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'Sir, this is a Great Countiy." Chorus of Americaits. ^ .'0 7 LONDON : TINSLEY BROTHERS, 18, CATHERINE ST., STRAND. 1868. [All Righta reserved.] LONDON : bRADDURV, EVANS, AND CO., PRINTERS, WIHTEFRIARS. 4 m ! TO HIS GRACE HENRY FITZALAN, DUKE OF NORFOLK, EARL MARSHAL, THIS WORK IS AFFECTIONATELY INSCRIBED BY THE AUTHOK. . PREFACE. The oft-repeated assertion of Americans, that America is a wonderful country, no one can con- tradict who has visited it. For this country, won- derful in extent of territory, and still more wonderful as evidencing what human industry and perseverance can achieve, Nature has done nuich both by her own direct operation, and also by the co-operation of man. One hears with amazement of millions of square miles of arable land, of coal, iron, lead, copper, and gold in abundance, of food, both animal and vegetable, in superabundant quantity. All this, ready as it were to man's hand, he has merely to come to, to utilize and consume. Some political economists in our own country point to America as a sort of Utopian state of society, to which we should strive our utmost to attain. This sounds very well, and has been so often repeated, that it has forced 'itself on the attention of many thinking people. Let us li-om these theories turn to the foct, and contem- 11 1 1 I < I ▼iii ritEFACE. plate Atiiorica as it is. Tlie Nortli, witli its luuids rct'klii'j;' with its lu'otlicrs' Mood, cxultiii;jc, insoloiit, and victorious; tlio South, rrushcd, hut still dt'liaiit, panting to iinhruc its liands afresh in tlie hh>od of tlie North — breathing out nothing hut vengeance and liatred against its victors — ready to hail foreign annexation, or even despotism, in i)reference to submission to Congress. Turn to the governing powers, and wliat do we see hut an unseemly and undignified struggle between parties, not in vindi- cation of any great principle, but a series of mere political dodges by which influence may be gained for the ensuing Presidential election ; the most shameless system of plunder carried on in every department of the Government ; corru})t judges receiving bribes from those in authority, who are brought to the tribunal of justice for wholesale em- bezzlement; office regarded merely as a means of self-aggrandizement by all who hold it ; every species of wrong and robbery pervading the whole system, and only tolerated by those out of office because they are waiting their turn to come in for a share of the public spoliation. These charges, sweeping as they may seem, are brought by the Americans themselves. Each section of the public press de- nounces the conduct of opponents, whilst it observes n \ rRKFACi:. IX a tliscrcct silence as to tlio (loiii.i;s of its own ;>arly. P^vcrvtliiii^' is a <;T(>ss jolt. New Yoik is pciliaps one of till' worst lighted, worst ]»ave(l, worst ke}»t cities in tiie world, considering its size and iin- j)ui'tanee. The condition of its streets would disgrace; 'J'iinlMictoo, and when you ex})ress astonishment at such a state of tilings, the reply is that the munici- l)ality is the most corrupt in the ' 'vld, and that there is no thought of attemntiug to reform it. Americans are very fond of exi)atiat'' g m the f lults {Mid defects of other nations . tli^v do not hesitate to olTer advice to their neiglibours generally, and adopt a tone of superiority wlilch, to say the least, is in questionahle taste, even if it were not ntterly untenable. Were they content to take their true place m the social scale, it would be all very Well ; but they have an opinion that, as a nation, they arc as great morally as they are physically extensive. Let us examine the claim, and see on what it is based. No one but a mean-nnnded, un- generous person would intentionally twit either a man or a nation with hiferiority of origin, unless either should forget its antecedents and assume an undue position. This is the American fault. An overweening self-esteem, a conceit without bounds, and a total absence of both taste and refinement, are X PEEFACE. the blots on the national character. Pray do not cry out against me that I am attacking Americans wholesale, and denying that there are admirable members of society to be found in that country. What I mean to assert is, that the better class is in such a minority, or else so overborne by the noisy, clamorous crowd of politicians, that it shrinks from any sort of publicity. It is very certain chat, as a rule, men of respectability abstani from politics. When a man goes into politics, or takes to drink- ing, he is regarded by his friends as equally lost. Politics are a trade, and a most disreputable one, entered into by adventurers and knaves of the worst kind. Nothing is too vile for a politician to stoop to. And these I am sure are the views of the vast majority of respectable Americans. What I write will not be palatable to the general public in that country, but I am emboldened in making my statements by the knowledge that I am expressing the sentiments of all those whose good opinion is of any value. In writing, I am not requiting with ingratitude hospitality and kindness received. I am not violating the sanctity of private life. I am only writing of America as it appears on the surface to a traveller. I am acquainted intimately with but few Americans, the valued friends I possess in that PllEFACE. M Inion [ting Ived. am :face but that land being chiefly my fellow-countrymen. I judge America from its journals, its hotels, and such inter- course with the people as travelling has enabled me to have. I feel less hesitation hi speaking plainly on this subject, as I am assured by the press that Americans have lost all their sensitiveness, and are quite indifferent to the opinion of foreigners. I wish it to be understood that it is not my design to institute comparisons between America and Great Britain. I am sensible of the defects of both coun- tries ; nor would I shrink from stating my honest convictions with regard to my native land, should the occasion present itself, as I have now re- corded my candid opinion of a country which I regard as entirely foreign. The tone in which I write may be attributed by some to disappoint- ment ; but I beg to assure those who feel a kindly interest in my affairs, that my visit to the United States has not been a failure. I had a great desire to see the country and people, in order that I might write and speak about both, and I have secured abundant material for my purpose. I had very strong inducements to pay the visit for family reasons. I certainly regret having seen so little of Americans in private, though had I been better acquainted with the inner life of the country I could ^ •i^i^i^HH xu rEEFACE. M ! have made but little use of any experience I luul acquired. Private life must ever be held sacred by a wi'iter wlio desires to be considered a gentleman. With regard to my career as a public man in America it is hardly worth referring to, beyond stating how much obliged I feel for all the kind encouragement I received in a country where I was almost unknown, and from a people on whom I had no sort of claim beyond that which courtesy and good feehng demand for a foreigner. As for as my entertainment is concerned I will say nothing, but give a paragraph extracted from tlie New York Trlhune of the 9th May, written after my de- parture from New York : — (( u r DEPARTURE OF ARTHUR SKETCHLEY. The Java, which sailed on Wednesday, for Liverpool, carried out among her passengers IMr. Arthur Sketchley the humourist — author of the Mrs. Broini Papers — who, as our readers are aware, has been in the United States since last autumn. In the course of his stay ]\Ir. Sketchley has made but few public appearances. His Mrs. Broion entertainment, at Irving and at Dodworth Halls, was altogether mismanaged by the business agents who laid hold upon it, and therefore it did PREFACE. xiu not, in the large sense of tlie won], attract the attention of tlie public. Many saw it, however, and all who saw it enjoyed it. Our own testimony in its favour was promptly borne at the time ; and we have the pleasantest recollections of Mrs. Broim's comical garrulity, apt use of satirical imagery, shrewd common sense, kindly domestic sentiment, and homely goodness of heart. Mr. Sketchley lived in retirement during most part of the time that he was here, and thus made but few friends. To them, howbeit, he commended himself by his amiability and gentleness, his cheerful good-nature, his ready sympathy, and his most various and amusing con- versation. We cordially wish him a safe and speedy voyage home, and steady and ever-increasing pros- perity in the good work of amusing and cheering his generation. No man in our time has a wider or more important field of labour than the laughing philosopher." In conclusion I may remark that, should the opportunity present itself, I would willingly revisit America, and should rejoice could I say with sincerity that a second visit had effaced from my memory all the unpleasant impressions which had been made by the first. I am not writing bitterly > : XIV PEEFACE. ' ; ; J i i or witli the wish to undervalue the Americans, but to do my best to dispel an illusion under which some well-meaning Englishmen seem to be labour- ing, that it should be our aim to try and bring all the institutions of our beloved country into closer proximity with those of the United States. I write the more confidently because I feel sure that all Americans who are true-hearted, honest, and sincere, agree with me, though it would be too much to expect that they should avow it, for, like good children, they do their best to conceal even that which they deplore in the parental conduct. CONTENTS. THE EMPIRE CITY . . . ^ BROADWAY • • • tii:eatres .... hotels axd restaurants cofveyantes ' ' • • • THE LADIES HABITS AND CUSTOirS AND CHARACTER . EDUCATIONAL AND OTHER INSTITUTIONS B©ARDING-H©USES MeRALS, MARRIAOE, AND DIVeRCE SERVANTS AND LABOURERS " • • FUNERALS AND CEMETERIES CHARITABLE INSTITUTIONS, ETC. GENERAL REMARKS ' • • • br»«k:lyn ... jersey city baltimore . washington . Page 1 4 13 21 27 .^2 35 41 r)9 fi3 m 71 74 78 84 101 112 115 ' r TWmrmmmmm I \l xvi CONTEXTS. Page RICHMOND 147 CHAllLESTOX 1G7 MOBILE 178 NE\/ ORLEANS 187 MEMI'IIIS 208 MISSISSIPPI 210 ST. LOUIS 216 CHICAGO 219 ON THE KAIL .... ... 232 GENERAL REMARKS 239 EN ROUTE TO NIAGARA 244 BOSTON 249 SARATOGA 256 NIAGARA 266 A PEEP INTO CANADA 272 MONTREAL 275 OTTAWA . . . , 284 REMARKS ON CANADA 294 THE STATES AGAIN 299 REFLECTIONS 331 APPENDIX . 347 ; /P r-l I 1G7 178 187 208 210 216 219 232 239 244 249 256 2G6 272 275 284 294 299 331 347 THE GREAT COUNTRY. THE EMPIEE CITY. It is universally acknowledged, both by natives and foreigners, that New York is not a fair specimen of an American City, made up as it is from all nations ; and the man who has visited it alone of all the Cities of the Union, can know little or nothing of America. Such however are its wealth and importance that it demands the especial attention of the visitor, and must occupy a foremost place in any remarks he may make on the country. Situated on two fine rivers, and being practically the nearest point to Europe, its commercial importance cannot be over- rated for native enterprise ; whilst its port, crowded with vessels bearing the flags of all civilised na- tions, affords ample testimony to the appreciation foreigners have of the advantages of trading with It. The majority of its inhabitants is composed of foreigners, or their immediate descendants, who \,y 2 THE GREAT COUNTRY. liavc been lured from the Old World l)y tlic hope of participating in the wealth of the New. Tliough no one could speak of N(!W York as a. beautifully situated city, yet the first impression one gets of it from the deck of the steamer is d(!cided]y favourable. Staten Island is pretty ; with its abundant foliage and elegant residences, reminding: one of the Isle of Wiy-ht. It is the chosen abode of many of the English who carry on business in New York, but has drawbacks in the shape of fc^ver and ague ; at least so say those who live elsewhere, whilst its inhabitants speak highly as to its sanitary condition. I have observed this with regard to every other place that I know on the face of the earth. Every man abuses his neighbour's house, and praises his own : it is a natural law instituted no doubt to scatter the human race. The water front of New York is fine, and admirably adapted for commercial purposes ; and were it adorned l)y handsome quays and noble buildings, Avould be very striking ; but its aspect is that of an inferior sea-i)ort, and with the exception of Brooklyn Heights there is nothing worthy of attention. Of the sight of these, those who arrive by the Cunard Steamers are deprived, since they are landed at a filthy dock on the Jersey City side. Consequently first impressions of the Great Country are not the most favourable. THE EMPIRE C:ty. 3 Through low and crowaed street, the traveller i, conveyed to the ieny-hoat which i. to transport Inm to New York.-known also Uy tkr iL- «ou.Kl„>g „,,me of the Empire City. The fh.t un, ea,,,„t «h„ek he reeeive., on reaching hi.s p,,.. of .le.sfnat,on ,« the amount den.anded for the -rnnge, hut as he is at the merey of the driver in the matter, it is as well to resign himself to his fate i: I BROADWAY. 4 Were an European Acronniit to fall from his balloon into the middle of Broadway, he would be sadly puzzled to dotennine his exact whereabouts. Men and thinfjs of all nations surround him- Stores bearing the differing aspects of Paris, Berlin, Manchester and Livei'j)ool are on every side ; and though most of the names of men and places are written in English, yet would he be very certain, that at any rate he was not in London. New York is in fact a thing of shreds and patches. Crowds throng the streets, speaking English, but not English people in appearance. The luxuries of Europe are displayed in shop windows, the i:)ro- prietors being from all nations. Our stranger would be equally certain that he was not in Paris, as the ill-regulated, badly-paved, filthy condition of the streets would amply testify ; to say nothing of the pathway being constantly blocked up by large packing-cases, and other heavy articles, which are allowed to remain before the doors, for the con- venience of the proprietors, to the great hindrance of the traffic, as passers-by can only overcome these r d|f BROADWAY. obsttK.'les by cliinlnng, or evade tliom by going out into tiic caiTiage-way, a proceeding involving plenty of l)()th dirt and danj;er. The streets are crowded uitli %'ehicles of every sort, driven ])y ruffians totally ignorant of the art of driving, who dash on regardless of every impediment to their i)rofjress, seemino- to delioht in runninj; into other vehicles. The police has some slight control over their movements, but exercises it Avith modera- tion. The mud in wet weather, and the dust in dry, render walking along Broadway especially dis- agreeable, whilst ridinfj is both dear and danw'rous. Let me, however, be systematic, and begin with «i description of the street, which is said to be seven miles long, from the Battery to some remote and uninhabited part of the island, on which the city is situated. The Batteiy, as its name indicates, was foraicrly one of the defences, and is situated at the extreme south point of the city. Its hostile character has been long since laid aside ; at one time it was used as an opera-house, in which the celebrated Jenny Lind first appeared in America. It is now in the occupation of the Board of Emigration, or more properly speaking Immigration ; and here is a large estabHshment where the poor immigrants are landed and receive much kindness from philanthropic individuals, who supply them with such information 'I ml V, THE GBl'LVT COUNTRY. luid nssistnnrc as tlunr circumstaiifos (lomand, nn of the original Dutch Churches stands in Fulton Street, a little way off Broadway, but it has now passed into the hands of American de- scendants of the tnie Knickerbockers. Another old church a few streets oft' is about to be demolished, a sacrifice to the inroads of Mannnon. I will leave the churches for tl.e present, ns I shall have more TT ': [ I 1! I' I 10 THE GREAT COUNTRY. to say about tlicm when considering tlic suljject (jf the observance of Sunday, but may remark tliat none of the ecclesiastical edifices of New York are, as buildings, deserving of particular notice. To return to Broadway : notlung is more striking than the crowds which infest the lower part of it during the day ; so great are tluy^, that it has been found necessary to erect a bridge over the street near St. Paul's Church, to enable foor-passengers to cross with safety ; but as the bridge is high, and reached by mtmy steps, the majority prefer risking the dangerous transit by the street. The police i.re always at hand on this spot, and gallantly assist ladies to thread their way through the crush of vehicles. The bridoe affords the stranoer a jjood view of the great thoroughfare, and also enables the boys to amuse themselves by practising the national art of spitting, which is not agreeable, however, for those who are passing beneath. * Near this bridge a very fine white marble building has lately been erected, intended, I think, for an assurance company, or something of the kind. The necessary occupation of space required for the work added not a little to the oljstruction at this point, to say nothing of the terror inspired by the siglit of laro-e l)locks of marble daimlino; overhead across the path, worked by those whose carelessness is as pro- verbial as their disregard of the value of life. BROADWAY. 11 Al)oiit a mile above the City Hall there is a church of the pasteboard gotliic order of architecture, known as Graceclmrch. This brings us close to Union Sfjuare, where an equestrian statue of Washington has been set up. Broadway then stretches on, crossino- Fifth and Sixth Avenues up to Central Park, which is still in a very unfinished state, and has, from want of trees, a bare and chilling aspect ; it commands a ^'icw of the surrounding country, which is l)y no means beautiful Broadway, being so large and important a section of New York, has led me to com])ine under this head very much of that which will apply to the whole City. There are, however, several other fine streets. Canal Street, so named from occu[)ying the site of a canal that formerly connected the two rivers, is essentially devoted to business purposes. Bowery, which is ^ a very fine thoroughfare, formerly the high-road to Boston, takes its name from the Boweries, or fiirms of the original Dutch settlers, who formerly occupied this neighl)ourhood. The existence of some of these farms is still remembered by those valuable nieml)ers of society, " the oldest inhabitants." The unsparing hand of Time has swept away these and many other ancient land- in; ^ks, the sites of which are now occupied by shops and warehouses. w i!. i i 12 THE GREAT COUNTRY. A theatre called " The Bowery " still occupies an important position in this street ; thoiigli it is no longer the reso.t of fashion. The (lernian theatre is also on Bowery, and there are several German Leer-gardens, jis they are called, where the Teutonic race consumes its favourite Liiger. East Broadway was once the dwelling-place of the wealthy, as the style of its houses plainly indi- cates. Not so West Broadway, which is one of the nastiest localities in the City. Washington Square is a fine open sj^ace, but no longer enjoys the repu- tation of being fashiona1)le ; in fact. New Yorkers have all moved up town, and inhabit Fifth, Lexing- ton, and Madison Avenues, and many of the streets which run at right angles to these great thorough- ftires. The houses are decidedly handsome in this quarter, and appear to be well furnished; but these are the residences of the opulent. THEATRES. Theatkes abound along Broadway. The finest of them, known as Niblo's, is of hite years fomous for the representation of speetacles, which delight the playgoers of New York ; though to Europeans they afford the somewhat dreary sight of second-hand ballet and sceneiy from Paris and London, the former decidedly inferior, and the latter the reversion of pantomime-disphiy, both having been imported expressly to give due effect to the gross indecency now the rage in America. The 01}Tnpic is a small but pretty theatre, also devoted to spectacle. A pantomine, which was very popular, held possession of the boards during part of the early spring. Barnum s JMuseum, now hapi)ily destroyed by fire, also held a prominent position in Broadway, and, as a collection of rul)])i8h, was unrivalled in the world. The building was ill adapted in every respect for a place of public amusement, and to keep live animals there, was simply brutal and disgusting. It is gone, and with it an exhibition worthy of a country fair in England half a century ago. , Among the other • iii 11; 14 THE GEEAT COUNTRY. attractions of the place was a theatrical representa- tion Avliich would liave disgraced a booth. It was popular with the audience as illustrating the conduct of the English nohility ; and certainly the way in which a noble lord behaved to his American wife and child, would in some measure justify a strong prejudice against aristocracy. In extenuation of his conduct, it must bo allowed that the said lord had been grossly imposed upon, for the injured wife was always spoken of as being young and lovely, which was at direct variance with the ftict, the lady in question being decidedly plain and ad- vanced in life ; in fact she was apparently, consider- ably older than her mother, and as her aristocratic destroyer had only knoAvn her something less than a year, he was either a dupe, or his conduct must have been violent in the extreme to have so thoroughly effaced every trace of youth and beauty from his victim. It was interesting to see the devotion witii which her humble suitor of former years stuck to her : he was an American sailor, with a strong brogue, and must have weighed seventeen stone. When at the end of the piece, amid red fire, he made mincemeat of the aforesaid lord, it excited the audi(»nce to enthusiasm. In addition to this drama, a giantess, a fiit baby, a dwarf, and a creature with a mop of tangled hair, all more or less dirty, were exhibited ; but perhaps the most THEATRES. 15 immoral pait, of t]]c show Avas an attempt to palm off a poor old inofFonsive baboon as a fierce untameable goril]^. A notice in front of his cage, announced that in consequence of the fierceness of his disposition he could not with safety be re(|uested to stand forward and show himself. On peei)ing cautiously into his den one was positively shocked to think that so gross a calumny should have been circulated respecting a miserable moribund-looking beast, who had not strength enough to act on the offensive whatever might have been his disposition. An exhibition of wax-work completed, as ftir as I was concerned, this intellectual treat. The idea conveyed by it was, that the proprietor's design must be to k(^ep up the national prejudice against crowned heads, and bring monarchical institutions into greater contempt with Americans. Her ^la- jesty Queen Victoria was represented as though she had not changed her royal apparel or in any way attended to herself for many years; an affection of the spine rendered it impossible for her to stand upright, and her diadem was being forced off her head by the excessive stul»bornness of her hair. The lovely Eugdnie was even more foded than the (.)ueen of England; whilst her imperial spouse had the appearance of having got up in a hurry and put on the lower portion of his uniform hind part before. This same peculiarity of either form or ttt- ! i 1 if m 16 TUE GREAT COUNTRY. f I- tailoring was also rL'markal)lc in vvny one of a group of ConfcMlcrate generals who had evidently undergone all the hardships of a long campaign. I trust such gems of art have been rescued from the flames, as they were calculated to give a just impression of both American heroes and the national taste. It is generally asserted that the theatres in America are at once handsomer and more commo- dious than our own. I think the first assertion may be allowed, but I did not find any superiority of accommodation. There is no charge for booking ; but when there is any great attraction, ticket speculators absorb all the best seats. Programmes are supplied gratuitously, being profusely scattered about the floor of the entrance, so that each visitor may help himself ; and this gives to the place an air of elegance with which the scramble for them is in strict keeping. The sale of bouquets in the stalls is no doubt a great convenience, and forms a pleasing addition to the entertainment at the opera, where boys and girls intermix their cry of " flowers " Avith the sweet strains of the overture. The Academy of Music is a hideous building, externally, but the interior is handsome. The singers are generally Italian, though an English company occasionally appears. It is of course for the better classes that operas are given ; but in this, ri ,ii THEATRES. 17 g' or is, as well as in all other matters, the audience is more iuflucnccd by fashion than l)y either taste or know- ledfje. One season Ristori was the rapresentati are crowded l)y idlers who lounge, smoke, and si>it everyAvhere. The doorway is thronged with such gentry, through whom a stranger has to make his Avay to the otliee in order to secure a room, which is allotted to him very much as a favour; in fact, inattention to new comers seems a matter of principh- with American inn- keepers, whose indifference reaches the sublime. They evidently consider it would he a compromise of dignity to bestow attention on their guests, as tliey designate their customers, who are treated as though they were received on sufferance, and ought to be thankful for what thcv "et Along the corridors, warnings against hotel -'. ...l-ilg ;■;> : 22 THE GREAT COUNTRY. :i r thieves are po.sted at every turn. The very exalted }>ositioii of your a})artment, and the confusing mul- tiplicity of the passages and staircases precdude all hope of escape in the event of a fire ; and you gaze from your window prohably on to a vast skylight many feet below, and indulge in a speculation as to whether it would he preferable to die by fire or glass. You have plenty of time to think the matter over whilst you are Avaiting for your luggage to be brought to you ; Avhicli may occupy a long time in making its way up such a height, even with the co-operation of a lift. I am not guilty of mis-statement when I say that, as a rule, in hotels the attendance is by no means good : the only set-off to this is that, in some in- stances, water is laid on to your room ; and, if you are prudent, you travel with soap and towels. The greatest mockery connected with an American hotel is the feedino;. The dinino:-room is laroe, as a ride, the tables well appointed ; and there is ;t, bill of fare, the sight of which would induce an alder- man to start for the United States at once ; but, when he got there, he would find the cupboard not bare, but filled Avitli such food as he would indeed disdain to sacrifice his a])petite on. You niay eat from seven in the morning till midnight, with only an hour or two of hitermission ; ajid the numbers of dishes provided would bewilder you. You may HOTELS AND EESTAUEANTS. 23 breakfast off tripe and every otlier delicacy of the season, oysters included. You may dine off every variety of fish, flesh, and fowl ; you may have cold meat with your tea, and finish off with a sujiper ; but you'll find nothing fit to eat : all the dishes taste ahke, and are invariably tepid ; and, for this reason, you ordt^r your dinner from the bill of fare ; and, after you have disposed of your soup, the waiter will l)ring you all at once a collection of small pie- dishes, in which your meal is served — a fragment of fish, a morsel of fowl, two or three inches of meat, and four or five sorts of vegetables, and a variety of sweets. No doubt there is wisdom in givino- every one his distinct portion. A general vegetable dish, for instance, would be impossible, as it is a nati(mal custom to eat with the knife, and also to helj) yourself with it to anything ycni may fancy. This would not suit everyone, as it is not pleasant to see a man tiui:-t' his knife down his throat, and, on witJ)d.a\vi.jg it, thrust it into the mashed potatos. There is om^ -cry obvious reason wlij, ^-•-^ricans should l)e badl r fed ;— that as a rule they can taste nothing. A man who has a lump of tobacco in his cheek all day, and is in the habit of drinkinir u quantity of ardent spirit can Jiav nu delicacy of palate ; add to this the eousi'J.-'atioi' tliat he bolts his food and washes it '1- wn with floods of iced J ; i ■HR !ii \ ll 24 THE GEEAT COUNTEY. water, and it must be allowed that the flavour of his repast can be of little consequence to him. The meat is not good, as a rule — except, in some instances, the beef. Game and poultry of good quality are to be had, but not at hotels. The vegetables and fiuit are generally tasteless, as are most of the fish. The tomato is excellent and abundant. At many of the restaurants the dinners arc better than at the hotels ; but of this more anon. Some of the hotels are con- ducted on the European plan, and one in New York — the Brevoort House — comes very near to our English ideas ; but I have been told that the charges are enormous — as much as four dollars per night being demanded for a bed-room alone. The restaurants of New York are plentiful, but deciidcdly inferior, with the exception of Delmonico's, where both food and wine arc excellent, but at prices which approiich extortion. I have paid there ninety cents, or half-a-crown for two small dishes of vegetable — one being fried potato, the other a scrap of cold cauliflower. Everything is at the same ex- orbitant rate, and on the wine-list there is sherry at the modest price of eighteen dollars, or two pounds fourteen, per bottle. This scale of charges suits the taste of the New Yorkers, who are proud of possess- ing the most extravagant restaurant in the world. It is a gratification of their vanity to know that they exceed in any shape or way. F. f 1 I I'fff^ HOTELS AND RESTAUBANTS. 25 The restaurants, with the exception of Delmonico's on Fifth Aveniic, generally speaking, are dingy and wai-m, and have a m-kly smell about them. Many of them are little more than luncheon bars, which are thronged during the middle of the day. As a rule, Americans drink nothing but water with their meals, or very weak tea; but as they are taking drinks of ardent spirit at almost every other time, it is to be supposed they prefer making distinct pro- cesses of eatinc^ and drinking. I have never met with a decent cup of tea at any hotel or restaurant in America; and the cojftee is not much better. I conclude that the tea has never forgiven the outrage committed on it at Boston at the outbreak of the rebellion (when it was thrown into the sea by the insurgents) and has refused to draw in American waters ever since. Be that as it may, tea is a compound which is to be avoided throughout the United States. There is one article of food at restaurants which, from its great popularity, demands an especial notice, and that is the oyster. One is bound to sp(^ak of these molluscs in the singuhir number, for one of them would be a meal to some, whilst the sight of it would suffice for one in the case of others. They are called by many names; "saddle i-ocks," "blue I uits," and " Shrewsburys," being the most popular. Some of them are, in the shell, about the length of n- iii '^•vmrtf^ : ii. ' h 1 i > 26 THE GEEAT COUNTRY. an adult's shoe ; they are cHrty and unsightly out- side, and when opened look pale and sickly and are very flavourless. Americans devour them in every way, raw and cooked. I am Ijound to say that they are improved by cooking, but still insipid — an assertion which I think is supported by the condiments vitli which the Americans eat them, such as ton.^ ' rcl.up, horse-radish, pepper-sauce, sugar, and als > '"^h a salad of raw cabbage, called " Cold Slaw," Avhich is decidedly good. At Fulton Market, one of the dirtiest in the world, there is a restaurant, a favourite resort of the oyster gour- mands, who crowd there to enjoy this favourite article of food, which is very well served in every form, though, after all, I do not like it. The aspect of the markets or food shops in New York is by no means inviting, and in some cases disgusting. It is most offensive to pass Fulton JNIarket, which is in a condition that would disgrace the lowest provincial town ; and no better can be said of Washington, Catherine, or the other Markets. CONVEYANCES. The ordinary means of locomoti jn in New York are abundant ; Init they are cheap, nasty, and by no means safe. In the first place, one ought to be an adept at getting in and out of them, as severe contusions or sprains are the least of the risks in- curred by those who enter them, as neither driver, horses, nor passengers will wait whilst you do so. Broadway is infested by a perpetual train of small omnibuses, called stages, which run from all the ferries to the more distant parts of the city. There is no conductor to these carriages, and the driver has to collect the fares, which are handtid to him by passengers through a small hole in the roof. Consequently his attention is being constantly taken off his horses by his other duties, one of Avliich is to prevent the egress of passengers with- out paying. This is accomplished by means of a leathern strap extending from the door to his hand, which controls the movements of both door and passengers. The rate at which these stages travel is a1)out three miles an hour, and the way in which they bump alternately against other I m ii n- i'l ;i 2S TUE GREAT COUNTEY. carriages and tlu; kerl) stone is more exciting than agr(}ea1>le. The passengers are frequently aristocratie in their dress and bearinof, and thoimli you are always more or less annoyed by constant expectoration, and not unfrequently at night by some gentleman smoking, yet you will not be contaminated by the presence of a negro, for should even a smartly dressed darkie girl venture to get in, some manly son of freedom will insist on the driver ejecting 1 ,, She may ride in the street cars, but must not pollute with her presence a vehicle fre- quently - '•'\\\\ 1 by some of the fairest specimens of the pure white blood ; though I can't say much for the manners or deportment of these fair travellers, for on one (occasion two of them, whose dress be- spoke " style," made faces at an elderly lady sitting opposite them who, by her looks, seemed to express censure on their behaviour. It is true that she said something subsequently to the effect that " she con- sidered 'em 'ussies " — from which expression I judged her to be English. Men are not unfrequently to be met with in these stages, who try to fascinate the fair sex Avitli leers and other piayful practices, such as treading on the feet of their enslavers. This not uncommonly leads to the gentle creatures avenging the outrage by administering what is called a slap on the "snout" so violently as to send hat, wig, teeth and spectacles CONVEYAXCES. 20 •OSS id >n- I flying all over the stage. One old gentleman had his glass eye knocked into the street hy the handle of an umbrella with whieh he liad l)een unduly familiar; l)ut these were mere pleasantries, by the way. There are haek-earriages for hire in the street, hut the fares are extortionately high, five to eight dollars being a eommon charge for conveying you to the railway, or to a place of amusement. The pace at which they travel is necessarily slow. Added to tliis, is the fact that every other vehicle dashes madly against yours, as though actuated by sj)ite and malice, and that you run constant and consi- derable risk of being upset in crossing \]ui tramways laid across many parts of Broadway, and along nearly all the other principal streets; so it must be admitted that the advantage of these vehicles is doubtful. Besides the stages already mentioned, through most of the great thoroughfares, except Broadway, street cars run on tramways, and are no doubt great conveniences, but like most conveniences, very dis- agreeable. They are very large and have? an entrance at either end, and are constructed so that the horses are d-etached from one end and attached to the other, which obviates the necessity of turning them on arriving at their places of destination, a process that in some cases would be impossible. They are lighted at night with lamps in which I' \ ;l I 30 THE GREAT COUNTRY. campliiiK^ is l»unit. Tlio fare is vciy low, being only six cents for a lon^- jonrney, INFany of my readers will renienil)er them as havinijj been in use for a short tim(,' in Lonchm, when a reckless specu- lator from America tried to introduce them into this country. Tluy are drawn by three wretched- looking horses, and have a driver and conductor in strict keeping with the cattle. During the journey the conductor collects his fare, no easy ta.sk at times, Mdien the car which is intenihxl to hold f(jur-and- tweuty persons is occupied by forty or fifty passen- gers; for such is the national determination that every one shall be first, that men, women, and cliildren crowd into them, regardless of space or the demands for it which the human form may put forth : in fact it is more like transporting cattle than conveying human Ijeings. ]\Ien and women are huddled up in a manner that is disgusting, to .say nothing of the chance thereby afforded to pick- pockets. These car.s, like crocodiles, have a difficulty in turning, and the bumps and thumps one gets in them iire really formidable. The natives cling on to them behind and before like swarms of bees, and jump on and off whilst they are in motion, being frequently killed in the process. Gangs of thieves enter them at night, and if disappointed of finding a lonely passenger worthy their attention, have been known to murder the conductor, either from dis- CONVEY.iNCES. 31 n]n)oiiitmont, or booaiise he domand.s lii.s faro. Cars hwe the monopoly of the streets tlirouoli wlii.-h they pass, and render tlieni Loth disaoTeeal,h' and (hingeroiis to all other vehicles. Walking in Broadway is peiilous, for, as I have •said, passengers are fre(]iiently in jeopardy l.y things placed across their path, in the shape of planks and ropes, used for transporting iron safes and similar trifles from the stores to carts or vice versa, the said carts being backed on the foot-path up to the very door of the store. One popular manufac- turer of iron safes on BroadNvay consid,>rately turned everyone into the mud and filth, ^vith which that street abounds, whilst he obstnicted the way, trans- porting from his premises twelve of these Strong- holds of extraordinary size and weight. The procc4 occupying a long time at the busiest hour of the day, when the street was densely crowded ; and this sort of thing is being done in all the other great thoroughfares. THE LADIES. The beauty of AiiKnicuii women has always hcen a tliem(; for the admiration of writers on this country, and certainly there are many instances of extreme beaut}', especially in feature, to be met with amonji' them. Their fioures are luid, thouoh their feet and hands are frequently small. Beauty is, however, of short duration ; the teeth and hair soon fail, though these are of little couse(|uence, as they can l)e easily replaced; and, for that matter, so can the complexion, though this is l)y no means success- fully d(^ne. A clockwork arrangement to give the effect of a heavino^ bosom is a charminf]^ device, and so are various paddings and stuffings to supply natural defect. It is in her toilette that an American belle is the most decided failure ; over- dress is her weakness, with a sad want of taste in the selection of both colour and material. The fact is, that Americans who visit Europe, and go to Paris for their ideas of dress, fall into a very natural mistake. Being in the French capital when the best style of people have left it, they take for their models the most conspicuously attired females I THE LADIES. 88 en they sec in tlic streets and other piihlic places, and dress after their styh». It is re;dly startling to walk in the most "wealthy quarters of New York, and sec the over-done dress of Ijoth young girls and married women. At church you witness such a display of vulgar finery as must lead you to \\m conclusion that the wearers have few otlier opportunities of showing their clothes. As a mle American women have very disagree- able voices, and exert them in speaking far be- yond what is re(pnred of them in an ordinary apartment. There is an unpleasant intonation very prevalent among them, though many of them sing remarkably well as far as voice is concerned. They are generally vivacious, and seem to enjoy anything approaching what in fast phraseology is called a spree. Dancing is their great delight, if one may judge by the readiness with which a dance is got up at an hotel. I have no doubt, from the veiy limited opportunity I have had of judging, that at home the American woman adorns the social sphere, but argiung from the specimens one meets with a^ the so called fasliiona])le watering-places all th-- lest wives, mothers, and daughters, stay at home. There are still to be met with specimens of the strong-minded, intellectual, self-asserting women ; but I am inclined to think they arc happily dying out, disappointed to find that men prefer a 1 i' f 84 THE GREAT COUNTRY. young, pretty womnn, tlioiifrli she nmy be tliouglit frivolous, to ugliness and conceit in jx middle-aged ftpinstct, wlio seems to think she was bom to set the world right. No doubt such women would have made admiraljlc heads of families, had there been men found with sufH(nent courage to have afforded them the opportunity. The Americans may IkjIcI against all comers that most of the girls arc nice looking, some of them beautiful ; which can seldom be said of them in any countiy, beautiful women and sensil)le men being the exception throughout the world. If the women be beautiful, as in many cases they are, up to iive-aud-twenty, Nature, tiiie to her principle of compensation, has made the men fright- ful. They have a shoppy style of dress, which savours of Houndsditch and the Palais Royal. ?IABTTS AND CUSTOMS AND CHARACTER. No (loul)t New York is a dcliglitful rcsidencu for tliosc who liavo lionKis and familios ; l)ut for a foreigner it is dull indeed. The habits of the people do not render tliem agreenlde in sneli places as restaurants, and after what has heen said of the theatres, it will he needless to oh .rve that they arc to he avoided. Nigger minstrels arc; not to every- hody's taste, and American fun is of a character more calculated to provoke sorrow than mirth, to say nothing of anger. In fact, the impression one gets as a looker-on in New York, is, that there is plenty of excitement, and but little enjoyment. The natives are lively, but not gay. That there is native humour cannot l)c doubted, with such ex- amples of it as the productions of Artemus Ward afford ; but generally speaking, American fun is extravagant and pointless. The climate of New York, like its inhabitants, is cosmopolitan. One would think that the immi- grants from all parts of the world had brought each his own climate with him. The cold is intense, the heat unendurable. The rain falls like a water- I) 2 f ' mm i i 1 : 1 36 THE GEEAT COUNTRY. i-r i ,i 'IS M spout, with the pleasing altcruatioii of dust worthy of Sahara. AViiiter hists for many months, and is tedious enough, though a l)right sun and clear sky render it a less gloomy season than our own. There are amusements suited to the climate, among which sleighing holds a conspicuous and prominent place. The sleighs are elegantly appointed, and a very agreeable mode of conveyance they are over the frozen snow, through the keen exhilarating air, though it nmst be remarked that too frefjuently the violence with which tliey are driven is fatal to the horses. It is a great opportunity for young America to indulge his darling passion, display ; and when he is dashing along with the most showy horse and girl he can command, he is supremely hajjpy. Skating is also another opportunity of the same kind, and is a favourite pastime with both sexes. With a winter of such duration, it is fortunate that they have these resources. Not to be unjust to the seasons, there is no other word than detestable that can be applied to the climate of this part of the Continent all the year round. Nothing is more striking to a stranger than the ap])arent extravagance in whicdi all classes of Americans indulge. It is a national fault, and the term may be applied to all they do and say. It is positively painful to see how wasteful they are at their meals, althouoh, in extenuation of this H UABITS AND CUSTOMS AND CHARACTER. 37 ll.'j fault, it must be allowed that to cat all tlu'y ask for would endanger health, if not life itself. 1 am, of course, speaking from hotel experience, wlu^re n-ally the quantity of food left uneaten at the end of a meal, but by no means untouched, is quite astound- ing. It may be no doubt alleged that the extrava- gance displayed in dress and every other respect is to Ije accounted for by the fact, that large fortunes have been rapidly made of late by men who were beggars when they landed in this country ji few years ago. These people are designated by the term " Shoddy ; " and to walk about New York you would say you were in their head-cpiarters. Eepuldican simplicit}' is rapidly giving way, and livery servants, armorial bearings, and other aristo- cratic insignia, ar(3 l)eiiig adopted. I have even seen a coachman with a cockade in his hat ; but could find no explanation of the phenomenon. Amid all these sigfiis of advanced civilization much that is primitive is retained by these people. A young lady goes out with her beau to the theatre, or into society, just as in I^ondon, Jane, the housemaid, out for a holiday, Avould accompany her admirer. Young people have their friends, distinct from their parents, and receive company without the presence or apparent sanction of mamma. Papa is frequently not presentable, and though he may own a fine house only enters it at the kitchen door. It has 38 THE GEEAT COUNTRY. ':( n 3! ■! always been cliaracteristic of Americans to love titles ; Honourable, Colonel, Captain, General, Judge, and Bishop, are freely adopted and used among them, and since the war the naval and military have had a vast preponderance, and if one may judge from tippearances, America has not be ira- just in giving promotion, for all her distingidslied warriors bear strong evidence of having risen from the ranks. The pacific tailor has sprung from his shop-board, and beating his shears into a broad- sword has rushed into the field, and it is only justice to add that many have displayed the better part of valour. They do say that men, who had repudiated their allegiance to Queen Victoria, claimed their right as British subjects to be exempt from the draught for the army, when called on to take part in the strife ! That the Americans are fond of military display is certain, from the brilliant % ure made on every possible occasion by their volunteers ; there is, however, another service which deservedly holds a high place in their afiections, and that is the Fire Brigade ; which, in most parts of the country, is a volunteer service. New York has a paid body of fii'emen, but in Brooklyn it is composed of volunteers. When the bell of the City Hall tolls out the alarm of fire all these intrepid men are on the alert, and, abandoning both business and pleasure, put on their 1 1 HABITS AND CUSTOMS AND CHARACTEE. 39 uniforms and rush oflf to succour the suflferers. Tlicir efficiency is liiglily spoken of, and tlieir self-sacrifice is admirable, since they take it by turns, to be on guard every night, ready for active service. Being totally unac(|uainted with business I am unable to speak of the commercial men of this city, but may be allowed to express a hope that more integrity exists than would appear from a mere superficial view of the subject, or the statements of the public prints, denouncing the wholesale swindles that abound in every branch of trade. Smuggling and other frauds on the revenue are said to be carried on to a very great extent. Arson is not by any means an unknown step for a man to adopt in order to get out of difficulties. The Jews are said to be so given to this practice, that many of the ffi'c insurance companies decline to grant policies to the children of Israel. New York is well supplied with water. The Americans being decidedly given to washing, bath- rooms are the rule in all good houses. The Ger- mans look dirty — and no doubt are so. There are quarters of the City which remind one of Seven Dials, and the worst ptirts of Liverpool and Bristol ; and, for the same reason, they are inhaljited by the very low Irish, who retain their usual characteristics. No doubt, hiid the Irish been true to themselves, they would have been masters in this part of the ' m A 40 THE GEEAT COUxNTTEY. United States ; as it is, they have great influence in New York, and hokl many important ofiices in that City, hut it is to be regretted that those who do so arc not the best specimens of the sons of Erin. With the Americans the Irish are not favourites, tliough their services as soldiers and sailors, and as having Ijeen mainly instrumental in the formation of railways and other great public works, are recog- nised. They are, unfortunately, too apt to rush into politics and whiskey — the two great curses of America. Every adventurer who comes along is able to dupe them — as did the leaders of the Fenian Organization, who lived in luxury by defrauding the poor hard-working men and women with their fictitious bonds. In spite of all their experience the simple-minded Celts are still an easy prey to the designs of im- postors who pretend to be the friends of Ireland. I i EDUCATIONAL AND OTHEE INSTI- TUTIONS. The spread and influence of the Catliolic religion IS a source of great annoyance to many Americans, thougii there are large numbers who, professing no religion at all, will send their children to be alu- cated at the Catholic schools, as being the only institutions where duty to parents is inculcated. It IS a boast of Americans that education among them is very for in advance of that which is found m England. Schools are abundant, it is true, but, if one may judge by the language of the people, education on one point cannot be conducted on what we consider a sound basis. Grammar must be a neglected study, as regards both orthography and syntax. Of bad spelling Americans arc guilty with malice aforethought, but in the improper use of moods and tenses, so prevalent among them, they have not yet ventured to gloiy. The audacity of altering the spelling of English authors is astound- ing, and will prepare us for the introduction of such forms of speech as the following : " He done me a good turn," "he's went back on his friends," "why 42 THE GREAT COUNTRY. 1,1 i i didn't you went on ? " — expressions indulged in by those, about whose education one has heard so mueh. Americans will often assert that every Englishman drops his ' h 's. I liaY(3 no d(.)ubt that many of our countrymen avIio visit them are guilty of this omission — I should think, perhaps, the majority — but we must remind Americans that they do not see superior Englishmen, and, as to defects in speaking, they had better look at home ; for, from what one hears spoken l)y a large majority in the United States, one has reason to think that the language of the country will soon become a mere 2)atois. American drinks have attained a great celebrity ; but the chief charm of them, for the most part, is that they are cool. The liquor, as a rule, is very bad ; and all the non-stimulating drinks arc sickly sweet. Warm soda-water does not suggest an exhi- larating draught, but insipid food and drink are essentially national. Americans of all ages devour candy and sweetstuff, and are given to mc: ses. They delight in very white fine bread with flabby crusts. They eat Indian corn, boiled with butter; and many of their dishes are of the pappy order. Their want of teeth, or their desire to preserve them, may account for this. I do not imao'ine that Americans care for sittinjy over their dinner ; they strike one as always in a n \ U.-..-^ EDUCATIONAL AND OTHEE INSTITUTIONS. 43 huriy to get tlirougli cvcu their enjoyments, tlioiigli their food hardly comes under that head. The detestaljle habit of chewing tobacco, with its filthy accompaniment of spitting, is a positive national disgrace. That disgusting utensil, a spit- toon, [idoriis the most elegant saloons ; and it would be well if it were the sole receptacle of saliva, but the floors of the rooms bear ample testimony that such is not the fact ; to say nothing of the feet and legs that may come within range of the spitters. I cannot help thinking that the fair sex might exercise a useful influence at any rate on the young men with respect to this revolting practice, which is really degrading, and must, one would think, be baneful. As to the rising generation of this city, if one may judge from casual observation, too much licence is allowed to the youth of both sexes. They are per- mitted to associate with each other without any of the wholesome restrictions which have been imposed on the intercourse of youth in other nations. There is, consequently, a flippancy of manner and self- confidence about tlie young women which seems antagonistic to the formation of high character. I am far from meaning to insinuate anything really culpable in the conduct of these young people in general ; but it is hardly prudent, one would think, to allow youth so much liberty. As I have said, a 'i^^l m 44 THE GREAT COUNTRY. New York Ik'IIc Mill go to the opera alone with an admirer, and afterwards sup with him tcte-d-tete at Delmonico's. The result of this style of thing is the formation of hasty, ill-assorted marriages, for which the divorce court gives a remedy ; this is the best that can he expected. Dark tales of worse results come to one's ears. Crimes, such as one dare not do more than allude to, are said to Ije by no means of rare occurrence. There can be no doubt on one point, and that is the very general want of respect for age which is evinced l^y young people ; it is a toj)ic commented on very freely by the press. By some, it is at- tributed to the public school system ; by others, to the precocity of American youth. The real fault must be with the parents. Discipline is a word they do not understand. Children have too much of their own way, and are educated to think too highly of themselves. A city like New York is a bad school for youth, especially without that home influence which cannot be exercised upon young people in an hotel or boarding-house. This is viewing young America from our side ; for American parents do not seem to expect the defer- ence from their children which English people enforce. There is a sort of admiration expressed when a boy is saucy, as though it were an evidence of what they call smartness. It does not augur well li. EDUCATIONAI; AND OTIIER INSTITUTIONS. 4o for tlie futuro of a country that there is no diseipliuc exercised in the education of youth. At Yale College the young men are under no sort of restraint or surveillance, and I am told it is much the same in all other educational establishments purely national. If a plentiful supply of puhlie lihraries, literary and scientific institutions, may be taken as indica- tions of national education, then might one expect to find the youth of New York erudite, polished, and well-conducted, the middle-aged thoughtful, well-infoiTiied, models of what men should bi', and the a seed monuments of collective wisdom ; — in fact, all classes of men exact reproductions of all that is excellent in ancient and modern histor)^ The bravery of Miltiades, the wisdom of Socrates, the justice of Aristides, the piety of iEneas, even the stern justice of Brutus, ought all to flourish in a city where the means of instruction are so ample, and easily to be attained. One wearies of hearing of the volumes that are lying on the shelves, of the lecture-rooms and schools of design, which have been instituted for the intellectual culture of the expanding mind of young America. The Cooper Institute alone would suffice to instruct a nation ; and though this is one of the largest educational establishments in the country, it is by no means a solitary one in New York. I will not express ni}- ^f. - n 46 THE GREAT COUNTRY. I !■ own opinion ns to the nscfnlnoss of such institutions, but mnst sny I was mucli struck hy the romark of an individual conncctod Avitli a very largo but almost deserted reading-room at one of these establish- ments, who in answer to a. remark made as to the apparent paucity of readers, merely replied : " Read they read nothing but the papers. If you want to find our young men, you must go to the billiard-rooms, and drinking-bars, and other houses of public resort; you won't find them in the libra- ries." As this speech was made in reference to the attendance of an evening, when most young men arc at leisure, I am inclined to think young America is educated beyond the reach of the literary and scientific. In AVashington Square is situated the University of New York, which I was told 1)y Americans is architecturally like King's College, Cambridge. I merely replied " Indeed ! " — the safest reply one could make to so preposterous a statement. I do not know what its status may be from an educational point of view, but cannot think it ranks very high^ judging from its appearance and the foct that some of the rooms are occupied by artists as studios, not the usual purpose to which the sacred precincts of a seat of learning are devoted. Apropos of studios, there is a building devoted to them in Tenth Street, where the votaries of art pursue "their labour of 1 iity is I nc do al li ne lot if a los, ^et, of I EDUCATIONAL AND OTHER INSTITUTIONS. 47 loYC." I was not struck l)y the spocimona I saw of those hiboiirs, -witli the exception of some sculptiire, wliicli wiis (h:'ci(h'(lly very good nnd gave me a very different impression of Amerii'an nrt, from that Avliieli " The Greek Skive " produced. Their National Academy of Design is the place at which all works of art arc exliil>ited. Tlie Imildinjr suggests tlie idea of a Turkisli bntli; thougli the guide calls it Gothic. It is Imilt of marhle, and will, like its contents, improve witli age. I am in- duced to think that the C'hromo-lithograph school of art at present liohls tlic first place in pii1)lic taste, these and inferior copies of the old masters being veiy generally met with. Laiidsca})es painted in the hardest style arc also popular, riiotograpliy is here, as elsewhere, the " maid of all work " of art. As it is not my design to go in cxtcnso through the institutions of America, I shall merely allude to the hospitals and charities as being generally well spoken of. Prisons arc not interesting topics, and seem to be much, the same here as elsewhere. That discipline is rigorously enforced in them will be shown by the following anecdote : — A distinguished foreigner having been convicted of some offence, and sentenced to imprisonment, on arriving at his place of incarceration, was astonished at being told that his hair was to be cut according to prison regulations. "What ! " he exclaimed, " cut my hair ! I have I 48 TILE GREAT COUNTRY. served in many fcavigii juinie.s, in wliicli I held liifili rank, liiivc been en oa <>■('( 1 in a life-lon^j,' ,stnii''f!:lc against tyrann}', am of nol.)le family, and speak six languages." *' Look it here," siiid tlio official to whom he thus appealed, *'' wo only speak one language here, and d— d little of that. Cut his hair," he added. And so the polyglot hero's locks were sacrificed. The statistics of crime are somc'what sttirtling. Murder would not seem to be thought a heinous offence, for one sees an acc-ount of a murder com- mitted coolly, or in a drunken brawl, and the result is much the same as wouhl ensue from a common assault in England ; the prisoner is admitted to bail, and even if he be tried and sentencc(l to imprison- ment, he will have a very good chance of being pardoned through the political influence of his friends, or on the acc(3Ssion of a new governor of the state. In Jersey they seem to have some closer ideas of justice than elsewhere, and generally hang murderers. There is a large and efficient body of police in New York ; the first check on theiT- liberties that the citizens have ever hud '"' d on them. The policemen now and then cl their prisoners to death, but that is excess of zeal. That the population of New York is made up of highly industrious inhabitants there can be no doubt ; yet few cities can boast a larger number of 1*- 4M m. EDUCATlONAIi AND OTUEK INSTITUTIONS. VJ of A« iiHclcss, idle |i('(»j»lt', incii will) livo l»y th«'ii' wits, liaii;^- altout tlic lioti'ls, rcstiiiiraiits, aiul li(j\ior-Hli()[)S,' iiiifl arc known as lioafcrs, Suckers, Heats, and Jjiimnicrs, who prey on society; many of tlieni aro Americans, but the number, to a great extent, is made u}» of foreioiicrs (from our own islands) of whom wu arc lieartily ghid to be rid JSIany of these gentlemen are in some way connected with the theatrical profession, or litcj'ature. l-^nc'ci'titi- cated bankru[)ts, convicts, swindlers, thieves uncon- victed, and every other scum of society have found their way to this city, so that in fairness it must bo aUowed that much that is objcctionabh; in this country has be(;n imported, but has unfortunately found a soil in which it can take root and flourish. Literature does not occupy a high or proud posi- tion in America, since native writers of liigli culture and attainment are rarely met with. Scribblers abound, as the trash with which the town is flooded abundantly proves. Stories of a vapid, sickly style are popular, anil form a contrast to the licentious filth whi(;h is publicly sold about the streets with illustrations to attract the prurient and pollute the youth of the country. I do not think there is any dramatic author of note in America. Journalism is the most popular form of literature, but is of a kind little calculated to elevate the tone of the people. m n E if .^v^ f; I I 20 THE GEEAT COUNTllY. 'sISSS Tliero are one or two respcctal)le papers in New York. The best arc the " Triljune" and "Times," and there are some equally respcctahle evening pa];^ers, especially the " Post " and " Gazette," bnt all the others are mere vehicles for advertisements, scur- rility and abuse of opponents. The gross ignorance displayed l)y some American papers with regard to Enghmd is remarkal)le. It is evident they kno\\^ notliing of her history, institutions, or customs. It is very likely that the proprietors are misled by the dishonesty of illiterate men who come from England to America professing to be conversant with the topics on which they undertake to write. The musical criticism in some of the journals is simply laughable, whilst the dramatic, with one exception, is very weak. The " Tribune's " criticisms arc allowed l)y all to ])e the best in New York, and arc written ^\'itll a conscientious reo-ard to the responsibility of tlu> critic's office, which is highly credital)le, whilst their style is easy and careful, and the v.ritcr only requires a higher standard of experience to make them first-rate. There is an eminently respectable and well-managed paper called the "Round Table," which is entitled to a high place among tli(3 periodicals of this country. It is well- written and conducted in a manner that fits it for a place on the tal)lc of the refined and intelligent memljcrs of society. There are no EDUCATIOXAL AND OTHER INSTITUTIONS. ol original humorous publications in America ; many have been started, but all have failed. The Irish in this country seem to lose their rich sense of humour as well as their good temper and agi-eeable manners. I am speaking of the lowest class. In Ireland the car-boys, and such people, are full of wit and humour, and ready to start or join in a bit of fun, but in Amej'ica " the boys " are changed and speak in a surly, morose tone, and have a heavy and saturnine appearance. Religions of all sorts and kinds al)ound. As a rule, Americans seem to agree to differ on tliis ])oint ; some of the old Puritanical bitterness still lingers among the Yankees, though indifference appears to have taken its place in most instances. They don't like the Catholics and piof(Ss to be afraid of them, and certainly it must be trying to them to see how the religion they dislike is spu'ad- ing through the land. The Presbyterians are bitter against other sects ; but their day, like that of the Puritans, is past. The Methodists and Baptists command large congregations, the most wealthy dene minations l)eing the Episcopalian, Unitarian and Universalist bodies. In many places it is not considered resi)ectable to belong to no churcli, and to meet the case of those who wish for a nominal relio-ion. Universalism must have been invented. It is a '.I'.K m m ♦ ». m m '■ if e2 m n m m illlMi 52 THE GEEAT COUNTRY. 'h; sort of liberal Unitarianism and, amongst other eccentricities of opinion, holds very indulgent views of sin, regarding it as rather a misfortune than a fault. No delusion is too violent or extravagant for the American mind, as some of the disclosures made at the Police Courts respecting spiritualism would go to prove. The streets of New York are said to be unsafe at night ; but most of the cases of violence seem to have been the result of drink. It is impossible to speak too strongly of the vice of intemperance as it exists in this country ; it is the national curse and bane, and must in time under- mine and destroy the whole fabric of society. ]\Ien drink on every occasion and under all cir- cumstances. The liquor they consume is dele- terious to the last degree, and the worst feature in the drunkard's case is that he is not ashamed of himself. Drink, as a cause of death, is spoken of by surviving friends as a malady. It entails no disgrace on a man to be known as a drunkard, and so long as he has a dollar to treat a friend with, he will Ite encouraged to drink till the Asylum for Inebriates or the grave places him beyond the reach of temptation. Since the war, liquor has been both dear and bad ; one of the favourite spirituous beverages with tlie Americans is Bourbon whiskey. There is no disputing about taste, but in my opinion it is filthy, and must be destructive. The American Hi EDUCATIOXAL AND OTHER INSTITUTIONS. 53 is not a bcer-clrinker, his favourite tipple being spirit or water, Tliere is notliin2j to recommend New York as a residence to any Imt a man of business. It is expensive beyond London or Paris. It has, doubt- less, charms for those who are surrounded l)y family and friends ; but to a sti'anger it is uninteresting and dreary to the last degree. I have little hesitation in saying that an Englishman of education would feel infinitely more at home in St. Petersburg than in New York. There is no community of feeling between an Englislmian and American ; they are foreigners indeed to one another — having nothing in common but the language and colour of skin, and even in these not by any means closely resembling one another. Before dismissing New York, tliere are some classes of its society, four of which, already referred to, especially deserve notice, viz., the Bummer, the Loafer, the Sucker, and the Beat. The Bummer is ever to be met with at liquor shops and restaurants, where he lingers, hour after hour, day and night, in the hope of being treated to lirpior. To the proprietors of these establishments he is a terror, and the scourge of the customers, from whom he extorts drinks, whilst he devours all the fragments of biscuit and cheese which are placed on the counter for the gratuitous consumption of ^ -- 1 I.' 4 ml ■l\ I, • i • ' 54 THE GREAT COUNTEY. tiiose wlio may fancy a mouthful with tlieir liquor. So heavily has the Bummer drawn on these compli- mcntaiy refreshments, that the custom of providing them has in some places been abandoned. The Bummer is in his glory when a new drinking bar is opened, and nothing charged for liquor on the first day. On this and eveiy other occasion where drink can be had for nothinn- the Bummer is " on hand." New Year's Day is his annual festival, weddings and funerals arc his great opportunities for slaking his thirst for alcohol. The Bummer has no occu- pation ; he pretends to none, but sots away his life in poverty and filth, lying in wait for drinks, till the poorhouse receives his crazed, paralytic body, or he rots in some obscure hole whither he has crawled to die. The Sucker is a sponge of a different style, not so utterly lost as the Jiummer. He is a man of talk and schemes ; he pretends to having means, his chief study being to hook on to a party where drink is being stood. ]\y some mysterious means he supports life, and is more likely to die in prison than in the almshouse. The Tioafer is a good-natured, easy-going man, who might have prospered in life had he not been an idle vagabond. He spends his money freely while it lasts, and is not at all particular where and how he crets more. He will Ijegrrar his aoed mother, EDUCATIONAL AND OTHER INSTITUTIONS. 5o or deprive his wife and children of the ncccHsaries of life ; but he will stand a l)ottle of champagne to a friend. The Loafer is affectionate and kind, full of good resolutions and promises of amendment when sober, but a curse to all dear to him when drunk. The xVsylum for Inebriates is frequently the closing scene uf his career, or he will lie at home, dying in paroxysms of drunl^en madness, to the terror of his unhappy wife and cliildren, whom his violence drives from his bed-side. Not unfre(j[uently a sudden lishment. It is not uncommon for people wlio keep up a sort of would-be style to pretend tliat they liave friends staying with them, the said fritnds being l)oarders. Life in a Boarding-House is fatal to home influences, and frequently laings about so many of those unhappy disruptions of family ties unfortunately so common in America. That American wives and mothers who are worthy of those revered names prefer livirio- at Boardino-- Houses, I do not believe; as the bringing up a fomily m I '* i in i ! ; 1:: M 1 60 THE GREAT COUNTRY. i:)roperly under such fireumstaiicos must l)c next to impossiMc. It is a suitable way of living for the frivolous wife who, negleetcd by hei' husband, finds solace in the society she meets under such a roof: — a wife whose whole time and thoughts ai'c devoted to dress and amusement, to obtain which she will sacrifice everything, even honour itself, whilst her shameless partner cares not how the clothes and jewelhny with which she de(;ks herself have been ol)tained, though he well knows that she has no means other than his, and is also aware of his own inability to sujiply her with such luxuries; — a wife who expresses openly her detestation of the duties and troul)le of being a mother, who, should she have a child will prol)ably neglect it entirely herself, or consign it to the care of wretches, who, under the pretence of taking the indiappy innocent to nurse, will actually allow it to starve to death. This was proved to be a general practice by a case; which Imt lately came before the Courts, where a woman was indicated for causing the death of an infant by ne- glect, and it was elicited in evidence that a large number of infants were taken in by this monster, and deliberatcdy starved to death, with the know- ledge of their unnatural })arents. There are doubt- less many Boarding-Houses which afford respectable homes for young men in business, and suit the convenience of people without families, and it is BOAllDINO-UOUSES. 61 m not ngainst such cstiil»lisliiiiciit8 tluit my rcinarks are directed; but what I wcjuld denounce is the pi-actice of keeping up false appearauee.s, so very eonnuon in New York, l)y means of the Boarding-House system. One reason alleged by many as an excuse for living in this way, is the great trouble a lady finds in getting trustworthy servants. Another is, that the extreme dearness of everything renders house- keeping a formidable burden to those who have small incomes, house rent being enormously high. Three or four thousand dollars, or from four to five hundred pounds per annum, will secure only a moderate house in New York — andt-ven in Th-ooklyn, the unfashionable side of the river, the rents are pro- portionately high. Servants' wages are from twelve to fifteen dollars a month. I am speaking of quiet family establishments. Ft)od and clothing are very expensive ; so that many have to practise rigid economy ; yet this, it is allowed by the most experienced, can Ix; more easily done in a private home than in a Boarding-I louse. But then Show, the darling of the American heart, must be sacri- ficed. That home ties, unfortunately, d(» not bind Americans very strongly is notorious. There is too much self-assertion and self-dependence in the national character to make any bond very strono-. and the facility with which the marriage tie can G2 THE GREAT COUNTRY. bo unloosed i.s a fuiulamont-il l»ln. ^S: 1 1 I iil (il 72 THE GEEAT COUNTEY. manner in wliieli funerals are conducted, I must not be misunderstood. I do not charge the Americans with any inten- tional disrespect to the dead ; but the style of their interments is not decorous. The coffin, or as it is sometimes styled the "funeral case," does not look as though it had been originally designed for so solemn a purpose. The hearse has frequently plate glass sides to it, whicli give it the appearance of a show case. The carriages that follow, and the equipment of the drivers, would be equally well suited to any other occasion. On a Sunday, long funeral trains make their way through the city in a very jog-trot style. I must here protest against being thought one of those who approve of all the mock pageantry of woe so often displayed in my own country ; but there is in this, as in all things, a happy medium to be observed, and funerals should be so conducted as to be free from an appearance of levity on the one hand, and from histrionic solemnity on the other. The cemeteries of New York are thirteen in number, and are generally well kept in order. This does not apply to some of those belonging to the Catholics, the disordered state of which has caused many Catholics to secure for their families graves among the Protestants. Such an unsatisfac- FUNERALS AND CEMETERIES. 73 I toiy state of things lias excited the attention of the hisliops and ehi-^y ; and a better phm having of Late been adopted for maintaining the CathoUc ceme- teries, it is to be hoped that this cause of comphiint is only to be regarded as a thing of the past. The great cemeteiy of Greenwood, on Long Island, is beautifully " located," as the natives say. It is both extensive and intricate, so much so, that strangers have been known to suffer much inconve- nience through losing their way therein. To guard against which contingency, " guide boards " are set up at various points. The graves are well kept, planted with shrubs and flowers, and if all the monuments and inscriptions be not always in the best taste, yet criticism is disarmed on such a subject. ^ I I ! I ^ ''i CHARITAIiLE IX.sTlTUTlUNS, &e. New YoitK i.s well sujiplied with institutions fuuiuk'd for tliu relief of sutfering, l)otli moral and physical. A tine space on Ih'oadway i.s occupied l)y the New \7)ik hospital, founded l>y liord Dun- more, Governor of the cohjny, sliortly before it was given up ])y the English. It speaks Avell for the philanthropy of New York that so large a space of valuable grcjinid shoidd still Ite devoted to a charitable purpose. Randell, Ward, and lilackwell Islands, on the East Iviver, are occupied l»y various cliaritable institu- tions, of the eiUcacy and usefulness of which I hear much s{dd; but as i\ mere ^■isit to su<*li establishments can only give a \ery faint, and often false, idea of their working, it is useless to employ my own or the reader's time with an attempted account of them. I observe that guide-l)Ooks speak of the buildings on these islands, devoted to such M'orks, as *' elegant " ; this is one of the hajtpy llights of transatlantic fancy which excite the wonder of the traveller, the buildings in (pu'stion l);'ing, doubtless, useful; but by no means ornamental. CIIAIUTABLK INSTITUTIONS, ETC. 7> Of one cliaritaMc institution the title .struck nic as odd, it is called "The J[alf Orphan Asylum." I was puzzled for the nixniciit as to whether this hiscctionul condition of the children were moral or physical; my idea of an orphan hein^ a chihl deprived of its father's fostering care, or one entirely destitute of parents. 1 havci since been informed that this institution is for the reception of children who have lost either parc^it. In America, however, it may be tlu; ease that many a free-born citizen is orphanised, apart from the ordinary contingencies of existence. 1 read an account of a father np})earing before a magistrate, leading a pretty little child by the hand, for whicli he demanded admission to the workhouse, on the ground that he had lately married a second wife, who would not be troul)led with the care of her predecessor's oflspring. The worthy magistrate, added the account, reproved the unnatural conduct of the father, and stated that he would adopt the imfortunatc infant himself. There are admiralile institutions for the relief of the afflicted in every way. Penitentiaries, reforma- tories, and the like, abound in New York. The Catholics have several fine establishments for reclaiming the fallen, as well as for succouring help- less innocence. There has been in time past some little difficulty I V Vi ^11 VI! '.1 ^ IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) A O 1.0 L^'^ IM I.I 1.25 iiHi^ 2.2 20 1.8 U 1111.6 V] VI A. % // >^ «>*V'^ o / Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. MS80 (716) 872-4503 iV iV ^^ o '^h V A- % o^ Ws^ ". ■ ■ • \/ ■ ^ ' ^ r<> > ^ 76 THE GREAT COUNTRY. on the religious question in connection with the education of orphans ; but that having l)een adjusted, I believe on a firm and permanent basis, all will doubtless go well in future. It is a subject worthy of the highest praise, that, as a rule, Americans are just on the religious ques- tion, and out of the funds devoted by the munici- pality to charitable purposes, relieve all alike. The Catholic society of St. Vincent of Paul gets jts share in proportion with the Protestant bene- volent institutions. Much private charity is dispensed through the winter, and the relief of the poor by the authorities is conducted on a liberal scale. The Rev. Mr. Beecher called on his conereffation to contribute with more than usual liberality on one Sunday morning during the winter. He demanded a more than liberal donation from every one, as he intended to hand over . the amount collected to the Catholic charities, of whose good works he spoke in terms that did honour to his truth- ful appreciation of the merit of those from whom in doctrinal views he so entirely differed. Like all people of quick temperament, the Ameri- can has fine impulse for good, on which, to do him justice, he is wont to act, as the numerous charitable institutions of New York and other large cities amply testify. ■ ^ CHAEITABLE INSTITUTIONS, ETC. n I have alluded slightly to mendicancy elsewhere ; but there is a form of it which deserves especial notice, and that is the begging-letter system, which is adopted by " widows " and " orphans." These interesting claimants on the bounty of the benevolent are generally young and well-looking. They intrude themselves into the "stores" and " counting-rooms " of men of business, and instances are known of their having extorted money in cases where they had failed to obtain alms. Sometimes a pale, interesting j^^outh makes an application for employment, fortified by letters of recommendation from ministers and Sunday-school teachers, according to which he is a model of piety and w^orth. A character, to which further investiga- tion of his case does not entitle him. There are such abundant means for the relief of distress in New York, both from public and private sources, that beggars of this and every other descrip- tion are to be viewed with distrust, if not consigned 'to the fosterinff care of the law. ^1 % i n GENERAL REMARKS. No one who lias not seen New York can form i\uy idea of it from the account given by Americans, or rather " New Yorkers," — I must be forgiven the word. " Elegant " is a temi they so universally mis- 4ipi»ly, that they unintentionally mislead in their descriptions, whether written or oral. They also use pretentious terms in speaking of persons, places, and things. A shabby-looking piece of badly kept ground, they call a park, for under this description must come the open space in front of the City Hall. They do not understand correctly the use of architectural tenns which they apply to their buildings. They j^ronounce eulogies on statues and public works of art which are simply iletestable. They talk of their "lovely" city, in which no trace of loveliness can be discovered. They declare New York to be a " superior kind of Paris," and state Broadwny to be the finest thoroughfare in the world. Their national greatness is an inexhaustible theme on which they love to dilate. I wa^j much struck by a conversation which took 1 '. I GENEBAL REMARKS. 19 C place in my prescneo between an American and a young Englishman. Tlie fumier was what is tenncd " })lowin'nr " about the future of America. ** Yes," he said, " that glorious bird, that eternal Eagle, is destined to spread her winga over the woild." " Ah ! " said the Englishman. ** Already," continued the American, " she has extended them from the Atlantic to the Pacific." - " Yes," said the Englishman. "And she will," added the American, *' in due time cover with them the plains of Mexico, and the wilderness of Canada." *' You think so," said the Englishman. " That's so," said the American ; " and she will go on, and spread and spread them till — " He paused for a moment, and the Englishman finished the sentence for him by saying, " Yes, till she splits herself." The misuse of terms often renders conversation a difficulty. I was told that an individual with whom I had been conversing was " a real clever man ; " as I had found him remarkably the reverse, I was begiiming to think that perhaps he might be one of those who verify the statement that language was given us to conceal our thoughts, but was relieved from this apprehension by discovering that "clever" in American, means kind. Another expression " lovely," was also a difficulty ! ', if l» i; M 1 t 1 1 ii 80 THE GREAT COUNTRY. to me. A person with whom I was conversing spoke of his niece, whom he pointed out to me as she was entering a ball-room, " as the loveliest girl in the room." The young lady in question having a hare lip, and a squint, and I think, the most terrible head of hair I ever saw in a ball, or any other room, I treml)led to think of the set of gorgons I was about to encounter, but to my infinite relief dis- covered that the term referred to moral not physical excellence, in fact that " lovely " means amiable in the Manhattan tongue. As I have already said, prisons are not a subject on which I intend to dwell ; but I must say, in reply to the assertions made with regard to the superior manner in which they are conducted, that there was something very terrible in an account I saw of a wretched woman, who was taken up for drunken- ness, being locked up all night in a cell with her dying infant, which expired before morning. The name of the city prison of New York is in itself terrible ; it is called the Tombs, and is built in what the guide books state to be the Egyptian st^lc of architecture. An Asylum for Inebriates is an institution of, I believe, recent growth ; its usefulness is very great, for not only has it restored to a sound mind those who had become victims to drink, but has so much improved their general health as to enable them to M tU**ii i J>M»K^'^r» GENERAL REMARKS. 81 resist the baneful excessive use of stimulants so frequently the destruction of many whose talents are calculated to make them both useful and orna- mental members of society. The wharves of New York are very extensive, but the condition in which they, as well as the streets adjoining, are allowed to remain, is perfectly dis- gusting, as well as highly dangerous. The good merchants and traders are too l)usy to think of having them kept free from obstruction, cleaned, paved properly, or drained. A casual observer would think this a case of more haste than speed, for business must ])e actually impeded by the existing state of things, and valua1)le space reck- lessly sacrifi(*ed ; to say nothing of thu risk to life and limb, which is hourly incurred by all who are called upon to traverse those dangerous water-side thoroughfares, thronged as they are by cars and other vehicles, together with multitudes of foot- passengers. Ha\ing been told there were no beggars in America, I was not a little surprised to find them in the streets, both numerous and persistent. There are plenty of institutions for the relief of distress, but the beggar is alike all over the world, and shuns any offer of assistance that would lead to an inves- tigation respecting him. Children infest the streets, sent out to beg for infamous parents, who will not 5f^ J 83 THE GREAT COUNTIIY. work fur their own .suj)port, much lof-s for that of their miserable ofF8i»ring. That there is a great deal of real distress in New York and Bi'ooklyn is too tme, and distress which far exceeds the means of relief, which is dejilt out with no sparing hands. There are National Benevolent Societies under the ausjiices of the patron saints of the United Kingdom. I had only a sjjecimen of the St. Andrew's Society, which, I regret to say, was anything but calculated to impress me favourably as regards the good taste or breeding of its members. There are very good clubs in New York ; I was introduced at three of them, where I experienced (^very courtesy a visitor could expect from a body of gentlemen on whom he had no otlun- claim than that of a stranger or foreigner. I regret to be unable to record my impressions of the superior classes of New York society, although I am bound to state I have met with remarkably agreeable people in my limited intercourse with the l)olite world there. One of the most terrible examples of our fallen nature I have encountered is the ftist swell of New York. He is simply terrible, for he displays all the folly of the European original without a trace of the M i (JENERAL REMAllK.S. Kt jvfiiR'iiiL'iit wliii'Ii the latter in some cases iimy l>os.se.ss. He is often the spoilt chiM of some successful costemionger, and inherits much of the feeling and lialjits of his respected progenitor. You can detect him at once, before he opens hi.-* nioutli, )iy his dress and demeanour. He is, t>f course, ashamed of liis parents, and passes his time amid the most worthless companions with whkh a large and profligate city can furnish him. He has, of course, been in P^urope, and knows Paris better than a Parisian, though he has failed to get hold of the language. He has plenty of money, which renders him as y some of the wcalthicist New York nierchant.s ; tliough I am obliged to state that it is not considered at all *' style " to live in Bi*ooklyn. The view of the river from this point is good, though there is no beautiful country to look ujion, the principal features being, the C*ity of New York, Governor's Ishind, and the shijtping. A very few years back Brooklyn was a quiet village, and not very old men can jKnnt out spots in the lieart of tlie city which were in their memo- ries favourite rustic places of recreation, where, after a hot dusty -walk in the country, you might have regaled yourself with " a cracker and a bowl of milk." Brooklyn is now a humble imitation of New York, with avenues, cars, markets, and shops, like its sister city. It abounds in clmrclies of every de- nomination, the Presbyterian and Methodist being the wealthiest. The Episcopalians here, as elsewhere, are higlily respectable. The Catholics, as usual, take in all the veiy poorest class, as the appearance of their churches amply testifies. Brooklyn is cheap as compared with New York, but the rent of a good house, as I have before BROOKLYN. hT stated, irf about two thoiisjind tlciHar.s a year, ami tluTC are minil)ers, the cost of wliicli far exceeds that amount, and wliich rival in ai»i»earance tlie residences of the wealthy in New York. Clinton Avenue can honst some of the most aj^reeahle looking villas I'v*' seen in America, and hy their style remind one of English homes, though some of them are decidedly cockhi \ Red. The aspect of many of the streets in Brooklyn is very dull. There are one . two laro". liotels which may be regarded rather as 1 "tarding houses than inns. Schools abound heiv ; especially cele- brated among which is the Packer Institute, a day school for young ladies founded Ijy a wealthy person of that name. There are several educational institutions con- ducted by the Catholics, as the strict adherents to that religion do not send their children to the public schools. There are parts of Brooklyn so (piiet and retired as to remind one of some out-of-the-way foreign town, since many of the streets still retain the impress of their Dutch origin, the houses being l)uilt of wood, painted white, and fitted Avith green Venetian shutters. They are, in general, kept scrupulously clean, and for the most part are approached by flights of steps, which are generally called by their Dutch ■1* «• ■4 f S'^'A . ;v, ■> U :..■ i .-: ' fM |i 88 THE GREAT COUNTRY. name of " stoop " or " stoup " ; — I do not know which way it is spelt, nor, I think, do the people them- selves. Trees are planted on either side of the streets, and give a pleasing appearance to them, to say nothing of the shade they afford in summer. Brooklyn is as badly kept, with respect to light- ing, paving, &c., as New York, and the reason ascribed for this state of things is also the same : viz., the utter corruptness of the municipality. None of the churches are fine ; the one belonging to the Episcopalians called Trinity is the best looking, externally, but is remarkable for some of the most atrocious stained glass that ever dis- figured any edifice, sacred or profane. The Catholics have some tolerable churches, and the foundations for their cathedral in Clinton Avenue give promise of a magnificent edifice, to be built of grey granite. As to the title City of Churches, I can only say that places of worship of all denominations abound in Brooklyn ; and, whilst on this subject, I may as well remark on the external religious aspect of both this city and New York. My experience of popular religion is necessarily superficial, and all the information on the subject is such as I have been able to derive from casual observation, and my remarks must be taken as emanating from one who has had no means of i .! ,1 BEOOKLTN. 89 judging as to the truth of either the efficacy of the various sects, or the various scandals circulated respecting them. As usual, for the most part, one sect abuses the other, though all agree to differ. In no places in the world can Sunday be observed more perfectly as a holiday than it is in both New York and Brooklyn ; the shops are closed as far as business is concerned, though the shutters are not up, and in many cases the goods are exposed to view, which serves as a Sunday advertisement. All the liquor shoj)s are sealed up, except to a few of the initiated, who know how to get a drink on the sly. The Germans take to the steps of their doors ; the Irish lounge about, and the Negroes assemble in the streets to enjoy the day of rest. It is true the last-named keep to their own party, for though some of the intense hatred entertained for them by their white brethren may have subsided, yet the races rarely mix, except in a car, or at a drinking bar. The darkies have their own chapels and schools, and he would indeed be considered a dirty black- guard who was seen talking to a coloured girl, and none but the lowest of the low would thus degrade himself ; so at least I was told liy the conductor of a street car, for being of an inquiring turn, I talked much to the natives who, though civil, were rarely communicative. Frequently the only reply I got 5 i- i ! 93 TUE GREAT COUNTllY. ■V'-i to a ciit-and-diied speech was, " How ?" or " How'ti that?" two favourite forms of interrogative with this people. I tried them with the Liiiguagc of Shakspere, in which I was tokl they were proficients, but it was a failure, for no one seemed either to speak or under- stand it, and when I said, " How now, what cheer, my masters ? " " By my troth," or even " Perdition catch my soul ! " the only reply I could get, was, "How?" To return to Sunday ; eveiy one spends it as may suit individual tastes or views. The Presbyterian, Baptist, and Methodist bodies devote the whole da}' to church and Sunday school, where the young people assemble in large gatherings, especially at the latter, the girls dressed out in their very finest, and the lads in their Sunday best. It seems a pleasant pastime for them ; but the poor children, who are sadly over-dressed, must bo wearied to death with long services and a hot school room, which they have to endure for the greater part of Sunday. Such are the means by which these worthy people train up their children in ways of righteousness, hoping, by such a system, to make them take delight in Sunday — and thus a deeply- rooted affection for religion is likely to be implanted in youthful minds I It is said that men frequently make up for the I ' UllOOKLYX. 'Jl religious restraint iinposetl in their youth, by never entering a church in after-life. Brooklyn is named tlic City of Churches from having been one of the veiy early settlements of the descendants of the Pilgrim Fathers, and in the wall of one of the churches is seen built-in a fragment of the PljTnouth Rock, on which those fugitives from religious persecution originally landed, and soon set to work to persecute in their turn all in the New World who presumed to difter from them in matters of Faith. Saljbatarianism was supreme here, and even now the Puritanical leaven still works, though veiy fee])ly. The great, so-called religious lion of the place is j\Ir. Beecher, who attracts crowds every Sunday. When I heard him he was in full force, havinir just returned from his annual holiday, which lie prudently takes during the great heat, returning to delight his many hearers when the evenings grow cooler. In this respect he resemljles some of his brethren on the other side of the Atlantic, for I ha^'e often observed at the West End of London a notice on the doors of certain fashionable churches and chapels stating that they were closed for repairs and cleaning, a process they appear to require annually, just at the time when the sea air is more agreeable than the heat and dust of London. s !^ i I 92 THE GEEAT COUNTEY. f ! W The temple dedicated to the service of Beecher is a very plain — it might be called ugly — building ; but the arrangements for the comfort of the pew-holders are excellent, the seats being ample in width and luxuriously cushioned. The principal object in the building is the organ, which occupies the position that the high altar would in a Catholic church ; in front of this is the gallery for the choir, and just below this is a small platform for the preacher. By half-past seven o'clock the building was filled with a vast assemblage, the majority of which had been there since the opening of the doors. The time of waiting was beguiled by pleasant chatting, or the perusal of a newspaper, and at half- past seven the organ struck up, and shortly after the choir, chiefly composed of ladies, commenced an anthem. The preacher had meanwhile taken his seat on the platform, attired in a frock coat, black trousers and waistcoat, wearing a gold chain, and a black silk tie, his appearance being that of a good-natured man of some fifty odd years of age. The anthem finished, he rose, approached a desk, and read a portion of a chapter from the New Testament, or, as he termed it, "from Luke's Gospel"; this selection over, a hymn was sung by the congre- gation in a very ineffective style, considering the BROOKLYN. 93 numbers who seemed to take part in it, reminding one of the chorus at Exeter Hall, in which at one time there were a great many dummies. The hymn concluded, a remarkably common- place prayer was deliv^ered, which resembled in style the addresses made by municipal corporations and other bodies to Queen Elizabeth and her suc- cessors when they made royal progresses. This prayer over, next came the feature of the evening, the sermon. The text was from the Gospel, the subject, our Lord receiving publicans and sinners. Never was a sacred theme more strangely handled, and to the majority of English people it would have been most shocking. The idea of the parable of the Prodigal* Son, which the preacher introduced, and styled a religious novel, being made comic, was something new, at any rate to me, and all credit is due to Mr. Beecher for the masterly way in which he gave two characters — the elder brother disgusted at the recep- tion which the prodigal received at his father's hands, ai I the servant who told him of it, whom Mr. Beecher made the comic man of the story. It is very evident that pathos is not Mr. Beecher's forte, for when he tried to be pathetic over the erring prodigal and his forgiving father, his grief was such as Mr. Buckstone is wont to display. Of satire, Mr. Beecher is a master, and his sly ,';if S- % H ^ w- i I ► 04 THE GREAT COUNTRY. {. , ■ 14 ■jii « 1 i'f-r il III Sf -1 f hits at the peculiarities of his countrymen "were given in first-rate style, as were his portraits of the self-righteous and covetous man. His audience keenly appreciated his fun, as bursts of laughter, and sometimes applause, indicated. It is a matter of deep regret that Mr. Beechcr should not have adopted the stage as a profession, for assuredly then would America have produced one good actor of eccentric pai-ts. The sermon ended, a short, very short prayer was made, a hymn was sung, less effectively than the preceding one, and with a blessing the congregation was dismissed, the whole affair having occupied 4ibout two hours, out of which an hour and a quarter was taken up by the seimon. At the conclusion of the affair, the preacher entered into lively conversation with those around him. Had Mr. Beecher's discourse been addressed to a religious community, or a body of clergy, it would have been highly salutary, no doubt, that the preacher should have denounced self-righteousness, and have told them that the publican and the harlot would enter Heaven before the professor of religion who was wanting in charity and mercy ; l;ut since his audience was composed of probably as worldly a set of people as New York could furnish, it did seem superfluous, to say the least, to warn BROOKLYN. 63 them against too scrupulous an attention to the externals of relioion. Such preaching as Mv. Beecher's would not be tolerated, of course, in any Init a vulgar congrega- tion ; his flippancy and levity being calculated to shock refined, and utterly disgust religious, persons ; but he is well adapted to attract the thoughtless crowd. He is said to bo a thoroughly liberal-minded man, free from all sectarian rancour ; but religion is with liim so evidently a matter of trade that it revolts one's sense of decency ; in support of which asser- tion one has only to refer to the fact that the seats in his church arc put up at auction and sold to the highest Ijidder, making the Gospel as preached by Bcecher a luxury for the rich. It is not too much to say that all idea of religious instruction is lost in hearing him, as his style of preaching reminds one more of a comic reading than anything else ; and as his church is let out occasion- ally for such a purpose during the week, small wonder if those who attend there get a confused idea as to which is. religion and which is amuse- ment. There are several other popular preachers among the different sects in New York, and all have their admirers; but not one of them has ever held his place so long in public estimation as Mr. Beecher. I i i I ■\\- 96 THE GREAT COUNTET. Religion cannot be said to have a very strong hold on the people, nor is it likely that it would with the masses in any country where self-assertion, hatred of discipline, or restraint of any kind, are the great national characteristics ; and though it may be urged that many Americans are members of the various churches with which all their large cities abound, it is most certain that vast numbers of them belong to no church at all. In some cases they do not go on account of the want of novelty in the subject of the sermons. One man said that he had been much annoyed on going to church, for he heard the preacher tell an old story about some loaves and fishes, which he had heard years before. Spiritualism in this country assumes a religious form, and advertises its Sunday services together with all the other churches. It is not extaordinary, perhaps, that the Americans should take to spiritualism, because it is often the case that sharp people are easily imposed on. One is, at times, taken aback to meet with educated people in other countries who are not superior to the influence of such a transparent im- position ; but in a country where no Censor Morum would be listened to or tolerated, no check can be imposed on charlatans, or the infatuation of their victims. B'. 'I u lUlOOKLYN. 07 The Americans mu.st liave excitement, and reli- gious adventurers liave a vast field for their operation among them. There is a great deal of church going, as it is the only pastime on Sundays whicli is allowed by very many ; and some new thing is eagerly sought after. I have heard, though some deny it, that the Genman theatre in Bowery used once to be open on Sunday. Sacred Conceits, so-called, I know not why, are now held in New York, and are well attended ; the selection of music not being always such as would attract the serious-minded, or come under the head of sacred, according to our view of the subject. There are not now as many popular preachers as usual ; in fact, I was told by one man that he was about to go into that line, as there was an opening in New York. The music in some of the churches is what Americans call " elegant," but, from an ecclesiastical point of view, it is detestable in taste and style, and this remark especially applies to the" Catholic churches, where the mass is sung to fragments from operas, and mawkish English ballads. Trinity Church, both in Brooklyn and New York, boasts of a fine choir; but the Episcopalians wrangle over this as well as over every other point connected with their service. The squabbles between the ■♦1 i;1 n nm ( , m m THE GREAT COUNTRY. bishops of that communion and the clergy are amnsing, if not edifying. The KituaHsts have a small church in New York ■where they out-St.-Alban St. Alljan's ; and at one church, where a High Church bislioj) censured a Low Church minister for preaching at a non-Episcopal Churcli, the respective partisans kicked up such a row that the police had to interfere, and turned .out congregation, bishop, and all. Many of the churches which were Dutch and Gennan originally, are now in the hands of Americans. The Jews have their synagogues, which are no- tliinfj remarkable. The religion of the poorer classes is the Catholic, owino- to the vast immigration of Irish. The Germans are not conspicuous for any par- ticular religious fonn or fervour; but are quiet, inoffensive members of society, wherever they settle. There was a time when a theatre in Brooklyn would have been held as an abomination in the eyes of its inhabitants ; and it was with some difficulty they were induced to co-operate in the erection of an Academy of Music, from which all theatrical performances, however, were to be excluded ; but as it was discovered that unless operas were permitted the speculation would be a failure, the all powerful UROOKLYN. 09 dollar carried tlio day : and now there are not only weekly operatic- performances, but frequently "stage plays" given at the Academy; whilst a small theatre near the City Hall is open with theatrical represen- tations all the yejir round. It is, I believe, in contemplation to build a large theatre near the same spot ; so utterly and entirely has the spirit of Puritanism been laid in one of its former stronnholds. In addition to these places of amusement there is a small theatre devoted to Nigger JNlinstrelsy, under the direction of Mr. Hoolcy, at which n. most amusing representative of darkie humour, Archie Hughcis, nightly delights large audiences. Brooklyn is preferred as a residence l)y many who do not care about being considered " style," and there is a great deal of agreeable social intercourse among its inhabitants, I believe. Of course it is not my intention in any way to refer to the hospitality I experienced, nor to the agreeable circle with which I had the good fortune to be associated ; but I can bear testimony to the spirited manner in which some of the public balls were con- ducted at the Academy of INIusic. Brooklyn has many libraries and scientific insti- tutions. Nor is it wanting in places for out-door recreation. Prospect Park, in the course of for- mation, is a well-situated pleasure ground, com- II 100 THE GREAT COUNTIIV. li 1 iimiicling an cxteiiHivc view of Jirooklyu and New York. It lia.s no natural l)eauty of .situation to connnend it, lait much has been done to render it an agreeable promenade. Tii(! population of IJrooklyn has of late year.s increased .so much, and ho rapidly, tluit it threatens soon to rank as one of the largest cities of the Union. Long Lsland, on which it i.s situated, contains many places of interest, and is memorable as having been the scene of the battle in which the British troops, under Sir Henry Clinton and Lord Cornwallis, defeated the rebels in August, 177 G. ^'^•m- ■. ), ' li JERSEY CITY. This, which may l)o called the other ami of New York, corresponding to Brooklyn, lies across the N' ^-th River or Mouth of the Hudson, and is reached bj ferry boats much better appointed than those that ply between New York and l^rooklyn. Jersey City is not considered "style" at all, except bad style, as it is the residence of the inferior, i. c, the poorer class, of New York. All the worst crimes are committed here, and altogether it is not a place to dwell either in, or upon; it being a repetition of New York and Brooklyn, and inferior to both, in all aspects. It would not be visited by strangers at all, except that Cunard's steamers land one on it, and the Pennsylvanian railway terminus is situated therein. It was from that point that I took my journey south. As I have not as yet said anything of Ameri- can railways, because I had not fully considered the subject, and waited till experience had enabled me to come to a conclusion about them, I will now state my conclusion to be that in general they are inferior to European railways, to say nothing I 'I'll ^1^ It h3 m n r""" \! -m ". 102 THE GREAT COUNTRY. of their merits compared Avitli those of English lines. An American railway station is a very different institution from a European one. You have to do everything for yourself, and have a very good chance of going nowhere if you happen to be a stranger, and have not your wits about you. No porter of the sturdy British t}^e attends on you ; no over-officious superintendent looks after you. You get your ticket and struggle on witli your luggage, unless you have had the foresight and foreknowledge which may have induced you to check it tlirough ; on which subject more anon. You then pass on to the platform whence the train is about to start, and enter a long carriage, calculated to hold from fifty to sixty passengers. At either end there is a door, a stove, and other conveniences for passengers. Seats, calculated to hold two persons each, are arranged down either side of this carriage, leaving a passage down the centre. These seats are capable of being reversed, so that a party of four can mtikc a compartment for them- selves, and sit face to face. Lamps, in which camphinc is burnt, are lighted at night. The departure of the train is announced by the ringing of a large bell attached to the locomotive, which also rings loudly as the train approaches a w -. JERSEY CITY. 103 station, or rather a town, tlirougli the crowdod streets of which it runs, not uncommonly with danger to tho inhabitants, the only safeguard against accident being the ringing of this bell, and occasional notices, at points where the road crosses the rail : " Look out for the engine." In front of the engine there is a sort of bulwark placed, called "a cow catcher," which is intended to lift anything off the lines that may be in tho way. It is not unusual for an unhappy cow to wander on to the line. I have seen several running before the train ; they were young and inexperienced, consequently one of the party met its death. The trains in general travel veiy slowly, and are by no means safe. I will not be unjust to them by making sweeping assertions, but give my experience as 1 proceed on my journey. I think the New Jersey and Philadelphia Rail- way Station one of the best in the vicinity of New York ; but, as I have said before, you must look out for your train and for everything else. As regards your luggage, the best plan is to have it what is termed " checked tln'ouffh," the meaning and working of which I will explain here- after by a practical illustration of the advantages thereof, as well as its possible disadvantages if done inadvertently. i^ I' ft i n 'I 1 ''1 f ■:':H: .t ''■: !. '; .,' I 101 THE GEEAT COUNTEY. Leaving New York at half-past six, one reaches Philadelphia about eleven ; Imt on arriving there the journey from the station to the hotel appears interminable, though performed in a four-horse coach, which, I should say, had belonged to the first President, so antiquated is its style, and so uneasily does it whirl you along over infamously paved roads, through the whole length of tiie city. Turning corners of the shai-pest description, and bumping you against foreign substances, must he the idea an American coachman has of a joke. I was by no means pleased with my journey, for the springs of the carriage were defective, and I felt more secure when I got out at the Continental Hotel, which is a fine house, and considered a good hotel by Americans. It was very crowded, and I had some difficulty in getting a very bad cup of tea. There is nothing in the appearance of Phila- delphia to gratify a stranger. It lies very low. The streets are good, and some of the private residences handsome. In many parts of the city the houses have a simplicity of appearance denoting their Quaker origin ; thoagli here as elsewhere that body is rapidly disappearing, the peculiar dress which once distinguished the members of the Society of Friends being now only worn by a few of the old people, Quakerism, indeed, being at present less a religious JERSEY CITY. 105 than a social bond by which families arc held together. The name of the city, "Brotherly Love," was given it by "William Penn, its Quaker founder, whose memoiy one has been taught to respect as that of one of those men who seemed to have some idea of justice in his dealings with the Aborigines ; and also with the Swedes, who were the occupants of this part of the country when Penn first landed. The English held possession of the city in 1778, after their victories of Brandy Wine and German- town. Brotherly love did not reign supreme here in 1844, when a riot broke out between the Pro- testants and Catholics, which the presence of the military was necessaiy to quell ; but this was not done till many lives had been sacrificed and several Catholic churches destroyed. The situation of the city would quite prepare one to think it unhealthy, and the ravages made by cholera and yellow fever tend to confirm this opinion. Here was the residence of the first President of the United States ; and here Congress held its meet- ings till nearly the end of last century in State House or Independence Hall, an ugly building, but interesting to Americans as the scene of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence. } ivi i r .p. J ' f I 4 ' :•■, : If.; i t ■;^i I. !fl ! 106 THE GEEAT COUNTEY. It contains a statue of Washington, and portraits of the worthies who figured at that memorable epoch of transatlantic history. The United States Mint and the Navy Yard are in this city. Churches belonging to every denomination abound, those belonging to the Quakers being the fewest ; the Presbyterians, Episcopalians, and Roman Catholics having the largest and most important of them. « They are none of them entitled to any special notice from an architectural point of view, but the spires and towers of some of them give an imposing appearance to the city from a distance. One Quakers' meeting-house is remarkable as having been built by those anomalous individuals, " The Fighting Quakers," who figured in the War of Independence. One of the most important ecclesiastical edifices in Philadelphia is the Catholic Cathedral, a fine church in the classic style of architecture. It being Passion week when I visited it, the pictures and frescoes Avere covered, to the great regret of a very polite official, avIio was most anxious to show me everything. But, from the peep I got at one " masterpiece," and also from what I had already seen of American decorative art, I do not think I had any very great loss in not having seen them. JERSEY CITY. 107 One of the great features of Philadelphia is Girard's College, an Orphan Asylum, founded ac- cording to the will of an eccentric old gentleman, whose name it bears. The building is large, and well adapted for its piirpose. A statue of the foumler has been placed at the foot of the grand staircase, under which his remains have been deposited. He was a Frenchman, and a Catholic, but having abandoned his religion, seems to have resolved that his proteges, in all times, should be educated without a creed, since it is a provision of his will that no clergyman of any description shall be allowed to enter the building on any pretence whatever. Five hundred unfortunate children are at present under this fostering care. The Academy of Music is a fine theatre, and will accommodate three thousand persons. Libraries and institutions abound ; as do hospitals and other charitable institutions. There are hotels in abundance, the principal being the Continental, which enjoys a reputation far be- yond its merits. I am perhaps a little spiteful because my luggage went astray between New York and Philadelphia, and I had, consequently, a most comfortless night. Candour compels me to admit that I alone was in fault about the luggage, as the system of "expressing" .1 l-.i i. i; IC Mi. I 103 THE GREAT COUNTEY. ■I I IS ' V m m:, i it, so universally adopted in America, is the l)C.st possible. You have merely to address your luggage, and book it at an office of the express company. It is taken from your residence, and delivered with punctuality and speed as addressed ; and the same method is adopted on your arrival anywhere by train. An agent of the company comes into the car, you give him your luggage ticket, and state where you wish it sent, he enters the particulars in a book, and gives you a check ; all care of it is at an end, as far as you are concerned. But make up your mind as to where it is to go, for you'll have great troul)le in making any change. This system is especially advantageous in a country where cabs are almost unknown, and coach-hire is an infamous extortion. The water-works at Philadelphia are among the sights ; 1 ut I did not visit them, as, from a distance, they gave me the impression of being like the water- works everywhere else. The cemetery is also a place you are specially invited to visit ; for, in this city, as elsewhere, the offer of a seat in a pew and of a visit to the cemetery are two forms of showing hospitality in which the natives delight. The markets in Philadelphia are large and well j I ,' ;■ JERSEY CITY. 109 supplied, but the quality of the food, judging from hotel fare, is not better here than elsewhere. The poultry is very fiiie in appearanee, and I am inclined to think that " the Friends " keep uj) in the New AVorld the reputation for good living which is accorded them in the Old. Philadelphia is full of life and bustle ; its manu- factures, especially of iron, hold an important place in the commercial world. There are abundant means of nmusement, I am told ; but I saw none but theatres and billiard- rooms. The former enjoy a high reputation among Americans; the latter are thronged here, as they are in all cities throughout the States. A few days' st)journ in Philadelphia would satisfy any one not engaged in business ; in fact, an idle man feels himself to be in the way among a people so devoted to the pursuit of gain, as arc the inhabit- ants of these northern cities. For this reason I protest against all letters of introduction to men of business, unless they be letters of credit. You put yourself to the trouble of going to call on a man to whom you have an intro- duction; he knows your brother or your uncle in Europe. You make your way through the crowded wharf or street to his store ; he reads the letter you present, shakes hands, says he's glad to see you, asks a few questions about the friend who has introduced 1 5: ■ -J 1 i?' : f i I \l ' "i' n li I uiis; 1*1 no THE GREAT COUNTEY. you, goes into trade, of wliieli you are ignorant ; or worse, touches on politics, about which you arc indif- ferent or disgusted. You rise to escape ; he catches at the idea of losing you with indecent haste ; but to amend this defect says, " I'll be glad to have you step in another time that you are passing, and see me." You hasten to relieve his apprehensions on this point by assuring him, with expressions of re- gret of course, that you are leaving by the train that afternoon. It is then his turn to express regret, but it is a failure : he can't do it ; a bright thought, how- ever, occurs to him that you will be visiting the city again, and then he'U see you ; to which you make a suitable reply, veiy much at variance with the thoughts that arc crossing your mind at the moment, and Idow yourself out. I have no doubt that there is great hospitality shown in America, though I believe the reputation for this was always enjoyed rather by the inha- bitants of the Southern than by those of the Northern States. I did not visit the prisons of Philadelphia, but was somewhat sharply snubbed by a worthy Phila- delphian for venturing to make some remarks on the silent system, and told I knew nothing about it ; and, as I was merely quoting from the work of a popular English author on the subject, I was silenced. 1 'Ir JEBSEY CITY. Ill It was, I admit, without regret that I quitted this alxxle of l(jve, aud started l)y an afternoon train for Baltimore. I met rather un agreeahle companion in the car, quite a young man, who told me he had run away from home to join the war when sixteen, in fiat opposition to his father's will. He had been rewarded, however, for his dutiful conduct by a silver jjlate conferred on him by one section of his countrymen in compensation for another section having shot away a piece of his skull. I don't think he gained much more than this by his military' exploits, for his health, like his head, was fearfully shattered. Indeed I Avas inclined to think his intellect impaired, not because he jumped out of the car as we approached Baltimore when the train was going at good speed, for such is the practice of the country, but because he invited me to do the same in order to make a short cut to the hotel by means of a street car which would only cost six cents, whereas a place in a carriage from the station would be a dollar at least. In his hurried flight he left his slippers behind. I took them with me to Barnum hotel and left them at the bar, so, if he should read this, he'll know where to find them, and I shall have earned the gratitude of at least one American for having written a book. The journey from Philadelphia to Baltimore occupies about seven hours. !-' -> / . - ' m '■it r- p 1' i vr lii* i i i'l f: ^-il i ii BALTIMORE. A LINE of tlic great national anthem, " Yankee Doodle " — I am quoting from memory — states that " Baltimore is the dandy." I do not know what the American laureate of that day may have meant by this expression, but am happy to endorse the statement as far as saying that the city is well built and very clean. In spite of its title of City of Monuments, I did not think much of the public buildings. The Catholic cathedral struck me as a marvel of ugliness ; though it boasts the finest organ in America. It is said that society here is much more refined than in the more northern cities. Ex-President Davis was paying a visit to the city about the time I was there, and. the, hotel was thronged from morning till night with visitors anxious to do him honour. He commands the respect and sympathy of large numbers of his countrymen, and is also much liked in Montreal, where he has been residing of late. I do not know that he has any especial claim on the sympathy of Englishmen, beyond the fact of liis BALTIMORE. 118 misfortunes and the justice of his cause, for assuredly evciy one must in fairness admit that if George Washington be a hero, so is Jeff Davis, the only difference between them being the result of the ventures in which they embarked, both being examples of the distinction between " a wicked rebellion " and " a glorious revolution." Baltimore takes its name from Lord Baltimore, and is one of the most uphill cities I ever visited. It has a fine harbour : the scene of some sharp fighting during the war of 1812. Baltimore is spoken of as a stronghold of " Kebs," a term by which the Northern men designate their disaffected brethren of the South. Party feeling ran high here during the late war. The mob attacked and worsted some of the United States' troops as they passed through the city in 1861, and a serious riot was the consequence. The soldiers were roughly handled. I believe it was a Massachusetts regiment, which made a fine display, though the glory of the fighting is generally given to the Western Men and the Irish and German mercenaries ; at least, such is the testimony of the Southerners, who allow the claims of those whom I have mentioned, while they speak of the Eastern Men with great contempt, alluding to the vast numbers of new and unused Springfield rifles that were picked up on the battle-field after an It m ■m '.' \\ \ •§ V'3 V 1 : :1 : \Vl' V. 11' r«: • l'^ ■ ■ 1^'r ■ iiifl^' : Pt * ■ " 114 THE GREAT COUNTliY. encounter with the Massachusetts troops. One or two military men from that part with whom I fell in, gave mc the impression of belonging to the Bobadil onlor of fire-eaters, and though vague as to the precise battles in which they had performed prodigies of valour, .spoke repeatedly and loudly of having "whipped," and "pounded the South to thunder." I do not think that, rich though Baltimore be in monuments, they would repay the trouble of visiting them. As national works they are doubtless very great, but, artistically, the less said about them the better. Barnum's hotel was a decided improvement on the Continental, though it fidls short of a first- rate European establishment of the kind. 1; ;••: fi ;if;, 1 ■ ' ^, , , . i y. li 1 i it 1 i t li i Si Si 1 ' , 1 % f L H 1 ^' WASHINGTON. Leaving Bjiltimorc by an oaily train one roaches Washington in litth' less tlian two hours, the distance being forty miles. Tlie route is by no means strikingly beautiful. It was just at the time of the Johnson Impeach- ' ment that I visited Washington, and in the train I encountered more than one Englishman going up to witness the intense excitement naturally to be expected at the seat of Government at such a momentous period as the trial of the Chief jVIagis- trate on so ffrave a charge as treason against the state. But more of this hereafter, let us first con- sider Washington itself. I do not know whether any one has sai* til II:; i ■ if (* . S 'I! r V A. ■ Hi: ' ilii. ; 116 THE GREAT COUNTRY. the ground floor and passages of which I found crowded by numbers of very inferior-looking men, some of whom I was not surprised to have pointed out to me as members of Congress. Having read in the New York papers that the whole civilised world's attention was centred in Washington, that Nature herself was paralysed at the mighty conflict raging there, that the London ** Times " was displaying brutal indifference in not keeping up constant telegraphic communication with Washington, in order to let the Britishers know hourly the progress of affairs in which they ought to take, if they didn't, the deepest interest, I was surprised to find the city so tranquil. It is difficult to know what the American press means by the civilised world, but if taking interest in the proceedings of Congress at that particular juncture be a sign of belonging to it, then, cer- tainly, New York must be excluded from that social status, fo?' never was less interest evinced in any question than the inhabitants of that city dis- played as to the fate of President Johnson. At Washington I expected to find men's minds and mouths filled with the topic, and thought I should see many a careworn fac3 betokening the gloomy forebodings with which politicians regarded the issue of this all absorbing subject; what was my surprise, then, to hear, at Washington itself, men WASHINGTON. 117 speak of the affair with contempt or ridicule, ex- cept those who w^ere making political capital out of it. It was a generally expressed opinion that im- peachment was merely a dodge to get " Andy " out of power before the coming presidential election. From the hotel I hurried to the Capitol, expecting to find all the avenues to it thronged uy anxious politicians. I made my vvay to the great hall, and found it almost deserted. Although the form and size of the Capitol may be familiar to most of my readers, I feel bound to say a little about it. It is a large building of white marble, with a fine dome ; and, although fault may be found with the architectural propoitions of the whole building, it has a very imposing appearance, situated as it is on an eminence, which renders it conspicuous fur v: iny miles. Strangers ;ire invited to mount to the top of the cupola, but thoy who are \a ise will decline, as the prospect from it will not repay the tro^ '..>.. As far a.i decoration goes, the Capitol is to be condoled with, for both sculpture inid painting disfigure it. Especially do I rcfci to die works of art that adorn the Great Ii'^>tancla. Amongst these is a small picture of the Gocides^ ot Liberty, which gives one a very fair nuiiion f 1 th.'^ national taste and feeling on that subject. 1'' ■ i. ; i4 \'' I! ^. si;i;i U t li!^ ■'•3, Ml w .\ I I !'l i'i i ,.:1 ill ' lis THE GREAT COUNHlY. The French have reason to comphiin that, as far as pictorial representation goes, their services in the War of Independence are not made prominent. A picture of George Washington at home represents the fiither of his countiy in a court suit, at his rural retreat, Mount Vernon, a circumstance that proves he would not have objected to have appeared at St. James's in becoming attire. As I am not writing a guide-book, I will not dwell any longer on this 1)uilding in general (beyond remarking that it is badly finished in many parts), but proceed to the Hall of Representatives, on the floor of which all the genius of the countiy has spoken — and spat. It is a fine room, and, in the opinion of Americans, " whips the Universe." Even here, in the very heart of the Capitol, at the moment that the Collective AVisdom of the countrv was assembled to try the President, there was no excitement ; this intense tranquillity may have been an indication of the calm philosophic American popular mind, Init, to a . foreigner, it looked like supreme indifference. About the halls and passages a few stragglers were to 1)e met with, an occasional official, and a stray policeman. Once the monotony of the scene was varied by an officer in full uniform, huriying across' the hall ; they tohl me his name was Thomas. Occasionally, during the session of Congress, fouiO WASmNOTON. 119 lively little episode will occur, such as the follow- ing : — A stranger sends his card into the house for a certain member, the said stransrer beino- one of the constituents of the member in question — one who has been useful during the election, and has, consequently, received many assurances of the member's regard, and promises of assist- ance. Out comes member hurriedly, card in hand, ex- claiming, '' AVhere's Mr. ? " " That's me," says the stranger. No sooner does member catch sight of his visitor than ho shouts out, — • " I can do nothing for you," and turns back into the house. " You may go to H ," shouts the indignant str inger, and quits the scene ; and so terminates the interview. But to return to impeachment, which all agi-eed was a mere farce, a low political dodge, and, like all other political moves in America, regarded by honourable men with contempt, who shrink with horror from politics as being synonymous with dis' honour. One would think tliat the impcaelnnent had been got up with the design of Ijringing the office of President into contempt ; eveiy particle of jjower having been removed from it, so that no man of -f I* ' '::f.l M '■■?^ i 1 t 1 \.|'. ugh he be scarcely able to write and read, coarse in language, habits, and manners, one would think that he should be protected from gross insults. If the New York press expects that the outer civilised world is going to take an interest in the proceedings of Congress, they must be 'conducted in a manner better suited to our ideas of civilization than they have been. What a spectacle for the civilised world to behold was the President of the United States dismissing the Secretary of War ; the said Secretary denying his authority, and retaining office by the simple process of keeping possession of the room where he transacts business, eating, drinking, and sleeping there for several weeks ! The civilised world had an oppor- tunity of judging of the effect of this scene, for one of the illustrated papers gave a sketch of the secretary taking his pipe after supper whilst he held forcible possession of the room. If Americans desire the respect of the world they WASHINGTON. 121 must earn it, and not have such scenes enacted in Congress as the following, the account of which I've taken from New York daily papers : — Washington, 2)id May, 1868. PERSONAL CONTROVERSY BETWEEN MESSRS. DONNELLY AND ELIHU B. WASHBURNE. When the members returned from the Senate Mr. Donnelly, (rep.) of Minn., obtained unanimous consent to make a. per- sonal explanation. On the 20th of March last, he asked leave to introduce a bill to grant land for the construction of a rail- road from Taylor's Falls, by way of Fort Cloud, to the western boundary of the State of Minnesota. He had asked that it be referred to the Committee on Public Lands and be printed. Objection was made by the gentleman from Illinois (Mr. Washburne), and lie heard no other objection. It subsequently seemed, however, that Mr. Holman had objected. He went to Mr. Washburne and informed him that he was about going to Connecticut to labour in behalf of the republican party, and, therefore, he would be obliged to him if he would withdraw his objection so that he might introduce the bill. His answer was that Mr. Holman had objected. He then went to Mr. Holman, and that gentleman, though opposed to him in politics, said he would not interfere to prevent the reference of the bill. But Mr. Washburne renewed his objection. Stung with indignation at the conduct of Mr. Washburne, he sat down and wrote a letter to Mr. Folsom, of Taylor's Falls, merely stating the facts. The letter was then read, in which it was stated that it seemed that Mr. Washburne resisted every effort of his to procure legislation for the benefit of his constituents. Mr. Donnelly added that Mr. Washburne had a brother there who sought to support him as a member of Congress. This letter having been published in the papers, Mr. Wash- Ik Pi m is ■; \\r-i i n ■^^ ^ 1"; * 1 ', ( 1^ ; ■ . ■I i 4 i f i! ■ f 12J THE GEEAT COUNTRY. bumc wrote one without a parallel in the history of Congress, and so shocking and ofiFensive and outrageous in its character tliat he would not now have it read were it not that justice demanded the reading. Mr. Washburne's letter was dated Washington, April 10, and was addressed to Mr. Folsom at Taylor's Falls, in which lie stated that I (Mr. Donnelly) seemed to be searching for sympathy, and asks Mr. Folsom to look at Mi, Donnelly's Jesuitical performance, Mr. Donnelly knowing that the bill had not the ghost of a chance, as there was but little land to go to ^linnesotfj nd it was further stated that Mr. Donnelly might have introduced his bill four months earlier than the period at which he >-'^ught +'> introduce it. How contemptible must any representative a}ipear who is found guilty of attempting to impose on his constituents. From his knowledge of the character of Mr. Donnelly he (Mr. Washbume) had become extremely suspicious of anything which he (Mr. Donnelly) l>roposed. He had left Philadelphia between two days, changing his name, and also changing from a Buchanan locofoco — made his appearance in Minnesota as an office beggar. It was one of Mr. Donnelly's schemes of plunder which made ^Ir. Washburne oppose him. He trusted that his (Mr. Washburne's) record was not stained with venality, corruption and crime. Every corrupt measure in Congress had received Mr. Donnelly's support. The letter of Mr. Washburne having been read by the clerk, .Mr. Donnelly remarked that he was certainly justified in the y the Clerk, but he soon afterwards withdrew the request, at the advice of friends, saying : — " On the conclusion of the gentle- man's remarks he would ask leave to introduce a resolution of censure." The Speaker replied that according to the custom of the House no business could be transacted unless the House return from the Senate before three o'clock and in pursuance of notice given. Mr. Windom then asked unanimous consent to introduce his resolution. The Speaker said that could not be done. When the members returned to their hall this afternoon the gentleman from Minnesota could ask leave to make a personal expla- nation, involving a controversy between himself and tlie gentleman from Hlinois. No bi'^^i icss could be transacted, this being the understanding, yeutlemen who were absent would have occasion to complain. Mr. Washburne — I said I should not reply to such a member, and I wish to say further The Speaker interrupting him, stated the reason why he ruled the gentleman from Illinois out of order. It was owing to the gentleman's attitude, gestures, and language, to the gentleman from Minnesota. The Chair reminded the gentle- man from Illinois, as he several times reminded the gentleman from Minnesota and the House, that his remarks Avere not parliamentary and should not go to the people at large. Mr. Windom gave notice tliat when the House again WASHINGTON. 133 a met for business he would offer liis resolution of censure against Mr. Washbunic. Mr. "Washburne — I shall certainly be very unwilling to be considered out of order, and am sorry the Chair supposed that I violated any rule of the House. I was merely stating what I should do under ordinary circumstances. The Speaker — If the gentleman's remarks were not intended for the gentleman from Minnesota at whom he was looking, then they were not out of order. Mr. "Washburne — I repeat, if I were called upon to make a personal explanation I should make it with a member who is not covered over with crime and infamy, whose record is stained with every fraud — whisky and other frauds— with a man who has proved false alike to his friends, his country, his constituents, his politics, his religion and his God. The House at forty minutes past four o'clock adjourned. The following day the annexed extract appeared in the New York "Daily Tribune :"— After the adjournment of the Impeachment Court, to-day, the House went into session, and the AVashbumc-Donnelly scandal again came up. Mr. Windom, Mr. Donnelly's col- league, introduced a resolution that the committee be appointed to investigate the whole subject, and that Mr. AVashburne be required to prove the tnith of his charges. Mr. Donnelly opened the debate, and made a left-handed apology for his disreputable language. Judge Spaulding said that he was not present or he would have endeavoured to prevent it. Mr. Dawes apologised to the House and country that as he was present and did not object on Saturday, he was called to order for using the words " degrading language," but the Speaker decided that in the sense in which they were used they were not unparliamentary. Mr. Dawes, who consumed most of the time that was wasted in the debate, and wiio lost his temper because he was not allowed more time, was evidently friendly i I V; II \ u v« 1 ' y.'t ■'it M m m : 11 134 THE GEEAT COUNTllY. to Mr. Washbunie, and was opposed to Mr. "Windora's propo- sition. Mr. Woodbridge got tlie floor, and said that if Congressmen would behave as gentlemen, such disgraceful scenes would not occur — a sentiment in which the country will generally concur. Mr. MuUins of Tennessee drew forth much laughter by making several points of order. One of the points made by Mr. Mullins was that the words " peculation and robbery," applied to a member, were unparliamentary. Another was that members should "slang whang" one another; and a third, that he (Woodbridge) did not confine himself to the question. Mr. Woodbridge, who was making a long speech about nothing, was finally cut off by Mr. "Windom, who moved the previous question ; but before the vote was taken, Mr. Washburne rose to speak. Mr. Mungen of Ohio made objection, but subsequently withdrew it. Mr. "Washburne apologised to the House, but did not, however, retract the charges. He yielded the floor to Mr. Dawes, who had been deprived of it by Mr. Windom, but Mr. Dawes declined to speak further. He subsequently changed his mind, and in- sisted upon reading too much of the filthy language of Saturday. Mr. Robinson (N. Y.) tried to get in a resolution, * but the Speaker declined to entertain it. A motion to lay on the table was made, but it did not prevail, and the Committee was appointed. Mr. Spaulding of Ohio moved to strike from the record the objectionable language. This drew debate from all quarters of the Hc.de. Mr. Wilson of Iowa held that it could not be done. The Speaker thought it could. Mr. Schenck was opposed to it on the ground that the House might want to refer to the debate, and that the reports sent out to the country by those not having an official connection with the House had been exaggerated. Mr. Schenck seemed to think an official connection with the House a very desirable thing ; but he is a little mistf,ken, not only in that, but in the assertion that the reports were " exaggerated." The report in the " Tribune " was not half as disgraceful as that which ap- WASHINGTON. 136 peared in tlie official organ of Congress, and if there was any " garbling " about it, it was to the advantage of Congress. Mr. Donnelly requested that certain objectionable portions of his speech be stricken out ; whereupon Mr. Washburne retracted his charges. ?»Ir. Donnelly suggested that they should do as Thomas and Stanton did. But Mr. Eldridge objected to the honourable gentleman taking a drink unless he was included, which the House thought very funny, and at which there was immoderate laughter. w :0 «■ Subscqupr.tly the House did adjourn for a drink. The state of Congress is decidedly very much worse at the present time, from the fact of the Southern representatives being exchided from its deliberations. It is too notorious to require any proof being adduced in support of the assertion, that the South has given all the best statesmen and rulers to America. The nucleus of the New Country was in that part of the States, and all the men of refinement, intellect and education sprang from there, whilst the coarser portion of the com- munity was carrying on trade, or farming in the North-eastern part of the country. Tlie old planter families of Virginia and Mary- land had aristocratic notions upon which they acted both at home and in Congress, and whatever may 1)0 our opinion as to their conduct to the mother country, it cannot be denied that they acted honourably in the main ))y their fellow citizens. This aristocratic element being withdrawn, the power It' .1, 11- ' I ' . * 5'' 'Xi .,1 i' I'. m I!' ii /i ' il 136 THE GREAT COUNTRY. ill Congress has fallen into the hands of persons of an inferior class ; as it is notorious that men of in- tegrity and character shrink from an assembly where they would find theinselves associated with some of the lowest characters that disgrace the com- munity. We know that the Senate has been the scene of personal violence, when a dignified member gave one of his peers a severe caning; but let us hope that that august body has improved as to its mode of displaying its feeling. The library of Congress is said to be fine, in spite of its having been several times destroyed by fire. It was burnt with the Capitol by the English when they captured Washhigton in 1814. This was an act of Vandalism only to be excused on the score that many national works of art must doubtless have happily perished at the same time. Corruption, thy name is America ! In proof of this assertion I must refer my readers to the state- ments generally set forth in the public press as to the extent to which fraud and peculation arc being carried on in every department of the State. One case I can cite, which was lately, and may be still, occupying the attention of the Executive. A collector of taxes, sent down from the North to superintend the revenue department in the South, WASHINGTON. 137 \Viis put on his trial for ombezzleiiieiit of ]»iil>lic money, to the aiiioiuit of a million and a half of dollars ; luckily for the delinquent ho had a friend in the judge who was to try him, and who induced the grand jury, composed of two-thirds of white men and one-third of black, with whom he contrived to tamper, to ignore the hill. The conduct of the judge, however, was so barefaced, that some of the juiy denounced him, and he in his turn was put on his trial. Being an adept at managing juries, the worthy judge went to the twelve enlightened men about to try him, acknowledged his guilt, promised never to oftend in like manner again ; and urged his claim for consideration on these grounds ; but, as a final coup, said, " You must acquit me, for, should you not, it will be such an injury to our party, and give the Southerners a handle against all who are sent here from the North to administer justice." The jury saw the force of this reasoning, and ac- quitted the judge. His iwotege, the defaulting tax- collector, was allowed to take his seat in the State Convention, and enjoy his million and a half of dollars, or rather a portion of the amount, as it is to be hoped he did not forget to compensate his worthy friend the judge, who may yet be called on to suffer for his delinquency. Plunder is carried on to a great extent in ever}'- department of the State, in proof of which it is ; % '■:m ■% < m .■r| 'li w 13S THE GREAT COUNTEY. m .stated that the expenditure of the government is as great as it was during tlie height of the war. This statement is not made on tlie authority of partizans of the South. Men of the liio-liest character in New York liave tokl me the same thing; in fact, it is the one cry throughout the h'Ugth anw York was entered by the police, who seized on the books of the concern and carried them off, under the apprehension that the said fimi Avas engaged in the great whisky frauds. As nothing could be found in the books to incul- pate their owners, they were restored after a lapse of a few days, with a note of apology. w it m NhV ^ il ,' I !l !i I H4 THE GREAT COUNTRY. This is pretty strong for the land of liberty, where " Old World " tyranny is so much talked about and denounced. During the war, the powers of the Executive exceeded those exercised l^y the most absolute governments. Newspaper offices were kept closed l>y military occupation, and, in some cases, the publication of journals was prohil)ited for several days. The proprietors of stores were warned that they must not allow political discussions to take place on their premises ; unless such discussions were favour- able to the government. In fact, every act of those in power only went to establish the fact that in name alone does a Kepublic differ from despotism, with this difference, that in the latter case you arc^ bullied l)y one open oppressor, but, in the former, you are subject to all the petty annoyance which the nifdice and spite of millions may inflict. I quitted Washington without regret at an early hour, en route for Richmond by the Potomac. We were called upon to leave the hotel at least one hour and a half earlier than there was any occasion for our doing. Not that the hotel (Wil- lard's) held out any inducement to remain in it, but it was tiresome to have to wait on l)oard the steamer a long time before its departure. We Qot breakfast on board soon after it started. WASHINGTON. 145 i'( 1. The meal was as bad as those served at the hotels, but the attendants were more chdl. As the steamer passed Mount Vernon, a bell wai rung ; but whether it was out of compliment to Washington, or to call the attention of the pas- sengers to the fact that we were steaming bv his residence, I don't know No great interest in the spot was evinced by any on board ; the flocks of water-fowl through which we passed afforded apparently more subject of conversation. At Aquia Creek we left the steamer for the rail- way, the carriages of which were fitted with very comfortable arm-chairs. This line of rail takes one to Fredericksburg, celebrated not only as the scene of severe fighting during the late war — especially an encounter be- tween Generals Grant and Lee — but also as the birthplace of Washington. The house in which he was born has been long since destroyed. In the immediate A'icinitv of the town is the grave of his mother, marked by a pretentious though unfinished monument ; the corner-stone of which was laid with a great flourish some thirty- five years ago, by the then President of the United States. At Fredericksburg we parted with a party of card-shar]oer8, who had come with us from Wash- ington, and had plied their trade 'dth considerable . i ^1 •■' M * IKi THE GREAT COUNTRY. SB M ■ ■. 1 i* 'i !^' i!! I -t :l lit I., profit on board the steamer, having cleaned out a German and one or two other strangers, of whose folly and avarice they had taken advantage. I regret to say that my non-military instincts interfere seriously with my enjoyment or appre- ciation of a field of l)attle : so cloudy, indeed, are my views on the sul)ject, however lucidly it may have been exphuned to me, that I feel quite unequal to reproducing anything coherent or comprehensible which may relate to the matter. I know I was impressed with the thought that it would be dis- agreeable to be killed by a gun fired at a distance of four miles — but then I am very sure I should feel equally averse to its being discharged at me within as many yards. The line of country between Fredericksburg and Richmond is dreary and unpicturesque. Pine-trees and swamp abound ; good things in their way, but not in mine. In some parts of the road the railway was very good, though the pace at which the train travelled gave one the idea that caution was absolutely necessaiy. The lines have been recently relaid. One portion of the line passes over a raised causeway, constructed of wood at a formidable height, and is by no means calculated to inspire the traveller with confidence. RICHMOND. Having left Washington at seven o'clock in the morning, those who do not stop at Fredericksburg may reach Ri,chmond at about three o'clock p.m. The approach to the city is not by any means striking, except for the traces of war, visible, on all sides, in the shape of large buildings that have been entirely destroyed by fire. Prepared as I was to find the town in a depressed state, I thought that, with a people of so elastic a nature as that with which the Americans are gifted, three years would have done much towards restoring at least an appearance of prosperity to the place ; l)ut such is not the case, for though many of the streets have been rebuilt, yet are the devastating eficcts of war still to be traced, not only on the houses and l)uildings, but on that wdiich is of infi- nitely more importance — the minds of men. Much has been said of the cruelties practised in the South on the prisoners from the North ; but if in time of peace an inoffending foreigner is con- signed to such an hotel as the Spottswood, what can a prisoner of war expect ? I'D f lM,i M ■ ft It -r^m hfs ill V . i i; i: I I' 1- II n ! i i ' 148 THE GREAT COUNTEY. So filthy a den, pretending to be a first-class hotel, I never was in. I had a dungeon of a bed- room ; and as to the food, it was simply uneatable. Had it not been for the circumstance of my having met with very kind and agreeable fellow-travellers, in a gentleman and his wife from Boston, I would not have stopped, although I should probably not have gained much by the move I might have made. I was put to shame by the good-natured way in which my companions endured all the discomforts, which must have been especially trying to the lady, who had evidently been accustoni'^cl to all the elegances and luxuries of a well-appointed home. The situation of Richmond, on the James river, is good, and it commands an extensive view. As a city it never could have amounted to much. There is a Capitol, with a statue of Washington in the centre of the hall ; a bust of Lafayette is in a niche of the wall — a scanty acknowledgment of the obligation which the Americans are under to that illustrious Frenchman. I visited Libby's prison, formerly a tobacco ware- house, but used as a receptacle for Northern prisoners during the war, where no doubt they underwent all the horrors of such a situation. It is at present used as a military prison, and one can therefore more easily judge of what it must RICHMOND. 149 have been when crowded to suffocation by a large number of half-starved suffering men. Nothing can palliate the atrocities said to have been practised by the Southerners on their prisoners, but the facts are — 1st. That the Northerners refused to make an exchange of prisoners, unless the South would accept the negro on the same terms as the white man ; and 2nd. That the Southerners were suffering from extreme want themselves, and had little to give their prisoners. Add to these the statements of the Southern prisoners as to what they suffered at Fort Delawar, where one, who was imprisoned there, assured me he had seen men catch the rats and devour them from sheer hunger, and one comes to the conclusion of its being a case of six of one and half-a-dozcn of the other. Of course, barbarity on the one side does not even palliate reprisals being made on th(.^ other ; the more substantial defence of the South against the charge of cruelty being, that Wirtz, who -was subsequently tried and hanged by the Northerners for his cruelties to prisoners at Andersonville, was condemned on the evidence of the notorious peijurer ah'cady alluded t(j ; nor can we shut our eyes to the fact that the victorious party in any contest must ever have the best chance of telling its story, whilst the vanquished are crushed and silenced. A drive round Richmond enables one to judge m m \:i i ■'Ml 1; vl I i I' i hi II ii I i li'. 120 THE GREAT COUNTEY. how well it was calculated to stand a siege. There is of course a great discrepancy in the statements as to the cause of its having been destroyed. The Southerners attributing the burning of it to the Federal troops, whilst the Northerners declare that the Confederate commander, General Early, ordered the tobacco and other warehouses to be set on fire upon surrendering the city to the Federal forces, 2nd April, 1865. Not only are the buildings of Richmond still in ruins, but the feelings of its inhabitants bear inde- lible traces of the intense hatred felt by them towards their conquerors. " We would rather," said a man of substance and respectability, with whom I was conversing, "submit to any power than to Congress. Annexation to Great Britain is a blessing we could not hope for ; but rather than have our present rulers, we would hail Louis Napoleon with delight." These were not the sentiments of men of the public-house order of politicians, but of those who had held good position before the war ; and were highly respected, not in Richmond alone, but in the State. Nothing can be more deplorable than the general appearance of the negro population : scpialor and rags are their almost universal condition. I was in Richmond on 8rd of April, the anniver- m RICHMOND. 101 aary of its fall, which the darkies celebrated as the date of their emancipation. There is something in the negro that is always provocative of a white man's mirth ; and certainly, when seen in hadly- fitting, much-worn uniform, and on horseback, Sambo does cut a very ridiculous figure. A large number of them, thus equipped, paraded the city, accompanied by a villa nous band, and followed by crowds of their brethren, to the intense and ill-disguised disgTist of the white population. They were escorted by a posse of constables, in order to prevent any collision between the hostile races. This feeling of dislike for the negro is of recent date in the South, where, in former times, the black man experienced far kinder treatment than he did from his Northern champion. It is almost laughable to hear the Northerner put forth a claim to be the negro's friend, for he hates him intensely, and would expel him from every place frecjuented by the white man. You hear men speak of the black man as no better than " the beast that perishes," and are induced to think that all the professions of love for him, all the desire for his emancipation, arose from nothing but a desire to annoy and humiliate the South. Had the American soul so loathed the institution of slavery, why was it not abolished by that son of freedom, George Washington, who proclaimed that il'l ^- } mm \4 ^i m •^mssmm^smmmmmmmmmmm 1A2 THE GEEAT COUNTRY. '* All men care Lorn free and equal",? Why was this legacy of the Old Country despotism allowed to pollute the pure republic ? and why did it exist so long as an institution, even in the North ? It has been a very convenient bit of cant for the Northerners to use as a war cry against their opponents ; but till their tone and conduct are altered towards the negro, in vain will they try to persuade thinking men that their late war was undertaken solely for the abolition of slavery. The negro is an idle, thoughtless creature, incaj)able of even seeing his own interests ; he is insensible to the charms of domestic life, being, when left to himself, neither a good husband nor a good father. His sole delight is to bask in the sun, and indulge in every low gratification of sense. That there are exceptions to this state of things among them is of course allowed, but these are very rare. The great delight of the darkey, when active, is to dance, eat water-melon, and play the fool in general. He abounds in humour, and is as easy-tempered as most men who are devoted to self-indulgence. He will not work if he can avoid the obligation, nor will he do anything that is irksome or dis- tasteful ; in which particulars he closely resembles some of his white brethren, especially those of the wealthier sort. KICIIMONIX 153 A negro is like a child : he will not take medi- cine or any other salutary precaution against illness. He is dirty, and degraded, and indolent, to the last degree. All these defects of character will be allowed by those who differ with me regarding the treatment of the negro, though they will insist that they are the results of slavery. I will concede this point, though I do not agree to this view of the subject; and will ask, was it, then, wise to confer on such a people so circumstanced the dangerous boon of suddenly conferred uncon- ditional liberty ? The result is to fill the streets of Richmond, and other Southern cities, with crowds of great, hulking, idle black men, with their tattered and .filthy women, and more than half naked, neglected children, all waiting for the eleemosynaiy meal with which the freedman's bureau suj)plies hundreds of them daily, and thereby (^icourages them in their darling vices of idleness and want of thought for the future. In the time when slavery existed, the unfortunate children of the negro were at any rate looked after, whatever may have been the motive that induced the care of them; but now they perish wholesale from entire neglect, their parents regarding them as burdens, in which respect they also closely imitate some of their white deliverers. rt'i ! I; ■ )ii ''. ! 2. r-' 154 THE GREAT COUNTRY. If the Northerners, in their conduct to the Southerners, liavc been only actuated by their benevolence towards the negro, it is a subject of surprise as well as regret that they have not evinced a little more philanthropy in their dealings with the Indian. There is a feeble voice raised by the Aborigines' Protection Society in behalf of the Ked Skins, but, as a rule, Americans speak of their extirpation as a consummation devoutly to be wished. That there are fine points of character in the negro is allowed on all sides by their former masters, who bear testimony to their fidelity and love. JVIen have told me of having owed their lives to the devotion of their slaves, even during the late contest, when everything was being done to alienate their affections. " For my own sake,'' said more than one slave-owner to me, *' I would not have allowed my slaves to live in the disgusting state which you now witness. I took a pride in seeing that they were well-fed and clothed, and carefully nursed in sickness." However loudly the Northerners may talk of their love for the negro, they have no desire to place him on an equality with themselves, and would only grant him the franchise in the South that he may humiliate and outvote the white man. Under proper laws, framed for his protection on RICHMOND. l.V) certain points, the slave wcaild he in no condition to elicit the pity of his fellow men; in fact, his position would in (!vcry respect bu better than tliat of niany a free-born labourer who is slave to a master in the l)arochial guardian, fretpiently far more exacting than any Southern planter. 81a\'cry is, of course. a bugbear and a name; but let those who really know the condition of the labouring classes in this land say, in what respect but in name it differs from slavery. There are no gy^^'s and handcuffs, no whip or scourge, it is true ; but there I'e low wages, bad lodging, dear food, and hard taskmastei-s, who can make life very wearisome, especially with the prospect of the cold, hard, solitary Union as a resting-place, while the worn-out paralysed laljourer is waiting for his pauper grave. It has been well and truly said that all men are slaves, and happy would it have been for the majority of the human race had its condition been as good as was that of by far the larger numljer of the slaves in the Southern States of America. 1'hese sentiments I have heard expressed by many of those who were opposed in all respects to the South, and did not agree with my views respecting slavery. Nothing can display more weakness in the anti- slavery party than the name they have chosen as a party cry. To have made a dangerous fanatic, like ^'.' i '■■I i l;tr*4 •'*■ l.-)8 THE GEEAT COUNTRY. indifForent as to his political privileges ; unless be be worked up at the instigation of others to speak of his rights and wronrjs, of which at times he has misty notions, such as thinking the whole of the Soutli country his own property; but satisfying his demands for the present by the approj)riation of his white neighbour's cow or pig, and making free with a ladder or bucket that does not belong to him, which leads to summary justice being administered in the shape of a good cow-hiding, and sometimes a halter. There are dark tales whispered about as to the designs of the negroes to massacre the white popu- lation, but these sound very like a repetition of the calumnies which led to the murder of the negroes in N(nv York, about the middle of the last centuiy, under a false charge of conspiring against their masters. Whilst speaking on the subject of the negro, one must not omit to mention that the condition of the " poor whites," as they are called down South, is terrible. An account, lately given in the New York papers, of the execution of a murderer in North Carolina, elicited some fearful details as to the terriljle state of depravity into which these unhappy people must be sunk. The details of the murder are too revoltino- to l)e i EICIIMONl). l.:9 4 reproduced here. Tlie guilt of the accused was clearly established, he was convicted and sentenced to die ; but then came the most terrible part of the story, the utter indifference of the wretched man to his fate, indifference* that wa.> shared by his imme- diate relatives. He was taken to the tree from which he was to be hanged in a cart, and sat on his coffin smiling, his sister sitting by his side ap- parently unmoved at the awful situation of her miserable brother, whose friends attended him to the last, and seemed to regard the whole affair rather in the light of a joke. These " p(jor whites " have ever been regaidecl as the dregs of society in the South ; too idle to work, which may l)e in part atlributal)l(; to the effects of the climate, since nothing but the skull of a neoTo can tidure the heat of the sun under which tob.'K'cr. and cotton must be cultivated. It is the intention, or rather the design, of some of those who are planning the future of the South, to advise the Gemians to go d(jwn there and occ-upy the waste lands ; but it remains to l)e seen liow far it will l)e possible, for even Gemian industry and perseverance, to work in such heat as the negro delights in. When about to leave Richmond, I took ever}'" uKnins of in(piiring of the raihva}"- agents as to when I should reach Charleston, and was assured that, ,1 V l:i iPT m . 160 THE GEEAT COUNTRY. J>. !( , ''t: ' 1^' rr;"i" 162 THE GREAT COUNTRY. it of negro insolence, whicli consisted in tlie dark gentleman having kept on his hat in the iDresencc of ladies on the staircase of the hotel ; for which offence ii*^ was desired to leave the house, and instead of doing su shied a l)ottle at the landlord's head, who retaliated with a, chair, and deeply regretted not having had his revolver at hand. My intoxicated friend became extremely intimate, and though he did not like the English, made an exception in my favour, and wished to present me with a liottle of live snakes of a venomous kind, with which the environs of Wilmington abound. I demurred at accepting such a present, under an apprehension of the possibility of the reptiles get- tirg out of the bottle, in the train. " If you find 'em over lively,"' he said, " you can fill them up with alcohol ; " which of course is to be obtained in ajiy quantity during the night in a railway car. Luckily for me, as my friend was getting " ugly," as the term goes for " out of temper," at my reluc- tance to accept his gift, some Christian proposed an adjournment to a liquor store for a drink to the continuance of good feeling l)etween America and England ; to which I most cordially ;^ssented, and away Ave hurried. Once at the drinking bar, my attached friend lost thought of his love for me and every other sublunary ol)ject excejit li(^uor, i^j^A. mm EICHMOXD. 163 SO I was a1)l(' to Avitlidraw (^iiiotly, not, however, till 1 had heard treason enough expressed to have astonished Guy Fawkes himsidf. Whilst, on the one hand, 1 was condemned to listen to the cries for vengeance of the South, on the other the l)ragging, or as the Americans say "the l)lo^^ing,'' of the Noi"^h was equally be- wildering. The exulting tone in which one man, who told me he "svas a general in the Northern army, spoke of having " pounded the Rebs.," was a counterpoise to the expression of a Southern judge who assured me of a speedy recommencement of hostilities, and predicted that, when the victorious South shoidd enter New York, there would not be Lim})-posts enough found in the city to hang the Abolitionists on. It served as a pastime in a place like Wilmington to listen to these expressions of conflicting feeling. I was of course only a listener, and declined giving an opinion on the subjects under discussion, on tlic ground of being a foreigner. This I did in all sincerity, holding it to be an impertinence in a foreigner to enter into political discussion with the natives. Their differences do not concern him, and he should leave them to settle their own disputes. These remarks apply to foreigners who enter the '.iH i\ Itl n P If I if" ft ■ ;: I IB. ''.■;. i ( ■ f . } '>k rr> \l\ i i i ll ) 'i il; I 164 THE GEEAT COUNTRY. ranks of an army engaged on either side in a civil war. Let the natives fight it out by themselves. Had this been the case in the late war in America, there is a strong impression abroad that the result would have been very different. Be this as it may, mercenaries fire ever contemptible, and volunteers had better mind their own business, whether tliey Ije princes out of work, or private individuals with a taste for fighting and loose notions of the distinction between meum and tuum. Wilmington, though now sadly depressed, had consideral)le trade before the war. Some of the houses bear the impress of wealth, and the gardens are tasteful. The soil round about it is loose and sandy, througli which one has to wade ankle deep to reach the cemetery, where I was induced to pay a visit, as my agreeable fellow travellers were bent on the expedition. I must say I did not care about it, and should have enjoyed myself much more had the sun not been scorching, and had not the snakes already referred to been i-eported to abound on all sides. I only saw the remains of one, and had no desire to make acquaintance with the survivors of his race. It was a b)vely evening when we left Wilmington, and though I had a berth in a sleeping cai' T was unwilling to lose the beauty of a moonlight, wliieh RICHMOND. 165 riitlicr gave ii eliarm to the gloomy scene through which Ave passed. I have given no description of the country through which T passed after leaving Ki-^hmond, but \\ ill now remark that it is dreary and ugly in the extreme, pine forest and swamp nearly all the way. The manufacture of resin and turpentine is carried on to some (>xtent along the line ; but this adds no enchantment to the scene. •The miseraljle shanties inhabited l)y the negroes and "poor whites," are not even picturesque, though of all sorts and sizes. The ruins of an old worn out railway car had been frequently converted into a habitation. The pigs seemed to have the liest of life ; they forage for tliemselves, and can find plenty of oppor- tunities for wallo\A'ing. Many of these interesting aiiimals are of a rich auburn shade, but from their personal appearance do not make you think of pork as a dainty. In many places, as the train passed along, negresses and children l)rought fried chicken and hard-boiled eggs and fruit for the refreshment of the travellers, and these were a decided improve- ment on some of the food prepared for us at the restaurants of the stations where we stopped for our meals. As I said, we had a sleeping car attached to the . m ill i IGG THE GREAT COUNTRY. ■SI train by wliicli wu left Wilmington, but were only allowed to enjoy our berths till two in the morning, at which hour we were roused and told that in half- an-hour we must eliange ears in order to go on to Charleston. Although the said sleeping cars were not over comfortable it was a trial to be turned out of them, and be done out of the supposed night's rest for which one had paid extra, and transferred to ixu uncomfortal)le car in Avhich it wjis impossible to lie down — such, however, was the stern necessity to which my Boston friends and myself were reduced, — and I must say that their good nature never flagged ; and I may as well here express my best thanks to the gentleman who had a small iiask of first-rate Cognac, with which he was most liberal, and thereby alleviated the horrors of a night journey through a swamp. If night were dismal, coming day made up for its predecessor's gloom. The lovely foliage of early spring made the wilderness appear a garden, whilst wild flowers abounded on the banks of the swamps. The mocking bird, which I heard for the first time, did its Ijest to cheer and delight us, and so we went on over some very ugly bits of road (especially one very long wooden bridge, which was more agreealjle as a matter of retrospect than of prospect) till we reached Charleston at nine o'clock in the morning. ;ii '.S'i| r: CHAELESTON. h^ The situation of the city is fine as regards the sea vieAV, Imt it lies so low as to appeal' a place of no great importance. At present its appearance is most depressing, one-third of what was the best part of the city being in ruins, the result of a terrible conflagration which devastated it in 1862, the act, it is said, of incendiaries from the North, who were sent to destroy the city. Of course these asseiiions must be received with caution, in the same way that one does not readily accept the statement put forth in New York that the Southerners attempted to burn that city. However the fire may have originated, the destruction it caused was a terrible blow to Charleston, which still remains the same mass of blackened ruins that it presented just after the terrible event. The inliabitants do not seem to have sufficient energy to think of rebuilding it. The marks of the bombardment by the Federals in 1863, are in great measure effaced, but the memory of it is fresher than ever in the minds of the people, and certainly such an act was a disgrace :^} i ■¥\ '■'"J 168 THE GREAT COUNTKY. ^' it li! i !li III to an age ami countiy, the boa at of \vlii(3li is ad- vanced civilisation, and a pretended horror of Okl Worhl tyrannical acts. When the lat(3 King of Naples l)ond)arded the revolted city of Palemio, the Queen of England in a speech from the throne was made to reflect strongly on the severity of his conduct; but no word of public rel)uke has she uttered against any of the atrocities committed l^y the United States govern- ment against what it pleased to call its rebellious citizens. The mutual recrimination, and the charges brought by both sides are highly disgraceful, one of the most terrible being the accusation against 'i. Dr. Blackburn, who is said to have sent infected clothes from New Orleans to New York in order to disseminate yellow fever in the North. This diabolical act is most strenuously denied by those to whom it is attributed ; and one would really be at a loss to decide as to which is the worse state of mind, that of the man who could conceive such a murderous project, or that of him wdio could bring such a charge falsely against his neighbour. The closed and deserted aspect of the best houses in Charleston is drear}^, but enough remains to show how much taste and wealth their owners possessed. The foliage and flowers are beautiful ; the streets CHAELESTON. 1G9 Ijciiig planted with trcus, and the gardens abounding with lovely Mowers, give a eharming cfi'cet to tho city. The Wistaria grows in great luxurianee, and twines itself most gracefully among the branches of other trees. The trade of tlie city was formerly very great, and in her days of prosperity Charleston was noted alike for luxury and h(jspitality. The Charleston Hotel is a fine house and now reigns supreme and alone, the rival establishment, the Mills House, having suc- cuml)ed to adverse times and closed its doors. From the balcony in front of the Charleston Hotel, demagogues, previous to, and during the war, were wont to harangue the citizens assembled by hundreds in the street below. It Avas here the flame of " rebellion " broke out, and at Fort Sumter, the ruins of which lie in the middle of the harbour, the authority of the United States Government was first set at naught. A visit to Fort Sumter is one of the things to be " done " whilst at Charleston. A small sailing- vessel starts every morning, Avcather permitting, to convey those who are disposed for the trip. During my stay, I heard an account of one of these excursions which will convey some idea of the manner in which those who are sent oflicially from the North behave themselves. A party from the hotel wxnt on board the boat at '■Ml i ^> «>. vO. •^>'%* ..V 9>.%^ <% IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 I.I 1.25 IM m «40 2.0 1.8 U ill 1.6 Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, NY. 14580 (716) 872-4503 ^4^ i\ (v w^ vV ci^ <^ ^v- ^ :^^- ^ ^,^ ,^ ^ \ o^ <> 170 THE GEEAT COUNTRY. I: the appointed hour of departure, 10*30, but were much annoyed to find that, far from a punctual start, eleven o'clock arrived and no sign of starting was visible. As it was blowing rather freshly, one of the party enquii-ed of the sailors the cause of the delay. " I'm waiting for the Ginral," was the reply ; " he's sent word that p'r'aps he'll come." As this was all the satisfaction obtainable, the party had resolved to abandon the expedition, and were about to leave the quay w^hen the " Ginral " and his friends arrived at nearly twelve o'clock. Some time was then lost in aiTanging matters for this august personage, who ordered a large boat to be towed at the stern of the little vessel, which much impeded its progress, and so disgusted some of the passengers that they left the vessel. This boat was for the convenience of landing the General's party on arriving at the fort ; none of the other passengers being permitted to enter it. The whole affair reminded one of the Jack-in- office style of thing one has witnessed in a small place in Sicily, when the Neapolitan authorities lorded it over the natives, in an overbearing style ; and very much of this sort of thing is carried on in the South, whither a very inferior class of men have been sent from the North to fill various ofiices. Men of no sort of position in their own States are iljli iii CHAELESTON. 171 invested with undue power here, much to the dis- gust and inconvenience of the people. The tone m Charleston seemed to be one of de- spair and indifference ; the young men were bent on going to seek their fortunes elsewhere, the elders having ceased to take interest in the future. The Custom House at Charleston is a fine building of white marble, and, when finished, will be an ornament to the city. There are few other buildings of importance standing. A very much battered statue of William Pitt is a sort of link between the past and present history of this place. I was the more pleased with Charleston, and enjoyed the drives about it, from the fact of having the agreeable society of my friends from Boston, with whom I was about to part, as our roads lay in different directions ; I was bound for New Orleans, they were bound for Savannah. Charleston lies so low, that one's impression regarding its sanitary condition is not favourable ; nor are the sights and smells one encounters in its streets calculated to inspire confidence on the point. There is a very large but nasty-looking market in the middle of the city, around which the buz- zards flock to secure their perquisites as public scavengers. These ugly, disgusting-looking birds are also to m . "ifi mi \\ ! ]72 THE OEEAT COUNTEY. \i ■ I ' "I 1 f 1 'V, SI ' ■'1 t 1 i' '\' il *!■' ■ •:• ! l!.(. J r 'I, .! 1 1 ;■ m^ be seen in large numbers in the port, and must do good service in removing much that would be baneful to health. The yellow fever occasionally visits the city, but is of a milder type, I believe, than that which rages at times in New Orleans. There are admirable charitable institutions, both Catholic and Protestant, in Charleston. Many of the negroes arc (catholics ; and though in some of their churches they have galleries to themselves, yet there is not that broad line of de- marcation drawn between them and the white race in the House of their Father that is so general in the North : nor is the feeling against them at all inveterate. I took some trouble to enquire as to the moral condition of the negroes ; and, as usual, heard a good report of the poor. An extensive Orphan Asylum under the super- intendence of a religious order, is spoken of in the highest terms by all classes and sects. It is impossible to look on the desolation of Charleston without a feeling of regret at the result of the conflict in which she so bravely entered. I am not so much speaking as a partisan of the South, but as an indifferent spectator. If the cause in which she engaged was a bad one, you feel the more sorry that so much should have liiii CHARLESTON. 173 been sacrificed to it. I do not sec why an Englishman should feel any great sympathy with the South, for, in her day of power, her statesmen held no friendly sentiment for us ; and it is, perhaps, one of the most gratifying feelings one has connected with the Trent affair, that Messrs. Mascn and Slidell, whom wo preserved from the vengeance of the Federal Government, were open and avowed opponents of Great Britain. Many have been the slights and affronts offered us by a Southern Cabinet ; therefore our sympathy with the Confederate States could only arise from a generous feeling elicited })y the fact of a few resolute men contending against a force which, in time, must overwhelm them by sheer strength of nnmbei's. The great question was the money, and the North had that, and so could purchase men, provisions, and arms. It was a matter of no consequence to General Grant how many lives were sacrificed in the contest ; it was, with him, simply a calculation of how many men and how much time it would cost to carry out his plans. Having plenty of both at his command, he sat down and waited till the South should be either exhausted or overwhelmed. I have talked to men of intelligence and position who were in the field with the Southern army, and have heard them say how utterly starved-out they were. 1^ i^';}'!; i'i. i» 1 m * • ■* I I 174 THE GREAT COUNTRY. '* I liavo shed toars," said a vciy W(dl-iiifoi*med gontlonian to mo, " at the thought that if we had but one port open we eould liave held out success- fully against our detested enemies." Sentiments of a like nature I have heard on all sides during my journey South. The night Ijefore I left Charleston, there was a stoma of rain that made the whole city like a vast bath of r.iud, so deep, that it seemed as though it would be impossible for horses to drag the omnibus from the hotel to the station : they managed it somehow, through rain that was like a waterspout discharging on the earth. The journey from Charleston to Atlanta, by which route I was about to make my way to New Orleans, is along a line of rail lately reconstructed ; the pace was not exciting, varying from twelve to fourteen miles an hour ; and the country was not by any means interesting. I do think the veiy worst meal that was ever set before travellers in a so-called civilized country was served to us during our journey; it consisted of some boiled fowl's bones, with nothing on them, some filthy bacon and cabbage, and a dish of raw onions, so strong and so heartily devoured, as to render the railway car untenantable for the remainder of the day. The landlord only charged a dollar for this banquet, and in answer to some remonstrance said, rHARI.ESTON. 175 " that his marketings hadn't arrived in time for dinner, but yet as a matter of principle he kept \\\) the price." Athmta, which suffered severely from the war, having been almost totally destroyed by fire, has been rebuilt, and is a town whieh lias sprung up entirely from being a great railway centre, " Get to Atlanta," said a Yankee to me, " and then you can get anywhere else on God's airth." This grand centre of the universe is remarkable for notliing but having been a favourite spot for the armies of the North and South to fight over, though it is now rapidly recovering from its hostile paroxysm ; the railways that emerge from it had been torn up and destroyed, but they are for the most part reconstructed and are in working order. The cars on this line were ])y no means over- comfortable, and the journey slow from Atlanta to Montgomery, a town only remarkable as having been the first seat of government under the Con- federates. It did not enjoy this distinction long, as Rich- mond was preferred, being in many respects better suited for the purpose, Montgomery has suffered severely from fire, especiallj'" at the hands of the Federal troops. A sojourn of very few hours would satisfy the :m iMl a mU ':■:■«;■ >'$fl ill 176 THE GREAT COUNTRY. most insatiable sight-seer that he had done Mont- gomery. Leaving there by an evening train, to which sleeping-cars were attached, and taking a steamer on the river Alabama at six o'clock the following morning, we came early in the day to Mobile. The Alabama is a noble stream and affords great facility for transporting the cotton from the fields, which are on either side of its banks, to Mobile and New Orleans. In spite of want of labour, cotton is still extensively cultivated in this vicinity, and from observing a gang of negroes on board the steamer, in charge of a cargo of cotton, one was able to realize to some extent in what the enjoyments of that race consist. The cotton being gathered and packed the negro's work is over, and his great holiday is whilst taking it down the river. On board the steamer he has nothing to do but bask in the sun, eat water- melon and go to sleep — or else he will amuse himself and his companions with singing and dancing almost incessantly. Without giving implicit belief either to the heart- rending descriptions of the cruelties of planters to their slaves with which Mrs. Beecher Stowe has made so many amiable people's hearts sad, or the glowing accounts of the Utopian condition of the slave given by writers of the opposite school, I CIIAET.ESTON. 177 must say the balance of my belief is against Mrs. Stowe. Tlic mawkish sentimentality of " Uncle Tom " made it palatable to those who at one time gave up the use of sugar as a way of striking a blow at slavery ; but from what one can see and hear of the negro character, fear on the one hand, and policy on the other would restrain the slave-owner from habitual indulgence in acts of cruelty. Putting aside his usefulness, which ill usage would impair, the negro is terribly vindictive, and thougli there may have been such a black angel as " Uncle Tom," I am inclined to think that, when ill-used, he generally resembles in temper and acts of retaliation the antithesis of the angelic race. The sail on the Alabama is very agreeable, and the approach to Mobile somewhat exciting, as you can still see some of the defences raised during the late war, and the navigation of the river is sufficiently intricate to render it an interesting operation to witness. 1 1'« 1 1 f H I! :j( i! 1 r ■ y. 1' MOBILE. Mobile is approached through the shaHows of the Ahibama, and though it has as a city nothing to recommend it, the environs are pretty, and the residences of the bi'tter classes look like homes to an English eye. The gardens are beautiful, and the flowers most abundant. Trees are planted along the roadside, and in their new dresses of fresh spring green looked charming. The soil is light and sandy, and in the month of August I should say a walk or even a drive about the neighbourhood of IVIobile is a thing wise men would avoid. The city itself is lively, and seems thriving, and on the day of my arrival all the world was mad about a procession of the Fire Brigade, which on this day celebrated the anniversary of its institution. All the members walked in their uniforms, looking very soldier-like and handsome, and dragged the engines by means of long ropes. The horses, remarkably fine beasts, being relieved from their accustomed service, walked in procession MOBILE. 171* decked with flowers, iiiid seemed quite sensible of their own importance. The enffines were decorated with flowers and ribbons, and children were seated in front of them, on whom the Ijroiling sun seemed to have no effect. Bands of music accompanied each company. Ap- propriate banners and devices were carried, among which the Stars and Stripes did not occupy by any means a prominent position ; in fact I did not sec the National colours at all, nor did a valiant little Northerner whom we encountered at the hotel, who was much disgusted at this omission. A gentleman present assured him that the flag in question was displayed. The little gentleman was silenced but not convinced, for I heard him say that "he'd make them carry it." I asked him " why 1 " He replied, " he'd make them obey the law." When told there was no law to compel them to carry the Stars and Stripes, he took refuge in generalities, and said it was an insult to the North ; and, without any particular reason, began an attack on England, and plunged headlong into the Trent affair. He was told by an American that they might as well have arrested Mason and Slidell in the streets of London as on board the Trent. He shook his head in a defiant way, and mut- tered something about " doing it too." N 2 ■■'■'1, m ?\^ ■)■; ■V 180 THE GREAT COUXTRY. ■>?i.l U;- I don't know wliat may liav^e become of those two vt'iy trouldesoine Commissioners wlio ol)lige(l lis to Jissume a tone with the North which was at any rate umh'rstood ; l)ut T wouM advise tiiem to beware of the Militia of New Knuhuid, for one nKsndjer, at h'ast, of that important l)ody means tliem niiseliief. This irate little gentleman, whose conversation I have recorded, I should have thought, was a member of some mild trade or calling; but he stated himself to be a military man, entrusted with some important mission for the arrangement of a flairs in the South. He was terribly anti-English, so much so as to make me dread a breach of our friendly relations witli the United States, should he ever l)e President, or even a member of the government. At first, when I encountered him he was shy of me, and when he softened a little in his demeanour, and entered into conversation, I think it was with a view to an argument about Noith and South. I declined all controversy on the subject as being a foreioner. The flag affair called forth a great deal of bitter expression from men around me, as there were par- tisans of North and South assembled in the balcony of the Battle House Hotel witnessing the procession of the Fire Brigade. MOBILE. 181 Tho (lisrus.sioii bofiime too hot for my littlo hero from j\Iassju-lui.si'tts, and being in a dccidccl minority ho prudently withdrew, alike from the sc'cno and the eontcst. "There wa.s a time," said one man; "when I should have gloried to have seen the Stars and Stripes floating above my head ; but nov ''' I saw it I'd pull it down, spit and tramph; on it. 1 o.ico loved it as the type of freeihmi, but . lost lieartily detest it now ; for I regard it as the en^ibhin of tyranny and oppression, and as such 1 liate and despise it." I was not, I admit, very anxious to have this scene proknged, as I was sitting between opponents both of whom I kninv to ])e armed with revolvers, and thought it very possible they might fire at ono another without duly considering the fact of my being in the way. I must here repeat what I have said elsewhere, that the insolence of the men from the North is simply unendurable. Many of them are what the Southerners call " carpet-baggers," men travelling with little luggage and less character, making political capital out of the present state of afiairs. The worst of all the political blackguards I met with, or heard of, are the men who, during the war, were tremendous partisans of the South, or, as they call it " Secessh to kill," and immediately on the i'M m 11 1. 4:1 182 THE GREAT COUNTRY. success of the Federals, turned round on their ibrmer friends. One fellow, who was a preacher, was most conspicuous by his barefaced apostacy from the fallen cause, of which he had been so violent a supporter as to have rendered himself particularly obnoxious " even " to the winning side. Mobile is a stronghold of Catholicism, and within a few miles of it is a famous college under the superintendence of the Jesuits. There is little to induce one to pay a protracted visit to this city, though it is cheering to see it after Charleston ; for in spite of its having suffered terribly from the war, it seems in some degree to have shaken off its depression, and though it may hate its conquerors quite as deeply as do its sister cities, yet it does not sit still and brood over the past. It was here that I first heard men speak hope- fully of another and more successful struggle with the North, though one would think that the past ex- perience would serve to check any such aspirations. There are men who assert that the South has still resources on which she could draw in renewing the contest ; but she will do wisely to reserve them, one would think, unless some powerful ally were willing to assist her in the struggle. A strong maritime auxiliary alone could avail to help her shake off her shackles. III! in ii t.#. MOBILE. 183 It was a very fine afternoou when we quitted Mobile on board the Louise, a modest looking steamer, not so young as she would have one believe her to be ; but paint and other " fixings " made her look as well as those accessories do many of her sex. At any rate very comfortably and leisurely did she transport us to New Orleans. One especially delicate bit of navigation she came triumphantly through — a narrow channel between mud-banks, known as " Grant's passage." I thought at first that it derived its name from some feat of that renowned general, but found the Grant in question to be an enterprising old mud-lark, who kept this passage free of mud, and was compensated by a toll on the vessels that passed through it. As far as I could judge, it was a bit of a monopoly that Grant enjoyed, a snug little job made up between him and Congress. As we had to go out into the Gulf of Melfico for a few miles, the steamer felt bound to roll, and did so accordingly. For the first time in America I had a supper served to me which was included in my fare. I do not much care if I never have another of the same description. There was little or nothing to eat ; but the coffee was unusually good, in fact, drinkable. I was really glad to perform some part of my In \*i 9. ; H|i Im|->, t Ki ' !^' 1 ' 1 1 1 .i 1 ; ^Binij i !h 184 THE GEEAT COUNTEY. journey by water, for the long, weary railway route had become very tiresome. I was most fortunate in my companions, especially in meeting a man of culture and good sense in the gentleman who shared my state room. From him I learnt much, on which I could rely as authentic, respecting the way in which the war was conducted in the South, and as he gave me his name and address, with permission to use in any way I might think proper any information he had given me, I repeat many of his narratives without hesitation, knowing that I shall not offend him, or be led into any mis-statement. I think the whole of the passengers were " Rebs," or at any rate so vast a majority that those of the opposite way of thinking were silenced. I was deeply interested in another of my fellow- passengers, a young man of education, who gave me a lon^ccount of the part of the war in which he was engaged, and also spoke of the sufferings of his mother and sisters, whose home had been destroyed by Sherman or Butler, I forget which. One part of his story was amusing, and that was the account he gave of the cost of his clothes towards the end of the war, when the Southern cur- rency became depreciated. . A coat cost 1500 dollars, a pair of what he called pants, 900, vest, 400, boots, 400, gloves, 100, and a horse, 3500. Taking the wma MOBILE. 185 "'I i, % dollar at worth four shillings, his wardrobe would have cost him £660, and his horse £700. At the close of the war he could get only eight dozen of eggs and four chickens for 1200 dollars, or what should have represented £240, but was, in fact, nothing more than waste-paper. I heard much from him and from others, of the state of the Southern prisoners in the Northern prisons ; but certainly nothing that came near the horrors of Andersonville, where thirty thousand Northern prisoners were kept within an enclosure for months, without any shelter from either extreme of heat or cold. No sort of discipline was enforced ; and they were destitute of all the necessaries of life, and subject, as they assert, to cruelty and every sort of indignity from their keepers. The same charges, as I have said elsewhere, are brought by the other side ; but the horrors of An- dersonville from the veiy nature of the case, must have been very much intensified. I must here bear testimony to the fact that what- ever else in the South may have been destroyed by the war, the spirit of hospitality has been preserved ; and I must take this opportunity of thanking the many kind friends whom I encountered on my journey for the invitations I received to visit them. Time did not suffice to enable me to do so, but I may yet avail myself of what I am sure wixs m v! ;4"j iiC 1 I"! 186 THE GREAT COUNTRY. ■ ! ■;!. offered in all sincerity, and declined with much regret. After a night's rest on board the steamer, which was much better than the apology for one afforded by a sleeping car, I rose in good time to witness the arrival at New Orleans. I was rather disappointed, for a heavy fog enshrouded the shore ; not that I lost much by that circumstance, as we were landed four miles from the city, whither a train conveyed us through a swampy jungle where vegetation was running riot in all its spring-time vigour and luxu- riance. *:'N* u^ NEAV ORLEANS. m The approach to "the Crescent City," as New Orleans is also called, from the form in which it is built, is by no means imposing. In fact, it lies so low that you see nothing of it till you are in its streets. An omnibus belonging to each of the hotels is generally waiting at the terminus to convey pas- sengers, and as soon as the train arrived, I inquired for the one belonging to the St. Charles' Hotel. " There ain't no omnibus," said a negro ; " but this carriage is the same." After some little struggle for my luggage, which I had not checked through, I entered the carriage, and was driven to my hotel, where the sum of three dollars was demanded by the driver. I appealed to the clerk, who only deigned to reply to my remonstrance : — " Warn't there an omnibus ? oh ! " and then turned away. I had no resource but to pay the money, and wait with patience till I had a room allotted to me. It was very high up, and dirty to such a degree that it made the very slatternly woman who was making the bed appear quite tidy. ) ;; 18.S THE GEEAT COUNTRY. iim " I ■Ai The hotel is hirge, and looks like a neglected town-hall. I suppose that my remarks will be met with the usual excuse for everything that is amiss down South — "since the Avar." It matters not the nature of your complaint, the reply is always the same. I believe if I had said " how very oppressive the heat is," I should have been told — " yes, it is, since the war." New Orleans is Avell-built, and the streets are kept clean. It is not until July that it is un- healthy, and then the dread yellow fever appears, and lasts till the first frost. During the occupation of the city by Butler, it was free from this epidemic, and its immunity has been attributed to his strict- ness in cleansing the streets. I have, however, been told by a gentleman from the North, long resident in New Orleans, that the disease was kept out by the rigid quarantine that was maintained during the military rule. The influence of the French element is to be seen and felt on all sides of the city. The shops are more tasty than, though not so handsome as, those of the northern cities. The dress of the ladies is a decided improvement o}' i/he flash style of New York, and the French quarter of the town carries you back at once to Europe. The market is plentifully supplied with vegetables. NEW ORLEANS. 189 At the time of my visit it was too early for fruit, though there were strawberries for sale. New potatoes and green peas abounded, but tliey were flavourless ; salad w as abundant and very good. The poultry is sold alive, and it was almost pathetic to sec an old black woman walking oif with a live fowl, which slie holds by the legs with its head downwards, the poor wretch casting appealing looks at the bystanders, and uttering noises as much as to say, " How can you let this demon carry me off?" The meiit-market has a show of the nastiest looking beef and mutton, (to say nothing of the veal and pork,) that ever was exposed for sale. I should pronounce one wholesale sentence, " unfit for human food," were I called on to give judgment respecting it. The fish-market is abundant, but there are several descriptions of fish to be seen there at which a well- regulated English cat would turn up her nose. Most ghastly-looking prawns of enormous size suggest to you their having battened and fattened on all the horrors of the deep. The oysters ;ire as disgusting in appearance as they are elsewhere in America. Some miserable-looking rabbits and other vermin were exposed for sale. Snails and reptiles of all sorts find favour with the people of the land, and are consequently to be met with in the market. fM l^^' • I 190 THE GREAT COUNTEY. ,n.^ The various nationalities in the food line are well represented there. A jargon of tongues is heard on all sides. All shades and colour of people and things surround you, every costume and head- dress, from the peculiar cap of the Sisters of Charity, who are buying their modest stock of vegetables, to the turban of the old nigger woman who carries on her head a tray laden with food. The harbour is full of large steamers. The finest of them are the Mississippi boats, which well deserve the title of floating palaces. Although early in April, the weather was lovely, and a drive along the outskirts of the city is a treat of no mean order, especially on a delicious evening in spring. The houses are, for the most part, detached, and have a charming appearance with their deep verandahs, over which lovely flowers are trained. The flowering trees and shrubs are magnificent, and the air is surcharged with the odours of the magnolia, jasmine, and rose. Every one looked so happy and contented that it seemed almost impossible to realize the notion of this lovely spot being annually visited by a terrible epidemic, or that it should have been the scene of those outrages which such a man as Butler was pennitted to inflict on the inhabitants. The commerce of the city, though not what it NEW ORLEANS. 191 was, is still very considerable, as may be seen by the hundreds of vessels that lie off "the levee" or embankment, which is built along the water front to keep out the sea. All the streets near the water are lined with vast stores, well adapted for containing the vast quan- tities of cotton of which this city is the chief mart in the world. The religion of the majority is Catholic, but the churches are by no means remarkable for their size or beauty. I was pleased — I may say something stronger — to see that in them there was no dis- tinction as to colour of skin. All knelt side by side and gave one the idea that Christianity had done its work, at any rate so far as breaking down that barrier placed between black and white, which must be so offensive to Him who created and redeemed them all. Political feeling runs high in New Orleans, the vestibules and terrace in front of the St. Charles Hotel being crowded with idlers, who smoke, spit, and talk politics hour after hour. I met with one or two of the " carpet-baggers," from whom I received pamphlets highly laudatory of the coloured race and strongly denunciatoiy of the " Rebs." Everywhere I found men agreed on one point, that Impeachment was a farce. It was amusing to hear the opinions given of the I 193 THE GREAT COUNTRY. Northern militcaiy occupants of the city. One individual attracted my attention by his more than ordinary swagger, and I enquired who he was, and heard that lie was a General. Not being remarkahly well-posted respecting their great leaders, I asked in what fights he had most distinguished himself. " Figlit ! I reckon a street figlit is about farthest he ever got that way ; why he was only a petty attorney out West, and took to soldiering when the fighting was pretty nigh through with," was the reply. " I tell you what it is," said another ; " if it hadn't been for the Dutch and the Irish, we'd have made them Yankees squirm." I had a long conversation with several gentlemen on the Alabama claims, a subject on which some Americans are not to be spoken with, as they lose their powers of both reflection and speech. As I was talking to reasonable men, I entered on the subject so far as to say that the matter in dispute was purely a question of international law, and if it could be proved that the British govern- ment had been guilty of culpable neglect in allow- ing the Alabama to leave our ports, I was sure that every Englishman would feel with me that we ought to pay. " I sincerely hope that the law will be found to be on your side then," said one of the party. NEW ORLEANS. Ilia "Yes," said another; "our only wisli is that the North wouhl go to war with you, and then they'd see wliat we'd do. They think that a war with Great Britain would l>e the means of uniting us ; but no, we should rejoice to see you whip and humiliate them to the dust, and then our turn would come." I repeat these as being the senti- ments of men of position and understanding, to show how universally the feeling of the North and South is divided. '* We are fully convinced," said another gentleman to me, " of Republican govern- ment being, not only a fallacy as a safi'guard to lil)erty, l)ut also that it is the easiest form under which tyranny can be exercised." That the South is being held by Congress as Italy was by Austria is apparent to a stranger, and it is odd to hear Americans denounce their fellow- citizens as tyrants and oppressors. The Southern press is violent to a degree that amounts to the ludicrous, though there is much that is saddening in what is written. I subjoin in an appendix some extracts from "La Crosse Democrat," and other journals, which will bear out much that I have stated as to public sentiment ; nor shall I con- fine myself to extracts from the Southern press, but endeavour to give a general idea of the journalistic tone and amenities. . The restaurants of New Orleans enjoy a high m li-M m ■■'■ '\¥ ' mi J # It 1U4 TUE OllEAT (JOUNHIY. rcpntiition, ami ccrtiiinly i\\v. food sorvod at these CHtaldiHlmK'nts is Ix'ttci'cookccl and sorvcd thiin any- thing one gifts at an liotcl. Tlic city is jihundantly supjilicd witli water, wliidi flows through tlie streets. Canal StrcM't is one- of tin; finest tlioroughfares I ever saw in a eity, being nearly two hundred feut wide. Whilst wandering about New Orleans, I witnessed one sight whi(;h was grand in the extreme, the burning of one of the large steamers that ply on the JMississippi. It had caught fire whih? in doek for repairs, l)ut the imagination could easily picture what would be the horror of such a scene had the fire broken out during a passage on the rive)'. Apropos of fire, it has struck me frequently and forcil)ly as a marvellous thing that all America is not burnt to the ground, through the careless way in which lucifer matches are used. At every turn you find them lying about in most dangerous proxi- mity to other combustible matter ; and nearly every one you meet is sure to have half a pocket full, which he scatters about with as perfect indifference as though arson and incendiarism were the two great objects of his existence. The fair sex in New Orleans has been the subject of much dispute and animadversion. I had always been under the impression that the word Creole was intended to express a person of mixed blood, but have been informed that such is NKW ORr.KANS. IM not tho rnso ; for that, in lioui.si.'inn, a Croolo only moans native American, whether the (leHeen(hint of coloured or white parents. The French Creole la(li(\s, deseendetl fnmi tho earliest settlers, are many of them beautiful, and dressed in gooits ; though I have fidlen in with those who were aiyreeable and oblimnjj. The style of the ladies whom one sees at meals in the Southern hotel, is infinitely better than that of the class met with at the fashionable watering-places of the North, of which I shall have to speak hereafter. At dawn we were summoned to take our places in the train, and proceeded through a dusty wild country till early in the afternoon, wdien we reached Memphis. If- U"^ rm ■ *-i "41 *■'■ . » w 1^1 I ''■i ? ^i I I i •ill' II MEMPHIS. What Mompliis may have l)ccn when it fiourished in Egyjitian soil one has little opportunity of judging, but .since its transplantation to the banks of the Mississippi, it has enjoyed the unenviable dis- tinction of being considered the worst place in that by no means respectable neighbourliood. On reaching the Overston hotel, we were sur- rounded by a crowd of ragamuffin boys shouting out, " Evening paper, full particulars of the murder last night." The aspect of the town is decidedly uninviting, and the heat and dust most oppressive. As it was my intention to take to the river at this point, the first inquiries I ninde were resj)ecting the steamer "Great Republic," with which I had calcu- lated on fiilling in here, as she had left New Orleans on the Saturday previous. The afternoon was young when I first inquired, and I was assured that she would not arrive till the next day. Having dined, or done the best I could towards doing so, I set out to explore the town. The dust blew in perfect torrents through the streets. There was nothing to be seen but the Levee, MEMPHIS. 201) or wharf, a Hliabby town, and a few misorablc grey .squirrels in tlie puMic garden, so I retunuid to the hotel, and sat outside the door surrounded by a group of wild-looking expe(;torators. Just after sunsist as the ne\vs-l)oys were still shouting about the " Murder last night," the discharge of pistols close at hand was heard ; nearly every ono except myself rushed to the spot whence the sound had proceeded, and shortly returned with tho pleasing announcement that two men were severely wounded. They had quarrelled at a drinking-bar, and both having revolvers had fired simultaneously. Never did time go more slowly. I luckily fell in with a very obliging gentleman who ^vas travelling the same route as myself, and with him followed up the inquiries respecting the Great Republic. So conflicting were the statements and opinions as to the time of her arrival, that at nine o'clock, we resolved to go to bed, expecting to be roused about three o'clock in the morning. Worn out by an afternoon passed amid expec- tation and expectoration, I gladly sought my couch, but had no sooner done so than the sound of a gun excited my suspicions that the Great Republic had arrived, suspicions which were rendered conviction in a few minutes by a clamour at my door. I roused myself, and hurried on board the steamer. •5- (S u ^1 I t 1. t|:< V ■ li Is,; <' i. • ■4 MISSISSIPPI. Seldom has such a night come from the heavens as the one in which I embarked on the Mississippi. The lightning was so vivid as to illuminate every instant the river and its banks, the thunder was deafening, and as to the rain, the water coming-in was not " a circumstance " to it. Amid this conflict of the elements we were conveyed in a carriage to the Avater's edge, much to the satisfaction of my companion, who had travelled the road before, and assured me it was not at all uncommon for passengers to be robbed in walking from the hotel to the steamer, as " the Levee" was infested with thieves, for whom the cotton bales lying about afford a shelter, both before and after attacking an unwary stranger. When safely on board the steamer I was more than satisfied with her appearance and accommo- datioi:'S. Her whole length is occupied by one vast saloon more than three hundred feet long, at one end of which is the office, smoking and writing room. Next to these, only marked by difference of furniture, is the space devoted to eating ; whilst at MISSISSIPPI. 211 was the extreme end, fitted up with a piano and other elegancies, is the drawing-room for the ladies. The state-rooms are ranged on either side of this saloon, and are commodious and clean. There is a drinking-bar close at hand, and also a barber's shop. The attendants, all coloured men, are very civil. I won't say much about the cuisine, nor is it a subject on which I should have bestowed as much remark as I have hitherto, had I not been bored to death with statements regarding the superiority of everything in America, especially as to tJie com- missariat department. The Mississippi ought to be beheld in a glare of lightning to bo seen to advantage, for, under ordinary circumstances, it is an ugly stream about the coloiu* of weak pea-soup. I have been tokl that " before the war," thfit is the other way of jUitUug it, a trip on these steamers was " real clegart," The most splendid ' people did use to travel by them." I believe that such was the case, and that there was much excitement, if nut amusement, on board, occasioned by the gamljling which wa.i cui-ried on to a great extent. The rich planters, who were etr^-ning from New Orleans or elsewhere, with, ^u^^iy of money, the result of the sale of their Dtton, were an 1' 2 m m ■xMi&U^y 212 THE GREAT COUNTEY. MM > )'i \\f.< easy prey to gangs of swindlers who infested the river. Sometimes very serious consequences ensued from the gambling ; but all this is over, the planters are penniless, so cannot be fleeced any more ; and the steamers are, consequently, not so lively, but decid- edly safer, and more agreeable modes of conveyance. My fellow-passengers were, for the most part, stupid, and not by any means sociable. The scenery on the Mississippi is not easily de- scribed : the only objects of interest being snags and allio-ators. The former render the navio^ation perilous — being the trunks of trees that have been washed away from the banks and carried into the middle of the stream, where they lie emljedded in mud, and are capable of destroying a steamer. Hearing that it was the work of a pilot's life to know them all, and that it was his constant care to steer clear of them, I innocently inquired whether it were not possible to remove them by means of steam-tugs. " Remove them ! in course they could ; but what on airth would become of them pilots ? " was the reply. I felt the force of the remark, and said no more ; monopoly and protection being American institutions. There had Ijeen a somewhat feeljle attempt to b jolly during the evening, and a quadrille was pci*- i^nssissippi. 213 petrated, I am inclined to think, by those who were interested in the boat ; for the principal part of the passengers abstained from joining in the sport. The passengers were not favourable specimens of Southern refinement, the splendour of the boat^ perhaps, made them appear to greater disadvantage. We had some music volunteered by many pas- sengers in this wise. A young lady sang a song, some plagiarism from a trashy English ballad, the words altered to suit an American view of the subject, not un frequently bearing on the war, with Northern or Southern proclivities, as the case might be ; and whilst the young lady was singing, some of the bystanders would' chime in and produce a ■leasing effect, as far as they were concerned, but Oh esj^ecially disagreeable to the listeners. The v'^ung ladies were very chatty, and I dare say made 'ii-mselves aofreeable. I don't remember whether It vvus on board a Mississippi 1)oat that a lovely girl astonished a susceptible Britisher, who, in Iiis desire to do the agreeable, offered her at breakfast some shrimps, and was not a little taken aback at her replying, " No, sir, thank you, I never eat bugs ; " --the name of that interesting insect having been se.'et d as the generic term for all creeping things. The huge steamer labours through the muddy waters as though sulky and disgusted with its freight and the voyage ; as well it may be, for this ''■:m hl.i i >1 «: $ THE OEEAT COUNTRY. " Father of Waters " is not by any means a thing to show strangers. I am glad that his chiicli'en, in general, do not retain a strong family likeness to him, for he is hideous, a huge ill-regulated creature, rushing headlong through the land, never knowing which course >e means to take- or keeping on his own side, varj , .3 position peipetually ; so that Mr. Smith goes tc d with the conviction that he lives on the left bank of the river, opposite Mr. Jones ; but on gettmg up in the morning discovers that he is on the right bank of the river, next door to Mr. Jones. Families wdio have been good friends and neighbours for some time, find, on a sudden, the width of the river between them, wit^iout, how- ever, creating any coolness, for at times it is a bath of boiling mud. We had the good fortune to stop at Cairo during the night, so that with the exception of being dis- turbed by the noise consequent to the arrival and de- parture of a steamer, we had nothing to complain of. I saw one or two parties engaged at euchre, a game which the Americans claim to have invented, and say, of course, that it is much finer than whist, to which, I believe, it bears some resemblance. On the w^hole, the evening w^as as dreary as could be well imagined. A fine morning made even the Mississippi look well — not cheerful, Ijut less dismal. MISSISSIPPI. 215 Wiitcrs tell us that this river is a chamiing stream till its pure waters are eoiitaininated by the influence of the muddy Missouri, which joins it just above St. Louis. I need not tell my readers where it rises, nor where it flows, but will tell them that, in my opinion, it is made up of the drainings cf the swamps of America. Talking of swamps, reminds me that I have for- gotten to allude to one of these terrible spots where fugitive slaves took refuge from their l)loodthirsty masters, and either perished from hunger, or were torn to pieces by the blood-hounds sent in pursuit of them. The swamps certainly do look very gloomy and terrible, especially by night, with the effect of a waning moon on them, and would be a fine study for a scenic artist as a picture of desolation ; and it would be easy for a writer of the highly imaginative school to w^ork up a situation of the greatest horror in connection with them. But daylight would dispel the illusion, for he would then discover that the negroes are quite as much at home in them as a shepherd is on the Sussex Downs. i "^ ■IP T*# : J 1 ' ■:i ■ f I'i ^ t - i, "( ■fll ;a ■X % ST. LOUIS. After a long and somewhat monotonous day's journey th agh the mud of the Mississippi, we reached St. Louis at nine o'clock in the evening; and glad '^ was ':o exchange my floating palace for the Southern Hotel, by far the finest in the United States, and, in my opinion, the best. I cannot part with the " Father of Waters " without expressing an opinion that, except for pur- poses purely commercial, De Soto might as well have kept his discovery to himself ; but this remark will also apply to Columbus. Beyond having a fine position, and being very extensive, St. Louis has nothing especially to recommend it. Here all other matters seem com- pletely eclipsed by commerce — the minds of men are wholly absorbed in it. There exists a great jealousy of Chicago, and one would think that the railway companies were bent on running one another off the road by the violence with wliich they compete. The Court House is considered a fine building; it only struck me as large. The smoke of the steamers renders a walk along ST. LOUIS. 217 the " Levee " very disagreeable and almost useless, as, in consequence of it, you can see nothing of the river. There is little in St. Louis itself to repay one for the trouble of visiting it ; the suburbs arc ex- tensive and agTeeable. Having a great desire to see the Prairies, I took my departure from St. Louis, so as to have an opportunity of passing through them on m} way to Chicago. I would strongly advise my readers not to put themselves to any inconvenience in following my example, for however grand the Prairie may be in the far west, the hunting-ground of the Eedskin, the home of the bison and the antelope, where stampedes excite, and Indians scalp the traveller, that portion of it traversed between St. Louis and Chicago only resembles a bad crop of coarse hay. I must allow that the effect of sunset was fine, and so was the brilliant starlight of a clear frosty night. I had been for some weeks enjojdng a wann climate, and was faiily taken by suq)rise to find myself in the region of frost again, as I was on arriving at Chicago, where it was freezing hard, and there had recently been a fall of snow. From the many peculiarities connected with Chicago, a more than ordinary notice of it seems required of one who is writing anything about America — not only an account of the physical - ':m . ■■;.v| U«. .-IWi^TO^^.-.^iw; 't j.i.ii ; It f ( itr'ti I' ,1, ••■4' ^ Ii i ;: I ^ !|| ; H Hi 218 THE GREAT COUNTEY. extent and importance of the place, Ijut also respecting its moral tone and power, the influence of which cannot be exaggerated as affecting not only Chicago itself, but a vciy large portion of the United States. That the Western are the coming men, is ad- mitted on all hands ; and now that the South is likely to be crushed out, the coming stn^r^gle will be between East and West, and a desperate one it seems likely to be. Whatever lingering remains of old world chivahy and honour were to be traced in tlie conduct of the South, these qualities never have existed in the West, the inhabitants of which are as overbearing and self-asserting as the Yankee himself Whenever these two incarnations of Self — the Western and Eastern men — shall come into collision, then will human nature be seen in its basest colours ; then will avarice, envy, and hatred, ranked on both sides, meet in a deadly conflict, the horrors of which will be unmitigated by either fear of God or human respect. •' i CHICAGO. CniCACfO, it must bo admitted, is a wonderful place, inasmuch as its growth, like that of the mushroom, has been suddenly accomplished. Thirty years ago the site of the present city was little more than a cluster of log buildings, which were used as a military station to check the incur- sions of the Indians, and also, as a place of rendezvous, where the simple American trader might meet the wily Indian and barter with him for his furs. It is said that there was also a tavern where the dissolute Redskin would linger for days, till he had spent the proceeds of his trading ; and though his pale-faced brother's dealings with him were always conducted on the fairest and most honourable terms, yet such was the avarice and want of good faith displayed by the Indian, that by a singular fatality it often happened that a quarrel ensued which ended in bloodshed, so that the Americans were obliged to call in the aid of the military. I was much struck with one account I read of the dealings of the American with the Indian, in WjS ?mw 'm 'm ■i ^1 'Ir ;it \i, i TUE GREAT COUNTRY. wliicli it was stated that the latter bound themselves by a treaty to remove forty days' journey beyond the Mississippi, and were to receive on that condi- tion a sum of money annually. On one occasion four thousand of them assembled to receive this annuity, but becoming dissatisfied with what was given them, made an attempt to seize on all they saw. A fight ensued, in which many of the Indians were killed. The only part of the story that struck me as remarkable was the fact of a mere handful of white men being able to repulse thousands of Indians. There was, it is true, a Commissioner of the United States government engaged to treat with the Indians, so of course all must have been done in a straight- forward honourable manner, and no one will believe idle stories about Indians being made drunk with whiskey, or destroyed by poisoned waters ; but that they have been got rid of is veiy certain, and we must, I suppose, ascribe their disappearance to the progress of civilization and the working of humanity. Certainly one is puzzled to think how the present occupants of the land can be an improvement on those whom they dispossessed, unless we assume that the latter were as vile as the Canaanitish nations : a supposition for which there is not the slightest foundation. We may not believe the Indian to have been !i cincAOo. 221 been such a iiol)lc Ixnng as the novelist has portrayed him, l)ut ho must l)e had indeed if, after education and other civiHzing influences have been lu'ought to bear on his race for years, he should turn out no better than his pale-faced brother. It is useless to speculate on what the Indian was or might have been ; he is gone from Chicago and is fiist disappearing from the Prairie, to the intense satisftiction of those who have seized on his in- heritance. It probably is true that he is ftiithless, cruel and treacherous ; but what qualities of an opposite description has the white man held up for his example. Chicago may be a subject for self-gratu- lation to the American, but tested by the principle of right and wrong one is not cpiite sure that it may not be a city founded in blood and built up on oppression and wrong. I need hardly inform my readers that Chicago is on the western shore of Lake Michigan, at the mouth of the river from which it takes its name. No inland city can possess finer means of comrtu- nication. with the outer world, since by meaa.\ .jf lakes, rivers and canals, and railways Chicago is united with both the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. The situation of the city is low and swampy, the highest part of it not being two feet above the level of the lake ; the river, across which draw-bridges ua •: ! ' n 1 "i:i m ^ •'Si :fc! I I Hi-- n t 1 i i i 1 i ? 222 THE GREAT COUNTRY. nro tlirown at almost every turn, intersects its streets. As these arc being constantly moved to allow vessels to pass, one's prt jress aljout the city is apt to be repeatedly impeded, to say nothing of the risk of being drowned. The original city was built below the level of the lake, and consequently efficient drainage was impossible ; to remedy this defect the greater part of it was raised bodily some feet higher, a feat which denotes the energy of the people, and reflects great credit on the engineers engaged in the work. The streets of Chirago are wide and nearly all paved with wood. It would seem as though the wood had been as hard to get rid of as the water, for everything is wooden — excepting, of coui'se, the population. Chicago boasts of a harbour five miles in extent, of warehouses, wharves, and granaries, in over- whelming numbers. The grain trade is enormous, and its increase something unprecedented. In 1838 the first shipment of wheat took place, and was seventy-eight bushels ; in 1865, the exports of grain amounted to fifty-four millions of bushels. There is also a great trade carried on in timber, or, as it is called in America, " lumber ; " and also a very thriving trade in provisions. In fact, Chicago is the metropolis of all that is OIIirAGO. 223 ready-iiiado ; for you niity buy a house, luivi; it turniHlicd with cvcrytiiiug, stored witii food, puclxed up, and forwarded anywlicro you pleases So that a man who is migrating ean .start off like the snail with his house at his bark, and pitch it down when- ever and wherever he pleases. I visited some of the granaries of the city, which have very powerful a[)plian('es for loading corn, c;dled '' elevators ; " whieli we should call "lifts,' or "cranes." I was a little puzzled as to their capacity, which, I was told, was ten millions of bushels ; but I received the statement with humility — as becomes one who is being instructed in everything. I do believe that many of these people regard an Englishman and an Indian in much the same light, as specimens of " old effete bust-up prejudice," for they show one everything with a sort of trium- phant air, and a " what-do-you-think-of-that ? " sort of tone. " You won't see anything like that in your old worn-out country," said a veiy gentlemanly person to me. " It's a good thing for you to come here, and have your ideas expanded; and that's what your nobility did ought to do, and then they wouldn't ride you down as they do with theii* parks and their game laws, as you daren't call your souls your own in. And whatever is that Queen of yours m rfii '?f 1 1 1 1 i i i 'i 1 1 BP 1 ll 1 i 1 l-^ ' ( 11 ilrl^ i 1 HHih •}Bs^ ' ' ilp' ■ ■' ^*S* " t J': 1 f ■ 1 i M I ■ ^ i' j i ^ ^ 1 1 ! i 'V * Hi^l t '^ ^Sl ^^^^^^^^^^^^^■^HH — L_i 224 THE GREAT COUNTEY. after, I should like to know, as she don't do away with all them effete institutions ? " I humbly suggested that Her Majesty had not the power, and, I was sure, had not the wish to interfere with the rights of her subjects. " Ah, that's where it is, you see ; you are so eat up with them Old World prejudices ; it's enough to make anyone laff 'isself sick to think of such rubbish." As I found my friend was growing incoherent, I tried to lead him away from the subject of our national failinofs to that of Chicaojo's greatness — but it was useless. If I admired anything, he always l)rought up England's insignificance and rapid decay — predicted a dreary future for us — stated it to lie a certainty that " that Prince of Wales of yourn won't never be King." I stated it to be my hope that the day was very far distant when he would be called on to discharge the duties of the sovereignty. " Ah," said my friend, " that's where you are such slaves to a system ; always bowing down to power." He then burst forth into such a minute account of the private history of Her Majesty and all the royal family, that one would have thought he'd been brought up in the palace. At last I said, "How long were you in England?" CHICAGO. 225 " Me in England," he replied, " never, and never AAdll be. It wouldn't never suit me, to be a cringing and calling fellows I considers my inferiors 'my lord.' I wouldn t do it." I suggested that in all probability, even in the event of his visiting England, he would not fall in with many lords. " There you are altogether wrong," he said, " for it is well known as us Americans goes into the best society. Our minister introduces us to where you'd be shut out from, and Queen Victoria can't refuse us." As there was no reply to such trash as this I talked on generalities, and underwent a pretty strict cross-examination from this interesting person, who was sitting in an easy chair with his feet on the table, spitting copiously, and by way of amuse- ment cutting a bit of wood with a pocket-knife, a pastime familiar to all acquainted with American manners, under the term of " whittling." This is such a stereot5r[)ed description of an American, that I feel I must assure my readers it is not a fancy sketch, nor even a caricature. When I had given a full and particular account of myself, as to place of birth, age, occupation, my interrogator said in a somewhat apologetic tone : " You see we're a curious people," as though he m ■!■» W "m f : t li' I «' 1 1 1 'i i il III ! 226 THE GREAT COUNTRY. thought that quite excuse enough. I replied, "You certainly are." He then asked me several questions about London, of which I stated I was a native. He looked at me steadily, and excl?^ inning, " Thank God I was not born in that efi. .e old place," rose from his seat and left the room without a word in the way of adieu, or any sort of salutation. This by the way is a national custom : you may be talking — even with an acquaintance — for some time, and he will turn away abruptly and walk off whilst you are speaking. The population of Chicago, made up of Yankees, Irish, and Germans, is said to be about a quarter of a million, but is being rapidly increased daily by immigration. There was a time when this wa.s considered as the extreme western city of the United States, but it is now rapidly becoming its xntral point, and seems destined to be perhaps the most important place in the Union. The churches are numerous ; the Catholic cathe- dral is a fine buUding and was densely crowded at high mass. None of the others, except one which belongs to the Baptists, is worthy of attention. There are of course educational establishments of all sorts and descriptions, and charitable institu- tions adorn the city at all points. Especially are CHICAGO. 227 the asylums for orphans, both Catholic and Pro- testant, highly commended, as well as institutions for reclaiming the lost and wretched, with whom this city abounds. The morality of the people is not highly spoken of, and so numerous are the divorce cases that one day a week (Saturday) is devoted to them, and called the " unmarr}dng day." I imagine this must in some degree be the result of the vast influx of Germans, for one hears an anecdote, which I remember to have heard related in the north of Germany, the scene of which has been transferred to Chicago, of a gentleman having been seated at a rubber of whist with three of his former wives. I certainly read in the paper of a couple who had been divorced twenty years, having made up their differences and renewed their nuptial vows ; both having in the interim been married several times. As far as one could judge from casual conversa- tions with the citizens of Chicago, they regard the South with contempt, and the North and East with aversion. One can but feel that trouble is looming in the future for the Great Country from the conflicting interests of East and West. The Opera House is a fine theatre, and there are several other places of amusement of minor import- ance. The beer gardens in summor afford recreation Q 58 ;^^^i&u^iiariSssii4iiitefe"ci»iS^ife^^ fa r V' ill i 1* ' ',j i S| '!», 228 THE GEEAT COUNTRY. to the Germans, especially on Sunday afternoon, when concerts are given. The hotels are large ; but not exceptions to the generality of such establishments in this country. The servants are attentive and zealous, especially the housemaids, one of whom came and swept out the gentlemen's parlour totally regardless of the presence of guests. Here, as elsewhere, mine host is affable, as one would expect him to be, since he is described in the guide-book as, " The Gentlemanly Proprietor." The only comment on which statement is, that if he be such, he is to be deeply sympathised with, as being totally out of his element. I must say I was much consoled when at meals, by the knowledge that the knives, however far down the throat they might be thrust, were incapable of inflicting harm ; in fact, they are plated, a process to which they are subjected to facilitate supplying guests with what is called a clean knife ; this is accomplished by the simple method of dipping Smith's knife into a jug of warm water, wiping and handing it to Jones, who at once plunges it into his food, and then down his throat. I have occasionally seen a man ask for a tea- spoon to enable him to consume the gravy ; but this must be regarded as exceptional. I was forcibly reminded of cannibalism one day at dinner, CHICAGO. 229 by the sight of a party indulging in a banquet of pork. Fenianism is pretty strong in Chicago, at least, its advocates make powerful appeals to the Irish. I saw a bill which invited all men " to rally round Ireland," which feat was to be accomplished by attending a meeting at which General Something was to speak, the said general having, it was stated, humbled the pride of Great Britain in the field. Having never heard of this humiliation, I did not care to have my national feelings mortified, and moreover, being a sincere well-wisher of Ireland, I did not rally round her on this occasion ; feeling sure that I should not be listened to if I attempted to state the truth, that as well might the Indian hope to expel the white man from America, as the Fenian Brotherhood expect to subvert the English rule in Ireland. In Chicago it is that you may hear the most benevolent feelings expressed for the Negro ; senti- ments that do honour to our fallen nature ; but the effect of which is slightly marred by very different views being entertained respecting the disposal of the Indian, for whose destruction I have heard some advocate the use of strychnine. The United States government has passed very stringent laws prohibiting the sale of all spirituous liquors to the Indian, for whom the fire-water has - m ■m ■m 'ftl • > L i , m i 4 ; i i ! ! il m < m r( 'T-3 1 : 1 ! ^ A ill i fi} 1 230 THE GREAT COUNTRY. a fascination quite as great as, if not greater, than that by Avhich it enslaves the " pale-faces." To no one, except to a commercial traveller, would a visit to Chicago prove a source of gratifica- tion ; it is essentially a place of trade and nothing else, and looks very much as if it had been made elsewhere and brought to the spot it at present occupies — there is a "ready-made" air about both place and people. Some of the latter are said to be very wealthy ; and the house of one man, a German, I believe, is pointed out as a marvel of costliness, the screws with which some of the doors are fixed being silver, which will give an idea of its magni- ficence. The opulent owner did not live to enjoy it, having died within a few months of its completion. The waterworks are of prodigious size, and have been erected at a cost of one million dollars. The rapid progress of the Great Pacific Railway is bearing civilisation rapidly to the far West. Cities are springing up on the line, and there are large towns growing in the very heart of the desert. The Indians have proved serious impediments to the work of the railway, and have given a great deal of trouble to those engaged in it. I have heard but an indifferent account of these children of Nature from a friend who passed many months among them, but must say that their defects of character appear to be, in great measure, but the CHICAGO. 2.31 result of their contact with the civilised portion of the human race. I believe they are like all savages, very treache- rous, and will attack and scalp a friend if he should happen to possess that which they covet. I have heard of a man whom they received in a most friendly manner, falling a victim to the fact of his possessing some red blankets, which took the fancy of the Indians, and of which they could not resist the temptation to possess themselves ; they scalped him and took his blankets ; he contrived to escape with his life, though deprived of his hair, and lived happy, we will hope, ever after in a black silk skull-cap. All trace of the Indian has long been removed from Chicago, and it is difficult to imagine where he can be " located " so as to enjoy his natural pur- suits and not interfere with those of his white brother. .M.J' '»■* ■'ft > ^-* .1 'i!^-'i 41 Vi! I i^ M 1 i ', ■.' i . \ ,11 \v\ ft ON THE RAIL. There is one great advantage which Chicago affords a visitor, — extreme facility both for reaching and for leaving it. Railways start hence for every where, and they say one hundred trains arrive and depart daily ; many of these having sleeping cars attached to them, for which one pays extra, as they are a matter of private enterprise apart from the railway company, in fact, a sort of "locomotive hotel." Fancy names are given them, such as " Silver Palace Sleeping Cars," lending a fairy-land sort of character to them which is not realised when you find the one you occupy in possession of a large family party of Germans, the children whereof scramble constantly all over the seats with nasty looking food in their hands, and make the carriage very like a pig-sty by day, and at night cry inces- santly for water, and make themselves as objection- able as young human nature is wont to do under such circumstances. I met a very intelligent and pleasant companion on this line, with whom I travelled as far as Pitts- burg. He was a Northern man, who had lived long i&£ti ON THE HAIL. 233 in the South. His great horror was Butler, whom he described in terms both foul and forcible ; vouched for the truth of the story of the plunder of houses, and the large number of pianos niatle captive by the General's bow and spear. He is said to have sold all the American instru- ments, but to have burnt the English ones, being too patriotic to advance the fame of any foreign manufacture. My infoi-mant, whose exact line in politics I could not make out, spoke very strongly as to the introduction into the South of the vUest and most obscene publications from New York, against which the authorities of several towns protested, but in vain, as it pleased the military occupants of the South to beguile their hours of leisure with the perusal of the " Last Sensation," or filth of a similar description. As I was making my way eastward, I selected the Pittsburg and Fort Warne route as being the best. There had recently been some very ugly accidents on the other lines, such as carriages run- ning off the line and falling over embankments of some fifty feet in height ; and, what was still more terrible, the carriages in two instances had caught fire, and the unhappy occupants were burnt to death ; the fii'e originating from the stoves in the carriages being full of lighted wood 'els ■li WM\ ;:^ I m' P —^ ¥ • ' I ^ ' i 1 i i , ' ; , '■; 1 i ; i ll'i 1 1 :| 1 j P 1 '' n i I. f 1*1 i , * t fi 1 nil i 1 '■ 1 ' ' r ' '1 2!)4 THE GREAT COUNTRY. which was scattered about, and set fire to the seats. I was especially warned against this line by a considerate stranger whom I encountered between St. Louis and Chicago. He was a small and particularly thin man, with sharp black eyes and a very miserable beard, and introduced the subject of railway accident somewhat abruptly, by saying, as he laid aside a paper he had been perusing, " That's a pretty considerable lot of dead 'uns." As this remark was addressed to me, and I was not aware to what he was referring, I inquired where? He looked at me attentively, and went on in soli- loquy as though he were indulging in a deep moral reflection, "and won't do for you, nohow, as you would not have a chance, as I can see, with your flesh." As I saw he was too much preoccupied with his own thoughts to hear any remark I might make, I awaited in silence his further remarks on this, to me, interesting subject. "I don't see," he continued, "how ever in this world they would get you out, for you see they couldn't save him nohow, not through the window." I was still puzzled, when my companion thrust the newspaper in my hand, and said, "Take and read for yourself, and then you'll see as it's a bad look-out for you." u. ON THE RAIL. 23fi A perusal of the details of this tcnibk' accident which the paper contained, threw light upon tliesc remarks, for I r(\ad that one unfortunate man might have been saved by being pulled through a window of the carriage, but that being stout the aperture was not large enough to allow him to pass through it. When I had read this piece of intelligence, cheer- ing to a man of sixteen stone weight, my companion repeated, "A bad look-out for you." He did not mean these remarks as either chaff or impertinence ; he was quite serious, and seemed deeply impressed with the additional risk which, as a stout man, I ran in travelling by rail. I think he was truly sorry for me, but he spoke no more. In passing through Pennsylvania, one is struck by the air of cultivation which pervades the country, to a degree not usually met with in districts remarkable, as this is, for enormous mineral wealth. In the centre of this the city of Pittsburg is situated, famous for the energy with which its inha- bitants have developed the natural resources of the neighbourhood. Coal and iron abound, and have raised the city to pre-eminence as a manufacturing town. Beyond this there is little to commend the place, though it possesses some fine public buildings. Alleghany City, on the opposite side of the river Alleghany, is the residence of many of the most opulent of those who carry on business in Pittsburg. t I i Wi ^ I ■■il', V'»sl I1 1- I i .; 0" fi ■. i i '! t w ■,! Ifll 2.30 THE nUEAT COUNTRY. The scenery in the Alleghany mountains is tamo, and looks like a soi-t of diminutive^, washed-out Switzerland. The rate at whieh the trains travel is not bad, though nothing to the speed to which we are accustomed ; whilst the delays at junctions, and the want of correspondence between the trains, arc quite as bad as they are in our own native land. One practice in which Americans indulge with regard to railways is most dangerous. A whole party will enter " a car," one member of which only is going to travel, the remainder being friends who have come to see the traveller off; they remain chatting away till the train is in motion, and then take their departure by deliberately jumping out. On one occasion two women stopped talking till the train was in full swing, and then one of them sprang out, she fell, and apparently under the train ; her companion was about to foUow her, and was held back by maui force, fighting like a wild cat with those who were detaining her. The conductor stopped the train to enable her to descend with safety, and we watched her rej( companion, who was apparently hurt, foi she walked with a limp. I am inclined to think that the efforts of those who had restrained the second jumper were regarded by the passengers as a piece of impertinent interference with national custom, as ON THE RAIL. 237 those who liad chocked the huly's descent were Euglisli; regard for humau life uot being l>y any means a strong characteristic with the American. At one part in the course of my journey I was placed in a most terril^ic position. It was at a station wliere dinner was to be served. Not feeling inclined for the meal, and being interested in a bo(>k, I resolved to remain in the carriages The; heads of the German family to which I have alluded as being my fellow-travellers, were anxious to get some food, and asked me if I would give an eye to the children, five in number, as the little darlings, the eldest of which was not above six years old, were all deeply engaged in the consumption of some very terrible form of infantine food. I consented, and was left alone with my interest- ing charge. All went on well till the food was consumed, with which they bedaubed themselves and the seats, and then they took to looking out of window, making a noise that suggested a miniature Babel. All of a sudden I heard a cry of anguish, and was appalled at seeing the whole party, except the baby, rush to the door, the baby having pitched on to its head. I was divided as to my duty, whether to pick it up, or rush to the other children. I did pick up the baby, yelling like a demon, and as sticky as a treacle cask, and made my way to the other children. % •I'j ' 5 )'M !-l1 I ; 1 I il I 238 THE GREAT COUNTRY. This door being locked, their progress had been interrupted. No sooner did I get near them than their cries became shrieks of terror. I could not soothe them. Only knowing fifteen words of German, and they bearing exclusive reference to one's requirements at a hotel, I was indeed at a loss. I laid the baby down on a seat, and tried everything I could think of to calm this terrible Teutonic tribe, but in vain. I vras at a loss to imagine what had caused the outbreak, when the entrance of the mother solved the mystery, and relieved me from my most em- barrassing situation. She had mistaken the train, and had rushed along the platform to another set of carriages, unconscious that her offspring was wit- nessing her flight, and had given vent to its feelings under the impression that she was abandoning her family for ever. It w • li'r )' .i« GENERAL REMARKS. m Having completed my tour South and West, I have only to conclude this part of my work Avith some general remarks as to what I have seen and heard. As regards the face of nature, the country is b}' no means beautiful. I have spoken of the abundant vegetation Avhich is met with in parts. 'I have remarked on the dreary swamps and sandy tracts throiigli which I have passed. I do not know that I have mentioned one beauty with which the woodlands abound ; and that is a kind of creeping plant, called in America moss, that grows in great abundance on the trees and hangs in graceful festoons from branch to branch, giving a most charming effect to the scene. The Negroes collect it for the purpose of making beds, for which purpose its elasticity .well fits it. Though I did hear a man at Wilmington denounce it as " darned rubljioh," and say " it swarmed with vermm, but was quite good enough for niggers." The state of morals in parts of the Soutii, espe- cially in Virginia, is more akin to our own received ideas on the subject. "'■: V I ii^i ) -6 I** MS :■;, ■; i 'I U ^! i! 240 THE GREAT COUNTRY. Divorces are rare, and difficult to be obtained ; in fact, the tone of society in that State Ls very like that which may be found among good countiy families in England. Most of those whom I met down South spoke very generally of a Republican form of government as a failure, and were strong in their denunciation of universal suffrage ; not a few condoled with me on the extension of the franchise in my oaati country, and predicted evil things for England's future under our Eeform Bill, though the better informed willingly admitted that we have a safeguard of which America is entirely destitute, and that is the character and social status of our public men. A few demagogues in England may make them- selves heard, and lead away the masses for a time wdtli clap-trap speeches ; some men of education may, for the sake of holding office, pander to the mob ; but the strength of England lies in the immense stakes w^hich so many honourable men have in her welfare, and their sincere desire to do the best to build up her institutions on the firmest basis — the will of the majority, and a due regard to the rights of the minority. It is impossible to say what will be the result of the abolition of slavery ; in some places free laljour is to be obtained, and the landowners have gained by the loss of their slaves, of whom they always had GENERAL REMARKS. 241 had a larger number than they could get work out of. The sick, the aged, and the young, were heavy burdens on them, and it remains to be seen which side will lose by the new state of things. Should the Negro, as some political economists predict, die out, there is a great question as to whom the landowner can look for ffatlierinjy in his crops. Many of the Southern Planters have gone to the Brazils with a view to settlinsf there : but there are statements which differ widely as to the result so far of the experiment. As I have said before, there are many who wish to come to England ; but as I told one highly intelli- gent gentleman who was asking me about farming in England — a man who had been a landed pro- prietor in the Southern , States of America would, even as a gentleman-farmer in England, find him- self in a veiy different position. A Virginian Planter has held a place in society there which would little fit him for a farm at lease- hold on a nobleman's estate in England. Ireland might, in many respects, better suit him, and it would be an odd form of transmigration were the American landowner and the Irish peasantry to exchange countries. One great cause of regret among the Southerners is the non-recognition of their rights by Great Britain, which was, as they state, a very false move :i^ ^ I :v4 1 i'. t:1 ■.'>;■ i >\. m M ^ ■' .'. fi' ■ i: A I III 242 THE GREAT COUNTRY. on our part. " Had you acknowledged us, you'd have done a great ])enefit to yourselves ; you'd have weakened the United States ; you'd have checked Russia, and have saved the life of the un- fortunate Maximilian, whose Ijlood in great measure lies at the door of the United States government." It is very certain that although it may be doubtful as to the power of the United States government to save him, the tone of the American Press has been most oflfensive respecting that ill-fated prince. Whatever may be one's opinion as to his having gone to such a place as Mexico, wh.'cli strikes one as an act very similar to that of accepting the regency of the infernal regions, yet there can be no doubt that Maximilian, was a gentleman, and though betrayed himself, would not abandon his sup- porters ; it was Quixotic, no doubt, in a prince, to keep his word, or act in good faith in these days, but it was respectable, and the Emperor Maximilian is more honoured in his gory grave than the Arch- duke would have l)een who had. sought his own preservation at the sacrifice of honour, or obtained it from the patronage of the United States govern- ment. It is utterly monstrous to hear Americans talk of theu' right to object to sovereign power existing on the continent of America. With the bright ex- ample of those splendid anti-monarchical institutions. liimmniii 1 I OENER.VL REMARKS. 243 the Republics of South America, Avith the edifying spectacle of Mexico before our eyes, and taking into consideration the possibility of the United States drifting into a condition very similar to that of its neighbours, I think the less said about the perfciction of a pure republic the better. At any rate, a very large number of American citizens are of opinion that it matters little by what name you call a government, for the dominant party will ever crush the losino; side, and that in Confess the power is getting more and more into the h.'inds of the " Rowdies ; " the result of which will Ije such as has been witnessed elsewhere — a reign of terror, to be followed by a despotism. No doubt while the fortunes of men are about equal, a repul)lic is a conceivable state of society ; but as riches in- crease on the one hand and poverty on the other, two distinct classes are growing w]) with opposite interests, between Avhom equality is impossible, and a collision must ensue as a necessary consequence of divided interests. W r2 i t ;? * f m ;'iiis EN ROUTE TO NIAGARA. One of tlie most pleasant routes by wliicli Niagara may be reached is the North River ; taking in New- port, Providence, and Boston. Fine steamers leave New York every afternoon during the summer months, which land you at NcAvport at the conve- nient hour of three in the morning. A sail up a river on a fine evening is always agreeable, even though the scenery may be nothing remarkable. The steamers are commodious, but wanting in deck room ; the space usually allotted to that being occupied by the saloons, which are vast and finely fitted-up. There are external galleries to enable passengers to enjoy the fresh air, but they are limited as to space, and, consequently, crowded. The accommodation for passengers is most extensive ; and, in the lower saloon, the berths are ranged around on all sides, giving an effect like a gigantic honey-comb. The attendants were all coloured men, and particularly attentive. I did not care for the supper, but it was abundant. Arriving at NcAvport in the dead of the night is eaa nmrmm 1 EN ROUTE TO NIAGARA. 215 I by no means calculated to give one a favourable impression of the place. The landing-place being at some distance from the hotel, it was necessary to obtain a vehicle for the transport of oneself and one's effects, and this was by no means a task easy to be accomplished. Having at length found a carriage, and roused the driver and a friend who were sleeping inside it ' — a circumstance which rendered it slightly oppres- sive — I and a companion started for the Ocean House Hotel. I am under an impression that driver and horses Were not thoroughly roused from slumber till we reached the hotel, when, at any rate, the former was quite wide awake, as his demand for his fare proved. The marvel was that any of us had reached any- where, for the whole journey, about a mile and a half in distance, was nothing but a series of jolts and hairbreadth escapes : the carriage itself being a wreck that threatened to go to pieces every instant ; whilst the horses seemed as reckless as the driver in rushing on regardless of impediment. The hotel being reached, we were enabled to retire to rest. The season was far advanced, so the number of guests was small, which gave an air of desolation to ji large barrack-like Ijuilding, which is badly situated, having no sea view. i: t ^ ll i^ m 1' 31 ■si J '■ I 2-1 {} THE GEEAT COUNTRY. V -i \ML ?l : li 1 There can be no doubt that Newport is well adapted for a gentleman's residence, as it is agree- ably situated, easy of access, and possessing much natural attraction. Some of the houses are very tastily arranged, and have, apparently, nice grounds attached to them. During the season, the hotels here are crowded by those who like the style of society and enjoyment that establishments of this description afford. There is plenty of display in the toilettes of the ladies, and the American youth puts forth all its powers of fascination. Parties of pleasure during the day, music and dancing in the evening, as well as other charming pastimes, render a sojoui'n at Newport a season of real enjoyment. Newport has an historical interest attaching to it, as having been the scene of the devastation worked by the British, who held possession till 1779, and before abandoning it almost destroyed the once prosperous City, which, in commercial importance, far exceeded New York. A small steamer conveys one from Newport to Providence, a thriving manufacturing town, plea- santly situated on the Narraganset. On the short voyage between Newport and Provi- dence, at a place called Eocky Point, the steamer was almost taken by storm ; a large party of excur- EN ROUTE TO NIAOAllA. 24 7 sionists coming on board. From the ovcrAvliolmiug majority of young girls that composed the party, I was induced to think it must l^e a school treat, although the presence of a large number of lads made that supposition ajipear improbable ; and I found out, on enquiry, that it was one of the excur- sions that are made daily, during the summer, from Providence to Rocky Point, one of the attractions being " clams " and " chowder," which are devoured in large quantities by all visitors ; — clams being n very nasty-looking fish of the mussel trilje, and chowder a broth composed of meat and fish. I was told that moonlight excursions are very popular with the youth of Providence, though I doubt whether they are conducted with that rigid propriety which the pious founders of Providence were the upholders, in theory, at any rate. It was when about to leave Providence by train for Boston, that I was much interested by the con- versation of one whom I thought to be, like myself, waiting for the train. He turned out to be an official, and was more than [ordinarily communicative, and gave me some information respecting the arrival of the " cars." He then indulged in some general remarks al)out the system in which railways were conducted. " I do not like the work myself," he said ; " and that's a fact, it don't suit me though it may others, and Y I 'I ^1 m 4 m 218 TUE OEEAT COUNTRY. in ■f' ■^ i there's plenty, as you'd think, would be glad of a job, but no, they don't sec it — for there was a fellow, a loafer, that came asking for work a few weeks ago, and I told him I could not give him a job just then till the train came in, and then I said I may em]3loy you, for they're pretty siu-e to bring a dead un, and then they'll want a hand, and when that train did come in it had a dead un, as had been killed coming along, but, would you believe it, that fellow wouldn't take his place, not he." I was surprised at such an instance of a man being blind to his own interests, but suggested that perhaps he did not like to run the risk. *' Well," continued my informant, " that may be so ; not that we think much of danger either, for it aint long ago as the bridge was left open on the Harlen River, and the cars went in and forty were drowned, and in less than four hom^s it was all forgot." Cheered at the outset on the railway, to see such sublime indiflferencc displayed as to human life, I pursued my journey thoughtfully as fiir as Boston. BOSTON. The Fremont House at which I put up is a tolerable hotel ; it was very full at the time of my visit, and I had to share with a friend a sitting- room turned into a sleeping apartment. Boston does not give one the idea of a commercial city, in spite of its splendid liarbour and extensive wharves. It reminded me moi • of some such places as Cheltenham, Bath, or Leamington. It has an air of comfort about it that makes it contrast favourably Avitli other cities of the Union; but it looks a cold and tilted kind of city. It lays claim to be the head-centre of all that is intellectual in America, and I should say would consider all " European " seats of learning and intelligence as " small potatoes " compared with itself. The Common, as it is called, is a Livge open space railed in and planted with trees, corresponding more to our idea of a small park, or ornamental pleasure ground, than anything I have seen else- where in America. ' One of the chief public buildings, Faneuil Hall, -:CS1 -*1 v;A ^M • irJ M rn MM 2J0 THE GllJlAT COUNTRY. ; I •);• ■■) 1 named after a woaltliy inercluiiit who built and presented it to the town, i.s reniarkal)le as contain- ing the very worst hjoking collection of portraits I ever saw, whether regarded as works of art, or likenesses of human beings. A bust of some worthy occupies a distinguished position, and is even more terril)le than the portraits. From the State House a fine view of the city is to be obtained by making the ascent to the dome. J>y far the finest view of the city, harbour, arid surrounding country is from the top of the monu- ment on Bunker's Hill, which is in Charlestown. When you ask Americans why the monument was erected, they say to commemorate a great battle. If you should be ignorant on the point, and pursue your enf^uiry as to which side gained the day, the guide wall reply, " This is the spot where Warren fell," and points to a small stone. You reply, " Oh, indeed," and may go away wondering w^ho on earth Warren was, unless you are a student of Trans-atlantic history, and then you will know all about it. The great lion of Boston is ** Harvard University," which is at Cambridge, a few miles out of the city. It was originally Presbyterian, but is, I believe, at present under the rule of the Unitarian body. It is said to contain very eflicient schools, but has ' "'-.-^.^-S^Sw' "ntSSjCX^ BOSTON. 2.>1 >} U(^t produced any startling results, at luiy rate of late ycjirs. I think it was hero that a terrible trngedy was enacted some few years Ijack, when one of its professors was murdered, and his remains burnt, by another member of the Univtjrsity. The motive being that the murderer was indebted to his victim a sum of money which he was unable to pay ; — a method of disposhig of a creditor still in vogue in Texas, l)ut sadly out of place in a seat of learning. It made a great sensation at the time, as did the execution of the culprit. Churches and Institutions of every kind abound in Boston. The Unitarians are the majority, and, I believe, may claim to be the descendants of the Pilgrim Fathers, whose landing place in New England is some forty miles from Boston. There is a difference of opmion among Americans as to how this event should be regarded. Some, I suppose, still assert that it was a blessing to the country of tli(.'ir adop- tion; whilst I have heard of others who declare that of all the calamities that have beftdlen the human race two were the greatest. One, the Fall of Adam, and the other, the Landing of the Pilgxim Fathers. The intolerant spiiit of these pretended cham- pions of religious liberty has happily passed away, »: !■., ■'V-v| fc^ )% \>n ill 2j2 THE GREAT COUNTKY. ■ s i ■ « if '. ■1. \' and every man obeys tlic dictates of his conscience in Massacliiisetts without fear of the gallows, pillory, or other minor punishments, with which the orthodox Puritan. would fain have visited those who differed from, his relio;ious views. Even the despised and hated Catholic may now boldly pro- claim his faith in a land where once the profession of it was as perilous as in England itself. It is due to the Unitarians to state that perfect toleration is the principle on which they act with regard to all religious belief. I have been fortunate enough to visit Boston more than once, and though I have had no experi- ence of society there, am inclined t<3 think that it must be a more agreeable place of residence for those out of business than New York, As far as commerce is concerned Boston seems to have seen its best days ; the withdrawal of the Cunard line of steamers from the port Ijeing symptomatic of great commercial decay. The great trade with China and tlic East Indies, once carried on here, has quite declined, and Boston must console herself with the thought of her mtellectual superiority, of which most of her citizens seem sensible to a degree which verges on the extravagant. As I lia\'e before stated, during my journey South I encountered most agreeable and friendly com- panions from Booton, though I also encountered -r"-"*" "■'"'-- ■• mm BOSTON. 2.33 tliosc in my travels who wore] wliat the Ameiicani^ term " Blowers," and whose conversation was made ujj with praise of New and abuse of Old England. Boston in winter is very gay. Theatres and other places ahoimd, and are wi il attended. The public conveyances are Ijetter arranged than in New York, and the state of the streets is very superior. Of course the New Yorker will cry out, "Look at the difference in the traffic;" 1)ut allowino- for this, the palm must still be awarded to Boston. If a large number of schools be any indication of the educational condition of a people, then ought the Bostonians to be in the hiohest state of int'd- lectual culture. I must say that in ordinary con- versation I did not discover any superiority of ex- pression. In fact, the constant use of the phrases, " I want to kn -)w," and " Do tell," did not strike me as elegancies of speech worthy of the " Athens of xVmerica." as Boston is called, I believe at the instance of its own citizens. To return to amusements, the principal theatres arc the Boston, Howard Athentcum, and the Conti- nental. The first named of these is very handsome, and the performances are of the l)est description. Time was when a theatre in Boston was as unknown, and as unlooked for as a pork-shop would have been in Jerusahmi; l)ut times are changed, and so are the Bostonians. Tlicy^ have l)ecome lovers of tlK.'atrical si ■SI 4 s < i: r^ ' t)h ' .. ■''» . 1 .■■'»'■ fe If .1 '■ij ^* ^r^mm k ''rk ill 2.34 THE GREAT COUNTRY, representations, wliicli their forefathers would have regarded as abomination, and wouM have driven actors from the city with a taste of tlie scourge to expedite their retreat ; but now theatres are mucli fre(piented, and there are Sun*! ay-evening concerts. " Stabat Mater " was given whilst I was there, on Sunday, a performance the Pilgrim Fathers would have reo-arded with a horror even greater than that which a theatre would have excited in their saintly minds. The neighbourhood of Boston is very pretty, the liarl)our of Charles River being very fine. The cemeteries of Boston are decidedly worthy of praise, being beautifully kept and well situated. The churches have no claim to attention ; I Ix-lieva the citizens of Boston regard them with reverence, as monuments of antiquity, a view in which no European would concur, as the reign of Charles II. is not a remote period in our eyes, thouoh it may be fairly so considered by the historian of Massachusetts. It is said that the Bostonians pride themselves upon lieing more like the English than any of their neighbours. I did not discover, at a glance, the reseml)lance ; but certainly their city has a greater air of comfort about it than any other in the United States. One thing struck me as very Scotch, .•>nd that was ip«l^^i EOSTON. '255 the ol)S(Tvance of Sunday, as far as externals arc concerned at any rate. My route from Boston Ijcing to Niagara by way of Saratoga, I left Boston by an afternoon train, and reached a place called Rutland al)oiit midnight. Here we received the gratifying intelligence that wc should have to wait for our train till about four o'clock. There was a hotel close at hand, where we could get supi^er and l)eds, but having dined just l)efore leaving Bostoi;, I had no inclination for food ; and, as for tliinkine, was alone to ])e had. Let those who arc thus forewarned be forearmed with a pocket-pistol, containing the l)est cognac they can get. We left Rutland at about half past four o'clock, and reached Saratoga by eight o'clock. ■ :4 ] '^n & ^ k ^ 4 1 ;. I US lit' ig^^smf ■ J i ,• If ■ f ■hy ill: SAEATOGA. So distinonislicd a resort of American rank and fashion as this, deserves an especial notice, though this is another of those places the very name of \v hi(5h is supposed by some Americans to cover every Englishman with shame and humiliation, for in this neighl)ourhood Sir John Burgoyne was defeated during the war ^^f Independence, an event which, though ol great importance at the time, has somehow escaped the British memory, since few Englishmen seemed to know anything ahout it, and one indi- vidual of that nation displayed ignorance that was astounding hy saying to me that there had ])een some severe fighting hereabouts, during the late war ; and when I assured him that he was mistaken, he only replied — "Well, I never could make out anything about their war, and don't care to be informed on the subject." Saratoga has no beauty of position to recommend it, though it is not an unpleasant place ; the streets are lined with trees, whicli afford a grateful shade to a I 'III! SARATOGA. 267 the dusty walks. The gloiy of Saratoga has much departed " since the war." In former days the wealthy inhabitants of the South used to seek here a retreat from the heat, and yellow fever, hy which summer is distinguished in their own latitudes ; and in those days the toilettes of the ladies, and the equipages were gorgeous in the extreme. The h(itel at which I sto})ped was ctdled the Union, and very ,ke a bari'ack and a hathinu' establishment combined. It is built and arranged for summer residence, the rooms are laroe and full of windows and doors. I met here with a very savage waiter, he was a darky and very uncivil. I trust that he may have found some employment more suited to his disposition than ministering to the wants of his fellow-creatures ; his behaviour made me regret extremely the abolition of slavery and consecpient disuse of the cat o' nine tails. I mention him, as he was the l)ase exf-eption in my colouied experience. I'll not say anything about the living at this hotel, or I shall gain the reputation of being devoted to the pleasures of the table ; which 1 do not deserve, for though I hold that man to l)e a fool, or worse, who says that he does not know the difference between good and Inid food, yet I do not think (luiner the one great and all important event of a man's daily life. I feel bound to state that i v^ i . 'M iii m n Ml I :!;; 258 THE GEEAT COUNTRY. N.„ tlioso who ought to ho judges in the niattor of good living, assure mo that " hoforo tlio war" the food at the hotels was excellent. I can only conjecture that the contending armies ate all the provisions and slew the cooks; hence the existing state of things -sdiic.-h unhesitatingly I pronounce to be detestable. Tlie company at Saratoga Avas Avhat is termed " style," by which is meant very over-dressed, jewel- bedizened, loud-talking women, and men displaying every eccentricity tliat the male wardro1)e is capable of beino: brouolit to. There was not a crowded attendance at the dinner-table; and one very magni- ficently attired 'gent" made a confidant of my neighl)our, and indulged him with many particulars concerning the haractor and career of a lady sitting close by, wdiicli if not edifyhig, were interesting to a forcngner, as enabling him to judge as to the desirableness of brino-ino; his female relatives to a fashionable place. There was some reason for the "gent's" disclosures, as he was a discarded love, of the lady wdio, at the moment, was the idol of an individual in a black velvet coat, a shirt that defies description, and jewellery so massive as to make me think it must bo a fatigue to carry it about. Tlie lady was a work of art, powerfully, if not beautifully, painted ; vxcn her eyes were picked out with black. Her dress was of the pah'st blue, very SARATOGA. 25!) mucli vandyked at the Ijottom, and her feet were enrased in very small higli-lieeled hronze boots of tlie Ijviulitest hue. Her hair was a little overdone, for she had sueli a lump at the baek, that it gave her the effect of going about ^^'ith a small porter's knot on her head. I l)elieve that subsecpiently she had the " gent " who })ersevered in circulating idle tales about her nearly Hogged to death ; some say she cow-hided him with her own hands ; Imt I do not vouch for the truth of this statement. I saw her at the Lake with her com])anion playing at IxAvls, and am inclined to think, l)y her excessive vivacity, that she had Ijeen indulging in fried potatoes, for whieli the restaurant adjoining the Lake is famous ; they are cut marvellously thin, l)eing fried quite dry, and they serve to give a relish to the cham])agne, which is largely consumed at this place. The Lake is about six miles from Saratoga, and is reached by a very bad sandy road. The ap})(\arance of the place suggests the idea of a nol)lenian's })ark run to seed. With proper culture it would be a charming place ; it serves at present to amuse the visitors to the spi-ings, as the liake in question is nine miles long, and affords op))ortunities for boating and fishing. The one great thing to l)e done at Saratoga is to drink the waters of the famous springs, which were highly esteemed by the Aborigines, and have for a s 2 t ip-H m \ 4 \, ■*ii i \ i •aBf*^d^«.ft ^^^..j^... m ;:i 200 THE GREAT COI'NTEY. long time 1)een popular witli tlie Americans. The most celebrated of these waters is known hy the name of " (^ono-ress," and there are otliers '-ailed " Empire," " Cohinihian," " ITigli Rock," " Excelsior," and by many more higli-sounding titles, all excellent for something or otlier of the ills to which humanity is heir; principally for that ntitional curse "dys- pepsia," for the prevalence of which 1 have en- deavoured to give a reason elsewhere. The hotel is said to be capal)le of accommodating from 1.500 to 2000 "guests," for whose amusement an opera-house, ball-room, and billiard-rooms have been constructed. There was dancing every evening in the parlours, which some of the guests seemed to appreciate, in spite of a very bad attempt at a quadrille band. I have been told that " before the war," a very fine band used to play during dinner in the evening, an infliction which I was glad to be spared, as 1 am sure the flower of the band had perished. I thought the surviving harper Avas bent on imitating the " Minstrel Boy," and tearing his chords asunder, so violently did he dash at the strings. Two of the finest hotels, tlie "United States" and "Congress," have been destroyed by fire ; but there is no lack of accommodation in the town, both in the way of hotels and boarding-houses. I was much struck by the very great number of i' M '^1 SARATOGA. 2G1 of men whom I saw both licrc and elsewhere, with liair, whiskers, and moustache dyed ; it gave them a fierce appearance, and added to the conviction I entertain most stronoly, tliat in a few more genera- tions numl)ers of tlie Americans will have returned to the Indian type. The use of rouge and white paint, another charac- teristic of the savage, is very prevalent among the women, as also an inordinate love of beads and feathers. Some of these fair creatures are artless and primitive, as though born in a wigwam. I observed one (as slic sat waiting for her brealvfast) cleaning her nails with a penknife she had borrowed of a friend ; whilst a rival beauty, in order to shjime her, produced a little box, with a file and pumice stone, and commenced the same operation. There were some strong-minded females at table. I saw one who had not cleaned her nails, pinch every peach on a plat^, and having selected the only two that were eatable, hand the dish to a ueio;hl)our. Let me liere observe that I consider the American peaches as much over-rated as every thing else is in the country, whether fish, flesh, or fowl. I had heard so much of the peaches, and one informant on the subject said, "1 reckon 'twill about astonish you Britishers to see our pigs fed with I u I > >1 1 :■ •i'H ' ' : ■■ ' f : U ; i '^ii 55 '2ig.s. 1 iimst not foi'gt't to iiicntion one highly iiitcrost- iijg creature, an unprotected girl of al)out fifty, Avho was very busy Avith her nails till her breakfast M'as served, which she attacked literally " tooth and nail." I was much struck by her mode of eating eggs. 8he had several boiled, and broke them into a large wine-glass, a practice very general in America, though not unknown this side of the Atlantic. She then proceeded to eat them ; but apparently did not like the white, for she spat it into her plate, from which she subsequently ate ham and eggs, and sausages, liver and bacon, fried potatoes, and other delicacies, finishing up with cakes and molasses, all of which she washed down with coffee and several tumblers of milk, into which lumps of ice are put, which render it very agreeable. The drinking l)ar at these hotels is a place of rendezvous, where men meet and gossip ; an incident occurred at one which serves to illustrate the un- popularity of the Hebrew race, and the refinement of the American. A very lively little Jewish genthnnan was staying at one of the fashionable watering-places, and did his utmost to render him- self fascinating and agreeable. Not being endowed by Nature with beauty of person, he endeavoured to repair that defect by a )fV SABATOOA. 203 Humptuous toilet; nothing could, be more l>rilli;int tlitm his clotliL'S and jcwrlk'iy. His lockn were redolent with i)erfuni(', iind as to manners, lie was good-nature and atfability itself. He talked to everybody, tried to Ik; obliging, offered to take men out for drives, rode on horse- back, and trii.'d to fix on to cavalcades, either wlicii starting, or en route, but all in vain. He was not popular, and very few people would even answer him civilly. One day, or rather morning, he found a party at the drinking-bar, and proceeded to try and work in by observing that it was very warm. No <»iie answered him ; but there was some ol)servation passed as to his being an unwelcome addition to the party. " If he tries that game again, I'll settle him darned soon," observed a tall, stdlow Yankee, who was whittling and spitting over his sixth or seventh "cocktail." The Hebrew gentleman, nothinii; abashed by his cool reception, returned to th(! charge, and with a sweet smile, approached the bar again, rubbing his hands, and saying, " Now, what would you gentlemen advise any one to drink this hot morning." " Drink ! " said the Yankee, turning full upon him, " TFA/y, virterjar on a spoiKje" That was a settler ; the Hebrew gentleman withdrew to com- plain to the landlord that he had been insulted ; but all the satisfaction he got was — :;1 4 i 1 WM H .^Ri^. 1 ■r -' J *i 1 ::| '"'^WB ' -^1 1"? ]^1 !\ n ■ * 1 8, ■i ■■ ' 1 ■ '4 Ad ^> ^'k. ^>.. o . "** ^^ IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 !r«- MM I.I 1.25 3 ->, ^;. '>, •> -p^ ^^ Photographic Sdences Corporation * V V) A'- o\ •l ' MONTREAL. 279 dominions will more loyalty be found tlian among her Catholic subjects of Canada. There are in Montreal some fine-looking Protes- tant churches belonging to the Episcopalians and Presbyterians ; also numerous educational establish- ments in the city, and societies for the advancement of religion, science, and industry. As to society, I can say no more than that it was my good fortune to make the acquaintance of several of my countrjnnen, to whom I was indebted for much courtesy and attention. The leading journals of the city were highly complimentary in their remarks on my visit, and in spite of the severity of the weather (twenty degrees below zero being the depth to which the mercury descended), I had every reason to be pleased with my visit to the Old Dominion. I should say that officers quartered here may find it slow, and when they rush down to New York for a holiday are apt to speak in high terms of the Empire City, though I much doubt if they would be gratified should a foreigner, returning from London, give the same reasons for admiring it that I have heard young Englishmen state to be the secret of their being so highly delighted with a sojourn in New York. Much of the city of Montreal is said to belong to the religious bodies, who are good and considerate i <.' ft.'. y-"^ im 'iM V 1 1 ff.V , IV 2S0 THE GEEAT COIJNTBY. landlords — not, I trust, for the reason that I heard an American assign for their moderation, which was, that " if them old flat-heads give any trouble, they'll pretty darned soon get cleared out." On my remarking that there would be no more justice in seizing the property of a corporation than that of an individual, and mentioning the corporation of Trinity Church, New York, as being similarly circumstanced with the Catholic bodies in Montreal : " They're ours anyhow," said he ; " and we shall do with them just as we darned please, Church or no Church." As I had not the slightest doubt on that subject, I said no more, for my friend was getting excited. His views, however, on religious toleration were broad. He told me he had built a Catholic church and schools on his property, and added, as though apologising for such an act of weakness, " I couldn't help it, for I employ a lot of Irish; now I don't care one single , myself, for any religion on airth, but it suits them critters, and they gets on better with it," which I accepted as valuable testi- mony, in addition to that which I had heard ex- pressed on all sides, that an Irishman in America without his religion is not respected. I have been told that in many of the large hotels, where the number of Irish girls employed is very great, that those alone are to be trusted who adhere to their religion. MONTREAL. 281 ' Some of the new buildings devoted to commerce in Montreal are very handsome; the streets are wide, well-paved, and well-lighted. The shops abound with all the necessaries and luxuries of life, the former being attainable at moderate cost — in fact everything is very much cheaper here than in the United States. The result of this state of things is that smuggling is carried on to so considerable an extent as to cause the government of the United States to exercise a vigilance over all who come from Canada which amounts to oppression, and is said to be attained by means which are not dignified, however necessary or justifiable they may be. I remember reading in a work on America, written some thirty years ago, a high eulogium on the behaviour of Custom House officers towards strangers arriving in the United States. I wish the said writer may have occasion to pass from Canada to the States, and in his next work he will, at any rate, modify the praise bestowed on these officials, who now positively persecute you with their right of search. I will give an instance, at the proper place, by telling what I experienced myself, and also relate what happened to that blessing to all authors, " a friend of mine." I had fondly hoped that I should find everything, railways included, better in Canada than in the .. }\ :^^ .fl 282 THE GEEAT COUNTRY. 1 ' United States. I had heard in England great talk of the " Grand Trunk " line, had seen the preten- tious advertisements put forth by that Company, and was prepared to meet with a railway in first- rate working order. I am no engineer, so cannot presume to find fault with any department, but I am a traveller with a body remarkably sensitive to bumps and thumps, and have also nerves, and I must say my journey on the " Grand Trunk " was a trial to me in every respect./ Nor was I cheered by the remarks of a fellow-traveller, a young American, who stood at the door at the extreme end of the car, which was the last of the train, looking along the Hne so intently that I was induced to join in the inspection, and ask him whether he enjoyed this sort of travelling. He replied, "I do not, and that's a fact, because I know what's going to happen." I inquired, somewhat anxiously, as to his prognosis. He said, "I'm in this Hne of business, and can tell you that these rails are worn out, and that's wLy this car oscillates so violently; and what I expect every moment is that one of these plates will get dislodged, and upset the whole darned lot — that's what I expect ; " and, with this cheering prophecy, he resumed his quid and lapsed into silence, apparently awaiting his doom with gloomy satisfaction. Later on, I discovered that he had heard a great MONTEEAL. deal of English railroads, and was chuckling over this specimen of our superior engineering. I believe a great portion of the line was under repair, and I can safely say the part over which I travelled decidedly needed it. 4 • ''§^ % 1 M 4. I ^ OTTAWA. A TEDIOUS journey over a bad railroad, through an uninteresting country, brings you to the newly- founded intended capital of British North America. Leaving Montreal at 9.30 — at least within twenty minutes of that time, for the railway is not exact as to its departure or arrival — ^you reach Ottawa about six o'clock in the evening. I made the journey early in December. The snow was on the ground, and it was freezing violently, with the thermometer about ten degrees below zero. The railway car was intensely cold, for the stove had only just been lighted. The passengers were few, and by no means sociable. The only person who enlivened the journey was an enterprising merchant who dealt in newspapers and other period- icals, chestnuts, apples, and candies, which he did not offer for sale aU at once, but, Hke a wily trader, tendered the various articles in turn. Entering the car at intervals of about half-an-hour he first offered the daily papers for sale. Next he came in with periodicals, with a copy of which he presented each passenger, leaving them to look OTTAWA. 285 through their contents whilst he proceeded to the end of the car ; as he returned he gathered up his property, very few copies having been sold. In a short time he came through with a basket of apples. Then, after another interval, he appeared with nuts, and lastly with a box of candies. Having exhausted his repertoire he began over again with the papers and went through the same course, banging the door violently each time he entered or left the car. He kept this up all the way to Prescott, where we arrived about three o'clock p.m., having stopped for a short time at Cornwall, where we partook of some lunch, which was as nasty as food generally is in this part of the world. From Prescott we made our way to Ottawa, a journey something under three hours. As it was intensely cold, there was an open sleigh waiting to convey one to the hotel, the Eussell, which is said to be one of the best in Canada ; if it be so, I'm sorry for Canada. Dinner was served at 6.15, and had it never have been served at all no one would have regretted it, for never did mortal man have a worse. As I have spoken elsewhere of American hotels as not being what I consider first-rate, I may as well state on this occasion that I do not consider alle- giance to Queen Victoria has had the effect of improving them, for in Canada they are so like *!* , 1 ' » .?:i| 'Mi } 1 I' -' i, I I I- I, 286 THE GREAT COUNTRY. similar establishments in the United States, that there is no perceptible difference. I must allow that the wine and liquor are generally very superior in the Old Dominion. The office of the hotel at Ottawa is the chief place of resort for the guests, where they lounge and sjDit about as they discuss their baccy and politics, both being highly popular, especially during the session of Parliament. My visit to this favoured spot was at that period. The hotel was crowded with members, who forsake home, business, pleasure, comfort and all, to serve their country at the low charge of six dollars, or one pound four per diem and their travelling expenses. ''/ Why Ottawa should have been selected as the seat of the great Canadian legislature one can't imagine, except under the hypothesis that every other place wished to get rid of the nuisance. It is simple banishment, for Canada at best is the Siberia of Great Britain. One doesn't know what can induce a man to accept the post of Governor-General, unless he should be a misanthrope, or have hosts of relations at home whom he is anxious to make distant. " But wait till you see the Parliament buildings, and then you'll be delighted," said my friends, so I went, and found that they are the place of rendez- vous for all the elite of Ottawa. OTTAWA. 287 There is uo quaiTelling with a man as to his notions of amusement, but any one who could derive pleasm'e from listening to a debate in tlie Canadian Parliament is an object for one's deepest commisera- tion, though we may say of such people, as one does of other idiots, that perhaps they are the happiest of the human race. The making Ottawa the capital strikes one as either the result of gross jobbery or stupidity on the part of those who suggested it as the seat of govern- ment. Her Majesty is said to have selected it, I believe because some one told her that its situation would make it most eligible as a capital for the Canada of future generations, by which I imagine its advocates must have meant the time when Canada shall have been all built over. Just as good a reason as might be alleged for converting Stonehenge into a parish church against the time that Salisbury Plain is covered with houses. As to the name, it must surely be a corruption for "Hoot awa," or out of the way, and I should think the whole place must have been some waste lands which had come into the possession of some canny son of Caledonia. This is purely con- jecture, and of course I am speaking as an utter outsider, but of all the inconvenient spots for a seat of legislature, Ottawa seems to be entitled to take first rank. // (.4, s::ject ; and reminds me .1. ST* OTTAWA. 293 of the threat I heard expressed hist winter, that if the men convicted of shooting the policeman at Manchester were hanged, the Cunard steamers lying in the port of New York should be set fire to ! It was useless to point out, in answer to this threat, that the vessels were insured in America. No, it would l)e a Mow at England, that was the one idea, and very worthy of those from whom it emanated, both as a specimen of logical accuracy and sound policy, to say nothing of higher considerations. Within a very short distance of Ottawa are the Rideau Falls, which afford a charming prospect to the admirer of wild scenery ; the river near this point receives its great tril)utary, the Gatineau, the source of which is in the unexplored northern part of Canada. m '^i ng a ^.m REMARKS ON CANADA. If a journey to Ottawa be bad, the journey from it is worse, and could only be supported by the strong sense of relief experienced at getting away from such a wretched place. I left it at eleven o'clock at night, the train having been advertised to start at 10 "30, and was dragged slowdy along by an over-taxed feeble engine to Prescott, a distance of fifty-four miles, in three hours. Here we had to wait for the train to Montreal, four hours ; and found a very clean, comfortable little hotel at the junction, where beds were ready, and one could lie down for a short repose. The train was an horn* late, of course ; but this was no advantage in the way of rest, for it is next to impossible to sleep under such circumstances. A cold, dreaiy dawn, found us again on the platform, waiting for our train, which arrived from Toronto or somewhere at 7*15, and on we went to Cornwall, where a very terrible repast would have been served to me, had I not firmly refused to partake of it. My fellow-passengers were Canadians, judging fi'om the language they spoke, which was unin- . ", \ CANADA. 290 telligible French. They were for the most part cheerful, light-hearted wags, who beguiled the time with practical jokes, which elicited loud laughter, and were much appreciated by those who were attempting to sleep. There is a general spirit of rivalry existing between the Canadians and Americans ; it is only just that the palm should be given where it is due, and there is one particular in which the Canadian has the mastery, and that is in the art of spitting. No doubt the French element has somcthino; to do with this superiority ; be that as it may, the fact remains, Canada carries the day, both as to extent and style of this accomplishment. Canada is not a cosy country to travel in ; but let me advise all who visit it to avoid Ottawa. I was indeed glad to find myself once more in Montreal, which is by far the most agreeable place I have visited on the other side of the Atlantic. The military element makes the society agreeable, and the ofiicers amuse themselves at the skating rink, or in sleighing, in both which pastimes they are honoured with the charge of some fair one, Avho is styled " a muftin," a' term l)y which the young lady is designated, to whom any gentleman may be paying attentions during the season. It may be a serious, or merely an agreeable mode of passing away the time. ^ 't; •5»J '■J ^ f^~^ 'm) THE GREAT COUNTRY. ; [I .. I' I* The balls during the winter are brilliant, and for those whose tastes do not lie in the direction of devotion to the sex, there is the never failing amusement of the billiard-room. Card-playing is also said to be much in vogue. The theatre is only open for a short season during the summer ; and is occasionally occupied by amateurs during the winter. I believe as a rule artists do not care to visit Canada, the support afforded them l)eing quite inadequate. There is at times a good deal of political excitement, both foreign and domestic, in Canada; and one topic, which did not seem by any means as generally discussed as I had been led to expect to find it, was annexation to the United States. I heard this matter talked about more than once, and, when my opinion was asked on the subject, I merely replied that, in my opinion, if the Canadians should at any time prefer trusting themselves to the Stars and Stripes rather than to the Union Jack, the British Lion would allov/ them to secede not only without a growl, but with a paternal blessing. Common sense Avould dictate such a course ; for a colony occupies the same position towards the mother country that a son-in-law does with the father of his wife : both are burdens, generally speak- ing, and very often make themselves very disagTee- IS CANADA. 297 able, and are only tolerated from other feelings than those of personal regard. Every Englishman would do his utmost to protect Canada from insult or injury, as long as she remains dependent on us ; l)ut, if she should wish to sever the connection, then will she be free to do as she pleases, without let or hindrance from us. I will not be unjust to the j)resent generation of Canadians by even supposing they would renounce their allegiance to Great Britain, if annexation to the United States should suit their pui-pose better ; but it is highly probable that, should the conditions hereafter offered by the Americans l)e very advan- tageous to the Canadians — should she become the important country that some men imagine she is to be, then, I dare say, Canada will follow the example of our other North American colonies, who were loyal enough as long as the power of Great Britain could protect them from the French and their allies the Indians. Whilst the French held Canada, the brave men of New England were ever ready to accept the protection and assistan<'c of British troops ; but when Canada was taken by the English, then the burden of taxation was felt to be unendurable by those who had Ijcen willing to have the help of the mother country, but had no intention of bearing any of the expenses of keeping up an army and navy. ■m '.■:('\ ■ ■■■'Si y 298 THE GREAT COUNTRY. These remarks arc merely made as illustrative of the selfishness displayed so universally by both nations and individuals. Long may Canada flourish under our rule, and equally long may the United States enjoy their inde- pendence; devoting their energies to the improvement of their own condition, and leaving their, neighbours to settle their own affairs in their own way. Let us not hear them vapouring about not allow- ing monarchical form of gov^ernment to exist on the American continent ; for, were the Canadians to wish for a king to-morrow, they would not consult the United States' wishes on the point, but look to their natural protectors for advice and assistance in the matter. i» 5 im^m J THE STATES AGAIN. I HAD half made up my mind to make a tour through Canada, but the rigour of the winter caused me to abandon the project, and retrace my steps to New York, where I was to spend Christmas and tlie early part of the year. Leaving Montreal hy an afternoon train, I was led to believe I should make a pleasant and short run to Boston. At the Montreal railway- station, I applied to the authorities to have my baggage examined by the United States custom-house officer, stationed there for the purpose. I opened my valise and travelling bag, on which this official bestowed some little attention, and then expressed himself satisfied as to their contents not being contraband. I entered the railway-carriage, in which I found a crowd of noisy, half-drunken blackguards, returning to New York, who were using foul language, incessantly handing about bottles of ardent spirits, and rendering them- selves generally objectionable. ^ It must have been about seven o'clock in the evening, when the American custom-house officer ' 1^ 300 THE GREAT COUNTRY. riiii entered the car, and addressed himself to several people ; at last, he came to me, and said, — " I didn't lialf look at your things at the station, so you just step into the luggage-car with me, and I'll give another look at them." All the cars communicate, Ijoing joined by coupling irons ; but it is by no means pleasant to step from one car to the other in the dark, and when the weather is very cold, and the way decidedly very slippery. I was resolved, however, not to buy the fellow off, so accompanied him to the luggage-car, which was at the extreme end of the train ; and there, in a van not heated in any way, I had to wait till my turn came to have my valise opened, and for the second time pronounced all right, as far as custom-house law went. The officer was cute, Imt one of the passengers was cuter ; for, when we stopped for a mockery of a meal called supper, he said to me, — " He don't amount to a row of pins, that fellow. Why, I've got all my things smuggled through under his nose. I reckon he thought I'd pay him, but he's done, anyhow." To show how rigorously the custom-house law is enforced on tlie frontier, I will cite the case of an Englishman who went into Canada for a few days, and, when there, he fell in with several old friends. UNITED STATES. 301 who induced him to remain for n ball about to take place. Having no div.s.s clothes with him, he had recourse to a local tailor, who supplied him with the needful costume. The day after the ball, he left Montreal for the United States, and was on the journey attacked by an itinerant Custom-house officer, who inquired if ho had anything liable to duty with him. On his answering in the negative, the officer pulled out a note-book, to which he referred, and then enumerated the number of articles of clothing that the traveller had purchased in Montreal, on which he exacted the full amount of duty. It is said that these men employ spies at the shops and hotels, who give information as to what is purchased by strangers. I was very much indebted, in the course of this journey, to a gentleman who kindly gave me a hint that there had been an accident on the line — some such trifle as a bridge having fallen in — which would involve the necessity of a walk of about three quarters of a mile through the snow, in the middle of the night, and also render tlie abandonment of our sleeping-cars necessary, at one o'clock in the morning. Having got a hint, I elicited more from the reluctant officials, whose reticence, at all times re- j^iarkable, was, on this occasion, positively alarming. up • 5''i m m '\\ u/- VJ .'302 THE GREAT COUNTRY. :■ ' ii ! I I had, liowevcr, got my cue from my oMiging fcllow-pasHongcr, and changed my route to another line of rail, and got .safely to Bo.ston, in a tremendous .snow-storm, AVJiij^h rendered travelling not only dis- agreeable, but both tedious and dangerous ; several trains having been snowcd-up between New York and Boston. I must here not omit to mention that the secretary of the railway on which the l)reakdown had occurred, in the handsomest way returned me a portion of my fare ; an act of justice for which I was not prepared, l>y my experience of railways in my own countiy. My journey from Montreal was made more agree- able by pleasant companions ; though, during a part of it, the squabbles of a Canadian with a Yankee were a real diversion. The latter insisted that Canada's sole Avish was to be annexed to the United States ; a view which the former repudiated with much earnestness. "Annexed to you?" lie exclaimed. "What, with all that load of debt at your back, which wc should have to share ! " " That debt," replied the Yankee, " is a difficulty, that's a fact ; but it has to be got over somehow." " Yes," said the Canadian, "I know — by repudia- tion ; that's the only way. It's your old game, and one you've played successfully ; but you'll do it once too often." ., gW»J:v«.^,#«i, . =AW UNITED STATES. ao3 ** We're a great people," auitl the Yankee, " and we shall stand hy our engagements." "You've not done so hitherto, in cither private or public enterprise, ns far as my experience goes," replied the Canadian ; " and I've been engaged on railways and other works for five-and-twenty years." He spoke confidently, nnd the Yankee closed the discussion l)y saying, "I want to know what is any man to do, when all his money's gone, but to bust, and that's what you'll do some day in that used up Old Countiy of yours, that you are always bio wing- about — where, thank God, 1 was .>ot born — as is al)out efi'etc, and that's a fact." So saying he got up and walked into an adjoining car, which, I must say, I did not regret, for he carried the national salivatory weakness to such an extent as to render walking on the floor of the carriage a dithcult and somewhat perilous proceeding. I had the good foi-tune to be snowed up for a few days in Boston, for though one line was open to New York the journey was very slow, and as I met with friends at tjie Fremont, I was only too glad to be in such quarters till the snow had been more completely cleared from the line. Boston in winter is gay, and its inhabitants are said to be sociable. The chief attraction in the way of public amusement during my stay was Italian m •^A ■'M ■■M ■I. 304 THE GREAT COUNTRY. :''^ * ' f ^ > M I', Opera, which attracted large audiences. Sunday evening concerts were also well attended; they were called sacred, but I do not think that the profane element was hy any means excluded from the pi-ogramme. The railway communication between Boston and New York is very good, though the pace is not exciting, and the point at which New York is entered is by no means calculated to give a lofty impression of the Empire City ; added to which, at a short distance from the terminus, the locomotive is detached, and horses draw their great lumbering cars on tramways through the street to their place of destination, reminding one of the entrance of a wild beasf show into a provincial town. If, on arriving in New York, you arc wise you will check your baggage to your hotel or domicile, and will then l)e freed from the extortion of the carriages, or that terrible old vehich; that is in waiting to convey passengers to tlifj different hotels. When I returned to New York after my trip into Canada, I found the streets many feet deep in snow, in wliicli condition they were allowed to remain from Deceni,l)er till March. In fact, there Ave^c no means of clearing it away, as the conti actor, finding he had made a bad bargain, coolly repudiated the agreemeXit into which he had entered for keeping the streets clean. UNITED STATES. 305 No cioubt he has friends among the municipality, and will get the contract next year. The great national holidays observed in America during the winter are Thanksgiving Day and Washington's birthday. There is a sort of military demonstration on what they call Evacuation Day, or the anniversary of the abandonment of New York by the English. On this last occasion I was able to see some of the volunteer bands, who turn out very well, though some of the officers, who were mounted, had anything but a highly military bear- ing. Nor did a fancy-looking opera cloak which they wore, with a hood and tassel attached, give an imposing air to the wearer. I did not see many other military demonstrations, if I except the honours paid to one of their generals named Sheridan, who was familiarly termed " little Phil," He had n mi^d sort of ovation given him in the form of a. i;iust jr of veterans and a levee at one of the clubs. I really do n■ '■■m '.I «!•' i 1 » D 1% ^ r> i'i^. f-1 il; 308 THE GREAT COUNTRY. petty (lietinctions existing among them is amusing, and affords an indication of the love for them which is so universally felt. If one is to judge of a people by its literature, by the tone o" ^he public press, and the speeches of its public men ^aci'ted person, who has paid atten- tion to thest - iv^iculars, can feel otherwise than that Americans have much to learn. Those who visit the United States with a strong bias in favour of republican institutions, and on their arrival and during their sojourn in the country are feted and made much of, will be doubtless delighted with all that they see and hear, just in the same manner that the trustees of a charity school, on a stated day, paying a visit to their trust, find the children in apple-pie order, and after having been treated with all due honour and attention by the master and the matron, and regaled at the expense of the funds, retm'n home and give a flourishing account of the state of the school. In like manner, members of religious bodies visit- ing America are sure to be received with open arms by their co-religionists. A round of religious services, public breakfasts, Sunday-school demonstrations, and the like, are no doubt very gratifying to a man like Sir Morton Peto, who takes so deep an interest in the Baptist community ; but his experiences of that body can give him but a faint notion of the state ■'i? UNITED STATES. 309 of religious feeling in the bulk of the American people. To hear the wild denunciations uttered against England at the Cooper Institute, one of the largest in New York, in the presence of a large assembly, with the mayor of the city in the chair, you would think that some great wrong had been done to the United States by Great Britain, and are not a little surprised to learn that the meeting has been con- vened by a low ruffian, who has lately been liberated from an English prison by the clemency of our government after violating our laws ; and the pre- sence of the Mayor is to be accounted for only on the score of his being desirous to propitiate the mob, on whose votes he depends for his election. The detest- able system of popular election for all offices is sub- versive of the very first principles of justice and order. There is another point of national character which is remarkable, viz., the boldness with which the American papers make statements with respect to matters in England, which at once proclaim their ignorance of our institutions and customs : such as calling Mr. Bright the Honourable John Bright, and speaking of Mr. Disraeli as about to resign the Great Seal ; designating an estimable Dissenting minister, who was preaching in New York, as a leading English divine ; and observing that the Alabama claims were now likely to be settled, as a celebrated ■I m ''M v:i M h'- tn f ! ¥ ; •i , , ' . '•, 1 310 THE GREAT COUNTllY. Doctor of Diviuity had declared in favour of their adjustment. The said D.D. was not a degree of the Univer- sities, and the holder thereof, though a man of no doubt great importance among his own congregation, would be one but little known beyond its pale, and certainly without influence in the councils of the nation. There is one matter which deeply interests literary . ^n " . England, and that is a law on the subject of international copyright, which will secure to authors compensation for the publication of their works in the respective countries. He must be indeed a simple-minded Britisher who expects any such act of justice from so 'cute a people as the Americans. " Why should we be such flatheads as to pay for what we can get for nothing?" they would wisely argue. There may be a law respecting international copy- right some day, but the passing of it is a long way off ; as, in my opinion, it will never be enacted till England has to go to America for her literature, and then the Transatlantic authors will get the publishers to use their influence with Congress to make the Britishers pay. And, as I have already said, this is looking to a state of things a very long way ahead. American publishers, in some cases, complain that UNITED STATES. 311 copy- ^way innfpr) ature, it the ess to ready T long ti that when they have paid English authors large sums for the advanced sheets of their works, that the said authors will persist in stating that they have not been paid for copyright, which certainly sounds very like an evasion. I have heard of publishers who have offered very handsomely to take the advanced sheets of a work, and promise the author lialf the amount of any profit that might accrue therefrom. To expect money from such a source is very like hoping to get butter out of a dog's throat. No, we must be content with the admiration of our patrons across the Atlantic ; for we shall never get anything more substantial out of them. And, without levity, I express my sentiment as to remuneration of authors from America thus — I wish they may get it. It is an aggravation of no light order to think that American publishers not only steal standard Enghsh works, but have the audacity to alter the spelling ; in fact, though they condescend to appro- priate an English author's property, yet they in no wise acknowledge in his case, or any other, supe- riority on our side : in fact, they consider themselves the standard in writing and speaking. I have been told, with an air of commiserating patronage, that I had " a very Enghsh accent ; " by which was meant, I apprehend, that I did not whine or speak m ■'M >w'J 312 THE GREAT COUNTRY. through my nose — two great charms of American oratory, I conckule, for I have heard more than one public speaker who had these gifts to a considerable extent. It is as orators especially that Americans imagine they excel ; and pride themselves on giving Shake- speare with a force and fire that takes the shine pretty considerably out of the Britisher. I have seen a statement in one of their papers to the effect that there was not a theatre on Broadway that could not produce at least six actors who would read better than the finest accredited English reader. Of the licence of the press I have spoken else- where ; and it only remains for me to remark that, in this respect, as far as private individuals are con- cerned, the tone of the most scurrilous of the papers has been much moderated of late, and individuals are safe, unless any political circumstance should render an attack on private character desirable. No sooner is a man candidate for any public appointment, from President downwards, than his political opponents attack him furiously ; and woe be to him if they can rake up any long-forgotten transaction in which he has not cut a good figure. I am a little surprised that during the period of the Presidential election that the candidates should be taunted with the charge of drunkenness, as I should , A t^ UNITED STATES. 313 A have thought it would luive been regiirtled by the majority of the people as rather a virtue than a viee. That a re8pecta])le journal should coolly write about repudiation of the public debt must astonish any right-thinking man, and forces on one the con- viction that there is a party in America with which honesty is the best policy only as long as it is the most convenient, and that, some day, all wdio hold U.S. securities will find themselves in a similar posi- tion to that of the Spanish bond-holders, or the fortunate possessors of stock issued by some of the South American Liberal Governments. Nor are examples of this style of transaction wanting within the United States. But one had hoped that such things were not likely to recur; nothing, however, is safe or sacred in the eyes of a rash, unreflecting mob ; and one has every evil to dread for a country constituted as America is, both politically and socially. English, Scotch, Irish, French, Italians, and Germans are found among the great constituencies of the United States — few, if any, of the representatives of these nationalities being from the class best fitted for legislators. Leaving my fellow-country-people, of whom I have spoken elsewhere, I may here observe that the French element in the Southern States alone has contributed to the advancement of religion. ■■ ■ 'fl ■I'm ■f 'm 314 TIIE OliEAT COUNTEY. i The Germans are notoriously irreligious, except the few. Many have left that Fatherland, of which they are so fond, to avoid taxation and conscription. The Italian, too, has deserted his United Country for the same reasons. The Germans thrive wherever they go by their industry and economy. The Italians do not, as a rule, achieve greatness in any high calling, having, in a great measure, merely supplanted the Negroes in the capacity of barbers. This must afford great scope for reflection in the minds of those who indulge in speculations as to the future of the United States. The deepest thinker, either native or foreign, would indeed waste his time were he to attempt to point out any possible rocks ahead to a people so utterly sunk in self-conceit, and given up to rash- ness. All they wish to hear is approbation and admiration — gratifying to us all, but by no means salutary to either nations or individuals. Had the late war produced one man of genius he might have made himself Military Dictator; and though the very mention of such a thing irritates even sober-minded citizens, yet I am inclined to think that they do not reflect on what they could have opposed to a successful general at the head of a powerful army. It is very easy to talk of the spirit of the whole If ill UNITED STATES. 810 people being averse to such a state of things, but very few of the wealthy merchants of New York, however Republican, would feel inclined to risk a collision between the troops and the populace, which would lead to nothing but anarchy or military des- potism. It sounds well to speak of sacrificing everything for one's countrj'^, but when the talk takes the practical form of necessitating the loss of all one's worldly possessions, including life itself, then it is high time to look out for some form of government that wiU afford efficient protection to both. The increasing wealth of the country has led to the institution of a poUce, and an increasing standing army is to be looked for. These are the commencement of a system by which the mob must be curbed ; so that a man's property may be saved, not from bands of rioters alone, but from those of a legislative body which, at the dictates of its constituents, may repudiate all claims on the country, however just, or vote away the money of the wealthy few to satisfy th( u,)acity of tLo greedy multitude. New York had her lesson in the riots of 1863, when the draft for the army caused so much discon- tent, because the man who had money could pay for a substitute, whilst the poor man was compelled to serve at the positive sacrifice of daily bread to his :'m ■-h'j ■': n '■,-M U16 THE GREAT COUNTRY. 5; !/ family, and the probable loss of life or liml) to him- self. The scenes of violence and bloodshed being enacted in various parts of the States are not merely the result of political excitement, such as might occur in any country, but are such as every country has at times been obliged to put down with the sacrifice of human life. From the excesses of the masses have tyrannies always sprung. This is the lesson which the history of the Old World teaches. And even admitting the vast superiority of the New, yet it must be allowed that the ruling powers have, in the United States, shown pretty plainly that the old method of dealing with a riotous mob, by means of powder and shot, is not one of those " busted, effete " ways of proceeding that they despise too much to imitate There is one rock ahead which is already visible above the troubled waters of American politics, and that is, the unwillingness evinced by the Western States to bear the burden of taxes, which, though levied for the general good, have benefited one por- tion of the country more than another. The late war, for instance, has cost the country at large an enormous sum, and all the States are called upon to pay their share of the expenditure ; " but," exclaims the Western man, " what did I gain by the war ? You men down East alone got all the m.u UNITED STATi:S. 317 contracts and made imnicnso fortunes, to wliicli we who have gained nothing have had to (contribute. No, sir ! wc don't see it, and wc won't pay." This will be the universal cry throughout the country. Patriotism, honour, gluy, are all very good things in their way, l)ut "what are we going to get by them ? " will be asked. ** When we shook off the Britisliers, we got rid of the taxes ; but if we go to war with one another wc shall have to pay or repudiate." Nothing could have exceede'.^ ■ \ I'' ■tu ii 322 THE GREAT COUNTRY. I Pf I i|; past. The state of "things daily revealed as actually existing in the great cities, proves, however, that such is not the case, and that, as the natives say " a man must go about in America with his ' eye-teeth ' skinned," in order to hold his own. To be swindled is a proof of weakness, which only excites contempt in the American mind, and to swindle successfully, I am inclined to think, renders the operator in a sense admirable, even in the estimation of those who disapprove his acts. Smartness is a quality so highly admired that, if a man display an uncommon amount of it, his neighbour cannot withhold his admiration, though he may condemn the purpose to which the talent has been devoted. One instance of this kind of thing, to which my attention was called, could excite no feeling but one of intense disgust, and that was a proposal for get- ting up a subscription for an asylum at Gettysburg, for the soldiers woiaded and disabled in the late war. For this purpose there was an office on Broadway, with a flag in front of it extending across the street, where the plans could be seen and sub- scriptions paid in. Men walked the streets with boards, on which were inscribed the thrilling words : " The people have resolved to build an asylum for our wounded soldiers ; France has her Invalides, England her UNITED STATES. 323 Greenwich, why should not we have our Gettys- burg?" Lotteries were got up in aid of this purely national object, among the prizes being diamonds, given by the fair daughters of Columbia to swell the amount to be devoted to the men who had preserved the much cherished Union. One was touched at all this apparent devotion and sjrmpathy displayed for these brave fellows, some of whom are to be seen begging in the streets of the various cities of the Union, and it was a shock to be told that the whole affair, even the diamonds, was what is called in England a sham, in America " bogus." That such an asylum, if needed, should not be the work of the government, is, perhaps, the only real subject for surprise in the matter, since swindles of the benevolent order are only too general throughout the world. One must allow that frequently it is impossible not to laugh at the stories of audacity and chicanery which one hears, instancing as they do such remark- able " 'cuteness " on one side, and so much weakness on the other. In many cases the swindled man is not entitled to any pity, as he is but a victim to his own avarice, having been gulled by the hope of some extraordi- nary profit. This does not apply to unfortunate v^:i i Y 2 Hi! I ( i ' f> } ;:i n. \ 324 THE GREAT COUNTRY. emigrants who are induced to buy fine estates which turn out to be nothing but swamps. Men who invest capital in the United States should take into consideration all the risks they run, and try to obtain guarantees as to the safety of their investments from really responsible people. I have had some experience as to the treatment artists may expect who visit America with in- sufficient guarantees as to their engagements, and would warn all who think of going there against trusting to anything but the money paid down in advance. I think the prevailing notion among English actors, for instance, that there are fortunes to be made in America, is a delusion. In the first place, our best actors would not be appreciated there. I think if the Alhambra could be transported bodily to the centre of New York, it might succeed, especially if the fact of its being English could be concealed. Whilst on this subject, although one is not induced to give Americans credit for taste in any- thing, including their amusements, I must say that the Philharmonic Band in New York does the city credit. Both music and musicians of course are derived from Germany ; but the Americans seem to appreciate the performance to a degree far be- yond what one would expect of them. *v;?£;saKSE!»i'? UNITED STATES. 325 Their patronage of Italian Opera may be attribut- able in a great degree to fashion ; but this cannot induce them to sit out a concert of classical music, which would not be endurable to an ordinary audience merely seeking for amusement, and I am inclined to think the only artists who might gain favour with the Americans in spite of being English are musicians. " English " is not a word which recommends any- thing or anybody to Americans. To admit our su- periority in any way is galling to the mass of them. It is very natural that it should be so, for in England there is little or no interest felt by the general public about America. We don't think enough about them as a people to have any very strong feeling as to what they do or say, though I am proud to think that, whenever an American with any real claim to superiority has visited this country, he cannot with truth complain of either injustice or inhospitality in the treatment he has received ; and this I have heard American visitors ever ready to assert most loudly, expressing themselves deeply sensible of the great kindness they have experienced at our hands. It is only justice to admit that those men who in America are most bitter against all that is English are frequently, if not always, our fellow countrymen. American affairs in general do not interest any of I m 1* m V'^tS 1 1. ul ' i il ill 326 THE GREAT COUNTRY. US, except those whose commercial interests bring them into closer relations with the United States. I do not think there is amongst us any strong feeling of dislike for Americans, so much as an entire absence of interest in their proceedings ; they imagine we are always thinking about what they do or say ; whereas we don't care about either one or the other. There is one extraordinary delusion under which they labour, and that is, the imagining the late war to have exalted them in our estimation ; whereas we must regard it as a gross violation of their political principles, apart from the higher consideration of its being unnatural and unchristian. They want us to say that we believe it to have been one of the most glorious struggles in which a people ever engaged, and that in comparison with it, all other wars are " real mean/' No doubt some strategical ability was displayed by the victors, especially at the close of the war, which atoned for their blunders and failures at the commencement; bu.t apart from such considera- tions, every true friend of America must have deplored the melancholy spectacle which such a conflict displayed, and loud must be the con- demnation pronounced by every right-thinking man on those to whom the origin of the war is attributable. ■Iv1# UNITED STATES. 327 It is a subject for anything but national glori- fication, though the majority of Americans do not seem to think so. "We have been much more respected on the other side," said an American lady to me, " since our war." I could only say that I did not see why Cain should be more respected after he had killed Abel, even supposing that he had been provoked into the commission of the crime. I don't believe many English people out of Liverpool and Manchester, took much interest in the war. I am very sure from my own experience that some of our countrymen, ordinarily well informed on other subjects, were at fault as to the exact parts of the United States in which the war was being carried on; for I heard more than one person express a sympathy with a relation of mine resident in America, as living amid the horrors of war, whereas his domicile was in New York. I am sure we are quite willing to let Americans do, think, and speak as they please, if they will only accord us similar liberty. There are one or two points which I would endea- vour to impress strongly on those who visit America. One is that they should never believe anything they hear or read as to railway travelling ; still less are they to trust railway agents. They should start on u ■v'. ■.: ■'■■■'-I h r 1^1; i ,. l»* '' I 1^ ' ^^ w • 1 ^H®'^ i iH|£^ i ! ^■^^■el f ' 328 THE GREAT COUNTRY. a journey in a spirit of trust that they are sure to go somewhere ; but as to exact time or phice of arrival, neither can be calculated on. Whenever they arrive safely at their place of destination, let them " rest and be thankful." The next point is, that in travelling they are to dismiss all idea of comfort or enjoyment ; they must pursue their journey as though acting from a stern sense of duty, as that alone can support man under such a trial. I am addressing myself to English ladies and gentlemen, whose education and antecedents have fitted them to appreciate the blessings of refinement and order. I can quite understand that men, whose time and thoughts are wholly absorbed in business, are satisfied with rushing through the country in pur- suit of money. For their purpose no doubt America is admirably suited ; but not for those who are in search of pleasure, or would find that in which they can take interest. I except, of course, military men, who naturally derive satisfaction from going over the vast area on which the late war was carried on ; but to an ordinary traveller there is nothing from which interest is to be derived. All is utterly common- place — a bad repetition of what one has seen in various parts of Europe. UNITED STATES. 32a In speaking thuH, I must not be understood to refer to my voyage out and home : nothing can exceed the discipline and order maintained on board the Cunard steamers. The courtesy of the captains and officers is too notorious to need more than a passing and grateful allusion to it from one who has experienced much kind attention on board the " Persia " and the " Java." The landing-place of the Cunard steamers in Jersey city, it may be remarked, is a disgrace to the company. Nor are the custom-house arrangements by any means first-rate. To return to the steamers, there is a tradition of one captain having been put out by an old lady on board his vessel who was constantly persecuting him with questions at most inopportune moments. The lady, in great terror during a thick fog oflf the Bank, inquired, — " Captain, is it always foggy here ? " " How the should I know, marm ? I'm not always here," was all the reply she elicited. This is merely mentioned as an exception to prove a rule. My fellow-passengers were not sociable at first; no one can be on board ship. Everyone is either sick or sulky. You are out of gear and can't settle to anything ; reading is difficult, writing out of the question. The one great occupation is taking meals, m ■V- -'ll '■V .-.J «* ■•.* ■ 180 TUK GREAT COUNTRY. 'X I ■,S ■ ' ''■ ■ which you may do almost without intermission, from seven in the morning till eleven o'clock at night ; commencing with a cup of coffee, and ending with grog and sandwiches. It is marvellous how the supply of food is kept uj?, for though there is some- what of a scramble at dinner, yet no reasonable person can complain of the quantity or quaUty of the food and drink. To walk the deck and talk, is the alternative to eating and drinking; for as to devoting the time to any subject demanding intellectual exercise, that is impossible. One feels unsettled, anxious, not as to one's safety, but to get to one's journey's end. Yet, in spite of all this, there is a certain amount of satis- faction to be derived from the trip by all who are not sea-sick. It is worth while to cross the Atlantic, if it be only for the sake of the amount of agree- able excitement one experiences, firstly, on arriving safely in New York, and secondly, for the still greater pleasure of finding oneself once more in England. REFLECTIONS. A CALM retrospect is always the most satisfactory portion of any enterprise in which one may liavc been engaged, and it is with real feeling of pleasure that I recall much of my American expe- rience. I do not in any way allude to the few friends I made; with respect to them I have nothing h\it that which is highly gratifying to remember. We may disagree, but I am sure we shall never quarrel, even though they may not be enthusiastic admirers of England, nor I be delighted with the U.S. Amid much that I have disliked in the country, I have found a great deal from which I could derive amusement, and my fault-finding is, I trust, free from ill-nature. There is one institution against which I confess that I have a decided grudge, and that is the Post Office in New York, which is most inefficient. The delays in delivering letters, to say nothing of repeated losses of both books and letters committed to its care, render it a doubtful advantage to the public at large. Ml '^m %^ '■''hi 1.: f ■■■ ' .1 '4 H.II I.HI'JII'^MIBB 3;32 THE GREAT COUNTRY. .|i. I believe its inefficiency is universally admitted, and explained by the circumstance that the .«^aft' employed is exactly the same as it was fivc-and- twenty years ago, whilst the amount of work for those employed must have been increased more than a hundred-fold. I must say one word with regard to American audiences, that, in spite of thoir restless disposi- tions, they are much enduring, and very in- dulgent. " They laugh themselves sick," as they elegantly express it, at some things, and are easily amused. I have spoken of want of taste as a national defect among Americans. I think I cannot do better, in order to substantiate my views on that subject, than give the following extract from a leading daily paper of New York. Value of Fob's Autograph. — Horace Grreeley, in his " Re- collections of a Busy Life," gives some correspondence that passed between himself and a stranger regarding Foe's auto- graph. We quote : — " A gushing youth once wrote me to this effect : — "'Dear Sir,— Among your literary treasures you have doubtless preserved several autographs of our country's late lamented poet, Edgar A. Foe. If so, and you can spare one, please enclose it to me, and receive the thanks of yours truly.' " I promptly responded as follows : — " ' Dear Sir, — Among my literary treasures there happens to be exactly otie autograph of our country's lute lamented i REFLECTIONS. ,33;5 poet, Edgar A. Poe. It is his note of hand for |50, with my endorsement across the back. It cost me exactly $50 75, (in- cluding protest,) and you may have it for half that amount. Yours, respectfully.' " That autograph, I regret to say, remains on my hands, and is still for sale at the original price, despite the lapse of time, and the depreciation of our currency." From an English point of view Americans are not happy in the words they select as names for things ; as an instance I will quote the experience of an Englishman who was paying some attentions to a very pretty American girl at breakfast, and in the course of the meal, on offering the fair one some shrimps, was not a little taken aback by her de(;lining them, saying, "Not any, tliank you, I never eat bugs." That most unmentionable kind of vermin supplying a generic term for insects in America, under which head the lady classed the relishful shrimp, which by the way is not a popular form of food in America. Apart from these little inelegances of speech, there are certain forms of expression which are awkward and unmeaning, such as calling the decla- ration set forth by a candidate for office, or by any party, as to principles, &c., "a platform." One might as well call a sermon a pulpit. There is to our ears an affectation in the use of the word *' recuperate " in speaking of a man's recovering liis Am •■Sii '^Si It. .1 ' \' \ 331 THE GEEAT COUNTRY. credit or position. Also in giving an account of the collision of two vessels, it is surely no improve- ment to say that they " collided." I was much puzzled when I heard of a lady having on a certain evening given " a German." I bethought me of sausages, flutes, and other products ascribed to that nation, which might be presented to friends, but on further inquiry found that "a German" was the name given to a dance which formed the backbone of an evening devoted to Terpsichore. No doubt many forms of speech rife among Americans are mere vulgarisms, or provincial ex- pressions imported from various parts of England; in fact, on hearing many Americans speak, one is strongly reminded, both by language and accent, of the rustic dialects of one's native land. Some of the words in use are manifestly translations from the Dutch, whilst others recall to one's mind certain scientific terms which seem to have wandered into general conversation, such as calling that venerable institu- tion the fire-plug a hydrant, a term which, in strict parlance, would be more applicable to our respected friend the turncock. It is not by any means unusual in America to hear respectable men use expressions, one in par- ticular, at the very sound of which one recoils with disgust, when uttered by the lowest of the low in '■!-n-gsi;*".'P'5gigam REFLECTIONS. 335 the streets of London. I have known an instance of a father, an American resident in Europe, who had sent his sons to America for education, and on visiting them was shocked and disgusted at the language the lads employed in their ordinary con- versation. On complaining to the schoolmaster he was told that it would be useless to attempt to stop it. Hearing this, and being dissatisfied in other respects with Transatlantic education, he resolved to remove his children from the contamination by w^hich he found them surrounded. Whilst on the subject of choice of expressions, I must take the opportunity of referring to the appli- cation of the term " skunk " to an individual, and certainly it is the very "strongest" term of op- probium that could be applied, for of all the terrible creatures to encounter, a skunk is perhaps the worst; with a lion or tiger a conflict would be soon over, and if you should be so fortunate as to come off victorious, your wounds might soon be healed, and the consequences entailed be nothing more unpleasant ; not so however would be his condition who fell in with a skunk. My personal experience of this creature was slight, but most impressive ; it was on my journey south that, one evening just after dark, the cars suddenly became filled with an effluvium so detestable as to make me exclaim " Good heavens, where are we ? " imagining ^'11 '~y,;J if ■ ,V1 .-^rt mae^m»im»mmMmmmam —^^-"^^ .^-»...r«>«-r^--^.dr«- «.»^fM..«mt-^y ?jr.c, THE GREAT COUNTRY. i' ^ 1^; that we were passing through some region where putrescence reigned supreme. " I guess we've gone over a skunk," observed a fellow traveller, a view of the case in which he was supported by the con- ductor. I think it was during this same journey that I fell in with an American, a man from " out West," who was boasting of the inexhaustible wealth of the country. " Why," said he, " we burn more corn in our locomotives than would half feed Europe ; " and I was assured there was foundation for this some- what startling assertion, inasmuch that Indian corn was so abundant in the west as to be far cheaper than any ordinary fuel that could be used ; though it is a general and popular article of food through- out the States. It is especially esteemed when young and tender, when it is eaten boiled with butter, and known as green corn. Having returned to the subject of eating, I am re- minded to advise travellers in America, on arriving at a hotel, to secure the good offices of a particular waiter in the dining-room by the judicious admi- nistration of a dollar at the outset, and he will then become their devoted slave, and secure for them hot food of the best description that the estabhshment can supply. This more particularly applies to those who travel in parties. It not unfrequently happens that when a dish is EEFLEOTIONS. 33"; IS placed on tlie tabic at which you are seated, a waiter will seize and bear it off elsewhere. The natives are on the alert for this style of thing, and will not hesitate to collar the said waiter, and wrest the dainty from his grasp, but a stranger is hardly up to this at first. It is a very good rule in life, no doubt, to take anything you wish for, if you can, from your neigh- bour, and this principle is acted on very generally in the Great Country. Those who adopt this line of conduct as a rule will get through the world successfully ; but the difficulty is when everyone is at the same game, and hence much trouble may be anticipated in America, till the necessity of respecting the rights of one's neighbour be more generally recognised. Concession and compromise are the great secrets of man's social existence, Ijcing conducted advanta- geously for all, and till these principles be more fully recognised and acted upon by the Americans, they will never have either peace or security at home or abroad. The country is now on the eve of what is little less than a national calamity, the Presidential election, and sincerely will every friend of humanity rejoice should it pass off without some most serious evils arising. Not wishing to be the prophet of evil, I will say no more as to its issue than express a m m "'H J •^■^1 ••»i '""i! 338 THE GREAT COUNTRY. M ) devout wish that it may end well for all concerned in it. The state of turmoil in the Southern States will be something extraordinary, thanks to the efforts of " Carpet Baggers," and the real or supposed machi- nations of the " Ku-Klux-Klan," a secret society said by some to be an organisation of the democrats for the destruction of the lives and property of those who are opposed to them, whilst others declare it to be a sort of bogey set up by the republicans to bring their opponents into disrepute. Armed bands of these ruffians are said to have committed outrages of the worst description, but, during my sojourn in the South, the accounts of the pro- ceedings of these disturbers of the public peace were so conflicting, that it was difficult to realise even their existence. As the time for the election approaches no doubt greater excitement will prevail, and the reports will be more exaggerated as to the course of action adopted by all engaged in this great national con- vulsion, a Avhole nation throwing all their energies into the struggle which will "eventuate," as they would say, in the election of the warhke " tanner " or the peaceful " cow-milker." The time of the Presidential election is indeed a momentous period, affecting, as it does, the interests of nearly every one in the employ of the Government, / ri \\ heflections. 339 ^ from the President clown to the door-keeper ; for all who hold office throughout the length and breadth of this vast country will be displaced. This circumstance alone is enough to convulse the whole community, were there no political excitement mixed up with the affair. But if the Americans like such a state of things, that is no business of ours, we can only say there is no accounting for taste. As regards the choice of a President, as he is almost powerless, it is of very little consequence on whom the honour is conferred. \Yere General Grant a man of extraordinary ability, his election would, perhaps, be a step on the road towards autocracy ; but shoidd he prove to be the "Useless" Grant, as his enemies down South designate him, he will do very well for the place, and discharge its duties with the amount of dignity that so exalted a position demands. The prestige of his name may subdue the aggres- sive spirit of the Indian. He may be called upon to exterminate the Mormons, or rescue Mexico from the power of Juarez and the other savages who are now dominant in that unhappy land. Whoever the President may be, there is much for him to do at home ; but as he will, no doubt, be forced into in- terference with his neighbours, the work I have cut out for him, as his predecessor would have said, he will most likely have to take in hand. 18. M *''• 'a « "fl 340 THE GREAT COUNTRY. I 1 :n ■ I. ^\ s i'»i ^ •( i Should he be a really wise man, he will leave his neighbours alone and devote all his energies, and the little power he possesses, to heal the wounds at home, and soften the bitter feelings which exist in the so-called United States. It is a singular fact that a people ever ready and willing to annul the marriage- bond — that most sacred tie Avhich binds human beings together — on the ground of the inexpediency of any union being- forced, or indissoluble, should insist so strongly on fettering the Southern States to their Northei-n masters. The way in which some Americans insist on the maintenonce of the Union at any cost would induce one to think that they held the institution of the United States to have been an act of an in- fallible being, or that their laws, like those of the Medes and Persians, alter not — a singular position to be assumed by those who sneer at old and effete customs, and whose boast it is to be essentially a people devoted to progress. They seem, however, likely to discover that all things work in circles, and that they will some day find themselves back again at the point from which they originally started. As regards the future, there are those in America who give it as an opinion that the next civil war in which they are engaged will be a religious one, and that the conflict will be between the Catholics and Protestants. I think this highly probable ; but it m REFLECTIONS. 841 will not be a war of swords and guns, but merely a continuation of the struggle in which the Church is engaged at present. As long as she possesses neither wealth nor State protection, there is nothing to make the conflict between her and the world at large other than what it should ever be, a moral struggle. Wlien the Puritans reigned in New England, a Catholic priest was a proscribed man, and death awaited him if discovered. In New York, under the English rule, he had no better position. In America the Protestants have been the persecutors, the Papists the champions of liberty of conscience, a fact which goes far to prove that it w^as by being degraded to a mere engine of the State that the Catholic Church has been blotted with the stains of blood which have disgraced her career and made her enemies exult. It remains to l3e seen what fresh difficulties may beset her path in the New World ; but at present her prospects seem most chv.ering, and her future position bids fair to be not a place among princes and potentates, but a throne set up in the hearts of millions, who will yield her the only service that she should in right demand of her children — that of the heart and will. There is one point on which all men agree with respect to the Catholic clergy, that whatever else may be their motive, certainly the "loaves and , 'VJ i'.\\ y^i ' >A 352 AITENDIX. lionour of the (lovernincnt must surely go down in the struggle. Suddenly, as the immediate result of the struggle for party l)Ower, the great doubt of the war, the deep problem that was supposed to be determined and closed for ever, is opened again. That great doubt Avas, would the United States go through so fearful a struggle and come out safely — come out soon also — a vital, efficient power, possessed of a dominant legitimate (Jovern- ment, acting imder the law ? Upon that point rested our credit, and as the result seemed doubtful for us our bonds went down ; as the iirospect brightened they went up. But the war was brought to a close. The legitimate Goverimient had trium- phantly asserted its power, and was respected and supreme in the exercise of all its functions. We had falsified all the examples of history and all the ill-natured pi-ophecies by going through the great struggle Avithout political convulsion, and the vast debt we had incurred to rescue the nation seemed safe — the pledge of our honoiir sure to be redeemed. But all at once there is an entire change. We are thrown back from the fixed point we had reached, and float in the uncertain sea of revolu- tionary troubles, so tossed hitlier and thither that none can say where we may be beached. We are again in the category of nations whose gi'eat wars ended in great internecine contests for political power ; and people miist reason to our future from such examples as that of France, in which the series of changes ran through a score of years and upset all law and order. Who shall say now that the nation's bonds will ultimately be of more value than were those of France ? or that the United ?!i:ates' greenback will not figure in the same chapter of monetary history that recites the story of the French assignats 1 Our tendency is downward in the same direction. Already a party has dared to raise its head to put forwai'd a repudiation candi- date for the Presidency ; and now that the people can see no prospect that the burden of taxes will be relieved, now that there is all appearance that our financial ctindition will go from bad to worse, this repudiation party will find its hands immensely strengthened in popular sympathy, and may suddenly discover that it has grown to be one of the groat exponents of the popular will. And thus it is that impeachment, and the disturbance it involves, means in the result neither more nor loss than national bankruptcy. — Netv York Herald. \ APPENDIX. 353 I GREENBACK HEPUDIATION. The Chicago Tribune, in attempting to correct a misre- presentation of the i^osition of this paper on the bond question, says :— " His (Pomeroy's) plan is, to repudiate both bonds and green- backs, and make one job of it. He coudemns the sneaking way of stabbing the national creditors in tl)o l)ack in tlie dark, as advocated by the Chicago Times and other cowardly Copperhead prints.'' Now, the above statement that we are in favour of repudiating the greenbacks is a notable lie, and is the result of ignorance on the part of the Tribune writer, or is one of their characteristic dodges wherewith they expect to make capital. If it is the first, we suggest the Tribune engage some man who can read and understand the English language ; if it is the latter, we do not quite luiderstand what remedy to apply, as there is no law in Chicago, we believe, which prevents a lying Jacobin indulging in his favourite jiastimo. We have never advocated the repudiation of the greenbacks, and the Tribune should know, if it knows anything. On the contrary, we have asserted, and do now affirm, that such a course would be dangerous a..d unjust, because, instead of crushing the thieving aristocracy of bondholders, shoddyites, and contractors, it would be a direct blow at any and all poor people of the countiy who might be so unfortunate as to have a few dollars in their possession, which, in suc'.i an event, tliey woidd lase. For the benefit of the Tribune and everyone else, we republish the following frum our previous article on the s\ib- ject :— "We propose, as the Tribune well knows, to prevent this calamity to the industrial classes, by at once making a clean sweep of the bonds and the taxation necessary to sustain them. This remedy is plain and direct, free from all complications, and insures certain and absolute relief from the * burden of debt and taxation,' which the Jacobin leader admits to be so 'oppres- sive. Do you find any greenback repudiation in that 1 When you want to lie about us again, please do it on some less important subject. — La Crosst Democrat. K k ■m 3d4 APPENDIX. '1 ) f,- m * %'■ I I POLITICAL RANCOUR. JACOBINS — NOTHING BUT JACOBINS. Wo like the ring of that resohition adopted by the Maine Democracy in State Convention at Augusta : — " That the time had come for all to baud against the Jacobiud." " Jacobins " is the very best word m the language, because it is the word that has the most meaning to properly charac- terize the Radical party. They call themselves Republicans, but to that character we all know they have really no claim. There is positively nothing Republican about them, unless it be Red Republicanism. They are Jacobins — because they seek to govern the people through the instrumentality of a Central Directory, or a Rump Congress, from whose decrees there is no appeal. They are Jacobins — because under th.e rallying cry of Liberty, Equality, aud Fraternity, they have, since their accession to power, helped to deluge the land with fraternal blood. They are Jacobins — because under pretence of giving liberty to men, they have set up a military despotism, which leaves millions of men of their own race i)ractically no liberty whatever. They are Jacobins — because they rule, and seek to rule, by force, intimidation, and terror. They are Jacobins — because they have set up, and seek to set up, the power of the few over the wishes of the many. They are Jacobins — because they are constantly seeking to stir up strife, and to excite the passions and prejudices of one class of people against another class. They arc Jacobins — because they are eternally attempting mischievous experiments in government, politics, finance, — incessant agitation being an element without which they cannot exist. They are Jacobins — because of their conscription and forced levies, to feed the jaws of war and of death, with which their name must ever be historically associated. It took the French people some years to get rid of tiiis hideous monster. Jacobinism — but an end was made of it at last ; so we too, if historical parallels are worth anything, need not APPENDIX. 355 iG Maine inst the , because Y charac- iiiblicans, ao claim, unless it le people • a Rump F Liberty, :ession to ig liberty ch leaves whatever. rule, by i seek to any. seeking to jes of one ttempting finance, — ey cannot nd forced lich their id of this it at last ; need not despair of driving it from existence. We believe it has already run its course, and that if the grout Democratic National Con- vention, now about to asseml)le, but acts — as doubtless it will act — with ordinary discretion, the hideous thing, with all its ghastly accomi)animcnts, will be deep down in its grave about the time tlie wintry winds of November are whistling in our ear. — New York Evi^nuxj Ejcpress. POLITICAL HONESTY. FIIAUU IN THE ELECTION OF SPEAKER OP THE HOUSE. It seems to have been a preconcerted plan on the part of the Radicals on yesterday to elect their Speaker in the House by fraud and brute force. In respect to the day before proceeding to the election of officers. Captain Diudap Scott moved au adjournment, Avhich motion Governor Bullock refused to put. General Meade being present, Scott appealed to the military, but instead of putting his motion, after a short conference between !Meade and Bullock, the latter ordered the election to pi'oceed, in violation of a parliamentary rule common to all deliberative bodies, and familiar to every man with the least knowledge of parliamentary usage. The House then proceeded to the election of a Speaker, which resulted as follows : — McWhorter (Radical), 76 ; Price (Democrat), 74 ; Holden, 1. Price having absented himself from the Hall for a moment whilst the vote was being taken, was told on his return tliat McWhorter had, in his absence, voted for him, and in return for the compliment, when Price's name was called, he voted for McWhorter. When informed that McWhorter had not voted for him, Price asked permission to withdraw his vote, which was granted by Governor Bullock, he (Bullock) stating that another vote would be added to Price, so that the vote, as ordered by Bullock, would stand thus : — McWhorter, 76 — 1 — 75 ; Price, 74 — 1 — 75 ; Holden, 1 — 1 ; leaving it a tie vote between McWhorter and Price. Without adding Price's vote to Price, McWhorter was still lacking one vote of an election, as a majority of all the votes cast was necessary to an election. That majority McWhorter did not receive, hence there was no election, and it is but due to the House and the State that A A 2 I ■ ■■ " 1 .'i f : Imi^aMDuat^^. 356 APPENDIX. (jJoveniur lUillock should, on Moudfxy next, order an election for Si)eaker of the House. If sneli u fliigrant act of injnstico 'is tliis — snch nn outrnf,'0 ui)()n the ])e()])lc of (Jcoroio- is eonnnitted in broad daylight, in tlio presence of hundreds of eye-witnesses, and under tiio ini- niediato cyo and direction of His lloyal HighncBs the Military Satrap of this District, what stupendous frauds may we not infer were perpetrated by these same men behind the curtain in the election of members to the Legislature, If (ieneral Mcado lias any regard other than that of a tyrant and usui-per for the rights of an oppressed and down-trodden people, we appeal to him to see that justice is done all parties in this election. If ^IcWhorter was fairly elected Si)caker, all i)arties should cheer- fully accpiiesce in the result ; but viewed in its true light, the j)e()ple of Georgia will have cause, indess another election is ordered, to brand this one as a fraud and an outrage upon their rights. Fortunately for the honour of the State in preventing a repetition of like frauds in the election of other officers, just as that of Speaker closed, a Radical band in front of the Hall commenced a patriotic air, which created a scene of confusion inside, resulting in an unceremonious and unparliamentary adjournment of the House. — Atlanta Paper. " ■-< 1' < ■ ' '( N * ■Ml COERUPTIOXS IX OFFICE. OUR CITY LEGISLATORS. Among the many accommodating terms which abound in the English language, there is scarcely any one so much used as that of " routine business." All sorts of societies, clubs, conventions have what is called " routine" business, and being known as " routine," there is little or no attention paid to it en passant. Our not)le, virtuous, valiant and highly enlightened city fathers in their assemblies have also what is termed " routine'' business, but their routine is something more than the mere calling of the roll and reading of the minutes of the previous meeting, for under their routine are pei-petrated at times many of the most barefaced swindles on the residents of particular localities or on the entire tax-paying portion of the community. These 11 APPENDIX. 3.-) j)!ivticiilar classes (jf rcsdliitions iita cnrsoiT glance would uppoav to be ])ul)lic! heiu'lits, uixl tlicy luivu In'coiiio of sucli f'rL't|iiciit occuiToiice that their iutroiluctiou or tiieir ])roscnco is not heeded liy any Imt those who, l)esi(les the otHcial, will l»o directly interested in their jiassage hy the Connuon (,'ouncil, and wlio, in coiij'uiction with the accoininodaling legislator, have therel)y made for them slits in the public money-bags through which they may insert their itching fingers and steal the })eople's Avealth. And because of their frequent (occurrence they are shoved ahead as " routine." There may be yet some inhabitant living who can remcmlxsr when the position of alderman was considered an honorary one ; when the matters connected with the extorting of money from the people and expending it for the particular benefit of the "ring" and its adjuncts were proceedings unknown. There are some yet living who can remember the fact that when matters connected with the public luisiness were agitated, the dooi's of the council chambers were opened to those who were obliged to pay for any improvements that were to be made, and when the party who could show the most reasonable and honest aig'iuncnts on a point would have the verdict in his favour ; when legislators — even city officials — cared something for their good names, and could allow their speeches or debates to go before their consti- tuents. There are many Avho can remendier the fact that the members of the Common (Council adverti.sed notices of the i)lace and time of the assembling of the various committees, and when parties interested could attend and give their views, so that the general public sentiment could be known ; but then a bottle of ■fthiskey was not the ])residing officer of the conmuttec meeting, and the reports of the committees and subsc(iucnt action of the boai'ds did not entirely depend on the amount of money used as a press to seal up a document or a lever to prize it open. But how different is the case at the present day ? The wholesale robberies l)y the national Congress and the State Legislature are imitated as closely as possible, as far as the amount of plunder will permit, by our municipal managers, but Avith less attempt at legal covering, owing to the fact that while the " heavy villains '' in the former are polished, and in many cases learned in the legal jn-ofession, and are enabled, there- fore, to be more subtle than the latter, who, like " front wood IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 I.I 1.25 Iff iia "■ m ^ 1^ 1= 2.0 1.8 U IIIIII.6 V] ^ 6^ ^ <6 <\ <\ E i"' , > 3-)8 APPENDIX. ■t V IV robbers," depend more on fierce looks, heavy lip-hair, slonchod hats and bravado to strike teiror into their victims, and thus render theia easy to be phickcd. They have certainly strnck terror into the city taxpayers, and although feeble jirotests, made generally on very tliin paper and presf.cd by young attorneys, have been thrown before the " army of occupation " on its victorious march, the paper was so thin and the weight of the abstruse calculations on it so damaging to the fabric, that some of the " ring'' niastera have always succeeded in punctur- ing it with one finger, or have completely effaced the protest by crumpling it in their brawny fists. To read the printed reports of the meetings of the Board of Aldermen, or Councilmen, or Supervisors, a person would fail to discover, perhaps, any of the nice " little games " that are run in or left out, as the case may be, under " routine." Alderman McDildarrel, from the Ninety-first ward, introduces " Resolu- tion with ordinance attached," providing that lOolth street, from Fifty -first to Fifty-eighth avenue, be regulated and graded, curb and gutter stones set, and sidewalks flagged a space of four feet wide through the centre thereof, under the direction of the Croton A(pieduct Department." This street may be at present located beneath the *' rock of ages." But what of that ? There are some ravenous maws to be satisfied, and a little of the municipal pap distributed in this w'ay can be made to serve several membei-s of the " third house," who are daily becoming moi'e ferocious while observing tlie milk and honey flowing- in such huge quantities into the aldermanic trough, and positively declare — the positives used being genendly expressive though not always elegant expletives — that " if Paddy Mac don't get nothing for him he'll git square on Paddy, and won't vote for none of his fellows agin more'n three or four times nix election." This is a fearful threat, and so Paddy Mac looks about and consults his follow aldermen to see if there ain't some place where a street can be opened. " He's got a decent young fellow wot wants a job and wot's hard up, and he's a ' worker,' you know, and he don't care about gittiu him agin him, 'cause he's got two or tree dozen votes on de av'n'e." They find 1954th street is somewhat out of the way, and might be opened on paper, and then, while Paddy Mac's friend can be provided for there are several other places, and Tim O'Rartigan and ArPENDIX. 359 slouched and tlms ly struck j)rotc8ts, >y young jupation " weight of brie, tliat punctur- )rotcst by Board of vould fail at are run Alderman " llesolu- th street, id graded, I space of I direction may be at it of that 1 a little of le to serve becoming flowin;!," in positively ve though don't get 't vote for i election." about and some place sent young a * worker,' liim, 'cause They find be opened e provided rtigan and Jerry McMurtigan and two or three others each know sonic " decent young fellow wot's out of a job," and so the reso- lution is prepared, carelessly thrown on the President's desk, and when meeting day arrives the title of the pa[)er is care- lessly and quickly read, and the matter refen-ed to the Committee on ' Street Openings " or " Roads," or " laid over," as best may suit the friends of the " decent young fellows wot wants the jobs." In due course of time the matter is brought into 00111! ; commissioners of assessment are appointed, who estimate the amount of damage and of benefit to the surrounding property. These commissioners are generally friends of some of the big guns in the " ring." The jjlans and specifications are made out, and proposals made by contractors, and contracts awarded after the stipulations are settled that Paddy's and Tim's and Jeri-y's friends ai'e to be made inspectors. They may not know what a square yard is composed of ; they may not know whether the work is done according to the terms of the contract or not, and they don't care. They do not even, perhaps, take the trouble to find out what part of the island the street is on ; but they know where to go to sign the pay roll, to make affidavit that they have performed their duty, and that is enough for them to know. Three dollars a day for the onerous duty of making " his mark " once or twice m a month is their look out, and that part of their work they do as well as they are able. When the streets are cut through there must be gas mains laid and street lomps posted, and by a little arrangement between some of the gas companies and the representatives of the aldermanic " ring " that part of the programme can be settled. The ordinance goes in and through as " ordinary routine," and all this is done " under the direction of the Croton Aqueduct Department." This latter department the people believe to be well and ably conducted, and the aldermen, knowing this to be the popular belief, throw the work on that department, and it must be performed, because the Croton board has no power or voice in the matter, and must do as it is ordered. Then there are the " wooden pavement " jobs — a very recent invention. The honourable the Boards of Aldermen and Councilmen do not wait for the property ownera to ask for this wooden business, and as it is a " patent " pavement, the holders of the copy- right alone have the power to lay it. Five dollars per square % ¥ ''fr.;i 3(;() AITENDIX. : n m , J. yard gives the owners a margin from which the grease for the wheels of legislation can be squeezed, and the jobs are scattered aronnd so that each member of the " ring " may have two or three " wooden " streets in his district. In fact, so handsomely and with such a full acknowledgment of the rule of " honour among thieves " are things arranged in caucus and committee, that it is unnecessary to have any questions or debates on the matter in the public meetings of the boards. A person attending one of these meetings sees everything apparently honest ; once in a while a little joke is indulged in at the expense of some of the members who may not be destined to have a share in some particular haid, and occasionally one of the worthy gentle- men who imagines he has not been fairly dealt with, or will not be "seen" on some of the jobs, will make a little trouble, and the matter is laid over for the present. A colour of legality, and a very slight colour, may be given by adhering to the rules of the boards ; but the unruly member must be brought around, and so the room is cleared of all outsiders, as the Board is about to hold a "private meeting," and in that meeting the affair is more amicably disposed of. There are numerous little penjuisites that the "bosses" can receive without being much questioned. Brian O'Linn wants to open an oyster-stand on the sidewalk of some of the streets. Brian has a few dollars. He " sees " the alderman, who calls on some of his colleagues, and the poor fellow (Brian) is kindly granted permission to oj)en his stand and his oysters, obstruct the street, annoy pedestrians, but please the alder- man. Volumes might be filled with specimens of the hand- some and dirty doings of the city fathers, but the volumes thus filled could avail but little. The city government requires to undergo a radical change, and until some plan can be devised for first purifying the judiciary — placing it beyond the power of the roughs and " rounders " of the citj', and so disposed that a whisper from some politician cannot effect the release of thieves and murderers — the citizens can expect no cessation of the wholesale jilunderings by the round-headed, close-cropped, beetle-browed, pug-nosod, bullet-eyed, high-cheeked, thick-lipped, big-toothed, square-jawed, bull-necked blackguards who control at present the avenues and the revenues of the metropolis. — New York Herald, May, 1868. AITEXDTX. ADVERTISEMENTS. ;{()! ABSOLUTE DIVORCES LEOALLY OBTAINED in Now York and States where desertion, drunkenness, ikc, suf- ficient cause. No publicity. No charge until divorce obtained. Advice free. M. Howes, Attorney, 70, Nassau Stiect. ABSOLUTE LEGAL DiVOKCES OBTAINED in New York ; also from States where non-sup])ort, drunkenness or desertion is sufficient cause. No i>ublicity. Fueuekicic L King, Counsellor at Law, 2G1, Broadway. DRUNKENNESS OR WHISKY MONOMANIA can be cured as readily as any other disease. For proof positive, call on or address with stamps, H. S. Ballou, 133, Clinton Place, N.Y. "FILIAL AFFECTION." The following letter is a perfect model in its way : " Dear Brother — I've got one of the handsomest farms in the State, and liave it nearly paid for. Crops are good, prices never were better. We have had a glorious revival of reli-.^ion in our churcli, and both our children (the Lord be praised !) are converted. Father got to be rather an incumbrance, and last week I took him to tiie poor-house. Your affectionate brother." — Mornuirj Star, Neio Orleans, April 12, 1808. MORALITY. Two very respectable gentlemen of Auburn, New York, re- cently eloped, each with the other's wife, on the same train and the same dark night. A recognition ensued in the waiting-room at Syracuse, an exchange was effected, and there is no more division iu those households. f i-V' ■■■■i-. RELIGIOUS PROGRESS. Intelligence continues to reach us of the spread of the reli- gious interest throughout the country. Since our last report seventy more churches have been heard from, which have re- *M ,. '! li i Jli Hi 362 APPENDIX. ceived to their communion 2240 converts. Since the beginning of the year, only some four months, we have recorded revivals in nearly 1000 churches, to which there have been added on profession of faith 16,410 membei's. Of tlie seventy churches which report accessions the past week twenty-three are Pres- byterian, and the number of converts received by th.m is nearly 900. The First church, Kensington, Philadelphia, has been enjoying a wonderful baptism of the Spirit. Sunday, the 10th instant, 101 were received to the membership of the church. The remarkable religious interest that prevails in New Albany, Indiana, has resulted in adding to the First Presbyterian church 110, and to the Second 122 converts. A religious interest has been prevailing in some of the churches of Washington, and since the week of prayer the Sixth Presbyterian church has received thirty, the Fourth nine- teen, and the First nine converts. In the State street church, Albany, twenty-six have lately made public profession of their faith. At South Bend, Indiana, sixty-four converts have joined the Presbyterian church. Twenty have been received since January by the North church, St. Louis, and sixteen by the Central church, San Francisco. To twenty-one Congregational churches G20 converts have lately been added. On the 5th ultimo foi-ty persons united in profession of faith. Forty-six joined the Fifth church, Ply- mouth, Massachusetts, on the 5 th ultimo. In twenty-two Baptist churches 724 converts have been re- cently baptized. The Examiner says of the good work in this city : — " A widespread religious interest has refreshed nearly all the churches. Very little extra aid has been called in. A few churches have had professed revivalists to help them. But the work has been quite as deep and powerful where the pasto" ""d the people have done the labour. Since Mr. Earle lett che Tabernacle church meetings have been held every night, and the interest, instead of waning, has actually increased. About 150 have been converted and seventy -five have been baptized in this church." The Reformed Messenger gives an account of the number con- firmed at the late Easter communion in nineteen German Keformed churches. At five churches in Philadelphia 230 were received by confirmation ; nine other churches of Pennsylvania ^0^: ArrEXDix. 303 received 253, three in Baltimore, fifty-two ; two in Ohio, at East Union and New Liisbon, eighty. Thus, in all, 620 wcro confirmed in these nineteen churches. The Lutheran churches in Birmingham, Pennsylvania, and Millersburg, Sonora, and Tuscarawas, Ohio, have lately received to their comnuuiion 194 converts. A Roman Catholic revival, or mission, has occurred in Nor- wich, Connecticut. The church was thronged for three weeks, the confessional was crowded day and evening, and the results were : " 3500 communions, hundreds of strayed sheep brought back to the fold, the establishment of the confraternities of tiio Holy Rosary and of the Angelic Warfare, and many other hea- veidy graces." — New York Herald, May. RELIGIOUS DISSENSIONS. BRAWLING IN THE CHURCHES — THE CHRISTIAN SPIRIT. Public attention is again forcibly called to the fact that societit ; professedly Christian may set the worst examples in regard to mUd manners and gentleness of demeanour that can be found in a peaceable community. Vestrymen, wardens, and pastor of a Protestant Episcopal church in this city have recently fallen by the ears in a dispute that is supposed to have begun on points of formality in worship. Some are Ritualists and some are not, and so arises a difterence in regard to the mere accessories of the service, which comes to a brawl in the streets. Forgetting the essentials of all service, casting from them the contrite heart and self-denying spirit, they disj)ute on this immaterial point as if no command to " love one another " had ever been heard in the world. Policemen are summoned to put one party out of the church edifice and keep the other in, and the locust club is held up as a terror to compel the silence of a parson who desires to preach the Gospel from the church steps. From the street the case goes to the courts, and there is the usual farrago of argument on injunctions and motions to dissolve and what not, and the acute wits of the lawyers must settle the quarrel of the disciples of the " Peace- maker." There was a not dissimilar dispute in a church in a neighbouring city lately. Wardens and pastor quarrelled theie ':.( % -M I-: Mi 301 ArrENDix. .!' li also. On Sunday tlic pastor l)e<,'an to read fi-oni tlie pulpit tlio statement of his side of the case. One of tlie wardens called upon the organist for music in the midst of tlie i)ars()n'8 state- ment ; .and tlie organist played, witii all the m(»re gusto as he, perhaps, looked to that wai'den for his pay. So it was a duel — the organ on one hand, tiie ]iarson on tlie other ; and the latter was fairly piped into silence by the "deej), majestic, solemn organ's blow.'' &'uch is the mood in which our religi .,« f'-M '• r '1 ?CT *, ' i J 'W ' ; ■ t /*'• . 1- ' i ^^t . ■M '/"' , ■ ;, f! i.'Ji! ' t ■,H\ ;■ - '1 iif': ■■■■" 1 ^1 ■r^V' i M *"' - ■ :':i! W/i'i lilii-l ! lipliill 872 APPENDIX. of W. A. Townsend, publisher, of Broome-street ; Mr. Henry Tucker to Miss Ettie C. Wood; Mr. Hendei'sou to Miss McKim, of Baltimore ; Mr. William Riggs to Miss Julia Harris, and Mr. Kilbume to Miss Patterson, of Brooklyn. In Brooklyn, we believe the following to be officially announced : Dr. Frank Bush to Miss Mattie James ; Mr. Huntingdon to Miss Leonard ; Mr. E. S. Wheeler to Miss Jennings ; Mr. Hyde to Miss Delia Chapman ; and Mr. John Beatty to Miss Hetty Bull. — From Philadelphia we learn of the engagement of Mr. Lee L. Hyne- mann to Miss Grace Marks, and the betrothal of Mr. John I. Rowland to Miss Cassie Mayer. THE PURIM BALL. For the accommodation of subscribers to former balls, the committee of the Purim Association announce that a book for the registration of names is now open at the office of the secretaiy, Mr. A. L. Sanger, 243, Broadway, room 9. The seventh Purim Ball will take place at Pike's Opera House, cu Monday evening, March 9th. MISCELLANEOUS, There was a grand wedding, last week, in Cincinnati. The groom was the gallant Brevet Brigadier-General George D. Ruggles, Assistant Adjutant-General U. S. A., and the bride the pretty and accomplished daughter of Samuel S. L'Homme- dieu, Esq. The wedding took place at Christ Church, in the presence of an immense throng of relatives and friends. The ceremony was performed by the Right Rev. Bishop M'Coskrey, of Michigan, assisted by the Rev. Mr. Snively. — A grand wedding takes place at the Broadway Tabernacle on the 30tli inst. The groom is Mr. Robert J. Clyde {oi the fii-m of Clyde and Black, Broadway), and the bride Miss Julia M. Loper, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Charles S. Loper, of East Thirty-fifth- street. There are to be three bridesmaids ; six hundred invi- tations have been issued, and the parents of the bride give a grand recejition in the evening at their residence. — In answer to a query, " What is the significance of turning down the corner of a cra-d 1 " wo reply, that whenever this is done, it im- plies that the person calling desires to see two persons. — Dickens was a guest of Mr. Geo. W. Child during his stay in Philadel- lUl! !>i APPENDIX. 373 [r. Henry 8 McKim, arris, and Brooklyn, Dr. Frank Leonard ; kliss Delia 11. — From L. Hyne- r. John I. balls, the I book for ice of the L 9. The House, cu nati. The George D. the bride L'Homme- rch, in the ends. The M'Coskrey, — A grand n the 30th m of Clyde M. Loper, rhirty-fifth- .ndred invi- ride give a — lu answer ; down the done, it im- .8. — Dickens in Philadel- phia. Mr. Child is one of the most pubUc-spirited men in the Quaker city, and his company is courted by the best society there. — New York Home Journal, Jan., 18G8. LICENCE OF THE PRESS. About the most atrocious piece of political engineering that we have seen is Horace Greely's officious and pompous an- nouncement, in double-leaded lines, in the Tribune, that General Grant deems Johnson's conviction on the impeachment necessary for the peace of the country. What a reckless and infamous old scoundrel Horace has be- come, when he would resort to such a trick as this to influence the result of a judicial trial. What bearing has the opinion of a drunken stupid fellow like Grant as to what is necessary for the peace of the country, upon the question of the guilt or innocence of Johnson ? What a desperate case it must be which requires the authority of the General of the army to secure a conviction. And he at the same time plotting to use the military power to secure to himself the succession. — La Crosse Democrat. At St. Paul's Episcopal church, at Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, on Easter day, a collection of 4004 dollars was taken up. The parish connected with this church is one of the best anywhere, and the parishioners, although not distinguished for their great wealth, are noted for their liberality. They have recently finished the finest Protestant church edifice in the W^est, and now propose building a fine parish school. Rev. Mr. Beers is rector of this church, and is universally beloved and respected. — La Crosse Democrat. , WHO KILLED LINCOLN 1 . To the Editor of the La Crosse Democrat. Occasionally I discover a copy of your straight-forward paper down in this hot-bed of Radicalism, and whenever one appears it generally creates a smoke among the elements which con- stitute the "God-and-morality" party. Just imagine for a moment, a group of "loil" citizens gathered on a corner, listening to one of their party reading . / r. P|!j..„.. . 1^ i i p4\ llJ 374 APPENDIX. an extract from an editorial in the La Crosse Democrat : " Wlien J. Wilkes Booth took the life of A. Lincoln, he done what was just and right ! " " What do you think of that, gentlemen 1 " A voice from one side — "The paper don't say any such thing." " It certainly does, I will read it ngain — ' When Abraham Lincoln was insulting the nation with foul jokes, Providence cut short his career, by striking him down without a moment's warning,' " Some voice outside produces a Chicago Tribune, and reads an article charging Providence with the murder of Abraham Lincoln. By that time the fact is discovei'ed that this outsider is a " Copperhead," and the homd grins to be seen on the faces of these modbm saints, would be enough to arouse a legion of imps to a general jubilee. But if tliey ever spring their nets over a catch of these infernal descendants of Puritanism, they will rcgi'ot it, for the managers of the brimstone regions would soon find themselves superseded, and the old fellow arraigned for impeachment. Is there any probability that the peoi)le of this country will ever pause long enough to consider the rapid strides they are making towards a general ruin, or will they rush blindly on the course marked out by a party that leaves nothing in the rear but death and destruction, plunder and devastation, confiscation and a general scene of mourning, whose track of desolation is as visible through the history of modern nations as the track of a tornado through a wilderness. The people who kill " Copperheads " at long range are taking your life daily. Reader. Princeton, III., April 9, 18G8. The Mobile Tribune tells a good story of a dramatic (?) per- formance that came off in Tennessee, which was intended to represent the killing of the " L. L." It appears to have been a negro show entirely. Booth was represented by a huge thick- lipped black and greasy negro, and Lincoln by another equally so. The house was crowded with persons of all colours and sexes. At last the curtain raised, and " Booth " drew a revolver and fired. " Lincoln " waked up suddenly from a half-sleepy, APPENDIX. 375 ; "When what was any such Abraham 'rovidence moment's and reads Abraham isider is a le faces of legion of their nets lism, they ons would arraigned people of ' the rapid will they ;hat leaves under and mourning, history of Brildcrness. ai*e taking Reader. itic (?) per- itended to ave been a luge thick- ler equally olours and a revolver half-sleepy, half-sanctimonious look, upon seeing the splinters fly from the floor about ten feet in front of him. A second shot brought a yell of pain from " Booth " in place of " Sic Semper Tyrannis^' for the darn fool nigger had done gone shot himself through the hand. The curtain dropped gracefully over this tragic scene, and strange to say it was not encored. The Mobile Register has the following significant item : — " John Nicholson, coloured, of Memphis, complains through a card in the Ledger, that the Radicals induced him to vote and electioneer for Brownhnv by a promise, which they now repu- diate, of forty acres and four mules ; also that he was recently sick, and his white brethren of the Loyal League, though bound to provide him medicines and a physician, did neither, but stole fifty dollars from his pocket.'' That is always the way of it. The Jacobins care only for the vote of the negroes ; they will never receive any land, or mules, for voting the Radical ticket ; and furthermore, if they harbour Radicals in their midst, they must expect to suffer from the thieves. Our radical friend of the Jackson County, Wisconsin, Banner, says : — " Ben Butler is trying to prove that Grant was drunk a few Sundays since. He had better try to prove that Ben Butler is a nuisance. It won't cost him much time or trouble to do that." Tut-tut. Didn't you know the spoon thief and the National mule had kissed and made up 1 By the way, Watrous, you never answered that little question asked you the other day : " How many stai's are there on the flag you fought under ? " Is it too hard, or are you afraid of conflicting with your party Moguls 1 The Atchison, Kansas, Patriot, has the following very pointed reference to Mister Useless Grant : — " General Grant's popularity don't seem to help the waning fortunes of the Radical conspirators to any great extent. In New Hampshire and Connecticut we have signal instances of what his " popularity " amounts to. In the former State the load of this tobacco-whisky-hero reduced the Radical majority nearly a thousand votes, and in the latter the Democratic gain amounts to about the same figure. ' Raw for Grant.' " I ■% .V. .1 • |»tt" 376 APPENDIX. I * * ^i !^ H: '^ff And H. Greeley says that if Grant's name doesn't prove more popular than it has thus far, he is authorized to withdraw it from the other States entirely — or words to that effect. Poor Grant ! whisky and Jacobinism will kill even an ass. The Spirit of Jefferson, Charlestown, Virginia, speaks out as follows : — " Losing sight of its mission as the great pioneer in the work of reformation and redemption, the Methodist Episcopal Church of this country has become a political machine through which Eadicalism receives its warmest support, and from which Jaco- binism derives its greatest strength. Forgetting the teaching of the Divine Master who proclaimed that ' ^ly kingdom is not of this world,' the repj'csentatives of this Church avail them- selves of every opportunity — and not unfrequently they make the opportunity — to give expression to their devotion to the lladical party, and to throw the weight of their mighty influ- ence in behalf of oppression and despotism. Inflated with wealth, and intoxicated with its numerical strength in the North and West, it is now I'eaching out its strong arms to get possession of the government, the better to enable it to carry out its schemes of plunder and aggrandizement." These are facts. A considerable of the responsibility of the present condition of the coimtry is owing to Bible-banging traitors, and yet we are pronounced rough and blasphemous when we denounce them as they deserve. We can have no respect for a vile Jacobin scoundrel, be he in a pulpit or a penitentiary. The Reading, Pennsylvania, Daily Eagle is a sharp little Democratic paper, and gets oflF the following at one of its black neighbours : — " The Dispatch man says we stole • that shirt ' from a nigger wench in the Pottsville lock-up. As our neighbour claims the shirt as his property, we would like to know how the wench got it. Is she a particular friend of his 1 " Most any good loyal man can tell the models operandi — Thad. Stevens, for instance. Speaking of Michigan's drunken senator, Chandler, the Detroit Unio7i says : — " Since a livery after the manner of Johnny Bull is incom- plete without a coat-of-arms, we think Zach requires recon- i ( ■■jBBi APPENDIX. 877 ove more hdraw it )t. Poor LS out as the work il Church [gh which lich Jaco- ! teaching oni is not ail thera- ley make )u to the hty influ- itecl with li in the lis to get t to caiTy ty of the e-banging sphemous have no ilpit or a arp Httle ne of its a a nigger laims the he wench ii— Thad. idler, the is incom- res recon- struction. A dagger crossed with a bottle of whisky over a liveried darkey's neck would be an appropriate device for this Eepublican senator's escutcheon." We suggest a string of hemp about Zach's neck would be decidedly more appropriate, and certainly more satisfactory to the country. The Keokuk, Iowa, Constitution says : — " Gov. Oglesby, of Illinois, has appointed the anniversary of the death of Mr. Lincoln as a day of failing and prayer. A newspaper corresiJondent thereupon inquires if it is the intention of the Jacobins to canonize Mr. Lincoln as a saint." We should think not, as that woiild be degrading the old cuss, he having already been blasphemously set up as Saviour number two. The Mobile Tribune has the following ; — " ' Brick ' Pomeroy was mianimously nominated Mayor of La Crosse, Wisconsin. He, however, was compelled to decline, on account of his onerous duties as editor of the Democrat." We don't see this item in any of those so-called Democratic papers, however, that have time and again stated that the La Crosse Democrat was not endorsed by the Democracy at home. Now is the time to correct those false assertions. Mr. Pomeroy was endorsed by a unanimous nomination, and after such endorsement the Democracy carried the city by its usual majorities. Here we shall have to leave oiu* friends until another week. THE MONGRELS OF THE SOUTH. To the Editor of the La Crosse Democrat. The mass of the mongrels of the South make a great hue and cry about their loyalty, and tell of the terrible and inhuman manner they have been and still are treated by the " rebels and traitors," because they perilled their lives and fortunes for their country — their country forsooth — were driven from their homes, plundered and stripped on account of their love to the Union, and of a thousand and one other hardships and grievances they suffered for their loyalty to the stai-s and stripes — not for the Constitution, for they know nothing about it, and don't care a fig for it. * A ■'-i ; A, '•■■*:■ '■ "»^»J' 378 APPENDIX. Petition after petition has gone to Congress, with doleful details of oppression and plunder, and praying for relief — for the offices. Mongrel papers, North and South, have teemed with and gloated over the infamous lie ; paid and unpaid corre- spondents have endeavoured to outdo each other in publishing the slanderous lie, and Northern people have lent a willing ear and sickened with puritanical horror at the recital of the woes "loil" men have suffered in the S;ain, as long liquor. He Mi back in- le. He saw , but unde- wide to the t in keeping all. nkards, and, Edgar Poe bim off upon i. All such particularly gnised place at all. Men ins are small lit are com- re in special monotonous. newspapers under the I themselves a tear " now theirs. On to another ed, and irri- by the in- ig to break ipidly, until it is of their regular brethren, that they cannot conquer the habit without being relieved for a while of their daily labour. This malady is so frequent among us, that hardly an individual will cast his eyes over these pages who cannot call to mind at least one person who has sti-ugglod with it for many years, and struggled in vain. The// attcm})t too miich. Their jicriodical "sprees,'' ** benders," or " tears," are a connected series, each a cause and an effect, an heir and a profjenitor. After each debauch, the man returns to his routine iu just the state of healtli, in just the state of mind, to be irritated, disgusted, and exliaustcd by that routine j and, at every moment of weakness, there is always present the temptation to seek the deadly respite of alcohol. The moment arrives when the desire becomes too strong for him, and the victim yields to it by a law as sure, as irresistible, as that which makes the apple seek the earth's centre when it is disengaged from the tree. It is amazing to see how helpless men can be against such a habit, while they are compelled to continue their daily round of duties. Not ignorant men only, nor bad men, nor weak men, but men of good understanding, of rare gifts, of the loftiest aspirations, of characters the most amiable, engaging* and estimable, and of will sufficient for every purpose but this. They hnoiv the ruin that awaits them, or in which they are already involved, better than we other sinners know it ; they hate their bondage worse than the most uncharitable of their friends can despise it ; they look with unutterable envy upon those who still have dominion over themselves ; many, very many of them would give all they have for deliverance ; and yet self-deliverance is impossible. There are men among them who have been trying for thirty years to abstain, and still they drink. Some of them have succeeded in lengthening the sober interval, and they will live with strictest correctness for six months or more, and then, taking that first fatal glass,, will immediately lose their self-control, and drink furiously for days and nights ; drink until they are obliged to use drunken artifice to get the liquid into their mouths, — their hands refusing their office. Whether they take a lai-ge quantity of liquor cveiy day, or an immense quantity periodically, makes no great difference, the disease is essentially the same ; the difficulties in the way of cure are the same ; the remedial measures must be the same. 8i^i»Wi,w, ssss werson giving ten dollars to the institution should be a stockholder, and entilled to a vote at the election of trustees. Every gift of ten dollars was a vote ! If, therefore, this astounding claim had been allowed, and the gift accepted, the audacious villain woidd have been constituted owner of four-fftlis of the governing stock, and the absolute controller of the entire property of the institution ! It was a bold game, and the strangest part of the story is, that it came near succeeding. It required the most arduous exertions of a public-spirited board of trustees, headed, by Dr. Willard Parker, to oust the man ivho, even after the discovery of his scheme, played his few last cards so well that he had to be bought off by a considerable sum cash doiun. An incident of the disastrous reign of this individual tvas the burning of one of the toings of the building, after lie had Itad it tvell insured. The insurance tvas paid him (81,000 dollars); and there was a trial for arson, — a crime which is easy to commit, and hard to prove. Binghamton convicted the prisoner, but the jury tvas obliged to acquit him. The man and his confederates must Jiave carried off an enormous booty. The local trustees say, in their Report for 1867 ; — " Less than two years ago the Asylum received about 81,000 dollars from insurance companies for damage done by fii'e to 394 APPENDIX. *. r -m i the north wing. About 20,000 dollara have since been recoived from the counties ; making from tlicse two sources about 100,000 dollars ; and altliough th^ buildings and gi'ounds remain in the same imfinislicd state as when tlio fire occurred, except a small amount of work done in one or two v.ai'ds in the south wing, the 100,000 dollars have nearly disappeared. .... Aside from the payment of interest and insurance, this money has been expended by Dr. , and in just such ways as he thought proper to use it. " It may well be asked why this is so ? The answer is, that Dr. assumes and exercises supremo control, and allows no interference, at least on the part of the resident trustees • " His control and management of everything connected with the institution has been as absolute in fact, if not in form, as if he were its solo proprietor. He goes to Albany to obtain legis- lation giving him extraordinaiy police powers, without as much as even informing the trustees of his intentions. When the iron grates for the windows of the lower ward were obtained, the resident trustees know nothing of the matter, until they were informed that the patients were looking through barred windows. Everything has been done in the same way. He is not hioivn to luxve had any other official relation to the institution by regular appointment than that of corresponding secretary, and yet he has exercised a poiver over its affairs tohich has defied all re- straint, lie lives there with his family, ivitltout a salary, and tvithout individual resources, and dispenses hospitality or charity to his kindred with as much freedom and unreserve as if he owned everything, and had unlimited means at his command. In fact, incredible as it may seem, Jte claims that he is virtually the owner of the institution. And his claim might have challenged contra- diction had his plans succeeded." Such things may be done in a community where almost every one is benevolent enough to give money towards an object that promises to mitigate human woe, but where scarcely any one has leisure to watch the expenditure of that sacred treasure ! The institution, after it was open, remained for two years under the blight of this person's control. Everything he did •was wrong. Ignoitmt, obstinate, passionate, fussy, and false, — plausible and obsequious at Albany, a violent despot at the Asylum, — he was, of all the people in the world, the precisely APPENDIX. 805 ' ( recoived 38 about gi'ounds accurred, wards in il)I)cared. mce, this ach ways ir is, that allows no IS uted with arm, as if ain legis- as much V^hen the obtained, ntil they ;h barred He is not itution hy y, and yet led all re- 'lary, and or charity - he owned In fact, the otvner id contra- lost every bject that '• any one sasure ! two years ng he did d false, — ot at the I precisely worst man to conduct an experiment so novel, and so abounding in difficulties. If he had a theory, it was that an inebriate is something between a criminal and a lunatic, who is to bo punished like the one and restrained like the otticr. His real object seemed to be, after having received payment for a patient six months in advance, to starve and madden him into a sudden departure. Tlio very name chosen by him for the institution proves his hopeless incompetency — " Inebriate Asylum !" That name to-day is, perha2)S, the greatest single obstacle to its growth. Ho began by affixing a stigma to the unfortunate men who had honoured themselves by making so gallant an effort at sclf-recuvery. But let the man and his doings pass into oblivion. There never yet was a bad man who was not, upon the wIkjIc, a very stupid ass. All the genuine intelligence in the world resides in virtuous minds. When, therefore, I have said that this individual was an unprincipled adventurer, I have also said that ho was signally incapable of conducting an institution like this. While we, in the State of New York, were blundering on in this way, permitting a million dollars of public and private money to be lavished in the attempt to found an asylum, a few quiet people in Boston, aided by a small annual grant from the Legislatui'e, had actually established one, and kept it going for nine years, during which three thousand inebriates had been received, and two thousand of them cured ! The thing was accomplished in the simplest way. They hired the best house for the purpose that chanced to be vacant, fitted it up at the least possible expense, installed in it as superintendent an honest man whose heart was in the business, and opened its doors for the reception of patients. By-and-by, when they had results to show, they asked the Legislature for a little help, which was granted, and has been renewed from year to year ever since. The sum voted has never exceeded five thousand dollars in any year. and there are three men in Boston at this moment re- claimed from drunkenness by the Washiugtonian Home who pay taxes enough to support it. In an enterprise for the management of which no precedents exist, everything; of course depends upon the chief. When you have got the right man at the head you have got eveiy- thing, and until you have got the right man there you have got nothing. Albert Day, the superintendent for nine years of ZtiUma^^^^i,^...^..^ H 396 APPENDIX. tho Washingtonian Home at Boston, and, during the lust year and a half the superintendent of the Asylum at liinghaniton, has originated nearly all that is known of the art of curing tho mania for aleohol. Ho struck into the right path at once, guided by instinct and sympathy, rather tliau liy science or reflection. He was not a professional person ; ho was simply a business man of good New England education, who had two special qualifications for his new i)Osition, — first, a siugidar pity for drunkards ; and, secondly, a firm belief that witli timely and right assistance, a majority of them could bo restored to self- control. This pity and this faith ho had possessed for many years, and they had both grown strong by exercise. When ho was a child upon his father's farm in Maine, he saw in his own home, and all around him, the evils resulting from tiie general use of alcoholic liquors, so that when the orators of teetotal ism came along, he was ready to receive their message. He is one of tho very few pei-sous now living in the world who never par- took of an alcoholic beverage, — so early was he convinced of their preposterous inutility. Losing his father at thirteen, ho at once took hold of life in the true Yankee way. He tied up his few worldly effects into a bundle, and, slinging it over his shoulder, walked to a farmer's house not many miles away, and addressed to him a plain question, " Do you want to hire a boy?" to which the fai'mer with equal directness replied, "Yes." From hoeing corn and chopping wood the lad advanced to an apprenticeship, and learned a mechanical trade ; and so made his way to early marriage, decent prosperity, and a seat in tho Legislature of Massachusetts. From the age of sixteen he was known, wherever he lived, ns a staunch teetotaler, and also as one who would befriend a Tlfiukard after others had abandoned him to his fate. I once heard Dr. Day relate the occurrence which produced in his mind the conviction that drunkards could be rescued from the domination of their morbid appetite. One evening, when he came home from his work, he heard that a certain Jack Watts, the sot of the neighbourhood, was starving with his wife and three young children. After tea he went to see him. In treating this first patient, Albert Day hit upon the very method he has ever since pursued, and so I beg the reader will note tho manner in which he proceeded. On entering his cottage he was I!! "V APi'ENDIX. 897 as i)()lito to him, ns considcrato of liis dignity as head of a household, ns lie could have been to the first niau of the village. "Mr. Watts,'' said ho, after the usual salutations, " I hear you arc in straitened circumstances." The man, who was then quite sober, replied : " I am ; my two youngest children went to bed crying for food, and I had none to give thorn. I spent my last three cents over there," pointing to a grog-shop opi>o- site, " and the bar-keeper said to mo, as ho took tho money, says ho, 'Jack Watts, you're a fool,' and so I am." ifcre was a chance for a fine moral lecture. Albert Day indulged in nothing of tho kind. He said, " Mr. Watts, excuse me for a few minutes ; " and ho wont out, returning soon with a basket containing sorao flour, pork, and other materials for a supper. " Now, Mrs. Watts, cook something and wake your children up, and give them some- thing to eat. I'll call again early in tho morning. Uood night." Perfect civility, — no reproaches, — no lecture, — practical help of the kind needed and at tho timo needed. Observe, too, that the man was in tho condition of mind in which patients usually are when they make the confession implied in entering an asylum. He was at tho end of his tether. Ho was — to use the language of tho bar-room — "dead beat." When Mr. Day called the next morning, tho fiimily had had their breakfast, and Jack Watts smiled benedictions on tho man whom ho had been wont to regard as his enemy, because he was the declared enemy of Jack Watts's enemy. Now tho timo had come for a little talk. Jack Watts explained his circumstances ; he had been out of work for a long time, and he had consumed all his substance in drink. Mr. Day listened with respectful attention, spoke to him of various plans for tho future, and said that for that day ho could give him a dollar's worth of wood-chopping to do. Then they got upon the liquor question. In the softened, receptive mind of Jack Watts, Albert Day deposited the substance of a rational temperance lecture. He spoke to him kindly, respectfully, hopefully, strongly ; Jack Watts's mind was convinced ; he said ho had done with drink for ever. Ho meant it, too ; and thus he was brought to tho second stage on tho road to deliverance. In this particular case, resting from labour was out of the question and unneces- sary, for the man had been resting too long already, .and must needs go to work. The wood was chopped. The dollar to be % assr ^^ i&i!te«is»l»ti, .... i'r'll I l! ! 398 APPENDIX. jiaid for the work at the close of the day was a fearful ordeal for poor Jack, living fifteen yards from a bar-room. Mr. Day called round in the evening, paid him the dollar without re- mark, fell into ordinary conversation with the family, and took leave. John stood the test ; not a cent of the money fonnd its way into the till of the bai'- keeper. Next morning Mr. Day was there again, and, seeing that the patient was going on well, spoke to him further about the future, and glided again into the main topic, dwelling much upon the absolute necessity of total and eteriial abstinence. He got the man a place, visited him, held him up, fortified his mind, and so helped him to complete and lasting recovery. Jack Watts never drank again. He died a year or two ago in Maine at a good age, having bi'ought up his family respectably. This was an extreme case, for the man had been a drunkard many years ; it was a difficult case, for he was poor and ignorant ; and it made \ipon the mind of Albert Day an impression that nothing could efface. He was living in Boston in 18.57, exer- cising his trade, when the Washingtonian Home was opened. Ho was indeed one of the originators of the movement, and took the post of superintendent, because no one else seemed capable of conducting the experiment. Having now to deal with the diseased bodies of men, he joined the medical depart- ment of Harvard University, and went through the usual course, making a particular study of the malady he was attempt- ing to cure. After nine years' service he was transferred to the Asylum at Binghamton, where he piursues the system practised with success at Boston. I visited €ie Binghamton Asylum in June of the present year. Tlie situation combines many advantages. Of the younger cities that have sprung into importance along the line of leading railroads there is not one of more vigorous growth or more inviting appearance than Binghamton. Indications of spirit and civilization meet the eye at every turn. There are long streets of elegant cottages and villas, surrounde'l by nicely kept gardens and lawns, and containing churches in the construction of which the established barbarisms have been avoided. There is a general tidiness and attention to appearances that we notice in the beautiful towns and villagos of New England ; such as picturesque Northampton, romantic Brattleboro', and enchant-> APPENDIX. 399 ing Stockbridge, peerless among villages?. The Chenango River unites here with the Sus(|\ielmnna ; so that the people who have not a river within sight of their front doors are likely to have one flowing peacefully along at the back of their gardens. It is a town, the existence of which in a State governed as New York is governed shows how powerless a government is to corrupt a virtuous and intelligent people, and speaks of the time when governments will be reduced to their natural and proper insignificance. Such communities require little of the central power ; and it is a gi-eat pity that that little is indis- pensable, and that Albany cannot be simply wiped out. Two miles from Binghamton, on a high hiJl rising from the bank of the Susquehanna, and commanding an extensive view of the beautiful valleys of both rivers, stands the castellated palace which an adventurer had the impudence to build with money intrusted to him for a better pui-pose. The Erie rail- road coils itself about the base of this eminence, from the summit of which the white puffs of the locomotive can bo desci'ied in one direction nine miles, and in the other fifteen miles. On reaching this summit about nine o'clock on a fine moniing in June, I found myself in front of a building of light- coloured stone, pi'esenting a front of three hundred and sixty- five feet, in a style of architecture that unites well the useful and the pleasing. Those numerous towers which relieve the monotony of so extensive a front serve an excellent purpose in providing small npartments for various purposes, which, but for them, couM i;r ' !0 contrived without wasting space. At present the iir^t vietv cf the huUdlnfj is not inviting, for the hurnt iving remaia.", ; jcjless and void, — tlie insurance moi.ei/ not having been applied i> ■>'f/it(ing it, — and the main edijice is still anjinished. Not a t'C) has yet been planted, and r" < ounds about the building i5.re little more pleasing to the eye than fifty acres of dcsoi't. On a level space in front of the edifice a number of young men were playing a game of base -ball, and pLiying it badly. Their intenti(»ns were excellent, but their skill was small. Sitting on tho steps and upon the blocks of stone scattered about were fifty or s'xty veil-dressed, well-looking gentlemen of various oge,-». .viit'i'hi .g the game. In general appearance and bearing ■licS' persons were so decidedly superior to the average of mjrtals, \) ■>'*fe"' visitoi's fail to remark the w\ m fact. Living \vp there in that keen, pure air, and living in a rational manner, amusing themselves with games of ball, rowing, sailing, gardening, bowling, billiards, and gymnastic exercises, they are as brown and robust as David Copperfield was when he came home from the Continent and visited ^.is friend Traddles. Take any himcUcd men from the educated classes, and give them a few months of such a life as this, and the improvement in their appearance will be striking. Among these on-lookers of the game were a few men with gray haira, but the majority were under thirty, perhaps thirty-two or thirty-five was about the average age. When I looked upon this most imexpected scene, it d' ; n> ■ for a moment occur to me that these serene and nealthy- looking men could be the inmates of the Asylum. The iiisen- sate name of the institution prepares the visitor to see the patients lying about in various stages of intoxication. The question has sometimes been asked of the superintendent by visitors looking about them and peering into remote corners, " But, Doctor, where do you keep your drunkards 1 " The astonishment of such inquircis is great indeed when they are informed that the polite and well-dressed gentlemen standing about, and in whose hearing the question was uttered, are the inmates of the institution ; every individual of tvhom was till very recently, not merely a driiuhard, but a drunkard of the most advanced character, for v'hose deliverance from that miserable bond- age almost every one had ceased to hope. A large majority of the present inmates are pei'sons of education and respectable position, tvho pay for their residence here at rates varying from ten to ttventy dollar's a iveek, and who are co-operating ardently with the superintendent for their recovery. More than half of them were officers of the army or navy during the late tvar, and lest control of themselves then. One in ten must be by laiv a fm. patient; and whenever an inebriate really desires to break his chain, he is met half-way by the trustees, and his board is fixed at a rate that accords with his circinmtances. A feio patients have been taken as low as five dollars a week. When once the building has been completed, the grounds laid out, and the far"i8 dis- posed of, the trustees hope never to turn from t'.ie dooi of the institution any proper applicant who desires to svail himself of its assistance. The present number of patientfi is something aengXumK! living in I of ball, ^mnastic opperfield isited Li'iH educated this, and Among ;ray hairs, iy-two or it d' i n> I 1 nealiiiy- rhe iiisen- see the ion. The sndent by ;e comers, s 1 " The they are standing Dd, are the )i was till if the most •able bond- rity of the 'e positioiiy •om ten to ently with If of tliem r, and lest aw a frt^. break his is fixed at tients have le building far"i8 dis- le dooi of ail himself something f 1^ ' APPENDIX. 401 less than one hundred, which is about fiftv less than can be accommodated. When the biu'nt wing is restored, there will be room for four huadred. Upon entering the building, we find ourselves in a spacioiis, handsome, well-arranged, and well-furnished hotel. The musical click of billiard-balls, and the distant thunder of the bowling- alley, salute the ear ; one of the inmates may be performing brilliantly on the piano, or trying over a new piece for next Sunday on the cabinet organ in the temporary chapel. The billiard-room, we soon discover, contains three tables. There is a reading-room always open, in which the principal periodicals of both continents, and plenty of ncvspapers, are accessible to all the patients. A small library, which ought to be a larger one, is open at a certain hour every day. A conservatory is near completion, and there is a garden of ten acres near by in which a number of the inmates may usually be seen at work. A cro- quet-ground is not wanting, and the apparatus of cricket is visible in one of the halls. The chapel is still far from being finished, hit enough is done to show that it tvill be elegant and inviting soon after the next instalment of excise money comes in. The dining-room is lofty and large, as indeed are all the public rooms. The private rooms are equal, both in size and furniture, to those of good city hotels. The arrangements for warming, lighting, washing, bathing, cooking, are such as we should expect to find in so stately an edifice. We have not yet reached the point when housework will do itself; but in great establishments like this, where one man, working ten minutes an hour, warms two or three hundred rooms, menial labour is hopefully reduced. In walking about the wide halls and airy public apartments, the visitor sees nothing to destroy the impression that the building is a very liberally arranged simmier hotel. To complete the illusion, he will perhaps see toddling about a lovely child with its beautiful mother, and in the large parlour some ladies visiting inmates or officers of the institution. The table also is good and well served. A stranger, not knowing the nature of the institution, might, however, be puzzled to decide whether it is a hotel or a college. No one, it is true, ever saw a college so handsomely arranged and provided ; but the tone of the thing is college-like, especially when you get about among the rooms of the inmates, and see them cramming for next Monday's debate, or writing a lecture for the Asylum course. D D ! 402 APPENDIX. This institution is in fact, as in appearance, a rationally con- ducted hotel or Temporary Home and restnig place for men diseased by the excessive use of alcoholic drinks. It is a place where they can pause and reflect, and gather strength and know- ledge for the final victorious struggle with themselves. Temp- tation is not so remote that their resolution is not in continual exercise, nor so near that it is tasked beyond its strength. There lies Binghamton in its valley below them in plain sight, among it,, ivers and its trees, with its thousand pretty homes and its do" ■■*■■: b,'.r-rooms. They can go down there and drink, if thej fit li ;et any one to risk the fifty dollars' fine imposed by the law oi .i.e State upon any one who sells liquor to an inmate of the Asylum. Generally, there is some poor mercenary wretch who will do it. Until it has been proved that the sight of Bing- hamton is too much for a patient, the only restraint upon his liberty is, that he must not enter the town without the consent of the superintendent. This consent is not regarded in the light of a permission, but in that of a physician's opinion. The patient is supposed to mean : " Dr. Day, would you, as my medical adviser, recommend me to go to Binghampton this morning to be measm-ed for a pair of shoes 1 Do you think it would be salutary 1 Am I far enough advanced in convales- cence to trust myself to breathe the air of the valley for an hour ] " The doctor gives his opinion on the point, and it is etiquette to accept that opinion without remark. Not one patient has yet visited the town, with the consent of the super- intendent, who has proved unequal to the temptation. If an inmate steals away and yields to his craving, he is placed in confinement for a day or two, or longer if necessary. It occa- sionally happens that a patient, conscious of the coming on of a paroxysm of desire, asks to have the key of his room turned upon him till it is over. It is desired that this turning of the key, and those few barred rooms in one of the wards, shall be regarded as mere remedial appliances, as much so as the bottles of medicine in the medicine-chest. It is, however, understood that no one is to be released from confinement who does not manifest a renewed purpose to refrain. Such a purpose is sometimes indicated by a note addressed to the superintendent like the following, which I happened to see placed in his hands ; — APPENDIX. 403 lonally con- 36 for men [t is a place and know- ea. Temp- n continual gth. There ight, among nes and its nd drink, if imposed by o an inmate jnary wretch ight of Bing- int upon his the consent irded in the jinion. The you, as my ampton this you think it in convales- alley for an int, and it is Not one of the super- itiou. If an is placed in ry. It occa- ntiiug on of a room turned irning of the ards, shall be is the bottles r, understood (vho does not a purpose is iperintendent laced in his " Dr. Day : — Dear Sir, I cannot let the circumstance which happened yesterday pass by without assuring you that I am trtdy sorry for the disgrace I have brought on the institution, as u'ell as myself. I certainly appreciate your efforts to guide tis all in (he right direction, and more especially the interest that you have taken in my oion welfare. Let me assure you noiv, that hereafter, as long as / remain tvith you, I shall use every endeavour to conduct myself as I slwuld, and cause you no furtlier trovMe." Lapses of this kind are not freque it, and they are regarded by the superintendent as part of the means of restoration which the institution affords ; since they aid him in destroying a fatal self-confidence, and in inculcating the idea that a patient who lapses must never think of giving up the struggle, but renew it the instant he can gain the least foothold of self- control. The system of treatment pursued here is founded on the expectation that the patient and the institution will co-operate. If a man does not desire to be reclaimed, and such a desire can- not be awakened within him, the institution can do no more than keep him sober while he remains an inmate of it. Tliere will, perhaps, one day be in every State an asylum for incurable drunkards, wherein they will be permanently detained, and compelled to live temperately, and eai'n their subsistence by suitable labour. But this is not such an institution. Here all is voluntary. The co-operation of the patient is assumed ; and when no desire to be restored can be roused, the experiment is not continued longer than a few months. The two grand objects aimed at by the superintendent are, to raise the tone of the bodily health, and to fortify the we.a,kened will. The means employed vary somewhat in each case. The superintendent designs to make a particular study of each indi- vidual ; he endeavoura to win his confidence, to adapt the treat- ment to his peculiar disposition, and to give him just the aid he needs. As the number of patients increases, this will become more difficult, if it does not become impossible. The more general features of the system are all that can be communicated to others, and these I will endeavour briefly to indicate. It is interesting to observe the applicants for admission, when they enter the office of the Asylum, accompanied generally by a o D 2 404 APPENDIX. i I ■ I i: P. M^'i i; relative or friend. Some reach the building far gone in intoxi- cation, having indulged in one last farewell debauch ; or having drunk a bottle of whiskey for the purpose of screwing their courage to the stick ing-point of entering the Asylum, A clergy- man whom this institution restored told me that he reached Binghamton in the evening, and went to bed drunk ; and before going to the Asylum the next morning he had to fortify his system and his resolve by twelve glasses of brandy. Sometimes the accompanying friend, out of an absurd kind of pity for a poor fellow about to be deprived of his solace, will rather encou- rage him to drink; and often the relatives of an inebriate can o' get him into the institution hy keeping him intoricated until he is safe under its roof. Frequently men arrive emaciated and worn out from iveehs or montlis of hard drinking ; and occa- sv> My c man vnll be brought in sneering from delirium tremens, who will require restraint and watching fo7' several days. Some enter the office in terror, expecting to be immediately led away by a turnkey and locked up. AJl come with bodies diseased and minds demoralized ; for the prescince of alcohol in the system lowers the tone of the whole man, body and soul, strengthening every evil tendency, and weakening every good one. And this is the reason why men who are brought here against their will are not to be despaired of. Alcohol may only have suspended the activity of their better nature, which a few weeks of total abstinence may rouse to new life. As the health improves, ambition often revives, the native delicacy of the soiil re- appears, and the man becomes polite, docile, interested, agree- able, who on entering seemed coarse, stupid, obstinate, and malign. The new-comer subscribes to the rules, pays his board three months in advance, and surrenders all the rest of his money. The paying in advance is a good thing ; it is like paying your passage on going on board ship ; the voyager has no care, and nothing to think of, but the proposed object. It is also one more inducement to remain until other motives gain strength. Many hard drinkers live under the conviction that if they should cease drinking alcoholic liquors suddenly, they would die in a few days. This is a complete error. No "tapering off" is allowed here. Dr. Day discovered years ago that a man who has been drinking a quart of whiskey a day for a long time suffoi-s more if his allowance is reduced to a pint than if he is IR! APPENDIX. 40S I in intoxi- or having mng their A clergy- he reached and before fortify his Sometimes pity for a ;her encou- lebriate can Icated until iciated and ■ and occa- i/m tremens, yys. Some ly led away es diseased the system engtheniug And this it their will suspended ks of total 1 improves, le sonl re- sted, agree- tinate, and 3oard three his money. )aying your 10 care, and is also one strength, hat if they y would die ring oflf" is a man who I long time lan if he is put at once upon the system of total abstinence. He not only suffers less, but for a shorter time. The clergyman before referred to informed me that, for two years and a half before entering the Asylum, he drank a quart of brandy daily, and he felt confident that he would die if he should suddenly cease. He reached Binghamton drunk ; he went to bed that evening drunk; he drank twelve glasses of brandy the next morning before eleven o'clock ; he went up to the Asylum saturated with brandy, expecting to make the preliminary airangemeuts for his admission, then retiu'u to the hotel, and finish the day drinkiiig. But precisely at that point Albert Day laid his hand upon him^ and marked him for his own. Dr. Day quietly objected to his return to the town, sent for his tniuk, caused tiie tavern bill to be paid, and cut off his brandy at once and totally. For forty- eight hours the patient craved the accustomed stimulant in- tensely, and he was only enabled to sleep by the assistance of bromide of potassium. On the third day the craving ceased, and he assured me that he never felt it again. Other morbid experiences he had, but not that ; and now, after two yeare of abstinence, he enjoys good health, has no desire for drink, and is capable of extraordinary exertions. Other patients, however, informed me that they suffered a morbid craving for two or three weeks. But all agreed that the sudden discontinuance of the stimulant gave them less inconvenience than they had anti- cipated, and was in no degree dangerous. It is, indeed, most surprising to see how soon the system begins to rally when once it is relieved of the inimical influence. Complete recovery, of course, is a slow and long effort of nature; but the improve- ment in the health, feelings, and appearance of patients, after only a month's residence upon that breezy hill, is veiy re- markable. There is an impression in the country that the inmates of such asylums as this undergo some mysterious process, and take unknown medicines, which have power to destroy the desire for strong drink. Among the quack medicines of the day is a bottled humbug, pretending to have such power. It is also supposed by some that the plan which Captain Marryat men- tions is efficacious, — that of confining a drunken sailor for several days to a diet of beef and brandy. Accounts have gone the rounds of the papers, of another system that consists in saturating with brandy every article of food of which the inebriate n; ;. "U V ■«i'' _ i i i jii i n ii r» i y Tj i ' ii ^ i i i ' i T iii y i ' i r i J i ' lI B 'ii''iiiM' ;;-T:; ^mm m,' 406 APPENDIX. partakes. Patients occasionally arrive at the Asylum who expect to be treated in some such way ; and when a day or two passes ■without anything extraordinary or disagreeable happening, they inquire, with visible apprehension, " When the treatment is going to begin." In this sense of the word, there is no treat- ment here. In all nature there is no substance tliat destroys or lessens a drunkard's desire for intoxicating liquoi's ; and there is no such thing as permanently disgusting him with brandy by giving him more brandy than he wants. A drunkard's drinking is not a thing of mere appetite ; his whole system craves stimu- lation ; and he would drink himself into ;ierdition while loathing the taste of the liquor. This Asylum simply gives its inmates rest, regimen, amusement, society, information. It tries to restore the health and renew the will, and both by rational means. Merely entering an establishment like this is a long step toward deliverance. It is a confession ! It is a confession to the patient's family and friends, to the inmates of the Asylum, and, above all, to himself, that he has lost his self-control, and cannot get it back without assistance. He comes here for that assistance. Every one knows he comes for that. They are all in the same boat. The pot caimot call the kettle black. False pride, and all the thin disguises of self- love, are laid aside. The mere fact of a man's being an in- mate of an inebriate asylum is a declaration to all about him that he has been a drunkard, and even a very bad drunkai'd ; for the people here know, from their own bitter experience, that a person cannot bring himself to make such a confession until, by many a lapse, he has been brought to despair of self-recovery. Many of these men were thinking of the asylum for years before they could summon courage to own that they had lost the power to resist a physical craving. But when once they have made the agonizing avowal by entering the asylum, it costs them no great effort to reveal the details of their case to hearers who cannot reproach them ; and, besides relating their own experience without reserve, they are relieved, encouraged, and instructed by hearing the similar experience of others. All have the same object, the same peril, the same dread, the same hope, and each aids the rest as students aid one another in the same college. In a community like this. Public Opinion is the controlling who expect ■ two passes >ening, they •eatrnent is is no ti'eat- lat destroys J ; and there \x brandy by d's drinking raves stimu- hile loathing 1 its inmates It tries to by rational a long step jonfession to the Asylum, self-control, comes here es for that, lot call the lises of self- being an in- ill about him ,d drunkard ; ■ experience, I a confession ) despair of f the asylum wn that they ;. But when entering the the details of ; and, besides f are relieved, experience of sril, the same idents aid one le coutroUing APPENDIX. 407 force. That subtle, resistless power is always aiding or frus- trating the object for which the community exists. Public Opinion sides with a competent superintendent, and serves him as an assiduous, omnipresent police. Under the coercive system once attempted here, the public opinion of the Asylum applauded a man who smuggled a bottle of whiskey into the building, and invited his friends into his room to drink it. An inmate who should now attempt such a crime would be shunned by the best two-thirds of the whole institution. Oue of their number, sud- denly overcome by temptation, who should return to the Asylum drunk, they would all receive as cordially as before ; but they would regard with horror or contempt a man who should bring temptation into the building, and place it within reach of those who had fled hither to avoid it. The French have a verb, — se depayser, — to uncountry one's self, to get out of the groove, to drop undesirable companions and forsake haunts that are too alluring, by going away for awhile, and, in returning, not resuming the old friends and habits. How necessary this is to some of the slaves of alcohol every one knows. To many of them restoration is impossible without it, and not difficult with it. To all such, what a refuge is a well-conducted asylum like this ! Merely being here, out of the coil of old habits, haunts, pleasures, comrades, tempta- tions, which had proved too much for them a thousand times, merely being away for a time, so that they can calmly survey the scenes they have left and the life they have led, — is itself half the victory. Every Wednesday evening, after prayers, a kind of tempe- rance meeting is held in the chapel. It is the intention of the superintendent, that every inmate of the Asylum shall become acquainted with the nature of alcohol, and with the precise effects of alcoholic drinks upon the human system. He means that they shall comprehend the absurdity of drinking as clearly as they know its ruinous consequences. He accord- ingly opens this meeting with a short lecture upon some one branch of the subject, and then invites the patients to illus- trate the point from their own experience. At the meeting which I happened to attend the subject of Dr. Day's remarks was suggested (as it often is) by an occurrence which had just taken place at the institution, and had been the leading topic of conversation all that day. At the last meeting, a young BBMBaMttBifiHi lSWJiUik»^i|,«., , H I '■ 1. , i i.; "■'! 408 APPENDIX. man from a distant State, wljo had been in the Asylum for some months and was about to return home, delivered an eloquent farewell address to his companions, urging tliem to adhere to their resolution, and protesting his unalterable resolve never, never, never again to yield to their alluring and treaclierous foe. He spoke with unusual animation and in a very loud voice. He took his departure in the morning by the Erie Road, and twelve hours after he was brought back to the Asylum drunk. Upon his recovery he related to the superintendent and to his friends the story of his lamentable fall. When the train had gone three hours on its way, there was a detention of three hours at a station that offered little entertainment to impatient travellers. The I'eturning prodigal paced the platform ; found it dull work ; heard at a distance the sound of billiard balls ; went and played two games, losing both ; returned to the plat- form and resumed his walk : and there fell into the train of thought that led to the catastrophe. His reflections were like these : " How perfect is my cure ! I have not once thought of taking a drink. Not even when I saw men drinking at the bar did it cross my mind to follow their example. I have not the least desire for whiskey, and I have no doubt I coidd take that ' ane glass ' which Dr. Day keeps talking about, without a wish for a second. In fact, no man is perfectly cured till he can do that. I have a great mind to put it to the test. It almost seems as if this opportunity of trying myself Jiad been created on purpose. Here goes, then, for the last glass of tohiskey I shall take as long as I live, and I take it purely as a scientific experiment." One liour after his friend, who was accompanying him home, found him lyivg in a rnrner of a, bar-room, dead drunk. He had him picked up, and placed in the next train bound for Binghamton. This was the text of Dr. Day's discourse, and he employed it in enforcing anew his three cardinal points : 1. No hope for an inebriate until he thoroughly distrusts the strength of his own resolution ; 2. No hope for an inebriate except in total abstinence as long as he lives, both in sickness and in health ; 3. Little hope for an inebriate unless he avoids, on system and on principle, the occasions of temptation, the places where liquor is sold, and the persons who will urge it upon him. Physicians, he said, were the inebriate's worst enemies ; and he advised his hearers to avoid the tinctures prepared with alcohol, which had often awakened the long dormant appetite. During APPENDIX. 409 !n for some eloquent acUiere to Ivc never, lierous foe. Olid voice. Road, and im drunk, ind to hia train had 1 of three impatient •m ; found ard balls; ) the plat- e train of s were like ;hought of it the bar ot the least that ' one wish for a io that. I as if this ose. Here long as I One hour ^oiind him vCtfCCv lifyn /vi employed hope for igth of his >t in total in health ; )n system ices where ipon him. 5 ; and he th alcohol, . During my stay at Binghamton, a clergyman resident in the town, and recently an inmate of the Asylum, had a slight indisposition resulting from riding homo from a meeting ten miles in the rain. One of the physicians of the ))lace, who knew his history, knew that he had been an inebriate of the most pronounced type (quart of liquor a day), prescribed a powerful dose of brandy and laudanum. " I dare not take it, doctor," he said, and put the damnable temptation behind him. " If I had taken it," said he to me, " I should have been drunk to-day." The case, too, required nothing but rest, rice, and an easy book. No medicine was necessary. Dr. Day has had under his care a man who, after being a confirmed drunkard, had been a teetotaler for eighteen years, and had then been advised to take wine for the purpose of hastening a slow convalescence. His appetite resumed its old ascendency, and, after drinking furiously for a year, he was brought to the Asylum in delirium tremens. Dr. Day expressed a strong hope and belief that the returned inmate mentioned above had now actually taken his last glass of whiskey ; for he had discovered his weakness, and was in a much moi'e hopeful condition than he had been before his lapse. The Doctor scouted the idea that a man who has the misfortune to break his resolution should give up the struggle. Some men, he said, must fall, at least once, before the last rag of self-confidence is torn from them ; and he had had patients who, after coming back to him in Boston four times, had conquered, and had lived soberly for yeara, and were still living soberly. When the superintendent had finishe J his remarks, he called upon his hearers to speak. Several of them did so. One young gentleman, an officer of the army during the war, made his farewell speech. He thanked his companions ^^ - *^he forbear- ance they had shown him during the first weekt . ' 'is residence among them, when he was peevish, discontented, rebellious, and had no hope of ever being able to conquer his propensity, so often had he tried and failed. He would have left the Asylum in those days, if he had had the money to pay his fare on the cars. He felt the importance of what Dr. Day had advanced respecting the occasions of temptation, and especially what he had said about physicians' prescriptions, which he knew had led men to drink. " If," he added, " I cannot live without alcohol, I would rather die. For my part, I expect to have a struggle aaas lli: ■;■.,», •■ ' >■ ,' 410 APPENDIX. all my life ; I don't think the time will over oome wh«n it will be safe for me to dally with temptation, and I fool tlio necessity of following Dr. Day's advice c i this point." Ho spoke ' " simple, earnest, and manly manner. Ho was followed another inmate, a robust, capable-looking man of thirty-five, who also spoke with directness and simplicity. He hoped that fear would help him to abstain. If ho could only keep sober, he had the best possible prospects ; but if he again gave way, he saw nothing before him but infamy and dostruction. He spoke modestly and anxiously, evidently feeling that it was more than a matter of life and death to him. When he had concluded, a young gentleman rose, and delivered a fluent, flowery address upon temperance ; just such a discourse as might precede a lapse into drinking. On Monday evening of every week, the Literary Society of the institution holds its meeting, when essays are read and lectures delivered. The course of lectures delivered last wir • are highly spoken of by those who heard them, and they all written by inmates of the Asylum. Among the subjt^ ... treated were : Columbus, a Study of Character ; Goldsmith ; The Telegraph, by an Operator ; Resources of Missouri ; Early English Novelists ; The Age, and the Men for the Age ; Geology ; The Passions, with Poetical Hlustrations ; The Inebriate Asylum, under the Regime of Coercion. It occasionally happens, that distinguished visitors contribute somoliiing to the pleasure of the evening. Mrs. Stowe, the newspapers inform us, was kind enough some time since to give them a reading from Uncle Tom's Cabin ; and the copy of the book from which she read was a cheap double-columned pamphlet brought from the South by a freedmtjn, now the porter of the Asylum. He bought it and read it while he was still a slave, little thinking when he scrawled his name across the dingy title-page that he should ever have the honour of lending it to the authoress. Nearly twelve years have now elapsed since Dr. Day began to accumulate experience in the treatment of inebriates, during which time he has had nearly four thousand patients under his care. "What proportion of these were permanently cured it is impossible to say, because nothing is heard of many patients after they leave ; but it is reasonably conjectured that two-thirds of the whole number were restored. It is a custom with many of them to write an annual letter to veil it will ) necessity poke lowec Jiirty-five, loped that eep sober, gave way, tion. He at it was on he had a fluent, scourse as Society of read and ast wir they 3 Subjfc^ ... loldsmith ; iri ; Early ; Geology ; ;e Asylum, pens, that )leasure of , was kind •om Uncle she read the South bought it J when he he should )ay began es, during nts under tly cured of many njectured It is a letter to APPENDIX. 411 Dr. Day on the anniversary of their entering the Homo under his management, and the reading of such lutter.s is a highly interesting and beneficial feature of tho Wednesday evening temperance meetings. The alcoholic mania is no respecter of per- sons. Dr. Day has had under treatment tiventi/-one cleryifmen, one of whom was a Catholic priest {who had delirium tremens), and one a Jewish Rabbi, lie has had one old man past sercidi/, and one boy of sijcteen. lie has had a Philadelphia " liller," and a judge of a supreme court. He has had steady two-quarts-a-day men, and men who toere subject o)ily to semi-annual debauches. He hm had men ivhose " tears" lasted but forty-eiyht Itours, and one man who came in of his own accord after tvhat he styled "a general spi'ee" of three months^ continuance. He has had drunkards of iivo year£ standing, and those who have been slaves of strong drink for th irty years. Smne of his successes have been st) king and memorable. Tliere was Dr. X of Tennessee, at thirt y-five a physician of large prac- tice, professor in a medical college, happy in an excellent wife and seven children. Falling into drink, fie lost at length his practice, his professorship, his property, his heme ; his family abandoned him to his fate, and ivent to his wife's father's in another State ; and he became at last a helpless gutter sot. His brother, who heard by cfuxnce of the Home in Boston, picked him up one day from the street, ivhei-e he lay insensible, and got him upon the train for the East. Before he roused from his drunken stupor, he was halfway across Virginia. " Where am I ? " he asked. " In Virginia, on your way to Boston." " All right," said he, in a drunkard's drunkenest manner, — " all right ! give me some whiskey." He was can'ied into the Home in the arms of men, and lay for some weeks miserably sick. His health improved, and the 77ian re- vived. He clutched at this unexpected chance of escape, and co-operated with all his heart with the system. Dr. Day wrote a hopeful letter to his wife. " Speak not to me of a husband," she replied ; " I have no husband ; I buried my husband long ago.'' After four months' stay in the institution, the patient returned home, and resumed his practice. A year after his family rejoined him. He recovered all his former standing, which to this day, after nine years of sobriety, he retains. His ninth annual letter to his deliverer I have read. " By the way," he says, in a postscript, " did you receive my letters each year of the war 1 '' Yes, they reached Dr. Day months after they AiaAi4ijt4''»j»'gif<'jWyij|'ijliiMiiiffilF i mft^ 412 APPENDIX. ■ il ' n were written; but they always reached him. The secret of this cure, as the patient has often asserted, was total absti- nence. He had attempted to reduce his daily quantity a hundred times ; but never, until he entered the Home, was he aware of the physical impossibility of a drunkard's becoming a moderate drinker. From the moment when ho had a cleai*, intellectual comprehension of that truth, the spell was broken : abstinence was easy ; he was himself again. Then tliere was Y , a Philadelphia street savage, — one of those firemen ivlia tised to sleep in the engine house, and lie in ivait for rival companies, and make night and day hideous with slaxighter. Fearful beings were those Philadelphia firemen of twenty years ago t Some of them made a nearer approach to total depravity titan any creatures I Imve ever seen that tvore the form of man, — revelling in blood, exulting in murder, and glorying in hellish blows with iron implements, given and received. It was difficult to say whether it gave them keener delight to wound or to be wounded. In all communities where external observances and decorums become tyrannical, and where the innocent pleasures of youth are placed under a ban, there is siu-e to be a class which revolts against the invisible despot, and goes to a horrid extreme of violence and vice. This Y was one of the revolters. Once in many weeks he would return to his decent home, ragged and penniless, to be re-clothed. It is only alcohol that supports men in a life of wanton violence lilie this ; and he, accordingly, was a deep and reckless drinker. His sister prevailed upon him, after many months of persuasion, to go to the Home in Boston, and he presented himself there one morning, black all over with coal dust. He explained his appearance by saying that he had come from Philadelphia in a coal-vessel. Dr. Day, who had been notified of his coming, received him with that emphatic politeness which produces such magical effects upon men who have long been accustomed to see an enemy in every one who behaves decently, and uses the English language in its simplicity. He was exceedingly astonished to be treated with consideration, and to discover that he was not to be subjected to any disagreeable process. He proved to be a good, simple soul, very ignorant, not naturally intelligent, and more capable, therefore, of faith than of knowledge. The Doctor won his confidence ; then his goodwill ; then his affection. Something that was read in the Bible attracted his attention one day, and APPENDIX. 413 secret of •tal absti- iiantity a 16, was he jcoming a I a clear, s broken : s, — one of lie ill wait slaughter, enty years depravity ■yf man, — llish blows lilt to say wounded. decorums of youth ch revolts ctreme of rs. Once igged and supports cordingly, iled upon Home in black all by saying Dr. Day, with that ects upon Y in every lage in its lated with subjected ad, simple e capable, ■ won his lomething I day, and he asked to be Siiown the passage ; and this was the beginning of his reading the Bible regularly. It was all new to him ; he found it highly interesting : and, this daily reading being associated in his mind with his reform, the book became a kind of talisman to him, and he felt safe as long as he continued the practice. After a six months' residence, he went to work in Boston, but always returned to spend the evening at the Home. At the beginning of the war he enlisted. He was in Colonel Baker's regiment on the bloody day of Ball's Bluff, and was one of the gallant handful of men who rescued from the enemy the body of their slain commander. He was one of the mul- titude who swam the Potomac amid a pattering rain of bullets, and walked barefoot seven miles to camp. The first man that met him there offered him whiskey. Mistaken kindness ! Senseless offer ! A man who is sinking with fixtigue wants rest, not stimulation ; sleep, not excitement. " Don't offer me that^' he gasped, shuddering. " I dread that more than bullets." Instead of the whiskey, he took twelve hours' sleep, and consequently awoke refreshed, and ready for another days' hard service. At Antietam he had the glory and high privilege of giving his life for mankind. A bullet thx'ough the brain sent him to heaven, and stretched his body on the field in painless and eternal sleep. It lies now in a cemetery near his native city ; a monument covers it ; and all who were connected with him are proud to point to his grave and claim him for their own. What a contrast between dj ing so, and being killed in a motiveless street-fight by a savage blow on the head with a speaking-trumpet ! Perhaps, long as this article already is, I may venture to give, with the utmost possible brevity, one more of the many remarkable cases with whi 'h I became acquainted at the Asylum. One Sunday morning, a loud ringing of the fi'ont-door bell of the Home in Boston induced Dr. Day himself to answer the summons. He found a man at the door, who was in the most complete state of dilapidation that can be imagined,. — ragged, dirty, his hat awry, torn and bent, spectacles with one eye gone and tb" other cocked out of place, the perfect picture of a drunken sot who had slept among the barrels and cotton bales for six months. He was such a person as we, thoughtless fools, roar at in the theatre sometimes, about 10.30 p.m., and who 414 APPENDIX. makes the lives of sundry children and one woman a long and hopeless tragedy up in some dismal garret, or down in som*" pestilential cellar. " What can I do for you 1 " inquired the superintendent. " My name is A. B ; will you take me in 1 " " Have you a letter of introduction from any one 1 '* « iVb." " We must Jiave something of the hind. Dm know any one in Boston ?" . " Yes ; there is Dr. Kirk ; I've preached in his church ; he ought to know me ; Pll see if he does.^' In a few minutes he returned, bearing a note from that dis- tinguished, clergyman, saying that he thought he knew the man, and upon this he was admitted. He was as complete, though not as hopeless a wreck as he ap- jteared. He had been a clergyman in good standing and of ability respectable ; but had insensibly fallen under the dominion of a mania for drink. For ten years he had been a downright sot. He had not seen his family in that time. A benevolent man who chanced to meet him in New York described to him the Wash- ingtonian Home, made him promise to go to it, and gave him money for the purpose. He immediately spent the money for drink ; but yet, in some forgotten way, he smuggled himself to Boston, and made his appearance at the Home on that Sunday morning. Such cases as this, hopeless as they seem, are among the easiest to cure, because there are knowledge, conscience, and pride latent in the man, which bogin to assert themselves as soon as the system is freed from the presence of alcohol. This man was easily made to see the truth respecting his case. He soon came to understand alcohol ; and this alone is a surprising assistance to a man at the instant of temptation. He remained at the Home six months, always improving in health, and regaining his former character. He left Boston twenty-two months ago, and has since lived with perfect sobriety, and has been restored to his family and to his profession. Inebriate asylums, rationally conducted, cannot fail to be worth their cost. They are probably destined to become as generally recognised a necessity of our diseased modem life as asylums for lunatics and hospitals for the sick. It is not neces- sary to begin with a million-dollar palace, though it is desirable that the building should be attractive, airy, and large enough I long and L in somr dent. m any one hurch ; he n that dis- ■) the man, as he ap- i of ability inion of a tiright sot. it man who the Wash- l gave him money for himself to lat Sunday among the 5, and pride as soon as This man . He soon surprising e remained lealth, and twenty-two ty, and has fail to be become as idem life as 9 not neces- is desirable irge enough APPENDIX. 415 to accommodate a considerable number of patients. When the building has been paid for, the institution may be self-sus- taining, or even yield a profit. It is possible that the cure of inebriates may become a specialty of medical practice, to which men, gifted with the requisite talent, will devote their lives. The science of the thing is atill most incomplete, and only one individual has had much success in the practice. Albert Day is a good superintendent chiefly because he is a good Yankee, not because he is a great scientific healer. It seems instinctive in good Yankees to respect the rights and feelings of others ; and they are accustomed to persuade and convince, not drive, not compel. Albert Day has treated these unfortunate and amiable men as he would have treated younger brothers taken captive by a power stronger than themselves. His polite and re- spectful manner to his patients on all occasions must be balm to men accustomed to the averted look and taunting epithet, and accustomed, too, to something far harder to bear — distrust and abhorrence of themselves. Othei-s, of course will originate improved methods, and we shall have, at length, a Fine Art of assisting men to overcome bad habits ; but this character ist'C of Dr. Day will never be wanting to an asylum that answers the end of its establishment. The disease which such institutions are designed to cure must be very common ; for where is the family that has not a drunkard in its circle of connections ] It is true that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure ; but not on that account must the pound of cure be withheld. The railroad which connects New York and Binghamton is the Erie, which is another way of saying that I was detained some hours on the journey home ; and this afforded me the novel experience of working my way up town in a New York street-car an hour or two before daylight. The car started from the City Hall at half-past two a.m., and received, during the first three miles of its course, twenty-seven persons. It so happened that nearly eveiy individual of them, including the person coming home from the Asylum, was out of bed at that hour through alcohol. There were three drunken vaga- bonds asleep, who were probably taking a cheap lodging in the car by riding to Harlem and back, — two hours and forty nilnutes' ride for fourteen cents. In one corner was coiled away a pale, dirty German Jew of the Fagin type, very drunk. '^KSteSfeistteti..^*^^ Ijf ! ' 416 APPENDIX. Ill m singing snatches of drinking choruses in broken English. Next to him was his pal, a thick-set old Charley Bates, also drunk, and occasionally joining in the festive songs. A mile of the road was enlivened by an argument between C. Bates and the conductor, on the subject of a cigar, which Mr. Bates insisted on smoking, in violation of the rule. The controversy was canied on in " the English language." Then there were five German musiciaus, perfectly sober and very sleepy, with their instruments in their hands, returning, I suppose, from some late saloon or dance-house. One woman was in the car, a girl of twenty, who appeared to be a performer in a saloon, and was now, after having shed her spangles and her ribbons, going home in dirty calico drawn tight over a large and obvious hoop, under the protecting care of a nice young man. There were several young and youngish men, well dressed, in various stages of intoxication, who had probably been at the lawless "late houses," singing and drinking all night, and were now going home to scare and horrify mothers, sisters, or wives who may have been waiting five hours to hear the scratch of their latch- key against the front door. What a picture did the inside of that car present, when it was filled upon both sides with sleepy, bobbing drunkards and servants of drunkards, — the girl leaning sleepily upon her neigh- bour's shoulder ; the German musicians crouching over their instruments, half dead with sleep ; old Fagin bawling a line of a beery song ; and the conductor, struggling down through the midst, vainly endeavouring to extract from boosy passengers whether they were going " through," or desired to be dropped on the way. It was a fit ending to a week at the Inebriate Asylum. —The Atlanixr. Monthly, Oct., 1868. -5ii ^ THE ErO. /^^ BRADBITRY, EVANS, AND 00., FRINTEIW, WRITBrRIAIUI. jlish. Next also drunk, mile of the ates and the ates insisted roversy was ;re were five \f, with their >m some late ar, a girl of oon, and was jbons, going bvious hoop, There were arious stages awless "late B now going 'es who may [■ their latch- sent, when it unkards and on her neigh- g over their ling a line of through the y passengers e dropped on date Asylum.