thee — the nhip of death. He who on that vessel starleth, Sailing from the sons of men, To the friends from wliom he partotli, Never more returns again. From her mast no flag is flying, To denote from whence she came, She is known unto the dying, Azeal is her captain's name. Not a word was ever spoken On that dark unfathomed sea, Silence there is, so unbroken, She herself seems not to bo. Silent thus in darkness lonely, Doth the soul put forth alone, WhiUt the wings of angels only Waft her to a land unknown. Though the treatment of the slaves in the United State? be for the most part considerate and humane, yet they are of course unable to dispense with the whip. The planters, by providing them with all the necessaries of life, have left them few or no natural wants, and consequently no natural incentive to labor ; and therefore, the whip must be employed to stimulate the few who are idle and re- fractory, though most of them get through their daily task without any application of this unfortunate though indispensable instrument. In this country I hire a man to work for me, he neglects i^;S^"' ' IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 I.I UiMlB 12.5 |50 ""^^ IHn^^P ""IS 2.0 - J^ ^ m u 1.8 1.25 1.4 J4 4 6 ► m > > / y^ '^ / Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716) 872-4503 U.A fl'-' '^M K'l . '. f « 5 • m vs; ■Jk 5 , . ,. HT 360 NORTH AMERICA. his work, and 1 discharge him ; but I cannot so act with my negroes, and am consequently compelled to have re- course to punishment. On the larger plantations, when some hundreds of them are collected together, a disci- pline and police regnlations more or less severe, are abso- lutely necessary, without which all would soon be des- troyed or stolen. The Americans in the slave states are apt to say " Labor 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 the alternative of corporal punishment ; for, whether he works or not, he must always be fed and clothed." Mr Taylor, who had been long in Jamaica, was examined at great length before the committee of the House of Lords, on this point in 1832, and his evidence goes to shew, that in the state of society at that time in Jamaica, cruelty was an essential ingredient in order to produce an adequate return of work, and that, " to carry on the system profit- ably, we must, in truth, throw humanity and religion away." He makes mention of several estates where they had abolished the whip, but the planters all told him that the slaves would not work diligently; whilst on the ad- joining estates, where the whip was in operation, the work went on prosperously. He is then asked, '* do you consider it possible, whilst slavery exists, to obtain a suffi- ciency of labor, by a principle of humane treatment, to the exclusion of all coercion ?" Answer, " No ; I do not think it could be. From receiving no remuneration, and having no rational stimulus to labor, they are only compelled to do so by coercive measures. The indolent way in which they perform their work in the field, I ascribe to the knowledge they have, that they must be fed, and clothed, and housed, whether they work or not. The whip then becomes the only motive to exertion, and NORTH AMERICA. 361 SO act with to have re- itions, when ler, a disci- re, are abso- 3011 be des- /e states are pe as here ; the alterna- ile, has the whether he hed." ^as examined use of Lords, ;o shew, that , cruelty was an adequate lystem profit- and religion s where they old him that t on the ad- oration, the jd, '* do you tain a suffi- ment, to the I do not rauneration, ey are only he indolent the field, I ley must be ork or not. ertion, and if that is not kept in operation, they cease to labor." In the British colony of Demerara, where the number of slaves in the year 1831, (prior to emancipation), was 58,404, the number of lashes inflicted during that year amounted to 199,507. Almost all the witnesses examined seemed, however, to be of opinion, that if they were emancipated, and thrown upon their own resources, they would labor with sufficient diligence, but the event has proved that in a great measure at least, they have been mistaken. That the punishment, however, of the whip, is occasion- ally rather unmercifully applied to the predial, or planta- tion, though seldom to the domestic slaves in the United States, will appear from the following specimens of the advertisements of runaway and captured slaves, which fill the columns of the slave state newspapers : — " Ten dollars reward," says Mr Robert Nicoll of Mobile, Alabama, "for my woman Siby, very much scarred about the neck and ears by whipping." " Committed to jail," says Mr John H. Hand, a jailer in Louisiana, " a negro boy named John, about seventeen jears old; his back badly scarred with the whip, his upper lip and chin severely bruised." " Ran away from the plantation of James Surgette, the following negroes: — Randal, has one ear cropped; Bob, has lost an eye ; Kentucky Tom, has one jaw broken." " Ran away," says Mr Walter English of Alabama, " my slave Lewis ; he has lost a piece of one ear, and a part of one of his fingers ; a part of one of his toes is also lost." " Ran away," says Mr Samuel Rawlins of Georgia, " a negro man and his wife, named Nat and Priscilla ; he has a small scar on his left cheek, two stiff fingers on his right hanu, with a running sore on them ; his wife has a scar on her left arm, and one upper tooth out." *' Ran away," says Mr J. Bishop of South Carolina, " a negro named Arthur ; has a considerable scar across his breast and each arm, made by a knife ; loves much to talk of the goodness of God." The late Prince Achille Murat was the eldest son of 302 NORTH AMERrc^A. §1 W- -•ilJ the bravo though unfortunate king of Naplca, who was shot on 13th October 1815. Havhig been obliged to fly for safety after his father's execution, he landed at I^iver- pool ill the disguise of a sailor boy, having worked his j)assage before the mast After a short residence in Belgium, he proceeded ultimately to the United States of America, where he lived for ten years in the Southern States, and left a work on that country, which was trans- lated from the French, and published in 1849, at New York, where I fortunately procured a copy. It is dedi- cated by the translator to his present Majesty Leopold, King of the Belgians, as the king was much attached to tlie Prince, from his having served for a short time in the Belgian army, ])Yior to his going to America. The following is the simple and concise description which tlie Prince gives of a plantation in the southern slave states of the Union. "i!( "A well regulated plantation is truly a most interesting spectacle ; all prospers and is governed in the most perfect order. Each negro has house, and the houses are generally built in regular lines ; he has his o^^n pi ullry and pi^s; cultivates his Tegetaliles, and sells them in the niaiket. At pun-rise the sound of the horn calls him to labor, while each has iiis al- lotted task in proportion to his physical strength. In general the tatk is tinis^heil between 3 and 4 o'clock in the afternoon, allowing him ample time lor (iiiiner about noon. The tas-k over, no further service is required of biia; he either cultivates his garden, hires himself out to his master for »'xtr;i labor, or takes a stroll to visit his wife or mistress on some adjoining plantation. On Sundays he attires himself in his holiday suit, and goes to looeive his weekly allowances, and employs the remainder of the day as it inij please him. The duty of the manager is to give each his morning task, ,ii,d ill the evening to see that it is properly done ; while the proprietor III >ui;ts his horse, makes a tour in the plantations, and gives the necessary orders. All these are performed with the regularity of regimental duty ; ai.J I have myself seen six months pass without one word of censure being * aii> il for. Sometimes however, it happens, there occur disputes and thefts rarc!it contempt — and any one who has seen and watched the degraded state to wliich idleness, among other causes, has reduced the free nejjro, must be at once convinced of the groat mora/ advantage which the habit and necessity of employment gives to the workiny black over the free negro. I am now satisfied that, on the Mississippi at least, the slaves are iilmost invariably treated with kindness, and that severity is very rarely practised towards them. When the contrary is the case, it is the exception to the general rule, and is almost invariably the fault of the overseers, and only occurs in the absence of the proprietors. It will surprise no one possessed of the slightest knowledge of human nature, to hear that the blacks them- selves are by far the most cruel and exacting slave-ma:»ters. At a very short distance from Mr M 's, and on the other side of the river, is a large plantation owned by a black man who was formerly himself a slave, and who now treats one hundred of his kind with a tyranny and want of feeling which is proverbial in the neighbourhood. On Saturdays and Sundays the negroes are allowed to work for them- selves in their own gardens, or to lie all day long idly upon the grass, if too indolent to exert themselves. Some have pursued the more industrious course, the consequence of which is that they have always poultry and eggs in abundance, and not unfrcquently pigs to sell. Their produce is generally bought by their masters. And here, in justice to the Americans, I must state a fact which admits of no dispute — namely, that in every respect the condition of the neuro race in the United States is superior to that in which they are foun. .n Cuba, and also to that of the free blacks in the West Indies. I am aware that in England the opinion is very prevalent that slavery is injurious to the interests of the United States, and that its existence will probably lead at some future time to a dissolution of the Union. This opi- nion was at one time my own; but, since living in the country, I have taken quite another view of the case, and am convinced that slavery (jinfortunately , I must add) is not only the main source of the wealth of America, but that the nd vantages derived from it render the nortliern States and those of the south so dependent on each other, that a separation would be the ruin of 309 NORTH AMEIIICA. ;if , >)otli. Tho value of the annual produce raised by slave-labour may, at tbr very least, be estimated at thirty millions sterling, and tho indu»try and enterprise of the north, whether they bu engaged in manufactures, ship- ping, or commerce, must always find their most profitable market in the south. Does not this tend to prove that the emancipation of the slareu would be a severe and deadly blow to the general welfare and prosperity of the Union ? All my conclusions are, of course, drawn from the suppo- sition, or rather the conviction, that without slave-labour tho south vould not produce cotton, sugar, rice, or tobacco, for it is a fact generally ad- mitted (and, indeed, proved by experience), that the blacks, unless com- pelled to do so, will never work in a country where the liberal hand of nature, by supplying all their wants for a minimum of labour, would seem to offer a plea for, as well us a premium to indolence. Even though amoii^' tho mussea & few should be found willing to work, the price of their laboui would be of course so exorbitant, that it would render the culture of tin- ground totally unremunerative ; and that this would infallibly be the case is, I think, sufHciently proved by the present state of our possessions in tlit> West Indies, where, though the necessaries of life are not half so abundant as in the United States, it has been found impossible to induce the blacks to labour ; so that the prosperity of our colonies is at an end, and the con- dition of the blacks is certainly not improved by that which has cost the people of England so much public money, and caused in private life so much severe distress.'' Mrs H. then goes on to state that she considers tho domestic slaves as the least unhappy menials in the world. and very far from being so severely worked as most of the servants in free countries, and that the accounts of the atrocities committed in the plantations are greatly exag- gerated. It must not be forgotten that amongst those who would suifer most severely from the emancipation of the slaves, were such a measure to be carried into effect, would be those of our fellow-countrymen, amounting to three mil- lions, who are engaged in the manufacture and sale of cotton goods. It is now an acknowledged fact, that the necessary supply of the raw material, of the quality re- quired, can only be produced in the United States, and by slave labour. This supply Great Britain remunerates NORTH AMEUICA. 3r.f> jur may, at the le induitry and jfacturcs, ship- 3 market !n the )n of the slarea and prosperity Tom the auppo- the south would St generally ad- iks, unless com- liberal hand of ur, would seeni n though amon^' of their labour e culture of tin- ibly be the case )Sscssion9 in the lalf so abundant duce the blacks id, and the eon- ich has cost th« ate life so much )nsiders tho 1 the world, as most of ounts of the •eatly exag- who would the slaves, would be ) three mil- ind sale of t, that the quality re- itates, and emunerateb by the annual payment uf twentN milliuiis sterlliig, as tlie value of the raw cotton import' 1, and wo may, therefore, imagine how few persons there are througliout her Majesty's dominions, who do not indirectly encourage slavery by wearing about them tlic produce of negro toil. The institution of slavery is, in fact, infinitely more es^en- tial to Great Britain than to the United States. 370 NOIITII AMERICA. IV' I m t 1 ft I 1 1' m m:: ) ». 1 ' • ;l * 1 I,' 1; <-4.^ liiJI i ■ ; r i ; ; 1 CHAPTER XX. The Fugitive Slave Bill— Public Meeting at New York— The Abolitionisti* ill America — Insurrection of Slaves in Virginia in 1831— Horrible mas- itacro of the Whites— Capture and Execution of all the Insurgents — Nat. Turner's Confession— Authority of Scripture in favour of the legal- ity of the Fugitive Slave Bill— Reasons for not allowing Slaves (o he educated — Extent of Sexual intercourse on Slave Plantations—. The celebrated Scottish Chieftain, the Laird of MacNab. The Fugitive Slave Bill for facilitating the re-capture of slaves, which came into operation in 1 850, excited some little commotion throughout the Union. A public meeting was called at New York in October 1850, during my resi- dence there, in support of this bill, which was attended by 8000 people, having been held in Castle Garden, at the Battery, where Jenny Lind first performed. This meeting was attended by all the most influential people in New York, who were unanimous in supporting this bill. The speeches delivered were of the most eloquent descrip- tion, and filled several pages of their journals. The chairman, George Wood, Esq., expatiated on the folly of immediate emancipation without reference to the consequences ; and though he admitted that slavery was an evil, yet he considered it one from which they could not escape without encountering others infinitely more appalling. That the slave States must be left to deal with this institution as they thought proper ; that it was a e Abolitionistv -Horrible mas- ) Insurgents — iir of the legal- g Slaves to he mtations-^ The j-capture of d some little fleeting was mv resi- attended Garden, at led. This ial people ng this bill. nt descrip- NORTII AMEIUCA. 371 Jff ;ed on the jnee to the avery was they could itely more 't to deal it it was a legacy left them by the mother country, which, however, in the course of time and progress of society, may be abolished. Mr Wood, and indeed all the subsetjuent speakers, referred particularly to the signal failure of emancipation in the British West Indian Colonies, which he said had blighted their prosperity and destroyed them : and thus concludes : — " Are we to subject the Southern States to such consequences as they apprehend, and as we have reason to believe would ensue, if we undertook to carry into effect such an absurd doctrine?" (Cries of no ! no ! no ! from all parts of the house.) James W. Gerard, Esq., who next addressed the mul- titude, when alluding to slavery, said, *' It was entailed on us by our British ancestors. It is their misfortune and not a crime that it exists in the Southern States ; an evil of which they would willingly rid themselves, could they do so without ruin to themselves and their country." (Vociferous cheering.) This bill was by most people in this country supposed to have been the enacting of a new law in regard to fugi- tive slaves, whereas it was more properly the revival of an old law, or the law of 1793, which had fallen, in some measure, into desuetude. Indeed the expense and trouble attending the recapture of slaves under the old law, was such as to render it, in some measure, inoperative, so that slaves, when they succeeded in reaching the free States, may have been said to have escaped with impunity, nearly as much so as if they had taken refuge in the British dominions in Canada. The 2d section of the 4th article of the constitution (jf the year 1793, runs thus : '* No person held to service or labor in one State, under the laws thort-. of, escaping Into another, shall, in conseciuenee of any law or rfgulution 372 NORTH AMEUICA. »i :; C ';!■ m therein, be discliarged from such servico or labor ; but shall be delivoreii up, on clftim of the party to whom such service or lubor may be due." By ^* person held to service " is here meant a slave ; and the provision is intended to enable the masters of slaves to recover them if they escape into other States. The framers of the American constitution seem to have studiously avoided the use of the word " slave" though they took special care that the property and political power annexed to its possession should be secured. They retained the thinff while they discarded the terrfii as if they were ashamed of proclaiming their inconsistency to the world. This was a truly pitiful and unworthy subterfuge for an enlightened nation. Even the great Henry Clay, I observe, in the 7th of his compromise resolutions, sub- mitted to Senate on 29th January 1850, uses these words, " that more effectual provision ought to be made by law for the restitution an(^ delivery of persons bound to ser- vice or labor in any State, who may escape," 8ic. The emancipists, however, in America, supported as they were, and as may naturally be supposed, by the whole of the free-colored population, who are a numerous body, amounting to half-a-million, availed themselves of this opportunity of creating a sensation throughout the States, in favour of their apparently laudable, though it may be mistaken, efforts in the cause of humanity. And when I mention that the abolitionists now testify against com- pensation as a sin, and even denounce gradual abolition as a sin, the word " mistaken" must surely be considered a mild epithet when applied to such absurd, unjust, and danger- ous doctrines ; not to mention the injury whicii sudden emancipation would entail on the slaves themselves. The conduct of the abolitionists in the north has, in fact, had no other (effect hitherto but exasperating the slave-owners J ) NORTH AMERICA. 373 II he UeliTored C be due." slave ; and rs of slaves es. 3om to hav(> ive" though nd pohtical red. They rAJ, as if they ency to the f subterfuge 3enry Clay, utions, sub- these words, lade by law lund to ser- pported as )y the whole erous body, Ives of this the States, h it may be Vnd when I ainst com- boUtion as a ered a mild nd danger- icii sudden Ives. The n fact, had ave-owners of the south, and thereby perpetuating the continuance of slavery, if possible, to a still more indefinite period. The cry of the abolitionists, both in this country and America, who, be it always remembered, have nothing earthly to loose, is, *' give them up, give them up with- out money and without price, we cannot wait, slavery is sinful, therefore wo can have no delay ; and being sinful, deserves no compensation." Were this silly and idiotical cry responded to by the more sensible and rational por- tion of the citizens of the United States, they would ex- tinguish in one moment, and by, as it were, a blast from their nostrils, property to the value of 1500 millions of dollars, upwards of three hundred millions sterling, which had been accumulating for ages. The British nation never dreamt of so glaring an act of injustice as this, in regard to her slave-owners. The value of the slaves in the British dominions, in the year 1832, was computed at upwards of 40 millions sterling, so that by awarding them 20 millions, we made some approximation, at all events, to justice. Would the citizens of the great republic, think you, submit to have themselves taxed, in order to raise a hundred and fifty millions sterling, or half their value, in order to pay for the emancipation of their slaves ? I expect not. Luckily the slave-owners in the United States have nothing to fear on this head, as it is wisely provided by the constitution of that country, that private property shall not be taken for the public service, with- out full compensation. There is only one thing on which I am inclined to differ from all the speakers at the great meeting at New York, and that is the apprehension which they entertain that the lives and property of the planters might be endan» gered by emancipation. It has been generally thought that the abolition of slavery must of necessity endanger the l^i 374 NORTH AMERICA. II i >.; : i l'ci{ m] 1 1 1 safety of a community, because it sets loose a class of people who are supposed to be incensed by aggravated wrongs, and, at the same time, to be without the restraints of moral principle. What, it is asked, will prevent such a people from sating there revenge on the blood and plunder of their former oppressors ? The experiment, however, in the West Indies, has proved to demon- stration that this opinion is an erroneous one, and that emancipation, instead of promoting a spirit of insurrec- tion, is the surest means of eradicating it. Even in Hayti or St Domingo the effect of the abolition of slavery was to soothe the minds of the slaves, and the destruction of life and property was occasioned by an attempt of the French, under Le Clerc, several years afterwards, to re- establish it. The free negroes now in the West Indies manifest, as I said before, the most peaceful tendencies, and feel grateful for the new privileges into which they have been admitted. Besides, we must bear in mind that the slaves in the United States are not only better treated than they were in the West Indies, but that, excepting in two of the States, viz. South Carolina and Mississippi, as will be seen on referring to the population returns, the free popu- lation outnumber the slave. In the West Indies, on the contrary, the slaves preponderated in the proportion of nearly fifty to one. Indeed, there has been only one insurrection among the slaves in the United States, namely that which broke out on 21st August 1831 in the county of Southampton and State of Virginia. This was organized and headed by a fanatic slave of the name of Nat Turner, who considered himself impelled by the be- lief that he was divinely called to be the deliverer of his oppressed countrymen. Nothing is more dangerous than a religious enthusiast. Having enlisted his fellow-slaves NORTH AMERICA. 375 le a class of r aggravated he restraints prevent such B blood and experiment, 1 to demon- ic, and that of insurrec- ven in Hayti slavery was estruction of empt of the Awards, to re- West Indies I tendencies, which they slaves in the n they were two of the as will be e free popu- Indies, on 3 proportion en only one ted States, 1831 in the This was he name of by the be- erer of his [crous than llow-slav(»s in the cause, they first burst into their master's house and murdered every one of the white inmates. They then rushed on to the next plantation, compelling by threats of death all the slaves to join them who would not do it voluntarily. Thus armed with guns, knives, and axes, some on horseback, and others on foot, adding strength to strength, and intoxicated with liquor, they devoted the whole of that day to the work of carnage, sparing neither age nor sex, so that not a white individual was spared to carry the tidings. At last, when the morn- ing began to dawn, the shrieks of those who fell under the sword and the axe of the negroes were heard at a dis- tance, and thus the alarm was soon spread from planta- tion to plantation, carrying inconceivable terror into every heart, but not before 58 individuals had been most cruelly butchered, and their bodies most awfully mangled. Late in the afternoon of the second day, they were attacked by a small party of 18 whites, well armed and mounted ; and though at first driven back by the slaves, yet, just as they were on the eve of being overpowered, a reinforcement arrived, which turned the tide of victory and dispersed the slaves, who, exhausted by the horrible labours of the day, retired to the woods and marshes to pass the night. Early next morning they commenced of new, their work of slaughter, but were repulsed by the slaves of the first plantation which they attacked — that of Dr Blunt, an elderly gentleman — who nobly rallied round their kind and indulgent master, and fearlessly hazarded their own lives in his defence, and fought most desperately. By this time the whites were collected in sufficient numbers to prevent their further progress. The insurgents were thereupon scattered over the coflntry in small parties ; many were shot or taken prisoners, and their leader, Nat Turner, with the whole of his followers, were ultimately captured and 376 NORTH AMERICA. ?i mi..' 9'v >{■■ ' ' III:: executed. The most extraordinary circumstance con- nected with this celebrated insurrection was, that most of the insurgent slaves belonged to kind and indiilgenf masters, and consequently no one felt secure. Nat Turner made a lengthened confession on 1st Nov- ember 1831, prior to his execution, which was printed and published, and as a copy of it is now before me, I shall give one or two extracts from this horrible narrative. " Since the commencement of 1830, he says, I had been living with Mr Joseph Travis, who was to me a kind master. On Saturday the 20th oi August 1831, it was agreed between Henry, Hark, Sam, Nelson, Will, JacU Austin, and myself, to have a dinner prepared in the woods the next da\ (Sunday,) and there concert the plan to be adopted. It was there resolved upon that we should commence at home (Mr Travis's) on that night, am". murder them whilst sleeping. Having got a ladder and hoisted a window. we got in secretly. It was then observed that I must spill the first bloort. On which, armed with a hatchet, and accompanied by Will, I entered m\ master's chamber; but it being dark I could not give him a death blow, the hatchet glanced from his head ; he sprang from the bed and called his wifo — it was his last word ; "Will laid him dead with the blow of his axe, and Mrs Travis shared the same fate as she lay in bed. The murder of this family, 5 in number, was the work of a minute, not one of them awoke. We thei: proceeded to Mr Francis's about GOO yards distant, who, on Sam and Will knocking and saying they had a letter for him, got up and came to the door. when they seized him, and dispatched him by repeated blows on the head. W^e started from there to Mrs Reese's, and finding the door unlocked, dis- patched her and her son while sleeping. From this we went to Mrs Turner's, a mile distant, which we reached about sunrise on Monday morning. We broke open the door, and Will immediately killed Mrs Turner with one blo^v of his axe. I struck Mrs Newsome, who was with her, several blows over the head with my sword and dispatched her. By this time my company amounted to 15, and 9 men mounted. We next started for Mr Richard Whitehead, whom we found standing in the cotton patch, and dispatched him. Will then pulled Mrs Whitehead out of the house, and at the step he nearly severed her head from her body with his broad axe. Miss Margaret her daughter fled, but was overtaken, and after repeated blows with a sword, J killed her by a blow on the head with a fence rail. We then went to INIr Bryants, Mr Nathaniel Francis, Mr Doyles, Mr Peter Edwards, and Mr John T. Barrow, and murdered them and their families. At Captain Newit NORTH AMERICA. 377 istance con- ;, thcat most id indulgent on 1st Nov- 3 printed and J me, I shall irrative. a living with Mr rday the 20th oi clson, Will. Jack )ds the next dux ras there resolved I that night, and )isted a window. II the first blood. II, I entered m\ % death blow, the d called his wifo his axe, and Mrs er of this family, ,woke. We ihei: n Sam and Will larae to the door, W3 on the head If unlocked, dis- .0 Mrs Turner's, morning. We ler with one bloAv eral blows over me my company for Mr Richard dispatched him. e step he nearly |ss Margaret her with a sword, I Ihen went to ^Ir .wards, and Mr It Captain New it Harriss's, my men amounted to 40, some of whom were in the yard loading their guns, others drinking. We then proceeded to Mr Waller's (a school* master) and after murdering Mrs AValler , and ten of the children that attended his school, we started for Mr Williams's, hating killed him and two little boys that w ere there. Mrs Williams's fled, but was pursued, taken, and shot. I then started for Mr Jacob \\ illiams, where the family were murdered. Here we found a young man named Drury, who had come on business with Mr Williams, he was pursued, overtaken, and shot. Mrs Vaughan was the next place we visited, and after murdering the family here, I determined on starting for Jerusalem. Our number amounted now to 50 or 60, all mounted, and armed with guns, axes, swords and clubs." He then details the circumstances of the attacks made upon them ; their defeat at Dr Blimt's by the slaves on the plantations, and his own capture, after having taken refuge for six weeks in a cave, to which he had fled as a hiding place. A dog attracted by the smell of the meat in his cave when he was out, was the means of his being ultimately discovered. The escape of a little girl who went to school at Mr Wallers excited general sympathy. As their teacher had not arrived, she was playing in the yard along with the other children, and seeing the negroes approach she ran up the chimney, and remained there un- noticed during the massacre of the eleven that were killed at this place. Mrs Nathaniel Francis, while concealed in a closet heard their blo\Cs, and the shrieks of the victims, and though they entered the closet, they went out without discovering her. Miss Whitehead also was saved in a most miraculous manner, whilst they were murdering her sister in the same room. Not one that was known to have been concerned in this massacre escaped. This insurrection may be said to justify the remark made by De Tocqueville, that no other account has ever been opened between the white and the black races, except that where the white race was superior, they kept the black in subjection ; but where the blacks prevailed they rose and murdered the whites. ^.m iU< ' ,*t jSI ' >i!JI :::il'i l!»i'',;;lii i\ II :lfii'iiji: m ■ .;■•!- ! 'Ill' Mi!;! \ t h\ Hi!! 1 I \ 378 NORTH AMERICA. The chief difference between the fugitive act of 1850 and that of 1793 is, that the former allows a warrant tu be issued by a judge, and the arrest to be made by a public officer, and imposes more stringent penalties on those who interfere, by violence, to prevent the execution of legal process. So long indeed as the institution of slavery is kept up in the United States, I do not see how this or a similar law can well be dispensed with; the very essence of slavery being property, and constituting the right of man to hold property in man. Every person who has any pretensions to common sense must see that it is one ques- tion whether a man has a natural right to hold property in slaves, and quite another whether a government can properly take away a right which it has conferred, with- out becoming responsible for the consequent losses. Having property in anything implies possession of it, or the power of enforcing or restoring that possession, if by any means deprived of it. If a person owned a bullock, which had strayed into another man's field, and were a law passed that he had thereby lost all right to this bullock, and could not reclaim it, in what light would a law of that sort be looked upon ? So it is with slaves. The very essence, as I said before, of all slavery, being, that slaves are property, it follows as a natural consequence, that laws must be enacted for the recovery of that pro- perty, if lost or stolen ; and slaves when they escape, may be said to all intents and purposes, to be stolen, only that instead of being stolen by others, they are stolen by them- selves. In short, if slaves when they escape could not be re-captured, it is obvious that slavery itself, though the name were retained, would soon virtually come to an end. At the great meeting of the British and Foreign Anti- NORTH AMERICA. 379 ) act of 1850 a warrant tu e made by a penalties on the execution ry is kept up B or a similar y essence of right of man who has any t is one ques- lold property /ernment can iferred, with- []uent losses, session of it, possession, if on owned a m's field, and all right to light would with slaves. , being, that consequence, of that pro- escape, may en, only that en by them- >e could not self, though come to an oreign Anti- Slavery Society, held in Exeter Hall, London, on the 2 1st July 1851, the Rev. W. Owen, one of the speakers, said, *' that under the law of the Old Testament the education of the slave was provided for ; and far from there being anything like the fugitive slave law of America in existence, the Book of Deuteronomy ordered that the runaway ser- vant was not to be returned to his master." On referring to the 23d Chapter of that Book, I find these words, *' Thou shalt not deliver unto his master, the servant which is escaped from his master unto thee. He shall dwell with thee, even among you, in that place which he shall choose." This certainly enjoins that if a servant or slave flee for refuge to any one, that he is not to be given up to his master ; and I am not aware that there is any law in the United States compelling a person under a penalty to do so. But if the owner of a fugitive slave discover the place of his retreat, it becomes then a totally different question whether he ought by law to be entitled to reclaim him. So far as I can understand the above passage in Deuteronomy, no injunction seems to have been laid down on this point, so that people must just interpret the passage and draw from it such inferences as they think proper. In looking to the most able commentary on the Bible that has been written, that of the Rev. Matthew Henry, I find the following to be his interpretation of the passage in Deuteronomy : — •* The land of Israel is here made a sanctuary, or city of refuge, for ser- vants that were wronged and abused by their masters, and fled thither fur shelter among the neighbouring countries. We cannot suppose that they were hereby obliged to give entertainment to all the unprincipled men that ran from service; Israel needed not (as Rome at flrst did), to be thus peopled. But they must not deliver up the trembling servant to his en- raged master, till upon trial it appeared that the servant had wronged his master, and was justly liable to punishment. It is an honourable thing to |H U, m >- :-S !p ijt r i -S '.' J^ ■'^li liji; I,;:'! Ill I '[[' 380 NORTH AMERICA. shelter and protect the weak, provided tlicy be not wicked ; God allows hi:^ people to patronise the oppressed. The angel bid Ilat^ar return to hi>r mistress; and St Paul sent Oncsimus back to his master I^hilcinon, becausi they had neither of them any cause to go away, nor were either of them ex- posed to any danger in returning. But the servant hero is supposed to escape, that is, to run for his life, to the people of Israel, of whon^ he had heard that they were a merciful people, to save himself from the fury of :i tyrant ; and in that case to deliver him up, is to throw a lamb in the mouth of a lion." A more decisive death-blow to the Rov. W. OvvenV argument, and a more complete justification of the Fugi- tive Slave Bill, than this commentary affords, I think it would be difficult to imagine. The apostle Paul sent the slave Onesimus back to his master Philemon, because he had no sufficient reason for leaving him. And what does the Fugitive Slave Bill require but this ? The eommanrl given in Deuteronomy, it is self-evident, has reference only to those who escape for their lives. But have any of the slaves in the United States to run for their lives •' Why? On the contrary, it is well known to every one who has been in that country, that there are more who fly from kind masters, than from those who are the re- verse ? This is certainly a singular and somewhat ui:- aK^countable fact. The slaves, too, at the massacre iu Virginia in 1831, as I mentioned before, belonged nearly all to the most humane and kindest of masters. Mr Owen also states, that under the law of the Old Testament, the education of the slave was provided for. Now I cannot discover any passage to this effect, and our reverend friend has omitted to state where it is to be found. But we must bear in mind that American slave- owners have been under the painful necessity of getting severe laws passed in their several States, against the edu- cation, and even to a certain extent, the religious instruc- tion of their slaves, under the impression, (an erroneoub NORTH AMERICA. 381 d ; God allows hi" ;ar return to Iut l^hiloinon, becaust Dither of them ex- po is Hupposetl to 1, of whom hf haii from tho fury of ;i lamb in the mouth '. W. Ovveirb; 1 of the Fugi- ds, I think it Paul sent tin* n, because hf ind what does rhe command has reference But have any »r their lives ■' to every one are more who are the rc- omewhat un- massacre in longed nearly rs. \v of the Old provided for, ffect, and our e it is to be lerican slave- ty of getting linst the edu- ^ious instruc- an erroneous one as some think), that these are incompatible with slavery. Ignorance seems unfortunately to be considered essential to slavery — a necessarily component part of the system. All the witnesses examined before the House of Lords in 1832, in regard to slavery in the West Indies, bear testi- mony to this effect. The Rev. J. Barry, who had been 27 years in Jamaica, is thus interrogated : — " Tou havu stated that the overseers, and managers of estates, are gene- rully opposed to the religious instruction of their slaves; do you conceive the magistrates are also opposed to that system of instruction ?" *' I believe they are ; but your Lordships will remember that the magis- trates are generally planters ; being slave-owners, and that accounts for the fact. The view entertained of the influence of religious instruction, is that it is incompatible with the existence of slavery ; and that is one of the chief reasons why the planters oppose religion so strongly.*' The evidence given by the Rev. Mr Cooper, who had also been in Jamaica, is to the same effect. He is asked, " Do you not consider that educating the slaves and bringing them up tu the knowledge of religion, is an improvement in their condition ?" " The education of the slaves, as men, will undoubtedly improve their condition, but thereby wholly unfit them for the sad state in which they are placed. I consider that no power upon earth could keep them in obedi- ence, unless they were kept in the most degraded ignorance. Anything that tends to elevate them, tends to unfit them for their condition. If they were taught the Christian religion, the necessary consequence would follow, that they would find out that they were men, and as such would ask why they were to be treated as mere animals, goods and chattels." A case happened however about twenty years ago in South Carolina, that rather refutes the doctrine of Mr Cooper. A new overseer of a pious turn of mind, was employed by a planter to take charge of an extensive plantation. The first morning after entering upon the discharge of his new duties, he called the slaves around him; addressed them affectionately, and while they all knelt with him, he offered up fervent prayers in their be- half. As he continued this practice from day to day, the 31 4iU 3:n; i'l '■!■ , ■ '^ 382 NORTH AMERICA. slaves at last became convinced that he really cared for ! them, and became not only strongly attached to him, but highly distinguished for good order, obedience and in- 1 ■ dustr}^ . The consequence was, that in a short time, the i}\':i'<[ .|„a: H !• I m ■;-| • plantation was better cultivated than it had ever been, and became remarkably profitable to the owner. Inquiries were soon made by neighbouring proprietors, into the cause of this change, and a conviction was produced in the minds of most of them, that religion was of great im- portance to the successful management of slaves ; and though at one time prohibiting them from being taught, many of them became desirous that they should receive religious instruction. Another speaker at the meeting in London above alluded to, the Rev. W. Brock, stated, " That in the slave states of the United States of America, tliere was no such thing as a legal marriage amongst slaves, and that the ' increase ' of the females, was the consequence of the most disgusting concubinage, of the common intercourse between the female slaves and their masters, their master's guests, their master's sons, their overseers, and others." This I fear, is a true though somewhat exaggerated statement ; and hence it too often happens, that men find themselves surrounded in that country, by a family of children, which their own feelings will not allow them to disown, nor the sentiments of the community to acknow- ledge. Marriages among slaves are necessarily but physical in their motives, as they are uncertain in their duration. Mr Stuart, in his Travels in North America, says — " Marriage among the slaves is generally allowed ; but where a young man has a fine family, the planter very often, with a view to the increase of his stock, forces him to have many wives ; and in the same way married females are often obliged to receive more husbands than NORTH AMERICA. 383 ly cared for to him, but nee and in- )rt time, the er been, and . Inquiries rs, into the produced in of great im- slaves ; and eing taught, ould receive indon above ca, there was no ' increase' of the cuhinage, of the r masters, their lers. exaggerated lat men find a family of ow them to to acknovv- essarily but ain in their rica, savs — lowed ; but )lanter very , forces him ay married sbands than one, as the planter may order." Harriet Martineau says in like manner — ** Every man who resides on his planta- tion may have his harem, and has every inducement of custom and of pecuniary gain to tempt him to the com- mon practice. There is no occasion to explain the manage- ment of female slaves on estates where the object is to rear as many as possible, like stock for the southern mar- ket ; nor to point out the boundless licentiousness caused by the practice ; a practice which wrung from the wife of a planter, in the bitterness of her heart, the declaration that a planter's wife was only the chief slave of the harem." This state of immorality prevailed in our own colonies in the West Indies, prior to emar.cipation, to perhaps even a greater extent than in the United States. Mr Barry, to whose evidence I have before alluded, is asked by the committee of the House of Lords, — " Can you name any planter, attorney, book-keeper, overseer, driver, or other person in authority, or any one of your own acquaintances, who does not keep a coloured mistress ?" ** I cannot." The thing in fact seems to have been universal. In the slave States the planters are frequently waited upon at table by their own children, and when in want of money, have occasionally to send them to the public mar- ket to be sold as slaves. The celebrated Scottish chief- tain the Laird of Mac Nab, who died in 1816, in the 82d year of his age, would have done well as a planter in the southern States of the Union. He had nearly a hundred natural children, and used to brag that he was the only man in his Majesty's dominions who could raise a troop of grenadiers from his own person. But this troop kept him in comparative poverty all his life, as it took £500 a-year to maintain them. If, however, the gallant laird had emi- grated in early life to the slave States of America, and 384 NORTir AMERICA. from being so ardent an admirer of female charms, had found himself surrounded in his latter days by a troop like this, he could have pocketed 50,000 dollars, by conven- ing his grenadiers into cash. This would have relieved the poor laird from all his difficulties, and thus have soothed, so far at least as regarded his temporal affairs, the closing years of his pilgrimage upon the earth. •■> !; [;■♦..' i * NORTU AMERICA. :iS5 charms, had a troop liko by convon- ive relieved [ive soothed, , the closing CHAPTER XXr. The late Honorable Henry Clay'a ComproiniHe Ueiolutions on Slavery — Extract from the Speech which he delivered In Senate on that occasion — The Honorable Daniel Webtter's Sentiments on same subject — Eiilhuiius- tic reception given to great men In America — The Earl of Carlisle's De- scription of the Congress of the United States — Distinction in regard to Color In the United States — Whether well founded. The late Honourable Henry Clay, member in Senate for the State of Kentucky, and one of the greatest orators and statesmen of the age in which he lived, delivered in Senate, on 5th and 6th February 1850, an admirable speech partly in reference to this bill and the other ** Com- promise Resolutions,*' as they were termed, which he had brought forward on the subject of slavery. One of these enacted, that California should be admitted into the Union, without the imposition by Congress of any restric- tion, either as to the introduction or exclusion of slavery within her boundaries, this being left to California herself to decide, and she has decided in favour of exclusion. He maintains that Congress, the general government, has no power under the constitution of the United States to toucli slavery within any of the States, and that, were it to do so '* then," he adds, *' Mr President, my voice would be for war; then would be made a case which would justify in the sight of God, and in the presence of the nations of R 14 ;.. 386 NORTH AMERICA. M i" 4 K 1 n^ the earth, resistance on the part of the slave States to such an unconstitutional attempt." Mr Clay deprecates, however, the introduction of slavery into the territory lately acquired from the Repub- lic of Mexico, though supported by one party in Congress, chiefly, among other reasons, from its not existing there previous to its annexation, and concludes his argument on this head in these words : — " But if the two portions of this Confederacy should unhappily be in- volved in civil war, in which the effort on the one side would be to restrain the introduction of slavery into new territories, and on the other side to force its introduction there, what a spectacle should we present to the contemplation of astonished mankind ! An effort not to propagate right, but I must say — though I trust it will be understood to be said with no desire to excite feeling — an effort to propagate wrong in the territories thus acquired from Mexico. It would be a war in which we should have no sympathy, no good wishes, and in which all mankind would be against us, and in which our own his- tory itself would be against us ; for, from the commencement of the Revo- lution down to the present time, we have constantly reproached our British ancestors for the introduction of slavery into this country ; and allow me to say that, in my opinion, it is one of the best defences which can be made to preserve the institution in this country, that it was forced upon us against the wishes of our ancestors, our own colonial ancestors, and by the cupidity of our British commercial ancestors." The 5th Resolution relates to the abolition of slaverv within the District of Columbia, which is under the ex- clusive legislation of Congress in all cases whatever. This, however, he only proposed on obtaining the consent of the State of Maryland, and the people of the District, and just compensation to the owners of slaves within the District. This consent having been obtained, slavery was accord- ingly abolished in the District of Columbia in 1 850. The District of Columbia was ceded to Congress in 171)0 by the States of Maryland and Virginia, for the pur- pose of establishing the city of Washington as the perma- nent seat of the Federal Government. It was originally ten miles square, but this no longer exists, the District I States to )duction ot the Repub- n Congress, -isting there irgument on nhappily be in- e to restrain the side to force its e contemplation ut I must say — to excite feeling id from Mexico, no good •wishes, ch our own his- snt of the Revo- ;hed our British and allow me to can be made to upon us against hy the cupidity 1 of slavery der the ex- ever. This, consent ot )istriet, and the District, was accord- 1850. Congress in for the pur- the perma- is originally the District NORTH AMERICA. 3h7 being now confined to an irregular triangle, on the Mary- land side of the river, the portion ceded by Virginia hav- ing been returned to that State again in 1846. Tht» Capitol, or House for Congress, is a noble building, 352 feet in length, covering an acre and a half of ground, and cost nearly a million sterling. Washington now contains 50,000 inhabitants, and they are erecting a monument in it that will be 600 feet high. A view of this stupendous monument appeared in the Illustrated London News of 6th July 1850. Mr Clay, in reference to this Resolution, says — " Sir, it is immaterial to me upon what basis this obligation to compen- sate for the slaves who may be liberated by the authority of Congress is placed. There is a clause in the constitution of the United States, of the amendments to the constitutiop, which declares that no private property •ihall be taken for public use, without just compensation being made to the owner of the property. Well, I think, in a just and liberal interpretation of that clause, we are restrained from taking the property of the people of the District, in slavps, on considerations of any public policy, or for any conceivable or imaginable use of the public, without a full and fair compensation to the people of this District. But, without the obligation of any constitutional restriction, such as is contained in the amendment to which I refer — without that, upon th« principles of eternal justice itself, we ought not to deprive tliose who have property in slaves, in this District, of their property, without compensat- ing them for their full value. Why, Sir, no one of the European powers, Great Britain, France, or any other of the powers which undertook to al)o- lish slavery in their respective colonies, has ever ventured to do it without making compensation. They were under no obligation arising out of anj written or other constitution to do it, but under that obligation to which nil men ought to bow with homage — that obligation of eternal justice, whicii ileclares that no man ought to be deprived of his property without a full ami just compensation for its value. Sir, the power exists ; the duty, in my opinion, exists; and there has lieen no time — as I may say, in language coincident with that used by the honorable Senator from Alabama — there has been no time in my public life when I was not willing to concur in the abolition of the slave trade in this District. I was willing to do it when Virginia's portion of the District was retroceded, that lying south of ibc Potomac. There is still less ground K 2 \-' 388 NORTH AMERICA. . ' Lu^ '•"mm. ill f 1 I"' .'1 ' I i m for objection to doing it now, when the District is limited to the portion this side of the Potomac, and when the motive or reason for concentrating slaves here in a depot, for the purpose of transportation to distant foreign markets, is lessened with the dimination of the District, t>y the retrocesfion uf that portion to Virginia.*' On coming to the 6th Resolution, prohibiting, within the District of Columbia in which Washington the capital is situate, the trade in slaves brought into it from other States to be sold therein, or transported to other mar- kets, Mr Clay says — " AVhy should slave-traders, who buy their slaves in Maryland or Vir- ginia, come here with their slaves, in order to transport them to New Or- leans or other southern markets ? Why not transport them from the States in which they are purchased ? Why are the feelings of citizens here out- raged by the scenes exhibited, and the corteges which pass along our avenues, of manacled human beings, not collected at all in our own neighbourhood, but brought from distant parts of neighbouring States ? Why should they be outraged ? And who is therr, that has a heart, that does not contem- plate a spectacle of that kind with horror and indignation? Why should they be outraged by a scene so inexcusable and detestable as this ?" The 7th resolution (on which was founded the cele- brated Fugitive Slave Bill) runs thus, — ** Resolved, That more effectual provision ought to be made by law, according to the requirements of the constitution, for the restitution and delivery of persons bound to service or labor in any State, w ho may escape into any other State or territory of the Union." In commenting upon this resolution, Mr Clay, after adverting to the Act of 1793, (formerly quoted) as being still in force, proceeds thus — " I think, then, Mr President, that with regard to the true interpretation of this provision of the constitution, there can be no doubt. It imposes an obligation upon all the States, free or slaveholding ; it imposes an obliga- tion upon all officers of the government, state, or federal ; and I will add, upon all the people of the United States, under particular circumstances, to assist in the surrender and recovery of a fugitive slave from his master. Mr President, I do think that that whole class of legislation, beginning in the northern States and extending to some of the western States, by NORTH AMKRICA. 389 }d to the portion for concentrating to distant foreign f the retroceuion biting, within )n the capital it from other ,0 other mar- Haryland or Vir- thena to New Or- m from the States citizens here out- along our avenues, m neighbourhood, Why should they does not contem- on ? Why should as this ?" ded the cele- -" Resolved, made by law, ution, for the o service or ly other State ng upon this Act of 1793, Dceeds thus — )t. rue interpretation It imposes an mposes an obliga- and I will add, ar circumstances, from his master, slation, beginning estern States, by which obstructiona and impediments have been thrown in the way of the recovery of fugitive slaves, is unconstitutional, and has originated in a .s|>irit which I trust will correct itself when those States come calmly to con- sider the nature and extent of their federal obligations. Of all the States in this Union, unless it be Virginia, the State of which I am a resident, suffers most by the escape of their slaves to adjoining States. I have very little doubt, indeed, that the extent of loss to the State of Kentucky, in consequence of the escape of her slaves is greater, at least in proportion to the total number of slaves which are held within that com- monwealth, even than in Virginia. I know full well, and so does the honorable senator from Ohio know, that it is at the utmost hazard, and in- security to life itself, that a Kentuckian can cross the river and go into the interior to take back his fugitive slave to the place front whence he fled. Recently an example occurred even in the city of Cincinnati, in respect to one of our most respectable citizens. Not having visited Ohio at all, ))ut Covington, on the opposite side of the river, a little slave of his esc i))ed over to Cincinnati. He pursued it; he found it in the house in which it was concealed ; he took it out, and it was rescued by the violence and force of a negro mob from his possession — the police of the city standing by, and either unwilling or unable to afford the assistance which was requisite to enable him to recover his property. Upon this subject I do think that we have just and serious cause of com- plaint against the free States. I think they fail in fulfilling a great obliga- tion, and the failure is precisely upon one of those subjects which in its nature is the most irritating and inflaming to those who live in the slave States. And allow me to say upon the subject, though it is perhaps going farther into detail than is necessary, that of all the exercise of power of those who attempt to seduce from their owners their slaves, there is no instance in which it is exercised so injuriously to the objects of their charity and benevolence as in the case of the seduction of family slaves from the service of their owner. The slaves ii. \ family are treated with all the kindness that the children of the family receive. Everything which they want fur their comfjrt is given them with the most liberal indulgence ; and, Sir, I have known more instances than one where, by this practice of the seduc- tion of family servants from their owners, they have been rendered wretched and unhappy in the free States ; and in my own family, a slave who had been seduced away, addressed her mistress, and begged and implored of her the means of getting back from the state of freedom to which she had been seduced, to the state of slavery in which she was so much more happy ; and in the case to which I have referred the means were afforded her, and she returned to the State of Kentucky to her mistress." 390 NORTH AMERICA. i 0" 1? n, i :' r»Ir Clay concludes his speech by alluding to the dire- ful ort'ects of a dissolution of the Union, in these striking words — " And, sir, I must take occasion here to say that, in my opinion, thure is no right on the part of any one or more of the States to secede from the l^nion. War and dissolution of the Union are identical and inevitable, in my opinion. There can be a dissolution of the Union only by consent or by wur. Consent no one can anticipate, from any existing state of things, is likely to be given, and war is the only alternative by which a dissolution could be accomplished. If consent were given — if it were possible that wc were to be separated by one great line — in less than sixty days after such consent was given war would break out between the slaveholding and non- slaveholding portions of this Union— between the two independent parts into which it would be erected in virtue of the act of separation. In less than sixty days, 1 believe, our slaves from Kentucky, flocking over in num- bers to the other side of the river, would be pursued by their owners. Our hot and ardent spirits would be restrained by no sense of the right which appertains to the independence of the other side of the river, should that be the line of separation. They would pursue their slaves into the adja- cent free States ; they would be repelled, and the consequence would be that, in less than sixty days, war would be blazing in every part of this now happy and peaceful laud. Mr President, I have said, what I solemnly believe, that dissolution of the Union and war are identical and inevitable ; that they are convertible terms ; and such a war as it would be, following a dissolution of the Union ! Sir, we may search the pages of history, and none so ferocious, so bloody, so implacuble, so exterminating — not even the wars of Greece, including those of the Commoners of England and the revolutions of France — none, none of them all would rage with such violence, or be characterised with such bloodshed and enormities as would the war which must succeed, if that event ever happens, the dissolution of the Union. And what would l)u its termination ? Standing armies and navies, to an extent stretching tiie revenues of each portion of the dissevered members, would take place. An exterminating war would follow — not, sir, a war of two or three years' duration, but a war of interminable duration — and exterminating wars would ensue, until, after the struggles and exhaustion of both parties, some Philip or Alexander, some C(£sar or Napoleon, would arise and cut the Govdian knot, and solve the problem of the capacity of man for self-govern, ment, and crush the liberties of both the severed portions of this common impire. Can you doubt it ? ''. ' . t i. i:' Ui IBM NORTH AMERICA. 391 g to the dire- these striking my opinion, there :o secede from the and inevitable, in »nly by consent or ng state of things, rhich a dissolution e possible that we ty days after such eholding and non- independent parts paration. In less king over in num- jeir owners. Our if the right which river, should that ves into the adja- equence would be y part of this now hat dissolution of y are convertible on of the Union ! cious, so bloody, Greece, including f France — none, laracterised with must succeed, if And what would extent stretching vould take place. or three years' erminating ward )th parties, some ise and cut the 1 for self- govern, of this common Look at all history— consult her pages, ancient or modern — look at human nature ; look at the contest in which you would be engaged in the sui)|)osi- tion of war following upon the dissolution of the Union, such as I have suggested; and I ask you if it is possible for you to doubt that the final dis- position of the whole would be some despot treading down the liberties of the people — the final result would be the extinction of this last and glorious light, which is leading all mankind, who are gazing upon it, in the hope and anxious expectation, that the liberty which prevails here will sooner or later be diffused throughout the whole of the civilised world. Sir, can you lightly contemplate these consequences ? Can you yield yourself to the tyranny of passion, amid dangers which I have depicted in colors fur too tame, of what the result would be if that direful event to which I have referred should ever occur ? Sir, I implore gentlemen, I adjure them, whether from the south or the north, by all that they hold dear in this world — by all their love of liberty — by all their veneration for their ancestors — by all their re- gard for posterity — by all their gratitude to Him who has bestowed on them such unnumbered and countless blessings — by all the duties which they owe to mankind and by all the duties which they owe to themselves, to pause, solemnly, to pause at the edge of the precipice, before the fearful and dangerous leap is taken into the yawning abyss bcloW) from which none who ever take it shall return in safety. Finally, Mr President, and in conclusion, I implore, as the best blessing which Heaven can bestow upon me, upon earth, that if the direful event of the dissolution of this Union is to happen, I shall not survive to behold the sad and heart-rending spectacle. Mr Clay's 8 Resolutions were all carried, and this was his last great effort, and may be called the closing scene in the drama of his political career, as he retired from public life in December 1851, and died on 29th June 1852, in the 76th year of his age. Both Mr Clay's and Mr Webster's speeches were published in separate pam- phlets, of which I procured copies at New York. The Honorable Daniel Webster, the Member in Senate for the State of Massachusetts, also one of the most eminent men in America, delivered in the Senate, an ad- mirable speech on 17th July 1850, on the same subject, Mr Webster, after alluding to the prejudice created by abolition societies, abolition writers, and abolition lec- ! I: Ih I 302 NORTH AMERICA. ^§: 'if mmi?- wmf^ 'I pi w m m * fi 5 fl lit iia ■ ;;i*: !• J.^ If •If i ))' Mt. Ml V, i ■:f ■! turers, makes the following remark : — " The principle of the restitution of runaway slaves is not objectionable, un- less the constitution is objectionable. I say therefore, that the exaggerated statement of the danger and mischief arising from the right of reclaiming slaves, is a prejudice produced by the causes I have stated, and one which ought not longer to haunt and terrify the public mind." Great men in America, such as Mr Clay, and Mr Webster, are treated whenever they appear, with a degree of admiration bordering on adoration, of which the cold- blooded people of this country can form no adequate idea. They are occasionally kissed and caressed like children. When Mr Webster visited Albany in June 1851, the city was illuminated in his honor, and bonfires lighted through- out the streets. Professor Johnston says, when attending the Agricul- tural Show, in September 1849, at the City of Syracuse, " All was excitement in the town, in consequence of the arrival of Mr Clay, and complaints were not unjustly made by those engaged in preparing for the Agricultural Show, that his presence, as a politician, seriously inter- fered with the objects for which so many thousands had assembled at Syracuse. One of his political opponents observed to me, that since the days of Washington, probably no man had so generally carried with him the hearts of the whole people of the United States." That amiable and enlightened nobleman, the present Earl of Carlisle, who, when Lord Morpeth, travelled through the United States in 1842, delivered a lecture on America, at Leeds on 7 th December 1850, (the Mayor of Leeds presiding,) wherein, on his visit to Washington, he takes occasion to make mention both of Mr Clay and Mr Webster as follows : — '• The House of Representatives, the more popular branch of the Gove-r,- F I I principle of tionable, un- ly therefore, and mischief 3 a prejudice i one which ►lie mind." ay, and Mr vith a degree ich the cold- lequate idea, ike children. 851, the city ted through- the Agricul- of Syracuse, jence of the not unjustly Agricultural iously inter- )usands had 1 opponents Vashington, ith him the BS." the present travelled Id a lecture 1850, (the is visit to ion both of jf the Gove-r. NORTH AMERICA. 393 ment, returned by universal suffrage, assemble in a chamber of very im- posing; appearance, being semicircular, and arranged rather lilce a theatre. Both in the Senate and the house every member has a most commodious arm*chair, a desk for his papers, and a spitting-box, to which he does not always confine himself The palpable distinction between them and our House of Commons I should say to be this , we are more noisy, and thoy are more disorderly. They do not cheer, they do not cough, but constantly several are speaking at a time, and they evince a contemptuous disregard for the decisions of their Speaker. They have no recognised leaders ut the diflTerent parties, the members of Government not being allowed to have scats in either House of Congress ; and the different parties do not occupy distinct quarters in tiie Chamber, so that you muy often hear a furious wrangle being carried on between two nearly contiguous members. The debates in the Senate, during the same period, were dignifieJ, business-like, and not very lively. I heard Mr Clay, in the Senate, once, but every one told me that he was labouring under feebleness and exhaustion, so that I could only perceive the great man in the tones of his voice. I think this most attractive quality was still more perceivable in private intercourse, as I certainly never met any public man, either in his country or in mine, al- ways excepting Mr Canning, who exercised such evident fascination over the minds and aiTections of his friends and followers as Henry Cluy. I thought his society most attractive, easy, simple, and genial, with great natural dignity." [ Lord Carlisle, after alluding to the state of political parties in Cuba, describes his departure from the island, and arrival at New Orleans.] "The good I have to say of New Orleans must be chiefly confined to the St Charles Hotel, which is the most splendid of its kind that I saw, even in the United States. When it is at its full complement, 560 dine there every day — 350 of whom sleep in the house : there are 160 servants, 7 French cooks; all the waiters whites — Irish, English, French, German, American. The very intelligent proprietor of the Hotel told me he thought the Irish made the best ; he has them all together every day at noon, when they go through a regular drill, and rehearse the service of a dinner. I went from New Orleans to Louisville, on board the Henry Clay steamer, 1500 miles, which lasted six days. The first 1 lOO miles were on the Mississippi." [After a voyage of 400 miles up the Ohio his Lordship describes a visit that he paid to Mr Clay, at his residence in Kentucky.] ** The qualities which rivet the Senate and captivate his adherents, seemed to me both heightened and soft- ened by his frank, simple intercourse. He likes showing some English cattle. His countrymen seem to be in the habit of calling upon him with- out any kind of previous introduction. Slavery, generally mild in the pas- toral State of Kentucky, was certainly seen here in its least repulsive guise. m-: 394 NORTH AMEIilCA. X fi m Ir .Mr (;iays own ne^ro servant, Charles, was much devoted to him ; he tot !; liim with him on a tour into Canada, and when some Abolitionists ther«' wanted him to leave liis master, •' Not if you were to give me both your provinces," was the reply. I again turned my face to the west, and passed Cincinnati, which, together with all that I saw of the State of Ohio, seemed to mo the part of the Union where, if obliged to make the choice, I should like best to fix my abode. It lias a great shore of all the civilisation and appliances of the old settled States of the East, with the richer soil, the softer climate, the fresher spring of life, which distinguished the West Indies. Of Mr Webster, his Lordship remarks : — Another great man, Daniel Webster, I could not hear in either House of Congress, because he then tilled, as he does now, the high office of Secretary of State ; but it is quite enoiigli to beam on his jutting dark brow, and cavernous eyes, and massive forehead, to be assured that ihey are the abode of as much, if not more intellect than any head perhaps you ever remarked." Mr Webster has a swarthy, almost South-Spanish complexion. The following is a true though somewhat curious anocdote in his history. Many years ago a client from the barren island of Nantucket, (40 miles from the New England shore, at the North entrance into Long Island Sound,) asked him to go to that island to plead a cause for him. Mr W. after mentioning the distance, the loss of time, and the interruption to his other practice, said that he could not go unless he received a fee of a thousand dollars. The client objected to paying so large a sum for pleading one cause ; but Mr W. replied that remaining there probably during the whole circuit, amount- ed to as great a sacrifice on his part, as if he pleaded in every cause on the roll. ** Well then " said his client " come, and I will pay you the thousand dollars ; but you shall be at my disposal for the whole sittings, and I shall let you out, if I can." Mr Webster went, and was sub-let by his client, who drew the fees to relieve his own los?. The client received eleven hundred dollars, had his cause pleaded for nothing, besides pocketing a hundred dollars by the transaction. NORTH AMERICA. a!»5 rl to him : lie toi Ic abolitionists there ive me both your 3 west, and passrd c of Ohio, seemed 10 choice, I should 10 civilisation and >o richer soil, the d the West Indies, eat man, Daniel , because he then ^te ; but it is quite eyes, and massive^ inch, if not more louth-Spanisli gh somewhat 3 ago a client liles from the :e into Long nd to plead a distance, the her practice, d a fee of a ying so large replied that cuit, amount- le pleaded in id his client ars ; but you and I shall 1 was sub-let lis own loss:, ad his cause idred dollars People in this country are, in general, sonrwhat sur- prised at the distinction in regard to colour still kept up in America, and think it strange that even in the northern States of the Union, where slavery has been abolished, the black should not enjoy the same privileges as the white man. The Americans feel, for example, an insurmount- able objection to sit down at the same table with a well- dressed, well-informed, and well-educated man of color : and refuse to work with them in the same sho])s, or admit them into the same seats at the theatre, the same omni- buses, the same pews at church, and even the same schools. Foreigners are also apt to ask why a white lady should not walk down the streets arm in arm with a black gen- tleman of education ? or why a black clergyman should not preach to a white congregation ? I myself had no prejudices of any kind against people of color, and am de- cidedly of opinion that the Americans in general treat them with too much contempt. I was certainly struck, however, as I said before, with the inferiority which T thought I discovered, of the black children to the white in point of intellect and smartness. With this impression on my mind, I accidentally fell in with a very clever w ork, published in London in 1851, entitled, " Across the At- lantic," the author of which seems also to have had his attention called to this subject, and at page 214, mak the following remark : — eii " The cause of the low estimation in which the black are held by tlic white population of the free States, is to be sought for no further than in the plain and simple fact, that the negro is an inferior race, whose differ- ence of colour forms their least striking distinction from the rest of man- kind. There are physical peculiarities connected with this race, which it would be impossible to enter upon, but which sutBciently explain the itroad line of demarcation, every where established between them and the wliifrs. The Englishman of the West Indies shares in the prejudices of the Am< - vican ; I have known a very excellent and accomplished lady, who ha'l ;•, 306 NOIITH AMERICA. '. v imi I w Blight tinge of African blood, to be rerused admission into society by tite English women of Calcutta. Let but two millions of negroes emigrate to old England, and, in less than a quarter of a century, the feeling there will be the same as it is now in new England. The best men will share in it. I need hardly call attention ta the fact, that the clergy of the Established Church were the most eager and enthusiastic upholders of slavery in the West Indies. They clung to it when every one else had abandoned it ; and, for once, (considering the present state of those islands,) appear, by so doing, to have advocated a wise and humane course." The above seems to be a concise, practical, and, per- haps, tolerably correct solution of this difficult problem ; and both the physical and moral conformation of the negro race are so different from those of the whites, as to produce, seemingly, a sort of natural instinctive dislike between the two races. I think it proper, however, to mention, that many emi- nent authors, (and among others, Joseph Sturge, the cele- brated quaker, in his travels in America,) maintain thai people of colour are not inferior to the whites in intellect, provided they have the same opportunity afforded them for enterprise and improvement; and Colonel Cunning- hame, in his " Glimpse of the Great Western Republic," shrewdly remarks — " The Americans of the southern States are very anxious Uu:. all strangers should come to an unfavourable conclusion respecting the mental capabi- lities of the black men, invariably stating that the race are susceptible of no improvement, however much attention is lavished upon the cultivation of their minds. But that this cannot really be their own impression, is too clearly demonstrated by the necessity which these citizens have advocated of passing laws in the senate against all instruction being granted to this race. If, in their opinion, no harm could arise to their own interest from increased knowledge in the slave, or if he were utterly incapable of re- ceiving useful impressions, why adopt such rigorous measures to preclude him from eating of that fruit, which they acknowledge, by their universal system of education, to be so invaluable to themselves." ■ii ) society by tliv oet emigrate to leling there will will share in it. the Eitablithed r slavery in the idoned it ; and, ) appear, by so Ell, and, per- It problem; of the negro i to produce, ke between t many emi- ge, the cele- laintain thai in intellect, brded them el Cunning- Republic," !..; all strangers menial capabi- susceptible of the cultivation pression, ia too lave advocated ranted to this interest from ncapable of re- es to preclude their universal NORTH AMERICA. CHAPTER XXII. Description of the various drinks used in America — The system of boarding — Its advantages and disadvantages — Early rising and brcakfastint; — Comparative absence of Nymphs of the Pave — Lynch law — Value of women in America — Fire brigades — Uniform rate of postage — Hostility of the Irish to the coloured and German population — The Constitution of the United States — Erroneous notions regarding Equality — Titles in America — Anecdote of the late Earl of Selkirk — Views entertained in regard tu an equal division of property — The two leading parties in America, the AVhigs and Democrats. If the French have been long proverbial for their science in the discovery of cooking, the Americans are no less celebrated for their discoveries in the science of drinks, and their skill in mixing them. In addition to the various wines, malt liquor, and spirituous Hquors, which we use in this country, the latter of which are so much cheaper there than with us, from the duty upon them being but trifling, they use a variety of compounds, all of which, I must say, are extremely palatable. Sherry-cobbler is a favourite drink, and is made up as follows: — pound a small quantity of ice quite fine, by wrapping it in a coarse woollen cloth, and beating it with a rolling pin ; half fill a larffe tumbler with this pounded ice ; add a tea- spoonful and half of pounded sugar, two or three pieces of lemon peel, pared very thin, and a wine glass and half of sherry ; throw in half a dozen strawberries ; fill up 't t f, 'i. it |i: I ■tmi it:l 17 sr.i»*:TarYii I:. I ■■ I HI Ul W 'l 1 !' I' ^ 3ii:^ NOHTII AMEIUCA. J ■... ' "i 1 t * with pounded ice; mix, hy pouring rapidly from one turn- l)lor to another several times ; drink through a straw or glass tube. Mint-julep is also much relished, and the following is a good receipt for making it : — ice and sugar as above ; a wine glass of best brandy ; half a wine glass of superior old rum ; two or three unbruiscd sprigs of fresh mint put against the side of the tumbler ; fill up with pounded ice until it forms a cone ; crown it with a large strawberry ; mix and drink it as sherry-cobbler. Brandy-smash is made with brandy, mint, and ice. Brandy cocktail is composed of brandy, sugar, stoughton, or other bitters, and lemon peel. Brandy skin consists of brandy, sugar, and lemon skins. They make different kinds of punch, a::? in this country, with sugar and lemon, and call them *' punches." Milk punch they use cold. It is composed of ice, milk, brandy or rum, sugar, and nutmeg. Todd\ they call sling ; thus they have gin-sling and whisky- sling. They have a composition which they call sange- rees, made from different kinds of wine and spirits, with the addition of water, sugar, &c., and poured from one glass to another, very scientifically, so as to mix the arti- cles properly together. Lastly, they have egg-nog, made from eggs, milk, rum or brandy, and sugar; besides a variety of other drinks, too numerous to mention. The porter made at Philadelphia is celebrated throughout the Union ; and is but little inferior, in my opinion, to London porter. Albany is celebrated for its ale, which is almost equal to the far-famed Edinburgh ale, though not so heavy nor so sweet. There is one singular custom that prevails in America, that when you call for a glass of spirits or wine, the bar- keeper hands you a tumbler (wine-glasses not being used) into which you pour as much as you guess to be a glass. om one turn- h a straw or following is a as above; n 8 of superior esh mint put pounded ice strawberry ; idy-smash is y cocktail is )ther bitters, randy, sugar, ids of punch, nd call them ; is composed neg. Toddx [and whisky- call sange- spirits, witli •ed from one mix the arti- g-nog, made besides a mtion. The roughout the n, to London lich is almost not so heavy in America, ine, the bar- t being used) be a glass. NOriTII AMKIIU A. 30!> There is no restrict 'on as to the quantity, and the sanu- price is paid whctler you take little or much. Some, accordingly, take double what others do, which shews that the idea of quantity differs with ditterent individuals. Six cents, or threepen c sterling, is the usual charge for a glass of anything, though cit the fashionable hotels they charge sixpence, or a York shilling. The system of i)arding, so prevalent not only in the States, but in Canada, has its advantages and disadvan- tages. The former consist mainly in its economy and variety, enabling the landlord to give mngnificent repasts at a moderate price. Where the board is a dollar and a quarter, or a dollar and a half per day, one has every luxury in the way both of eating and accommodation that any reasonable person can desire ; whilst at those hotels where two dollars a-day are charged, the public rooms are truly magnificent, and at dinner you have a choice of \5 or 20 different dishes, all admirably cooked, and chiefly, as I said before, after the French mode. To live in the same style in London would cost nearly double. It is, perhaps, not generally known that butchers' meat loses one-fourth of its weight by boihng, and one-third by roast- ing. I would not, however, recommend any one to go to hotels where they charge only one dollar a-day, as both the accommodation and cookery are necessarily of an in- ferior description. Drink is always a separate charge at the hotels ; but such a thing as '* drinking for the good of the house," a phrase you frequently hear in Scotland, is perfectly unknown, and would be reckoned extremely barbarous by that civilized nation, who never drink upon any occasion whatever, but when they feel inclined. Though the Americans cannot be called exactly a sober people, many of them drinking from morning till night, yet the quantity made use of at each time being very small. i •' tion, so that it falls equally on all ranks. Of civil offices or employments they have comparatively I ; NORTH AMERICA. 409 '< St Patrick's i fire-brigades t from serving nerican militia 1 ages, capable o nearly three its, who, from L either pay all 5 so moderate, can hardly be juvre tolerably happen to fall, B of them very ilst others are tie) altogether, ated militia, is Be government, berty. There id those chiefly he Americans, le conscription, inental States, aken as it were inge them into Let the con- hereby depriv- ng war on each e given to the ing in the taxes e fear of each In favour of the from its opera- comparatively fow, with the exception perhaps of post-masters, and no superfluous ones as in Europe. They consider that no oflfice should be so profitable as to make it desirable for the income. The 3Gth article of the constitution of Penn- sylvania runs in these words : — *' As every freeman, to preserve his independence, if he has not a sufficient estate;, ought to have some profession, calling, trade, or farm, whereby he may honestly subsist, there can be no necessity for, nor use in establishing offices of profit, the usual effects of which are dependence and servility, unbecoming freemen, and engendering contention, corruption, and dis- order among the people. Wherefore, whenever an office, through increase of fees, or otherwise, becomes so profit- able as to occasi(/n many to apply for it, the profits ought to be lessened by the legislature." Subordinate officers however, are far better paid than in this country. At New York they have converted an old Dutch church into the post-office, which they seem to consider a more useful institution, and which, from its central situation, answers the purpose admirably. They established in 1851 a new and uniform rate of postage throughout the United States, whereby all letters not exceeding half an ounce in weight are charged three cents (three halfpence sterling), for any distance not exceeding 2000 miles. It is a universal and praiseworthy practice throughout the Union, that lists of unclaimed letters, in all the States, are regularly publishec. in the newspapers. About a thousand persons are killed annually, on an average, in the United States, by steam-boat disasters (that is, either blown up or drowned), and property de- stroyed to the amount of half a million sterling. These disasters chiefly occur on the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. Many of the accidents arise from the snags in the latter river, but the greater part are owing to recklessness and T 410 NORTH AMERICA. carelessness combined. The number of those wounded greatly exceeds, of course, that of those killed. Betwixt the Irish and the coloured population, both at Philadelphia and New York, a considerable animosity exists, as they are rivals for the hardest and simplest work which the community requires. The Germans come in for their share of this animosity, as many of them are also employed in those kinds of employment in which they come into competition. An unfortunate collision took place at Hoboken, in the State of New Jersey, opposite to New York, in May 1851, chiefly betwixt a large body of Irish and Germans, in which several on both sides were killed. The following account of this riot appeared in one of the New York Journals : — ■'' u \ I . i i\ " A Fatal Riot near Keiv Yobk. — A serious riot, attended with loss of life, has taken place in the vicinity of Xew Yorlc. The Germans, to the number of 10,000 or 12,000, were celebrating the holiday of Pentecost on the 26th ult., in the vicinity of the Eljsian Fields, Ilobokcn. In the afternoon, while the Germans were partaking of a pic-nic on the grass, a disturbance took place between them and some young men of Hoboken and New York, who seized their sausages and drank their beer. A general disturbance then took place. Knives and other instruments were used. The assailants were reinforced by a large number of Irish ' navies,' and quiet was not restored till several persons lost their lives ; many were badly wounded, and 60 of the rioters lodged in jail. The investigation before the Coroner's jury revealed some strange doings on the part of the public authorities of that place. There appears to be no doubt but that one of the justices authorised a large number of the rowdies to act as special con- stables, and that they used that authority in maltreating and arresting the innocent portion of the Germans indiscriminately.'* To describe the character of the Americans at any length, would be foreign to my purpose. Leigh Hunt designates them as " Englishmen, with the poetry and romance taken out of them ;" and the author of " Hoche- laga " says of them — )se wounded d. tion, both at le animosity and simplest ermans come of them are n which they ollision took sey, opposite a large body th sides were I in one of the ittended with loss rhe Germans, to iday of Pentecost obokcn. In the on the grass, a of Hoboken and )ecr. A general were used. The avies,' and quiet any were badly cstigation before irt of the public- it that one of the as special con- nd arresting the leans at any Leigh Hunt poetry and of *' Hoche- NORTII AMERICA. 411 *• I was astonished at the general prosperity of the Americans, their in- dustry and skill, the vast resources of the countrj, and their advance in all the useful arts of life. In most, if not all of these, they stand first among the nations of the earth. I will not say thoy inspired me with aflTection or admiration, but they did inspire mo with wonder. Their institutions ap- pear oxcpllontly well adapted to their situation and character at present, in many essential rsspcots ; but I consider them to bo inapplicable to other countries, or even to the probable future condition of their own. They possess many great virtues, but not generally those which attract. Their well directed reason may be far better than mere generous impulse ; but it does not touch the heart. Whatever esteem the traveller may en- tertain, he will scarcely bear away with him much warmth of feeling to- wards them as a people." The American author of an admirable work, published in 1851, called *' The English in America," takes up the matter in the same light, and proves, I think, satisfac- torily, that republicanism in America was not the result of the Revolution, but that it virtually existed there from its first settlement, and that no other practicable alterna- tive was presented to her. Though he maintains that royalty could not be acclimated in the United States, as being contrary to the genius of the people, and their habits, institutions, and feelings, yet he shows the fatal error, or rather the absurdity of the doctrines of those restless politicians, who imagine that a republican form of government is suitable to the inhabitants of every country in the world, merely from the success that has attended the great American experiment. He states that a government must be suited not only to the population, but to the country for which it is designed, and that th«' same form of government is not suited to nations in dif- ferent degrees of civilization, or to the same nation at the same period. He shows clearly that self-government has signally failed in all the republics of South America, though the constitution and example of the United States s2 IS- ■Hi, 412 NORTH AMERfCA. -f i? ?, jj IRFI ' ' ) li had been followed as closely as possible. In alluding to France, he uses the following striking words : — " Democracy hai at pretcnt a fovcrish and dclirioui cxiatencc in Franre. It was not the dcliliorate vnico of tho nation, but tlic result of an insurrec- tion. It ofTorcd a temporary shelter, amid ttie storms of civil commotion, and was adopted as a harbour of refuge. How long will its neutral cha- racter bo respected by tho irrcconcilcable parties that distract that un- happy nation ?" He maintains that the present form of mixed govern- ment is the only one at all suitable to England ; as, if the monarchical principle were stronger, it would be incon- sistent with liberty ; and if the democratic eleftients were enlarged, it would become too powerful for harmonious action, and endanger the whole machinery. He then adds — " Much as we may applaud the wisdom and skill of the groat American statesmen who devised the checlis in their constitution, and much as we may admire its adaptation to the people and circumstances under which they were placed, no impartial politician or sound statesman, whatever may be his country, but must admit that it is infinitely inferior to that of England." It seems, indeed, to be generally admitted, that Gr^at Britain is in possession of a constitution under which the safety of person and property, and the liberty of speech and action, have been more fully enjoyed than in any other nation under heaven, not even excepting the United States of America. Mv readers will bear in mind that the above was written by its distinguished author prior to the bold and succes?)- ful step that was taken on 2d December 1851, by Prince Louis Napoleon, of dissolving, by a " coup d'etat," tlie National Assembly — establishing universal suffrage — pro- claiming himself President of France for ten years — abo- lishing the three absurd words, " liberty, equality, ana fra- NOIITII AMEKICA. 413 I alluding to encc In France. of an ininrrcc- ivil commotion, its ni'utral cha- istract that un- xed govern- d ; as, if the id be incon- 3Aients were harmonious . He then groat American nd much as wc '68 under which sman, whatever ferior to that of I, that Gr^at r which the 1 of speech in any other the United was written nd succes^- , by Prince detat" the frage — pro- years — abo- itv, and fra- ternity" — cutting down the leafless *' trees of liberty" planted at the revolution of 1848, under whose withering shades true liberty never flourished since the world began, having been always watered by the tears of misery ; and converting the whole mass of jarring and conflicting ele- ments into one grand, firm, and (it is to be hoped) stable government, the only thing, peradventure, calculated to save that flne country from the endless and bloody revo- lutions with which, during the last 65 years, she has been so unfortunately and so unmercifully assailed. In regard to universal suffrage, as practised in the United States of America, Buckingham says, " Univer- sal suffrage does not lead in America, any more than it would do elsewhere, to the selection of representatives from any other class than that which the voters believe to be a much higher one than the average of their own." And in reference to revolutions, a sensible old French lady said, '•' that she did not care what revolutions hap- pened, as long as she had her roast chicken, and her little game at cards." And in using the word " revolution^''' I see that the late Mr Hamilton, in his talented work, entitled, '* Men and Manners in America," predicts that America herself is probably destined, at some future period, to pass through that fatal and appalling ordeal. The following are his words : — *• At present the United States are perhaps more safe from revolutionary contention than any country in the world. Rut this safety consists in one circumstance alone. The great majority of the people are possessed of pro- perty ; have what is called a stake in the hed^e ; and are, therefore, by interest, opposed to all measures that may tend to its insecurity. It is for such a condition of society that the present constitution was framed ; and could this great bulwark of prudent government be rendered as permanent as it is eflective, there could be no assignable limit to the prosperity of a people so favoured. But truth is undeniable, that as population increases, I I i 414 NORTH AMERICA. ' M: another state of things must necessarily arise, and one, unfortanatelj, never dreamt of in the philosophy of American legislators. The majority of the peoplo will then consist of men without property of any kind, subject to the immediate pressure of want, and then will be decided the great struggle between property and numbers ; on the one side hunger, rapacity, and phy- sical power ; reason, justice, and helplessness on the other. The weapons of this fearful contest are already forged ; the hands will soon be born that are to wield them. At all events, let no man appeal to the stability of the American government as being established by experience, till this trial has been overpast." Eighty years, though seemingly a long period, are evidently insufficient to test the permanence, or, if I may so speak, the vitality of a constitution, the immediate ad- vantages of which are so strongly felt, whilst the evils are but latent, and comparatively remote. The ignorant and vulgar in France, as well as in America, in their absurd cries about equality, confound an equality of rights with an equality of station. Every man has an equal right to be protected by the laws, in the sphere in which he moves, but every man has not an equal right to move in the same sphere, because every man is not equally qualified. There has been no such thing in fact as equality since the creation, nor can there possibly be any till time has ceased. So soon as mankind began to consort together, they began to separate into ranks and conditions. He who was the bravest, was made leader or king ; he who was the most clever, or the most prudent, became the most wealthy ; and he who in- dulged in idleness, or dissipation, or was without ability, became the poorest. Hence the origin of ranks ; and though honorary titles may abstractly be absurd, and even contemptible, yet this love of title seems to have pervaded society in all countries, and in all ages. Even the citizens of the United States who pretend to despise titles, have their esquires, as amongst us, and designate NORTH AMERICA.. 415 'ortnnately, never e majority of the nd, subject to the le great struggle apacitj, and phy- r. The weapons oon be born that e stability of the till this trial has period, are or, if I may [imediate ad- the evils are well as in y, confound ion. Every the laws, in 1 has not an cause every en no such [>r can there as mankind parate into ravest, was Bver, or the he who in- lout ability, ranks ; and ibsurd, and us to have Even to despise 1 designate ?es their legislators by the title of " Honorable," and their President by that of *' His Excellency." Indeed their pretended love of equality, as they absurdly term it, leads them into many ludicrous inconsistences, of which the foUowintf is a memorable instance : — The late Earl of Selkirk when travelling in 1837 m the United States, having stopped for a few days at Fredericksburg, in Virginia, was invited by the magis- trates there to a public dinner. Before the hour of dinner there was a discussion amongst them, how they were to address him, when it was resolved that they should style him Mr Selkirk; and accordingly his Lord- ship was so addressed during dinner. Had he really been only Mr Selkirk, do you suppose that the worthy citizens would have entertained him in this public man- ner ? Why, they would as soon have thought of inviting a beggar to a public dinner. And if their President were to visit Great Britain, and the people here were to refuse to address him by the title of " His Excellency," would not the whole of the citizens of the Great Republic, be up in arms at such an insult offered to their chief magistrate ? And yet forsooth, they deprived the poor Earl of Selkirk of his title, during the five hours he was taking a bottle of champagne with them. I believe, how- ever, that his Lordship would attach much less importance to it than they did. The novelty of being stripped of his rank for a short time, must no doubt have amused him. Selkirk is a celebrated name. A Scotch sailor of the name of Alexander Selkirk, a native of Largo in the county of Fife, was left in the year 1704 upon a small un- inhabited island, 10 miles long, and 6 broad, called Juan Fernandez, 400 miles from the coast of Chili, and there he remained four years and a half. He had no other companions than cats and goats. Pie built himself a 11 1 I >i m 4H) NORTH AMERICA. house, read his Bible, and sometimes danced with the kids and kittens in front of his dwelling. His chief enjoy- ment consisted in supplying his bodily wants, and to such a pitch had his ideas of happiness raised themselves, that he forgot his country, his language, his name, and even the articulation of words. He had lost in fact all thought of the past, or anxiety for the future. At length he was taken off and carried to England. His adventures gave rise to the interesting story of Robinson Crusoe. The citizens of the United States in conferring the titles formerly alluded to as a mark of distinction among themselves, exhibit to the rest of the civilized world, in a striking degree, the same vanity and weakness which affect the subjects of ancient monarchies. All Americans when they arrive in this country are fond of being intro- duced at court, and proud of being patronised by our nobility. Some of them boasting of a visit to the Queen, and her familiarity with them, said that her Majesty would have asked them to dinner had it not been washing day. It would seem indeed as if there were a yearning after these follies among mankind. Be it so or not, it is an idiosyncrasy, which from time immemorial, has been seized hold of by rulers, for the purpose of stimulating men to deeds beneficial to their country. The prospect of being entitled to write Sir before their names, or of being called a Lord, or an Earl, or a Duke, induces numbers of indi- viduals to do great and good actions, which they would not do for a mere pecuniary reward. As these titles are ordained to descend to their children, they have a double stimulant to action. Genius not being hereditary, these titles may, and certainly do fall into the possession of per- sons of no ability or worth ; nevertheless, the stimulus to acquire titles and rank such as they have, continues to ope- rate beneficially, as it is thought, upon the nation j and NORTH AMERICA. 417 ced with the is chief enjoy- !, and to such mseives, that Tie, and even 2t all thought ength he was entures gave isoe. )nferring the iction among I world, in a kness which II Americans being intro- lised by our ► the Queen, ajesty would ashing day. arning after not, it is an been seized ing men to ect of being being called >ers of indi- they would le titles are ve a double tary, these ion of per- stimulus to ues to ope- ation ; and they themselves feel, or it is presumed they feel, bound to sustain a certain honourable character consistent with their rank. In time, as I have said, a contrary taste may prevail, by which all will scorn to be called by any desig- nation but their plain Christian name and surname ; but we have here nothing to do with what nwi/ be : our business is with what is. The principles of human nature apply in a similar man- ner in solving the mystery, why there are men enjoying riches which they never wrought for, and may be unde- serving of. They enjoy their possessions by right of inheritance — an arrangement of the highest value in a well regulated society. If there were no right of inheritance, all that a person would contend for, would be merely that which was calculated to support him during life : thus in- dustry would lose its chief spur, idleness would ensue, and national deterioration would be the consequence. No rational mind will maintain that when a father of a family, or any one v 'o has no family, has acquired property, and dies, that i' • . belong of right to any or to all who can get possessK.u, by fraud, force, or any other means. Right by inheritance is therefore a proper thing, and must be maintained at all hazards, even although it often en- riches fools. It is a right which need not be grudged, for it is seldom that those who never wrought for riches know how to guide them with prudence, and they soon enough reduce themselves to the level of those having only h moderate competence. It has been contended by some persons that there should be a periodical division of land and property, and that every member of the community shall have an equal share. This is a verv ridiculous doctrine. If it were understood that at certain periods all kinds of property would be divided, no one would exert himself to store up !|5 jl 'A ; m. i '^ Ill » ''' ' 418 NORTH AMERICA. If the fruits of his industry ; and the country would become little better than a desert. Besides, supposing a division were actually to take place, and that all were to be made equal, it is easy to see that inequality would immediately ensue, and then there would be a necessity for a new- division. Such an arrangement would amount to this, that the idle were to be supported by the industrious, which involves a principle so monstrous that it could never be carried into effect. This doctrine, too, independent of its absurdity, is also at direct variance with the divine command, which enjoins that man must earn his bread by the sweat of his brow ; and that if we do not work, neither shall we eat. Industry, indeed, is everywhere strongly inculcated throughout the sacred writings. " Man," it is said, " goeth forth to his work and unto his labour till the evening." " The diligent hand maketh rich, but the sluggard shall want in time of harvest." Indeed the chief thing I admire in the character of Prince Louis Napoleon, (though some of his acts no one can justify,) is his determined hostility to the doctrines and principles of socialism, which go to subvert all laws, both human and divine. His whole exertions (with one single and signal exception) seem directed to the protection of property and of industry, without which every govern- ment must soon fall to pieces. What man in his senses would toil and struggle, if some idle, profligate, worth- less wretch, could step in and insist on sharing with him the fruits of his labour ? The principle on which all accumulation or capital depends, is security of pro- perty. In the middle ages the people burnt the ricks of the provident man, by way of lessening the evils of scarcity. The consequence was, that no person thought of accurau ■ ould become ig a division ) to be made immediately y for a nevv »unt to this, industrious, ; could never rdity, is also hich enjoins f his brow ; ;. Industry, oughout the forth to his The diligent It in time of character of acts no one Dctrines and laws, both 1 one single rotection of ry govern- 1 his senses ate, worth- laring with on which ity of pro- cks of the )f scarcity, of accumu- NORTH AMERICA. 419 lating at all, and the price of wheat often rose just before the harvest from 5s. a quarter to £5. Countries where capital is insecure soon become un- productive, so that land is not cultivated in proportion to its fertility, but to its freedom or security. No man will work willingly when he is to be deprived of the power of disposing at his own will of the fruits of his labour ; and no man will work skilfully when the same scanty pittance is doled out to all, whatever be the differ- ence in their talents and knowledge. England did not begin to accumulate largely till industry was free, and property secure. Could \vealth be one day divided amongst mankind into the most equal proportions, it would be again broken up before 48 hours, as within that short time the provident and diligent would have outstripped the thoughtless, the dissipated, and the indolent, so that to keep the doctrine of equality in existence, you would require to proclaim a new division of property every market day. During the French revolution of 1 789, Marat's receipt for preventing a scarcity of bread, was to break open the provision shops, and hang their owners at the doors. Robespierre, under the name of liberty, ruled France with a sceptre of iron ; and Madame Roland, when glancing at the gigantic statue of Liberty which had been erected near the guillotine on which she was to suffer, exclaimed, " O Liberty ! — how many crimes are com- mitted in thy name !" The French, at that epoch, may have been said to have sown the wind, and reaped the whirl- wind. They carried their love of equality to such a pitch, that the spires of churches were in some cases levelled, because they violated the republican principle of equality, by rising above other edifices. Of the American constitution I shall say but little, — 420 NORTH AMERICA. merely referring those who are curious in such matters to the work of the celebrated French author, M. de Tocqueville, entitled, *' Democracy in America," a work which has been translated into almost all the languages of Europe. By the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union between the States, signed on 4th July 177(3, in which they took the title of " The United States of America," they agreed that each state should retain its sovereignty, freedom, and independence, and every power, jurisdiction, and right, not expressly delegated to Congress by the confederation. For the more convenient management of the general interests of the United States, it was declared that delegates should be appointed to meet in Congress. The Union is thus in some respects one nation, and in others 31. An inhabitant of the State of New York, for instance, so far as questions of peace and war, foreign intercourse, &c., are concerned, belongs to the Uni^n. His chief magistrate is a president, his capital is Wash- ington, and so far as these are concerned, he owes his supreme allegiance to the government holding jurisdiction over them, which is generally called the Federal Govern- ment. But in respect to the administration of justice, responsibility for crime, tenure of property, &c., he be- longs to the State of New York ; his chief magistrate is a governor, and his capital is Albany. Each government is, within its own jurisdiction, entirely independent of the other, and every citizen owes his supreme allegiance to both, so far as their respective jurisdictions may extend. The United States Congress cannot interfere with the laws of the individual states, any more than she can with the laws of other nations of the earth with w hom she is on terms of amity. The Federal Government has no more power, for instance, to abolish slavery in any of the states, NORTH AMERICA. 421 uch matters hor, M. de ca," a work e languages etual Union 6, in which ■ America," sovereignty, jurisdiction, ress by the lagement of /as declared n Congress. Ltion, and in w York, for var, foreign the Unirn. is Wash- oe owes his jurisdiction al Govern- of justice, &c., he be- ^istrate is a [government dent of the legiance to lay extend, e with the le can with horn she is as no more the states, than she would have had to abolish slavery in the British West Indian Colonies. In Europe, the difficulty is to avoid supposing the state governments to be subordinate, whereas they are co-ordinate departments of one simple and integral whole. Each State government legislates and administers in all affairs which concern its own citi- zens. To the Federal Government are consigned all mat- ters which concern citizens, as foreigners from other states, or as fellow-citizens with all in certain specified relations. The President's salary, or as it is there called, '* com- pensation," was fixed at 25,000 dollars, and that of the Vice-President at 5000 dollars ; and it is a remarkable circumstance that these have never been altered. The President holds his situation four years, and the Congress meet annually on a stated day, the first Monday of De- cember. Members of Congress have 8 dollars a day during the sitting of Congress, and the like sum as "mile- age " money for every 20 miles they have to travel to or from Washington. Some of the members from the West are of a gigantic stature. With respect to the stability of the American Com- monwealth, there is great probability that its duration will be longer than any empire that has hitherto existed ; for it is a truth universally admitted, that whilst the ad- vantages which ever attended any of the monarchies of the old world all centre in the new, there are many others which they never enjoyed. Seldom any disputes occur at their elections, the quiet ballot-box being a grand preventative of popular commo- tion. The ballot sometimes produces curious results. A candidate for an office that was to be elected by ballot having received the assurance of support from almost all mi' '■■ 422 NORTH AMERICA. %■■■ i HI W™ II fc the olectors, was astonished on the day of election, to find that not a single ball had been put in for him. A republic is a government in which the people have established a constitution, and in which they choose some of their fellow-citizens to make and administer laws. Each of the States is therefore a republic. The government of the United States is formed upon a union or confedera- tion of the several States, and is, therefore, called a " Federal Republic." The distinction between a democracy and a republic is, that in the former, the people act themselves directly in the business of government ; whereas in the latter, the people choose men to represent them and act for them. While the constitution takes away from the individual States, and gives to the Federal Government certain powers, as for instance, the power to make treaties ; to carry on war against foreign nations ; to have a standing army and navy ; to establish post-offices, customs, &c., and, in general, to preside over those interests which aiFect the whole country as a nation ; it leaves the different States still, as independent republics, to carry on their several internal governments, to manage all their affairs as they may think proper ; and leaves them, in short, in posses- sion of all the powers that are not thus expressly given away. There are two parties in America, the whigs, and the democrats, who are occasionally styled the locofocos, a nickname ^iven to them by the whigs. The whigs cor- respond to the old tory or conservative party in Great Britain, and are occasionally called " federalists," by the democrats, as a term of reproach. The democrats are the go-a-head party, synonymous with the radical party in this country. The aim of the federal party is to strengthen the central authority ; whilst the aim of the democratic 3Ction, to find 11. 3 people have r choose some r laws. Each ; government or confedera- ore, called a a republic is, (Ives directly he latter, the ict for them, he individual iment certain ities ; to carry tanding army L &c., and, in ich affect the 'erent States their several Fairs as they t, in posses- 3ressly given igs, and the locolocos, a le whigs cor- rty in Great ists," by the mocrats are ical party in o strengthen : democratic NORTH AMERICA. 423 party is to increase the power of the citizens in their local courts, and in the separate State legislatures. The word " Tori/" was a name originally given to the w ild Irish robbers, who favoured the massacre of the Irish Protest- ants in 1641 ; and it was afterwards applied to all enor- mous high-fliers of the Church. The term " JVIiig^'* was a ludicrous name first allotted to the country-field devo- tion-meeting, whose ordinary drink was whig, or whey of coagulated sour milk. It was afterwards applied to those who were against the Court interest, in the reigns of Charles II. and James II., and for the Court, in the reigns of King William, and King George. The members of Senate hold their seats for six years, one-third of its whole number (62) being renewed every second year. The late Alexander Mackay, in his admir- able work on America, called the *' Western World," says, '* America has been saved from many a precipice by her double chamber." The Senate holds the same rank in the legislature of the State that the House of Lords does in England, and performs essentially the same functions. '1 t ; 'I • .J I 424 NOIITII AMERICA. CHAPTER XXIII. \l ' m * i r i i I 1 : -S H w ■ ! 1 w : ■ : II! i 1 ii' I l^St . > j ft: ■; ^1 m Hi[i lm -;; ' W" P" ■•|.'j: Ii i ■J f : ; |H ^il^ System of Divorce in tlio United States — Visit to Philadelphia — Tenets of the Quakers— .The (iirard College— Fire Rrijiades — Hostility to the Coloured Population — The use of Bowie Knives and Revolving Pistols — The Earl of Carlisle's description of Congress — Hospitality of the Slave States. There are often curious advertisements in the New York papers, and the following is one of them, which appeared in 1850:— To Unhappy Wives and Husbands. The undersigned having had great experience in divorce cases, hereby tenders his services to those who wish to be released from the bonds of matrimony, and become again eligible for marriage. Confidential' com- munications, post paid, promptly attended to. Martin Van Hovenbergh, successor to James McGay. Office 14 Chamber Street, Counscllor-at-law, &e. Residence, 334 Broome Street. The subject of divorce, mentioned in the above adver- tisement, leads me to remark that they are more easily procured in the States than with us. The causes for which — besides infidelity — they can be obtained, vary in every different State, the chief reasons being drunken- ness, desertion, in some States for two years, in others, three years, and in some five years. In the State of Ohio, desertion by either of the parties, for three years, is a ground of divorce. Cruelty and gross neglect, are cause? NORTH AMERICA. 425 Iphia— Tenets of Uosiility to the devolving PistoU ospitality of the le New York ch appeared ;e cases, hereby >ni the bonds of onfidential' com* an Hovenbergh, lunscllor-at-lavr, )ove adver- more easily causes for led, vary in ig drunken- ill others, ate of Ohio, years, is a , are causes in most of the States, as is also imprisonment for a eritnc. In New Hampshire, the circumstance of being *'not heard of for 3 years," and in Connecticut, " for 7 years," forms also a ground of divorce. In most of the States drunken- ness is one of the causes, hut they vary much, as in some of them they merely assign drunkenness, and others habit'jal drunkenness; in Arkansas, drunkenness one year; in iJissouri, "habitual drunkenness two years;" and in the State of Maine, " drunkenness for three years." Having resolved to visit Philadelphia, I started for that city, 90 miles from New York, by a steamer, through Staten Island Sound to South Amboy, a distance of 28 miles, whence you proceed by railway to Camden, (il miles, and crossing the Delaware, one mile wide, by steam- boat, you at once find yourself in Philadelphia. I returned to New York by a different route, 88 miles in length, taking the steam-boat from the foot of Walnut Street to Tacony, and thence by railway, via Trenton, celebrated for the battle that was fought there, Newark, and arriv- ing at Jersey city, crossed the ferry, (a mile broad), from thence to New York. The State of New Jersey, through which this railroad passes, is celebrated for its peaches, of which one million baskets are annually sent from it to New York and Philadelphia. Orchards of 10,000 peach trees are not uncommon. I arrived at Philadelphia on 15th October 1850, the same day with Jenny Lind, though, I am sorry to say, my arrival did not create quite such a sensation as that of the Sweedish nightingale. I endeavoured next day to get into the Chesnut Street Theatre, in the forenoon, in order to see the tickets sold by auction, but the crowd was so overwhelming that I was glad to get out again. The first ticket was sold at 625 dollars, and the second at 12 dol- 42() NORTH AMERICA. ' ' p I lars. Tho two purchasers) would probably bo seated to- gether at the performance, but fools and their money are soon parted. The person who bought the first ticket was slightly hissed on its being knocked down to him, from the circumstance of his having given so much for it. The circumstance of being the purchaser of the first ticket seemed to excite their national vanity in a wonderful degree. The Quakers in America, who, like all other Quakers, detest singing men and singing women, were much annoy- ed at the appearance of Jenny amongst them, and, at a meeting of " Friends," a lady of that denomination rose and said — " There has lately come over to this country a woman who sings, and a great many ])eople go after her. Her name is Jane Lynde. If this singing woman should come into our neighbourhood, I hope none of our young folks will be drawn away to hear her." The doctrines or tenets of the Quakers are very simple. They meet together, not formally to preach and pray at appointed times and places, but to wait in silence till something arise in any one of their minds that savours of a divine spring. They refuse to pull off their hats, or practise any of the established forms of courtesy, hold- ing that the Christian religion requires of its votaries that they should be no respecters of persons. They enter- tain the belief that all war and fighting is wrong, and that even if attacked we should otfer no resistance. They deny the payment of tithes, disclaim the sanction of an oath, and marry in a form of their own. They pronounce of the ordinances of baptism and the Lord's supper, that they were of temporary obligation, and are now become obsolete. They wear a garb of peculiar plainness, and are the determined enemies of the institution of priest- hood. NOUTII AMKUICA. 427 atotl to- Dney are L'ket was m, from it. The It ticket onderfiil Quakers, h annoy- ind, at a ion rose country go after I woman of our r simple. pray at 3nce till vours of hats, or y, hold- ries that y enter- ind that They n of an )nounce er, that become ss, and priest- The State of Pennsylvania was founded by William I'enn, the celebrated Quaker, who was born in Loudon in 1G44. Having obtained from the government a grant of land in America, lying to the north of Maryland, and bounded on the east by the Delaware river, he j)roposed that it should be called Sylvania, (from the latin word si/lva a wood), cis one which the woody nature of the coimtry rendered suitable. Ultimately this nann? was adopted, with the prefix of the word Penn, in honour of his father. Vice-admiral Sir William Penn, for whom both the King and the Duke of York had a great regard. Penn was anxious to have this prefix struck out, as ap- parently too assuming, and made application for that pur- j)ose, but the King insisted that the name Pennsylvania should remain, as accordingly it did. In 10*82, Penn set sail from Deal in England, in a ship of 300 tons burthen, with 100 emigrants, mostly Quakers, and after a voyage of about six weeks, anchored in the Delaware. Within a few months after his arrival, 23 ships, loaded with emigrants from England, Wales, and Ireland, sailed up that river and anchored oil' the site of the new town, to which he gave the name of Philadelphia, in token of the principle of " brotherly love," (that being the meaning of the Greek words) on wluch it was found- ed ; brotherly love among Englisli, Swedes, Dutch, Indians, and men of all languages and nations. Phila- delphia continued to be the seat of the Federal Government till the year 1800, when it was transferred to Washington, in the district of Columbia, which is now the capital of the United States. Philadelphia, now the second city of the Union, hav- ing a population of 400,000, extends for 5 miles along the banks of the Delaware, and on the right or western bank of that river, which is there about a mile wide, and I ' ; ! m m ■i ■ .!■ I 428 NORTH AMERICA. 120 miles from the Atlantic Ocean, by the course of the bay and river. ' It was founded in 1G82, and claimed by 3 Swedes, whose title vvas purchased by Penn in 1683. In laying out the town, he named the streets running east and west from the trees found in the place, namely, vine, mulberry, chesnut, walnut, spruce, pine, and cedar streets ; and those running north and south, or parallel to the river, from their numeral order, as, front street, 1 st, 2d, 3d, and so on, until you come to Broad street, which is about mid- way between the Delaware, and Schuylkill Rivers, and is 120 feet wide. Market street is 100, and most of the others 50 feet wide. The principal market, built in the centre of Market street, is almost unequalled in the world, being nearly a mile in length, and filled with provisions of all kinds in such abundance, as to fill one's mind with perfect amazement. The price of butcher's meat varies from 4 to 12 cents the pound, averaging 8 cents, or four pence sterling, about a penny less than the average of New York and Boston, and about a penny more than the average of Cincinnati. In 1793 a malignant fever broke out, which in four months carried off 4031 of the inhabitants, who amounted at that time to 35,000. Whilst this fever lasted, all who could, fled from the city ; and the smoke of tobacco being regarded as a preventative, women and children had segars constantly in their mouths. The churches, coffee-houses, and public offices, were mostly closed ; three out of the four daily papers were dropped ; whilst those who ventured abroad had sponges or handkerchiefs impregnated with camphor or vinegar at their noses. The corpses of the most respectable people were carried to the grave on the shafts of a chair, the horse being driven by a negro, and unattended by any one else. Many walked in the middle wl f€ 01 hi ci pi course of the y 3 Swedes, 5. In laying east and west ne, mulberry, streets ; and to the river, t, 2d, 3d, and is about mid- Rivers, and is most of thf t, built in the I in the world, ith provisions j's mind with s meat varies cents, or four e average of ore than the hich in four fho amounted LSted, all who ;obacco being in had segars |offee-houses, out of the ho ventured ignated with rpses of the rrave on the negro, and the middle NORTH AMERICA. 429 of the streets to avoid being infected in passing by houses wherein people had died ; the old custom of shaking hands fell into disuse ; acquaintances and friends avoided each other in the streets, and whole families perished in their houses without any assistance. The disease, from its contagious nature, proved parti- cularly fatal to physicians and to the clergy, whilst of the profligate and corpulent, few are said to have recovered. Most of the French, however, settled there, as well as the coloured population, escaped its ravages in a remarkable manner. However virulent may be the precursory signs of death, the act itself is in all cases unattended by pain. Sobs, tears, groans, and convulsions of the body are not neces- sarily indicative of existing pain, as these occur in apoplexy, epilepsy, and convulsive fits, from which the person reco- vers with hardly any recollection of suffering. I visited the celebrated Girard College, situated on a beautiful eminence, about two miles from the heart of the city, which may be considered the handsomest building on the American continent. The centre building, which pecu- liarly constitutes the College, is built entirely of white marble, and is surrounded by 34 white marble pillars. The cost of the whole has been about two millions of dol- lars. It was commenced in 1833, and finished in 1847. The founder endowed it for the education and maintenance of 300 poor white male orphans belonging to Philadelphia. I ascended to the roof of the building, from which you have a magnificent view of the city and surrounding country. Stephen Girard, the founder of this institution, was born at Bordeaux in France, and died at Philadelphia in 1831, at the advanced age of 95. On leaving France in early life, he proceeded to the West Indies, and from I ii^FrflSi ' 111 430 NORTH AMERICA. thence to New York, where he arrived in 1775, in the capacity of mate to a trading vessel. In 1 799 he settled in Philadelphia, where at first he took up a sort of " Old Curiosity Shop," dealing in old iron and rigging. By degrees he acquired so much wealth, being very penurious, that he commenced the banking business, and was so suc- cessful, that at the time of his death he had realized a for- tune of twelve millions of dollars, or two millions and a half sterling, being the richest man, with the exception of the late John Jacob Astor of New York, the rich Ger- man fur-dealer, that has died in America. The present William B. Astor, his heir, pays annually into the city treasury of New York the sura of 24 thousand dollars for taxes, and the assessed value of his property in that city alone is 2,600,300 dollars. The celebrated Astor House at New York belongs to him. Girard in bis will made the tuition of the French and Spanish languages imperative, but did not recommend the Greek and Latin. He enjoined that clergymen of every denomination should not only be excluded from holding any office in the institution, but should be prohibited from even passing through the very gates that led to it. He seems to have entertained an unfortunate antipathy to the whole of that fraternity, and in framing the above injunc- tion, had probably in view the celebrated saying of the Emperor Napoleon, " that priests in all ages had inspired fanaticism without being fanatics themselves." By this restriction he states that he intended to cast no reflection upon any sect or persons whatever, but adds, " as there is such a multitude of sects, and such a diversity of opi- nion amongst them, I desire to keep the tender minds of the orphans free from the excitement which clashing doc- trines and sectarian controversy are so apt to produce." The following are the words of the will in regard to this NORTH AMERICA. 431 1775, in the r99 he settled sort of " Old rigging. By ery penurious, id was so suc- realized a for- millions and a e exception of the rich Ger- The present ^ into the city md dollars for ty in that city Astor House le French and Bcommend the ymen of every from holding 'ohibited from sd to it. He tipathy to the above injunc- saying of the had inspired es." By this no reflection s, "as there ersity of opi- ider minds of clashing doc- to produce." egard to this injunction : — ** Secondly/, I enjoin and require that no ecclesiastic, missionary, or minister, of any sect whatso- ever, shall ever hold or exercise any station or duty in the said college, nor shall any parson ever be admitted for any purpose, or as a visitor, within the premises appro- priated to the said college." This " Quaker City," as it is sometimes ciilled, though long celebrated for the tranquillity and ordf.r that pre- vailed in it, has now become perhaps the most disorderly city on the continent of America — riots, fires, stabbings, robberies, and murders occurring almost every night. This arises mainly from the number of idle and disreput- able characters who have flocked to it of late years, from all parts of the Union, who are termed " rowdies," which is synonymous with " blackguards" in this country. A New York paper says of it in October 1850 : — " Heaven defend us, or any other city, from the horrible state of things which exists in the * city of brotherly love.' " Wo copy the following from the Pennsylvanian : — •• When are we to rise in the morning without finding some citizen — probably some dear friend— has been murdered in cold blood by the raid- night assassin ? The character of our whole people is afTcctcd by these awful atrocities, and the business interest of Philadelphia cannot fail to be impaired, unless something is done to arrest this dreadful scourge. Venice in her darkest days — Spain with her Inquisition — even Franco under the reign of Terror — was hardly more disgraced than is Philadelphia, when the age in which we live is considered." The grand jury of Philadelphia published in August 1850 a report in reference to its lawless state, and enume- rating the causes to which it was to be attributed. The present deplorable state of morals, order, and personal security in Philadelphia, is owing, in the opinion of the Grand Jury, mainly to the factious and discordant state of the fire department. After speaking of the riot- I '■' ffcr^T «^y7l ^,1 |TFT ■ ii * '>,' 1 V 4 !1 lii : in 432 NORTH AMERICA. ous encounters so common between the different and hos- tile companies, the Grand Jury directly charge that half of the fires, occurring within the city, are caused by in- cendiaries, connected either directly or indirectly with the fire department. They therefore indict the fire department as at present constituted, as a nuisance, recommend that the appropriations, now made to it by the city and Districts, be withdrawn, and that a new system of fire operations be organized and placed under the control of the civil and police power. The Grand Jury also trace the disorders of Philadelphia to the immense number of low drinking houses, where the landlords make a business of screening and harbouring felons and rioters; to the gene- ral habit of carrying fire-arms and other deadly weapons ; and to the want of a well-regulated legal apprentice sys- tem, binding boys, as of old, under the full control of their employers to learn a trade, until they are of age, instead of their being, as now, bound or hired out only for a week or year for money, and subject during their leisure hours to the control of no one. The number of fires that occur almost daily at Phila- delphia, as well as New York, is truly astonishing. I saw the remains of one which had broken out there in 1849, the year previous to my visit, and had consumed no less than 350 houses, most of which had been rebuilt. The fire department in New York and Philadelphia is a most wonderful thing. As the point of honor is to be first at a fire, the director of the first engine that arrives, becomes director-general for the evening. He is, as it were, the commander-in-chief of an allied army during a battle. The company attached to each engine amounts to from 20 to 100 men, and it starts from the station-house as soon as three or four have arrived to direct its move- ments. The people in the streets assist in dragging it with NORTH AMERICA. 433 rent and hos- rge that half aused by in- !Ctly with the e department ammend that the city and ystem of fire the control of iry also trace se number of ke a business >; tothegene- dly weapons; Dprentice sys- Dntrol of their age, instead ily for a week leisure hours aily at Phila- hing. I saw here in 1849, umed no less 3uilt. liladelphia is onor is to be that arrives, He is, as it my during a ine amounts station-house ct its move- gging it with ropes, as no horses are employed. The competition to be first is so ardent, that ambitious young men sleep as if a part of the brain were left awake to watch for the word " fire," or the sound of the State-house alarm-bell. They will sometimes, put on their boots and great-coats, carry their clothes in their hands, and dress at the fire. In rushing along the streets, sometimes blowing horns, and ringing the large bells attached to the engines all the time, they often run down and severely injure passengers who are in their way ; or if one of themselves fall, the rest drag on the engine, regardless of his fate, and occa- sionally break his legs or arms with the wheels. When two engines arrive at a fire at the same time, the com- panies frequently fight for the first place, and then a des- perate and bloody battle will rage for a considerable time, while the flames are making an unchecked progress. They are often called out on very trivial alarms, and being once abroad at midnight hours, they adjourn to taverns, and pass the night in nocturnal recreations. Troops of boys also attach themselves as volunteers to the engines, and thus too frequently acquire idle and dissolute habits. On inquiring one day of a bystander, if all this hubbub were necessary, he politely replied, " I guess the youth here require excitement." The grand jury, however, do not advert to one cause of the riots, namely, the hostility that exists between the Irish and the free people of colour. The latter are a class as interesting to the foreigner, as the more numerous Germans. Some years ago, the more humble and laborious out door employments fell almost exclusively to their share. They were the porters, draymen, and car- men of the city, and discharged and loaded the shipping. But riots against them, which began in New York, were succeeded by others in Philadelphia, so far back as 1834; P 43 1 NORTH AMERICA. in t fu and the silent endurance of petty sufferings has been their lot almost ever since. The Irish emigrants are their chief competitors for the humble unskilled employments which they were accustomed to follow ; and the pressure against them has become such, that in the face of continued Irish and German immigration, they have been scarcely able to hold their own, and great numbers have been driven into other States. But they cannot get admission into the adjoining slave States of Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and the Caro- Hnas, as these, and indeed all the slave States have laws for the regulation of emancipation, which, in general, is only permitted on condition that the emancipated slaves quit the State with the least possible delay, their presence being considered dangerous among those still held in bondage. Their refuge has been in the north-west, where the world is new, and labour of all kinds in demand. To Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, their migrations have conse- quently been chiefly directed, and those three States now contain 50,000 of them ; and in this direction an outlet for the stream will probably be found for many years to come. From circumstances to which it is not necessary to advert, a proportion of the children born in slavery are less or more removed from the African type. Mulattoes are numerous ; and individuals nearly white, though still reckoned as slaves, are not uncommon. The principle is, that the progeny must in every instance follow the condition of the mother : should she be a slave, so must her child be a slave, notwithstanding the father was a free white man, as the law knows no period when the child of a slave shall be born free, however far removed from the African. The ignominy attaching to the condition of slavery ap- NORTH AMERICA. 435 s been their » their chief lents which jure against f continued sen scarcely have been oining slave I the Caro- 3 have laws I general, is pated slaves eir presence Btill held in •west, where 3mand. To have conse- States now m an outlet iny years to lecessary to slavery are Mulattoes though still e principle follow the .ve, so must ,ther was a when the far removed slavery ap- pears to extend to all persons who have the misfortune to be descended, even in a remote degree, from negro an- cestors. The least tinge of negro blood in the complexion of a man or woman separates them, from all the sympathies and courtesies of society, and condemns them to pass their lives amid jeers and insults. Throughout the whole of the United States, slave-holding and free, this extra- ordinary and most sinful prejudice seems to manifest itself. Hundreds of anecdotes might be given of negroes and mulattoes turned out of stage-coaches, refused admis- sion to the cabins of steamers even for double fare, turned back from the doors of places of amusement, unless when attending whites in the capacity of footmen, driven out of their seats in places of worship, denied burial in church- yards in which white men wished exclusively to rot, and so forth. Nowhere is the prejudice against race stronger than in Philadelphia, the city of brotherly love. Unita- rians were at one time persecuted in America because they would not change their creed ; whilst the negro is persecuted because he cannot change his complexion. After all the enquiries and personal observations I could make among all classes, and in every spot I visited, I could find nothing that afforded the slightest justification of the odium and contempt thrown upon those unfortunate people. One would have been led to expect that the Irish of all others, who have quitted their native country to escape persecution, would have felt some sympathy for its victims in the land of their adoption. But to the shame of that nation, the reverse is the case. Nearly all of them who have resided there any length of time are more bitter and severe against the blacks than the native whites them- selves. They are jealous of them from their well-known disposition to work for almost any price. It is certainly a singular circumstance that whites were at one time im- T 2 430 NORTH AMERICA. u ii ported into the West Indies, because the blacks asked too much for their labour, whilst the latter are almost driven out of Pennsylvania and New York because they ask too little. The horrible treatment to which the free coloured race in America is subjected, has been undoubtedly the cause of their doing many things, which, though no doubt wrong, ought to have excited the sympathy fully more than the condemnation of their fellow-countrymen, who have escaped the misfortune of a black skin. At present a number of petty offices and small traffics are resigned to the industry of the free negroes, because the general prosperity is such, that the Americans find sufficient room for enterprise in other departments. But in proportion as the country becomes more and more settled, and as competition among the whites increases, these petty channels of industry will probably be resorted to by the whites themselves, and the negroes driven to a still lower employment. At present they may be barbers and hair-dressers, clean boots, and sell old clothes ; but the time may come when they will not be able to make a living by such means, and then they will be obliged to resort to something still more humble. In this manner the whites will chase and harass them from post to post, until misery will complete their destruction. Their fate has no parallel in history. Slavery has introduced them to life, liberty must accomplish their ruin. Though Philadelphia be the principal city in Pennsyl- vania, yet the political capital is a small town called Harrisburg, situate 106 miles from it, and containing 10,000 inhabitants. When the celebrated French general, the Marquis de la Fayette, visited the United States in 1825, nearly 50 years after his former visit, when he assisted the Ameri- cans in their war of independence, he expressed his sur- NORTH AMERICA. 437 is asked too most driven hey ask too •ee coloured )ubtedly the gh no doubt fully more rymen, who mall traffics 388, because lericans find nents. But e and more 5S increases, ' be resorted 3 driven to a \f be barbers clothes; but e to make a obliged to his manner ost to post, Their fate )duced them in Pennsyl- town called containing Marquis de 5, nearly 50 the Ameri- sed his sur- prise at the strength of the prejudice that had grown up during that time against coloured persons. He remem- bered, he said, how, when he was in America on a former occasion, that the black soldiers used to mess with the whites during their campaigns. I resided during my residence at Philadelphia at the Indian Queen Hotel, No. lo South Fourth Street. One day the polite landlord, Mr Hopkins, invited me to inspect three celebrated parts of his establishment, namely, the original market house built by William Penn, the printing office where Benjamin Franklin wrought, and the room where Jefferson drew up the celebrated Declaration of Independence, all of which were on the premises occupied by him. The market house is now partly occupied by him as an outhouse, and adjoining it is Franklin's printing office, though he was born at Boston in 1706. Mr Hop- kins seems to have converted it into a place for cleaning shoes. The room where Jefferson prepared the Declara- tion was on the first story in front, above the bar. It was afterwards adopted by the delegates, and signed by thern on 4th July 1776, in a room in the State House in Chesnut Street, which, like all strangers, I also visited as one of the " lions'* of Philadelphia. This celebrated Declaration was adopted by Congress, and publicly proclaimed from the steps in front of the Senate House on the same day. Congress met at Philadelphia till the year 1800, when they removed to Washington. Philadelphia may be said to be the first town south of New York, where the bowie-knife and revolving pistols come into frequent use ; for though the former be a for- bidden instrument, they don't seem to mind that much. I stepped into a cutler's shop in the arcade there, one day, and saw two different kinds of them, one a large clasp knife, the blade of which when opened, is caught by a w 11 I' ;•' B(>! * ' 'it 438 NORTU AMERICA. Spring ^vhich prevents its shutting again until you touch the spring* The other resembled a small straight poniard or dagger, and is carried in a sheath under the waistcoat on the left side, and can be drawn in an instant. The Emperor Napoleon took the most effectual plan of put- ting a stop to the use of the bowie-knife in Italy, by hanging all those who used it. The revolving pistols have generally six barrels, and as they revolve or turn round, the person using them has thus six chances to one in his favour, which is reckoned a great advantage in the southern States of America. The bowie-knife may be said to be in almost universal use in the Southern States. A member of the assembly of Arkansas, in the heat of debate, drew out one of those instruments, and stabbed another to the heart, who instantly died. A gentleman whom I met at New York, told me that he was present one day at a jury trial in a town in the State of Missis- sippi, when a dispute arose betwixt the two opposing lawyers, who both drew their bowie-knives, which so frightened the presiding judge that he lept out at the window. In America, barristers, solicitors, and attorneys form but one profession, and they are called counsellors- at-law. It may be considered the best of all the profes- sions in that country, as the same theoretical equality which makes a man think his own opinion as good as his neighbour's, naturally promotes litigation. The Earl of Carlisle says in reference to their personal altercations, — '* Tlicre may be less habitual and actual noise in Congress than in our own Parliament, but the time of the House of Representatives, not without cost to the constituent body which pays for their services, is continuously taken up, when not engrossed by a speech of some days' duration, witli wrangles upon points of order and angry recriminations ; the language used in debate has occasionally sounded the lowest depths of coarse and virulent acrimony, as the floor of the legislative hall has actually been the scene of violent personal rencounters. The manners of the barely civilised West, NORTH AMERICA. 439 1 you touch ight poniard le waistcoat §tant. The plan of put- n Italy, by ving pistols >lve or turn inces to one ntage in the life may be dern States, the heat of and stabbed L gentleman was present e of Missis- I'O opposing ), which so out at the id attorneys counsellors- the profes- jal equality good as his 'he Earl of ircations, — ss than in our IS, not without s continuously luration, with language used le and virulent n the scene of ivilised "West, where it has been known that counsel challenge judges on the bench, and members of the Legislature fire off rifles at the Speaker as he tits in the chair, would appear to be gradually inrading the Tery inner shrine of the constitution." The payment alluded to by his Lordship in the above, consists of an allowance of 8 dollars a-day, for every day the Congress sits, to members of both Houses of Congress, with an allowance of 8 dollars (called mileage) lor every 20 miles that the member has to travel to and from Washington. Notwithstanding, however, their unfortunate use of the bowie-knife, so prevalent in all the southern States, there is a frankness of character, warmth of heart, and hospita- lity in these States, particularly the slave States, to which the northern States are comparative strangers. All travellers indeed, without exception, speak with rap- tures and with gratitude of the hospitality of the southern planters. Mrs Houstoun among others says, (Vol. ii. p. 153,) ** I believe that people in England have very little idea of the riches and hospitality of some of the southern planters. We are acquainted with some who have as many as 2000 vassals, in the shape of negroes, and their enormous fortunes are spent, not only in dissipation and hospitality, but also in ameliorating the condition of those who are thus dependent upon them." The Earl of Carlisle says also in reference to this, — " I made a rapid journey, by steamboat and railroad, through the States of Virginia and North Carolina ; the country wore a universal impress of exhaustion, desertion, slavery, I spent a fortnight at Charleston, the capital of South Carolina. This town and State may be looked upon us tlie head-quarters of the slave-holding interest. I am bound to say that I lipoiit my time there very pleasantly ; there was much gaiety, and unbountied hospitality. I have made no disguise of what my opinions upon slavery were, are, and ever must be ; but it would be uncandid to deny that the planter in the southern States has much more in his manner and mode of in- Hi i I{- u;^ 440 NOHTII AMERICA. li'! I tercourte that reiemblei tho English country gentleman thnn any other oIsrh of hit countrymen { he ' more cany, companionable, fond of country life, and out of door purauita." In the southern States the planters have generally apartments solely fitted up for the reception of strangers ; and there is no traveller of respectable appearance, but will be offered the use of a good room, an excellent larder, and a well stocked cellar of wine, in the estate of a planter, whether the owner be at home or abroad. Presi- dent Jefferson told Captain Hall, that in his father's time it was no uncommon thing for gentlemen to post their ser- vants on the main road, for the purpose of amicably way- laying, and bringing to their houses, any travellers who might chance to pass. It was also the custom at one time in Virginia, among those who resided near the high- ways, to make a large fire in the hall after supper, and to set out a table with refreshments for such travellers as might have occasion to pass during the night ; and when the families assembled in the morning they seldom found that their tables had been unvisited. Were such a plan to be tried in this country, they would soon find such a multitude of people assembled, as would consume not only every thing that was on the table, but every thing that was in the house. .VOUni AMERICA. 441 ) any other claim of countrj life, ^c generally if strangers ; arance, but illent larder, estate of a oad. Presi- father's time >8t their ser- licably way- Lvellers who itom at one ar the high- pper, and to ravellers as ; and when Idom found such a plan ind such a me not only thing that CHAPTER XXIV. I'rofeasor .lulitmtoirs viewB in regard to tlio ii^ricultiire uf the I iiitcd States — Captain liiirciay's agricultural tour in Anicricft — Pret'erence jjivmi to the Slato of Illinois by Mr Stuart, Mr Iluekingham and Mr Shirreff— Mr I'hrushie'a remarks on farming in the United States. Not being a great farmer myself, I shall not take up tlu^ time of my readers by any lengthened details on that sub- ject, but would refer them to the valuable work in tw(> volumes (published in 1851) designated *' Notes on North America" by Professor Johnston of Durham, the cele- brated agriculturist. Mr J. thinks it protitable under the present system of farming in America, to farm only as much as can be cultivated with the members of a man's own family, as with hired labourers it will scarcely pay. With the cradle scythe universally in use, by which the wheat is laid ready for being put in sheaves by means of " cradles" attached to the blade and handle of the scythe, a man can cut 5 acres a day ; and with some of their reap- ing-machines 20 or 30. He is of opinion that though the quantity of wheat and flour exported from the new north- western States, such as Michigan, Wisconsin, &c., may con- tinue to increase for a certain number of years, yet that it will gradually in the course of time begin to diminish, and will finally in a great measure cease. The quantity of wheat raised in Great Britain is greater than that of the whole of the United States put together. A farmer goin^' ryr-- 442 NORTH AMERICA. 1 from this country to America, must reverse his experience here, and spend land to save labour, instead of labour to save land, otherwise he soon becomes poor* The average produce of wheat throughout the United States is only 15 bushels per acre, whilst in England it is 30. There are 300 millions of bushels of wheat raised annually in the United States, and 700 millions of Indian corn, making a thousand millions in all. The effect upon the state of the soil by constant crop- ping without manure, is to bring it by degrees into a state of more or less complete exhaustion. Whatever be its quality or natural fertility, this is the final and inevitable result. In land which is very rich, the effect is produced more slowly — so slow, that those who hold land which for fifty years has yielded crops of corn without the addition of manure, will scarcely believe in the possibility of its ceasing at last to give its wonted returns. But old experi- ence and modern science alike demonstrate that the rich- est soils, by constant cropping, without the addition of manuring substances to replace what the crops carry ofi*, must ultimately arrive at a state of comparative barrenness. In confirmation of this, he states that the wheat-export- ing regions of North America have been gradually shifting their locality, and retiring inland and towards the west. The flats of the Lower St Lawrence were the granary of America in the times of French dominion ; western New York succeeded these ; next came Canada west ; and now the chief surplus exists, and the main supplies for the mar- kets of Larope are drawn from the newer regions beyond the lakes. These in their turn, as the first virgin iresh- ness passes away, will cease to be productive of abundant wheat, and eastern America must then look for its sup- plies of this grain, either to a better culture of its own ex- hausted soil, or to regions still nearer the setting sun. i:l!l:li NORTH A»'!'3ICA. 443 1 experience )f labour to the United Ingland it is heat raised IS of Indian istant crop- into a state tever be its d inevitable is produced d which for he addition bility of its old experi- it the rich- addition of s carry off, jarrenness. eat-export- illy shifting 3 the west, granary of stern New ; and now or the mar- )ns beyond rgin iresh- f abundant or its sup- ts own ex- g sun. This has already been the case in the longer settled portions of the North American continent ; and the same consummation is preparing for the more newly settled parts, ujiless a change of system takes place. The new wheat-exporting — so called — granary districts and States, will by-and-by gradually lessen in number and extent, and probably lose altogether the ability to export, unless when unusual harvests occur. And if the population of North America continue to advance at its present rapid rate — especially in the older States of the Union — if large min- ing and manufacturing populations spring up, the ability to export wheat to Europe will lessen still more rapidly. This diminution may be delayed for a time, by the rapid settling of new western States, which, from their virgin soils, will draw easy returns of grain ; but every step west- ward adds to the cost of transporting produce to the Atlantic border, while it brings it nearer to that far west- ern California, which, as some predict, will in a few years afford an ample market for all the corn and cattle wlu*. h the Western States can send it. Mr J. then adds. " lu their relation to English markets, therefore, and the prospects and profits of the British farnaer, my persuasion is, that year by year our Trans- atlantic cousins will become less and less able, except in extraordinary soa- Bons, to send large supplies of wheat to our island ports ; and that, when the virgin freshness shall have been rubbed off their new lands, thoy will bt- unable, with their present knowledge and methodn, to send wheat to U\f British market so cheap as the more skilful farmers of Great Britain and Ireland can do. " If any one less ..miliar with practical agriculture doubts that sucii must be the final eft'ect of the exhausting system now Allowed on all lUv lunda of North America, I need only inform him that the celebrated Lothiaii fiirmers, in t' j immediate neighbourhood of Edinburgh, who carry a'! their crops off the land as the North American farmers now do, ri'turii, on an average, ten tons of well-rotted manure every year to every acre, wliile tLe American farmers return nothing. ♦'The Edinburgh farmer sells all off — turnips, potatoes, straw, {,'raii., I" I ji Mr. 444 NORTH AMERICA. i"'. s .!h r.,- i '■ ■: % I . • !■■' i 1 ■! ' 1 [- I h and hay ; but he manures his turnips with thirty, and his potatoes with forty loads of manure, in a rotation consisting of potatoes, wheat, turnips, barley, hay and oats. If the Edinburgh farmer finds this quantity necessary to keep his land in condition, that of the Anierican farmer must go out of condition ; and when this exhaustion has come, a more costly system of generous husbandry must be introduced, if the crops are to be kept up ; and in this more generous system, my belief is, that the British farmers will have the v 'ctory. " If the population of the United States be now 25,000,000, and if it be increasing, as is said, at the rate of 1,000,000 a-year, so as to promise to these States in I860 a population of 35,000,000, then it is very safe, I think, to say, that in 1660, their wheat-exporting capability will have be- come so small as to give our British farmers very little cause for appre- hension." In confirmation of Mr Johnston's views, it may be stated that the ^hole bread-stuffs and provisions exported to Britain from the United States during the year 1851, did not amount in value to five millions sterling — a sum which may be called insignificant. The celebrated Captain Barclay of Ury, in his Agri- cultural Tour through the United States, gives the pre- ference to the United States over Upper Canada, though he complains of their mode of farming. He thinks they do not sufficiently cultivate spring-wheat, and that their crops are deficient partly from sowing little more seed than one bushel to the acre, instead of three. He says, that they also plough in thp'r luxuriant crops of clover for manure, instead of using them in soiling their horses and cattle, and carting out the manure so obtained for their wheat. He thinks it also advisable for them to stack their hay and grain, instead of pihng the whole in large barns. The country, for 30 miles round Philadelphia in every direction, seemed to be the finest he saw in the Union, and the farm of Mr SheafF, about 1 4 miles from that city, pleased him exceedingly. Mr Sheaff disposes t % r .■ _ ■ -f 1 ■ ; 'i il ^ L. NORTH AMERICA 44;j potatoes willi wheat, turnips, intitj necessary must go out of :o9tlj system of ) kept up ; and h farmers will [)0, and if it be I to promise to is very safe, J r will have he- use for appre- LV be Stated jxported to r 1851, did sum which his Agri- Bs the pre- da, though hinks they that their more seed He says, clover for lorses and 1 for their to stack in large ielphia in w in the liles from disposes of 100 tons of hay annually, which defray all the outlay on his farm. The American farmers pay too little atten- tion to an alternation of grass or green crops, as ])otatoes or turnips, in the rotation of their farming operations, n^o that the soil, however rich, is fast becoming empoverized. They do not pay sufficient attention either to keeping their cattle of the pure breed, or sheltering them suffi- ciently in the winter. He thinks the short-horned cattle best adapted for the States, as that breed feeds kindly, and to a great weight ; and he advises them above all, to abstain breeding from a cross, which, throughout almost the whole of that country, has rendered their stock mon- grel and comparatively worthless. He thinks it advisable for those who are not possessed of a large capital, to rent a farm for the first two or three years, instead of pur- chasing it. He mentions also that the average price of wheat per quarter, for the five years from 1834 to 1839, was £2, 10s. at New York, whilst in England it was only £2, lis. In 1837, wheat was selling at New York at 65s. sterling the quarter. A fine quality of wool is now produced in large quanti- ties in the United States, and is coming into competition with the wools of Australia. There are at present forty millions of sheep in the United States, yielding annually one hundred millions of pounds of wool. The sheep are valued at two dollars each, and the average quantity of land required for their support is one acre for every three sheep, whereas, in some parts of Australia, it takes three acres to feed one sheep throughout the year. A cattle-dealer is a profitable trade in the United States, and one gentleman, in particular, four or five miles from Jacksonville, has made an immense fortune by purchasing cattle in that district, and driving them to St. Louis. This cattle-dealer now farms 20,000 acres of land not far ',■ i H ; 446 NORTH AMERICA. .A I I- S * • from Jacksonville in the State of Illinois, which I observe Mr Stuart, in his Travels in America, seems to prefer to every other part of the Union. For the different localities in the United States to which emigrants may go, I would beg to refer my readers to No. 18 of *' Chambers's Information for the People," where every necessary information will be found under the head of " Emigration to the United States," for the small sum of three halfpence. In the United States of America, the law divides a man's property equally amongst his children if he leave no will, though, by means of a will, he can leave it as he pleases. In France, on the contrary, the law obliges the testator to divide his whole property equally, or nearly so, among his children, ao that, in this respect, France is even more democratic than the United States. Though the farmers in the interior provinces of the United States live comfortably, and even luxuriantly, from the abundance of every thing around them, added to their wonderful consumption of all the necessaries and even delicacies of life, from their being, comparatively, of little value in all the remote districts of the country, where they are far removed from markets, yet the low price at which they are obliged to sell their produce prevents them, in general, from realising large fortunes. The following extract from a letter, dated Columbus, State of Ohio, 29th November 1842, will shew this in a striking degree : " The depression of every thing in the west would raise a smile, if you did not feel it was wrung out of suffering industry. This, I believe, is the last month for the payment of taxes, and the poor farmer must submit to sny reduction. Let mo add the price given by my host of the Neil-house last Saturday. Beef, 3 cents. Pork 2 cents. Turkeys, 25 cents, for the finest I ever saw. Geese, 18 cents. Chickens, 75 cents per dozen. Veni- son, 4 cents. Potatoes and Apples, 1 2 cents per bushel." A cent is one half-penny sterling. !h I observe to prefer to 1 States to my readers he People," Pound under es," for the w divides a if he leave ave it as he obliges the or nearly so, ;, France is nces of the [iantly, from ded to their and even ely, of little where they ce at which them, in following of Ohio, ing degree : a smile, if you relieve, is the mst Hiibmit to he Neil-house cents, for the ozen. Veni- ;s NORTH AMEUICA. 44T Mr Stuart says, that no part of the United States are so much to be recommended to emigrating farmers as the State of Illinois, from the extent of rich prairie land still to be disposed of, good climate, no slaves, ready market, and the best internal communication by water in the world. The neighbourhood of Jacksonville he considers the most inviting part of the district. He mentions that this State contains 58,000 square miles, and is the rich- est country, in point of soil, in the world. The French called it the *' terrestrial paradise." The plough alone is required to make this land produce the most abundant crops ; manure would destroy it. Every part of the San- gamon district, which is not in the neighbourhood of the river Illinois, is eminently healthy. Settlers are allowed the invaluable privilege of putting cattle on the uninclosed part of the prairie, and no care is required but to watch them and give them salt once a week. Jacksonville^ in the Sangamon district of the State, about 20 miles from the lihnois river, he considers the best part of the State — and the Mamelle Prairies, from the foot of the Mamelle, about 20 miles from St Louis, in ascending to the north, have a width of 5 miles, with 70 in length, touching the Mississippi for most of this distance. At the low^r and northern edge of this prairie is the French vil- lage of Portage des Sioux, surrounded with 100,000 acres of land fit for the plough, having a vegetable soil of 40 feet, and producing 40 bushels of wheat, and 70 of maize. As Mr Stuart visited this State in 1830, great altera- tions have taken place since then. My talented friend, Patrick ShirrefF, Esq. of East J^othian, the celebrated farmer, in his excellent travels through the United States, says, '* The land in Illinois, and the climate, are perhaps the best in the world ; and 448 NOllTU AMERICA. m ■ there is no place where a farmer can commence opera- tions with so small an outlay of money, and so soon obtain a return." Buckingham says, in like manner, " The State of Illinois presents to the farmer a combination of advantages, in reference to its productions, which are scarcely to be met with in any other country." The winter in Illinois never exceeds two months, and 19-20th parts are prairies. Ten shillings sterling may be assumed as the cost of producing a quarter of Indian corn in prairie land, so that, all that the farmer gets above that at his farm is clear profit. In 1832, there were 28,237,850 acres of unsold public land in Illinois. There are no fees of office nor any other expense on receiving title, there being no stamps in America. The person goes to the land office of the State, selects the lot he pleases, and pays down a dollar and a quarter per acre, that being the pre- sent government price, and no credit is now given. In the State of Illinois there are 70,000 square miles of coal-field, equal to the whole quantity existing in Europe. Coal is accordingly very cheap, being only 4 cents per bushel of 80 lbs., or 4s. 6d. sterling per ton. In the Washington National Intelligencer of March, in each year, are advertised the sales of immense quantities of land for non-payment of taxes ; hundreds of acres being sold for a few pounds. The Baltimore and other papers contain also similar advertisements, about the month of April every year. A person can now go from New York to Peoria, in the State of Illinois, all the way by water and railroad, a dis- tance of 1100 miles, in four days, for 10 dollars, paying for one's own provisions. Peoria is 170 miles from Chi- cago, and 230 from St Louis. Take railway from New York to Buffalo, steamer and railway from Buffalo to Chicago, canal from Chicago to Peru, and steamer from v\ ' NORTH AMERICA. 449 Peru to Peoria. Emigrants, liowever, must remember that it is not healthy on the banks of the rivers in Illinois, as malaria rises. But six or eight miles back, where you get to the waving or undulating prairies, it is quite healthy, except in the vicinity of marshy spots and the borders of woodlands. Illinois is better for Indian corn or maize than Wiscon- sin, but Wisconsin being further to the north, and con- sequently cooler, is better for wheat. Maize is there reaped with a machine drawn by 4 horses, which cuts off the ears only, leaving the stubble standing ; upwards of 20 acres a day can be reaped in this way. They burn down the stubble by cutting an opening 30 or 40 feet all round to prevent the fire spreading, and then setting fire to it. When prairies are set on fire, they burn with a rapidity equal to that of a race horse. Were they not to adopt the above precaution, the whole country, houses, and every thing for hundreds of miles round would be consumed. A farmer in Illinois, on the river Wabush, which divides the State of IlUnois from Michigan, had, in 1851, two thousand acres of Indian corn, which, from there being few inclosures, appeared like one field. His corn "crib," as it is called, consisting of the ears of that immense crop, extended two miles in length, six feet broad, and ten feet in height. The land is so rich, that the crops require no manure for 30 years, though Indian corn is one of the most scourging crops for the land. My esteemed and talented friend, D. S. Threshie, Esq. of Dumfriesshire, in Scotland, now of the Island of Jersey, visited the United States some years ago, and purchased a farm in Long Island, in the neighbourhood of New York, which he afterwards sold at a profit. In a letter which he addressed to me whilst resident there, he states that a very common mode in America is to take a farm P 450 NORTH AMERICA. r: on shares, the landlord furnishing the house and out- buildings, horses, cattle, manure, and seed, and receiving two-thirds of the produce, while the tenant receives the other third for labouring the land, and disposing of the produce. Sometimes they are let on ** halves^* as it is called, when the landlord furnishes only half the teams, &c., all the manure, and half the seed, when the tenant draws one-half instead of one-third. The whole stock and implements are appraised at entry, and these or their value must be left by the tenant. A specified rent, how- ever, he considers a more independent and pleasant mode, and states that there need exist no feeling on the subject of improving other people's land, so prevalent in Scotland, for there the growing crops generally extract the whole nourishment afforded by the manure, and leave little for the succeeding crop. In fact, without manuring every crop, even wheat after potatoes, you will have a small return. He mentions his having conversed with many intelligent farmers on the subject, who all agreed that the general average for 50 miles around New York does not exceed 15 bushels of wheat to the acre, and the price being then only 3s. 6d. per bushel, that I may judge how the farmer is to be repaid. He states that the returns from other crops are better, but that none of them can compare to Scotland except Indian corn, which is ^^ par excellence " the crop of America, making up for the deficiency in the others. He prefers the neighbourhood of Philadelphia to any other town in the States, not only from the land being better, but three weeks advance in vegetation over New York, and from the great facility in the transport both by sea and railroad, the markets at New York are glutted with southern vegetables long before the Long Island farmer can bring his into competition, and where the prices, of course, are barely remunerating. As to living i' le and out- id receiving •eceives tiie jsing of the &£," as it is the teams, the tenant tvhole stock lese or their 1 rent, how- asant mode, the subject in Scotland, t the whole little for the every crop, mall return. ^ intelligent he general not exceed being then the farmer from other compare to ellence" the the others, hia to any land being over New sport both are glutted ong Island where the lS to living NORTH AMERICA. 451 of every description, he says, that it is at least one-half what it is at home. My friend'o letter, however, was written prior to 1846, and every thing now is nearly as cheap here as in the United States. In the vicinity of Philadelphia good land sells for about 100 dollars the acre, but at a distance of 20 miles, only the one-half. Market gardening near large towns, such as Philadelphia and New York, is the most profitable department of farming. Of Indian corn 35 bushels an acre is reckoned an aver- age crop, though 60 are not unfrequcnt. It is a crop, however, which greatly exhausts the land, and, except in virgin soils, requires to be constantly manured. Though the price be much lower than lliat of wheat, yet, from its extreme productiveness, the farmer values it as a cheap and palatable food for himself and family, while it is the very best material for fattening animals. From its bulk and inferior value it does not well bear the expense of transportation, excepting when provisions in other coun- tries are very high. It requires two months of intense heat to ripen it, which this country does not afford ; and, in fact, it cannot be grown at all in any country where the thermometer for more than one month is not above 70 degrees. All attempts accordingly to introduce it into this country have failed. The term " farmer," used by Mr Threshie, is not synonymous in the United States with the same word in Britain, where it generally means a tenant, holding of some landlord, paying two-thirds of the produce in rent, tythes, and taxes, of an inferior rank in life to the pro- prietor of the soil, and generally occupied by persons of inferior manners and education. In America, on the con- trary, a farmer is for the most part, a landowner, paying no rent, no tythes, and few taxes, equal in rank to any 4o'2 NORTH AMERICA. Other in the State, having a voice in the appointment of his legislators, and a fair chance, if he deserve it, of be- coming one himself. In fact, the greater part of the legis- lators of America are farmers, particularly in the Hous<' of Uepresentatives. ft t :'; ' 1 ■ 1 • 1 lu:l ill NORTH AMERICA. »pointment of •ve it, of be- t of the legis- ri the House 4.>:j CHAPTER XXV. Taxes in tlie United States — Kvils uf direct taxation — Hate of wngen — Dr Houston-— Charles Wilson, Esq The canvass-back duck — Alexander Watson, Esq. — His valuable receipt for curing gout — Steamer from New York to (ilasgow — Advantages of the Northern passage. With regard to the revenue or taxes in the United States, they may be divided into two heads, those of the Federal Government and those of the respective States. The revenue of the former, as I stated before, is raised almost entirely by customs or import duties, whilst the revenues of the several States are raised by direct taxa- tion on land, town-lots, houses, stock in trade, furniture, slaves, horses, cattle, carriages, &c. ; in short, on all real and personal estate, or, as we say in Scotland, heritable and moveable property. A person, however, is entitled to have all his debts deducted, so that he is only assessable on what remains, under a still further reduction of a small amount exempt by law from execution, which includes the furniture necessary for his family ; bed, bedding, chairs, tables, cooking utensils, stools, a few books, &c., and (in the case of a labouring man) to the food also of a cow and pig. The value of the personal property thus exempt may amount to about 150 dollars. As to stock in trade, suppose a man's stock amounted to 10,000 dol- lars, and he satisfied the assessors that he was owing IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 I.I lAi lli |2.5 la 1^ 12.2 H: U£ III 2.0 I 1.8 1.25 II 1.4 .6 ^ 6" ► V] vl /: 7 'X-V'^ a Photographic Sdeiices Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. MS80 (716) 872-4503 ^ J'} ^ M 2 NORTH AMERICA. ■yr ' i The following are approximate sailing distances to different points, from the three rivals in the western trade, Quebec, New York, and New Orleans. To Liverpool from New Orleans, 5300 miles. tt 1, New York, 3475 miles. ft „ Quebec, 3000 miles by the Straits of Belleisle and the north of Ireland. The voyages across the Atlantic are now made with such regularity and dispatch, that the captains instead of making their wills, or arranging their affairs, coolly specify the time when, after having crossed to America, they will come back to dine in Europe. In 1850, the average length of passage by Cunard's steamers, from Liverpool to Halifax was 1 1 days ; from Halifax to Liverpool 1 days ; from Halifax to Boston 34 hours ; Halifax to New York 55 hours ; New York to Halifax 62 hours ; and Boston to Halifax 41 hours. In May 1850, the Canada steamed from Liverpool to New York in 1 1 days 1 hours ; and in the same month the America occupied only 8 days 10 hours from Halifax to Liverpool. Each of the vessels of Cunard's line consumes about 700 tons of coal, between Liverpool and New York ; at the former port the expense of the coal and putting it on board being a guinea, and at the latter about £1, 7s. per ton. In 1850 the swiftest outward passage was that of the Pacific in September, when only 10 days 5 hours were occupied between Liver- pool and New York ; and the swiftest homeward, that of the Asia, in 10 J days between New York and Liverpool. Quicker voyages however, have been made since, and I would recommend to all my readers, to procure a three- halfpenny tract called " Ocean Routes," published by those eminent individuals, Messrs W. & R. Chambers of Edinburgh, where the statistics connected with ocean steam navigation are perfectly wonderful. NORTH AMERICA. 463 Although it was the month of November when we ' crossed the At^ntic, yet the 8ca Wfis upon the whole so tranquil that it was almost like a pleasure sail ; and I havi> certainly a great predilection now for screw-steamers, par- ticularly in rough weather. No doubt where steam alone is to be used, the paddle is somewhat superior; but in using both sails and steam, the screw is to be preferred, as, where the winds are favourable, it can be disconnected, the fires put out, and as much canvass spread, and as great a speed attained, as with the swiftest sailing-vessel ; while in passing through the regions of calms, or of con- trary winds, the sails can be taken in and the machinery used. After a voyage of 14^ days we arrived in Glasgow, though another screw steamer, the " Glasgoio,'* has since done it in 12^ days. We had about 6*0 passengers on board, the cabin passage money being 20 guineas, and the second cabin 12 guineas. I am quite satisfied that the owners would make a handsome profit by charging only the one-half of these sums. Why, in America they take you by steam from Buffalo to Chicago, a distance of 1056 miles, and feed you handsomely all the way in the cabin for 8 dollars, or £1 : 13 : 4 sterling. Multiply this by 3 from the distance across the Atlantic being three times the above, and you have exactly £5 sterling, as the cabin fare, or less than the one-half of what I would be willing to allow. If this monopoly continue much longer we must get up a joint-stock company for transatlantic steam navigation, which, I guess, will pay better than railway shares. 464 NORTH AMERICA. (■ n H ^ ■■-¥ *'* CHAPTER XXVI. ropnlation in advanco of tho supply of food — Appalling scene on board the Caroline from itarvation — Anecdote of an Irish convict in the Feo- jee Islands — Horrible confession of Alexander Pierce, a convict in New South Wales—Statistics of tho famine in Ireland in 1847— Effect of education in checking surplus population — Proper views to be entertained in regard to the advantages of machinery— Wonderful influence of educa- tion in civilizing manhiind. It is a singular fact, tliat in almost every country of the world, whether thickly or thinly peopled, the popula- tion is generally in advance of the supply of food. In fertile France some die annually of hunger, as is suflB- ciently attested by the number of squalid beggars you meet on the public roads. In sunny vine-clad Portugal, a river pilot will prostrate himself on the deck of a merchantman, and call on all the saints to shower down blessings on the head of a skipper who will give him a hard biscuit. In Naples, thousands of the most wretched of the population sleep every night in the streets, and are half starved during the day. In Norway and Sweden, the poorer classes mix their bread with saw-dust. Read Belzoni's account of the Arabs, and the skinny sheep of Egypt. Where was the fertility of that plentiful land? In beautiful Chili, a land gushing with luxuriant produce, some are obliged, during the intervals of the crops, to feed on sea-weed. Numbers of the American Red Indians die annually from starvation, the chace, on which they NORTH AMFIIK A. 4fir, '^' mainly depend, being a precarious mode of ohtainin* livelihood. In the sunny half-peopled lands of Asia, there are always nunjl)ers on the ver«,'c of btarvation. In China the poorer elasses eat animals uhi'h have perished of disease, and other food never used hy us, sucii as horseflesh, dogs, and cats, the flesh of which animals W equal in price to that of swine. Captain Pidding mentl()n.■^ that dogs are fatted and eaten in China as a delicious food, and arc always foundal the tablcsof the great. In default of these, they have no objections to a dish of rats and snakes ; and cockroaches and other rej)tile8 come in to be used either as food or medicine, by people w ho are driven frequently to great straits for want of sustenance. They frequeutly destroy their children also, from inability to bring them up ; a practice prevalent in Otahite when first discovered, and in New Zealand, and manv of the islands of the 8outu Pacific Ocean. The Hindoos in the East Indies expire in thousands every year from starvation, without anuu-raur, and without complaint. A great number of the people ui the countries above enumerated who are well-fed, might no doubt give up a portion of their food to the ill- fed — but this in a short time would be productive of still greater misery — as in their half-fed state, the surplus population are either incapable of procreation, or their children are weakly, and die off". But were their food increased to a sufficient quantity by an equal division, they would breed more rapidly, so that, unless the supply of food could be artificially increased, the whole population would soon be reduced to half allowance. And if the supply of food were again artificially increased to full allowance, they would again breed beyond it. The struggle might thus go on, if science and industry were successful, till every square yard of land held a human being, and then in case of a famine, having nothing to fall back upon, they would 466 NORTH AMERICA. 4 ^'3 be under the painful necessity of eating one another, as those who are shipwrecked, or traversing a desolate and barren country, have sometimes to do, the weakest of all (except when they cast lots) being the first sufferer, and the strongest of all, the last survivor. The pangs of hunger, it is well known, overcome every other feeling. Montgomery Martin in his celebrated book on the British Colonies, mentions that in 1828, the shipwrecked mariners of the Granicus were forced to cannibalism, un- til the last wretched being perished for want of any more of his unfortunate companions to prey upon. The mangled remains of the sailors were found scattered on the Island of Anticosii, at the mouth of the St Lawrence as if a struggle had taken place in the last extremity. Foremost, indeed, amongst the terrible alternatives to which frail human nature has frequently been necessitated, as it were, to have recourse, nothing is more appalling and revolting than anthropophagism, or the eating of human flesh. The following confession of Alexander Pierce, who was transported to the penal settlement of Macquarie Harbour, in New South Wales, affords a dis- mal instance of this dreadful alternative : — *' I was not there more than a month," he says, <* when I made my es- cape with seven others — namely, Dalton, Traverse, Badman, Mathews, Greenhill, Brown, and Cornelius. Wo kept together for ten days, during which time we had no food but our kangaroo jackets, which we ate, being nearly exhausted with hunger and fatigue. On the eleventh night we began to consult what was best to be done for our preservaMon, and made up our ipinds to a horrible result. In the morning we missed three of our companions — Dalton, Cornelius, and Brown, whom we concluded had left us with the intention of going back, if possible. Wc then dre-Tr lots who of the five remaining ones should die. The die fell upon Badman. I went, with one of the others, to collect dry wood to make a fire ; during which time Traverse had succeeded in killing Badman, and had begun to cut him up. We dressed part of the flesh immediately, and continued to use it as long as it lasted. We then drew lots again, and it fell to the fate of NORTH AMERICA. 4i]\ Mathews. Traverse and Grcenhill killed him with an axe, cut the flesli from the bones, carried it on, and lived upon it as long as it lasted. By the time it was all eaten, Traverse, through fatigue, fell lame in his knee, 10 much so that he could not proceed. Greenhill proposed that I should kill him, which I agreed to. We then made the best of our way, carrying with us the flesh of Traverse, in the hope of reaching the eastern settlement while it lasted. We did not, however, succeed ; and I perceived tlmt Greenhill always carried the axe, and thought he watched an opportunity to kill me. I was always on my guard ; and one night, when ho was asleep, I got the axe, with which I immediately despatched him. I made a meal, and carried the remaining flesh with me to feed upon. At length I foil in with some native huts, which, from appearance, the inhabitants had just left. There I collected some entrails and bits of kangaroo, which afTorded me a meal. Two days afterwards I was caught and sent back to the settle- ment. I again made my escape — this time with one Thomas Cox, who eagerly pressed my departure, I had irons on at the time. When we had proceeded some distance, Cox knocked them off with an axe which ho had brought with him. At night we tried to make a fire, but could not, as the ground was so very wet. We travelled on several days without food, until we came to King's River. We had some words, and I killed Cox with the axe. I ate part of him that night, and cut the greater portion of him up, in order to take on with me. I swam the river. Remorse then seized upon me. I threw away all the flesh save one morsel, which I kept to convince the commandant that Cox was dead. I returned to the settlement and confessed that I slew him. The rest is well known." He was hanged at Hobart Town, whither he was sent for trial. The following extract from the Halifax Morning Post of 1st December 1847, will shew what men will do when pressed by hunger : — ♦* Horrible Narrative — The Schooner Caroline, from Savannali, en- countered heavy gales after the 26th of October, had all her provisions washed over, and on the 10th instant, the crew had been six days wiihout food or water. In this situation they cast lots as to who should die to save the lives of the others, and the lot fell on a large Irishman, naineu Charles Brown, who was the only man with a knife on board, who threatened to plunge it into any one who would attempt to carry out the fatal chanct. Hereupon a lad of 19, belongirig to Wales, ofi^ered to die first, as he was the youngest, and Brown was about to stick him with his knife, when the captain struck Brown with an adze, and killed him. They drew off his blood and drank it, cutting his body in stripes to eat. On the morning of 468 NORTH AMERICA. the 13tb three Teasels hove in sight, and the three survivors were rescued, their lives, beyond doubt, having been saved by drinking the horrid liquid. Two of the survivors arrived safe at Philadelphia; the other one was in a vessel bound for the West Indies." All Irishman, who was a convict, and had escaped from Australia 50 years ago in a vessel that sailed from Sydney for the Feejee Islands, where they are great cannibals, when about to be killed and devoured by the savages, succeeded with great dexterity, though with great diflfi- culty, in convincing them that his flesh was so tough he would be found indigestible. This had the effect of sav- ing his life ; and in the course of the 40 years that he lived amongst them, he had no less than 1 00 wives, and left 50 children. It would certainly have been a pity if the Feejeeans had aten up our worthy friend, who seems really to have laboured zealously and successfully in ful- filling the injunction laid upon Mr and Mrs Adam and all their posterity — the only command that has been obeyed — in being fruitful and replenishing the earth. Though the population of the United States of America doubles every 25 years, whilst in Scotland it takes 70, yet in a new country population is an advantage, and re- quires to be encouraged, while in an old country it is the reverse. The rapid increase, indeed, of the United States, arises partly, no doubt, from the number of emigrants who flock to it, but chiefly from the favourable tield pre- sented for human labour which induces early marriage. The Irish, till of late years, pretty nearly kept pace with the Americans in regard to early marriages, and conse- quent increase of population ; but from the field of labour being so limited, and long ago overstocked, starvation and misery became almost necessarily their lot. The Scotch have in general acted with more prudence in this respect, and have felt that it would be equally ruinous to them- h' i NORTH AMERICA. 469 oae was in a selves and their offspring, to enter into matrimonial con- nexions, until they had some reasonable prospect of being able to provide for the children that might be expected to spring from them. In consequence, marriages are very generally deferred to a later period than in America, and a much larger proportion of the population find it expe- dient to pass their lives in a state of celibacy. And it is fortunate that this is the case ; it is fortunate that the good sense of the people, and their laudable desire to preserve their place in society, have made them control the violence of their passions, and disregard the dicta of so many spurious advisers. Man cannot possibly increase beyond the means of subsistence provided for his support : And, therefore, it is quite obvious and certain, that if the natural tendency of population to increase in countries advanced in the career of civilisation, and where there is, in consequence, a considerably increased difficulty of pro- viding supplies of food, be not checked by the prevalence of moral restraint, or by the prudence and forethought of the people, it must be checked by the prevalence of vice, misery, and famine. There is no alternative. The popu- lation of every country has the power, supposing food to be adequately supplied, to go on doubling every five and twenty years : but as the limited extent and limited fer- tility of the soil render it impossible to go on producing food in this ratio, it necessarily follows, that unless the passions are moderated, and a proportional check given to the increase of population, the standard of human sub- sistence will not only be reduced to the lowest assignable limit, but famine and pestilence will be perpetually at work to relieve the population of wretches born only to be starved. The state of Ireland during the years 1846 and 1847, affords a melancholy though striking proof of the truth of E^;* •■V I h n ff{? 470 NORTH AMERICA. this assertion. The returns published in October 1847 shew in four parishes alone a reduction by famine and consequent disease of no less than 3060 individuals in the short space of one year. That poverty is the source of by far the greatest por- tion of the ills which afflict humanity, is so plain and self- evident a proposition, that it must be universally assented to ; and there can be no doubt whatever, that a too rapid increase of population, by occasioning a redundant supply of labour, and an excessive competition for employment, and low wages, is, of all others, the most efficient cause of poverty. It is now too late to contend that a crowded population is a sure symptom of national prosperity. The population of the United States is infinitely less dense than that of Ireland, but who will assert that they are also less flourishing and happy ? The truth is, that the well- being and prosperity of a nation does not depend on the number of its inhabitants, but on the degree of their in- dustry and intelligence, and on the extent of their com- mand over the necessaries and conveniences of human life. It is a truth that cannot be too often or too strongly impressed on the minds of the people, that it is not in the power of any government to protect them from misery and degradation, if they overstock the market with labour. If they do this, wages will be low, however rapidly capital may be augmenting ; while, if they understock the market with labour, wages will be high, however much capital may be diminished. The labourers are thus really the masters of the only means by which their command over the necessaries and conveniences of life can ever be materi- ally extended ; and if they will not avail themselves of these means, they have themselves alone to blame. No proposition, for example, can be more true than that the unexampled misery of the Irish people is directly owing i ^ i NORTH AMERICA. 471 to the excessive augmentation of their numbers; and nothing can be more perfectly futile, than to expect any real or lasting amendment in their situation, until an effectual check has been given to the progress of popula- tion. It is obvious, too, that the low and degraded con- dition into which the people of Ireland are now sunk, is the condition to which every people must be reduced, whose numbers continue, for any considerable period, to increase faster than the means of providing for their com- fortable and decent subsistence ; and such will, most as- suredly, be the case in every old settled country in which the principle of increase is not powerfully counteracted by the operation of moral restraint, or by the exercise of a proper degree of prudence and forethought in the for- mation of matrimonial connections. " Double the food," says P. J. Stirling, in his work entitled " The Philosophy of Trade," as in America, every 25 years, and popula- tion will double itself in the same time ; double the food, as in some of the countries of Euror»e, every 70 or 80 years, and mankind will multiply only at that diminished rate." The chief remedy for the evils of surplus population, and consequently starvation, in overgrown countries, may be said to be education, which seems to have the effect of causing people to postpone forming matrimonial alliances till they have a reasonable prospect of bringing up their children comfortably. People, accordingly, in the middle and higher ranks of society, and even some among the better classes of mechanics, delay marrying till a more advanced period of life, or until they have accumulated some little property, and these are the persons who make the least increase in the community. Weavers, common labourers, and the lower class of mechanics, on the con- trary, marry at a very early age, as they are apt to en- tertain the reckless notion, that fall what may, they can- 472 NORTH AMERICA. ¥.: ]r- noi^be worse. The old fashioned idea, too, has been in- stilled into their minds by all the old wives in the country, that " Providence never sends mouths without sending food also," a doctrine which, if true, would upset the authority, not only of philosopher Malthus, but of all the philosophers who have ever appeared in the world. What if a farmer were to put twenty cows into a park thai could only feed five, and were to say that providence never sent mouths without food also ? Why he would be considered mad, and would no doubt be conveyed to an asylum. A rational education would also teach the people of this country a most important lesson in regard to the proper view which they should take of machinery. The work- ing population of Great Britain and Ireland may be com- puted at eight millions. Now that wonderful slave called steam, aided by machinery, is computed to do as much work, by sea and land, in this country, as would equal the manual efforts of five hundred niiillions of men, or one- half the population of the whole world, and that without murmuring, and what is of infinitely more importance, without requiring any thing to eat. What would become of us were that mass of additional mouths suddenly to make their appearance on our shores ? Why, all the cai nibalism that ever existed in New Zealand or the Feejee Islands, would then be a joke to what we should have to witness here. We are apt to lose sight also of the im- portant fact, that in spite of the constant struggle of popu- lation against food, human happiness and human refinement are daily increasing, because human drudgery is daily less- ening through the combined operation of steam and machi- nery, whereby leisure is afforded for devising and accom- plishing many things tending to the benefit of the human race. If, for example, an hundred men were located on an NORTH AMEKICA. 473 island containing abundance of land for their support, but their methods of cultivation were so imperfect, that a whole year's work of each individual were but just suffi- cient for the production of a year's food to each, it is cer- tain that their condition could not be ameliorated, but would always remain the same, unless invention assisted them. But if instruments were discovered, whereby the labour of ten could Lc made available to furnish food for the whole, it is obvious tLat the remaining ninety would be at leisure to prosecute th3 labours of comfort and refine- ment. T>i's hri^ oeen tffected by the introduction of mechanical and chemical improvement in agriculture, and the preparation of food, to such an extent, that one man now can probably produce as much as twenty can con- sume, and the remainder are at leisure for the production of every kind of necessary and luxury ; which latter, owing to the facility of production, are, one after another, ceas- ing to be luxuries, by their conversion into articles of common use ; and new inventions become luxuries in turn, also to change in turn into necessaries by a regular routine. The all but universal use of the steam-engine, as a mechanical power, has almost extinguished human drudgery as a mere mover ; and the operative handicrafts are now principally confined to matters of skill and dex- terity. Yet, notwithstanding the fact that every horse- power of an engine does the work of many men, still the demand for human labour is constantly on the increase, notwithstanding the fact that whole bodies of workmen are from time to time thrown out of employment by new improvements in machinery. The gross number of me- chanical workmen is every year increased ; for every year the quantity of consumers is increased, and every year fresh varieties of manufactured goods are demanded, and fresh inventions produce new species altogether. 474 NORTH AMERICA. Hi ' Miss Martineau, the celebrated authoress says, in re- ference to this subject : — " Since capital is derived from labour, whatever economizes labour, assists the growth of capital, and as machinery economizes labour, therefore machinery assists capital." And vet it is a remarkable fact, that amidst all the in- telligence that prevails in this country, even amongst the working classes themselves, there are still some who con- sider machinery the greatest enemy with which they have to contend, and would willingly assist in banishing it from the earth. This feeling however, once so prevalent, is gradually subsiding, and the great mass of the more in- telligent among the people, are now beginning to view machinery in its proper light. It is scarcely too much to say, that were the machinery of this country by any chance to be suddenly destroyed, that a great proportion of our manufacturing population would be thrown out of employ- ment, and would consequently be reduced to misery and starvation ; that a total change would take place in our political relations with the rest of the world ; that our title of Queen among the nations would soon come to be re- membered only as a matter of history ; and our fertile plains become once more a hunting field for the wolf or the wild boar. Indeed, so far from machinery having the effect of diminishing the rate of wages, it is quite the reverse ; and in confirmation of this assertion, I may mention that at a crowded meeting held at Stroud, in Gloucestershire, on 3d Feb. 1842, of several of the anti-corn-law associa- tions, in that district of country, Mr Symons, in moving the first resolution, remarked : — « Never in this country did profits fall without wages falling also, and never did trade improve without wages likewise rising. Take the case of machinery, which is generally held forth as a bugbear to gull working-men NORTH AMERICA. 475 says, in re- srived from 3 growth of , therefore all the in- raongst the e who con- i they have ling it from evalent, is e more in- ig to view )o much to any chance tion of our of employ- misery and lace in our at our title to be re- our fertile le wolf or effect of erse; and ition that BStershire, w associa- in moving Dg also, and ; the case of vorking-men and mislead them aa to the real cauie of their distreai. Take this borough as an instance, and see how machinery and wages hate fallen together. In 1831, there were 133 mills at work, and in 1641, there were 77 only ; there was a fall of 42 per cent. During this small period, wages have fallen 40 per cent ; so that it appears that wages, so far from being injured bj machinery, were 40 per cent, higher when there was nearly twice as much of it at work as there is now. It is not machinery that hurts the wages of the workmen, it is the unnatural barrier which prevents our realising the value of its produce. Productions purchase wealth. It is nonsense to talk of over-production ; it is over-restriction which does the mischief, [cheers and cries of •' That's true."] It is impossible indeed, to form any estimate of the ex- tent to which the comforts, and, if we may so term them, the elegancies of the poor are increased by machinery. The whole Sunday costume of a peasant girl — a dress of the most fashionable order worn by the class — costs now only 20s. Eighty years ago, a lady could not have dressed herself so well for L.5. To the poor, quantity of commodities is the first great requisite. Surely, when these things are duly considered, it will not be a long time ere we look back upon the practice of machine- breaking, as one of the most astounding illustrations of popular delusion that the annals of human barbarism can produce. " The employment of machinery," says an able writer, " forms an item of great importance in the general mass of national industry. ' Tis an artificial force, brought in aid of the natural force of man ; an accession of strength, unencumbered too by the expense of maintaining the la- bourer. Those occupations, therefore, which give great- est scope to the use of this auxiliary, must contribute most to the general stock of industrious effort." Machin- ery by rendering productions cheaper, increases the de- mand for manual labor, and consequently the number of laborers. Machines work for us, and are satisfied with« + • I 476 NORTH AMERICA. I I' £* i E > m E IJy ^ \ Wa ' „ ^ x" ' " 1 1 i* tk out either food or clothing. They increase all our com- forts, and consume none themselves. A single bushel of coals which a laborer can get for half a day's work, could not be obtained by him without the aid of machinery, for less than half a-y ear's work. ■ ^ u.-^ There are some amongst the higher ranks of society who are rather hostile to the education of the people, from the mistaken notion that it tends to unfit them for the laborious duties of life, and to make them discontented with their condition ; and that ignorance is the surest pledge of submission to constituted authority. And were this true, the argument would be entitled to some weight, for it is said, that " if ignorance were bliss, 'tis folly to be wise." So far, however, is this from being the case, that it is no exaggeration to assert that the greater part of the misery and crime which afflict and disgrace society proceeds from the ignorance of the poor in regard to those things which determine their condition — ignorance of the causes which occasion the gradation of ranks and the in- equality of fortunes; — and ignorance of those circum- stances which elevate or depress the rate of wages, and which consequently exert the most powerful influence over their condition. The celebrated Sumner in his " Re- cords of the Creation," says, — ** Of all obstacles to im- provement, ignorance is the most formidable, because the only true secret of assisting the poor is to make them agents in bettering their own condition, and to supply them, not with a temporary stimulus, but with a permanent energy. As fast as the standard of intelligence is raised, the poor become more and more able to co-operate in any plan proposed for their advantage, more likely to listen to any reasonable suggestion. If the people are ignorant of the circumstances which really determine their condition, they must act blindly and capriciously, both in their private NORTH AMERICA. 47 capacity as masters of families, and in their public capa- city as citizens. An ignorant and uneducated multitude possess no self-regulating principle ; but necessarily be- come the prey of their own imaginary fears and appre- hensions, and of the sinister designs of cunning and crafty demagogues." It is truly observed by Dr Smith in his Wealth of Nations, that an instructed and an intelli- gent people are always more decent and orderly than an ignorant and stupid one. They feel themselves each in- dividually more respectable, and more likely to obtain the respect of their lawful superiors, and they are therefore more disposed to respect them. The widest experience confirms the truth of this observation. Mobs have uni- formly been violent and outrageous, just in proportion to the strength of the prejudices by which they have been actuated, or, which is the same thing, to their ignorance. What other cause can be assigned for the religious mas- sacres and persecutions that desolated Europe for so many ages, except that the ignorance of the people rendered them a prey to the grossest delusions of ignorance and fanaticism ? It is quite clear also, that if the French had been an educated people, many of the atrocities of their first or great Revolution would never have happened. And at the present day what was it but the influence of educa- tion which kept the manufacturing population of this country in general so quiet during their severe sufferings in 1841. Look, for example, to the case of Leeds, where, during that year, 20,000 of its inhabitants were subsist- ing on one shiUing per week. The Leeds Parliamentary Reform Association published an address to the mer- chants, &c. of the West Riding of Yorkshire, which ap- peared in the Leeds Times of 16th October 1841, where- in the following passage occurs — A 478 NORTH AMEKICA. " Wo cannot pau on without lolioiting the deep attention of the mer- chant!, manufacturnrt, and tradosmon, and middle claiioi generally, to the comparatiTo conduct of the working olasi and the landlord class, lo far aa a juBl respect for the property of others is concerned. Are you not often told that the ignorant demoralized working class hare no respect for pro* perty, and are ready to plunder the rich whenerer they hare the oppor> tunity, or when a strong temptation ofl'ers P Consider, we entreat you, how — in periods of the deepest distress of the operatires, when thousands have been wandering in the streets and roads, famished with hunger, asking in vain for work — you and your families have lived in peaoo and security to person and property in the midst of them ; witnessing, in innumerable inntanccs, their admirable patience, their orderly conduct, and respect for the property of others, and gratitude for any acts of real kindness or charity." , It is hardly possible to conceive a more splendid tribute to the influence of education than is contained in this simple but affecting narrative. "We are entitled, there- fore, to aver, that if ever the rights of property come to be violated in this country it will arise, not from the edu- cation of the lower classes, but from the want of it — not from their knowledge, but their ignorance. And, above all, it becomes those who really believe that education tends to unfit the poor for the discharge of their duties, to reflect, that the perpetrators of arsons, of robberies, and other outrages during a state of public ex- citement, are almost invariably the very lowest, and con- sequently the most uneducated and ignorant amongst all the population. It is ignorance alone which results to violence, because ignorance not being able to reason from cause to eff^ect, resorts to blind destruction. What was it that occasioned the diff'erence between the French Re- volution of 1789 and those of 1830 and 1848 ? And how did it happen that the very identical class — the mob who, in the eighteenth century, took such delight in butchering, that they poured forth the blood of the citizens of France upon the earth as water from a fountain, should, in the NORTH AMERICA. 470 nineteenth century, stand forth a race of heroes — brilliant ivHh success, though exercising, at the same time, some of the most sublime traits of mercy that arc to be found in the pagers of history ? The answer is this, that the mists of ignorniK'o and the clouds of darkness which then overshadowed thorn, hud been dii^pelled by the accumu- lated knowledge and the dear-bought experience of sixty years. But amidst all our exertions to flcquircthe knowledge ne- cessary to promote our earthly comforts, let us not lose sight of heavenly knowledge, the importance of which is beauti- fully illustrated by Solomon in various parts of his Pro- verbs. — *' Take fast hold," he saith, *' of instruction ; let her not go ; keep her, for she is thy life. Receive my in- struction and not silver, and knowledge rather than choice gold. Hear counsel, and receive instruction, that thou mayest be wise in thy latter end." But amidst these exhortations to acquire spiritual know- ledge, he pours forth some awful denunciations upon those who despise or hate it : — '* How long, crieth wisdom, ye simple ones, will ye love simplicity, and the scorners de- light in scorning, and fools hate knowledge. Turn you at my reproof. Because I have called and ye refused ; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded. I also will laugh at your calamity ; I will mock when your fear cometh ; when your fear cometh as desolation, and your destruction as a whirlwind, when distress and anguish come upon you : Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer ; they shall seek me early, but they shall not ' find me: For that they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the Lord : They would none of my counsel, they despised all my reproof; therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices." I: ..-1 ■ 1; 480 ■ •• • J, NORTH AMERICA. ' How long ye scorners of the truth, Scornful will ye remain ? How long shall fools their folly love, And hear my words in vain ? - Rut since so long with earnest voice, To you in vain I call, ^ k * - Since all my counsels and reproofs Thus ineffectual fall } If ' ' - if i- 1, The time will come, when humbled low, In sorrow's evil day, Tour voice by anguish shall be taught, Rut taught too late to pray. ■ ' ( ^ ' -X ' v;! i.of3| 4 ith, lore, oice, ifs ed low, ught. I »^ 6o«f3|