THINGS AS THEY ARE 
 vfl/ 
 
 AMERICA 
 
 BY 
 
 WILLIAM CHAMBERS 
 
 WILLIAM AISD ROBERT CHAMBERS 
 LONDON AND EDINBURGH 
 
 1854 
 
 j\ 
 
EDINBURGH: 
 
 PRINTED BY W. AND R. CHAMPERS. 
 
IN the autumn of 1853, I was advised to cross the Atlantic 
 for change of air and scene ; and as the suggestion coincided 
 with my own desire, formed on other grounds, to visit 
 AMERICA, I gladly assented. The present work is a narrative 
 of what chiefly fell under observation during my tour in 
 some of the BRITISH AMERICAN POSSESSIONS and UNITED 
 STATES the recollection of which excursion, and of the many 
 marks of undeserved kindness I received, will always be to 
 me a source of unqualified gratification. 
 
 W. CHAMBERS. 
 
 GLENORMISTON, August 1854. 
 
 269295 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. PAGB 
 
 TOYAGE FROM LIVERPOOL TO HALIFAX, . . 1 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 NOVA SCOTIA, .24 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 BOSTON TO MONTREAL, . . . . .45 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 MONTREAL, .63 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 QUEBEC, 79 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 ONTARIO NIAGARA, . . . . . .96 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 TORONTO CANADA-WEST, . . . . . 113 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 CANADA-WEST TO MICHIGAN, .... 128 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 OHIO-CINCINNATI, 142 
 
VI CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER X. PAGK 
 
 CINCINNATI TO NEW YORK, ._ . . 158 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 NEW YORK, . . . . . . . .171 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 NEW YORK CONCLUDED, . . . . .191 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 BOSTON LOWELL, 210 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 RHODE ISLAND, 227 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 WASHINGTON " . . .249 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 RICHMOND, IN VIRGINIA, ... .267 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 CONGRESS, \. . ... 287 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA, . . . . . . . 304 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 RAILWAYS, TELEGRAPHS, AND OTHER THINGS, 323 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 GENERAL OBSERVATIONS, . . . 340 
 
THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 CHAPTER L 
 
 VOYAGE FROM LIVERPOOL TO HALIFAX. 
 
 A VISIT to America is usually one of the early 
 aspirations of the more impressionable youth of 
 England. The stirring stories told of Columbus, 
 Sebastian Cabot, Raleigh, and Captain John Smith; 
 the history of the Pilgrim Fathers fleeing from 
 persecution; the description of Perm s transactions 
 with the Indians ; the narratives of the gallant achieve 
 ments of Wolfe and Washington, and the lamentable 
 humiliations of Burgoyne and Cornwallis ; the exciting 
 autobiography of the Philadelpliian printer, who, from 
 toiling at the press, rose to be the companion of kings 
 all had their due effect on my imagination, and 
 stimulated the desire I felt to cross the Atlantic, and 
 see the country which had been the theatre of so many 
 interesting events, and latterly the scene of so many 
 social developments. The ordinary occupations of a 
 busy life, however, had dispelled this early dream. 
 Like other ardently but vaguely entertained notions, 
 it vanished and was forgotten, when circumstances all 
 at once recalled it to mind, and rendered its realisation 
 
2 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 possible. In short, towards the close of 1853, I was 
 enabled to visit the more interesting portions of N< 
 America, where the rapid rate at which travellers 
 whirled from place to place, left me a reasonable tiffitf 
 for observation and inquiry. 
 
 When a thing has to be brought down from the 
 realms of fancy, to be considered in its practical details, 
 it is astonishing how many little difficulties require tcr. -. 
 be encountered and overcome. In the present instance^ 
 I had to determine, in the first place, which route Ly 
 should adopt. Should I go by way of the Britishi% 
 American provinces, or leave them to be reached after 
 visiting the United States? I resolved to set out direct ; 
 for one of the nearest of the colonial possessions 
 Nova Scotia, and pass on thence to Canada, by this 
 means taking the more northerly parts first. Perhaps, 
 also, the fact of the Nova Scotian peninsula being 
 ordinarily, and it may be said, unjustly, neglected by 
 tourists, helped to fix my resolution, and accordingly 
 I engaged a berth in the America, one of the Cunard 
 line of steamers bound from Liverpool to Boston, and 
 touching at Halifax. 
 
 It was on a dull September morning, with a thick 
 fog overhanging the Mersey, that I found myself 
 amidst a crowd of persons standing on the deck of a 
 small steamer at the landing-quay of Liverpool. In 
 the forepart of the vessel was a huge pile of boxes, 
 bags, and portmanteaus, the luggage of the passengers ; 
 while the middle and after parts were so thickly 
 covered with human beings, as to leave barely standing- 
 room. The duty of this little craft, called the tender,* 
 is to carry passengers from the shore to the steam-ship 
 that lies moored in the middle of the river, and which, 
 having previously, while in dock, taken on board all its 
 cargo, is now ready to start out to sea. As nine o clock 
 struck, the tender moved away from the shore, and in 
 
VOYAGE FROM LIVERPOOL TO HALIFAX. 3 
 
 two minutes was enveloped in the fog a most 
 lllilgerous situation, for the Mersey was studded over 
 . wii,h vessels in various attitudes, and at any instant we 
 might rush violently against them. Such a catastrophe 
 actually occurred. By what I must consider to have 
 been incautious steering, the small steamer was brought 
 suddenly into collision with the bows of a large vessel, 
 and our, instantaneous destruction seemed to be inevit 
 able. "With indescribable alarm I expected that the 
 vessel would pass over us, and that we should all be 
 immediately struggling beneath the flood. There was 
 a rush to the roof of the small engine-room, as being 
 likely to remain longest above water. I climbed to the 
 highest point near me, and looked ahead for the coming 
 shock. A moment of extreme excitement ensued. 
 Crash went in the bulwarks of the tender, and down 
 went its mast across the pile of luggage ! I thought 
 all was over. Fortunately, the bowsprit of the large 
 vessel, in coming in contact with and breaking our 
 mast, slightly turned off the collision, and we imme 
 diately lost sight of her great hull in the mist. We 
 felt, as it were, a reprieve from death, and looked each 
 other in the face with a feeling of congratulation. Then 
 broke forth on the unlucky steersman a shower of those 
 warm epithets which the English, in moments of 
 indignation, scatter about with characteristic liberality. 
 Idiot ass fool ! were pelted at him all the rest of the 
 way ; nor did we feel safe from a fresh calamity till we 
 were alongside of the America., which towered like a 
 castle above us, and till we had our feet securely 
 planted on her capacious poop. The tender, it is 
 needless to say, had a very damaged appearance. Her 
 mast and cordage lay athwart the confused mass of 
 baggage, some of which was broken in pieces, and some 
 had gone overboard. Whether such incidents are 
 common at Liverpool, I do not know. It is, at all 
 
4 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 events, clear that the method of putting passengers on 
 board American vessels, in a foggy river, by means of 
 small and overcrowded tenders, is a very bad one ; and 
 I have no hesitation in saying, that there is more 
 danger to life from this practice, than in a whole 
 voyage across the Atlantic. 
 
 The America did not immediately depart. The mails 
 were still to be put on board, and these did not arrive 
 in a subsequent trip of the tender till nearly noon. 
 When they made their appearance, they consisted of at 
 least two cart-loads of well-stuffed leather bags, with 
 some boxes containing special dispatches for Canada. 
 The whole having been transferred to the hold in the 
 large steamer, the captain and pilot took their places 
 on the paddle-box, the other officers went to their 
 appropriate posts, the bell was rung, the wheels moved, 
 and we were off. Slowly at first did the great floating 
 mass proceed through the water. The mists which lay 
 to seaward were not yet -quite dispelled by the sun, and 
 to go down the Mersey required careful guidance. For 
 half an hour, the passengers leant over the brass 
 railings of the elevated poop, catching glimpses of the 
 parting quays some waving hats or handkerchiefs to 
 friends far in the receding distance some, myself for 
 one, thinking of those dear to them at home, and half 
 doubtful of our own safe return to Old England. 
 Gradually, the ship got into greater speed; for an 
 instant it paused in its career, to allow the pilot to 
 descend to his boat; again it moved along, and we 
 were fairly on our course. The direction it took was 
 straight up the Channel between Ireland and the Isle 
 of Man. It was going what is called north about/ 
 which is preferred to the southern passage in certain 
 states of wind and tide. 
 
 As the vessel gained the open sea, and left nothing 
 to look at but the wide-spread waters, one by one the 
 
VOYAGE FllOM LIVERPOOL TO HALIFAX. 5 
 
 passengers descended to view the nature of their own 
 particular accommodations, or to inspect the general 
 mechanism of the ship. To me, at least, everything 
 was new and curious; and, for the sake of the unini 
 tiated, I will try to give an idea of what came under 
 my notice. 
 
 As is pretty well known, there are two chief and 
 distinct lines of steamers. One, the Cunard, so called 
 after Mr Cunard of Halifax, who was its projector, is 
 exclusively British property, and has a large money- 
 grant from our government for carrying the mails. 
 Some of its vessels sail direct to and from New York, 
 the remainder to and from Boston, calling at Halifax. 
 The other line, called the Collins, is American property, 
 and sails only to and from New York ; it is subsidised 
 by the United States government also for mail pur 
 poses. These two lines are in many respects rivals, 
 but, by a judicious arrangement, the vessels depart 
 from each port on different days of the week, so that 
 no actual inconvenience is experienced from their 
 competition. Latterly, there has sprung up a separate 
 line of steamers to and from Philadelphia, and another 
 to and from Portland ; but of these I do not need here 
 to speak. It is by the Cunard and Collins steamers 
 that the intercourse with North America is mainly 
 carried on, and on both sides of the Atlantic there is 
 much keenness of feeling as to their respective merits. 
 The Canards are strong and compact vessels, built 
 wholly in the Clyde, and possess engines of the most 
 trustworthy workmanship. They are likewise in the 
 charge of first-rate seamen. But, from the rounded form 
 of their bows, or some other architectural peculiarity, 
 they do not sail so fast as the Collins steamers, and 
 they ship water on the decks to an unpleasant extent. 
 They also fall considerably short of the Collinses in point 
 of spaciousness and elegance of accommodation ; and I 
 
6 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 am sorry to say that, in the ticket- dispensing depart 
 ment at Liverpool, there is great room for increased 
 attention and politeness. On calling to get my ticket 
 on the night previous to departure, I experienced such 
 treatment as might be expected by a pauper emigrant 
 who went to seek an eleemosynary passage. Nor was 
 this the worst of it; for although paying the highest 
 fare, 25, which I had remitted ten days previously, 
 and although informed that one of the best berths 
 in the ship had been assigned to me, I found that 
 this said excellent berth was among the fore-cabin 
 passengers a circumstance that led to much discomfort 
 during the voyage, as I shall afterwards have occasion to 
 notice. I allude to these circumstances with reluctance, 
 and only under a sense of public duty. 
 
 On board the America, which bears a close resem 
 blance to the other vessels in the line, there was 
 nothing to find fault with, but, on the contrary, much 
 to commend. Everything in the Cunards goes on, as 
 the saying is, ( like clock-work/ In the striking of 
 bells, changing of watches, posting of officers, throwing 
 the log, taking solar observations, and other transac 
 tions, there is all the regularity and precision of a 
 man-of-war ; and this imparts a feeling of security even 
 in the worst states of the weather, by night or day. 
 The burden of the America is 1832 tons, and its length 
 about 249 feet; it has two large engines, which act 
 separately or together on both paddle-wheels, and in 
 ordinary circumstances give a speed of from ten to 
 twelve miles an hour. The quantity of fuel consumed 
 is from fifty to sixty tons a day ; necessitating a stock 
 on board of about 900 tons of coal for the trip, and so 
 leaving space for 900 tons for freight and miscellaneous 
 articles. 
 
 It is wonderful to see how much is made of the 
 internal accommodation. A great deal is done on 
 
VOYAGE FROM LIVERPOOL TO HALIFAX. 7 
 
 deck. There is really little deck visible. Along each 
 side, adjoining the paddle-box, there is a row of 
 small apartments, covered with wood, and over these 
 are empty boats turned upside down, ready for launch 
 ing in case of accident. In the open space beneath 
 these boats, the cook keeps his fresh vegetables, and 
 you occasionally see one of his assistants climbing 
 up to clutch at a cabbage or bunch of carrots, and 
 bring them from their repository. The apartments on 
 the starboard side (the right side looking towards the 
 head of the vessel) have brass-plates on the doors, with 
 inscriptions denoting what they are. The first in the 
 row is the cabin of the second officer ; next is the cabin 
 of the third officer ; next is the workshop of the baker ; 
 next is that of the butcher or flesher ; next is the house 
 for the cow ; and further on are sundry smaller offices. 
 The apartments on the left side of the deck (larboard) 
 are first, the cabin of the surgeon; next, that of the 
 purser; and further on are various places for culinary 
 operations, stores, and so forth. Along the centre of 
 the deck, beginning at the stern, are, first, the wheel- 
 house, in which a helmsman is seen constantly at his 
 post, and who has an outlook in. front over the top of 
 the saloon. At each side of the wheel-house are apart 
 ments for the captain and first officer. The saloon 
 comes next. It is a large sitting and dining apartment 
 for the first-class passengers, and is lighted by a row of 
 windows on each side. Separated from it by a narrow 
 cross-passage, and on the same line with it, is the 
 steward s apartment, surrounded by shelves of china and 
 glass articles, and having in its centre a little bureau 
 whence liquors are dispensed. Over the door of this 
 bureau is a clock, visible from the saloon, which is 
 altered daily in correspondence with the changing 
 longitude. Beyond the steward s room, towards the 
 middle of the vessel, is a kind of apartment open at the 
 
8 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 sides, and in which stands the capstan. At its 
 extremity is the chimney of the furnaces, by which 
 means the enclosure is kept tolerably warm even in 
 cold weather. Provided with seats, it forms the outdoor 
 lounge of cigar-smokers, and those who do not know 
 what to do with themselves. Besides being dry over 
 head, the capstan-gallery is kept dry to the feet by 
 means of open wooden work laid on the deck ; so that 
 when the sea washes over the vessel, passengers can 
 remain here without being wetted. 
 
 Beyond the capstan-gallery is the kitchen ; adjoining 
 is the open deck, with the ventilators for the engine- 
 room. Clearing this spot towards the head of the vessel, 
 we have, first, the mess-room of the officers, a small 
 apartment erected on the deck; and in continuation, 
 the sitting and eating saloon for the fore-cabin 
 passengers. This saloon is smaller than that for the 
 first-class passengers; but it is neatly fitted up with 
 hair-cloth sofa seats, and has stewards for its own 
 special attendance. Beneath it are the sleeping-berths 
 for this department; and from all I could see, they 
 equal in comfort those of the higher class, with the 
 disadvantage, however, of being exposed to the noises 
 incidental to the working of the paddles and the con 
 cussions of the waves on the forepart of the vessel. 
 All that part of the deck, beyond the second-class 
 saloon, is the proper field for the sailors. 
 
 So much for what stands on the level of the deck; 
 and with so many incumbrances, the space left for 
 walking amounts only to a stripe at each side of the 
 saloon, unless we choose to mount to the poop, which is 
 the entire roof of the saloon, steward s apartment, and 
 capstan-gallery, united in one long sweep. The poop, 
 enclosed with railings, and furnished with seats, affords 
 a fine airing-ground, and from the binnacle, or stand 
 for the compass, to the great red tube forming the 
 
VOYAGE FROM LIVERPOOL TO HALIFAX. 9 
 
 engine chimney at the farther extremity of the poop, 
 there is an unimpeded view over the surrounding ocean. 
 The indoor space is necessarily circumscribed. Below 
 the saloon are the sleeping-berths, two beds in each, in 
 long rows ; a certain number with a small parlour being 
 set aside for ladies. The descent to this sleeping region 
 is by two good stairs. The fore-cabin passengers, in 
 like manner, occupy berths below their saloon, and in 
 this respect, at least, enjoy accommodations no way 
 inferior to those of first- class passengers. 
 
 The conducting of this magnificent vessel from port 
 to port across the ocean, exhibits a remarkable triumph 
 of human skill. A body of officers, dressed in a uniform 
 like that of the royal navy, is charged with the manage 
 ment of the ship, The chief command in the America, 
 for the time being, was in the hands of Captain 
 N. Shannon,* a Scotsman of experienced seamanship, 
 and most agreeable and obliging in his intercourse with 
 the passengers. Under him are three officers. The 
 laborious duties of the ship are performed by a boat 
 swain and an efficient corps of mariners ; there is like 
 wise a head-engineer with his assistants, having the 
 special charge of the machinery. In the ordinary 
 working of the ship, it seems to be a rule, that two 
 officers shall always be on the alert one stationed on 
 the gangway at the side of the paddle-boxes, to look 
 sharply ahead; the other stationed at the binnacle, to 
 communicate orders to the man at the wheel. When 
 an order is issued by the captain, or first officer on 
 duty, it is repeated aloud by the second officer; and 
 you thus hear it rapidly echoed from point to point till 
 acted upon by the helmsman. Orders to the engineer 
 to slacken speed, to stop, or go on, are communicated 
 by pulling the wire of a bell at the paddle-box; by 
 
 * Now in the Europa, to and from New York. 
 
10 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 which simple contrivance, the movements of the ship 
 are under the most perfect control. The watches, as 
 must be known to many, are four hours each, and are 
 regulated by striking a bell placed near the wheel, the 
 sounds being answered by a bell at the forecastle. These 
 are struck every half-hour. Half-past twelve o clock 
 is indicated by one blow; one o clock by two blows; 
 half-past one o clock by three blows ; and so on to four 
 o clock, which is marked by eight blows. At half-past 
 four they begin again ; and in this way the twenty-four 
 hours of the day are divided. 
 
 Although ably assisted by his officers, the commander 
 of a vessel of this class holds a situation requiring 
 sleepless vigilance. I observed that in his room at night 
 a light was kept constantly burning, to illuminate the 
 charts, compasses, and barometers, with which the 
 apartment is furnished ; and at various times a mariner 
 came to report the progress of the ship, and the state 
 of the winds. It is also noticeable, that any order 
 despatched by the captain to the officer on duty, is 
 given in writing, so as to avoid the mistakes incidental 
 to verbal messages. Latterly, a tell-tale compass has 
 been invented, for the purpose of checking irregularities 
 in sailing. By means of an ingenious kind of mechan 
 ism attached to a compass, its dial-plate is punctured 
 in the line of direction of the ship. Should the vessel 
 be kept unsteadily on its assigned course, the deviations 
 will be marked on the dial like a cloud of zigzag 
 punctures ; but should the vessel be kept steadily to its 
 proper path, the punctures, accordingly, will be in a 
 straight line. Fresh dials of paper are supplied daily. 
 With one of these tell-tale compasses, the captain, on 
 awaking in his berth, can discover whether his orders 
 have been carefully attended to or otherwise. 
 
 Captains of ocean steamers differ considerably in 
 their attention to exactness in compasses. Goo r l 
 
VOYAGE FROM LIVERPOOL TO HALIFAX. H 
 
 compasses are doubtless furnished to all vessels of this 
 important class; but the very best compass may be 
 rendered worse than useless, by a disregard of the petty 
 circumstances on board that derange its action. Captain 
 Shannon related to us a curious instance of a derange 
 ment in the compass, which had since rendered him 
 punctiliously cautious. He had left Halifax with his 
 vessel on the homeward-bound voyage ; it was during 
 one of the cold winter months, when fogs prevail on the 
 American coast. His directions at night to the officers 
 of the watch were to run for a point thirty miles east 
 ward of Newfoundland, so as to make sure of keeping 
 clear of its rock-bound shores; and the point of the 
 compass that would lead in this required direction was 
 fixed upon. On coming on deck in the gray of the 
 morning, what was his horror on seeing that the ship 
 had just entered a small bay, and seemed about to be 
 dashed in pieces on the lofty precipices that revealed 
 themselves through the mist ! By instantaneously 
 shquting orders to the man at the wheel, and by 
 reversing the engines, he barely saved the vessel from 
 destruction. After some trouble, it was paddled out to 
 deep water. His first impression of course was, that 
 the compass had been neglected. But to his surprise, he 
 found that his orders in this respect had been exactly 
 followed. The head of the vessel had been kept in 
 the direction which, by compass, should have led to 
 the open sea, thirty miles from land, and yet here was 
 it running full inshore. To all concerned, the deviation 
 seemed perfectly magical not on any ordinary principle 
 to be accounted for. The truth at length dawned on 
 the captain. The error must have arisen from some 
 local derangement of the compass. He caused all the 
 compasses in the ship to be ranged on the deck; and 
 soon it was perceived that no two agreed. The seat of 
 the disorder was ascertained to be at a certain spot close 
 
12 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 to the funnel of the stove of the saloon. Could this 
 funnel be the cause ? It was of brass, and had never 
 before shewn any power of distracting the needle. On 
 looking into it, however, the captain discovered that, 
 when at Halifax, a new iron tube had been put inside 
 the brass one, without his knowledge, and the circum 
 stance had never been mentioned to him! There, 
 in that paltry iron tube, was the whole cause of 
 the derangement, which I speedily/ added Captain 
 Shannon, made to shift its quarters/ How near was 
 thus a fine vessel being wrecked, from a petty circum 
 stance which no one could have previously dreamt of; 
 and it may be said, how many first-class steamers, 
 assumed to be diverted towards rocks by currents, 
 may have been led to destruction from causes equally 
 trivial. 
 
 By a strict regard to compasses and to lights, and by 
 careful pilotage on approaching the coast, the danger 
 to well-built sea-going steamers is exceedingly small. 
 Rocks, collisions, and conflagrations, are the things that 
 need alone raise a feeling of apprehension. On board 
 the America, as in similar vessels, lights are hung up at 
 sunset on the fore-mast and on each paddle-box, so as 
 to warn ships that a steamer is approaching, whereby 
 collisions may be avoided ; and as regards fire, extreme 
 care seems to be taken. All the lamps below, excepting 
 that in the captain s apartment, are put out at mid 
 night; nor is any one allowed to burn lights on his 
 own account. There is, also, in connection with the 
 steam-engine, a set of force-pumps, by which a deluge 
 of water could be immediately propelled to any part of 
 the vessel. To avert the danger and delay incidental 
 to breakages of machinery, duplicates of various parts 
 are kept on board, and could be substituted if necessary, 
 without materially interrupting the progress of the 
 voyage. Such precautionary arrangements cannot but 
 
VOYAGE FROM LIVERPOOL TO HALIFAX. 13 
 
 give a certain degree of confidence to the most timid 
 class of passengers. 
 
 The America, as I said, quitted her moorings in the 
 Mersey on Saturday at noon ; and passing north about, 
 it was not until about seven o clock on Sunday evening 
 that we lost sight of Ireland, and were fairly afloat on 
 the Atlantic. Without any land in view, the ship now 
 seemed to be moving in the centre of a circular piece of 
 water terminating in the sky. And on and on, day 
 after day, did the noble vessel go ploughing her way 
 across this shifting liquid disk. Seldom did any sail 
 make its appearance on the track we were pursuing. 
 Our ship was seemingly alone on the waste of waters 
 a thing enchanted into life by the appliances of science 
 and art, hastening across the trackless deep, and trans 
 ferring a living portion of Europe to America. How 
 suggestive, to sit down to dinner, amidst the splendours 
 of a hotel, and to see so many refined people about you, 
 yet know that you are a thousand miles from land a 
 mere speck amidst the tumultuous waves ! The great 
 ness of this marvel is probably lessened to most minds 
 by the pressure of common-place circumstances. The 
 slightest touch of sea-sickness takes away the poetry of 
 the ocean ; nor, when a man is hungry, does he indulge 
 complacently in fanciful speculations. One of the first 
 things which passengers do on coming on board, is to 
 select the place where they propose to sit at table ; which 
 they do by laying down their card at the spot. In this 
 way, a party of persons acquainted with each other 
 make choice of a locality ; and the seat each selects he 
 keeps during the voyage. Let us pause for a moment 
 on the appearance of the saloon, in its varying character 
 of sitting and eating room. 
 
 It is one of the many well-managed matters in these 
 vessels, that the meals are served peremptorily to a 
 minute, according to the striking of the bells. No 
 
14 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 matter what be the state of the weather, the dishes are 
 brought in at the appointed time ; and I verily believe 
 that if the ship were sinking, the stewards would still 
 be continuing to serve the dinner. The stewards, in 
 fact, twelve in number, the whole under a chef, and 
 dressed in smart blue jackets, are but a variety of the 
 waiter genus, and know only one thing which is to 
 supply the wants of passengers. At eight o clock in 
 the morning, they ring their first bell, which is the 
 signal for rising ; and at half-past eight they ring again 
 for breakfast. Irish stew, cold meat, ham, mutton- 
 chops, some kind of fish, eggs, tea, coifee, and hot rolls, 
 are placed in profusion on the two upper tables. The 
 tables in the saloon are eight in number that is, four 
 on each side, with sofa seats in red velvet plush. Seldom 
 more, however, than the upper tables are covered for 
 breakfast; for the meal is drawn out till ten o clock, 
 and for two hours people come dropping in and going 
 out as suits their fancy. At ten, the tables are cleared : 
 after this, nothing hot can be obtained ; but any one at 
 any time can have such other fare as is on board. At 
 half-past eleven, the tables are covered to a larger 
 extent, and the bell at twelve o clock is the signal for 
 lunch. This is a well-attended meal, and there is 
 usually a considerable consumption of soup, cold beef, 
 and roasted potatoes the latter served with their 
 jackets on, and a great favourite with the more mode 
 rate hands. Again the tables are cleared, and so they 
 remain till half-past three o clock, when they are 
 covered from end to end in grande tenue, and the bell 
 for dressing is rung. This bell might as well be spared, 
 for not one makes the slightest preparation; and when 
 the bell at four o clock is sounded, there. is a general 
 rush from the poop, smoking-gallery, and other quarters, 
 into the saloon. The number of passengers during our 
 voyage was a hundred and sixty, and the whole of these, 
 
VOYAGE FROM LIVERPOOL TO HALIFAX. 16 
 
 with two or three exceptions, sat down to dinner daily. 
 At the top of each of the eight tables is a silver tureen 
 of soup, and the signal for taking off the lids is the 
 entrance of the captain, who appears in the saloon only 
 at this meal, and takes his seat at the upper end of the 
 first table on the left-hand side. The stewards are 
 drawn up in lines, and confine their attendance to their 
 respective tables. When dishes are sent in to the 
 apartment, they are handed from one to another along 
 the lines, and in the same noiseless manner are they 
 handed out the whole thing going on silently like an 
 adroit military manoeuvre. Every day fresh bills of 
 fare are laid on the tables for the use of the guests. 
 Iced water is served in abundance, and it is observable 
 that not many call for wines. Those who do, give their 
 orders on cards furnished for the purpose, which they 
 settle for at the end of the voyage. For general 
 accommodation, a shelf for bottles and glasses is sus 
 pended from the ceiling over each of the tables, and 
 large tankards of iced water are always at hand. 
 
 The elegance and profusion of the dinners is sur 
 prising. They consist of the best soups, fish, meat, 
 fowls, and game, with side-dishes in the French style ; 
 followed by a course of pastry of various kinds, with a 
 dessert of fresh and preserved fruits. How so many 
 things can be cooked, how there can be so much pastry 
 dressed up daily, is a standing wonder to everybody. 
 And the wonder is greater when we know that from 
 the same apparatus must be daily produced not only all 
 this profusion for the saloon, but also copious dinners 
 at different hours for the fore-cabin passengers, the 
 officers mess, and the working departments of the ship. 
 Dinner in the saloon is drawn out to upwards of an 
 hour, but towards its conclusion numbers drop off to 
 their accustomed lounge in the capstan-gallery or on 
 the poop. A few, here and there, linger over a bottle 
 
16 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 of wine ; some recline on the sofas ; and some take to 
 reading. There is now a cessation in eating till seven 
 o clock, when the bell is sounded the last time for the 
 day, and tea and coffee are served. For these beverages 
 there is always abundance of milk; the cow on board 
 being an assurance that there will be no want in that 
 particular. As regards this poor animal, which was 
 certainly an involuntary passenger, I observed that she 
 was carefully attended to in the way of food and clean 
 liness ; nor did she feel the want of company ; for most 
 persons talk to her in passing her little house, over the 
 half-door of which she keeps her head poked out to see 
 what is going on, and to receive the caresses of the 
 sailors. In rough weather, she lies down in a comfort 
 able bed of straw, and is untouched by the spray of the 
 sea ; yet, she is sometimes sick, and on such occasions, 
 like others on board, probably wishes she were safe on 
 dry land. 
 
 It will appear, from this brief description, that eating 
 goes on with short interruptions from morning till night. 
 One feels as if living in a table-d hote room, with the 
 same company always sitting down or rising up; and 
 I should think that, if a person be at all well, he can 
 scarcely fail to add to his weight during the voyage. 
 At first, and for a few days afterwards, there is a 
 general shyness ; but this wears gradually off. Persons 
 sitting near to or opposite each other, begin to become 
 acquainted ; cards are sometimes mutually exchanged ; 
 and mere chance proximity leads to a lasting and valued 
 intimacy. At tea, some do not take their accustomed 
 places at table, but, for the sake of variety, visit 
 acquaintances in other parts of the room. As anything 
 is gladly hailed which will impart a degree of novelty 
 to the scene, the passengers were one evening gratified 
 to learn that a gentleman proposed to give a lecture on 
 Spirit Rapping. All being assembled in their places, 
 
VOYAGE FROM LIVERPOOL TO HALIFAX. 17 
 
 the lecturer, who was an American, with a singularly 
 thoughtful cast of countenance, stood up in the middle 
 of the saloon, and commenced his harangue. He began 
 by narrating the spiritiial agencies mentioned in the 
 Scriptures; was strong on the case of Saul and the 
 Witch of Endor ; came to recent manifestations ; and 
 ended with the clenching argument, that he had seen 
 a table rise into the air and go round the room ; and 
 that if that was riot effected by spirits, he asked any one 
 to say how it had been done ! He was listened to with 
 respect, but failed, I believe, to make any converts to 
 his real or affected belief. 
 
 Devoured by idleness, passengers sometimes practise 
 betting to a ridiculous and mischievous extent. They 
 will bet on anything whether a sail will be seen to 
 morrow ; what day and hour the ship will reach port ; 
 or more commonly, what number of miles will be run 
 in the current four-and-twenty hours. Betting on this 
 latter point admits of speedy and accurate settlement; 
 for every day, at noon, there is stuck up on the door of 
 the saloon a memorandum of the ship s run, calculated 
 from the log ; and numbers, watching for the exhibition 
 of this piece of intelligence, enter it gravely in their 
 note-books, and go about telling everybody how many 
 miles have been made in the ship s course. 
 
 In tolerable states of the weather, the greater number 
 of passengers take walking exercise on the poop, which 
 is the great airing-ground. The younger men amuse 
 themselves in a different manner, with games of shovel- 
 board, on the stripes of deck outside the saloon. Here, 
 with thin circular pieces of hardwood, they play at a 
 game which resembles that of bowls, only that the pieces 
 thrown are made to slide along instead of being rolled. 
 On fine forenoons, the ladies are spectators of these 
 games, or indulge in walking exercise, if able to bear 
 the unsteady motion of the ship. In the saloon, much 
 
18 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 is done to kill time by card-playing, chess, and back 
 gammon. Some keep playing on for hours, morning 
 and evening. They have crossed the Atlantic a dozen 
 times, and to them the whole affair is hackneyed and 
 tame. Their only solace is whist, and accordingly no 
 sooner is the breakfast off the table, than the cards 
 make their appearance. At night, when the candles are 
 lighted, these whist-parties increase in number, and to 
 look down the room, you would imagine yourself at a 
 large evening-party in a watering-place. Occasionally, 
 towards ten o clock, when certain youngsters are finish 
 ing the day with deviled legs of fowl and glasses of 
 something warm to put away that nasty squeamishness/ 
 you may hear a song break forth, and there is for a 
 time an air of jovialty among the various scattered 
 parties. Yet, on no occasion does one ever see any 
 approach to boisterousness ; and notwithstanding the 
 mixture of nations English, Scotch, American, Cana 
 dian, German, and Italian there prevails from first 
 to last the staid demeanour of well-bred and select 
 society. 
 
 Our voyage was rather more rough than usual. Head 
 winds from the west tumbled the sea about, and retarded 
 the progress of the vessel. At starting, the ship was 
 able to make upwards of 200 miles a day; but on 
 Thursday, the run sunk to 101 miles; on Friday, it 
 rose a little, being 120 ; and on Saturday, it was 166. 
 During these three days, the beating of rain and wind, 
 and the dashing of spray from the paddles, were the 
 least of the discomforts. As the vessel ducked down in 
 front to meet the billows, she constantly, and just as a 
 spoon would lift water, shipped a sea, which came rolling 
 along the decks ankle-deep, and finding only an imperfect 
 outlet at the scuppers. The concussions of the heavy 
 surging waves on the bows and paddles were some 
 times awful, threatening, as they appeared to do, the 
 
VOYAGE FROM LIVERPOOL TO HALIFAX. 19 
 
 destruction of everything that opposed the repeated 
 shocks. Yet under these pitiless blows, the vessel scarcely 
 quivered, so well were her timbers put together; and 
 calmly she made her way, though at moderated speed, 
 through the raging and foaming ocean. Now was it appa 
 rent that mere power of engine is of little avail during 
 storms in the Atlantic, and, indeed, will only aggravate 
 the concussions, unless the prow of the vessel be of that 
 sharpened and vertical form that will enable it to cleave 
 its way, and at the same time sustain a level course in 
 the water. A vessel of this improved shape, and of 
 increased length, is, I believe, in course of construction 
 by the Cunard Company, and it will be interesting to 
 watch the result. Meanwhile, the frequent shipping 
 of seas in bad weather is an intolerable nuisance. As 
 regards myself, the deluging of the decks of the America 
 poisoned the whole comforts of the voyage. In going 
 from my berth in the morning, and returning to it in 
 the evening, I had to walk amidst sea- water; and one 
 night, by the plunging of the ship, I was thrown down, 
 and bruised and drenched to a serious extent. For this 
 there was no redress. Some other gentlemen among 
 the first-class passengers had to undergo the like torment 
 of occupying berths in the forepart of the ship. We 
 were in the predicament of persons who, every night 
 after supper, and in darkness, amidst a storm of wind 
 and rain, had to go out of doors in quest of a lodging. 
 May our sufferings be a warning not to pay for a passage 
 in these vessels without first seeing a printed plan, and 
 being assured that the berth required is actually under 
 or in connection with the saloon. 
 
 While the head- winds lasted, and kept the decks in 
 disorder, the smoking and talking assemblages in the 
 capstan-gallery were kept up with redoubled energy. 
 Collected in this sheltered spot, and grouped on camp- 
 stools, the English and Americans carried on earnest 
 
20 THINGS AS THEY AKE IN AMERICA. 
 
 discussions on matters of social polity : an American 
 ised Irish gentleman from Ohio told stories of the early 
 settlements ; a Californian, in a shaggy pea-jacket, and 
 with breastpins made of great nuggets of gold, related 
 tales of Lynch-law and Colics revolvers; and from a 
 grizzly-haired little man, who spoke emphatically 
 through his teeth, the captain of a South-sea whaler, 
 we had daily narratives of shipwreck, which would 
 have gone far to fill a volume. It was remarkable, that 
 during even the worst weather, and when the motion 
 of the vessel was considerable, there was little sickness 
 among the passengers. Altogether, I experienced no 
 feeling of this kind except for an hour on the second 
 day. The length and solidity of the vessel, with its 
 power of overcoming the short broken waves, give an 
 easiness that is wanting in the small class of steamers ; 
 so that a voyage to America may really be attended with 
 less painful consequences than an ordinary trip from 
 Dover to Calais. While the bad weather lasted, only 
 two of the passengers ventured on the poop. One of 
 them was a grave gentleman, clothed from top to toe 
 in India-rubber, who defied the rain and wind, and 
 became a subject of jocularity to the young men on 
 board. The other was a handsome young Swiss, who 
 had never been to sea before, and was always in a 
 state of extreme alarm lest the vessel should sink. In 
 the midst of dinner, if there was a particularly loud 
 concussion against the paddles, out the poor Swiss 
 would bolt, and hurry to the furthest corner of the 
 wheel-house, as if resolved to be among the last to 
 perish. A hurricane of laughter from the young Nova 
 Scotians followed these demonstrations, which were 
 among the standard subjects of merriment. 
 
 On the eighth day out, the weather mended very 
 considerably, and at noon our run by log was 231 
 miles. Being Sunday, preparations were made for 
 
VOYAGE FROM LIVERPOOL TO HALIFAX. 21 
 
 performing divine service. At one o clock, the principal 
 steward entered the saloon with a trayful of Bibles 
 and prayer-books, which he distributed among the pas 
 sengers. He then adjusted a red-plush sofa-cushion on 
 the inner side of one of the tables, by way of pulpit ; 
 and after these simple arrangements, the bell on the 
 forecastle began deliberately to toll. Several passengers 
 from the fore-cabin now entered along with the officers 
 in uniform, and about a dozen sailors in their Sunday 
 jackets. In the whole scene there was an air of con 
 siderable solemnity. The bell ceased to ring, and a 
 perfect silence prevailed. The officiating minister now 
 took his seat at the cushion, on which lay a large Bible 
 and service-book. When no clergyman is on board, 
 the service for the day is read by the captain. In the 
 present instance, a clergyman belonging to the college 
 of Toronto was a passenger, and by him the service was 
 conducted according to the usual forms ; including the 
 preaching of a sermon, which was listened to with as 
 great attention as if delivered in a parish church. The 
 rest of the day was spent with the ordinary decorum of 
 Sunday in England. 
 
 On the following Tuesday, being the tenth day out, 
 sailing vessels began to be seen on the horizon, being 
 probably barks engaged in the fishing on the banks of 
 Newfoundland, which we were now declared to be upon. 
 We also enjoyed an agreeable clearing up in the sky, 
 and the colour of the sea changed from blue to a light 
 greenish tinge. From this time, too, more gulls were 
 seen on the wing, and the ship had become a refuge 
 for a flight of small birds resembling larks, which had 
 been driven from land by stress of weather, and were 
 glad to rest their wearied wings by perching on the 
 more prominent parts of the vessel. This day, about 
 noon, a large steamer from New York to Liverpool, 
 came in sight, and was watched with deep interest by 
 
22 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 the passengers. It passed at the distance of two miles. 
 There were, as usual, mutual greetings by signal. The 
 system of communication at sea, by signals, is one of 
 the most remarkable inventions of the day, and merits 
 a word of explanation. 
 
 The inventor, or, at all events, perfecter, of the code 
 of naval signals, was the late Captain Frederick Marryat, 
 of the royal navy, well known as a popular novelist. 
 By Marry at s signals, as they are generally termed, a 
 conversation on almost any subject can be carried on 
 between two ships, as effectually as if the respective 
 captains spoke to each other in distinct words. The 
 signals employed consist of fifteen different small nar 
 row flags, which are run up at a point over the stern, 
 and fully visible through a glass at a distance of 
 several miles. Ten of them represent the ten figures in 
 arithmetic, and by these any number is expressed. The 
 other five refer respectively to certain departments in 
 the code, and are designed to lead at once to the subject 
 of conversation. When a particular number is expressed, 
 the code, which is a volume resembling a dictionary, is 
 turned up by the party addressed, and he sees a sentence 
 or part of a sentence opposite that number in the book. 
 So expert, however, do mariners become in reading the 
 signals, that they seldom require to refer to the code. On 
 both sides, the signals are run up and pulled down, and 
 questions asked and answered with the rapidity of ordi 
 nary conversation. In this way, vessels passing within 
 sight of each other at sea, no longer need to bend from 
 their course or stop in their career to put questions 
 through speaking-trumpets. The merchant ships of 
 nearly all countries have embraced Marryat s code, 
 which is now therefore the universal language of the sea 
 a symbol of brotherhood among nations. 
 
 Thursday, the twelfth day out. The joyful intelli 
 gence of land being in sight, was reported at breakfast. 
 
VOYAGE FROM LIVERPOOL TO HALIFAX, 23 
 
 Through the misty distance, rugged headlands and 
 brown rocky hills were visible on the west. "We were 
 now going southward, down the American coast, which 
 was kept in view all day. The prospect was not 
 cheering, for the land facing the ocean about the 
 Gulf of St Lawrence has a generally bare and deserted 
 appearance. Why steamers from England to America 
 should for the most part hold so northerly a course 
 before running south, is not clear to the understanding 
 of landsmen. The practice may be connected with the 
 principle of great-circle sailing, or that of crossing 
 where the degrees of longitude are comparatively nar 
 row. On this point, there were learned but not par 
 ticularly lucid discussions in the capstan-gallery; and 
 here also, by the older sea hands, were given accounts 
 of the Gulf-stream, and its wonderful effects in temper 
 ing the climate of the British Islands. These and other 
 themes of the capstan parliament, as we named it, 
 came abruptly to a close in the evening, when the 
 lights at the mouth of Halifax harbour shone in sight. 
 Swiftly the entrance is made; the lights of the town 
 make their appearance ; mails and baggage are brought 
 on deck ; guns are fired and rockets sent up ; lanterns 
 flit about the wooden quay where we are to land ; ropes 
 are thrown out; a gangway is pushed on board; and, 
 along with some half-dozen fellow-passengers who go 
 no further, I scramble ashore, and have my foot on 
 American soil. 
 
 The voyage, so far, had occupied nearly twelve and 
 a half days ; which, with a delay of several hours for 
 coaling and the subsequent run to Boston, would, to 
 the bulk of the passengers, make a voyage of fourteen 
 days. 
 
CHAPTER IT. 
 
 
 
 NOVA SCOTIA. 
 
 STEPPING ashore at Halifax, I found myself among 
 friends, acquaintances, and a people generally who may 
 be said to have vied with each other in welcoming 
 me to the new world, whether British or American. 
 Everything was new, yet familiar. Thousands of 
 miles from home, I was still, as it were, in England, 
 with nothing differing around me in language or in 
 usages from what I had been previously accustomed to. 
 But without any generic difference there was novelty. 
 Driving at night through imperfectly lighted streets, 
 I could see that the houses were principally of wood, 
 and Woodenness, as I may call it, is one of the dis 
 tinctive features of America wooden houses, wooden 
 door -steps, wooden slates, wooden pillars, wooden 
 palings, wooden wharfs, and here and there wooden 
 roads and wooden pavements ! 
 
 Yet, though wooden, how neat, how beautiful ! On 
 looking out in the morning from my window over the 
 town and scenery beyond, I thought I never had seen 
 anything so pretty. No dingy brick with a canopy of 
 smoke, as in Xiondon ; no dull gray walls iiicrusted with 
 the soot of centuries, as in the older parts of Edinburgh ; 
 but all smart, fresh, new, and seen through an atmo 
 sphere as clear as crystal. A town composed for the 
 most part of detached houses, and painted a clear 
 white, was seen stretching with a sunny exposure down 
 
NOVA SCOTIA. 25 
 
 the declivities of a hill to a sea- water lake dotted with 
 islands ; while on the further side of the lake, which 
 was apparently about two miles wide, there lay a 
 picturesque range of country, ornamented with white 
 cottages, and on the brink of the water the small town 
 of Dartmouth imbosomed among trees. Then the lake 
 itself quite a Highland firth, reminding one of Loch 
 Fyne lay glittering in the morning sun, and boats with 
 flowing sails were tacking in different directions on its 
 bosom. All was charming ; nor did a nearer inspection 
 alter the original impressions of the scene. Halifax, 
 with wide streets laid out in lines at right angles with 
 each other, an abundant intermixture of trees and 
 gardens, and a population of forty to fifty thousand 
 souls, is as pleasing in its outlines when seen from the 
 harbour as from the higher grounds. With a fair pro 
 portion of church spires, public edifices, and a fort with 
 flag-staff" crowning the hill on which it stands, and 
 with a long series of wharfs lined with shipping, it is 
 a complete and respectable -looking city, and may 
 challenge comparison with any town of similar size in 
 America. 
 
 If an Englishman can entertain little respect for a 
 city whose very churches one of them a handsome 
 Gothic edifice are built of wood, he must confess 
 unbounded admiration of the natural beauties of its 
 situation. One of the finest inlets on the American 
 coast is the harbour of Halifax. Running up seven or 
 eight miles from the open sea, it abruptly narrows a 
 short way above the town, and then expanding, becomes 
 a spacious land-locked sheet of water, probably six 
 miles long by from two to three broad. This inner 
 lake, with deep water and good anchorage, is sur 
 rounded by ranges of high ground, picturesque cliffs, 
 and overhanging woods of brilliant foliage. Along the 
 Halifax side, and perforating rocky knolls, there is a 
 
26 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 fine drive which nearly skirts the water; and it is 
 here, on an eminence a few miles from the town, that 
 the late Duke of Kent built and inhabited a neat villa, 
 the site of which is still visible among the trees. No 
 one can see this remarkably beautiful sheet of water, 
 without reflecting that it offers a harbourage of almost 
 unexampled excellence, and will possibly, at some future 
 day, grace the site of a great emporium of commerce. 
 
 Travellers, who have but a few hours to spare, 
 should not omit a drive along the borders of this inner 
 lake ; and when about half-way up, by taking a cross 
 road to the left, they will soon be brought to a smaller 
 but equally beautiful arm of the sea, bounding the penin 
 sula on which stands the city of Halifax, with its spread 
 ing suburbs, open common, gardens, and small farms. 
 A drive of this limited extent is in some cases all 
 that travellers indulge in who visit and describe Nova 
 Scotia. In the course of such a ramble, and pushing 
 here and there into scenes beyond, as I did on two or 
 three occasions, numberless picturesque views are pre 
 sented ; affording, too, such developments of the most 
 ancient series of rocks as may well delight the geolo 
 gist. Forests of shrubs and tangled woods, amidst 
 which you hear the tinkle of bells hung round the 
 necks of the cottagers vagrant cows, derive support 
 from a thin soil, reposing on vast masses of granite, 
 while boulders of the same imperishable material are 
 scattered about in endless profusion. Some of these 
 detached blocks are so rounded by attrition as to remain 
 poised on a very narrow basis ; so that, without calling 
 in the agency of the Druids, you have rocking-stones 
 fit to be the playthings of a race of giants. 
 
 Travelling through these woody and rocky solitudes, 
 and now and then coming to a clearing of a few open 
 fields, the property of an industrious settler, you are 
 occasionally startled with the apparition of an Indian 
 
NOVA SCOTIA. 27 
 
 woman and children loitering around a wigwam of the 
 most slender materials. The sight of these members of 
 the decayed tribe of Mic-macs was to me afflicting to 
 the last degree. It was the spectacle of human nature 
 reduced to the level of the brutes ; and that such things 
 existed within an hour s ride of a populous and refined 
 city, seemed to me exceedingly anomalous. The de 
 graded condition of the Indian races,, however, is more 
 easily lamented than cured. Much has been done to 
 Christianise and to improve the habits of the Mic-macs, 
 and a spirited society in Halifax is now engaged in this 
 work of spiritual and temporal reclamation, which we 
 must hope will not prove altogether fruitless. At no 
 great distance from the frail huts of these poor Indians, 
 it was my fortune to alight upon a number of little 
 cottages, each with a small clearing about it, and to 
 appearance the abode of an order of beings superior to 
 the native races ; for between a habitation which con 
 sists of a few sticks hung over with dirty blankets and 
 skins, and a dwelling built of wood, with a door, win 
 dows, and chimney, there is a great stride. I had the 
 curiosity to look at the interior of these dwellings, and 
 found them to be occupied by negroes free, of course, 
 but not seemingly much the better for being at their own 
 disposal. I was informed that a large number of these 
 blacks had been carried away, by one of our admirals, 
 from the States, during the war of 1812, and landed 
 at Halifax, where, along with other coloured refugees, 
 they were little better than a nuisance. Some of the 
 blacks live in Halifax, and others in the small cabins I 
 have spoken of as occurring amidst the rural scenery 
 of the neighbourhood. They are not all idlers. I saw 
 several employed in various ways; but, as a class, 
 they are not well spoken of. In the long winters they 
 require to be supported by charitable contributions 
 this in a country where any man able and willing to 
 
28 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 work, can never be at a loss for permanent employment 
 at a wage beyond that of the English labourer ! 
 
 During my stay in Halifax, I had an opportunity 
 of attending an agricultural fete, which took place 
 through the liberal and considerate policy of the lieu 
 tenant-governor of the province. First in the series 
 of proceedings, there was a ploughing - match, in a 
 grassy field outside the town, where, with the best kind 
 of ploughs, each drawn by a pair of horses, there was 
 a highly creditable display of provincial taste in hus 
 bandry. Wandering about the field, enjoying the 
 sight of the eager competitors, and also the graceful 
 spectacle of ladies on horseback and in carriages, and 
 the elite of the provincial government surveying the 
 proceedings, I derived an additional gratification in 
 knowing that the spot was in some sort classic ground. 
 It formed part of the experimental farm of the late 
 John Young, an enthusiastic Scotch agriculturist, 
 who, writing in the local press under the name of 
 Agricola, was the first to stimulate a spirit of improve 
 ment in the province, and lived to see the principles 
 and practice of East Lothian husbandry naturalised in 
 this part of America. Men not very aged remember 
 the time when the only vegetables consumed in Halifax 
 were imported from Boston, and when butter, pork, 
 and other edibles came from Ireland. All this has 
 been changed, and not a little of the progress in various 
 branches of culture is due to John Young, whose son, 
 the Hon. William Young, Speaker of the House of 
 Assembly, very appropriately opened the proceedings on 
 the present occasion. On the day after the ploughing- 
 match, there was an exhibition of horses, cattle, and 
 other animals, also of implements of agriculture, and 
 some fruits. I do not profess to be a judge of such 
 tilings, but there could be no doubt that the show 
 evinced a high degree of skill in the selection and 
 
NOVA SCOTIA. 29 
 
 rearing of livestock, and in conducting the business of 
 the farm. The exhibition,, in various ways, afforded a 
 pleasing indication of the interest now taken in rural 
 improvement. It was attended by people from all parts 
 of the province, and while it lasted the town had 
 altogether a holiday aspect. As a public dinner and 
 ball formed part of the programme, possibly it was not 
 cattle alone that brought so many strapping young 
 farmers from their distant fields. Indeed, it would be 
 a wonder if it were so, for the ball offered to the eye a 
 wonderful constellation of youth, beauty, and fashion ; 
 and if any one has taken up the fancy that Nova 
 Scotian ladies are destitute of the charms of English 
 women, I only pity his ignorance, and would ask him to 
 look in at a Halifax ball. 
 
 At these entertainments, I was introduced to a 
 number of persons of respectability and influence. 
 Speaking of Halifax, they said it had many recom 
 mendations as a place of residence, and as was evi 
 denced by the number of persons who had realised 
 large fortunes, it offered good prospects for really 
 industrious and enterprising men. The only complaint 
 against it, was a general want of that spirit of commer 
 cial adventure, so strongly evidenced in the States, 
 where realised capital knows no rest, but, greatly to 
 the public advantage, is continually pushing into new 
 channels. By way of keeping up the conversation, 
 I said I could not help remarking, though scarcely 
 entitled to allude to the circumstance, that there 
 appeared to prevail a much more gay and free-and- 
 easy style of life among persons in business, than I 
 had been accustomed to witness in the old country; 
 instancing the number of young men who kept horses, 
 and lived as if independent of any inducement to assi 
 duous labour. The truth of this was admitted; the 
 explanation being, that the Nova Scotians, besides 
 
30 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 knowing scarcely anything of taxes, had all the luxuries 
 of life at a comparatively small cost, and were enabled 
 to get through existence in a far more enjoyable 
 manner than was known at home/ The long winters, 
 in which much of the ordinary business is suspended, 
 and sleighing and parties of amusement are the order 
 of the day, were also spoken of as productive of those 
 gay and somewhat unsettled habits I had alluded to. 
 As a natural consequence, emigrants from the old 
 country, trained to mind their affairs, and whose 
 whole aim is to succeed, were described as finding 
 little difficulty in improving their circumstances in the 
 colony. 
 
 One of the days during my stay was devoted to a 
 glance at the educational institutions of the town, which 
 I examined dispassionately, without regard to sect or 
 party. At a large school for poor children, supported 
 by the subscriptions of the benevolent, I was over 
 whelmed by a complimentary and undeserved address 
 from the body of managers. In a Roman Catholic 
 orphan seminary, which appeared to me a very model 
 of order and cleanliness, and in the National School, 
 the general routine of procedure seemed to me highly 
 satisfactory. Latterly, a system of common-schools has 
 been organised in the province, and is supported by the 
 state and local rates. But the very fact that it leaves 
 a number of children in Halifax to be educated by 
 begged money that is, by chance is indicative of its 
 defects as a system of universal application. 
 
 Among the public buildings to which my attention 
 was drawn, was the handsome edifice used for the 
 meetings of the Provincial Assembly, and for conduct 
 ing the colonial government, and likewise the mansion 
 occupied by the lieutenant-governor; this last being 
 pleasantly situated in the midst of a garden near the 
 environs of the city. In the main streets there are 
 
NOVA SCOTIA. 31 
 
 numerous stores on a large and elegant scale ; but the 
 establishments most interesting to a stranger, are 
 certain commercial depots situated on the wharfs which 
 project into the harbour. Here fishermen are supplied 
 with all the requisites for carrying on their perilous 
 profession, and here are received and stored up the fish 
 that are caught. The quantity of dried fish piled in 
 these establishments, floor above floor, is enormous, 
 though, after all, only a fraction of what is drawn from 
 the adjoining coasts. The export is chiefly to the West 
 Indies. 
 
 In the streets of Halifax there was no lack of scarlet 
 uniforms, and this leads me to remark that the military 
 forms no inconsiderable, and I should think no very 
 advantageous, element in the society of the town. The 
 sight of English soldiers on this side of the Atlantic is 
 not very intelligible to the traveller who sees neither 
 disaffection to be kept down, nor a foreign enemy 
 threatening; nor, when he reflects on the enormous 
 expense at which the apparatus of force must neces 
 sarily be maintained, does this military system seem 
 consonant with justice to the mother- country, which 
 enjoys nothing in return but the honour of calling 
 Nova Scotia one of her dependencies. It is true that 
 Halifax, with its fort, forms a strong military position; 
 but the experience of the past tells us that fortifications 
 in America have been built only to be left in ruins, or 
 handed over to the very power which they were intended 
 to repel. Nothing produces such melancholy emotions 
 in the Englishman who wanders over the United States, 
 as the frequent spectacle of large military works which 
 cost his country vast sums of money, and are now, in 
 their state of ragged decay, only objects of interest to 
 the draughtsman and the antiquary. Admiring the fort 
 at Halifax as a work of art its strong walls of granite, 
 its fosses and casemates, its trim grassy mounds, its 
 
32 THINGS AS THEY ^RE IN AMERICA. 
 
 barracks and water-tanks, all unexceptionable I must, 
 nevertheless, consider its erection as a species of error, 
 and look upon the cost of the large military establish 
 ment with which it is garrisoned as completely thrown 
 away. It could perhaps be shewn that the expenditure 
 is even injurious to the place. Relying, in one way or 
 another, on the outlay of public money, the people fail 
 to exercise that energetic industry and self-dependence 
 which would naturally be developed were they entirely 
 free from all state patronage. Hospitable and highly 
 polished in manner, the general society of Halifax is, 
 exteriorly, everything that could be wished; but, as 
 might be supposed in the circumstances, there prevails a 
 most unhappy spirit of party politics, which, disuniting 
 those who ought to be friends, substitutes narrow and 
 personal for broad views, and is seriously adverse to the 
 prosperity of the province. 
 
 At the time of my visit, the subject uppermost in 
 every man s mind, was that of a railway to extend from 
 Halifax across the country to Amherst, on the borders 
 of the province, there to join, on the one hand, with a 
 projected line to St John s, in New Brunswick, and on 
 the other, with a projected line to Quebec. There can 
 be no doubt that such a line is exceedingly essential, 
 even on a limited scale. Yet, in the face of an obvious 
 necessity, the greatest disunion prevailed. All wanted 
 the railway, but there was a quarrel about details, which 
 was as ridiculous as if the commanders of an army were 
 to go by the ears about some trifling matter of belts and 
 buckles, while they ought to have been gallantly leading 
 their men into action. One party wished the railway to 
 be purely a government measure; another desired that 
 it should be a joint-stock speculation, with merely some 
 assistance from the state. To render the confusion still 
 worse, the provincial authorities had received some kind 
 of promise from the English capitalist, Mr Jackson, to 
 
NOVA SCOTIA. 33 
 
 the effect, that he would make the required line on some 
 expressed conditions involving a public guarantee. The 
 provincial legislature had already passed acts to authorise 
 certain lines; but even these were inoperative, in con 
 sequence of the Home Colonial Office having for several 
 months had the subject in consideration before append 
 ing the consent of the crown. One had only to see and 
 hear of all this, and observe that nothing was done, to 
 feel a degree of pity for the people, who were the victims 
 of such strange complications. 
 
 As the nearest available harbour to England on the 
 American coast, Halifax seems to be pointed out by 
 nature as the place where much of the steam-navigation 
 should properly concentrate. It should, to all appear 
 ance, be the portal for traffic between Great Britain and 
 her Canadian possessions ; and if these possessions are 
 deemed worthy of being retained, one would think that 
 a means of getting to them by land, without going 
 through a foreign country, would be very desirable. 
 Already, Nova Scotia sees her neighbour, Portland, in 
 Maine, become that medium of intercourse which she 
 might reasonably have expected to be. Recently, as 
 may not perhaps be well known in England, a railway 
 was completed, and opened from Portland to the St 
 Lawrence, by which you may travel from the Atlantic 
 to Montreal, a distance of 292 miles, in twelve hours ; 
 and in the course of a few months a branch, now nearly 
 completed, will carry you in the same space of time to 
 Quebec. As Portland is also connected with Boston by 
 railway, and has become a harbour during winter for 
 two British steamers, it may be assumed that she has, 
 without more ado, become the port for a large section 
 of Canada. As Portland will further be soon connected 
 by railway with New Brunswick, she may be said to 
 fly off at a sweep with various important branches of 
 colonial trade. 
 
34 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 One thing has been done well in Halifax; and that 
 is, the establishment by a company of an electric-tele 
 graphic communication through the province to St 
 John s,, New Brunswick, whence the wires are carried 
 on to Portland and other parts in the States. By this 
 line,, intelligence arriving by the Cunard steamers from 
 England, is at once despatched over thousands of miles 
 of country. The news brought in by a vessel at night 
 is found next morning in the papers of New Orleans, 
 Cincinnati, Toronto, and a hundred other cities the 
 whole, as by a flash, being communicated to every 
 newspaper reader in the United States and Canada. On 
 visiting the telegraph-office in Halifax, I could not but 
 admire the rapidity with which messages are sent to 
 and from St John s the wires of communication, be it 
 remembered, being carried on the tops of rude poles, 
 along miserable highways, and through forests and 
 across water-courses, far from the habitations of civilised 
 man. A young person in charge of the telegraph had 
 become so marvellously acute in the ear, that he could 
 distinguish the various intonations made by the ticking 
 noise of the mechanism; and without waiting to see 
 the markings, he could tell you everything that was 
 indicated at the other end of the wires. Being placed 
 in communication with a gentleman in St John s, I 
 requested the ingenious operator to be the interpreter 
 between us. He did so, and inclining his ear to the 
 
 machine, he said : Mr welcomes you to America, 
 
 and hopes to have the pleasure of seeing you before you 
 quit the country/ The success which has attended the 
 enterprise of this telegraphic company, might surely 
 have pointed out a method for practically carrying out 
 the railway undertakings of the province. 
 
 It would be too much to expect that Nova Scotia 
 should do more than execute her own proper share of 
 any great scheme of intercolonial railways; but even 
 
NOVA SCOTIA. 35 
 
 so far, with a view alone to internal communication, she 
 has an important duty to perform. The province abounds 
 in mineral treasures, that need only to be developed. 
 Perhaps in no part of the world are there beds of 
 excellent coal of such vast dimensions one of them, at 
 Pictou, I was told, being thirty feet in thickness ; iron, 
 in various forms, is likewise found in profusion ; and as 
 for gypsum, it is inexhaustible. The fisheries all round 
 the coast, including the shores of Cape Breton, are in 
 themselves mines of wealth, as yet imperfectly explored. 
 The country abounds in lakes and rivers, suitable for 
 water-power. And the adaptation of certain districts 
 for cattle-rearing and other purposes, is by no means 
 generally understood. 
 
 Nova Scotians complain that their country is spoken 
 of as being all rocky and barren. This has arisen from 
 the difficulty of travelling beyond the exterior and 
 ungenial border of high grounds near the sea-coast. 
 Determined, if possible, to overcome the obstacles which 
 usually deter tourists, I made a journey of several days 
 through one of the most favoured regions of the interior. 
 My object was to cross the country to Annapolis, 
 and there procure a steamer to St John s. For this 
 purpose I took the stage-coach, in the first place, to 
 Windsor, that being a good point of observation at the 
 distance of forty-five miles from Halifax. The stage 
 was somewhat of an oddity. It consisted of a coach- 
 body slung on two great thick belts of leather, which 
 went beneath it from stem to stern, and to appearance 
 it had not been cleaned for years. Inside, it had three 
 cross seats, designed to accommodate nine persons, to 
 whom tarnished leather curtains gave an imperfect 
 protection from the weather. This queer-looking con 
 veyance was driven by a stout burly man in a shaggy 
 dress, who walked on his knees; his feet, as I was 
 informed, having been bitten and shrivelled up by 
 
36 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 frost/ Thus equipped, we drove off in tolerable style, 
 our route taking us along the inner harbour, and thence 
 up the valley of a small river which falls into it at the 
 further extremity. The day was not warm, but it was 
 clear and pleasant, and was said to mark the commence 
 ment of the Indian summer. The trees, robed in their 
 autumnal tints, were variegated and lovely. The green 
 leaves of the vines, which climbed on the white walls 
 and verandas of the cottages, were already edged with 
 red ; the dark spruce and the more delicate toned arbor 
 vita were set off by the yellow of the American elm; 
 the sumach, now leafless, hung out its ripened purple 
 blossoms to the morning sun; and, conspicuous over 
 all, shone the brilliant crimson of the maple. Our way 
 was through natural woods, round jutting rocks, and 
 along the borders of pretty little brooks. The land 
 never rose to any great height, but it was seldom level, 
 and whatever was the character of the surface, the road 
 was generally so bad, that travelling had in it a curious 
 mixture of the ludicrous and the painful. Now, I saw 
 the use of the great belts on which the coach was poised, 
 for on them it pitched and rolled without serious dislo 
 cation to the passengers, and without damage to itself. 
 Occasionally, on coming to gently sloping ground, we 
 saw openings in the woods, with a few fields lately 
 cleared of their crop of Indian corn, but still dotted 
 over with yellow pumpkins and squashes now ready for 
 being harvested. These gourd-like vegetables, scattered 
 about in the fields, were the most foreign -looking 
 natural objects which came under notice. 
 
 In the course of my journey, I saw no large trees 
 worth speaking of, though it is stated that good timber 
 is abundant. Wherever the country was uncleared, it 
 was covered with a thicket of wood, so dense as to be 
 scarcely penetrable, and into which, without a compass 
 and some local knowledge, it is extremely dangerous to 
 
NOVA SCOTIA. 37 
 
 intrude. Much of the wood was small, and only fit for 
 rails or similar inferior purposes ; my impression being 
 that it was a second growth filling up the space which 
 had been cleared by fire or the axe. Now and then a 
 huge white pine, scorched and leafless, the survivor of a 
 long-past conflagration, shot up like a giant among 
 dwarfs, or lay prostrate and rotting amidst the under 
 wood. Much of the soil of America may be said to 
 abound with the germs of timber. Unless cleared land 
 be kept under a system of culture, trees spring up ; so 
 that the agriculturist is called on to wage continual war 
 against a volunteer growth of shrubbery as well as of 
 weeds. 
 
 Half-way to Windsor, the coach stopped, professedly 
 for dinner; but the meal, according to what I after 
 wards found customary in roadside inns, was of no such 
 distinct character. In a neat upper room, with a blazing 
 wood-fire on the hearth, a table was spread with an 
 entangled complication of dinner and tea. As I never 
 could acquire the habit of taking tea at one o clock as a 
 finish to a solid meal, I declined the offer of a cup ; but 
 all the rest of the company, chiefly farmers, made this 
 their only beverage ; a circumstance which shewed the 
 remarkable extension of temperance principles in the 
 country. Not a drop of intoxicating liquor was con 
 sumed ; and I may add, that during all this journey in 
 Nova Scotia, I saw no beverage stronger than tea or 
 coffee. I cannot say I admire the fashion of taking tea 
 to dinner, any more than that of beginning breakfast 
 with potatoes, which seemed everywhere common; but 
 anything is better than an everlasting appeal to the gill- 
 measure or pint-pot. I was beginning to see new social 
 developments farmers solacing themselves with tea 
 instead of whisky, and commercial travellers who can 
 dine without consuming half-a-crown s worth of sherry. 
 
 At Windsor, which we reached about four o clock, 
 
38 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 the country assumed an old and settled appearance. 
 The lands were cleared for miles, and laid out in good- 
 sized farms with suites of handsome buildings. Here 
 and there patches of timber,, for ornament and use, 
 enlivened the scene ; and orchards, loaded with cherry- 
 cheeked apples, seemed to form an appendage to every 
 rural establishment. As regards these orchards, they 
 possessed an interest which usually attaches to antiquity. 
 They were originally planted by the French, the first 
 European settlers in the province, and who, at their 
 expulsion by the English, were forced to leave behind 
 them the apple-trees which reminded them of their 
 beloved Normandy. The quantity of fruit now produced 
 in Nova Scotia from this source is immense. 
 
 Windsor is a pretty little town of white wooden 
 houses, with trees, American fashion, growing in the 
 main street. It occupies a low site on the river Avon, 
 where it joins a navigable estuary in the Bay of Mines. 
 Remaining here a night and part of next day, I had an 
 opportunity of visiting several places in the neighbour 
 hood. Among these was the villa of Judge Halliburton, 
 which, situated on a lawn among trees, with a pretty 
 look-out on the town and bay, reminded me of an 
 English country-seat. I was sorry to find that the 
 judge was from home, 011 circuit. Within the precincts 
 of his grounds, I was shewn a vast quarry of gypsum, 
 which is carted off by a tram- way to the port, for ship 
 ment to the States. At the distance of about a mile 
 inland, and occupying a fine exposure on the face of a 
 ridge of land, stands a large but plain building, known 
 as the College of Windsor. The institution I found to 
 be in a state of extreme decay, the number of students 
 having declined to fourteen. Near the college there is 
 a preparatory grammar-school, in better circumstances. 
 
 From Windsor, I proceeded with a friend in a hired 
 ealeche, along the west side of the estuaiy of the Avon, 
 
NOVA SCOTIA. 39 
 
 which, we crossed by a wooden bridge of five spans, 
 covered with a roof, which gave it the appearance of a 
 long dark gallery. On the west side of the Avon, and 
 towards an inlet of the Bay of Mines, the country con 
 tinued to improve. At Lower Horton and Wolfville, 
 it seemed to be as beautiful and prolific as a garden. 
 The orchards increased in number ; huge tall willows, 
 memorials of the early French settlers, and neat white 
 cottages dotted the sides of the highway. On our left, 
 on a rising-ground, we passed a handsome large build 
 ing, a college of the Baptist connection. Arriving at 
 Kentville, as the limit of our day s ride, we paused for 
 the night, and spent the ensuing day in visiting the 
 adjacent township of Cornwallis. 
 
 Kentville is a small thriving town, with some smart 
 villas, and the drive from it in a northerly direction to 
 Cornwallis, over some irregular woody heights, was 
 highly exhilarating. a Cornwallis, which has the reputa 
 tion of being one of the most fertile regions in Nova 
 Scotia, may be described as a great open plain, with 
 slight inclinations to small water-courses, and bounded 
 and sheltered on the north by the long range of a well- 
 timbered mountain. Behind this mountain is the Bay 
 of Fundy. A creek of the bay bounds the eastern 
 extremity of the plain of Cornwallis; and, in point of 
 fact, this plain, in pretty nearly its whole extent, is but 
 a stretch of land secured by diking and other processes 
 from the waters of the creek. Here, again, we hear 
 stories of the doings of the old French settlers. It was 
 they who built the first rampart to keep out the sea ; 
 the present occupants only following their example in 
 fresh diking. Conducted by a young and intelligent 
 farmer over the district, I was shewn the great Welling 
 ton dike, a recent work of art requiring enormous labour 
 in the construction, and esteemed the main curiosity of 
 the kind in the province. Composed of earth and brush- 
 
40 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 wood, and rising about thirty feet in height, with a 
 similar breadth, it forms a barrier to the ocean, securing 
 a large tract of dry land for purposes of agriculture. 
 The land so enclosed is called dike land, and the 
 wealth of a farmer is measured by the quantity of this 
 species of soil, a rich muddy residuum, which he pos 
 sesses. So fertile is this land, that it is known to have 
 yielded heavy crops for a century without manuring. 
 In consequence of the wheat-crops being somewhat 
 precarious, owing to the destructive attacks of a fly, the 
 most profitable culture at present is that of potatoes, 
 which are exported in prodigious quantities to the 
 United States. Hay is likewise exported to a consider 
 able extent. Various small havens in the Bay of Fundy 
 offer ready means for these exports, which have latterly 
 been so remunerative, that the farmers who were before 
 in difficulties had cleared off the mortgages on then- 
 properties. Farms of fine diked land may be purchased 
 here for from 30 to <50 per acre ; the cleared uplands, 
 of less fertility, but under cultivation, from 3 to 10 
 per acre. Cleared land, not under cultivation, may be 
 had at a considerably lower price. I asked if there were 
 any farms at present for sale, and was informed that 
 here, as almost everywhere else in America, there were 
 few persons who would not sell and clear out on being 
 tempted with an offer in cash ; the explanation of this 
 fact being, that there is in all places a restless desire of 
 change, induced by the universal prospect of improve 
 ment in circumstances. 
 
 In my interviews with the Cornwallis settlers, I saw 
 an agreeable specimen of those farm establishments in 
 which the occupants were the proprietors of the soil. 
 Being of comparatively old date, there was here no such 
 roughness as is observable in newly opened districts of 
 country. Things did not differ materially from what is 
 seen in England. The houses resembled neat villas, 
 
NOVA SCOTIA. 41 
 
 with pretty little dining and drawing rooms. Each 
 family possessed a light four-wheeled gig a wagon, 
 as it is locally called in which to make visits and 
 to drive to church; the style of dressing and manners 
 was all that could be wished; and there prevailed a 
 hearty desire to try all proper means of improvement. 
 The aspect of things was altogether calculated to give 
 one a favourable impression of that kind of farming 
 in which each husbandman tills his own land, and 
 has neither factor nor tax-collector to trouble him. 
 Yet life, even in this Arcadia, is not unmixed happiness. 
 A duty of thirty per cent, imposed by the United 
 States on potatoes imported into that country, was felt 
 to be a serious grievance ; * though, doubtless, the 
 Americans themselves were the chief sufferers by this 
 artificial enhancement of price in a prime necessary of 
 life. Besides this, the farmers whom I conversed with 
 complained of the want of labourers. They could give 
 plenty of work to steady men, at a remuneration of from 
 20 to 30 per annum and their board. One farmer 
 mentioned that the persons in his employment lived on 
 the best of everything, and were discontented if they 
 got a dinner without a course of puddings or tarts ! 
 
 The profusion of food was everywhere remarkable; 
 and it is dispensed with a liberality which gives the 
 assurance that it is easily obtained. This abundance is 
 naturally attended by low prices. At the comfortable 
 hotel at Kentville, and also at Windsor, I had occasion 
 to remark the cheapness of accommodation for travellers. 
 For tea, bed, and breakfast, my bill was only three 
 English shillings; and 5s. a day may be said to be a 
 fair average charge for living in these hotels, in which, 
 though on a scale very inferior to what is seen in the 
 States, everything is clean, neat, and well managed. 
 
 * Now about to be removed by the f reciprocity treaty. 
 
42 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 From Kentville I proceeded in the stage, a long 
 day s journey by Aylesford and Bridgeton to Annapolis. 
 Much of the country we passed through, midway, was 
 uncleared and swampy, and much consisted of poor- 
 looking sandy plains, locally called the Devil s Goose 
 Pasture. Here we saw geese and pigs browsing, in a 
 state of greater contentment and obesity than could 
 be expected after the account of the district by Sam 
 Slick, who tells us that the plain hereabout is given up 
 to the geese, which are so wretched poor, that the foxes 
 won t eat them, they hurt their teeth so bad ! On the 
 confines of this territory, and where the country was 
 beginning to look a little better, the stage stopped at 
 the house of a Scotsman, who had emigrated thirty 
 years ago from Aberdeenshire, and in the course of that 
 time had cleared a considerable tract of land, and 
 formed a large establishment, including a handsome 
 store, kept by his son. The success of this personage, 
 now a wealthy squire in his way, offered a fine example 
 of what any poor but industrious man may do in any 
 part of the British American colonies or the States. 
 He seemed gratified, during the few minutes the coach 
 stopped, in having an opportunity of making the 
 acquaintance of one of his countrymen. He spoke 
 feelingly of Scotland, which he would like once more 
 to see before he died ; but he said he was now too old 
 to think of so distant a journey. 
 
 Some miles beyond this point, we got into the valley 
 of the river Annapolis, which we crossed at the thriving 
 town of Bridgeton. The country was now green, beau 
 tiful, and devoted apparently to cattle-grazing. After 
 a long ride, we arrived in the town of Annapolis, a place 
 which has a historical, almost an antiquarian interest, 
 in being the oldest European settlement in North 
 America ; it was planted by the French in 1605, and 
 has endured the fate of being conquered, burnt, and 
 
NOVA SCOTIA. 43 
 
 rebuilt several times. It is situated at the head of an 
 inlet of the sea, and at present derives some importance 
 from being a point of steam communication, to and 
 from St John s, across the Bay of Fundy. Unfortu 
 nately, it did not come up to this character on the 
 present occasion. The first news communicated to us 
 was, that a telegraphic message had just arrived from 
 St John s, stating that the steamer was laid up for 
 repairs, and that the mails would arrive by a pilot-boat. 
 A sad disappointment this ; for as I declined risking the 
 passage of this dangerous bay in any kind of small boat, 
 my proposed visit to New Brunswick was now imprac 
 ticable. The advance of the season rendered every day 
 precious. I could not risk delay. Not to lose time, 
 there seemed to be only one line of procedure open, and 
 that was to return to Halifax, and take passage to 
 Boston in the next Cunard vessel touching there on its 
 way from England. This retracement of my journey 
 I immediately effected. By good-luck, I caught the 
 Canada, steam-ship, as it arrived in Halifax, and felt 
 thankful when, after a toilsome journey, I found myself 
 comfortably seated in its saloon. 
 
 In taking leave of this interesting British province, 
 I am glad to be in a position to bear witness to its 
 general progress. For some cause, which I am unable 
 to divine, the Nova Scotians have been spoken of 
 derisively as Blue Noses, who are in most tilings behind 
 the rest of the world. I have not refrained from 
 lamenting the unfortunate circumstances which tend to 
 exclude the country from the benefits of railway inter 
 communication ; and in this, as well as some other 
 matters, there is room for amendment. But, to give 
 the Nova Scotians their due, the wonder is not that 
 they have done so little, but so much. In the face of 
 all sorts of misrepresentations and sarcasms, they have 
 made extraordinary advances as regards the fisheries, 
 
44 THINGS AS THEY ABE IN AMERICA. 
 
 and coasting and foreign commerce, and also the carry 
 ing trade of other countries. I find by a late report of 
 the lieutenant-governor, that at the end of 1852, the 
 number of vessels registered in the province, and actu 
 ally employed in conducting its fishery, commerce, and 
 carrying trade, had increased to 2943, with a tonnage 
 of 189,083 ; as many as 360 vessels having been added 
 in six years. From irregularity of surface, sea-indenta 
 tions, and other physical features, the province has no 
 pretension to compare herself as a wheat -growing 
 country with the lands adjoining the great lakes ; but 
 even in this respect, and with a population of only 
 300,000, she beats/ says the same authority, five of 
 the New England states, and twelve of the more 
 recently settled states and territories/ * 
 
 * Since my return home, I have learned that at length the formation 
 of a railway has been begun from Halifax across the country towards 
 Windsor, with the view of being ultimately pushed on to the frontier of 
 New Brunswick. To this undertaking, so essential to the welfare of the 
 province, we can only wish the utmost success. 
 
CHAPTEE III. 
 
 BO STON TO MONTREAL. 
 
 THE run from Halifax to Boston occupied about thirty 
 hours, and was not marked by any incident worth 
 relating. The course pursued was across the entrance 
 to the Bay of Fundy, where fogs often prevail, and 
 where there is at all times a wild tumbling sea. For 
 tunately, however, the fogs which vex mariners along 
 the whole of the coasts in this quarter, did not make 
 their appearance on the present occasion ; and at a late 
 hour on a clear moonlight evening, we quietly made our 
 way into the spacious and sinuous inlet which forms the 
 harbour of Boston. 
 
 It is remarkable how much a traveller is left to learn 
 by chance as he proceeds on his journey. The notion 
 in England is, that the Liverpool and Boston steamers 
 actually go to the place to which they are said to be 
 bound ; but such is not the case ; and this fact I was 
 not aware of till we were on the point of landing. I now 
 ascertained, that instead of going to the wharfs of the 
 city, the vessel was to proceed to East Boston, an island 
 from which there is a communication by a ferry-boat to 
 the mainland. 
 
 On approaching within hail of our destined haven, 
 the gentle moonlight enabled us to perceive that a 
 crowd awaited the arrival of friends on the landing- 
 place. Anon, wives and husbands and old acquaintances 
 are heard calling to each other ; and in a few minutes, 
 
46 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 such kissing and cordial shaking of hands! Among 
 the passengers were many who had been long absent 
 in England and on the continent, and were carrying 
 home impressions of European scenery and society. 
 
 The transfer of luggage to the custom-house shed 
 was soon effected; and although the hour was late, 
 everything was examined with a rapidity and civility 
 that merited universal thanks. Coaches for the various 
 hotels stood outside, and each being duly freighted, off 
 we drove for the ferry, which I am bound to acknow 
 ledge is managed in such a way as to give the least 
 possible uneasiness. So large are the boats, that they 
 accommodate a number of carriages which drive from 
 the quay direct upon their deck. In this strange fashion 
 of riding on a floating steam-propelled bridge, we were 
 carried without rising from our seats across a channel 
 1800 feet wide to the lower end of one of the streets of 
 Boston, and thence to our respective hotels. 
 
 The stay I was now able to make in the far-famed 
 capital of Massachusetts was so brief, that it will be 
 better to defer any notice of the place till the occasion 
 of my subsequent and more lengthened visit to the 
 New England States. I need only say, that, like most 
 strangers, I was much struck with the old and respect 
 able appearance of Boston its substantial and hand 
 some houses of stone and brick, its well-paved and 
 cleanly streets, its busy and orderly population, as well 
 as with the various tokens of literary taste and refine 
 ment which met the eye. The merest glance at this 
 city and its thoroughfares, thronged with passengers 
 differing in no respect from those one sees any day in 
 Regent Street or the Strand, would dispel the strange 
 and misty notions entertained in England respecting 
 the people of the United States. Did you find them 
 civilised at all? inquired a gentleman shortly after my 
 return home. Such a question reminds one of the 
 
BOSTON TO MONTREAL. 47 
 
 anecdote told by the late Marchioness of , an 
 
 English peeress, but an American by birth. Soon after 
 her ladyship s arrival in Great Britain, she went on a 
 visit to the house of a nobleman in the country. There, 
 on being conducted through the hall to dinner, she 
 observed that a crowd of servants were on the watch 
 to have a glimpse of her in passing ; and one of them, 
 vastly to tier amusement, was overheard to utter in an 
 emphatic whisper : She s white ! 9 
 
 In Boston, I had the opportunity of seeing for the 
 first time a specimen of that extraordinary hotel system, 
 which forms one of the leading social features of the 
 United States, and which may be said to have attained 
 its full development in the city of New York. I lodged 
 at the Revere House, an establishment consisting of 
 several hundred apartments, including* a more than 
 usually splendid suite of public drawing-rooms and 
 parlours, and a spacious saloon, in which all the guests 
 take their meals, as at a table- d hote. At dinner, which 
 was attended by about a hundred guests, I waited to 
 see the nature of the scramble, which English travellers 
 speak of as characteristic of the American dining- 
 system. But the whole routine was quiet and decorous. 
 The dinner was served from side -tables, according to 
 order from printed bills of fare, placed before every 
 guest; and instead of anything like hurry or hasty 
 eating, I felt embarrassed by the formality and prolixity 
 of the proceedings. The meal, in its various courses, 
 lasted about an hour; and in fact the time at my 
 disposal would not allow me to see it to a conclusion. 
 
 From Boston there now radiate eight lines of railway, 
 affording a ready means of transit in every direction. 
 Persons desirous of reaching Lower Canada proceed by 
 way of Portland in Maine as the most direct route; 
 but I made choice of that by Albany, Saratoga, and 
 Lake Champlain, as opening to view a line of country 
 
48 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 associated in many parts with the history of the revolu 
 tionary struggle. The completion, some years ago, of 
 a line of railway to Albany on the Hudson has been of 
 the greatest importance to Boston ; for it brings its port 
 in direct communication with the western country and 
 its lakes, and enables it to maintain something like a 
 rivalry with New York, and other Atlantic cities. It 
 may, indeed, be said, that without a connection of this 
 kind, no American seaport can expect to rise above 
 local mediocrity. The West ! What schemes are daily 
 planned, what efforts are everywhere being made to 
 secure a share of its traffic great in the present, but 
 mighty beyond calculation in the future ! The distance 
 from Boston to Albany is 200 miles, and to perform 
 this journey, I set off on a Saturday afternoon at half- 
 past four o clo ck charge, five dollars, and the time 
 promised on the road, eight hours. It wa s my first 
 American railway journey, and all was novel. 
 
 In a large covered terminus, a train of cars was 
 drawn up, ready to start with a locomotive at their 
 head across an open street ; and the whole set off with 
 out any other protection to foot-passengers than that 
 which might be imparted by the warning sounds of a 
 bell attached to the top of the engine. And so onward, 
 through town and country, here intersecting a village, 
 and there crossing a highway, did the train pursue its 
 way, with no other trace of protection for the public, 
 than the very useful piece of advice Look out for the 
 locomotive when the bell rings ! painted in large 
 characters on sign-boards at every point of danger. If 
 any get themselves killed after this obliging hint to 
 mind the bell, they have themselves to blame, of course ! 
 The cars were of considerable length, with a range of 
 windows alternating with polished mahogany panels 
 along the sides, an ornamental ceiling, and a flooring 
 of painted cloth. Each accommodated fifty -eight 
 
BOSTON TO MONTREAL. 49 
 
 passengers, who sat, two together, in arm-chairs covered 
 with red plush, in a row on each side, leaving a passage 
 in the middle which communicated with a door at both 
 ends. The passengers faced the engine, but by shifting 
 the backs of their seats, they could look in a contrary 
 direction. Outside, at the two ends of each car, there 
 was a small platform, whence to descend by steps to the 
 ground, and by stepping from platform to platform, the 
 passengers could move from one car to another along 
 the whole train. Each car was provided with a stove, 
 which stood in the middle, on one side, and was heated 
 with billets of wood. A recent English tourist speaks 
 of the manoeuvring of American travellers to secure 
 seats as far from the stove as possible. I saw nothing 
 of this kind, now or subsequently. The heat was not 
 offensive in any train, within my experience, though I 
 believe it is so occasionally; and, on the whole, this 
 method of heating railway carriages, rude as it may 
 be, is certainly better than the practice of not heating 
 them at all. In consequence of the warmth in the cars, 
 the railway wrapper which had accompanied me from 
 England proved an unnecessary incumbrance. So much 
 may be said in the meanwhile on a subject which will 
 require more ample treatment when the railways in 
 various states have come under notice. In taking my 
 place at Boston, I observed, as on many subsequent 
 occasions, that there was only one class; but there was 
 little perceptible difference, as respects the dress or 
 orderly demeanour of the passengers, which could not 
 perhaps be said of such a miscellaneous gathering of 
 English travellers. 
 
 Our line of route afforded a fair opportunity of 
 seeing a considerable part of Massachusetts, and it was 
 anything but pleasing in point of rural scenery. The 
 land, of an undulating configuration, is generally poor. 
 Knolls, covered with scraggy bush, through which 
 
60 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 peeped masses of granite, and sandy plains with a 
 scanty herbage, were intermingled with a never-ending 
 series of ponds or small lakes, and I could not help 
 pitying the farmers who endeavoured to wring a live 
 lihood out of the partially cleared and ungenial soil. 
 Massachusetts, however, lays no claim to a reputation 
 for agriculture. It is not able to raise food to support 
 itself, and, like many parts of England, rests on the 
 manufacturing skill and general ingenuity of its inha 
 bitants. The railway passes through a number of 
 populous cities, each the seat of some kind of thriving 
 manufacture. The largest of these centres of industry 
 are Worcester and Springfield; the latter situated on 
 the east bank of the Connecticut river, a navigable 
 stream of great size, flowing through a tract of country 
 more green and rich than that previously seen on the 
 route. 
 
 The enlivening objects on the line of road, are the 
 numerous villages and detached dwellings, of the true 
 New England character. The houses constructed of 
 wood, painted white, with their bright green jalousies 
 folded back as exterior window-shutters, and their neat 
 porches and flower-plots in front, look every one of 
 them as if just taken from a box and put out for an 
 airing. It is impossible to see these trimly-kept and 
 pretty dwellings, without an inclination to congratu 
 late the country on having been originally settled by 
 a people who brought with them from the south 
 of England, not only the love of civil liberty, but 
 an inherent taste for domestic cleanliness a quality 
 which, possibly through this channel, has been largely 
 diffused through the United States. 
 
 After passing Springfield, the number of passengers 
 in the cars was considerably diminished, and the lamps 
 shed a dim light over the vacant seats and those who 
 remained as my companions. As the track was as 
 
BOSTON TO MONTREAL. 51 
 
 usual only single, the train required to stop at one of 
 the stations to wait the arrival of that which was 
 coming in a contrary direction. How long we were to 
 remain here was not explained, until the door of our 
 car was opened, and a head in a rough cap, from a 
 neighbouring groggery, made the abrupt announce 
 ment: You have an hour to wait, and there s good 
 eating round the corner/ Then arose a commotion 
 among the passengers. A number left their seats, to 
 follow the head wheresoever it might lead them; and 
 joining the throng, we crossed a complication of rails, 
 turned a corner, and ascended a wooden outside stair to 
 an apartment, which united the character of bar-room, 
 shop, and kitchen. At one side, a man behind a counter 
 had charge of the liquoring department; in another 
 quarter, a lad dispensed ham and pumpkin pie ; and at 
 the further end of the room, two women were assidu 
 ously engaged in dressing oysters in frying-pans. The 
 scene was strange, and the place not exactly such as I 
 should have selected for supper, had there been a choice. 
 As it was, I procured some refreshment, and having 
 warmed myself at a stove, returned to the nearly 
 deserted car. There, I found only a humble couple, 
 an emigrant and his wife, bound for the western 
 country. The man had charge of a bundle on which 
 were tied a tin kettle and drinking-cup, and the wife 
 pressing a clamorous child to her bosom, promised it 
 in the Doric of Lowland Scotland, that if it would be 
 good and He still, it would soon get to Albany, and 
 have everything nice, and be put to bed. It was a 
 difficult matter, however, to persuade young Sandy to 
 be perfectly submissive, and I was glad when his remon 
 strances were drowned in the premonitory tolling of the 
 engineer s bell and the onward rolling of the train. 
 
 This was not the only delay to our progress. About 
 an hour after midnight, we came to a sudden pause 
 
62 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 where no station was visible; and immediately, very 
 much to my surprise, the engine-driver, conductor, 
 and several passengers were seen sallying forth with 
 lanterns, and hastening down the embankment on our 
 right. What are they going to do now? said I to 
 a gentleman, who, like myself, kept his seat. Only 
 to take a look at some cars that were smashed this 
 morning/ was the reply. On opening the window to 
 observe the state of affairs, as well as the darkness 
 would allow, there, to be sure, at the bottom and along 
 the side of the high bank, lay an unhappy train, just 
 as it had been upset. The locomotive on its side 
 was partly buried in the earth ; and the cars which had 
 followed it in its descent lay in a confused heap behind. 
 On the top of the bank, near to us, the last car of all 
 stood obliquely on end, with its hind wheels in the 
 air in a somewhat grotesque and threatening attitude. 
 All was now still and silent. The killed and wounded, 
 if there were any, had been removed. No living thing 
 was visible but the errant engineer and others from 
 our train clambering with lanterns in their hands over 
 the prostrate wreck, and with heedless levity passing 
 critical remarks on the catastrophe. Curiosity being 
 satisfied, all resumed their places, and the train moved 
 on without a murmur of complaint as to the unneces 
 sary, and, considering the hour, very undesirable delay. 
 I allude to the circumstance, as one of a variety of 
 facts that fell within my observation, illustrative of 
 the singular degree of patience and imperturbability 
 with which railway travellers in America submit 
 uncomplainingly to all sorts of detentions on their 
 journey. 
 
 In consequence of these stoppages, the train did not 
 arrive at its terminus on the Hudson till past two 
 o clock in the morning; and, after all, the passengers 
 required to cross in a ferry-boat to Albany. This 
 
BOSTON TO MONTREAL. 53 
 
 unpleasant feat being accomplished, a fellow-passenger 
 obligingly conducted me to the Delavan House,, one of 
 the hotels in the city. 
 
 Here I remained all next day, for even had I been 
 inclined to proceed on my journey, I could not have 
 done so; for in the northern states there is no railway 
 travelling on Sunday. It is the practice for trains to 
 stop at the town or village where they arrive late on 
 Saturday night; and there travellers, as in the olden 
 time in England, have a day to spend in the tranquil 
 enjoyment of a country inn, with a little breathing- 
 time for the performance of religious duties. The 
 morning dawned bright and beautiful, and, walking 
 out, I had an opportunity of seeing how Sunday was 
 kept in the capital of the state of New York. Occu 
 pying a pleasant situation on a rising-ground facing 
 the Hudson, the long streets, lined with lofty and well- 
 built houses, and ornamented, as usual, with rows of 
 trees shading the footpaths, were in universal repose. 
 All places of business were shut ; the traffic connected 
 with the shipping was at rest ; and nothing seemed to 
 be going on except in a few half-shut groggeries on the 
 quay fronting the river, where boatmen and sailors in 
 bushy whiskers, and rough Wellington-boots pulled 
 over their trousers, sat smoking away at long pipes in 
 mere vacuity of thought. The only sound that broke 
 upon the sunshiny stillness, was the voice of an itine 
 rant preacher, who stood, Bible in hand, on the middle 
 of a drawbridge which crossed to one of the exterior 
 wharfs. It was a thankless expenditure of good inten 
 tions. Except a fluctuating crowd of idle youngsters, 
 no one appeared to listen to the poor man s discourse, 
 which, for anything I know, lasted all day, as I found 
 a similar harangue going on on the same spot in the 
 evening. 
 
 Albany, like all other cities in America, possesses 
 
54 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 a choice collection of churches of handsome exterior,, 
 each sect apparently vieing with another as regards 
 the attractiveness of its place of worship. The bells 
 having begun to ring, I entered a church of respectable 
 appearance, which I found to belong to the Baptist 
 connection. The church, which was filled with an 
 exceedingly well-dressed and attentive congregation, 
 was fitted up with a regard to taste and comfort 
 strikingly characteristic of places of public worship 
 in the United States. Every traveller remarks the 
 neatness of American churches. They resemble neither 
 the venerable parish churches of England, with their 
 old oak family-pews, antique monuments, and troop 
 of charity children ; nor the parish churches of Scot 
 land, with their plain deal-seats, damp earthen floors, 
 and unmelodious precentors. All of them, of whatever 
 communion I chanced to attend during my journey, 
 were carpeted all over like a drawing-room; the pews, 
 of finely polished or painted wood, were spacious and 
 cushioned; the windows furnished with Venetian blinds, 
 to moderate the glare of sunshine ; and the pulpit, low 
 and without a sounding-board, consisted of a kind of 
 enclosed platform, which was provided with a handsome 
 sofa for a seat. It may also be noticed, that the pews 
 are generally provided with light fans, which the ladies 
 employ during warm weather. I never saw any func 
 tionary acting in the capacity of clerk or precentor. 
 The singing is usually led by an organ and choir in a 
 gallery opposite the pulpit. Not the least remark 
 able peculiarity in the arrangements, is the voluntary 
 association of a number of young ladies and gentlemen 
 to compose the choir. In some fashionable churches 
 there are paid singers; but throughout the country 
 generally, the members of the choirs belong to the best 
 families, and act gratuitously. In one place which I 
 visited, the leader of the church-choir was the principal 
 
BOSTON TO MONTREAL. 55 
 
 medical man in the town. Facts of this kind are too 
 pleasing to be overlooked. 
 
 The hotel into which chance had thrown me at 
 Albany, I found to be conducted on the temperance 
 principle; but it did not seem on that account to be 
 inferior in point of extent or management. About sixty 
 people attended the several meals in the saloon, where 
 everything, as I afterwards discovered to be a common 
 arrangement, was served to order from printed bills of 
 fare. At the head of the room, near the entrance, stood 
 a coloured manager. This personage, with a bow and 
 wave of the hand, allotted seats to the guests, and acted 
 as a kind of fugleman to some eighteen or twenty 
 waitresses, who were dressed in a somewhat uniform 
 style. All of them, as I understood, were Irish girls. 
 As at Boston, there was nothing like fast eating at 
 table ; and I began to wonder when this phenomenon 
 was to make its appearance. 
 
 Behind the hotel is a narrow street, into which the 
 window of my bedroom opened, and at dawn on 
 Monday morning there commenced the warning sound 
 of engine-bells, and the rattling of trains. Looking 
 down into this narrow thoroughfare, one could not but 
 be amazed at the manner in which a line of railway 
 had been run along its centre, leaving scarcely space 
 for an ordinary carriage on each side, and, consequently, 
 putting children and passengers in continual peril. 
 Other streets in the lower part of the city are similarly 
 traversed; and that such encroachments are here and 
 elsewhere permitted, may be supposed to be a strong 
 indication of the small value set upon private right 
 and convenience, when the interests of the public are 
 presumed to be concerned. It may, indeed, be said, 
 that danger to life and limb is seldom of so much con 
 sequence as to prevent railways from being extended 
 in an unguarded form into the heart of any village or 
 
56 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 city in the States ; the advantages of railway communi 
 cation in developing resources, and increasing the value 
 of property, being apparently held to- be paramount to 
 every other consideration. 
 
 By one of the railways so strangely projected along 
 and across certain streets, I moved westward from 
 Albany to Saratoga, the line of route being through a 
 rather pretty country, undulating and well wooded, 
 and settled by a class of farmers whose fields were 
 regularly enclosed and cultured. Joined by a branch 
 from Troy, a populous city on the east bank of the 
 Hudson, the line crosses several branches of the river 
 Mohawk, and at different points we pass near the Erie 
 and Champlain canals, by which a large traffic is poured 
 through this part of the country. On the Mohawk, 
 several fine falls are disclosed, and we drive through 
 scenery which must afford the most delightful summer 
 rambles to the leisurely pedestrian. Villages of smart 
 wooden houses are passed at intervals, and at the 
 distance of thirty-two miles from Albany we arrive at 
 Ballston Spa, a place celebrated for its mineral waters, 
 and right through which the railway passes, offering 
 the facility of setting down and taking up passengers 
 at the door of the principal hotel. Seven miles further 
 on, in the midst of a level and sandy tract of country 
 covered with trees, we reach Saratoga Springs, the 
 most fashionable and numerously attended watering- 
 place in the United States. 
 
 Gay and thronged in the height of summer, how dull 
 were now the deserted promenades of Saratoga ! A 
 long broad street, ornamented with rows of trees, from 
 which every light wind brought down showers of 
 discoloured leaves, was lined with hotels of enormous 
 dimensions, but with two or three exceptions, all were 
 shut up for the season ; and so they would remain till 
 the heats of the next dog-days brought troops of new 
 
BOSTON TO MONTREAL. 57 
 
 visitors to the springs. I had the curiosity to taste 
 one of the medicinal waters, which rose in a powerful 
 volume through a wooden tube fixed over the spring. 
 It sparkled with confined air, had a slight flavour of 
 iron and weak beer, and was by no means unpleasant. 
 The efficacy of the different springs would require, I 
 think, to be considerable ; for in the village itself, inde 
 pendently of a gay hotel-life, and the pleasure of loung 
 ing in arm-chairs under long shady verandas, there 
 seemed to be absolutely no attractions. Rides through 
 glades in the forest, and visits to interesting scenes in 
 the neighbourhood, possibly help to draw strangers to 
 the spot. Here we may consider ourselves to be in the 
 centre of a district in which took place a series of 
 warlike engagements, first between the English and 
 French, and afterwards between the British and Ameri 
 can forces. It will be recollected, that it was at Fish 
 Creek, on the Hudson, after a variety of operations in 
 this vicinity, that the unfortunate Burgoyne surrendered 
 with an army of 5000 men to General Gates on the 
 17th of October 1777. Having walked over the scene 
 of this dismal humiliation, the tourist will pursue his 
 way to Fort Edward, and Lakes George and Champlain, 
 the whole forming a group of scenes not only among 
 the most picturesque in America, but abounding at 
 almost every step in the deepest historical interest. 
 
 At the time of my visit, various alterations were 
 going on in Saratoga, including the laying of pipes for 
 gas and the erection of some new structures. I had 
 some amusement in noticing the removal of a house on 
 rollers a process at which the Americans are adepts. 
 The house in question was of two stories, and the object 
 seemed to be its transference to the opposite side of the 
 street. It had already performed one-half of its journey 
 across, and I have no doubt would settle down in its 
 new situation without any untoward casualty. The 
 
58 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 furniture within it did not appear to be disturbed, nor 
 had it been deserted by its adventurous inhabitants. 
 
 The construction of houses of wood admits of these 
 not very difficult transitions ; and so far a timber dwell 
 ing has its advantages. But other circumstances render 
 wood desirable as a material for house-building. Not 
 to speak of the cheapness of deals, or lumber, as this 
 kind of timber is ordinarily called, a wooden house is 
 much warmer than one of stone during the inclemency 
 of winter, and therefore many persons consider it prefer 
 able. Such, at least, I found to be the general opinion 
 in Nova Scotia. The method of erecting these wooden 
 houses is very simple. In the first place, a skeleton 
 framework is formed, over which plain deals are fast 
 ened, leaving spaces for door and windows. The next 
 step is to nail shingles, or thin slips of wood, on the 
 deals, so as to overlap each other like rows of slates; 
 and the same arrangement is followed with the roof. 
 A shingle-covered house, with ornamental architraves 
 to door and windows, and properly painted, has a fully 
 better effect than a house simply weather-boarded. In 
 either case, the air is effectually excluded ; and as the 
 inside is always plastered, and finished off with orna 
 mental paper-hangings, the house is as comfortable as 
 can be desired. At all events, this easily extemporised 
 dwelling, in which only the chimneys are of brick, 
 suits a new country; and it is such houses, of a small 
 and neat kind, placed in the outskirts and by-ways 
 of American cities, that are owned and occupied by 
 artisans and others of much higher means. That which 
 appears strange to an Englishman, is the durability of 
 these wooden structures, the very roofs of which are of 
 a seemingly perishable material. But all is explained by 
 that exceeding dryness of atmosphere, which forms a lead 
 ing peculiarity of the North American climate, and which 
 even the heaviest rains can scarcely be said to interrupt. 
 
BOSTON TO MONTREAL. 59 
 
 From Saratoga, travellers may diverge towards Lake 
 George ; but my plans not admitting of this interesting 
 lateral trip, I contented myself with pursuing the route 
 northwards to the foot of Lake Champlain. This run 
 of 220 miles in one day, by cars and steamers, from 
 Saratoga Springs to Montreal, was the most suggestive 
 and pleasant I made in the whole course of my journey. 
 It took me through a region, almost every foot of which 
 had been the scene of military contention. Projected 
 from the borders of Canada, and connected by its outlet 
 with the St Lawrence, Lake Champlain has always been 
 a favourite channel of attack on the States from the 
 north, and at different points has been strengthened by 
 military posts, to which the English succeeded on the 
 expulsion of the French, and which now, within the 
 American frontier, are with one exception deserted and 
 in ruins. 
 
 Passing the hamlet of Fort Ann, the cars, a few 
 miles further on, reach Whitehall, known during the 
 war as Skenesborough. Here the railway stops, and 
 we have the first glimpse of Lake Champlain, probably 
 the finest thing of its kind in America, and in some 
 respects rivalling the most beautiful lakes of the old 
 world. Stepping on board a steam-boat which awaited 
 the arrival of the train, I was amazed at the size and 
 magnificence of the vessel. Resembling a floating 
 palace in its interior accommodations and ornament, 
 it offered for repose a spacious and airy saloon, fur 
 nished with the richest carpets and sofas, and from 
 tall pier-mirrors, surmounting marble tables, you were 
 reflected at every movement. The only discordant 
 feature in this elegant apartment, was a number of 
 large spittoons of brown earthenware, placed near the 
 velvet-covered sofas for the use of the passengers. 
 Such things had already come under my notice in the 
 parlours of the hotels I had visited; and although I 
 
60 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 cannot say they were much in requisition, the circum 
 stance of their being profusely scattered about, con 
 veyed an unpleasant idea of habits which have gained 
 an unenviable notoriety. 
 
 The southern extremity of Lake Champlain is narrow 
 like a river, between high banks. Twenty miles up, it 
 expands considerably, runs into creeks, is encroached 
 upon by bushy headlands, and overlooked by the small 
 clearings and cottages of settlers. Finally, it reaches 
 a breadth varying from six to nine miles, and extends 
 altogether a length of 132 miles. On our left, in ad 
 vancing northwards, we have the state of New York, 
 and on the right that of Vermont. The former is the 
 more picturesque; the latter, embracing a variety of 
 easy slopes, and in all respects more open, seems the 
 better adapted for cultivation. Far in the distance, on 
 the Vermont side, are seen the lofty green mountains, 
 from which the state has derived its designation. They 
 were the first hills, worthy of the name, I had seen in 
 America. The steamer, in its progress up the lake, 
 stopped at various points to land and take up passengers. 
 One of these points, adjoining a promontory on our 
 left, was Ticonderoga, the ruins of whose fortifications 
 are observed overhanging the cliffs, and intermingled 
 with the wild brushwood. Here the French, in their 
 warfare against the English colonists, established them 
 selves in 1755; here was the scene of some desperate 
 engagements, in which Montcalm, Howe, and Aber- 
 cromby were concerned ; and here, as is well known, 
 did a small English garrison, commanded by Captain 
 Delaplace, yield themselves prisoners to Colonel Ethan 
 Allen and a band of Green Mountain Boys, May 10, 
 1775. Crown Point, further up the lake on the same 
 side, and where the ground inclines to an accessible 
 beach, is the site of a still older and more imposing fort 
 of the same origin. After being wrested from the 
 
BOSTON TO MONTREAL. 61 
 
 French, the fortress was greatly enlarged by Lord 
 Amherst, and is said, in various ways, to have cost the 
 British government two millions sterling. It also fell 
 into the hands of the Americans, and now consists of a 
 number of rugged walls and grassy mounds, a glimpse 
 of which is obtained from the deck of the passing 
 steamer. 
 
 Having passed these spots, the passengers were 
 summoned to dinner in a lower saloon, along which 
 two tables were prepared as tastefully as in a first-rate 
 hotel. On descending to take our places, the gentle 
 men of the party were requested to wait till the ladies 
 had come down and seated themselves ; an arrangement 
 with which, of course, all acquiesced. Those gentlemen 
 who had ladies in charge participated in the choice of 
 places at the top of the tables; the balance of the seats, 
 to use an American phrase, being left to such solitary 
 travellers as myself. I did not, however, find on this 
 or subsequent, occasions that any difference was made 
 between the upper and lower parts of the tables, as 
 respects viands or attendance. Again, in this meal, I 
 failed to observe any voracity in the guests ; and nothing 
 was drunk but iced water a luxury with which the 
 people of England generally have, as yet, little practical 
 acquaintance. 
 
 Burlington, a handsomely built and thriving town, 
 is the port of largest size touched by the steamer. 
 It is situated at the bottom of a bay, on the east or 
 Vermont side of the lake, and possesses railway com 
 munication in several directions, by which travellers 
 have an opportunity of varying their route. Further 
 on, and diagonally crossing this fine sheet of water, 
 which is here eight to nine miles wide, and prettily 
 dotted with islands, we arrive at Plattsburg, in the 
 state of New York. A railway train in waiting now 
 earned us forward in a northerly direction, and having 
 
62 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 advanced a few miles, we cross the frontier into Lower 
 Canada; the only indication we have of the change 
 being the admonition in French at railway crossings : 
 Prenez garde de la machine, quand la cloche sonne 
 a strange invasion of the peaceful routine of habitant 
 Hie, 
 
 About nine o clock in the evening, the train arrived 
 at a point on the St Lawrence where we were ferried 
 across to La Chine, the steamer occupying twenty 
 minutes in the passage ; my introduction to this magni 
 ficent river took place, therefore, in the partial darkness 
 of an autumn night. There was just sufficient light 
 from the stars to shew that we were upon a stream at 
 least a mile in width, rolling in a ceaseless flood from 
 the great lakes to the ocean. At La Chine, the passen 
 gers landed on the western extremity of the island of 
 Montreal, and entering a railway terminus, found a 
 train with the English form of carriages, ready to 
 depart for the city of Montreal. This trip of eight or 
 nine miles was soon over. At ten o clock, I was in the 
 hands of an Irish cabman, driving impetuously through 
 a series of streets to a hotel; having in the space of 
 fourteen hours, without toil or anxiety, and for a few 
 dollars, performed a journey which, thirty years ago, 
 would probably have required a week to accomplish. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 MONTREAL. 
 
 THE English tourist who steps ashore for the first time 
 in France, is not more struck with the novelty of 
 general appearances, than is the traveller from the 
 United States on arriving in Montreal. A journey of 
 a few miles has transferred him from towns of brick 
 and painted wood, spacious streets with as many trees 
 as houses, bright green jalousies and shady verandas, 
 to a city of stone, houses covered with tin, iron window- 
 shutters, and narrow thoroughfares with designations 
 in French. Other things serve to impress him with 
 the change. He sees convents within high walls, such 
 as present themselves in Bruges or Ghent; and the 
 spectacle of soldiers loitering about in scarlet uniforms 
 reminds him that he is not only in a British possession, 
 but in a country which, from some cause or other, is 
 considered to require the presence of a standing army. 
 
 Half French and half English a diversity in man 
 ners and dress as well as in creeds institutions drawn 
 from the coutume de Paris and the Parliament of West 
 minster ancient feudalities and modern privileges 
 traditions of the Sulpicians and reminiscences of Lord 
 Sydenham nunneries next door to Manchester ware 
 houses barristers pleading in the language of France 
 and a custom-house decorated with the royal arms of 
 England priests in long black dresses, and Scotch 
 Presbyterians cabmen in frieze jackets fresh from 
 
64 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 Ireland, and native market-carters in coloured sashes 
 and night-caps in short, a complication of incongrui 
 ties ; the old and new world jumbled together, and then 
 assorted according to some odd device in social econo 
 mics. Such is Montreal. In the general constitution 
 of things, the United States, though near neighbours, 
 have contributed little beyond their hotel -system, 
 which is so much more acceptable than that of England, 
 that it has everywhere been imported across the fron 
 tier and naturalised in Canada. The leading hotel 
 is Donegana s, in the centre of the city; but for the 
 sake of proximity to the river and steamers, I preferred 
 the Montreal House, with which I had every reason 
 to be satisfied. All the waiters in the establishment, 
 about a dozen in number, were negroes ; being probably 
 refugees from the south. 
 
 Proceeding out of doors on the morning after my 
 arrival, that which first drew my attention was the 
 St Lawrence, clear and beautiful, and about a mile in 
 breadth, facing the town on the south. Looking across 
 this splendid river, we see a flat country beyond, and 
 in the far distance, the Vermont hills of the United 
 States. On careful observation, the river is seen to 
 be broken into a hurried stream or rapid, immediately 
 above the town; vessels, accordingly, are unable to 
 ascend beyond this point without proceeding through 
 a canal which has been constructed on the Montreal 
 side, the first of a series of similar works through 
 whose agency ships of moderate size can now make 
 their way unimpeded from the ocean to Lake Huron, 
 a distance of 1300 miles. Immediately in front of us 
 is the long and well-built quay, with commodious pro 
 jecting piers for large steam -vessels, one of which has 
 just come up the river from Quebec and is landing her 
 passengers, while another is about to start for the rail 
 way on the opposite side of the river. Several sailing 
 
MONTREAL. 65 
 
 vessels are at the same time unloading cargoes of mis 
 cellaneous goods for the f fall trade j } and approaching 
 a small craft which seems to engage general curiosity, 
 we find that it is freighted with oysters, which an 
 ancient mariner, who speaks French with great volu 
 bility, is selling in bushel measures to a crowd of 
 customers. Turning from this object of attraction, we 
 are surprised to hear the sound of cannon, and on 
 looking about, discover that the reports proceed from a 
 fortified island a short way down the river, where a 
 body of soldiers are practising the use of artillery. 
 
 Walking along the street part of the quay, which 
 stretches a mile in length, we find it lined with tall 
 and massive houses, built of light gray limestone, 
 and having steep roofs covered with tin, which glitters 
 like burnished silver in the morning sun. Tallest and 
 most massive of all is a huge market-house, conspicuous 
 by its lofty dome, and more ambitious than appropriate 
 in its architecture. From this open thoroughfare, along 
 which an inexhaustible supply of light dust careered 
 in unwelcome gusts, I was glad to strike into the 
 cross streets which rise with a gentle inclination from 
 the quay. On diverging into these and the adjoining 
 streets which run lengthwise through the town, the 
 stranger will not fail to remark the number of wholesale 
 stores thronged with manufactured articles imported 
 from England, and forming depots for the supply of 
 the Canadian traders. The aspect of these warehouses, 
 with English and Scotch names at the side of the 
 doors, reminded me of the business alleys behind 
 Cheapside, and demonstrated the commercial character 
 of the place. 
 
 In all quarters of Montreal, there are seen substantial 
 indications of advancement, as if modern were pushing 
 out old ideas, and an English outgrowing the original 
 French population. When I came to this place thirty 
 
 E 
 
66 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 years ago/ said a venerable settler from Scotland, I 
 scarcely heard a word of English, and could with diffi 
 culty find my way ; now matters are entirely changed/ 
 The modernisation of the city has been considerably 
 promoted by a fire which some years ago committed 
 extensive ravages. A crop of handsome new buildings 
 has sprung up ; but with few exceptions, they follow the 
 line of the old and narrow streets, instead of expanding 
 over a larger space of ground. The best street is the 
 Rue Notre Dame, along the centre of the low ridge 
 on which the city has been placed ; but it is exceeded 
 in breadth and in elegance of architecture by St James s 
 Street, a little further west. At an open species of 
 square that intervenes between these two streets, we 
 find some of the more important public edifices of the 
 city, including a Roman Catholic cathedral. Every 
 body has of course heard of this last-mentioned struc 
 ture, which is said to be the largest place of public 
 worship in the mediaeval style of architecture in 
 America. Built of gray stone, with pointed windows 
 and lofty square towers, seen at a great distance, it is 
 unfortunately plain to baldness, and must give the 
 Canadians but an imperfect notion of such edifices as 
 the cathedrals of Rouen and Antwerp things of 
 beauty to be remembered for ever. Inside, everything 
 has been sacrificed to congregational accommodation. 
 Fitted with pews and galleries, in order to afford 
 sittings for 10,000 people, it has no pretensions to con- 
 gruity of character, and with roof and pillars coarsely 
 coloured, it may be said that an effort has been success 
 fully made to render it valueless as a work of art. 
 
 At a short distance, in this quarter, there are some 
 good buildings in the Grecian style, among which are 
 more particularly observable two banks and a large 
 new court-house. Montreal, it is proper to state, is 
 a centre of considerable banking operations. From the 
 
MONTREAL. 67 
 
 Bank of British North America (an English concern) 
 and of Montreal, both of a highly respectable character, 
 branches are extended to every town of any importance 
 in Canada. Each issues notes of as low a value as 5s. 
 currency, or 4s. sterling; and a note of this kind is 
 popularly equivalent to an American dollar. The 
 maintenance of what is termed currency in the present 
 advanced state of things, is not very intelligible to 
 travellers from the old country. One might see some 
 meaning in the denomination,, if there was a correspond 
 ingly depreciated coinage in circulation. But except 
 ing the small notes just referred to, and occasionally 
 American dollars, the entire circulating medium con 
 sists of English money. Why an ordinaiy shilling is 
 spoken of as fifteenpence, or how storekeepers, in asking 
 sevenpence-halfpenny for an article, should mean six 
 pence, is a mystery in finance not easily explained. In 
 my ignorance, I ventured respectfully to suggest to a 
 respectable colonist, that I thought it would only be 
 reasonable to call a shilling a shilling, and change the 
 nominal prices of things accordingly. But I felt, by 
 the reply, that I had trodden on dangerous ground. 
 The method of computation in which the pound sterling 
 is considered equivalent (strictly) to 1, 4s. 4d. cur 
 rency, could not, it seems, bear criticism. Perhaps, then, 
 it is hardly advisable in me to hint to the Canadian 
 and other British American provinces, the propriety of 
 assimilating their money -reckoning to the sterling 
 standard, or of adopting the simple dollar and cent 
 system of the United States, which, for most practical 
 purposes, would be more convenient. 
 
 Conducted, first through several banks of an imposing 
 appearance, and then visiting some large libraries, read 
 ing-rooms, and other public institutions, I had next a 
 pleasant drive out of town towards the Mountain the 
 road in a northerly direction taking us amidst lines of 
 
68 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 detached \ r illas embowered in gardens and flower-plots.^ 
 As every stranger in London goes to see St Paul s, so 
 all who visit Montreal require to see the Mountain. 
 Of this mountain, the inhabitants are not a little proud ; 
 and they have some reason for being so. The hill, 
 which forms a kind of background to Montreal, shelter 
 ing it most agreeably from the north, is covered with 
 a profusion of orchards, gardens, and masses of forest 
 trees, and having the lower part disposed in small farms 
 and villa enclosures. Some years ago, the hill and 
 country beyond were scarcely approachable on account 
 of the state of the roads ; but now the thoroughfares are 
 kept in the best order by revenues drawn from toll-bars. 
 The establishment of these bars by an ordinance of Lord 
 Sydenham, was loudly exclaimed against by the rural 
 habitans, who, in coming to market, greatly preferred 
 jolts to the dispensing of coppers; but I was told that 
 the tide of opinion against toll-paying had lately under 
 gone a considerable change among these ancient settlers ; 
 as they had discovered by the saving of time and other 
 advantages, that the money they paid to the toll-keeper 
 was by no means thrown away. 
 
 By one of these improved roads, carried at a moderate 
 height, we are enabled to make a circuit of the whole 
 mountain, and obtain some remarkably fine views over 
 the surrounding country. The scene on the northern 
 side embraces an extensive tract of land, laid out in 
 farms, and dotted over with villages, distinguishable by 
 their churches with tin-covered steeples. From the 
 summit, the eye is able to trace out, in the generally 
 level country, the outlines of the Isle of Montreal, and 
 the Isle Jesu beyond it on the north, as well as the 
 valley of the Ottawa. The river Ottawa, coming out 
 of a region rich in timber, and abounding in pictu- 
 resqiie scenery, joins the St Lawrence in a somewhat 
 broken manner, by parting into separate branches, and 
 
MONTREAL. 69 
 
 intersecting the land so as to form the two above-men 
 tioned islands. The Isle of Montreal, about thirty miles 
 in length, and celebrated for its beauty and fertility, was 
 originally gifted by the king of France to the seminary 
 of St Sulpice, to which body the superiority still princi 
 pally belongs, and is a source of large annual income. 
 Along the southern slopes of the mountain, and favoured 
 by the high temperature in summer, grow those fine 
 varieties of apples the Fameuse, Pomme Gris, and 
 others which are the admiration of all strangers. The 
 view from the higher parts of the hill on the south 
 embraces the city and environs in the foreground, with 
 the broad St Lawrence and its shipping, and the exten 
 sive tract of country beyond, which includes the pleasant 
 valley of the Eichlieu. 
 
 The society in Montreal which I had an opportunity 
 of becoming acquainted with, did not differ from what 
 one sees in a respectable English town; and from all 
 I could learn, it appeared that notwithstanding many 
 bitter political and religious animosities, the city in its 
 various concerns was making signal progress. The 
 population had increased to about 60,000; and trade 
 of all kinds had been extended in the current year. The 
 completion of the Atlantic and St Lawrence Railway, 
 by opening up a ready means of transit to Portland and 
 Boston, had already given an impetus to improvement ; 
 and as steamers will now ply direct to and from Eng 
 land during summer, the opening of a new traffic was 
 confidently anticipated. On many accounts, therefore, 
 Montreal possesses an animation and hopefulness which 
 could scarcely have been predicated from its past history 
 or the mixed and antagonistic materials in its popula 
 tion. Nor are the interests of practical science and 
 literature forgotten. A museum of the minerals, united 
 with a geological survey of the province, attests the 
 attention paid to an important branch of knowledge. 
 
70 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 A few weeks before my visit, there had been a large 
 exhibition of improved agricultural implements and 
 livestock. Latterly, there has been added to the 
 educational institutions a handsomely endowed estab 
 lishment called the M f Gill College a kind of university 
 for the higher branches of learning, and in which no 
 tests are exacted. A High School, of earlier origin, has, 
 I am told, been added to it as a preparatory depart 
 ment. The French Roman Catholic body also own 
 some educational establishments of good reputation. 
 So far, there is nothing to complain of in the city ; but 
 in Lower Canada generally, the state of education is on 
 a lamentably imperfect footing ; for although there is a 
 school law applicable to the province, such is the general 
 ignorance of letters that many local commissioners of 
 education are said to be unable to read or write ; and 
 as the rating for schools is under popular control, the 
 habitans find it more agreeable to let their children 
 grow up uninstructed than vote means for their educa 
 tion. On advancing into Western Canada, which is 
 settled by a purely English and Scotch population, the 
 state of affairs is found to be very differ ent. 
 
 As regards the actual appearance and character of 
 the original French settlers in the rural districts, or 
 habitans, as they are ordinarily called, I naturally felt 
 some degree of curiosity; and was projecting an excur 
 sion into the country, when I was cordially invited to 
 pay a visit to the extensive and interesting seignory 
 of Major T. E. Campbell, situated in the valley of the 
 Richlieu, about nineteen miles south from Montreal. 
 The account of this visit may perhaps give an idea of 
 rural life in this part of Canada, which is essentially 
 different from what prevails in the western portion of 
 the province. 
 
 It is unnecessary for me to enter into any details 
 respecting the settlement of Lower Canada by the 
 
MONTREAL. 71 
 
 French, and of the final cession of the country to 
 England in 1763. It is enough to know that Great 
 Britain agreed, by treaty, to respect the religious and other 
 institutions introduced by France; and these accord 
 ingly remain, with some modifications, till the present 
 day. One of the social arrangements so preserved, was 
 the method of holding land by feudal tenure. A num 
 ber of distinguished personages called seigneurs or lords, 
 to whom large tracts of land had been granted, were 
 allowed to partition their property among vassals, who 
 by purchase at entry, and incurring certain obligations, 
 obtained the rights of perpetual heritage. These tracts 
 of land are known as seignories, each retaining the 
 name of the seigneur to whom it originally belonged. 
 The vassal-tenants are technically called censitaires. 
 About thirty years after the cession of Canada, the 
 rights of the seigneurs were abridged : they no longer 
 included any species of jurisdiction ; and, except where 
 the old seignories prevailed, the principle of freehold 
 tenure was introduced. In the present day, the seigno- 
 rial claims are not by any means oppressive, although 
 still objectionable as being at variance with modern 
 notions and practices. Not many seigneurs, I was 
 informed, live habitually on their domains, or charge 
 themselves with the personal supervision of their vassals. 
 The management, in various instances, is left to local 
 agents; and on this account I felt some satisfaction in 
 visiting a seignory with a proprietor resident, like a lord 
 of the olden time, in the midst of his retainers. 
 
 1 You will take the steamer at nine o clock for 
 Longeuil/ said Major Campbell, in giving me directions 
 to visit his property ; and there you will find a train 
 in waiting to carry you to St Hilaire, which is the 
 station near to my place/ At the hour appointed, 
 next morning, I accordingly crossed the St Lawrence 
 to Longeuil, a distance of three miles in a diagonal 
 
72 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 direction down the river,, and found a train of cars 
 ready to take the passengers forward, the line of railway 
 being that which communicates with Portland in Maine, 
 and other parts of the United States. The day was 
 dull and hazy, but clear enough to shew the country 
 around; and as the train went at a leisurely pace, I 
 was able to obtain a pretty fair view of the land and its 
 method of treatment. 
 
 We go through a district of seignories, the first being 
 that of Longeuil, which extends a number of miles 
 from the river. Settled a hundred and fifty years ago, 
 and long since cleared and enclosed, the country, as we 
 advance, has quite an old appearance, with villages and 
 churches placed at suitable intervals. The land is gene 
 rally so level, that the railway has been made to a large 
 extent with scarcely any banking or cutting. Onward 
 it goes over fields, enclosed with rail-fences, and entering 
 the valley of the Bichlieu, crosses the fine large river of 
 that name by a long wooden bridge. As is usual in all 
 seignorial districts, the holdings of the censitaires con 
 sist of long narrow strips of land, projected from the 
 public road. By this plan, each farmer has a convenient 
 frontage to his property ; and as all the houses are built 
 in a line on the respective frontages, the people enjoy 
 ample facilities for social converse and amusement. So- 
 far this is pleasant ; but as every pleasure needs to be 
 paid for, the inhabitants, in proceeding to some portions 
 of their properties, incur the penalty of travelling a long 
 way from home in pursuit of their rural labours. The 
 spectacle presented by these old-fashioned farms was 
 anything but cheering. The small fields, lying in a 
 row, and entered from each other, like a suite of rooms 
 in a French mansion, exhibited a poor kind of husbandry, 
 and to all appearance the principal crop was that of tall 
 weeds growing on the foul and exhausted soil. At one 
 period, the district was known as the granary of Canada; 
 
MONTREAL. 73 
 
 and a merry place it then was, no doubt. Now, it is 
 barely able to yield produce for its own support ; and 
 poverty, I fear, is the general lot of its inhabitants. 
 
 Thus, moralising on the change of times, we reach 
 St Hilaire. Here, at a handsome station, with waiting- 
 rooms and depots for freight, and a great stack of 
 billets of wood for the use of the locomotive, I found 
 Major Campbell, and gladly accompanied him in a 
 pedestrian excursion over his grounds. When I talk of 
 meeting a Canadian seigneur, I am perhaps expected 
 to describe a spare gentleman in a queue and cocked- 
 hat, a red sash, and a coat which might have been in 
 fashion at the Tuileries in the reign of Louis XV. 
 Changes, however, have come over seigneurs as well 
 as other people. In the gallant major I recognised only 
 a bluff and sound-hearted English officer, rigged out in 
 a shooting-jacket, to brave a threatened drizzle, and, 
 as is usual all over Canada, wearing a pair of stout 
 boots up to the knees, sufficient to encounter every 
 variety of mud and quagmire. How the major should 
 have dropped from Her Majesty s service into the 
 position he now occupies, it is not my business to 
 relate. Formerly secretary to the governor-general, his 
 taste for agriculture, and his marriage with a Canadian 
 lady, may be presumed to form a reason for having 
 invested largely in his present possessions. However 
 this may be, nothing could have been more fortunate 
 for the habitans of St Hilaire than to have obtained 
 such a lord of the manor. 
 
 The first thing done was to conduct me to the chateau, 
 which we reached by a wicket from the railway station 
 and a pathway leading across a shrubbery and paddock. 
 Built of red brick and sandstone, I had before me a 
 handsome and recently erected mansion of large size in 
 the Elizabethan style, with doorway and windows in 
 the best possible taste. Inside was a capacious hall, 
 
74 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 with a broad stair of dark wood leading to the upper 
 part of the house. On the level of the hall, doors open 
 on various apartments, including a dining and drawing- 
 room, with floors of polished wood, inlaid in different 
 colours. These handsome apartments are lighted by 
 plate-glass windows, which overlook a green lawn that 
 slopes down to the banks of the Richlieu, about a 
 hundred yards distant. The view of the placid river, 
 resembling the Thames at Fulham, with small sailing 
 vessels passing and repassing, and a village and church 
 spire on the opposite shore, adds much to the amenity of 
 this princely dwelling. On looking around, we feel as 
 if visiting a nobleman s establishment in England or 
 France, and can hardly realise the idea of being in the 
 heart of a country which, only a century and a half ago, 
 was reclaimed from the primeval wilderness. At a 
 short distance from the chateau has been erected a spa 
 cious suite of farm-offices adapted for the highest-class 
 husbandry, and used in connection with a model-farm 
 of 150 acres, which Major Campbell keeps in his 
 own hands. What interested me more than anything 
 else in the chateau, was an apartment occupied as a 
 business-room. Here, at a table covered with papers, 
 sat an aged Canadian, dressed in a blue coat of antique 
 cut, with white metal buttons a kind of Owen in the 
 house of Osbaldistone & Co. and his duties I under 
 stood to consist in everlastingly poring over a variety 
 of charter-books and ledgers, and keeping the accounts 
 of the seignory. This ancient worthy spoke nothing 
 but French, and the whole transactions of the concern 
 are conducted in that language. 
 
 There seems to be a great deal of writing connected 
 with the property/ I observed to the major. Indeed 
 there is/ he replied. Keeping the accounts of a 
 seignory is a business in itself: I will shew you the 
 nature of our affairs/ So saying, several books were 
 
MONTREAL. 75 
 
 obligingly brought into the dining-room, and I set to 
 work to learn the nature of their multifarious details, 
 assisted by the explanations of my kind entertainer. 
 
 One of the books, resembling a great broad ledger, 
 consisted of pages partly covered with print in French, 
 with open spaces left for writing. The whole formed 
 a narration of the various holdings of the vassals, with 
 their dates of entry, transfers, extent of tenure, and 
 annual quit-rents. The quantity of land embraced in 
 the seignory, I was informed, is about 32,000 acres, 
 divided among 771 censitaires. Of these, however, 
 only 693 are farmers ; the remainder being occupants 
 of houses, orchards, or other small possessions. The 
 annual rent or feu-duty paid for the land is in some 
 instances not more than twopence an acre. But the 
 other obligations are more onerous. At every sale -of 
 a tenure, the landlord can demand a fine of a twelfth of 
 the purchase-money ; or it is in his option to take the 
 land at the price offered for it. Duties are likewise 
 charged on successions. All the vassals are also obliged 
 to have their grinding done at the mill of the seigneur, 
 who, on his part, is bound to have mills kept in repair 
 for their use. It may easily be supposed that the finan 
 cial and other operations of such an extensive concern 
 are exceedingly complicated and embarrassing; and 
 nothing but the skill of a diplomatist and the science 
 of an arithmetician could grapple with them. Besides 
 the documents connected with these transactions, Major 
 Campbell shewed me the books he keeps in relation to 
 the farm in his own management. Here were seen the 
 accounts of expenditure on labour and other matters, 
 with an entry of every sale of produce, down to the 
 minutest sums received for dairy articles, according to 
 the best methods of farm book-keeping in England ; so 
 that, at the shortest notice, a complete balance-sheet 
 could be exhibited. 
 
76 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 I afterwards strolled out with Major Campbell over 
 some of the lands of his tenants, which, in spite of all 
 his remonstrances and advice, are farmed according to 
 old notions, and do not materially differ in appearance 
 from what is observable in adjoining properties. This I 
 expected. The ignorant cannot apprehend abstractions. 
 They require to see a thing done in order to give it 
 fall credence. Only a few of the farmers had come 
 the length of believing in the efficacy of the seigneur s 
 operations, as regards draining, manuring, and the 
 proper rotation of crops. Accustomed to be satisfied 
 with a small return for their expenditure and labour, 
 they were astonished to see the large crops produced 
 on the lands farmed by Major Campbell, and were 
 beginning cautiously to follow his example. 
 
 The farms terminate on the public highway, which 
 here borders the river; and in the compass of a mile 
 from the gateway of the chateau, which blocks up the 
 end of the road, I had an opportunity of visiting the 
 houses of several censitaires; taking a look into the 
 village church ; examining a girls school, which, super 
 intended by several Sisters of Charity, has been estab 
 lished by the lady of the seigneur; and, finally, of 
 paying my respects to the cure, a mild, scholarly- 
 looking personage, who dwells in a pretty little mansion 
 in the midst of a garden overlooking the Richlieu. 
 
 The day, I have said, was dull, and there was a chilli 
 ness in the atmosphere, yet the doors of the houses were 
 generally open, and in the veranda, in front of one of 
 them, sat a farmer smoking a long pipe, while madame 
 was engaged at his side in some kind of knitting. 
 The houses we visited were scrupulously clean, and 
 provided with the heavy kind of old furniture common 
 in the dwellings of the Norman peasantry, which had 
 come down as heirlooms from past generations. I 
 need hardly say that the seigneur was received with 
 
MONTREAL. 77 
 
 politeness and deference, but with none of the obse 
 quiousness observable among certain classes of tenantry 
 in the old country. A lively conversation was com 
 menced in French the people, for miles around, being 
 totally ignorant of English and it turned on the state 
 of rural affairs. Major Campbell strongly represented 
 the advantages of subscribing for and reading a cheap 
 agricultural journal, but without avail. It was pretty 
 evident that the good censitaires had no faith in 
 literature, nor would part with a single half-penny for 
 all the information that could be offered them. 
 
 Backward as things are seen to be, the enterprising 
 seigneur has sanguine hopes of effecting a considerable 
 improvement in the habits of the people. He is at least 
 untiring in his benevolent efforts, and deserves a more 
 genial field of operation. One of his branches of 
 revenue is from the manufacture of sugar from the sap 
 of the maple-trees, which ornament, with their glowing 
 foliage, the picturesque and isolated hill of Beloeil, 
 situated within a short distance of his chateau. In 
 summer, parties of pleasure from Montreal visit this 
 lofty mountain, and climb by a steep and winding path 
 to the top, from which there is a most extensive pros 
 pect over the adjacent country. Pious devotees also 
 make a pilgrimage to the hill, on which there are 
 stations where certain appointed prayers are repeated. 
 At the base of the ascent is a small and beautiful lake, 
 whence water is constantly flowing to turn the mills of 
 the seignory. 
 
 Having spent a day agreeably, I bade adieu to 
 Major Campbell, and by an evening train returned to 
 Montreal. It required no depth of reflection to perceive 
 that the system of seignorage, of which I had seen a 
 favourable specimen, was entirely out of date in the 
 present day, and that, for the sake of general advance 
 ment, it could not be too soon abolished. The subject, 
 
78 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 indeed, has already engaged the consideration of the 
 provincial legislature ; and, in all probability, a scheme 
 for the extinction of seignorial claims, by valuing and 
 constituting them a redeemable mortgage on the re 
 spective tenures, will, at no distant day, pass into a 
 law. Major Campbell stated that he would have no 
 objection to some such equitable adjustment ; and it is 
 possible that the opposition to a remedy of this nature 
 will be presented less by the seigneurs than their 
 apparently willing and contented vassals. As things 
 stand, the evil is not confined to the tracts of seigno 
 rial territory extending, I believe, to nearly eight 
 millions of acres but affects the whole of the lands, 
 granted and ungranted, in Lower Canada. Enterpris 
 ing and intelligent men will not, to any large extent, 
 settle in a neighbourhood in which the French language 
 and usages prevail. Protestants, it is true, are legally 
 exempted from the tithes levied by the Koman Catholic 
 Church; but the very atmosphere which hovers round 
 these ecclesiastical arrangements is obnoxious in popu 
 lar estimation. In some quarters of the country, and 
 more particularly in the eastern townships, very consi 
 derable advances are made in agricultural management, 
 and the progress of the colony in trade, shipping, and 
 intercommunication, is to be mentioned with much 
 satisfaction. The state of affairs, however, in the rural 
 districts generally, through the deadening influences 
 that have been referred to, is far from creditable. In 
 short, until the seignories are broken up, as a first 
 and essential step to the introduction of the English 
 tongue among the farming population, this fine part of 
 Canada, so far as I can see, must remain an alien and 
 unknown country to the mass of British emigrants 
 who pour in a ceaseless stream across the Atlantic. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 QUEBEC. 
 
 HAVING spent a few days in Montreal and its neigh 
 bourhood, I prepared to make a short visit to Quebec. 
 A communication by railway between these cities, as 
 I shall have occasion to explain, will soon be effected 
 by the extension of a branch from the Atlantic and St 
 Lawrence line. Meanwhile, the only available inter 
 course is by steam-vessels on the river, one of which 
 departs every evening from Quebec, and another from 
 Montreal; the passage up as well as down being by 
 night. 
 
 Montreal is 180 miles above Quebec, and this dis 
 tance is performed by the steamers in twelve hours, 
 descending, and fifteen to sixteen hours, ascending, the 
 St Lawrence ; though, when fogs occur, the time in 
 each case may be considerably extended. Owing to 
 these perplexing fogs, as well as sunken rocks and 
 other dangers, serious accidents occasionally happen. 
 With a less wide- spread reputation for disasters than 
 the Mississippi, the St Lawrence yet possesses an 
 unfortunate aptitude for destroying the steamers 
 which trust themselves upon it. During my stay in 
 the country, two vessels of this kind were wrecked 
 between Quebec and Montreal. 
 
 Trusting that I might escape any such misfortune, 
 I one evening went on board a steamer at Montreal, 
 said to be one of the best on the station ; and along 
 
80 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 with at least 150 passengers, set off on a voyage down 
 the river. Darkness soon coming on, we had little 
 opportunity of seeing the distant banks, which, how 
 ever, are generally low and uninteresting. Some miles 
 down, on our left, we passed one of the mouths of the 
 Ottawa, whose turbid waters are a long way distin 
 guishable from the clear flood of the St Lawrence. 
 Further still, on the south shore, the Bichlieu falls 
 into the river; but the town of Sorrel at this point, 
 and various other places of some note, including Three 
 Rivers, are passed in the dark, and we only hear their 
 names when the vessel stops at them to put passengers 
 ashore. 
 
 It was in the gray of a misty morning, about seven 
 o clock, when, rising from bed and going to the slip of 
 open deck at the paddle-boxes, that I first caught sight 
 of the high cliffy banks as we approached Quebec ; and 
 without a word of explanation, I knew at a glance 
 that we were passing the scene of Wolfe s celebrated 
 debarkation below the heights of Abraham. Here the 
 river is a mile in width, and flows in an imposing 
 current, sufficiently deep to carry vessels of large 
 burden. The land is high on both banks, as if sawn 
 down by the mighty stream ; for while on our left rise 
 the lofty cliffs of Cape Diamond, on whose summit the 
 city has been built bringing Ehrenbreitstein, on the 
 Rhine, with its towers and battlements, to remembrance 
 on the right, or southern bank, we see the elevated 
 grounds of Point Levi, with its lively village and ferry 
 boats. Looking down the river, we observe that, below 
 Quebec, it parts into two unequal branches, the larger 
 keeping to the left and the smaller to the right, with 
 the high woody isle of Orleans between. 
 
 There was little time to take note of all this. The 
 steamer shot in front of the straggling and busy suburb 
 below the city, and in a few minutes we walked ashore 
 
QUEBEC. 81 
 
 on a wooden quay, in the midst of porters and cabmen. 
 Driving by winding narrow streets, environed by sub 
 stantial stone-nouses, towards the higher regions, I 
 could see that Quebec is a curious old city, with nume 
 rous trades connected with shipping in its lower streets, 
 and having a strong mixture of the military and eccle 
 siastical character in its upper and more aristocratic 
 division. The street which I ascended in a cab to get 
 to a hotel, was so steep, that I feared the poor horse 
 would fall on its knees ; but, driven by an Irishman, it 
 went wonderfully well over the ground, and I arrived 
 in safety in a kind of open square, where the market 
 and some of the principal public buildings are situated. 
 
 A glance through the town shewed that it was consi 
 derably more French than Montreal, and was equally 
 well provided with churches and monastic establish 
 ments, the bequest of its original settlers ; to which are 
 superadded the more modern ecclesiastical structures 
 of its English and Scotch inhabitants. Everybody, of 
 course, is acquainted with the fact, that the Canadian 
 parliament was, a few years ago, burned out of its 
 place of meeting in Montreal. Afterwards, locating 
 itself in a handsome building in Quebec, it has, unfor 
 tunately, been just burned out of that too, and is left to 
 shift for temporary accommodation. None of the public 
 buildings, including that appropriated to parliamentary 
 meetings, was of sufficient note to detain me any 
 length of time from the scenes associated with Wolfe s 
 victory ; these, in reality, imparting to Quebec the chief 
 interest which is attached to it in England. 
 
 Let us, in reference to this great event, throw our 
 minds back to the summer of 1759. England, at war 
 with France, has already captured Louisburg in Cape 
 Breton, and desires to complete her acquisitions by 
 seizing on the whole of Canada; for which purpose 
 several expeditions are despatched to open the attack in 
 
 F 
 
82 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 different quarters; the principal movements, however, 
 being the approach of Lord Amherst by way of Albany 
 and Ticonderoga, and that of Major-General James 
 Wolfe, a young and promising soldier, by the St Law 
 rence. In the month of June, a fleet bears Wolfe and 
 a small but select army up this great river, and after 
 a tedious voyage, it comes in sight of Quebec and 
 its exterior defences, held by Montcalm and an army 
 of 13,000 men. Landing, and forming an encamp 
 ment on the Isle of Orleans, Wolfe has presented to 
 him an imposing spectacle. Opposite, on the north 
 shore, from the fortress of Quebec to the falls of the 
 Montmorenci, along a sloping ground several miles in 
 length, he sees a series of intrenchments bristling with 
 cannon; below the fortress on the east, there is the 
 river St Charles, a seemingly weak point in the line, 
 but its bridge is strongly guarded, and the only place 
 for an attack is apparently at the Montmorenci. So, at 
 least, thought Wolfe ; not correctly, for he spent nearly 
 three months in various deadly but bootless encounters 
 at this selected spot. It was only after these tedious 
 discomfitures, and much mental and bodily suffering, 
 that he resolved on the stratagem of sailing up the 
 river, as if going on a distant expedition ; at the same 
 time leaving a party to make a feint of again attacking 
 the Montmorenci outposts. This famous movement 
 up the river took place on a starlight night in autumn. 
 Early next morning the memorable 13th of September 
 1759 an hour before dawn, the vessels drop down with 
 the tide, bring to at a point previously fixed on, now 
 celebrated as Wolfe s Cove; and there the landing is 
 silently effected. The different regiments make their 
 way by a rude path up the steep bank ; at the summit, 
 they seize upon a redoubt and the few French soldiers 
 who have it in charge, and are shortly drawn up in 
 order on the plains of Abraham. Wolfe leads them 
 
QUEBEC. 83 
 
 forward to a place within three-quarters of a mile of 
 the fortifications, and there, a few hours afterwards, the 
 great struggle ensues which settles the fate of Canada. 
 
 The reader may now accompany me to this remark 
 able field of battle. Driving past the citadel, through 
 a gateway, and along a good road environed with several 
 detached villas, we arrived at the open and bare plain 
 which overhangs the St Lawrence, now partly enclosed, 
 and used as a race-course. The ground is not quite 
 even ; it has a slight hollow at the place where we leave 
 the public road, and turn in upon it to our left. Here 
 Wolfe was leading the fight when he received the 
 mortal shot. This sad event did not occur till about 
 noon ; for Montcalm was unprepared for any attack in 
 this quarter, and it was not till eleven o clock that he 
 left his intrenchments and brought his forces to the 
 high ground occupied by the English army. It was a 
 brilliant victory, but clouded by the death of Wolfe ; 
 while the French, on their part, mourned the fall of the 
 brave Montcalm. Could the scene of this memorable 
 engagement be visited without emotion ? Some slight 
 changes have taken place, as I have said, on the field 
 of battle; but, on the whole, it remains pretty much 
 what it was a century ago a piece of bare and open 
 pasture-land adjoining the public thoroughfare, which 
 runs westward from the town. In the hollow to which 
 I have referred, a monumental column of moderate 
 height, surmounted by a bronze helmet and sword, 
 has been erected, and surrounded by a railing. On 
 the base is the simple inscription : Here died Wolfe, 
 Victorious/ On a public promenade, at the gardens 
 attached to the castle, an obelisk was, with good taste, 
 erected to the joint memory of Wolfe and Montcalm 
 by Lord Dalhousie, governor-general, in 1827. 
 
 A rock, to the foot of which Wolfe was carried when 
 he fell, and where he expired, has been removed ; but 
 
84 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 within an enclosure lower down, the well is pointed 
 out from which water was brought to him in his last 
 moments. West s celebrated picture of the death of 
 Wolfe, in which the expiring hero is seen reclining on 
 the ground amidst a group of officers and attendants, 
 is generally considered a faithful representation of the 
 scene. Quitting this deeply interesting spot, and 
 crossing the field diagonally towards the St Lawrence, 
 the visitor reaches the enclosures of Marchmont, 
 immediately above Wolfe s Cove. Here, on looking 
 over the bank, we can appreciate the natural difficulties 
 of the pathway by which the English force ascended 
 from the landing-place on the shore beneath. How 
 far Wolfe was justified in the expectation of finding 
 only an insignificant force at this assailable point, or 
 whether he was assured that, after reaching the open 
 plain, Montcalm, in his excess of gallantry, would have 
 the imprudence to leave his intrenchments arid fortifi 
 cations to meet him are questions which military 
 men have freely discussed. Probably Wolfe reckoned 
 on circumstances of which we have now no precise 
 knowledge; and surely his success in accomplishing a 
 difficult and hazardous enterprise is the best proof 
 of the correctness of his anticipations. Viewing his 
 victory as an event which, two years afterwards, led 
 to the surrender of Montreal and the relinquishment 
 of Canada to the British monarchy, what a lasting and 
 important influence it may be said to have had on the 
 cause of social progress ! 
 
 The castle or citadel of Quebec, to which I was 
 admitted by a permit from the proper authority, con- 
 sists of an open rocky height, thirty to forty acres in 
 extent, with barracks and storehouses, and surrounded 
 by fortifications of great strength, which are extended 
 with various deflexions round the upper part of the 
 town. Guns are pointed from embrasures in different 
 
QUEBEC. 85 
 
 directions ; the principal battery, composed of a num 
 ber of thirty-two pounders, being on the highest cliff, 
 which commands the St Lawrence and the suburb at 
 the harbour. From this situation, elevated 250 feet, a 
 fine view of the river is obtained, with its rafts and 
 shipping, the green isle of Orleans, and Point Levi on 
 the southern shore. At the time of my visit, a fleet 
 of vessels from the Clyde lay at anchor, waiting to be 
 loaded with timber. The fortress of Quebec, it is well 
 known, is the strongest military post of Great Britain 
 on the American continent, and is guarded with an 
 etiquette worthy of Gibraltar. English soldiers were 
 pacing to and fro on the lofty bastions, on which the 
 air was thin and cold even on a sunny day in October. 
 What must be the sensations of the unfortunate 
 sentinels, I thought, in winter, when the thermometer 
 ranges to 30 degrees below zero, and tends to turn 
 all nature into an icicle ! 
 
 Proceeding westward by the highway across the 
 plains of Abraham, and passing some fine mansions, 
 enclosed in pleasure-grounds among others, Spencer- 
 Wood, the residence of the governor-general visitors 
 will, at the distance of about two miles from Quebec, 
 and near the St Lawrence, reach a recently laid out 
 cemetery, environed with trees, and preserved in the 
 finest order by a resident keeper. To this mournful 
 enclosure I went to see the place of interment of John 
 Wilson, the estimable and much-lamented Scottish 
 vocalist, who died suddenly of cholera at Quebec in 
 1849. He was buried at the corner of a gravel-walk, 
 near the centre of the ground, and I was gratified to 
 observe that, by the kind contributions of his coun 
 trymen in Canada, a tall and handsome monument 
 has been erected over his grave. The sun shone 
 sweetly on the spot, decorated with taste, and secluded 
 amidst sheltering woods; and though lying far from 
 
86 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 home, I thought my poor friend could not have reposed 
 ,in a scene more congenial with the simple lyrics which 
 he so happily illustrated and made so widely known by 
 his powers of melody. 
 
 At the entrance to the cemetery, Mr Miller, the 
 superintendent, obligingly pointed out a vault covered 
 with turf and fitted up with stone shelving, which is 
 used as a temporary receptacle for those who die 
 during winter, and cannot be properly interred until 
 frost and snow have disappeared. The necessity for 
 some such depository of the coffined dead helps to give 
 one a notion of the inclemency of a Canadian winter. 
 But this is revealed in other ways. So deeply does the 
 frost penetrate into the ground, that any line of curb 
 stone, or stone basis for a railing, which is not founded 
 on masonry at least three feet deep, will be dislodged 
 by the frost, and lean over to one side at the first thaw. 
 In many parts of Lower Canada and New Brunswick, 
 snow lies on the ground about five months in the year, 
 and for some part of the season the cold is more intense 
 than we can form any adequate idea of in England. 
 I was informed that at Fredericton, the capital of New 
 Brunswick, so keen is the frost during some nights in 
 winter) that sentinels on duty require to be changed 
 eveiy ten minutes. That there should be English 
 soldiers at all in this place, as well as at Quebec and 
 some other stations, seems to be an unaccountable piece 
 of folly; more particularly as desertions to the States 
 are almost of daily occurrence. In some cases, I was 
 assured, not only individual sentinels, but pickets of 
 a dozen men fully accoutred make off from their 
 posts, and find their way through woods and wilds 
 till they cross the frontier, when they are safe from 
 pursuit. Only on rare occasions are these runaways 
 captured before reaching the States. In the course of 
 one of my excursions in Nova Scotia, I passed on the 
 
QUEBEC. 87 
 
 road a party of six deserters who had been so recovered ; 
 they were walking handcuffed in pairs, in charge of a 
 sergeant s guard. A state of things that admits of so 
 much demoralisation is, I think, of very questionable 
 policy. 
 
 Low as is the temperature in Lower Canada during 
 winter, the climate is far from being unhealthy; and 
 although the snow lies long on the ground, little actual 
 loss is sustained by the agriculturist; for when mild 
 weather arrives, nature acts with a vigour which may 
 be said to compensate for the brevity of summer ; and 
 after all, there are perhaps more really fine days during 
 the year than in England. Wherever I went I saw a 
 healthy and robust appearance in the people, with much 
 vivacity of manner. The French Canadians are known 
 to marry young; and it is established as a fact, that 
 life is better among them than it is in England. While 
 the increase by births is 1 in 33 in England, it is 1 in 
 21 in Lower Canada ; and while the deaths are 1 in 45 
 in England, they are 1 in 53 in the whole of Lower 
 Canada. The simplicity of the mode of living among 
 the rural population, doubtless contributes to this 
 remarkable aspect of affairs; for in the district of 
 Quebec, taken alone, the ratio of deaths is greater than 
 it is in England. Facts of this kind go far to assure 
 us, that Lower Canada, with all its frost and snow and 
 its summer heats, is by no means unadapted for com 
 fortable existence. It is only matter for regret that 
 some of its institutions are of a nature so unsuited to 
 modern notions, that the country, as formerly hinted 
 at, is not likely at present to receive any large accession 
 of agricultural settlers from Great Britain. 
 
 On leaving the cemetery, we made a circuit through 
 some remarkably well-managed farms, and then pro 
 ceeded by a by-road down the north side of the ridge of 
 which Quebec occupies the eastern extremity. Here we 
 
88 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 arrive in an inferior suburb of wooden houses, wharfs, 
 and ship-building yards, on the banks of the St Charles. 
 Crossing this river by a bridge, and getting upon a good 
 macadamised road, we were now on the way to the 
 river Montmorenci, a tributary of the St Lawrence, and 
 which, with its rapids and falls, forms the great wonder 
 of this part of Canada. The country passed through is 
 enclosed and cultivated; and the houses of the small 
 farmers thickly stud the sides of the highway. About 
 midway, on our right, overlooking the St Lawrence, 
 stands the old village of Beauport, reminding us of the 
 operations of Montcalm, of which it was the centre. 
 Most of the cottages we pass are of a poor appearance, 
 with doors reached by steps, so that they may be level 
 with the surface when the snow covers the ground in 
 winter. On the side of the road has been erected a 
 handsome pillar, surmounted by a conspicuous gilt 
 cross ; it is enclosed with a neat railing, and provided 
 with steps in front to accommodate kneeling devotees. 
 I learned that this object is commemorative of the 
 temperance movement, and here, as at a shrine, 
 reclaimed tipplers may piously renew their vows of 
 abstinence. 
 
 At the distance of about seven miles from Quebec, 
 we approach the Montmorenci; and clambering over 
 palings on our left, getting across some mossy ground, 
 and descending a rough woody bank, we see the turbu 
 lent river forcing its way through a bed composed of 
 layers of limestone, the broken yet regular appearance 
 of which resembles a series of natural steps. The scene 
 is wild and picturesque. In front and in the distance, 
 the river, which is seemingly about the size of the 
 Tweed, is seen dashing and foaming over rocks, and 
 burying itself in great gulfs, while above is a precipice 
 overhung with shrubs, and bearing the marks of attri 
 tion thousands of years old. There being no proper 
 
QUEBEC. 89 
 
 path down the high banks, we return to the road, and 
 crossing by a bridge, gain the left side of the river. 
 Here, on walking a short distance, we have on our right 
 the celebrated fall of Montmorenci a very fine thing 
 indeed, of its kind; for the whole river is sent at a 
 shoot over a precipice 250 feet high, and dissolves into 
 white foam and spray before it reaches the bottom. 
 After the fall, it goes placidly on its way between high 
 banks to the St Lawrence, which it meets at a right 
 angle a few hundred yards distant. A small portion of 
 the water, before arriving at the brink of the precipice, 
 is led off on the right bank to turn some large saw-mills. 
 From the promontory near the fall, the spectator has a 
 view of Quebec, the Isle of Orleans, and the river for a 
 considerable stretch westward. 
 
 Before leaving Quebec, I made some inquiries re 
 specting the number of emigrants arriving annually, 
 and other circumstances connected with the progress 
 of affairs in this part of Canada. It is almost unne 
 cessary for me to say that, as a seat of the provincial 
 government, and a nourishing mart of commerce, Quebec 
 possesses the usual public institutions, literary and 
 otherwise, pertaining to its character. For some time, 
 its ship-building and timber trades have been conducted 
 on a large scale, and on its quays is seen all the bustle 
 of a busy seaport. As the first port at which vessels 
 touch on ascending the St Lawrence, the place pos 
 sesses a peculiar interest to emigrants; for here they 
 usually disembark and take steamers to their respective 
 points of destination ; and here a resident emigration- 
 agent, Mr Buchanan, is appointed to help them with 
 advice and facilitate their movements. At the office 
 of this useful functionary, near the quay, they will 
 at all times receive due attention, and probably see 
 advertisements for artisans and labourers of different- 
 classes. 
 
90 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 Emigrants who desire to push on westwards, have 
 an opportunity of doing so every day by a steamer 
 from Quebec to Montreal; then they can go on board 
 another steamer, which will take them by canal and 
 river to Kingston, at the foot of Lake Ontario. Should 
 they wish to go on, a fresh steamer will carry them to 
 Toronto, or to Hamilton, which is situated at the head 
 of the lake. There they have now the Great Western 
 Railway, which proceeds right through the fertile penin 
 sula of Canada West to Detroit, affording numerous 
 opportunities of stopping by the way. Soon, a great 
 improvement on these facilities will be effected. The 
 Grand Trunk-railway of Canada, one of the most 
 stupendous undertakings of modern times, involving 
 an outlay of 9,500,000 sterling, and extending its rami 
 fications over nearly 1200 miles, has already, by a union 
 with the Atlantic and St Lawrence Railway, opened 
 the communication between Portland and Longueil. 
 In 1854, a branch will be extended to Quebec, by 
 which emigrants will be taken thence to Longueil in a 
 few hours. The erection of a bridge two miles in length 
 across the St Lawrence from Longueil to Montreal ; the 
 construction at Montreal of a vast railway-depot like 
 that of Crewe ; and the carrying of the line westward 
 to Kingston, Toronto, and ultimately to Sarnia, at the 
 foot of Lake Huron, are among the great works just 
 commencing, and for which thousands of hands are 
 required. 
 
 When this magnificent railway system is completed, 
 as it is expected to be, five years hence, persons arriv 
 ing at Quebec will be able to pursue their way unin 
 terruptedly to almost any quarter in the western 
 country; and when I add that ocean steamers, larger 
 and more powerful than those now on the station, are 
 preparing for the trade between Liverpool and the St 
 Lawrence during summer, and between Liverpool and 
 
QUEBEC. 91 
 
 Portland when the river is frozen in winter, it will 
 be seen what an immense effort is being made to open 
 channels of communication through the province. The 
 Grand Trunk is an English concern, aided by guarantees 
 and bonds of the Canadian government, and having an 
 office of management in Montreal. There, for a time, 
 is located the company s secretary, the indefatigable 
 Sir Cusack P. Honey, well known for his skill in 
 developing railway traffic and uniting the commercial 
 interests of countries far separated from each other. I 
 have no doubt that by his adroit arrangements, travel 
 lers and emigrants will soon get tickets at the principal 
 railway stations in England to take them to the 
 remotest part of Canada, if not to St Louis on the 
 Mississippi and other centres of intercourse in the 
 great West. 
 
 Even on the present footing of communication by 
 river and lake steamers, there is little to complain of. 
 The vessel in which I returned to Montreal was of large 
 size, and being constructed and managed on the plan of 
 the American river-boats, may admit of a short descrip 
 tion. It might be described as a structure three stories 
 in height. Level with the quay from which we step on 
 board, we enter by a gap into the after-part of the 
 middle story. Towards the bows, a similar gap admits 
 the steerage passengers, and here .also the freight is 
 taken on board. It will thus be understood that the 
 vessel has two doorways in the side one before and 
 another behind the paddles. The middle floor of the 
 vessel, so entered from the various landing-places, is 
 sectioned off in three departments. In front, is a part 
 devoted to emigrants or second-class passengers; the 
 centre is for the freight; and the latter part, at the 
 stern, is partitioned off and elegantly furnished as a 
 cabin for ladies. By wandering among boxes and bales 
 of goods, and opening doors, we can go from one end 
 
92 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 of the floor to the other. A small part in front of the 
 ladies cabin is kept clear of freight ; and it is into this 
 open space that we pass on getting on board by the 
 after-entrance. Immediately on entering, we find on 
 the left hand a small office with a window at which 
 tickets are sold, as at an English railway-station; and 
 where, till the office is opened, there is a crowd 
 anxiously waiting to have the first chance for state 
 rooms. The dispenser of these tickets is the purser; 
 the stewards having nothing to do with the money- 
 department. So much for the middle floor of the 
 steamer ; the only thing not mentioned being a small 
 open-air platform adjoining the paddle-box on each 
 side, accessible to the passengers, and a favourite lounge 
 for cigar-smokers. 
 
 At one corner of the partition which cuts off the 
 ladies cabin, we ascend by a stair to the upper story. 
 This consists entirely of the saloon, an apartment at 
 least a hundred and fifty feet long, splendidly furnished 
 and decorated ; lighted from the roof, and having state 
 rooms along the sides, each provided with two beds and 
 toilet articles everything rigorously clean and com 
 modious. A person accustomed to the river vessels of 
 England, would be startled with the first view of this 
 magnificent apartment. Persian carpets, elegant arm 
 chairs and sofas, a central marble table on which 
 reposes a handsomely bound Bible, cut-glass chandeliers, 
 mirrors and vases of flowers, door-handles of gilt por 
 celain or ivory, are among the things which meet the 
 eye. The saloon is not of equal breadth throughout. 
 About half-way down, it is interrupted by an enclosure 
 for the engines, and by a passage at each side we reach 
 the portion of the saloon beyond. This division, which 
 is towards the stern, has no beds. It is wider than the 
 other part, and is provided with side and end windows, 
 whence a view of the river is obtained. In the centre 
 
QUEBEC. 93 
 
 of it is a stove, where the single gentlemen chiefly 
 congregate ; a small outer poop at the extremity, being 
 only used in fine weather. The most curious thing 
 about the after portion of the saloon is a barber s shop, 
 lighted from above, and adjoining the enclosure for the 
 engines. Here, on looking through a curtained glass- 
 door, we observe a toilet-table, laid out with all proper 
 apparatus for shaving and hair-dressing; a luxurious 
 chair, with a high rest for the feet; and, seated in a 
 corner, is seen a negro operator, spelling over a news 
 paper, and patiently waiting for custom. No American 
 steamer of a high class is unprovided with an estab 
 lishment of this kind for the accommodation of the 
 passengers, who, it may be said, would no more think 
 of doing without a barber than without a cook. 
 
 It will be noticed from these arrangements, that the 
 whole vessel, from end to end and side to side, with the 
 exception of a small place at the stern and at the 
 paddle-boxes, is covered in. There is no deck, no roof 
 to which you are admitted. On the top, nothing is 
 visible but the chimney, the beam of the engine, and 
 the wheel-house for the steersman. The saloon is the 
 universal lounge. There most people while away the 
 time, till summoned to their meals. No eating or 
 drinking is carried on in the saloon. It is a drawing, 
 not a dining room. Meals are taken in the lowest 
 story of the vessel, the access to which is by a stair 
 descending from the middle floor, near the doorway to 
 the ladies cabin. On gaining this profundity, which is 
 necessarily lighted with candles, we find it to be a 
 spacious apartment, with two long tables, two rows of 
 open beds, one above another, along the sides, and at 
 the further extremity, a bar for the sale of liquors, and 
 a recess for washing. The kitchen is somewhere in this 
 quarter, but not visible to the passengers. 
 
 Two hours after coming on board the vessel, of which 
 
94 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 I have here presented a picture in outline,, the steward s 
 bell sounded for tea, or supper as it is called in America, 
 and down went a crowd from the saloon towards the 
 eating-apartment, which, however, none was allowed to 
 enter till the ladies had come from their cabin, and 
 taken their seats. As usual, there was a profusion of 
 edibles; and here, again, I looked unsuccessfully for 
 specimens of fast eating, which, for the amusement 
 of the thing, I should have been glad to see. The 
 company was miscellaneous. Some were speaking in 
 French, and some in English; but the bulk partook of 
 their tea in silence, and dropped off one by one up 
 stairs to the saloon. Wandering over the vessel some 
 time afterwards, I thought of looking in upon the 
 department on the middle floor appropriated to the 
 humbler class of emigrants. An unpleasant spectacle 
 presented itself : Men, women, children, bedding, boxes, 
 and tin kettles, all jumbled together ; a bar about the 
 size of a sentry-box for the sale of drams; and as a 
 natural result of this last-mentioned particular, a fight 
 among several men, and all sorts of disagreeable noises. 
 I was fain to retreat from the apartment, pitying the 
 unfortunate beings who were condemned to pass a 
 night within its fetid precincts. The sale of liquors in 
 these situations is surely highly objectionable, and the 
 attention of the provincial legislature cannot be too 
 soon called to the subject. 
 
 In those parts of the vessel occupied by the first-class 
 passengers, everything went on with the decorum of a 
 drawing-room, and strangely in contrast to the scene I 
 had been witnessing. At ten o clock, the saloon was 
 nearly deserted ; those who had been so fortunate as to 
 secure state-rooms had turned in ; and those who had 
 not, went off to the beds in the eating-apartment. 
 Here I had made sure of a berth, by putting my plaid 
 in possession as soon as I came on board. I could not 
 
QUEBEC. 95 
 
 but admire the method for secluding these exposed beds. 
 A brass framework over the top is drawn forward, and 
 the curtains attached to it being closed, the beds, and 
 also two chairs in front, are completely screened from 
 observation, I have somewhere seen the sleeping and 
 toilet accommodation of American river-boats held up 
 to ridicule ; but my experience in this and other vessels 
 has left nothing to be said in such a spirit. On the 
 present occasion, my bed was at least equal in com- 
 modiousness to that which I had been favoured with 
 in the Cunard steamer. It will also be satisfactory to 
 know, that in the morning there was no want of reason 
 ably good basins and clean towels ; and that every man 
 was turned out with boots which would have done no 
 discredit to Day and Martin. With these comforts 
 laying the luxuries of private state-rooms out of the 
 question and a substantial breakfast which made its 
 appearance in due course, what more could any one 
 desire ? 
 
 Retarded for several hours by fogs, we did not arrive 
 at Montreal till noon, and I immediately prepared for 
 my journey to Toronto. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 ONTARIO NIAGARA. 
 
 FINALLY quitting Montreal by the short railway to La 
 Chine, and then proceeding by a steamer which for 
 four-and-twenty hours went up portions of river and 
 canal alternately, I was enabled with the greatest ease, 
 as in a floating-hotel, to reach Kingston at the foot of 
 Lake Ontario. The favourite method with tourists is 
 to come down, not go up, the river at this place, 
 because in descending, the steamer shoots the various 
 rapids, and the excitement of these exploits adds to the 
 zest of the excursion. My arrangements not admitting 
 of this pleasure, I had to make the best of my lot, in 
 proceeding by canal, wherever the rapidity of the 
 stream did not allow the vessel to make the ascent 
 of the St Lawrence. Yet, I had no cause to repine at 
 this privation. The steamer lost little time in the 
 locks, and by the speed slackening somewhat in the 
 canals, I had an opportunity of appreciating the excel 
 lence of the several works of art by the aid of which 
 the vessel was able to pursue its way. It left the river 
 five or six times, and went through as many canals, 
 the spaciousness and general management of which 
 reminded me of the Caledonian Canal, the greatest 
 work of the kind in Britain. Vast as has been the out 
 lay on this extensive system of canalage, in order to 
 avoid the rapids of the St Lawrence, it cannot be con 
 sidered a useless expenditure of public money ; for the 
 
ONTARIO NIAGARA. 97 
 
 facility so afforded to internal navigation, is of the 
 greatest importance to all parts of the country on 
 the lakes. 
 
 Formerly in two provinces,, the division of which was 
 the Ottawa,, Canada is now politically one,, though a 
 long period must elapse before social distinctions dis 
 appear. As we advance upwards by the St Lawrence, 
 the characteristics of the old French settlements give 
 place to new features; and after passing through a 
 transition district, apparently not well settled, we 
 emerge on quite a new field of human industry, where 
 all is life and vigour we have arrived in the great 
 inner world bordering on the lakes, with the ever-active 
 United States on our left, and their more youthful 
 competitor, Upper or Western Canada, on our right. 
 It was pleasant on a fine day in the Indian summer, to 
 watch from the small poop of the steamer the gradual 
 development of a region differing in some respects from 
 that which I had passed through. As the settlements 
 thickened, towns made their appearance. The first of 
 any importance within the state of New York was 
 Ogdensburg, a thriving port for river and lake vessels, 
 and connected by railway with other cities. On the 
 opposite, or Canadian side, we touched at Prescott and 
 Brockville, both prosperous in their appearance, with 
 a well-cleared country behind, and pretty lying farms 
 in their vicinity, coming down to the edge of the river. 
 
 We may be said now to enter that beautiful and 
 spacious part of the St Lawrence known as the Lake of 
 the Thousand Islands. The river is expanded to a width 
 of from two to three miles, and so dotted over with 
 islands, as to have apparently neither ingress nor egress. 
 The islands are of all imaginable sizes and forms, from 
 a single rock to several acres in extent. All are richly 
 clothed with wood and shrubs, the variegated foliage of 
 which contrasts finely with the smooth blue surface of 
 
98 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 the water. The sail for fifty miles amidst these irre 
 gularly formed islands,, situated at lesser or greater 
 distances from each other, and many of them little 
 paradises of beauty and fertility, is exceedingly charm 
 ing, and to visit this part of the St Lawrence is the 
 object of numerous summer-excursions from the United 
 States. At certain points, light -houses are placed 
 among the islands, to shew the proper track for naviga 
 tion ; and we can suppose that without these guides the 
 vessels might chance to lose themselves in a labyrinth 
 of land and water. 
 
 The islands continue until we reach Lake Ontario. 
 One of the largest of the series is Wolfe Island, twenty 
 miles long and seven miles across, lying in the greatly 
 expanded river as it issues from the lake ; and here, on 
 rounding a rocky and fortified promontory on the 
 Canadian side, the vessel reaches its destination at 
 Kingston. I should have been glad to have spent 
 some days here, but the time at my disposal being 
 limited, I could only make a selection of places to 
 be deliberately visited. During the half-hour which 
 intervened before starting, I walked through the streets, 
 which contained some large buildings of blue limestone; 
 the whole well laid out on a rising-ground, with a line 
 of wharfs for shipping. A government dockyard and 
 military establishment give an air of importance to the 
 place ; and from the excellence of its harbour at the foot 
 of the lake-navigation, it is likely to become the centre 
 of considerable traffic. 
 
 Having so far gratified my curiosity, I went on board 
 the large and commodious steamer, Maple Leaf, bound 
 for Toronto, situated at the distance of 175 miles 
 westward. In a short time after departure, the vessel 
 emancipated itself from the islands; and some miles 
 further on, we had before us the broad expanse of 
 Lake Ontario, the voyage on which cannot be said to 
 
ONTARIO NIAGARA. 99 
 
 differ much from that on the wide ocean. Keeping the 
 Canadian shore in view, we have before us, and on 
 our left, a waste of waters; the waves, agitated by a 
 breeze, surge angrily against the bows and paddle- 
 boxes; and the more delicate passengers retire quietly 
 to their berths, to meditate on the pleasures of life 
 at sea. And a sea we are really upon, as regards 
 dimensions and some of the casualties connected with 
 navigation. The lake, formed by the waters which 
 flow from Lake Erie by the Niagara River, is 180 
 miles long by 60 at its greatest breadth ; consequently, 
 those who live on its banks see no land on looking 
 across it. The surface of the lake, in its ordinary 
 conditions, is only 234 feet above the Atlantic, from 
 which it is distant about 700 miles; as the tide, how 
 ever, influences the river considerably above Quebec, 
 the chief rise is from near Montreal, where the rapids 
 are first seen on coming upwards. Lake Ontario, pos 
 sesses the good property of being very deep. Its depth 
 is said to be in many places upwards of 600 feet ; on 
 which account its waters have a comparatively high 
 temperature, and do not freeze over in winter. No 
 doubt, the country in its vicinity participates in the 
 mildness of climate which such a temperature must 
 necessarily diffuse. Another advantage of its deepness, 
 is the small power possessed by the wind to rouse it 
 into storms, in comparison with the effects produced 
 on Lake Erie, which, being shallow, is easily lashed 
 into a fury, and more dangerous to navigators than any 
 of the lakes. I was repeatedly warned, that as the 
 season was considerably advanced, I should be careful 
 how I trusted myself in the vessels on Lake Erie ; but 
 I never heard a word said against the character of 
 either Ontario or its shipping, though terrible disasters 
 have occasionally occurred upon it. 
 
 The series of lakes, altogether, form a remarkable 
 
100 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 feature of the American continent. Setting aside 
 various offshoots, there is nothing to equal the chain 
 of inland seas formed by Lakes Superior, Michigan, 
 Huron, St Clair, Erie, and Ontario, the short rivers 
 wliich connect them being assisted by side-canals, 
 where this is found necessary for navigation. The 
 entire surface of the lakes is estimated at 93,000 square 
 miles ; they are understood to drain an area of 400,000 
 miles ; and it is said that their contents amount to one- 
 half of all the fresh water on the globe. The number 
 of rivers, large and small, which fall into them, may 
 be supposed to be very considerable. A remarkable 
 feature of these vast sheets of water, is their variation of 
 level, which is not clearly accounted for by a reference 
 to wet and dry seasons. Some years they are known 
 to rise several feet, and then after a time to decline. 
 Their shores seem likewise to shift; at certain places 
 the water appears to be washing away the banks, 
 leaving an abrupt precipice of mud, on wliich trees 
 are growing to the very brink; and at other places 
 there is an inclined beach of sand and pebbles, where 
 the waves come rippling forward and break in a mass 
 of foam, as on the sea-shore. The land which borders 
 the lakes being for the most part level, or having only 
 a gentle rise, the shores cannot be described as pic 
 turesque. In sailing on the lakes, with the land in 
 view, we generally see little else than a fringe of 
 trees. There is a remarkable exception to this on 
 some parts of Lake Ontario, where a bold background 
 shews itself; and I am informed that on some parts 
 of Lake Superior, the shores are precipitous, and as 
 grand as the imagination can desire. A very slight 
 examination of the borders of Lake Ontario, shews 
 that in its present dimensions it is merely the residuum 
 of a lake very much larger, which, in far-gone ages, had 
 covered a large part of Canada and the opposite coast. 
 
ONTARIO NIAGARA. 101 
 
 But speculations of this kind belong properly to the 
 geologist, and are alluded to here only as preliminary 
 to what has to be mentioned respecting the Falls of 
 Niagara, to which we are hastening. 
 
 Looking at Ontario in the form into which it has 
 settled down, and will remain through an indefinite 
 futurity considering its accessibility from the ocean, 
 its adaptation in every respect to the purposes of the 
 navigator, its genial temperature, its abundance of fish, 
 and the almost matchless fertility of the lands which 
 border its shores, I am necessarily impressed with the 
 conviction that it is destined to be a Mediterranean, 
 around which a great people are to cluster and flourish. 
 Nor did a nearer acquaintance with the western part of 
 the state of New York on the one side, or the eastern 
 section of Canada West on the other, lessen this impres 
 sion. About the centre, on the state of New York side, 
 the river Genesee falls into the lake ; and here the city 
 of Rochester is the port for perhaps the finest agricul 
 tural valley in the United States. Lower down, on the 
 same side of the lake, is Oswego, a port on a river of 
 the same name, and also the outlet of a rich country 
 behind. Both places are connected by railways with 
 the eastern cities, and therefore can be easily reached 
 by land. While these and some other towns are daily 
 increasing in importance on the American side of the 
 lake, signals of rapid progress are also visible on the 
 Canadian shore. A general notion has somehow pre 
 vailed, that the advance of improvement is comparatively 
 slow in Canada ; but from the facts to be brought for 
 ward, I am inclined to think that such an opinion is, 
 now at least, fallacious. In sailing along the northern 
 shore of Ontario, we observe in the neighbourhood of 
 Cobourg and Port-Hope, a country well cleared and 
 cultivated, with every indication of an old-settled and 
 thriving population. Things improve as we go forward, 
 
102 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 and when we come in sight of Toronto, spread out on a 
 very gradual slope rising from the bottom of a wide 
 bay,, with its manufactories,, church - spires, massive 
 public buildings, and long terrace-like quay the whole 
 lying with a sunny exposure to the south, sheltered by 
 a ridge of low hills on the north, and, enriched by a 
 fertile country around we exclaim, Here is doubtless to 
 be a great city, here the metropolis of Canada. 
 
 Struck with the imposing appearance of Toronto as 
 seen from the lake in front, it was not without regret 
 I considered it advisable to postpone my visit to it 
 for a few days, and in order to see Niagara, push on by 
 another vessel about to sail for Lewiston. Walking, 
 therefore, from the one steamer to the other, I went on 
 board the Peerless, a vessel of great beauty, commanded 
 and partly owned by Captain Dick, a Scotchman, and 
 bred seaman, who informed me that it was constructed 
 under his own directions in the Clyde, and had been 
 brought out in pieces and put together on the lake. 
 The Peerless is built in the English form, with the 
 saloon and chief weight below, in order to encounter 
 without danger the gales and heavy seas on the lake. 
 This handsome vessel leaves Toronto every morning 
 for Lewiston, and returns the same day with persons 
 who arrive by the trains. As the run is only thirty- 
 six miles across the upper and narrow part of the 
 lake to Lewiston, whence parties can reach the Falls of 
 Niagara in an hour, it may be supposed that the trip 
 is one of the cheap and popular holiday amusements of 
 the inhabitants of Toronto. 
 
 Proceeding directly across Ontario, the Peerless soon 
 came in sight of land at the mouth of the river Niagara, 
 and drew up to the wharf at the town of that name on 
 the right, where several passengers landed, and some 
 others were taken on board. On the opposite side of 
 the river stands Fort Niagara, one of the few defences 
 
ONTARIO NIAGARA. 103 
 
 which the Americans seem to consider it desirable to 
 maintain on their frontier. The river Niagara at its 
 outlet is seemingly a mile in width,, but finally it narrows 
 to about the third of a mile. Where it issues into the 
 lake, the land is level ; but in advancing upward, the 
 ground begins to rise till we arrive at Lewiston on the 
 left, and Queenstown on the right bank; and here, at 
 the distance of seven miles from Ontario, the margin of 
 the river on each side becomes a complete precipice, 
 150 to 200 feet high. Steaming up the river, we see at 
 a distance before us a lofty piece of country stretching 
 to the right and left, through the middle of which the 
 river has sawn its way ; and it is at the face of this 
 range that the precipitous banks commence. On the 
 American bank, the slope of the high ground stretching 
 away from the river is of a regular form, well wooded ; 
 and it is upon the plateau of level land extended east 
 wards from the bottom of the slope, and abutting on 
 the river, that the town of Lewiston has been built. 
 The situation is not well adapted for river-traffic. Its 
 site on the plateau is considerably above the level of the 
 water, and there is no space at the landing-place for 
 shipping. I saw no vessel of any kind at its slip of 
 wharf, where the Peerless drew up, and put ashore a 
 crowd of passengers designed for a very inferior kind 
 of railway, which is connected with a line of a better 
 construction at the village adjoining the Falls. As the 
 Peerless crossed immediately to Queenstown, I preferred 
 adopting the route by that village, as the Falls are best 
 seen from the Canadian side, and I desired to make sure 
 of receiving good impressions at first. Having accord 
 ingly crossed over, I found, on touching the shore, two 
 covered droskies, driven by negro lads, waiting for 
 custom ; and having selected one of these conveyances 
 a very miserable affair I was driven by a bad road 
 up a long and steep bank towards the celebrated 
 
104 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 Queenstown heights. These consist of irregular knolls, 
 partly covered with wood, with a few houses, scarcely 
 deserving the name of village, scattered about their 
 lower declivities. From a pathway on the shrubby 
 bank overhanging the river, a handsome suspension- 
 bridge, 1040 feet in length, has been thrown across to 
 the opposite side for the accommodation of foot- 
 passengers. Queenstown heights were the scene of a 
 battle during the war of 1812, and in a conspicuous 
 situation a monument is about to be erected to the 
 memory of General Brock, the British commander, who 
 was slain in the engagement. This new structure is to 
 supply the place of a former monument, which had been 
 blown up and destroyed by some party unknown, in a 
 spirit of wanton mischief. 
 
 The Queenstown heights, however irregular in form, 
 correspond with the high sloping range on the opposite 
 bank of the river, and both elevations are continued 
 like a crescent, so as to form a kind of exterior high 
 rim round the head of Lake Ontario. On the Canada 
 side, the rim, locally called the Mountain, is seen to 
 continue far northwards, with a bend towards the east, 
 so as to environ the lake at a lesser or greater distance. 
 At the base of this lofty and ancient margin of Ontario, 
 near the head of the lake, has been built the city of 
 Hamilton, from which the range widens in its stretch, 
 and in the direction of Toronto leaves a tract twenty 
 miles in breadth between it and the shore. Reaching 
 at any point the top of this singular embankment, we 
 find ourselves on a table-land apparently boundless in 
 dimensions. We have, in fact, ascended to the broad 
 and generally level territory surrounding Lake Erie, 
 which, by measurement, is 334 feet above Lake Ontario. 
 From the one lake to the other, therefore, a descent of 
 tl at amount is effected by the river Niagara in its 
 course of thirty-three miles, a distinct plunge of about 
 
ONTARIO NIAGARA. 105 
 
 160 feet being made at the Falls, which are situated at 
 the distance of six miles above the old lake margin at 
 Queenstown, and fourteen miles from the present mouth 
 of the river at Ontario. Geologists generally concur in 
 the belief, that the Falls were at one time at Queens- 
 town, from which, in the course of ages, they have 
 ploughed their way upward. The slightest inspection 
 of the ground leads infallibly to this conclusion. For 
 six miles the river runs through a ravine, the sides of 
 which, composed of mouldering rocks and studded over 
 with shrubs, are as steep as those of a grave. Through 
 this long gorge, silent and awful, rolls the deep flood, 
 lightish green in its colour, and carrying masses of 
 froth on its whirling and boiling surface. Compressed 
 into so narrow a channel, the river is from 200 to 300 
 feet in depth. At one place, narrower than elsewhere, 
 and bending in its course, the force of the current raises 
 a cone of water ten feet high, which, whirling round, 
 draws trees and any other floating objects into its vortex. 
 A gentleman whom I met on my journey, informed me 
 that at the time of his visit to the whirlpool, the bodies 
 of two English deserters, who had been drowned in 
 attempting to swim across the river, were spinning 
 round the cone of water, and had been so for three 
 weeks previously ! 
 
 The picturesque in landscape, as is well known, 
 depends on geological conditions. Wherever certain 
 varieties of limestone and sandstone prevail, there 
 rivers are observed to excavate for themselves a deep 
 channel, so as to leave banks of lesser or greater 
 abruptness. Hence, the whole phenomena of the 
 Niagara river and its falls. On examining the face of 
 the sloping range above referred to, it is found to con 
 sist chiefly of layers of limestone, shivery clay marls, and 
 red sandstones the latter being known as the Medina 
 Sandstone. I do not need to go into any account of 
 
100 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 the limestones, further than to say that they easily 
 break and moulder away, until secured by a coating 
 of bushes or vegetation. As regards the reddish 
 Medina Sandstone, it is the washed away particles of 
 this friable rock that compose to a large extent the 
 red-coloured and productive soils which border on the 
 Canadian and American shores of Ontario. The slop 
 ing mountain-range, whence these soils have descended, 
 is not everywhere entire. Here and there, rivulets 
 have worn it down into valleys, in one of which lies 
 the thriving village of Dundas, a few miles north from 
 Hamilton. Speculations have been hazarded on the 
 length of time which the Falls of Niagara have taken 
 to retire over six miles from the face of the mountain- 
 range at Lewiston; but long as this period has been, 
 how insignificant in comparison with that vast interval 
 which has lapsed since the rocky structures of Canada 
 were in the form of liquescent sediment at the bottom 
 of a sea, and incased in their bosom those fishes which 
 are now disclosed by the rude blows of the quarryman, 
 and prized as scientific curiosities by the fossil-loving 
 geologist ! 
 
 To overcome the great difference of level between 
 Ontario and Erie for purposes of navigation, has been 
 a matter of serious concern. The work has been 
 happily effected within the Canadian territory, by the 
 establishment of the Welland Canal, which, beginning 
 at Port-Dalhousie, on Lake Ontario, rises by a series 
 of locks to Port-Colborne, on Lake Erie. This great 
 public work has been eminently successful. Vessels 
 pour through the canal in the upward and downward 
 passage, in an unceasing stream, yielding tolls amount 
 ing to 50,000 per annum. So much of the traffic 
 is in American vessels, that the United States govern 
 ment contemplates the execution of a similar canal, to 
 commence below Lewiston. The traffic is growing so 
 
ONTARIO NIAGARA. 107 
 
 rapidly, that it may be presumed there is enough for 
 both. 
 
 To resume the account of my excursion. On 
 quitting sight of the river and opposite banks, the 
 drosky conveyed me by a rough public highway, 
 through a pleasing piece of country, so well cleared, 
 enclosed, and ornamented with rows and clumps of trees, 
 and so agreeably enlivened with neat mansions, and with 
 cattle of good breeds browsing in green fields, that 
 one could hardly believe that he was out of England. 
 Turning down a cross-road to the left, we came, at the 
 distance of half a mile, to the river ; and there, in a 
 moment, seen most unpoetically through the dimmed 
 and distorting glass of the drosky, I had my first view 
 of Niagara. Such is the way that common-place circum 
 stances are for ever controlling aspirations after romance, 
 and bringing the ideal down to a working world ! Set 
 down at the door of the Clifton House on the one hand 
 were the Falls, which I had often wondered whether I 
 should ever see, and on the other were the negro drosky- 
 driver receiving his fare, and a porter carrying my 
 baggage up the steps of the hotel. Clifton House to 
 get it out of the way is one of those enormously 
 large hotels, with hundreds of bedrooms and a vast 
 table-d hote saloon, which are seen everywhere in the 
 States, and now begin to be naturalised in Canada. The 
 establishment is the property of a Mr Zimmermann, 
 whose residence and pleasure-grounds are adjacent. 
 The hotel faces the west, has a roadway on the south 
 between it and the ravine through which the river is 
 rolling, and this road continues westward for half a 
 mile to the Falls. The prospect from the door of the 
 hotel, looking along the road, and interrupted by no 
 intervening object, commands, therefore, a view of the 
 cataract in all its grandeur, along with the scenery with 
 which it is environed. 
 
108 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 At the period of my visit, the season for tourists had 
 passed,, the Clifton was on the eve of being shut up, and 
 with hosts of strangers the army of parasitic guides had 
 fortunately disappeared. With the singular good-luck of 
 having nobody to worry me with undesired explanations, 
 I went forth to have a quiet and deliberate inspection 
 of the Falls. The weather,, a little chilly, was still 
 remarkably fine, and there was nothing to disturb the 
 perfect placidity of the scene. A dull thundering 
 sound from the falling waters alone came on the ear, 
 without ceasing or change a monotonous murmur 
 which had lasted for thousands of years, and will endure 
 for thousands more. 
 
 Everybody knows that there are two falls the 
 British, or Horseshoe, and the American the division 
 being formed by Goat Island, a well-wooded piece of 
 land, which terminates in a precipice between them. 
 On account of a turn made by the river at the spot, the 
 American fall descends at such an angle as almost to 
 face the spectator on the opposite bank ; and it is this 
 circumstance which renders the view from the Cana 
 dian side so peculiarly advantageous. Walking along 
 the pathway from the hotel, with only a fringe of 
 bushes on the brink of the ravine on our left, we are 
 abla to approach to the British fall, and stand on the 
 bare table-like ledge from which it is precipitated. 
 Compelled to advance to the Falls in this manner, on 
 a level with their summit, and necessarily requiring 
 to look down instead of upward, the phenomenon loses 
 much in magnificence. Other features and circum 
 stances serve to lessen the wonder, if not to raise a 
 feeling of disappointment. As is usual, I experienced 
 this sentiment, which, I think, may be mainly traced to 
 the ranting and exaggerated descriptions which have 
 deceived the imagination and led to undue expectations. 
 It is only by a patient study of the Falls in the form 
 
ONTARIO NIAGARA. 109 
 
 and dimensions presented to us by nature,, that we clear 
 the mind of erroneous conceptions, and see and relish 
 them in their simple dignity and beauty. 
 
 Seated on a bare piece of rock close to the falling 
 mass, I was able to contemplate the scene with perhaps 
 as much advantage as could possibly be enjoyed. The 
 rapids above, with the water wildly advancing on its 
 rocky bed, the toppling over of the great mass twenty 
 feet deep on coming to the brink of the chasm, the 
 white spray rising like a cloud from the gulf below, the 
 terribly jumbled river proceeding on its course, and 
 receiving the American fall as it passed all contributed 
 to make up the general picture. On looking up the 
 river, the land is seen to rise only a few feet above the 
 banks, and to be for the most part under wood, with 
 two or three villas on prominent knolls in the distance. 
 From the brink of the cliff s on the British side, masses 
 of rock have from time to time fallen, so as to form 
 a rugged margin for the water; and near the Clifton 
 House, amidst this collection of debris, a roadway has 
 been made down the bank to afford access to a ferry 
 boat which plies across the river. The view from the 
 boat, as it dances on the surface of the troubled water, 
 is more effective in overpowering the imagination than 
 that from the banks above ; and still more grand is the 
 view from the deck of a small steamer, which plies 
 during summer, and courageously approaches almost to 
 the foot of the Falls. 
 
 Opinions differ respecting points so deceptive to the 
 eye as the height, breadth, and other dimensions of 
 these mighty cataracts. Accurate measurements, how 
 ever, have been taken, so as to leave no longer room 
 for conjecture. The height of the British fall is 158 
 feet, and its width, following the horseshoe-like curve, 
 is 1881 feet. The American fall is a little higher, being 
 164 feet, and its width is 924 feet ; but in this is included 
 
110 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 a lesser cataract, and the rocky islet which separates it 
 from the larger body. Adding a breadth of 1320 feet 
 for the termination of Goat Island, which intervenes, we 
 have altogether, from one extremity of the Falls to the 
 other, a width of 4125 feet, or four-fifths of a mile. 
 As the width of the river at the ferry is no more than 
 1254 feet, an idea from this circumstance will be obtained 
 of the manner in which the Falls are placed diagonally 
 to the line of the river. The mass of water projected 
 over the Falls is estimated at nineteen and a half 
 millions of cubic feet per minute. 
 
 About a mile eastward from the Clifton House, and 
 therefore about a mile and a half below the Falls, the 
 river is spanned by a suspension-bridge, the view from 
 which, down to the water below, is probably the most 
 sublime of all. Driving round by this bridge, to the 
 American side, I arrived in the village of Manchester (!) 
 near the Falls, and there remained a day. The branch 
 of the river above the fall on this side is crossed to 
 Goat Island by a long wooden bridge, which has been 
 erected on posts driven into the rocky channel; a toll 
 of twenty-five cents being paid by visitors for liberty to 
 cross during the season. Goat Island extends half a 
 mile in length, by nearly a quarter of a mile in its 
 greatest breadth, and is thickly covered with natural 
 woods, amidst which a drive may be pleasantly made 
 round it. It was interesting to walk to the upper 
 extremity of the island, and there observe the river 
 parting into two branches, each rushing forward in an 
 impetuous rapid towards its fate. The channel of the 
 rapid forming the American fall is broken by several 
 islets, connected by bridges, and from these we are able 
 to overlook it so near to the shoot, that one of the islets, 
 as already stated, breaks the descending mass, and 
 causes a small and separate fall. By a long wooden 
 stair the visitor arrives at the bottom of the precipice 
 
ONTARIO NIAGARA. Ill 
 
 which terminates Goat Island, and here, using a narrow 
 footpath, he can reach either fall, and to a certain 
 length go behind the descending waters. A more 
 pleasing prospect is obtained from the top of a tower 
 erected on a rock in the water on the brink of the 
 British fall, and connected by a platform with Goat 
 Island. Here we may be said to procure a central 
 bird s-eye view of the tumult of waters ; and it was 
 from this elevated spot, and by the light of the setting 
 sun, that I had my last look of Niagara. 
 
 In thinking of this marvellous work of nature, it is 
 unfortunate that the mind is disturbed by mean asso 
 ciations connected with the works of man. On the British 
 side, it is environed by a series of paltry curiosity-shops ; 
 and there, at the ledge on which I had seated myself, a 
 labourer was busied in wheeling rubbish into the cataract. 
 On the American side, runs of water have been led off 
 to move the machinery of a saw and paper mill ; and at 
 present there is a proposition before the world to turn the 
 whole force of the river to profitable account in some 
 kind of mechanical processes ! Why, of all conceivable 
 names, Manchester should have been selected for the 
 village, or infant city, now in the course of erection 
 near the American fall, it would be difficult to under 
 stand on any other principle than that of imparting a 
 manufacturing character to the spot. 
 
 Manchester, if it must be so called, consists of several 
 streets in skeleton, with a large railway-station in the 
 centre, and a number of hotels stuck about for the 
 accommodation of visitors. In order to trace the banks 
 of the river deliberately, I hired a caleche to Lewiston, 
 and loitered at different points by the way. At the 
 suspension-bridge, which I had previously crossed, a 
 scene of extraordinary activity presented itself. Extensive 
 preparations were making to carry the railway, which is 
 in connection with New York, across the Niagara river 
 
112 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 to Canada, where it will join the Great Western, now 
 opened through the province. For this purpose, the old 
 suspension-bridge at the spot is to be superseded by a 
 new structure, on the same suspension principle, but 
 much bolder in design. It will have a span of 800 feet, 
 and consist of two floors ; the upper to carry the trains, 
 and the lower for ordinary carriages and foot-passengers. 
 The engineer of the undertaking is John A. Roebling, 
 and the cost is estimated to be 50,000 dollars, which, 
 I should fear, will fall considerably short of the actual 
 outlay. 
 
 I arrived in Lewiston in time for the departure of 
 the Peerless, by which I had a pleasant run back to 
 Toronto. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 TORONTO CAN AD A- WE ST. 
 
 THE agreeable impressions I had formed from a glimpse 
 of Toronto from the water were deepened by a residence 
 of a week, during which I made some pleasant excur 
 sions in the neighbourhood. No situation could have 
 been better selected for a great city. The ground, form 
 ing a broad plain, rises with an easy slope and southern 
 exposure from the shore of Ontario, and is backed by a 
 series of terrace-like ranges, the ancient beaches of the 
 lake, now composing a fertile and well-cultured stretch 
 of country. 
 
 For some time styled York, or Little York, this city 
 reverted a few years ago to the Indian name which it 
 bore when consisting of only a few wigwams. It has in 
 the space of sixty years, offered one of those remarkable 
 instances of progression so common in North America. 
 From no more than 336 in 1801, its inhabitants have 
 increased to 40,000, and it is estimated that the addi 
 tions now fall little short of 10,000 every year. In 
 visiting Toronto, we see on all sides indications of 
 progress houses building, streets extending, ground 
 staked off for new thoroughfares, places of business 
 opening, large and handsome public edifices rising up, 
 and every social feature acquiring fresh development. 
 Nowhere in America do we see churches of more elegant 
 architecture. The streets, laid out in lines at right 
 angles to each other, are long and spacious; King 
 
114 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 Street, which forms the chief central thoroughfare, being 
 two miles in length, and environed with as magnificent 
 shops as can be seen in any large town in England. I 
 had the honour of conversing with one of the most 
 aged and esteemed residents, who described the city as 
 having within his recollection consisted of only a few 
 cottages in the wilderness and now, said he, the value 
 of its assessed property is 4,000,000 ! 
 
 The bay in front of Toronto is sheltered in a remark 
 able manner by a long and narrow peninsula, encom 
 passing it on the eastern side, and round which vessels 
 require to make a wide sweep in approaching the 
 harbour. With a few trees and houses dotted along, 
 and terminating in a light-house, the peninsula adds a 
 picturesque feature to an expanse of water, of which 
 from the shore we see no boundary except on the 
 western horizon. Along the shore there is a series of 
 wharfs for the shipping of the port, the whole over 
 looked by a street containing some of the largest 
 buildings in the town. At a conspicuous part of this 
 thoroughfare is the newly erected depot of a railway 
 connected with the country in the west, and by which 
 the trade of the place will be considerably augmented. 
 Already, at the time of my visit, a line of railway was 
 opened in a northerly direction from Toronto, for a 
 distance of nearly forty miles to the neighbourhood 
 of Lake Simcoe. Further extensions of this line were 
 projected, with a view to opening up a ready communi 
 cation with Lake Huron; so that ultimately parties 
 travelling to that far-distant lake, instead of pursuing a 
 circuitous passage by Lake Erie and the river St Clair, 
 will be able to make a short-cut across the country 
 from Toronto. When the Grand Trunk Railway of 
 Canada, now in course of execution from Montreal, 
 contributes another terminus to the general centre of 
 traffic in Toronto, it may be expected that the trade of 
 
TORONTO CANADA-WEST. 115 
 
 the place will receive a fresh and important impulse. 
 In anticipation of these accessions, all kinds of property 
 in the city and neighbourhood had greatly risen in 
 value ; and the rents of houses and stores were as high 
 as they are in some of the best streets in London. 
 With every new and successful settler, new demands 
 originate ; and to satisfy these, new manufactories of 
 various kinds spring into existence. In this manner, 
 Toronto experiences a rapid growth of those industries 
 which minister to human wants and aspirations. People 
 in the old country never thoroughly divest themselves 
 of the notion, that in such a newly got-up community 
 as that of Toronto, things are in a raw or elementary 
 condition. What, then, will be thought of the fact, 
 that in this very recently established city there is a 
 manufactory of cabinet and other varieties of furniture, 
 turning out articles which, in point of elegance, will 
 match any of the products of France or England ? I 
 allude to the factory of Jacques and Hay, which I had 
 much pleasure in visiting. It consists of two large 
 brick buildings, commodiously situated on the quay, 
 and in its various branches gives employment to 
 upwards of a hundred persons. Conducted from floor 
 to floor by one of the partners, I here for the first time 
 saw in operation the remarkably ingenious machinery 
 for planing, turning, morticing, and effecting other 
 purposes in carpentry, for which the United States have 
 gained such deserved celebrity, and which I subse 
 quently saw on a vast scale at Cincinnati. Besides the 
 finer class of drawing-room furniture, made from black 
 walnut-wood, an inferior kind is here made for the 
 use of emigrants at a price so low, that importation of 
 the article is entirely superseded. So perfect is the 
 machinery, that from the rough timber a neat bedstead 
 can be made and put together in the short space of two 
 minutes ! 
 
116 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 Depending partly on exterior trade and internal 
 manufactures, Toronto possesses not less importance 
 from qualities of a higher character. It is the chief 
 seat of education in the province. Besides a university 
 and college the latter being a preparatory school it 
 has several theological and other seminaries, among 
 which Trinity College occupies a distinguished position. 
 The buildings appropriated to these several institutions 
 are in the best styles, and form ornamental features 
 in the general aspect of the town. In the midst of 
 a beautiful park on the west, large and handsome 
 buildings are in course of erection to accommodate the 
 provincial legislature and governor-general. No public 
 edifice afforded me more interest than that recently 
 erected in the northern environs for the Normal and 
 Model Schools establishment. This is a large building 
 in the Italian style, and with its various departments, 
 forms the centre of a system of elementary instruction 
 pervading the whole of Canada. From the Rev. Dr 
 Ryerson, head of the establishment, I received every 
 suitable explanation of the character and working of 
 the system ; respecting which it is only needful to 
 mention the gratifying fact, that Canada- West now 
 possesses upwards of 3000 common schools, supported 
 at an expense of about J100,000, four-fifths of which 
 sum are raised by local assessment, on a scale of great 
 liberality. I believe I may safely aver, that under the 
 system of education now established, and going on, as 
 the Americans would say, in full blast/ schools are 
 erected and supported with a degree of enthusiasm in 
 Western Canada, which is not excelled in any part of 
 the States. 
 
 It will readily be supposed, that by means of its 
 educational and scientific institutes, its law-courts, and 
 other public establishments, Toronto draws together 
 the elements of a highly respectable and refined 
 
TORONTO CANADA-WEST. 117 
 
 community. So much is this the case, that, excepting 
 the long-established cities of Boston and Philadelphia, 
 it would be difficult to point out any place in North 
 America possessing so many attractions to persons of 
 taste and leisure. As in the larger American cities, 
 there may be here observed extensive and nourishing 
 book-stores true indications of the higher tendencies ; 
 and newspapers are to all appearance as cheap and 
 numerous as they are in any city of similar size in 
 the States. 
 
 With a wide and improving country in its environs, 
 Toronto is a point whence emigrants may advanta 
 geously diverge in quest of settlements that have been 
 wholly or partially cleared, respecting which all proper 
 information is obtainable at the offices of land-agents. 
 It must not, however, be imagined that farms are to be 
 had in this quarter at the prices for which they can be 
 acquired in further remote and newly opened districts. 
 Near Toronto, things are pretty much what they are 
 in the old country. At the distance of six miles from 
 town, I visited a gentleman who had lately bought a 
 farm of 100 acres, cleared, fenced, and in good culti 
 vation, with an excellent dwelling-house and suite of 
 farm-buildings, for 2000 a great bargain, doubtless, 
 considering the locality. Those desirous of starting in 
 a more moderate way as agriculturists, will, of course, 
 proceed westwards, and it will be singular if they do 
 not light upon spots suitable to their wishes, whatever 
 these may be. 
 
 One of my aims being to see something of settlements 
 recently excavated from the wilderness, I planned a 
 journey with a friend through the peninsula of Canada, 
 taking the more interesting localities by the way. For 
 this purpose, I proceeded in the first place by steamer 
 to Hamilton, situated on Burlington Bay, a spacious 
 inlet at the head of Lake Ontario. Although a city of 
 
118 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 very recent origin, Hamilton already has a population 
 of nearly 20,000, and consists of a number of broad 
 and handsome streets, with several public buildings 
 and a variety of villas scattered about the face of the 
 mountain-range, which shelters the town on the west. 
 Within the distance of a mile on the north, and overlook 
 ing the head of the bay, stands Dundurn, a castellated 
 and baronial-looking mansion, built as a residence by 
 Sir Allan M Nab, one of the celebrities of the province. 
 Beyond this point I drove out several miles to visit the 
 Hon. Adam Ferguson, a gentleman of landed property 
 in Scotland, who emigrated to Canada with his family 
 in 1833. Mr Ferguson settled at first in a district 
 further west, on the Grand River, which is now in an 
 exceedingly thriving condition. Removing afterwards 
 to East Flamborough, a township lying on the slopes 
 which, with a southerly aspect, face Burlington Bay, 
 he has here, in his property of Woodhill, transformed 
 a wild and timber-covered tract of land into a beautiful 
 cleared estate. 
 
 Rounding the head of the bay, and then proceeding 
 in an easterly direction along a tolerably good road, I 
 had occasion to pass a farm in the process of being 
 cleared. Numbers of trees were felled and lying about 
 confusedly on the ground. A man and boy were busily 
 cutting off branches, and piling them in heaps to be 
 burnt, while masses lay smouldering and sending up 
 streams of blue smoke, which curled away picturesquely 
 over the uncleared part of the forest. Passing onwards, 
 between some well-cleared properties, my vehicle at 
 length turned up a road to the left, of a considerably 
 more rude description. Houses were seemingly left 
 behind. On each side nothing was to be seen but trees. 
 At length we came to openings in the woods ; pasture- 
 lands made their appearance ; and there, on a charming 
 spot on the ascending braes, backed by the mountain- 
 
TORONTO CANADA-WEST. 119 
 
 cliffs, was seen the neat residence of the venerable 
 agriculturist. It need hardly be said that Mr Ferguson 
 politely explained the nature of his past operations, 
 and shewed me some of the more important features 
 of his property and management. He owns here 300 
 acres, 160 of which are in crop ; the whole being dis 
 posed in regularly shaped fields of about 20 acres in 
 each. Except a small patch of cleared land, the whole, 
 when purchased, was under timber. Only so much wood 
 now remains as serves for ornament and use, and all 
 that testifies to the original condition of the farm are 
 the tree-stumps which are not gone from some of the 
 fields. Standing in the veranda of Woodhill, and over 
 looking a garden, orchard, green lawns, and arable 
 enclosures, with the shelter of environing trees, and 
 the blue expanse of Ontario shining in the distance, I 
 thought there could be nothing finer in the Carse of 
 Gowrie; nor did an idea fail to cross my mind, that 
 the acquisition and improvement of such an enjoyable 
 estate at a moderate outlay, in this part of the world, 
 was surely preferable to the costly and unremunerative 
 purchases of land, with all its tormenting obligations, 
 in the old country. Here was a nice little estate, fertile 
 in soil, genial in aspect, with no burdens or respon 
 sibilities worth mentioning, situated within an hour s 
 drive of society as good as may be procured in most 
 parts of England or Scotland, and yet the whole extem 
 porised for comparatively a trifle ! A lovely spot for a 
 rural residence has been selected. The house occupies 
 a nattish plateau, which had formed the margin of 
 Ontario, when its waters were bounded by the cliffy 
 range to which I formerly called attention. Part of 
 Mr Ferguson s property lies on the high table-land 
 above the cliffs, and to this he obligingly conducted 
 me here descanting on his operations concerning his 
 improved breeds of cattle, and there pointing out a 
 
120 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 field of remarkable turnips, which had very much 
 surprised the neighbourhood. In these explorations, it 
 was necessary to clamber over sundry rail-fences, the 
 peculiar merits of which were now practically explained 
 to me. Kails piled horizontally in a zigzag form are, 
 as is well known, the universal fence in. America ; and 
 of all imaginable methods of enclosing a field, none, 
 it seems, is so simple, cheap, and ready, where wood 
 happens to be abundant. By splitting a small-sized 
 tree lengthwise, two or three rails are obtained. 
 Taking a quantity of such rough spars, twelve feet 
 long, they are laid diagonally, and crossed alternately 
 on others at the ends, so as to have a mutual hold. 
 When piled three feet high, two tall props are crossed 
 through them, at the points of junction, and then a few 
 more rails are added, making a fence about four feet in 
 height. No tools and no nails are employed in the 
 construction. When completed, much space is lost to 
 the field by the breadth of the zigzags, but land is so 
 cheap that this is not of much consequence. A fence 
 of this picturesque appearance will endure ten years, 
 and cost little at any time to repair. I was told, that 
 it is considered an essential point in farming, to have 
 as much growing timber as will supply rails and fire 
 wood; and, consequently, to buy land in America 
 altogether free from trees would be considered an 
 injudicious speculation. 
 
 In the course of our ramble, Mr Ferguson spoke 
 with confidence on the subject of emigration, and 
 pointed out the many ways in which men in humble 
 circumstances would be sure to improve their condition 
 and prospects by transferring themselves to this new 
 country. He mentioned the case of one of his plough 
 men, who, by the savings of a few years, had at length 
 purchased a farm of 100 acres, from which, among 
 other products, he would in the current year realise 
 
TORONTO CANADA-W} 121 
 
 150 for firewood. Now, this man, who was in the 
 way of attaining an independent, and was already in a 
 comfortable position, would, if he had remained in 
 Scotland, have been still drudging as a species of serf 
 at a mean wage, living in a cottage scarcely fit for a 
 human habitation, and with no prospect in his old age 
 but to depend on the charity of his children or the 
 alms of the parish ! "When one hears of and sees such 
 marked changes of condition, by removal to Canada, 
 or the Western States of America, the wonder, as I 
 observed to Mr Ferguson, is that any rural labourers 
 at all remain in Great Britain ; and he agreed with me, 
 that nothing but want of information and deficiency of 
 means, could account for their not fleeing to a country 
 where their circumstances would be so speedily and 
 permanently improved. 
 
 Another short excursion I made from Hamilton was 
 to Dundas, a village a few miles distant, and situated 
 in a hollow on a short canal which communicates with 
 Burlington Bay. This is one of the busiest little towns 
 in Canada ; and the inspiring genius of the place was 
 seemingly Mr J. B. Ewart, with whom I had crossed 
 the Atlantic, and who had invited me to see his 
 various establishments, consisting of grist-mills, an 
 iron-foundry, and some farms devoted to the breeding 
 and improvement of stock. The mills were at the time 
 grinding wheat on a large scale, and by improvements 
 in mechanism, the flour was cooled, barrelled, and 
 branded with surprising rapidity. In the iron-founding 
 tablishments, steam-engines and other kinds of 
 machinery were in the course of manufacture; and I 
 was told that mill-work for grinding flour could not 
 be made fast enough for the demand. Mr Ewart 
 referred with satisfaction to the steadiness and respect 
 able habits of the workmen, who receive from a third 
 to a fourth higher wages than are usually paid in 
 
122 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 England. Many of them, he said, had saved a good 
 deal of money, and become the proprietors of neat 
 little houses, surrounded with gardens and pieces of land. 
 I regret to say that, since my return home, I have heard 
 of the death of Mr Ewart, by whose enterprise so 
 much good has been done in this busy locality. 
 
 At the period of my visit, the whole country was 
 agitated by the high price paid for flour, chiefly for 
 consumption in England; vast exports were taking 
 place; and so plentiful had money become, that the 
 farmers had everywhere paid off their mortgages, 
 and contemplated the extension of their properties. 
 Hamilton, as a place of import and export for the 
 western country, was participating in the general 
 prosperity, and in a state of excitement on account of 
 the opening of the first portion of the Great Western 
 Railway, which took place the day before my departure. 
 Since that time, the line has been completed to Windsor, 
 on the St Clair river, opposite Detroit ; so that travellers 
 may now, in the space of six hours, perform a journey 
 which, in a hired conveyance, occupied me nearly as 
 many days. 
 
 On the morning of my departure, while waiting at 
 the door of the hotel for the approach of the wagon a 
 species of two-horse chaise, open in front which was 
 to carry my friend and myself on our way westwards, 
 a stranger seemed to linger about as if desirous of 
 addressing me, but diffident as to how he should set 
 about it. The appearance of the wagon inspired him 
 with the necessary courage. With a kind of convulsive 
 effort, he said he had come a number of miles to try to 
 see and invite me to his house, and forthwith he related 
 his whole history, in, what was to me very pleasing, the 
 soft dialect of Teviotdale. He had come to the country 
 sixteen years ago, with his father and two brothers, 
 wi very li ttle in their pockets, and they had done real 
 
TORONTO CANADA-WEST. 123 
 
 weel lie wadna, at this day, tak seventeen hundred 
 pounds for what he was worth, and he had credit for 
 thousands ! Ah, sir/ he continued, this is a grand 
 country for folk that will work, and hae the sense to 
 ken how to manage. Now, you see, you must come 
 and see us the morn, when you gang through the town 
 ship of Dumfries, and I ll be watching for you wi the 
 wagon/ Many Scotch in your quarter ? I asked. 
 Hundreds ; at the kirk at Gait, on a Sabbath, you 
 would hardly ken you were frae hame ! 
 
 Promising that I should endeavour to see this new 
 acquaintance in the course of next day s journey, I set 
 off for Guelph, a town at the distance of thirty-five 
 miles north from Hamilton. After passing Dundas, 
 and ascending to the higher level of the country, 
 things gradually assumed a more primitive appearance. 
 Cleared lands in stump, with neat wooden houses and 
 barns, alternated with masses of forest, untouched by 
 the axe, and through which the road proceeded. Occa 
 sionally, we passed portions of land, on which the trees 
 were felled, and in process of being dragged together 
 in heaps to be burned. In one place, I observed a 
 whole family, husband, wife, and children, engaged in 
 the toilsome occupation of gathering the scattered 
 limbs and boughs; and their clearing of a few acres 
 was dotted over with piles of burning timber, which 
 sent up clouds of smoke into the atmosphere. It was 
 piteous to see so much valuable wood remorselessly 
 consumed; but with no economic means of transport, 
 the destruction is inevitable. In the less advanced 
 situations, the original log-huts had not yet given place 
 to dwellings of a better order; nor would they, with 
 prudent settlers, till their farms had been got into a 
 good state of culture, and a redundancy of cash was at 
 disposal. At intervals along the road, we passed com 
 fortable-looking country inns, with sign-boards swinging 
 
124 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 on tall poles in the genuine English style ; and at every 
 village there were seen the blacksmith and carpenter s 
 shops, at which agricultural implements, wagons, and 
 other articles were in course of construction. Wherever 
 there was a small river with a fall of water, a grist-mill 
 made its appearance, with the encouraging announce 
 ment painted in black letters on a white ground across 
 its front Cash for wheat; and as such concerns are 
 found all over the country, it may be said that no 
 farmer needs to travel far from his home in search of 
 a market. 
 
 In approaching Guelph, the aspect of affairs mended ; 
 and on a rising-ground on the small river Speed, a 
 tributary of Grand River, were observed a handsome 
 church, and a cluster of good houses, with stores and 
 hotels the rudiments, possibly, of a large city ; for the 
 place is to be a principal railway-station. Until 1827, 
 the site of Guelph was an uncleared forest, and during 
 the last seven years its population has increased from 
 700 to 1860. Having dined, and made some inquiries 
 at this thriving little town, we proceeded in a southerly 
 direction towards Gait, which we hoped to reach before 
 nightfall. But in this expectation we were doomed to 
 be disappointed. Pursuing our course along a soft 
 and ill-made road, bounded by the everlasting zigzag 
 fences, darkness dropped her mantle over the scene; 
 and being afraid of some unpleasant consequences, 
 threatened to the ear by the dash of water, it was not 
 without a feeling of thankfulness that we recognised 
 the cheerful light of a roadside-inn, where we received 
 shelter for the night. 
 
 This incident was not displeasing on other accounts. 
 I was afforded an opportunity of extending my know 
 ledge of houses of public entertainment in Canada. 
 On all the public roads, houses of this kind are con- 
 venientlv stationed at intervals of from six to ten 
 
TORONTO CANADA-WEST. 125 
 
 miles, and if not fine, they will, as far as my experience 
 goes, be found clean, respectable, and moderate as 
 respects charges. On the present occasion, for the 
 accommodation of a small sitting-room, warmed by a 
 stove, tea, and beds for two persons, the charge was 
 only four English shillings ; and when I liquidated the 
 demand by paying a small gold dollar, the simple and 
 good-natured girl, daughter of the landlord, who 
 attended, was so delighted with the beautiful coin, that 
 she declared she would retain it as a keepsake. 
 
 Next morning, the excursion was continued down 
 the valley of Grand River, the country becoming more 
 picturesque as we advanced. Passing through a district 
 settled by Germans, who, possessed of good houses, 
 cleared fields, and carrying on various trades, seemed 
 to be in a prosperous condition, we reached Doon 
 Mills, where the view was exceedingly charming, and 
 which, from the hospitality we received, will remain 
 pleasingly imprinted on my remembrance. The whole 
 of the country in this quarter, composing the township 
 of Dumfries, from the irregularity of surface and 
 natural fertility of the soil, is not only beautiful, but 
 very productive. By its communication with Lake 
 Erie, the Grand River offers an additional recommend 
 ation to this part of the country. Gait, prettily 
 situated on both sides of this river, is environed with 
 rising-grounds, on which handsome villas are erected; 
 and in looking about, we almost feel as if we were on 
 the banks of the Tweed. My friend of the day before 
 taking care to be on the outlook, obligingly conducted 
 me through the place, and furnished some useful 
 explanations, though I could not afford time to gratify 
 his desire by visiting his settlement at some miles 
 distance. Besides some large mills, Gait has an estab 
 lishment for the manufacture of edge-tools, which 
 possess a high reputation. I learned here what was 
 
126 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 afterwards confirmed in the States, that England cannot 
 produce axes adapted for cutting down trees, and had 
 therefore lost a considerable trade in the article; and 
 that the failure arose from no deficiency in the material 
 employed, but from the English manufacturer vexa- 
 tiously disregarding the exact model on which this 
 remarkable kind of axe requires to be made the 
 slightest alteration of curves rendering the implement 
 useless. Gait has increased from 1000 to 2248 inhabit 
 ants in five years, and like every town of its size, has 
 two newspapers many towns of similar dimensions in 
 Great Britain, a thousand years old, not being able to 
 support a single product of the press ; or more properly, 
 not being allowed to do so, in consequence of the 
 pressure of fiscal exactions. 
 
 The valley of Grand Biver continues rj^i and beauti 
 ful all the way to Lake Erie, and is one of the most 
 densely populated parts of Canada. Brantford, situated 
 sixty miles up the river from its mouth, is a town of 
 growing importance, and the country which stretches 
 in a westerly direction from it towards Paris is highly 
 esteemed for its fertility. In going from Gait to Paris, 
 we obtain a view of this remarkably fine district, con 
 sisting of green and rich meadow-lands, such as are 
 common in Essex. At Paris, a town situated in a 
 hollow at the confluence of two rivers, we come upon 
 a large work of art a viaduct bearing the railway 
 which is in course of construction from the Niagara 
 River, opposite Buffalo, by way of Brantford to Gode- 
 rich, on Lake Erie, by which a splendid region in the 
 north-west will soon be opened for traffic. Not to tire 
 by a tedious account of movements, we proceeded by 
 Woodstock O these odious imported designations ! 
 to London, on the Thames (!) a city on the Great 
 Western Railway, and the centre of a district not to be 
 surpassed for agricultural purposes. Situated within a 
 
TORONTO CANADA-WEST. 127 
 
 moderate distance of Port-Stanley, on Lake Erie, and 
 placed almost in the centre of the Canadian peninsula, 
 I have always regarded the vicinity of London as one 
 of the most advantageous districts for settlement. Yet, 
 in a country abounding in so many available localities, 
 it is hard to say how far one is better than another. 
 It is clear, from a very slight inspection, that in the 
 districts through which I had been travelling, there are 
 thousands of places still but partially cleared and 
 improved, which are destined to afford a home to a 
 large population; and the taking possession and 
 improvement of such places may be said to be going 
 on before our eyes. Penetrated now by two railways, 
 which will unquestionably form the main channels of 
 traffic between New York and Michigan, the peninsula 
 cannot fail to draw towards it a crowd of enterprising 
 settlers. The progress made, independently of such 
 attractions, has not many parallels. In thirty years, 
 the district around London has increased in population 
 550 per cent. London itself, begun only in 1827, now 
 numbers 20,000 inhabitants, 6000 of whom have been 
 added in three years. In this well-built and busy 
 town, there are seen numerous large manufacturing 
 and commercial establishments; trade is going ahead 
 at a great rate; villas are extending themselves in the 
 neighbourhood; and the farmers, rendered more than 
 ever alert by the increasing value of produce, are 
 pushing on their conquests at an accelerated speed 
 the whole locality exhibiting a kind of race of pros 
 perity, exceedingly diverting to an onlooker. A 
 person cannot help doing well here, if he has any sense 
 at all/ said an intelligent resident in speaking of the 
 place ; and I believe him ; at the same time admitting, 
 that it would be difficult to say where, in this great 
 country, a man of fair industry and steadiness could 
 not considerably better his circumstances. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 CANADA- WEST TO MICHIGAN. 
 
 SIX-AND-THIRTY YEARS ago, when machinery had dealt 
 a death-blow to the profession of the handloom-weaver, 
 one of the many victims of that disastrous improvement 
 was a sturdy little man, whom I remember to have 
 seen driving his shuttle in a humble workshop in a 
 small town on the banks of the Tweed. Instead of 
 repining,, or continuing the vain attempt to wring a 
 subsistence out of his exploded craft, this capital 
 specimen of an indomitable Scot sold his loom, paid his 
 debts, and with wife and children sailed for America. 
 Arriving in pretty nearly a penniless condition, he 
 made his way, as I had heard, to the London district 
 of Canada, where he settled and was still living. 
 
 While I remained in London, I made inquiries 
 respecting the present position of this exiled victim 
 of the power-loom, and was glad to learn that it was 
 highly respectable. Curious to see what actual pro 
 gress he had made, I paid a visit to his residence, 
 which was situated six or seven miles distant. Although 
 vastly improved in worldly circumstances, I found him 
 living in the same log-hut, which he had reared on his 
 arrival in the country, upwards of thirty years ago. 
 His settlement, which was situated down one of the 
 concession or cross roads leading from the main tho 
 roughfare, was bounded by rail-fences, in which a rude 
 gateway admitted me to an orchard fronting the house, 
 
CAN AD A- WEST TO MICHIGAN. 129 
 
 near which were barns, and other buildings, wholly of 
 wood. My appearance created quite a sensation in 
 the establishment, and there was a rush to the door to 
 receive and give me a hearty welcome. In a minute, 
 I was in the interior, seated before a huge fire of 
 blazing fagots on the hearth, over which hung several 
 pots sending a savoury steam up the capacious chimney. 
 The patriarch of the household, eighty years of age, 
 but as full of spirit as ever, sat in an arm-chair on one 
 side, while the mother of the family seated herself 
 opposite. A daughter acted as maiden-of-all-work, and 
 hung about listening to inquiries respecting the country 
 whence the family had emigrated long before she was 
 born. As if signalled by an electric-telegraph, several 
 tall and stout sons soon made their appearance, from 
 their respective dwellings in the neighbourhood. The 
 old man s story, which he dealt out along with jocular 
 reminiscences of f auld langsyne/ had in it nothing 
 singular, but was nevertheless valuable, as offering an 
 example of what any earnest-minded and self-denying 
 man may do in the western world. 
 
 When I came to this spot/ said he, there was not 
 a house for miles around London was not built. The 
 country was all forest. I helped to make the concession- 
 road which you came by, for which service government 
 gave me a grant of some land. It was dreadful hard 
 work at first, and as the children were young, I had to 
 do everything myself. Before I procured a horse, I 
 had to carry grain on my back for miles to be ground. 
 But having good health, I never complained. It won t 
 do to sit down and cry. Push ahead, and keep on 
 never minding, is here the great doctrine. As the 
 family grew up, I could take things a little easier, and 
 now can look about me at some improvements. I have 
 a capital farm of one hundred acres, cleared, and under 
 crop. It is intended for my youngest son, when I am 
 
 i 
 
130 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 gone. My three elder sons have each a good farm of 
 the same size. We are now a kind of clan, with plenty 
 of everything horses, cattle, sheep, pigs, and poultry/ 
 
 And no want of apples/ said I, glancing upward at 
 the numerous festoons of dried fruit which hung from 
 the ceiling. 
 
 O yes, that orchard at the door is of my own 
 planting, and it is very productive. No want of 
 puddings, I can tell you, for we also make our own 
 sugar ; and, in fact, we scarcely need to buy anything. 
 Very different from the days when I was on the loom, 
 and the goodwife had to contrive how to make both 
 ends meet/ 
 
 And had you remained in that situation/ I observed, 
 these sons of yours would probably have been day- 
 labourers at twelve shillings a week. That is the wage 
 now going in your old neighbourhood/ 
 
 You hear that, lads/ said the old man. You see 
 how thankful you should be for your mercies. It was 
 a blessed tiling I came away/ 
 
 I suppose your sons are doing very well with their 
 farms ; they are probably good ploughmen ? 
 
 f No doubt of it; and one of them, who has a turn 
 for mechanics, has made a machine for peeling apples/ 
 
 That must be curious ; I should like to see it/ 
 
 Immediately there was brought from a recess an 
 ingenious piece of mechanism, not unlike an old- 
 fashioned spinning-wheel. An apple having been stuck 
 on the point of a spindle, and a curved knife being 
 held to it, it was stripped of its skin by a few turns of 
 the wheel; and another machine, with equal speed, 
 took from it the core. I was much amused with these 
 devices for peeling fruit on a great scale, but afterwards 
 found that such apple-machines were common all over 
 the States. It was finally explained to me, that the 
 object of these operations was to prepare apples for 
 
CANADA- WEST TO MICHIGAN. 131 
 
 winter use. Being cut in pieces, strung together on 
 threads, and hung up in a warm kitchen, the apples will 
 keep sound all winter; and though a little shrivelled 
 and dried in appearance, they make as good puddings 
 as if they had been freshly peeled. So far as I am 
 aware, this method of preserving apples for culinary 
 purposes is not known or practised in England. 
 
 It must be owned, that the general aspect of affairs 
 in and about the emigrant s dwelling was not of that 
 refined character which one might reasonably have 
 looked for after so many years of laborious and success 
 ful industry. But if things were somewhat Robinson 
 Crusoeish, the circumstance is explained by original 
 habits, though chiefly by the spare capital having been 
 expended in extending the family possessions. In 
 short, it would have been easy for the aged proprietor 
 to have built a fine mansion for himself; but he pre 
 ferred, he said, seeing his family settled comfortably; 
 although he doubtless earned his principles in this 
 respect a little too far. 
 
 There was much lamentation at the shortness of my 
 stay ; and when I departed, the whole household stood 
 around the door to see me drive off, which it required 
 some dexterity to accomplish without doing damage to 
 several families of black pigs genuine Hampshire 
 brocks, as I took them to be which were strolling 
 about in the diligent pursuit of apples and other 
 windfalls. 
 
 I made some other visits in the neighbourhood of 
 London, and should have been glad to have made more, 
 had time permitted; but a sudden snap of extremely 
 cold weather and a slight fall of snow, admonished me 
 that it was time to hasten southwards. Accordingly, 
 I made up my mind to do so, on reaching Detroit in 
 Michigan, for which I now prepared to set out in a 
 conveyance similar to the one that had brought me 
 
132 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 to the place. My design was to proceed from London 
 to Chatham, a town on the lower part of the Thames, 
 whence there are steamers to Detroit ; but some infor 
 mation respecting the badness of the roads deterred me 
 from the attempt, and I ultimately adopted the route 
 to Sarnia, a small port on the St Clair river, near the 
 foot of Lake Huron. After all, I imagine I gained 
 nothing by this arrangement, so far as comfort in 
 travelling is concerned. The distance was sixty miles, 
 which were promised to be performed in twelve hours, 
 but were not, in reality, done in less than sixteen. 
 Already, I had obtained some knowledge of the 
 Canadian roads, and now completed this branch of my 
 education. In one or two places I have spoken of toll- 
 bars, and from this it may perhaps be supposed that 
 the roads are generally macadamised, and tolerably 
 good. They are so in the neighbourhood of large 
 towns, but as soon as tolls disappear, the traveller 
 begins to observe a strange falling off in the quality of 
 the thoroughfares. Any attempt at laying down broken 
 stones to form a hard basis seems not to be thought of; 
 the natural surface, be it sand or clay, is left to take 
 its chance; and vehicles go plunging along, as if 
 struggling across a rough and newly ploughed field. 
 After rains, the case is dismal : the wheels sink to 
 nearly the axles ; and in spite of inconceivable toil, the 
 poor horses are unable to make more than two to three 
 miles an hour. Where the ground is swampy, and 
 there would be a risk of sinking utterly out of sight, 
 trees are laid across the path; and over these corduroyed 
 parts of the road, the carriage goes securely, but 
 bumpingly, in a very unpleasant way. The best tho 
 roughfares of all are the jp/awAr-roads; which I had never 
 heard of till I reached Canada. These are stretches 
 of road covered with a flooring of thick deals laid on 
 joisting ; the deals being smooth, as from the saw, and 
 
CANADA-WEST TO MICHIGAN. 133 
 
 the whole laid so evenly, that carriages are drawn over 
 them in beautiful style. These plank-roads are usually 
 joint-stock undertakings, or belong to municipalities, 
 and are established by act of the provincial parliament, 
 with power to erect turnpike- gates and exact tolls. The 
 appearance of these toll-bars is hailed with inexpressible 
 delight by the traveller, for he knows that on reaching 
 them there is an end, for ten or twelve miles at least, 
 of the jolts and jumbles with which he has for some 
 time been afflicted. With such practical experience of 
 Canadian roads, one can easily understand the longing 
 for snow in winter, when the sleighs are driven along 
 with the velocity of the wind ; for then only is extended 
 intercourse conducted with anything like pleasure. 
 Railways, of course, will now change all this, and 
 render travelling as easy in Canada as it is in England ; 
 at the same time opening up and developing the 
 resources of the country to an extent that could not 
 otherwise have been anticipated. 
 
 With this short explanation, the reader will imagine 
 he sees a two-horse vehicle, open in front, in which are 
 seated two travellers wrapped in woollen plaids, their 
 knees shrouded in a thick buifalo-skin, and thick 
 shawls wrapped round their necks ; before them is the 
 driver, a young man in a roup;h jacket, with coarse 
 boots drawn with studied slovenliness over his trousers, 
 so that these voluminous garments stick out all round 
 in a singularly free-and-easy way. The air is cold; a 
 thin coating of snow has fallen, and partially conceals 
 the treacherous ruts; the sides of the roads are in 
 places fenced with zigzag rails; but in others there is 
 no fence at all, and the thoroughfare is bounded on 
 both sides for miles by thick tangled forests, composed 
 of beech, maple, oak, and other hardwood trees now 
 greatly stripped of their leaves, and amidst which the 
 pines and other evergreens tower in dark masses, 
 
134 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 affording an agreeable relief to the eye. Leaving the 
 town of London in early morning, the wagon thus goes 
 on its way: at first smartly and encouragingly; then more 
 moderately, with sundry admonitory jerks; and lastly, 
 it stumbles on in a very alarming manner, the horses 
 now getting into a trot, then lapsing to a walk, and 
 always meandering from side to side, to seek out good 
 bits wherever they can be found. Canadian horses, 
 however, have immense spirit; and as you may rest 
 assured they will get through some way or other, 
 there is nothing to fear. We had at anyrate a whole 
 day before us, and the novelty of the scene w r as so 
 exhilarating, that if no fresh fall of snow occurred, 
 there was little cause for disquietude. 
 
 During this protracted day s ride, I had an opportunity 
 of seeing a tract of country of comparatively recent 
 settlement. There were no towns and few villages on 
 the road. At intervals of one to two miles, in the 
 midst of clearings, we passed solitary houses, which, as 
 usual, were of wood, sometimes neatly constructed and 
 painted, and sometimes only log-huts, of recent erection. 
 Occasionally, there were inns, adjoining which might 
 be seen a blacksmith s and carpenter s shop. The 
 greater part of the land seemed to be of good quality, 
 and well adapted for cultivation. At one of the inns 
 where we stopped, we learned that much of the district 
 had been settled a number of years ago by half-pay 
 officers, who, after clearing portions of their properties, 
 and otherwise exhausting their means, got disheartened, 
 and left the place. Those who could not sell their 
 farms, let them to new and more hardy settlers, and 
 these continued in possession till they had realised 
 enough of money to become purchasers ; and as such 
 they were doing well so true is it, that none but those 
 who will work with their own hands, and for a time 
 dismiss all delicacy of living, can expect to thrive as 
 
CANADA-WEST TO MICHIGAN. 135 
 
 settlers in this new country. On the road we overtook 
 one of this toiling class, and gave him a ride for a few 
 miles. He told us he had been a rural labourer in the 
 
 south of England, on the property of Lord , 
 
 where his wages were 8s. per week. On coming to 
 Canada, he first hired himself to a farmer, and having 
 saved a little, rented one of the abandoned clearings, 
 which last year he had been able to buy, and now, 
 as he said, he was in comfortable circumstances. His 
 latest acquisition was a cow, which he highly appre 
 ciated, for the sake of milk for his family. I was 
 much pleased with the manly way in which this indus 
 trious person mentioned these particulars. In England, 
 he would probably have talked in an embarrassed, if 
 you please/ fashion. Transferred to a country where 
 he was called on to act an independent part, he spoke 
 without timidity, but also without rudeness; and if 
 not what is ordinarily called a gentleman, he at least 
 behaved like one. 
 
 Towards evening, the roads w r ere terrible. A thaw 
 having come on and softened the mud, the horses 
 slipped at every step, and at length one of them fell; 
 when again set on its legs, the poor creature was found 
 to have lost a shoe a misfortune that caused some 
 detention at the next blacksmith s forge, and left us 
 in the dark still fifteen miles from Sarnia. There was 
 only one spark of hope. At a certain distance, we had 
 the promise of coming to a plank-road. Yet the plank- 
 road seemed to recede as we advanced. Sometimes we 
 were told it was four miles off; then it would be as far 
 as five miles; and in despair of reaching it at all, we 
 had arranged to stop for the night at the first inn we 
 came to, when suddenly a joyful sound struck our ear : 
 the horses had got their feet on the planks. In a 
 minute, we were bowling along at the rate of ten miles 
 an hour, and reached our destination without any 
 
136 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 further misadventure. As we drove up to the door of 
 the hotel, a few twinkling stars afforded just sufficient 
 light to shew the broad surface of the river St Clair, 
 the western boundary of Canada. 
 
 Sarnia, as seen next morning, is a thriving little 
 town situated 011 the St Clair, about a mile below the 
 point where it issues from Lake Huron, and carrying 
 on some trade in shipping. The view across the 
 river, which is half a mile wide, shews us the coast 
 of Michigan, low and lined with trees, with a neat 
 white-painted town, having a steam-vessel moored at 
 its quay. In this steamer, which crossed to Sarnia 
 for passengers, we descended the St Clair, the voyage 
 occupying five hours to Detroit. In the course of the 
 trip, the vessel touched frequently at places on both 
 sides of the river. 
 
 The sail down the St Clair was very charming. On 
 the Canadian shore, there was pointed out a long series 
 of small clearings with cottages, forming a settlement 
 of Indians, protected by the British government ; and 
 Melville Island, in the lower part of the river, is de 
 voted exclusively to the same object. These Indians, 
 partially civilised, were spoken of as not making any 
 marked progress ; and a clergyman, who is charged 
 with their supervision and instruction, stated to me 
 that they were lessening in numbers, and w r ould ulti 
 mately be extinct as a race. I believe this opinion 
 corresponds with the general experience concerning the 
 Indian tribes, when brought within the operation of 
 ordinary social arrangements. 
 
 On the Michigan side, several pretty little towns 
 were touched at, which shewed marks of growing 
 traffic. Adjoining Lake St Clair, the banks on both 
 shores become exceedingly low, with long marshy spots, 
 on which nothing is seen but small hillocks of mud 
 and rushes, forming the dwellings of musk-rats. At 
 
CANADA-WEST TO MICHIGAN. 137 
 
 two o clock in the afternoon., the vessel came in sight 
 of Detroit, a large and handsomely built city, situated 
 on a gentle slope rising from the right bank of the 
 river ; and I stepped ashore in the United States. 
 
 In quitting the British possessions in America, a few 
 words may be permitted. Imperfect as had been my 
 means of observation, I think I am entitled to say, that 
 in almost all quarters there prevails a very decided 
 spirit of improvement a steady progress towards a 
 great and prosperous condition. The advance is very 
 remarkable in Western Canada, which cannot, in point 
 of general appearance, be distinguished from the neigh 
 bouring parts of the states of New York, Pennsylvania, 
 and Ohio ; and it is my belief, that, aided by the various 
 railways already opened or in course of construction, 
 this portion of British America will not be a whit 
 behind any of the northern parts of the Union. All 
 that seems desirable, for the purpose of consolidating 
 the character and interests of the various provinces, 
 is to unite them in a viceroyalty or principality, 
 with a federal system of customs, posts, and other 
 fiscal arrangements; so as to secure the nearest 
 possible approximation to political independence and 
 nationality. Meanwhile, through the efficacy of railway 
 extension, and the gradual melioration of prejudices, 
 a preparation may be said to be making towards a 
 result of this kind, which, with peace and the general 
 progress of enlightenment, will come in its own good 
 time. It is at least satisfactory to know that under 
 the protection of Great Britain, and left very much 
 to their own government, according to constitutional 
 forms, there is absolutely nothing to retard the 
 advance of these colonies, and I am inclined to think 
 that at this moment they have not a single thing to 
 complain of, for which they have not the means of 
 
138 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 redress in their own hands. As far as I could see 
 or hear, the whole of these provinces are in a state 
 of perfect contentment, strongly attached to, and 
 taking a deep interest in the concerns of the mother- 
 country. ^ 
 
 All things considered, it would certainly be strange 
 if the British American colonists did not feel happy in 
 their present and prospective condition. They are the 
 very favourites of fortune. Members of a powerful 
 empire, they are not called on to contribute a shilling 
 to the national exchequer. In the home-country, while 
 no inconsiderable portion of every man s earnings is 
 confiscated to meet the annual exigencies of the state, 
 in Canada and the other provinces, the people are 
 exempted from nearly all such demands, and their 
 acquaintance with taxation is confined chiefly to certain 
 custom-house duties and local assessments for schools 
 and other purposes. At present, it is understood to be 
 in contemplation to substitute a provincial armed force 
 for the imperial troops ; and this measure, if carried into 
 effect, cannot but elevate the character of the colonies, 
 by its tendency to cultivate and strengthen habits of 
 self-dependence and self-respect. 
 
 Making no figure in the political world, and possess 
 ing little means of attracting attention, it may be said 
 with truth, that these provinces, beyond the mere fact 
 of their existence, are scarcely known in England. The 
 people at large are not at all aware of their extent or 
 capabilities ; and few even of the intelligent classes are 
 in a position to appreciate their social progress. 
 Neglected, except by a generally humble class of 
 emigrants, and by persons engaged in commercial 
 transactions until recent times treated with indiffer 
 ence by colonial ministers, and left to be the prey of 
 adventurers, the wonder is that these colonies are what 
 they are, and their remarkable progress can be ascribed 
 
CANADA-WEST TO MICHIGAN. 139 
 
 only to their own. intrinsically excellent, yet unvaTinted 
 qualities. Silently and unostentatiously have their lands 
 been reclaimed from the wilderness, and their scattered 
 log-cabins and villages swelled into cities, until at length 
 they challenge observation as a second New-England 
 beyond the Atlantic, to the growth of which no one 
 can assign any definite limits. 
 
 The advance, as previously noticed, has been very 
 remarkable in Canada. At the surrender of the pro 
 vince in 1763, its population was estimated at from 
 60,000 to 65,000. In 1851, the numbers had increased 
 to 890,261 in Lower Canada, and 952,004 in Western 
 Canada unitedly, 1,842,265, or now about 2,000,000; 
 the ratio of increase being such as to double the popu 
 lation every twelve or thirteen years. The growing 
 wealth of the community is learned from the fact, 
 that while in 1825, the assessable property in Western 
 Canada was estimated at .1,854,000, in 1852, it had 
 amounted to 37,695,000. The cultivation of the soil 
 keeps pace with this increase. In 1841, the wheat 
 crop was 3,221,000 bushels; in 1851, it was 12,692,000 
 bushels. In 1851, the value of British imports into 
 Canada amounted to 2,475,000, or about ,1, 6s. per 
 head of the population. A circumstance still more 
 indicative of social progress remains to be mentioned. 
 In Canada, in 1852, there were nearly three millions 
 of miles travelled by the mail, and in that year alone 
 there was an increase of about 250 new post-offices; 
 and the continued opening of such new establishments 
 forms one of the remarkable features of the country. 
 
 In travelling through Canada and the adjacent states, 
 nothing is more satisfactory than to find that there 
 prevails the best mutual understanding between the 
 British and American people. Placed on a long line of 
 boundary, within sight of each other, and being con 
 nected by many common ties, it is only matter for 
 
140 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 regret that there should exist any restrictions in com 
 mercial intercourse. Unfortunately, the freedom of 
 trade is interrupted by a war of tariffs, as well as by 
 legal obstacles to the uninterrupted navigation of water 
 courses, vastly to the disadvantage of both parties, and 
 no doubt productive of a demoralising contraband traffic. 
 I would venture to hope that a study of this delicate 
 question, as demonstrated in the successful liberation of 
 trade by Great Britain, will tend to shake the confi 
 dence of Americans and Provincials in the doctrine of 
 hostile duties, and induce the belief that, after all, 
 generosity in trade, as in everything else, brings its own 
 great reward.* 
 
 In the development of minerals, particularly the 
 copper ores bordering on Lake Superior; in trade, 
 lumbering, and navigation; and in agriculture, the 
 enterprising have a wide scope for profitable operations 
 in Canada ; nor need any one be deterred from making 
 the country his home on the score of climate. In 
 Western Canada, the winters are shorter and the cold 
 less severe than in the eastern part of the province; 
 and in no case is the temperature of either summer or 
 winter spoken of as injurious to health. With regard 
 to improved farms ready for the reception of settlers in 
 Western Canada, they may be had in every quarter, 
 and information respecting them will be obtained at 
 the offices of land-agents in the large towns, or by 
 consulting local newspapers. No one purposing to 
 acquire lands, need give himself any uneasiness on 
 this point, for eligible spots will be heard of everywhere. 
 
 * The reciprocity treaty lately effected between the British and American 
 governments, will remedy the state of things here referred to. By enabling 
 the colonists to export their grain, flour, potatoes, coal, timber, and other 
 raw products, freely to the States, the treaty, when in full operation, will 
 doubtless give an immense impetus to improvement throughout the 
 provinces. 
 
CANADA-WEST TO MICHIGAN. 141 
 
 In each county town there is a land-agent appointed to 
 dispose of crown-lands, which are uncleared, and may 
 for the most part be obtained at about 7s. sterling 
 per acre. The best lands of this kind, however, are 
 generally disposed of in the older settled parts of the 
 country. In some cases, uncleared lands are preferable 
 to those which have been cultivated ; for the universal 
 tendency is to exhaust, and then sell lands to new 
 comers. Some caution in making a choice in old 
 settlements is therefore desirable. While men with 
 means may confine their selection to improved localities, 
 I should advise those of more slender resources, but 
 with youth and strength, to proceed to the districts 
 bordering on Lake Huron, belonging to the Canada 
 Company, which sells lands at from 2s. to 1, 4s. per 
 acre, according to quality and locality. Goderich, on 
 Lake Huron, will soon be reached by railway. As 
 regards persons who desire to work for wages, it is 
 enough to say, that in Canada any able-bodied labourer 
 will at present receive at least 4s. per day ; and that 
 bricklayers, masons, and carpenters will be paid 6s. to 
 8s. per day, while the cost of living will be found much 
 the same as in this country, if not in some places con 
 siderably less. The demand for labourers and artisans 
 to be employed on the railways in course of construc 
 tion is now so great, that it will absorb all who offer 
 themselves for years to come ; and how with such 
 allurements, there is not a more general migration 
 from England, is one of the things not easily 
 accounted for. 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 OHIO CINCINNATI. 
 
 A HUNDRED and more years ago, when the French 
 still possessed so large a portion of America that the 
 English were sometimes not quite sure of being able 
 to keep their ground against them, there stood on 
 the sloping and woody frontier of Michigan, a pretty 
 little French village of wooden houses, forming a post 
 for carrying on trade with the Indians, and called 
 Detroit, from its situation on a narrow part of the river 
 which flows from Lake St Clair. In these quiet old 
 French times, an occasional canoe laden with peltry 
 was perhaps the only craft which made its appearance 
 at the landing-place. Now, in the hands of the Anglo- 
 Americans, we see on the spot a series of substantial 
 quays, at which a long line of sailing and steam-vessels 
 are drawn up, and when we land in this far-inland 
 mart of commerce, we feel very much as if amidst the 
 bustle of a seaport. 
 
 Walking into the city, everything is indicative of 
 change. In two or three places, you may notice 
 dingy wooden buildings of antique construction, with 
 verandas, in which, in the days of yore, Frenchmen in 
 queues smoked their long pipes, and Frenchwomen 
 knitted the family stockings relics of the old village 
 now all but gone, and swallowed up by tall and hand 
 some edifices of stone and brick. The streets and 
 avenues, broad and ornamented with trees, are thronged 
 
OHIO CINCINNATI. 143 
 
 with business; and banks, stores, and hotels meet the 
 eye at every turning. The situation seems to be 
 adapted for carrying on an extensive traffic with the 
 lakes, and being near the terminus of the Great Western 
 Railway of Canada, it cannot fail to become an im 
 portant centre of intercommunication. By taking this 
 railway at the Falls of Niagara, passengers will run 
 across Canada to Michigan, not only in a much shorter 
 time than they could pursue the line along the southern 
 shore of Lake Erie, but they will in every respect enjoy 
 greater comfort in the transit. The Erie Railway has 
 become notorious for disorderly conduct, and inter 
 ruptions take place at different points by a change of 
 gauge; likewise, at Cleveland, a badly-regulated ferry 
 requires to be crossed. Already, the citizens of Detroit 
 have expressed a wish that the mails for Michigan may 
 be sent by the Canadian route. 
 
 At Detroit, the traveller perceives that he is on the 
 threshold of that great West, which is now only opening 
 up for settlement, and he can scarcely avoid hearing 
 accounts of the marvellously rapid progress which is 
 making in the states of Illinois, Wisconsin, and Iowa. 
 Probably, the most surprising instance of this kind is 
 that of Chicago, a city of Illinois, on the western shore 
 of Lake Michigan, which was begun in 1831, and 
 already numbers 60,000 inhabitants. A gentleman 
 mentioned to me that, forty years ago, he could have 
 purchased the whole ground on which the city stands 
 for 500 dollars; now, as large a sum as 10,000 dollars 
 for the site of a single store would not be considered 
 extravagant. Boundless, however, as is the field for 
 settlement in Illinois, Michigan, and other western 
 states, I should recommend emigrants from Europe 
 not to attempt going beyond Canada or Ohio ; either of 
 these being sufficiently far distant, and having the 
 advantage of being readily accessible from the Atlantic 
 
144 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 cities. The west may be best settled by American 
 pioneers, with constitutions and habits adapted to the 
 new regions beyond the lakes. 
 
 As the boundary between Canada and the States, the 
 river St Clair, or Detroit, is not seen without a certain 
 interest. From the city of Detroit, we look across to 
 the British shore, half a mile distant, and observe that 
 behind the frontage of wharfs forming the railway 
 terminus, there extends the village of Windsor, with a 
 number of pretty villas scattered about its outskirts. 
 It will be recollected that the river at this and other 
 points, is that eagerly sought-for line of separation, to 
 which fugitive slaves from the south direct their flight. 
 Having succeeded in gaining the Canadian shore, and 
 being therefore safe from pursuit, the refugees disperse 
 to offer their services as waiters in hotels or steam 
 boats, or to settle down as cultivators of the soil. At a 
 spot called Dawn, a short way within the frontier, they 
 have established themselves in considerable numbers, 
 and are said to be in a thriving condition. 
 
 Down the beautiful river Detroit to Lake Erie, I 
 proceeded in one of the splendid lake-steamers, bound 
 for Sandusky, in Ohio, which was reached after a 
 voyage of six hours. The vessel wound its way among 
 various islands at the head of the lake ; but these, level, 
 and generally covered with trees, possessed no strik 
 ingly picturesque features. The shores of Lake Erie 
 are for the most part of the same character; though 
 fertile, and blessed with a fine climate, the country is 
 tame in outline, and all that usually meets the eye 
 is a fringe of trees overhanging the low and muddy 
 banks. On one of the islands in the lake, a vineyard is 
 successfully cultivated. 
 
 Sandusky, situated at the bottom of a bay on the 
 southern shore of the lake, is another of the old French 
 villages, expanded and modernised into an American 
 
OHIO CINCINNATI. 145 
 
 city. From this place, I proceeded by the railway-cars 
 to Cleveland, the line pursuing the lake-shore nearly 
 the whole way, sometimes going across inlets, on posts 
 sunk in the water, and at other times darting through 
 masses of forest, amidst which were occasionally seen 
 the log-huts and clearings of settlers. The land seemed 
 rich, apparently a heavy alluvial deposit, fit for any 
 kind of grain crops. 
 
 Beside me in the car there sat an aged personage 
 of lanky appearance, with thin, clean- shaved cheeks, 
 and a broad-brimmed white hat, rather the worse for 
 wear. He spoke continually, either in ejaculatory 
 remarks, or in inquiries about everything. The car 
 had just got under- way, and all had settled in their 
 places with the ordinary gravity of American travellers, 
 when my neighbour began in a pretty high key, address 
 ing nobody in particular, and pausing about a minute 
 at the close of every sentence : 
 
 Well, here we are all safe, I hope . . It s a plea 
 sant thing to know you are going home . . O yes ! . . 
 Not so cold as yesterday ; no . . The train seems to be 
 running across the lake . . We have nothing but water 
 on both sides . . O, I see I was mistaken; there is a 
 pile of lumber . . Great lumbering trade hereabouts, I 
 guess . . I have been as far as Milwaukee, to see my 
 daughter, who is settled there she is very comfortable 
 . . I am going home to Boston . . A long way that . . 
 But there s a fine sunset, at anyrate . . (Looking at 
 me) How far do you go, stranger? 
 
 I am going to Cleveland, and then to Cincinnati/ 
 
 f O, you re travelling that way, are you? Perhaps 
 in the dry-goods line? 
 
 I am not travelling for business; only making an 
 excursion to see some of the more interesting places in 
 America. 
 
 Why, sure ! You are from the old country, I guess. 
 j 
 
146 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 Well, now, that is strange. What part of England are 
 you from ? 
 
 I am from Scotland/ 
 
 Are yon? Well, we ve no want of Scotch in the 
 States ; they re a cute set of chaps well posted up on 
 most things. I suppose you re married . . You might 
 be at anyrate . . (Here he again began to maunder, 
 speaking straightforward to the atmosphere.) Well, 
 well, marriage is a proper thing; no doubt . . I have 
 seen a good deal in my time . . Just before leaving 
 home, I received a letter from a niece in New York, 
 inviting me to her wedding . . I sent word, that I 
 wished her and her proposed husband much happiness ; 
 and the only advice I could give them, was to mind 
 themselves, and take charge of their own babies . . 
 Yes, yes, a strange world this . . Many people think 
 they have nothing else to do, but make a present of 
 children to uncles and grandfathers, as if they had not 
 had enough to do looking after their own . . Won t 
 do, no how, for me, that 9 . . (Conductor goes through 
 the car.) I say, conductor, are we in the right track ? 
 . . This the way to Cleveland? . . When do we 
 change? . . O ay, yes, yes, all right; I thought so . . 
 A man can t help being anxious . . I am going home 
 . . Ah, it s a long way . . But I can sleep in the cars 
 . . Of course I can . . I always carry a cap in the 
 crown of my hat . . Nothing like taking little luggage 
 . . And so you are from the old country ? . . Yes, yes, 
 you have plenty to see . . I declare it s getting quite 
 dark . . Well, I daresay we 11 get to Cleveland in good 
 time. And so on he went with little intermission to 
 the end of the journey. I see/ said he, they re 
 slowing the train . . There s the engineer s bell . . 
 We shall stop in a minute. 
 
 And true enough, the train drew up. The passengers 
 hurried out, and walking down an inclined platform. 
 
OHIO CINCINNATI. 147 
 
 readied the bank of a river, and placed themselves upon 
 what seemed a raft, without railing or guard of any 
 kind along the sides. As it was exceedingly dark, I 
 cannot venture on a description of this extraordinary 
 ferry-boat, which crossed the Cuyahoga river with the 
 passengers and their baggage in a manner by no means 
 pleasant. Several times, in passing under the mooring- 
 Hnes of steam-vessels, we were told to duck down our 
 heads, to avoid being swept from the unprotected deck ; 
 and at these times, while there was a general prostra 
 tion, might be heard the eccentric Bostonian speaking 
 to himself aloud : Ay, ay, one does meet sometimes 
 with curious things . . I hope the rope won t take off 
 my hat . . I felt it graze on my back just now . . 
 I am glad we are now near the other side . . There s 
 a man with a lantern . . I think I see the omnibus . . 
 Well, I m thankful it s all over. And so am I, 
 said another of the passengers. It s the last time 
 in my mortal existence they catch me on them tracks 
 any more. 
 
 Amidst these audible mutterings, the ferry-boat 
 touched the quay ; and in the scramble which ensued, 
 I saw and heard no more of my loquacious fellow- 
 traveller the only person, by the way, of an inquisitive 
 and prattling turn of mind whom it was my fortune to 
 encounter, and probably one of the few survivors of 
 that by-gone class of characters supposed to be peculiar 
 to America. In the present day, so far as I could see, 
 the people of the United States have too much to do to 
 mind anybody or anything further than what concerns 
 themselves; and so far from troubling you with ques 
 tions, they are absolutely indifferent as to who or what 
 you are, and let you go your way in peace. 
 
 In arriving at Cleveland, I had come upon the great 
 thoroughfare of emigrants between New York and the 
 valleys of the Ohio and Mississippi the point where 
 
148 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 they turn off from the lake-shore road towards Cin 
 cinnati. On getting to the railway-station, a scene of 
 prodigious confusion presented itself. Some hundreds 
 of Germans and Irish of both sexes were seen bivouacked 
 beside vast piles of trunks and bags. Some had lost 
 sight of their baggage, and ran frantically about looking 
 for it everywhere, at the risk of being run over by loco 
 motives. In proportion as the cars filled, the hubbub 
 gradually lessened; and at length, after securing my 
 seat, the train set off with its immense freight of pas 
 sengers, most of whom were in quest of a home in the 
 New World. The journey occupied about twelve hours, 
 and was latterly through one of the finest parts of the 
 state of Ohio namely, the valley of the Miami, which, 
 with rich sloping fields, and bounded by picturesque 
 woody hills, presents a variety of landscapes, such as 
 are seen in the more beautiful parts of England. 
 Falling into the Ohio, the Miami River, in its descent 
 of 150 miles, affords valuable water-power for numerous 
 manufactories ; while the valley through which it flows 
 admits of a canal being carried from the Ohio to Lake 
 Erie; and thus the district is the great channel of 
 communication for traffic between the lake-countries 
 and the Southern States. 
 
 It was about nine o clock on a bright sunny morning, 
 that, coming down the valley of the Miami in the cars, 
 I first saw the Ohio, a river of large volume, but, from a 
 long-continued drought, much smaller now than usual, 
 and with steep sloping muddy banks on both sides, 
 surmounted by green hills, here and there dotted with 
 the white mansions of a settled and thriving population. 
 Turning down the valley of the Ohio, close under the 
 high grounds, Cincinnati, the Queen City of the West, 
 was revealed in all her beauty, seated on terraces 
 amidst picturesque knolls on the right bank of the 
 Ohio, and looking complacently across the broad river 
 
OHIO CINCINNATI. 149 
 
 towards the garden-like lands of Kentucky. Settled 
 for a few days at the Burnet House, one of the largest 
 and best-condncted hotels in the United States and 
 more like a palace than a house of pnblic entertain 
 ment I had time to make myself acquainted with 
 some of the more remarkable features of this extraor 
 dinary city and its neighbourhood, as well as to hear 
 something of Ohio and its adaptation for emigrant 
 settlers. 
 
 When speaking of the rapid advance of civilisation 
 westwards, Cincinnati is usually referred to as affording 
 the most striking instance of progressive increase, not 
 only as regards population, but manufactures, commerce, 
 and every attribute of refinement. The mind can 
 hardly realise the fact, that till 1788, or just sixty-six 
 years ago, there was not an Anglo-American settlement 
 in Ohio ; and that the only whites were a handful of 
 French fur-traders on the borders of Lake Erie. What 
 is now the population of this magnificent state ? 
 Upwards of 2,000,000! Its metropolis, Cincinnati, 
 was in 1800 only a village of 750 inhabitants in 1850, 
 its population was 115,000; and many thousands of 
 fresh settlers are added every year. We do not, how 
 ever, observe any rawness in the appearance of the 
 place. Fronting the Ohio, there is a long quay lined 
 with substantial though not very regular buildings, and 
 from this exterior quarter, thronged with shipping, 
 streets ascend to the higher grounds, and are inter 
 sected by others at right angles. The houses are, for 
 the most part, built of a reddish- coloured sandstone, 
 tall, massive, and crowded with stores and business 
 offices every floor, in some instances, to the height 
 of six stories, being a different concern. Several streets 
 are lined in the American fashion with trees ; and at 
 intervals we come upon churches of tasteful architecture, 
 with spires shooting up above the tallest buildings. 
 
150 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 One peculiar feature is everywhere observable the 
 number of sign-boards in German. This language is 
 seen inscribed on doorways, and so frequently heard 
 spoken, that one almost feels as if he were in Hamburg. 
 Of the entire population, 51,000 are foreigners of 
 whom 30,000 are Germans, 13,000 Irish, and 3600 
 English. The number of Scotch is singularly small, 
 being only 771. This scarcity of an element generally 
 found wherever there is any prospect of well-doing, 
 is probably to be accounted for by the absorption of 
 Scotch emigrants in Canada, and the states immediately 
 west of it. While Ohio has been strangely neglected 
 by settlers from Great Britain, it has become a land 
 of promise to Germans, who, fleeing from the dull 
 despotisms of central Europe, find here a boundless 
 scope for their genius and persevering industry. They 
 find, likewise, a region resembling that of their own 
 dear Rhine a country of corn and grapes, rich in 
 every valuable product, and possessing those genial 
 seasonal influences which clothe the earth in flowers. 
 
 Placed on the Ohio, 1600 miles from the ocean, 
 steamers are seen at the quay of Cincinnati, taking on 
 board freight and passengers for New Orleans, and all 
 other places of importance on the Mississippi, and its 
 larger tributaries. Vessels of less burden proceed up 
 the Ohio to Wheeling and Pittsburg, whence there is 
 now a communication by railway with Philadelphia 
 and Baltimore ; and keeping in recollection the ready 
 access by railway and canal to Cleveland, on Lake 
 Erie, it will be seen that Cincinnati is the centre of a 
 circle which bears on the Atlantic in the east, the vast 
 prairies on the west, the lake-countries on the north, 
 and the Gulf of Mexico on the south. It is only by 
 a perception of this wide and comprehensive radius, 
 with its enormous and ever-accumulating demand for 
 products of mechanical industry, that we can under- 
 
OHIO CINCINNATI. 151 
 
 stand the character of those manufacturing establish 
 ments which are making Cincinnati one of the wonders 
 of the New World and which, after all, are nothing to 
 what they must ultimately become when the population 
 of the great West is consolidated. 
 
 When one thinks of a carpenter s shop, he has pro 
 bably in his mind two or three rude-looking apartments, 
 with at the most a dozen men in paper-caps working 
 at benches with planes and chisels, or leaning over a 
 plank with a hand-saw; or with experience a little more 
 extended, he may perhaps get the length of fancying a 
 cabinet-making establishment with fifty picked hands 
 turning out several handsome pieces of furniture 
 daily. The idea of a factory as large as a Lancashire 
 cotton-mill for making chairs, tables, or bedsteads by 
 machinery, would hardly present itself to his imagina 
 tion. Yet, it is on this factory-mill system that we 
 find house-furniture produced in Cincinnati. Curious 
 to see such places, I spent a day in rambling about the 
 outskirts of the city, where manufactories of various 
 kinds are conducted upon a scale that went very far 
 beyond my previous notions of what can be done by 
 machinery. 
 
 The first establishment I visited was a furniture- 
 factory a huge brick building, five stories in height, 
 with a long frontage at the corner of two streets, 
 and in which 250 hands are employed in different 
 departments. Many of these are occupied merely in 
 guiding and superintending machines moved by shafts 
 and belts from a large steam-engine on the ground- 
 floor. Every article receives its shape in the rough, 
 by means of saws ; and these move with such rapidity, 
 that their teeth are invisible to the eye. The articles 
 are next planed, or turned, and morticed, in the same 
 inconceivably rapid manner. In the planing operations, 
 some surprising effects are produced. A rough deal, or 
 
152 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 other piece of wood, being arranged on a bench under 
 the action of a plane which revolved horizontally, 
 was in a few instants smoothed as if by the finest 
 hand-labour. Chairs of a common class, but neatly 
 turned and painted, were the principal article of manu 
 facture. The number produced almost goes beyond 
 belief. I was informed that the average quantity was 
 200 dozen every week, or at the rate of 124,800 chairs 
 per annum, worth from five to twenty-four dollars 
 per dozen. Among these, a large number are rockers. 
 The machinery for scooping out and shaping the seats 
 was exceedingly ingenious. The next article in im 
 portance is chests of drawers, of which 2000 are manu- 
 factured annually. Baby-cribs are another important 
 item ; but the number of them produced could not be 
 definitely stated. Much of the lighter kinds of work, 
 such as painting and varnishing, is done by boys, who 
 make from four to eight dollars each in weekly wages. 
 Many of the workmen all being on piece-work 
 realise twelve dollars per week; but some have even 
 higher wages. My attention was called towards the 
 process of ornamental hand-turning, chiefly executed 
 by Germans. One of these clever mechanics went 
 through his work with astonishing speed and precision ; 
 his keen eye never being for one instant raised from 
 the whirling lathe before him. This person, I was told, 
 made eighteen dollars per week, and being a sober, 
 well-behaved man, he had already realised property to 
 the value of 5000 dollars (1000 sterling). Many 
 other workmen in the establishment were spoken of as 
 having accumulated property by their industry and 
 economical mode of living. The most steady hands 
 were stated to be native Americans or Germans. 
 English and Scotch were good workmen, but not 
 usually well educated, or of sober habits. I heard the 
 same thing said elsewhere. 
 
OHIO CINCINNATI. 153 
 
 The next establishment I looked in upon was a bed 
 stead factory,, in which similarly improved machinery 
 was employed to cut out and finish various parts of the 
 articles required. As many as 1000 bedsteads are 
 turned out every week, valued at from four to twenty- 
 four dollars each. Some other works were visit ed, but 
 it is undesirable to enter on details respecting their 
 products. In the fabrication of iron stoves, locks, 
 and hinges, window-frames, ornamental cabinet-ware, 
 upholstery, firearms, hats, boots and shoes, machinery, 
 axes and other edge-tools, carriages and numerous 
 other things the operations were on a similarly gigan 
 tic scale. In one of the boot and shoe factories, there 
 are wrought up annually 10,000 sides of sole-leather, 
 40,000 sides of upper leather, 20,000 sheep-skins, 2500 
 calf-skins, 5000 poundweights of boot-nails, and 600 
 bushels of shoe-pegs. The wages paid away in this 
 establishment amount to 60,000 dollars per annum. 
 On hearing facts of this kind, the question continually 
 occurs : Where do all these manufactures go ? Of 
 course the explanation is found in the perpetual 
 demand over the vast regions of which, as has been 
 said, Cincinnati is the centre. Every day, thousands 
 of fresh families are making a settlement in the wilder 
 ness, and each needs bedsteads, tables, chairs, and other 
 articles of domestic use. On the quay at Cincinnati, 
 therefore, you see vast piles of new furniture, iron 
 stoves, tinware, cases of boots and shoes, and every 
 thing else needed by settlers, preparing to be despatched 
 a thousand miles by steamers on the Mississippi and 
 its tributaries. One manufacturer of cabinet-work 
 told me he had received an order to make the whole 
 furniture of a hotel in California ! 
 
 Like all travellers from England who visit the 
 factories of the United States, I was struck with the 
 originality of many of the mechanical contrivances 
 
154 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 which came under my notice in Cincinnati. Under the 
 enlightenment of universal education, and the impulse 
 of a great and growing demand, the American mind 
 would seem to be ever on the rack of invention to 
 discover fresh applications of inanimate power. Almost 
 everywhere may be seen something new in the arts. 
 As regards carpentry-machinery, one of the heads of 
 an establishment said, with some confidence, that the 
 Americans were fifty years in advance of Great 
 Biitain. Possibly, this was too bold an assertion; 
 but it must be admitted that all kinds of American 
 cutting-tools are of a superior description, and it is 
 very desirable that they should be examined in a candid 
 spirit by English manufacturers. In mill-machinery, 
 the Americans have effected some surprising improve 
 ments. At one of the machine manufactories in Cin 
 cinnati, is shewn an article to which I may draw the 
 attention of English country-gentlemen. It is a port 
 able flour-mill, occupying a cube of only four feet, 
 and yet, by means of various adaptations, capable of 
 grinding, with a power of three horses, from fourteen 
 to sixteen bushels per hour ; the flour produced being 
 of so superior a quality, that it has carried off" various 
 prizes at the agricultural shows. With a mill of this 
 kind, attached to the ordinary thrashing-machines, 
 any farmer could probably grind his own wheat, and 
 be able to send it to market as finely dressed as if 
 it came from a professed miller. As many as 500 of 
 these portable and cheap mills are disposed of every 
 year by the makers ; and they are seen at work all over 
 the southern and western states. Surely it would be 
 w r orth while for English agricultural societies to procure 
 specimens of these mills, as well as of farm-implements 
 generally, from America a little of the money usually 
 devoted to the over-fattening of oxen would not, I 
 think, be ill employed for such a purpose. 
 
OHIO CINCINNATI. 155 
 
 In some of the wholesale stores of Cincinnati, articles 
 of English manufacture are kept; and the imports of 
 foreign liquors and luxuries of the table seemed to be 
 considerable. On the whole, however, it was pretty 
 evident here, as at other places, that the Americans 
 aim at independence in every branch of trade; and 
 indeed they can scarcely avoid doing so; for the 
 drawing of supplies of so vast a nature as they require 
 from distant nations is totally out of the question. 
 Besides, here is every raw material on the spot. Iron, 
 wood, and coal, and other grand necessities of manu 
 facture, are at hand in inexhaustible abundance. The 
 coal-fields of Pennsylvania, on which are based the 
 prosperous iron-foundries and engineering establish 
 ments of Pittsburg, are, from their extent, a kind of 
 geological marvel, and render this great country inde 
 pendent of the pits of Durham and Northumberland. 
 
 The most curious thing of all about Cincinnati, is 
 its system of pig-killing and pork-pickling. The place 
 is known as the principal hog-market in the United 
 States. The hogs are reared in the country around on 
 the refuse of the corn-fields after harvest, and among 
 the extensive forests, where they pick up food at little 
 or no cost to their owners. Brought in steamers from 
 a great distance, they are seen marching and grunting 
 in large herds through the streets to the slaughtering 
 establishments in the neighbourhood. The season in 
 which they begin to make their appearance is the fall, 
 when they are in prime condition, and when, from the 
 state of the temperature, their carcasses can soon be 
 cooled by the air, and rendered fit for pickling. The 
 greater number of the hog slaughter-houses are behind 
 the town, on the road towards the higher grounds, 
 and are generally wooden structures of a very plain 
 description. Each is provided with a series of pens, 
 whence the animals walk in single file along an enclosed 
 
156 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 gallery towards the apartment where they meet their 
 doom. 
 
 When a pig is killed in England, the sufferer usually 
 takes care to let the whole neighbourhood hear of the 
 transaction. On such occasions, it is the prescriptive 
 right of the pig to squeak, and he is allowed to squeak 
 accordingly. In Cincinnati, there is no time for this. 
 Impelled along the passage from the exterior pen, 
 each hog on entering the chamber of death receives 
 a blow with a mallet on the forehead, which deprives 
 him of consciousness and motion. The next instant 
 he is bled to death; and by means of an extensive 
 system of caldrons and other requisites, the carcass 
 is speedily cleaned, dressed, and hung up to undergo 
 the proper cooling, previous to being cut in pieces 
 and pickled. The largest of these establishments is 
 situated in Covington, on the opposite side of the Ohio, 
 and consists of a series of brick buildings, which cover 
 nearly two acres. Here an inclined plane leads from 
 the ground to the top of a house four stories high, and 
 along this the hogs are driven to an upper floor to be 
 slaughtered, and where as many as 4000 can be accom 
 modated at a time. The processes of cleansing, making 
 lard, and so forth, need no description. In most cases, 
 the business of curing pork is separate from that of 
 slaughtering; but here they are united; and the 
 arrangements for cutting up, pickling, barrelling, and 
 branding, are all on a vast scale. An idea of the 
 work gone through is obtained from the single fact, 
 that the pickling takes place by steeping in nine brick- 
 built tanks, each of which holds 400 barrels of pork. 
 Upwards of 12,000 hogs and 3000 oxen are killed, 
 pickled, and packed here in a season. Altogether, about 
 half a million of hogs are so disposed of per annum 
 in Cincinnati; but the number varies according to 
 circumstances; and questions as to the extent of the 
 
OHIO CINCINNATI. 157 
 
 hog crop/ are as gravely discussed as the crop of 
 wheat or Indian corn. Much of the export of pork is 
 to the European markets. 
 
 Something more may be said of the Queen City of 
 the West what concerns her literary and educational 
 establishments not having yet been touched on but 
 this may be left for the commencement of next 
 chapter. 
 
CHAPTER, X. 
 
 CINCINNATI TO NEW YORK. 
 
 life of a Mississippi steamer is five years/* said a 
 gentleman with whom we were conversing on the sub 
 ject of river-navigation ; and he added, that there was 
 so constant a demand for new vessels, that about thirty 
 were built every year in Cincinnati. I went on board 
 several of these splendid but short-lived steam-boats, 
 as they lay on the banks of the Ohio, and would have 
 gladly descended to New Orleans in one of them, if 
 not warned to keep at a respectful distance from the 
 lower Mississippi, on account of the prevalence of 
 yellow fever. 
 
 From the centre of the long quay where the steamers 
 draw up at Cincinnati, a large and commodious ferry 
 boat crosses the Ohio at short intervals to Covington, 
 a town still in a rudimental state, but becoming a place 
 of residence for persons whose business connects them 
 with Cincinnati. There are a few manufactories in the 
 place, but with these exceptions, Covington does not 
 shew any marked signs of activity, and the contrast 
 with the bustle of business on the Ohio side is some 
 what striking. The comparative dulness is ascribed 
 to the disinclination of free emigrants and workmen to 
 settle in Kentucky, where they would be brought in 
 contact with slavery. 
 
 To say nothing of slavery abstractedly, anything 
 calculated to retard the development of industrial 
 
CINCINNATI TO NEW YORK. 159 
 
 occupation in this fine part of the country is much to 
 be lamented. The Americans themselves are scarcely 
 aware of the productive powers of the sunny banks 
 and fertile and far-spreading valleys adjoining the Ohio. 
 The grape, which is grown with advantage in various 
 parts of the States, here attains that peculiar perfection 
 which adapts it for the manufacture of wine. Several 
 enthusiasts in horticulture, among whom may be men 
 tioned Mr Longworth, have, for the last twenty years, 
 in the neighbourhood of Cincinnati, devoted much 
 attention to the grape ; and now, within a circle of 
 twenty miles, there are upwards of 300 vineyards, which 
 lately produced in one year 120,000 gallons of wine. 
 I had the curiosity to taste two of the best kinds of 
 this native product, made from the Catawba grape : 
 one resembled a dry hock, and the other was an effer 
 vescing champagne, light and agreeable to the palate. 
 So popular have these become, that at 110 distant day 
 foreign wines of a similar class will cease to be imported. 
 I found, likewise, that under the encouraging auspices 
 of a horticultural society, the strawberry is brought to 
 great perfection on the banks of the Ohio, and that, 
 during the season, as many as 200 bushels of this fruit 
 are brought every day into the market of Cincinnati. 
 Not satisfied, however, with this large local sale, the 
 producers, I was told, are opening a trade with New 
 Orleans, to which the strawberries are sent packed in 
 ice. Sixteen hundred miles seemed to me rather a long 
 way to send strawberries to market ; but when did an 
 American think of distance ? 
 
 Public education being enjoined, and liberally pro 
 vided for, by the laws of Ohio, the stranger who takes 
 any interest in such matters will find in Cincinnati 
 numerous schools worthy of his notice, in which instruc 
 tion of the best quality is imparted without charge 
 to all pupils indiscriminately. Where free education 
 
160 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 exists in England, it is a charity : here,, it is a right. 
 The natural fruit of a system so exceedingly bounteous, 
 is an educated population,, possessing tastes and aspira 
 tions which seek a solacement in literature from the 
 materialities of everyday life. I do not know that I 
 ever saw a town of its size so well provided as Cincin 
 nati with publishers, libraries, and reading-rooms. The 
 Young Men s Mercantile Library Association has a 
 most imposing suite of apartments fitted up as a library 
 and reading-room the number of books amounting to 
 14,000 volumes, and the reading-room shewing a dis 
 play of desks on which are placed nearly a hundred 
 newspapers. Cincinnati is, I believe, also favourably 
 known for its cultivation of the fine arts ; and its 
 exhibitions of pictures at anyrate shew that its inhabit 
 ants do not employ all their time in mere money- 
 making. In the cathedral of St Peter, there are some 
 valuable paintings by European artists ; one, by Murillo, 
 having been a gift from Cardinal Fesch. 
 
 My return from this interesting city of the West 
 was made by means of the railway to the flourishing 
 city of Cleveland, whence I proceeded by a continuation 
 of the line to Buffalo, at the foot of Lake Erie. In 
 quitting Ohio, where so many indications of advance 
 ment present themselves, I would take leave to remind 
 intending emigrants, that for fertility of soil and 
 geniality of climate, they will find few places within a 
 moderate distance which can match this exceedingly 
 fine state. For its crops of Indian corn and wheat, its 
 wool, beef, and pork, it enjoys a wide celebrity; and, 
 as has been seen, its southern and picturesque frontier, 
 with an Italian climate, yields a much-admired variety 
 of wines. In the more cleared parts of the state, land, 
 of course, sells at a comparatively high price say, at 
 from thirty to fifty dollars per acre ; and therefore this 
 is not a district for the settlement of a humble class of 
 
CINCINNATI TO NEW YORK. 161 
 
 emigrants, who look to the immediate acquisition of 
 property. 
 
 In travelling through the state of Ohio,, some of the 
 land is seen to be still under forest ; and in numerous 
 places, to accommodate the line of railway, a passage 
 has been cleared through the dense growth of trees. 
 Here and there we pass small towns of neatly painted 
 houses the germs, it may be, of great cities; and 
 wherever the cars stop, there is a considerable traffic 
 in the exchange of passengers. The train that carried 
 me from Cincinnati consisted of six cars, including 
 among the passengers a number of pedlers, who, with 
 basket in hand, went from car to car, while the train 
 was in motion, offering books and newspapers for sale. 
 One of these travelling merchants went to work in a 
 methodical manner. First, in making his rounds, he 
 left with each passenger a circular descriptive and 
 recommendatory of a particular book, and in due time 
 returned for orders, which he executed on the spot. 
 On some of the lines of railway, peddling in this and 
 other forms has become so offensive, that it is now 
 forbidden. Besides visits from the traffickers in books 
 and newspapers, the passengers in the train were waited 
 on every hour by a negro boy, supplying glasses of 
 water. With a tin watering-pot in one hand, and a 
 tumbler in the other, he respectfully addressed each 
 person in turn. The providing of water in this manner, 
 seems to be part of the railway system in the United 
 States. I, at least, saw few trains without a supply of 
 water for passengers. Sometimes a vase and drinking- 
 glass occupy a spare corner in the car, and every one 
 is left to take care of himself; but more frequently 
 the water is carried round for general accommodation. 
 As vases of water are likewise exposed for public use in 
 many of the hotel-lobbies, one is impressed with the 
 belief that the Americans are the greatest water- 
 is; 
 
162 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 drinkers in the world whether as a matter of taste 
 or necessity I am not able to say. 
 
 It is an -unfortunate peculiarity in American railways, 
 that certain states have adopted different gauges, so 
 that a break necessarily takes place in passing from one 
 to another. In the journey I was now performing, 
 I had occasion to leave the state of Ohio ; pass through 
 about twenty miles of the state of Pennsylvania ; and 
 finish in the state of New York. In each of these 
 states, the tracks were of a different width, and the 
 shifting was anything but agreeable. One of the 
 changes took place at the town of Erie, which, as 
 may be known by scraps of intelligence in the English 
 newspapers, has lately gained a most unenviable noto 
 riety for unlawful outrage. The cause of this disreput 
 able procedure is singular. The proprietors of the line 
 being desirous to extend the New York gauge through 
 the adjoining part of Pennsylvania, and so make one 
 break less in the length of railway, the people of Erie 
 became alarmed at the prospect of trains passing 
 through their town without stopping ; and to prevent 
 this calamity, they tear up the rails as fast as they are 
 laid down. I believe that in attempting a uniformity 
 of gauge at the spot, so as to avoid breaking bulk, 
 the railway is transgressing some pre-arrangement with 
 the parties interested ; but into the actual merits of the 
 quarrel I do not go. What is to be lamented, is the 
 continuance of a series of outrages for months, to the 
 derangement of traffic and the great scandal of the 
 American people; for foreigners who hear of these 
 strange doings, naturally impute them to a disregard 
 for law, and a culpable negligence or weakness on the 
 part of the executive power. Assuming that the inha 
 bitants of Erie should ultimately and legally enforce 
 the stoppage of trains and breaking of bulk within their 
 city, it will be interesting to note what the country to 
 
CINCINNATI TO NEW YORK. 163 
 
 the west will do under tlie circumstances. Meanwhile, 
 it is not the least curious and incomprehensible thing 
 about the Erie outrages,, that they are promoted by 
 the mayor of the city, and are sympathised in by the 
 governor of the state of Pennsylvania ! * 
 
 Arriving at Buffalo, where I spent a little time, I 
 found another remarkable example of the sudden growth 
 of a populous city ; for although it was laid out so lately 
 as 1801, and burnt to the ground during the miserably 
 conducted war of 1812-13, it now numbers 60,000 inha 
 bitants, and is a substantially built and most respectable- 
 looking town. Considering its situation, Buffalo could not 
 have failed to expand into importance. It stands at the 
 foot of Lake Erie, at the opening of the canal to the Hud 
 son; and besides having a large traffic from this cause, it 
 is now a central point for several railways, the latest of 
 its advantages in this respect, being its connection with 
 the Brantford and Goderich line, now opened through 
 Canada. The town has a fine prospect over the lake and 
 the Canadian shore, to which large ferry-boats are con 
 stantly plying. The building of steam and other vessels for 
 the lakes is carried on to a large extent, and to all appear 
 ance, I should say, Buffalo is one of the most thriving 
 marts of trade and commerce in the United States. 
 
 * On Monday, the railway across Sycamore Street, in Erie, was torn up at 
 about noon, in obedience to the orders of the mayor. The reason alleged for 
 this renewed attack upon the railway company is, that certain cars, containing 
 freight from Cleveland for Buffalo, were sent through direct, instead of being 
 stopped at Erie, and the property there transhipped. The sheriff of the borough 
 was promptly on the ground, and did everything in his power to prevent the 
 track from being removed, making an earnest appeal to those who were present 
 to aid him in enforcing the laws, and in preventing any infringement of the rights 
 of the company. The spectators, however, stood regardless of the appeal, and 
 permitted the employes of the mayor to proceed with their work. It is proper 
 to acid, that this fresh outburst of Erie indignation will not interrupt nor retard 
 the travel between Buffalo and the West. The break extends only a few feet, and 
 is simply made, as we are informed, as a means of preventing freight-cars from 
 passing Erie without breaking bulk. New York Tribune, March 17, 1854. 
 
104 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 After seeing so much of the bustle of business in 
 Cincinnati, Cleveland, and Buffalo, it was a grateful 
 relief to make a leisurely journey through that charm 
 ingly retired part of the state of New York, in which 
 lie several small lakes, celebrated for the picturesque 
 and rural beauty of their environs. My way was by 
 the small town of Batavia, from which to Canandaigua, 
 situated on a lake of the same name, the country was of 
 a very pleasing character. Instead of being a dead and 
 monotonous level, the surface became diversified with 
 hill and dale; white villages and churches occurred at 
 proper intervals ; the ground was generally cleared and 
 under good farming ; and only so much forest was left 
 as served to ornament the landscape. For a tract of 
 forty or fifty miles along this route, with Canandaigua 
 as its centre, the country, so far as I had an opportu 
 nity of judging, is one of the most pleasing parts of 
 America. Western New York, however, is nearly all a 
 choice district; and as it has now been settled for a 
 long period, it shews numerous tokens of an advanced 
 condition. We see fields in which there are no stumps 
 always a sure sign of antiquity ; and one fancies from 
 the look of the villages, that he might find in them as 
 many as three generations of inhabitants. 
 
 Although prepared by these appearances of maturity, 
 which greatly reminded me of home, I was, notwith 
 standing, surprised by the staid, and I must use the 
 word genteel, aspect of Canandaigua. Excepting that 
 many of the houses were of wood, there was little 
 to suggest the idea that we were out of England. 
 Imagine a pretty piece of country, with hills of moderate 
 height clothed in woods of brightly variegated foliage 
 a beautiful sheet of water, fourteen miles long and 
 from one to two miles in breadth, glittering like a gem 
 amidst these picturesque elevations and on a broad 
 slope rising from the northern extremity of the lake, a 
 
CINCINNATI TO NEW YORK. 165 
 
 town, consisting for the greater part of detached villas, 
 the abode of a retired and tranquil population. Such 
 is Canandaigua; a place of repose an anomaly in a 
 land of everlasting bustle a Cheltenham without 
 racket. Extending upward from the margin of the 
 lake, the main street is fully a mile long, and as broad 
 as a fashionable square in London; and, as is usual in 
 America, it is lined on each side with a row of trees, 
 which offer an agreeable shade in summer. At the 
 centre, this spacious thoroughfare is crossed at right 
 angles by another street, along which the railway has 
 been laid, so as to make the terminus exactly in the 
 middle of the town. Adjoining this central point, we 
 find a hotel of the ordinary gigantic dimensions, which 
 I can recommend for its good management. With all 
 suitable conveniences, in the way of stores, educational 
 establishments, libraries, and churches, according to 
 taste, and with society of quite a select class, this 
 town of villas, and gardens, and rows of trees, and 
 green paddocks for sleek horses and cows, and stylish 
 equipages driving about making calls, and a lake for 
 boating and fishing, is really the beau-ideal of a place 
 where one would like to spend the quiet evening 
 of life. 
 
 Here, at anyrate, I passed two or three days with no 
 common satisfaction in the mansion of a kind friend, 
 who had been long resident in the country, and I was 
 glad to have an opportunity for making some inquiries 
 respecting the price of land and other subjects of 
 importance to emigrants. I have already mentioned 
 that the western part of the state of New York is, 
 from geniality of climate, fertility of soil, and other 
 advantages, exceedingly eligible for the settlement of 
 agriculturists. At Canandaigua, cleared farms of 
 various kinds may be heard of for sale, but at prices 
 corresponding to the advanced value of property; and 
 
166 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 if uncleared or partially cleared lands are wanted, they 
 also can be had without trouble,, and at a very moderate 
 cost.* 
 
 Any one looking at a map of the States, will observe 
 that in this part of the country there is a number of 
 lakes, besides that of Canandaigua, the whole stretching 
 in the same direction parallel with each other. All are 
 beautiful, with pretty towns in their vicinity Geneva, 
 at the head of Seneca Lake, being one of the largest of 
 the group. According to geologists, the several valleys 
 embracing these sheets of water were at one time but 
 who can tell how long ago ? the channels of outlet of 
 Lake Ontario, which thus found its way to the Hudson. 
 No one can travel by the line of railway which pursues 
 its course along the heads of the different lakes to 
 Syracuse and Utica, without seeing evidences of the 
 action of rushing water on the face of rocky steeps, 
 and being, accordingly, impressed with the belief that 
 great changes must have taken place in this interesting 
 district. 
 
 The railway from Canandaigua, which is an extension 
 of that from Rochester, passes successively through a 
 number of towns rapidly growing in size, and attaining 
 considerable importance as seats of manufactures. The 
 principal town of this kind is Syracuse, celebrated for 
 its extensive manufacture of salt from brine-springs. 
 The water is pumped from deep wells, and the salt is 
 made, according to quality, either by solar evaporation, 
 or by boiling. There are now about 200 manufactories 
 of this article, and as much as 5,000,000 of bushels are 
 produced annually. The land in which the wells are 
 sunk being public property, the state, as I understand, 
 
 * Larger or smaller quantities of land, of excellent quality, may be 
 purchased at the office of J. Greig, Esq., Canandaigua. The person in 
 charge of the office is Mr Jeffrey, a gentleman from Edinburgh, who will 
 afford all proper information, and in whom every confidence may be placed. 
 
CINCINNATI TO NEW YORK. 167 
 
 receives as duty a cent per bushel. As Syracuse is 
 situated on the Erie Canal, and communicates by 
 railway in different directions, it has many facilities 
 for trade : it is a well-built and rapidly growing city. 
 
 Southwards from Syracuse, the railway gets into the 
 valley of the Mohawk, and after passing the flourishing 
 town of Utica, much fine scenery is disclosed. At 
 Little Falls, a small but busy town situated among 
 rocky protuberances and overhanging cliffs, with the 
 river dashing and leaping over its rugged channel, the 
 draughtsman would find numerous subjects for his 
 pencil, equal in picturesque beauty to some of the best 
 points in Swiss landscape. When we consider that 
 only seventy years have elapsed since pretty nearly 
 the whole of the district through which we are passing 
 was a wilderness possessed by tribes of Indians, its 
 present condition as an apparently old-settled country, 
 with thriving cities, elegant mansions, and improved 
 farm-establishments, seems quite marvellous. A gentle 
 man at Canandaigua told me that, about forty years 
 ago, he could not reach Albany in less than a week, 
 the journey being one of great toil on horseback. Now, 
 the distance is performed by railway in ten hours. 
 
 My previous visit to Albany having been very brief, 
 I now remained some time in the place, to see its 
 State-house, public libraries, and normal-school estab 
 lishment. The State-house, situated on the top of 
 the rising- ground on which the city has been built, 
 is a conspicuous and elegant structure, devoted to the 
 meetings of the legislature of the state of New York. 
 In connection with it, I was shewn a library of 30,000 
 volumes, for the use of members, and open to the 
 public. A considerable number of the books are of the 
 best English editions, no expense being spared to pro 
 cure works of the highest class in general literature. 
 Adjoining is an extensive law-library. Among the 
 
168 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 more interesting works shewn to strangers, is a series 
 of large volumes, embracing the printed legislative 
 proceedings since the English organisation of the 
 colony. It is interesting to observe in the series, how 
 at the Revolution, the British royal arms and styles of 
 expression are quietly dropped, and followed by the 
 republican forms, as if no break had taken place in the 
 course of procedure. One of the volumes during the 
 colonial regime purports to be printed by Franklin. 
 There are likewise shewn some old colonial charters 
 from the king of England dingy sheets of vellum, 
 kept as curiosities in glass-cases, along with mummies 
 from Thebes, and other instructive antiquities. It 
 is pitiable to see George the Third, King of Great 
 Britain, France, and Ireland/ as he is styled in these 
 old writs, reduced to this condition; but at the same 
 time, it must be allowed that if George and his advisers 
 had possessed a little more discretion, his charters 
 and those of his descendants might have been living 
 utilities, instead of obsolete curiosities. 
 
 At the time of my visit, a new building for a state- 
 library was fitting up at an expense of 80,000 dollars. 
 On the opposite side of the square stands the State-hall, 
 containing the administrative offices of the state; and 
 near it is the City-hall. Both are of white marble, 
 and have a fine architectural effect. In these several 
 establishments I received every desired information ; 
 and on my departure, I carried with me not only the 
 grateful recollection of much undeserved kindness, but 
 presents of state-papers and reports on a most munifi 
 cent scale. Of all the states in the Union, that of 
 New York has excelled in the grandeur of its public 
 documents. Numerous statistical, historical, and 
 scientific investigations have been issued at the ex 
 pense of the state, in a series of large and splendidly 
 illustrated volumes; and these are imparted in a 
 
CINCINNATI TO NEW YORK. 169 
 
 manner so liberal and considerate as to command 
 universal respect. 
 
 Originally a Dutch settlement, Albany in the present 
 day is a substantial city of thoroughly American 
 appearance, with about 60,000 inhabitants ; and its 
 situation near the head of the navigation of the Hud 
 son, renders it a nourishing emporium of commerce. 
 Steam- vessels daily descend the Hudson to New York, 
 making a voyage of 125 miles; and the return- voyage 
 upwards is considered to be one of the most agreeable 
 trips in river-navigation. The time of departure of the 
 boats not being quite convenient for me, I descended, 
 not by steamer, but by railway the line, in many parts 
 of its course, being erected on piles within the edge 
 of the water, and at other places keeping within sight 
 of the finer parts of the river. After so much has been 
 written by travellers of the scenery of the Hudson 
 from New York to Albany, it will not be expected that 
 I should describe its varied beauties. For about twenty 
 miles, midway, it goes through a picturesque moun 
 tainous district, known as the Highlands of the Hudson ; 
 and here it may be said to resemble the Rhine without 
 its ruined castles. Instead of these, we have several 
 forts among others, West Point, of historical interest 
 many pretty villages and mansions, and here and 
 there islands of the rarest beauty. In the vicinity of 
 this mountain-tract, we have the town of Poughkeepsie, 
 on the left or northern bank. For sundry reasons one 
 of them the desire to see an old friend, and another 
 to visit a venerable American writer who lives in the 
 neighbourhood I stopped at Poughkeepsie for a 
 couple of days. A more delightful little town can 
 hardly be imagined. Not so retired as Canandaigua, 
 it has yet a good deal of its character. Lying basking 
 in the sun on the sloping banks of the Hudson, its long 
 streets lined with trees, and its neighbourhood dotted 
 
170 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 over with detached villas some of them in a fine 
 Elizabethan style of architecture and situated within an 
 hour and a half by railway of New York, it is doubtless 
 one of the most pleasant places of residence for those 
 who do not choose to be in the world, and yet not quite 
 out of it. Poughkeepsie has several large manufactories, 
 and a considerable trade with the adjacent parts of the 
 country ; and with a population of 14,000, 1 was assured 
 it does not own a single public-house a phenomenon 
 worth mentioning. 
 
 One of the days during my stay was devoted to an 
 excursion to the residence of Mr Paulding, situated a 
 few miles from the town, on a rising-ground commanding 
 a view of the Hudson and Catskill Mountains beyond. 
 The visit to the spot, with its literary and other asso 
 ciations, is an incident long to be remembered with 
 pleasure. A ride by railway carried me speedily from 
 Poughkeepsie to New York a place far too important 
 to be noticed at the end of this rambling account of my 
 journey eastwards. 
 
CHAPTER XL 
 
 NEW YORK. 
 
 AT length in New York a city I had long wished to 
 see, and to which the eyes of all Europe are directed as 
 the actual metropolis of the New World. Arriving in 
 this important emporium by railway, the city was taken 
 at a certain disadvantage ; for a true impression of the 
 real character of its position can be obtained only when 
 it is reached by sea. It is a very curious thing that 
 nobody, till he sees it, can properly understand the 
 situation of New York. Accounts of it are not clear. 
 Our minds are perplexed by two opposite circumstances. 
 The city is said to be on an island the island of 
 Manhattan and yet is connected with the mainland. 
 I now got rid of this mystification. 
 
 Coming by railway down the left bank of the 
 Hudson, which is seen to expand into a fine broad 
 estuary, with the picturesque elevations of New Jersey 
 on the opposite shore, the train ran directly into the 
 town; having crossed a narrow strait, which, according 
 to topographers, makes the promontory on which New 
 York is situated an island. As if, however, there was 
 no end to the confusion of ideas on the subject, the 
 Hudson, which is, in reality, on the west of the pro 
 montory, is locally spoken of as North River ; a narrow 
 arm of the sea which separates New York from Long 
 Island is called East River ; and the strait, little better 
 than an artificial canal, which stretches from North 
 
172 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 River to East River, is named Haarlem River. The 
 island of Manhattan, so formed by this environment of 
 water, is about thirteen miles in length, by at most two 
 in breadth, and terminates at its southern extremity in 
 a narrow and level slip of ground known as the Battery. 
 From this defensible point the city has crept gradually 
 northwards, covering the whole island in its progress, 
 and is already from three to four miles long, with plans 
 of extension that will finally carry it to the limits of the 
 island, and, it may be, far beyond. 
 
 Reaching the city by a back-way, as it may be 
 called, we have the opportunity of seeing the worst 
 side first straggling half-built streets, with shabby 
 stores, lumber-yards, heaps of rubbish, petty wooden 
 houses, and a general aspect of disorder. At an assigned 
 point the train stopped, and I imagined we had 
 reached the principal terminus. No such thing. The 
 delay was only to detach the locomotive, and to take 
 the train piecemeal into town by horses. And so, 
 drawn by a team of four horses at a trot, the car in 
 which I was seated went smartly up one street and 
 down another the rails being laid in the causeway 
 till we reached the heart of the busy metropolis. 
 Attaining the place of disembarkation at last, a scene 
 of indescribable confusion ensued, and I began to 
 experience the effects of those imperfect police arrange 
 ments for which New York unfortunately suffers in 
 general estimation. No cabs of the ordinary kind, but 
 hackney-carriages with two horses, presented them 
 selves for hire ; and the drivers seemed to be at liberty 
 to do what they liked. After engaging one of them, 
 the driver thrust another person in upon me, though 
 bound for a different hotel; and I had considerable 
 difficulty in at length inducing another driver to take 
 me solus to my destination the Astor House. I may 
 say once for all, that on other occasions I had the same 
 
NEW YORE. 173 
 
 annoyance with the New York hackney-coachmen, who 
 appear to stand at the lowest point in the scale of a 
 class admitted to be troublesome in every community. 
 
 Months previously, I had heard of the difficulty of 
 procuring accommodation in any hotel in New York, 
 and had adopted the precaution of bespeaking a room 
 at the Astor, through a friend in the city. With 
 nothing, therefore, to fear on this score, I was fortunate 
 in at once finding myself settled in one of the largest 
 and best-conducted hotels, and at liberty to study the 
 working of a class of establishments which transcend 
 anything of the kind in England, and are about the 
 chief wonder in a country celebrated for the gigantic 
 scale of its operations. 
 
 At the first look, we see that New York very much 
 resembles the more densely-built parts of London. The 
 houses, tall, and principally of brick, are crowded into 
 narrow streets, such as are seen in the neighbourhood 
 of Cheapside, with the single difference, that many of 
 the buildings are occupied in floors by different branches 
 of business, with a profusion of large sign-boards in 
 front. For the most part, the houses have sunk floors, 
 accessible by a flight of steps from the foot-pavement ; 
 and these cellar-dwellings are very commonly used for 
 some kind of small business, or as oyster saloons/ or 
 f retreats the names considerately employed to signify 
 taverns and groggeries. Wherever any of these older 
 brick edifices have been removed, their place has been 
 supplied by tenements built of brown sandstone; and 
 it may be said that at present New York is in process 
 of being renewed by this species of structure, which is 
 elegant in appearance, but, I fear, less substantial in 
 many respects than a regard for security warrants. 
 The more narrow thoroughfares are at the same time 
 widened and paved according to modern taste. The 
 more ancient, though much changed part of the city in 
 
174 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 which the throng of business chiefly prevails, is con 
 fined to the southern division, stretching from the 
 Battery a mile northwards; and within this quarter 
 the breadth occupied from the North to the East River 
 is seemingly about the same as that from the Thames 
 to Holborn a limited space, which necessitates the 
 continual pressure northwards, as well as an escape to 
 the opposite shores of the two bounding waters. 
 
 Though limited as to breadth, no site could have 
 been more happily selected for a great commercial city. 
 The peninsula, if it may be so called, rises just as much 
 towards the middle as admits of easy drainage, and in 
 front and on both sides is environed with tidal waters, 
 which present accommodation for any quantity of ship 
 ping. Through the centre of the city lengthwise runs 
 Broadway the Fleet Street and Strand of New York 
 and going down any of the cross-streets on either 
 hand from this leading channel of intercourse, we soon 
 come to a quay, presenting a line of houses on one side 
 of a busy thoroughfare, and a crowd of steam-boats and 
 shipping 011 the other. The city, therefore, so far as it 
 can be, is surrounded by maritime traffic. Nor could 
 any situation be better chosen for defence. Approach 
 able from the Atlantic by vessels of the largest burden, 
 its prospect towards the ocean is intercepted by a semi 
 circle of islands, which, fortified and commanding the 
 beautiful bay which fronts the city on the south, give 
 a certain degree of security to the position. 
 
 Hampered as to space, New York has no room for 
 villas; and in this respect there is a marked difference 
 between it and our English cities. Those among the 
 more affluent orders w r ho dislike living in streets, 
 require to proceed by ferry- steamers across either of 
 the two bounding waters, and on the opposite shores 
 find spots for ruralising. The narrowest ferry is that 
 across East River to Brooklyn and Williamsburg, on 
 
NEW YORK. 175 
 
 Long Island, now becoming thickly settled with a 
 population more or less connected with New York. 
 The wider ferries on the North River communicate with 
 the state of New Jersey, which is pleasingly fringed 
 with towns and villas ; the two most prominent places 
 being Jersey city and Hoboken. The vessels employed 
 on these ferries are doubtless the finest of their class 
 in the world. They resemble floating-platforms, suffi 
 ciently large to accommodate several carriages in the 
 middle part, and are provided with well-warmed rooms 
 for foot-passengers at the sides. They respectively pass 
 to and fro every five or ten minutes, and as the charge 
 to Brooklyn is only a cent, and that to New Jersey but 
 three cents, they command an immense traffic. Still 
 further to relieve the pressure of population in New 
 York, steamers are constantly plying to and from 
 Staten Island, which is situated about five miles distant, 
 at the mouth of the bay ; and the scattered villas along 
 the sloping shores of this fine island are more like 
 what one sees in England, or on the banks of the 
 Clyde, than anything else in America. The channel 
 between Staten Island and the southern extremity of 
 Long Island, is called the Narrows, through which 
 vessels inward-bound proceed from the Atlantic, and so 
 reach the spacious landlocked bay, with its magnificent 
 harbourage. 
 
 With so favourable a situation for external traffic, 
 and reposing on a river which is navigable for 150 
 miles, New York has attracted to itself a population of 
 about 600,000, and is the port of disembarkation for 
 nearly 300,000 immigrants annually from every country 
 in Europe. Forming a central point for American and 
 European commerce, a vast trade pours through this 
 city, and is thence radiated by river, canal, and railway 
 to the great West. In the amount of tonnage of vessels, 
 exports and imports, transactions in floating capital, 
 
176 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 wealth, social importance, and munificence of institu 
 tions, New York keeps considerably ahead in the 
 United States; and the traveller who has in remem 
 brance its rise from small beginnings so late as the 
 seventeenth century, will not fail to be struck with its 
 present proportions. 
 
 The principal object of curiosity in or about New 
 York, is the Croton Aqueduct, which few strangers 
 miss seeing. The works connected with this great 
 undertaking are on a scale which reminds us of the 
 stupendous aqueducts of the ancient Romans. Bringing 
 water from a distance of forty miles, and requiring in 
 their course a lofty bridge across Haarlem River, the 
 works cost 14,000,000 dollars, or near upon 5,000,000 
 sterling an immense sum to raise from public rates 
 to supply a city with water. The discharge of water 
 is stated at 60,000,000 of gallons per diem; and even 
 this large quantity is not more than is required. 
 Having visited this marvel in engineering, little remains 
 to attract curiosity. Interest is centered in Broadway, 
 and mainly towards its southern extremity. Here 
 abouts are the handsomest public buildings, the finest 
 stores, some of the largest hotels, and the greatest 
 throng of passengers. At about half a mile from the 
 Battery, we have on the line of Broadway an opening 
 called the Park, which though only a railed-in patch 
 of ground, with a few trees and footpaths through 
 it, is a very acceptable breathing spot in the midst of 
 everlasting bustle. 
 
 Some traveller speaks of the buildings of Broadway 
 as being a mixture of poor wooden structures and 
 splendid edifices. There may be a few houses of an 
 antiquated class, but any such general description is 
 totally inadmissible in the present day. We see for the 
 greater part of its length, a series of high and handsome 
 buildings, of brown sandstone or brick, with several 
 
NEW YORK. 177 
 
 of white marble and granite. Some of the stores and 
 hotels astonish by their size and grandeur. Bising to 
 a height of five or six stories, with a frontage of 150 
 to 300 feet, and built in an ornamental style of archi 
 tecture, these edifices are more like the palaces of kings 
 than places for the transaction of business. New York, 
 it seems, is celebrated for its extensive dealings in dry 
 goods/ the common phrase for all kinds of clothing 
 and haberdashery ; and its shops or stores for the retail 
 of these articles are of most extraordinary dimensions. 
 Stewarts Store, a huge building of white marble, 
 adjoining the Park, on Broadway, is pointed out as the 
 largest of these concerns; and the amount of business 
 done in it is stated to be above 7,000,000 of dollars 
 per annum. It is useless, however, in a place of such 
 rapid change and improvement, to point out any edifice 
 as excelling another. In various parts of Broadway 
 and Bowery, large and elegant buildings are springing 
 into existence at a cost perfectly startling ; and so great 
 is the rise in the value of property and the increasing 
 expense of conducting business, that I should fear 
 things are going a little too far for the ultimate benefit 
 of the city, at least as regards manufacturing industry. 
 One of the latest opened of the new and gorgeously fine 
 structures, is Taylor s Restaurant an establishment, 
 some will think, much too fine for the uses to which it is 
 put. Another of the new buildings is that occupied by 
 Appleton & Co., publishers; its extent and grandeur 
 contrasting curiously with the dingy holes and corners 
 in which the publishers of London carry on their 
 business. The activity displayed in resolving upon and 
 completing any scheme of improvement in this great 
 city, pervades every branch of affairs. In conducting 
 business, there is no pause, and, as circumstances shew, 
 sometimes too much hurry. There is, however, in 
 every department of commerce, a stimulus to action, 
 
 L 
 
178 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 arising from the vast demands of a country growing 
 so rapidly in population and wealth. An instance of 
 this came under my notice at the great fire which 
 consumed the printing and publishing establishment of 
 the Messrs Harpers. Perceiving that the whole of the 
 steam-presses were consumed, and no means left for 
 carrying on operations on the spot, a party connected 
 with the firm, and while the fire was still burning, sent 
 off by electric-telegraph to engage all the available 
 presses of Buffalo and Cincinnati ! In New York, so 
 valuable is time, and so speedily are decisions come 
 to, that on the very next day after a fire, we may 
 observe builders engaged in the work of reconstruction. 
 American minutes would seem almost to be worth 
 English days ! 
 
 Without a court, and not even the seat of the state 
 legislature, New York cannot be said to be the place of 
 residence of a leisurely or a numerous literary class. 
 Its more opulent inhabitants, connected some way or 
 other with business, form, nevertheless, an aristocracy 
 with refined tastes, and ample means for their gratifi 
 cation. Advancing northwards from the more busy 
 parts of the town, the elegance and regularity of the 
 houses become more conspicuous, and at last we find 
 ourselves in the quietude and splendour of a Belgravia. 
 Here the edifices are entirely of brown sandstone, and 
 of a richly decorated style of street architecture; all 
 the windows are of plate-glass; and the door-handles, 
 plates, and bell-pulls silvered, so as to impart a chaste 
 and light effect. The furnishings and interior orna 
 ments of these dwellings, particularly those in Fifth 
 Avenue, are of a superb kind ; no expense being appa 
 rently spared as regards either comfort or elegance. 
 In one mansion where I experienced the most kindly 
 hospitality, the spacious entrance-hall was laid with 
 tasselated marble pavement; the stair and balustrades 
 
NEW YORK. 179 
 
 were of dark walnut- wood ; one of the apartments 
 was panelled in the old baronial fashion; and in a 
 magnificent dining-room, the marble chimney -piece, 
 with exquisitely carved figures illustrative of Burns s 
 Highland Mary, cost, as I understood, as much as 
 1500 dollars. The influx of German and French artist^ 
 to New York, was alluded to as affording means for 
 effecting everything desirable in decorative art, and of 
 excluding the necessity for importing English orna 
 ments. Perhaps it is worth while to add, that New 
 York is not destitute of the means for supplying coats- 
 of-arms to those who desire such decorations for their 
 carriages, seals, and other articles. There is, indeed, 
 no heralds college here or elsewhere in the States ; but 
 I observed in Broadway an establishment where coats- 
 of-arms are furnished as a matter of business; and in 
 the shelves of the principal booksellers, works on the 
 British peerage and baronetage are about as common 
 as they are in England. 
 
 Passing over any notice of the churches of New York 
 some of them with handsome spires, and generally 
 picturesque in effect and also the banks, theatres, 
 and other public structures, the edifices most worthy 
 of attention are the hotels. It has been incidentally 
 stated, that the hotel-system of the United States is of 
 a peculiar character. I found that it had crossed the 
 frontier into Canada; but in no part of that province 
 had it attained full-blown maturity. Properly speaking, 
 the American hotels are boarding-houses, and consist of 
 two distinct departments one for ladies and families, 
 and the other for single gentlemen. All are alike 
 welcome to come, stay, or go, as suits their pleasure ; 
 the charge being specific at so much per day, whether 
 the guests attend meals or not, by which means every 
 one knows to a fraction beforehand how much he will 
 have to pay. We could hardly picture to ourselves a 
 
180 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 greater contrast than that between an old country and 
 an American hotel. The two things are not in the 
 least alike. Arriving at an inn in England, you are 
 treated with immense deference, allowed the seclusion 
 of a private apartment, charged exorbitantly for every 
 thing, and, at departure, curtsied and bowed out at the 
 door, as if a prodigious favour had been conferred on 
 the establishment. In the United States, things are 
 managed differently. The Americans, with some faults 
 of character, possess the singular merit of not being 
 exclusive, extortionate, or subservient. But where all 
 travel, hotel-keepers can afford to act magnanimously. 
 Instead of looking to a livelihood from a few customers, 
 scheming petty gains by running up a bill for the use 
 of candles, firing, and other conveniences, and smooth 
 ing everything over by a mercenary bow, the proprietor 
 of an American hotel is a capitalist at the head of 
 a great concern, and would despise doing anything 
 shabby ; hundreds pour into and out of his house daily ; 
 he notices neither your coming nor going; without 
 ceremony you are free of the establishment ; and when 
 you pay and depart, there are no bows, no thanks but 
 you are not fleeced; and that is always felt to be a 
 comfort. 
 
 In recollection, I am at this moment arriving at the 
 Astor House, one of the most respectable hotels in New 
 York, though outdone in dimensions and decoration by 
 some of the newer establishments. Before me is a huge 
 building of whitish granite, with a front on Broadway 
 of 200 feet, a height of six stories, and forming 
 altogether an independent block, with rows of windows 
 on every side. The ground-floor consists entirely of 
 retail - stores of various kinds, and ascending by a 
 central flight of steps, we reach a spacious lobby with 
 marble flooring and pillars. This lobby is strewed 
 about with luggage newly arrived, or about to be 
 
NEW YORK. 181 
 
 carried out ; young men are lounging about on chairs ; 
 some persons are walking to and fro ; several house- 
 porters are seated on a form waiting for orders ; long 
 corridors are extended right and left; opposite the 
 entrance is an access to the bar and other conveniences ; 
 and near a window behind is a counter and desk where 
 the whole book-keeping is conducted by a clerk or 
 general supervisor of the concern. Walking up to this 
 functionary, we inscribe our name in a book ; without 
 speaking a word, he marks a number opposite the 
 name, takes down a key with a corresponding number 
 in brass attached to it, issues an order to a porter, 
 and we and our baggage march off along one of the 
 corridors and up several stairs till we reach the 
 assigned apartment. 
 
 Here, on looking round, everything is neat and 
 commodious ; and on the back of the door is seen a 
 printed statement of particulars requisite to be known 
 the times of meals, the charge per diem, and so 
 forth. The number of apartments in the house is 326 ; 
 a portion of them being bedrooms of a better class for 
 families and ladies, and the others of the small kind 
 appropriated to single gentlemen. These classes are 
 distinct in every respect. Descending to the level of 
 the entrance-hall, we search out an eating-saloon, and 
 parlours devoted principally to the single male guests, 
 and in the opposite corridor is observed a suite of public 
 apartments used by ladies and married people, yet 
 not shut against casual visitors. There is, in truth, 
 little privacy. The whole house swarms like a hive. 
 The outer swing-door bangs backwards and forwards 
 incessantly ; and the rapid thronging of guests and 
 visitors in and out, can be fancied when I mention 
 that, on several occasions, I counted as many as 
 twenty persons entering and the like number departing 
 per minute. Resembling in certain details the larger 
 
182 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 continental hotels, there is, generally speaking, nothing 
 at all to compare with this in Europe. 
 
 Among the novel parts of the system are the 
 arrangements in the family and lady department. Here, 
 we find ourselves in a kind of elysium of princely 
 drawing-rooms and boudoirs, in which velvet, lace, satin, 
 gilding, rich carpets and mirrors, contribute to form 
 a scene of indescribable luxury. What strikes us as 
 rather remarkable, is the fact that the doors of these 
 various sitting -apartments are generally wide open. 
 I saw this everywhere. Passing by, you see highly- 
 dressed ladies reposing on satin couches, or lolling in 
 rocking-chairs. One, who has just come in, and still 
 has on her bonnet and shawl, is rattling over the keys 
 of a piano. Another is reading a novel. Several are 
 outside in the corridor, seated on velvet-covered otto 
 mans, talking to each other or to the gentlemen belong 
 ing to their party. These corridors are every whit as 
 elegantly furnished as the rooms, and are jocularly 
 spoken of as the flirtation-galleries/ on account of 
 their qualities as places of general resort and conversa 
 tion. Another recommendable quality they possess 
 is their comparative coolness. The drawing-rooms, 
 leading from them, are kept so hot by staring red fires 
 of anthracite coal, that I am at a loss to understand 
 how the temperature can be endured. 
 
 What between dressing, lounging about the suite of 
 drawing-rooms and flirtation-galleries, and attending 
 at meals in the saloons, the lady-guests of these hotels 
 have little time for miscellaneous occupation. Some 
 of them appear in a different dress at every meal, and, 
 in point of elegance and costliness of attire, they 
 went beyond anything in my poor experience, except 
 at full-dress evening-parties and balls. In the more 
 moderate class of hotels, this attention to costume 
 is less conspicuous, and the ladies unceremoniously 
 
NEW YORK. 183 
 
 take their seats at the top of the table common to all 
 the guests. In such houses, however, as the Astor, 
 families and ladies usually take their meals in a saloon 
 by themselves; and when there are children, they 
 likewise have their own special table-d hote. The 
 mention of children in such establishments is not 
 suggestive of pleasing recollections. Everywhere, 
 these youngsters are a sore trial of temper to the 
 guests generally. Flying up and down the passages 
 with hoops, yelling, crying, and tumbling about in 
 everybody s way, they are clearly out of place, and 
 constitute an unhappy and outre feature in American 
 hotel-life. 
 
 It need not be supposed, because families and 
 children are seen to be domesticated in hotels, that this 
 kind of housekeeping is carried to any great length. 
 Young persons, for a few years after being married, 
 and families in town for the winter, are the principal 
 inmates of the class ; though it must be admitted that 
 other circumstances give a bias towards this method of 
 living. Probably something is due to that choice of 
 viands cooked in first-rate style, which could not be 
 obtained in a separate establishment unless at a very 
 high cost. The French cuisine predominates, and the 
 profusion of dishes mentioned in the bills of fare put 
 before guests, is such as cannot fail to astonish those 
 who in England are fain to dine off a single joint. The 
 entire charge for board and lodging, service included, 
 in the Astor House, was two dollars and a half, equal 
 to 10s. English, per diem, for a single individual. 
 This is a common charge at the best hotels; in a few 
 instances the charge being as high as three, and 
 sometimes as low as one or two dollars. 
 
 Breajdast from eight to ten, dinner at three, and tea 
 at seven, was the routine at the table-d hote of the 
 Astor ; on each occasion, about 200 guests sitting down 
 
184 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 at three long and well-served tables. Here, again, 
 though looking for it day after day, did I fail, as on 
 previous occasions, to see the slightest approach to 
 hurried eating ; and as until the last moment of my 
 stay in America I never saw such a thing, I am bound, 
 so far as my observation goes, to say that the national 
 reproach on this score, if it ever was true, is so no 
 longer. Calling for dishes, by printed bills of fare, a 
 custom now all but universal, in reality renders any 
 scramble unnecessary. So far from being hurried, any 
 man may draw out his dinner for an hour, if he pleases, 
 and all the time have a waiter in attendance at his back 
 to bring him whatsoever he desires. I think it due to 
 the Americans to make this remark on a very common 
 place topic; and likewise to say of them, that their 
 temperance at table filled me with no little surprise. 
 In the large dining-parties at the Astor (as at other 
 houses), there were seldom seen more than one or two 
 bottles of wine. Nor did any exciting beverage seem 
 desirable. A goblet of pure water, with ice, was placed 
 for the use of every guest; and in indulging in this 
 simple potation, I felt how little is done in England 
 to promote habits of sobriety by furnishing water, 
 attractive alike for its brilliant purity and coolness. 
 
 Dropping off from table, a number of the guests 
 adjourn to the parlours, where they read newspapers 
 bought from boys who frequent the doorway and 
 passages, or they lounge idly on the sofas, or take to 
 writing at the tables (never much talking, and the doors 
 always wide open) ; some go out in pursuit of business ; 
 some, who like to sit in the midst of a fluctuating 
 crowd, betake themselves to the chairs in the lobby; 
 and some descend to the bar. This latter place of 
 resort is a large and finely decorated apartment, lighted 
 from the roof, and occupying the entire central court 
 round which the house is built. In the middle is a 
 
NEW YORK. 185 
 
 jet d eau and basin; at one side is a marble counter, 
 with, an attendant in charge of a few bottles behind him 
 on a shelf, whence he supplies glasses of liquor to those 
 calling for them, and which are paid for on the spot. 
 A number of chairs are scattered about. Two fire 
 places, with blazing billets of wood, throw a cheerful 
 heat around. A young man at a small enclosure is 
 selling cigars ; and on two long stands are placed files 
 of newspapers from all the principal cities in the Union. 
 Much is said by travellers of the drinking in the bars ; 
 but in this, as in most things, there is some strange 
 exaggeration. The bar of the Astor, an exchange in 
 its way, was sometimes tolerably crowded, but I seldom 
 saw so many as a dozen at a time engaged in drinking. 
 The greater number did not drink at all ; it being one 
 of the good points in these establishments, that you 
 are left to do exactly as you like. No one heeds you, 
 or cares for you, any more than in a public street. A 
 unit in the mass, your duty is to mind yourself; seek 
 out all requisite information for yourself; and in all 
 things beyond the routine of the house, help yourself. 
 Individuality in these hotels is out of the question 
 opposed to the fundamental principle of the concern, 
 which is to keep open house on a wholesale plan. 
 You are lodged, fed, and in every other way attended 
 to by wholesale ; just as a soldier in a barrack is sup 
 plied with houseroom and rations. Any man pretend 
 ing to ask for a dinner in a room by himself would be 
 looked upon as a kind of lunatic ; and when people do 
 such a foolish thing, they have to pay handsomely for 
 invading the sacred practice of the house. How other 
 wise could such gigantic establishments be conducted? 
 Although crowded to the door, everything goes on with 
 minute regularity, like a finely adjusted machine. 
 
 Left to himself, the stranger soon drops into the 
 ranks, and strolling about, discovers a number of little 
 
186 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 conveniences ready to his hand. Let us just look round 
 the lobby of the Astor, beginning with the left-hand 
 side. There, at a wicket in the wall, like an open 
 window, stands a man to take your hat and upper coat, 
 and put them away in a bin till you want them. Look 
 ing into the place, you see it surrounded with recep 
 tacles for articles, which it would be inconvenient to 
 carry about the house, or hazardous to lay down care 
 lessly ; for we are admonished by placards to beware 
 of hotel thieves a hint not to be lightly disregarded. 
 Adjoining in a niche in the lobby, is a man with brush 
 in hand ready to clean and burnish your soiled boots. 
 A little further on is a light closet, with basins of water 
 and towels, to save you the trouble of mounting to your 
 bedroom before going in to dinner. Further round in 
 the lobby, is a recess with a desk, pens, ink, and paper, 
 furnishing means at all times to write a hurried note. 
 A few steps beyond, and passing the flight of steps 
 which lead to the bar, we come upon an enclosure 
 like a sentry-box, in which is seated a clerk with the 
 machinery of an electric-telegraph; and on handing 
 him a slip tlirough his wicket, he will, for a trifling 
 sum, despatch a message for you to almost any city 
 throughout the United States. I made use of this 
 gentleman s wires on two occasions, in sending to 
 distant towns, and had answers handed to me in a 
 neat envelope within an hour. 
 
 We now pass the waiter s form, and study the 
 apparatus of the general book-keeper, which occupies 
 the right side of the lobby. Behind the counter of 
 this officer, we perceive a large case of pigeon-holes, 
 with a number over each, and appropriated for receiv 
 ing letters or cards left for the guests. Knowing your 
 particular number, you have only to glance at the little 
 depository under it, to know if any one has been calling, 
 or if any letters have arrived for you. At one end of 
 
NEW YORK. 187 
 
 the counter, there is a letter-box into which you drop 
 all letters for post, which is another means of saving 
 trouble. But the most curious thing of all, is the 
 arrangement by which the official behind the counter 
 knows who signals from his apartment. To have some 
 hundreds of bells would produce inextricable confusion. 
 All the wires in the house centre at one bell, placed in 
 a case in the lobby, with the whole mechanism exposed 
 on one side within a sheet of plate-glass. The other 
 side of this case is covered all over with numbers in 
 rows. Adjoining each number is a small crescent- 
 shaped piece of brass, which drops from the horizontal, 
 and hangs by one end, when the wire connected with 
 it is pulled, the bell being by the same action sounded. 
 The attention of the book-keeper being so attracted, he 
 directs a waiter to proceed to the apartment indicated, 
 and with his finger restoring the bit of brass to its 
 former posture, it is ready for a fresh signal. A more 
 neat and simple arrangement could not well be ima 
 gined. The fronts of these bell-cases are of white 
 enamel, and being set in a gilt frame, have a pleasing 
 ornamental effect. 
 
 So much for the Astor, to which there are now many 
 rivals of equal or larger dimensions the Irving House, 
 the Prescott House, and numerous others, including 
 the two more recently established and peculiarly splen 
 did establishments the Metropolitan and St Nicholas, 
 both situated considerably f up town in Broadway. 
 The Metropolitan, an edifice of brown sandstone, with 
 a frontage of 300 feet, is superbly furnished, and laid 
 out with 100 suites of family apartments, and can 
 accommodate altogether 600 guests, whose wants are 
 ministered to by 250 servants. The cost of building 
 and furnishing this prodigiously large house, is said to 
 have been 1,000,000 dollars. The St Nicholas, I 
 believe, aspires to stand at the head of its order. It 
 
188 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 is a splendid structure of white marble, containing 150 
 suites of family apartments, and with accommodation 
 for nearly 800 guests ; I understood, indeed, that pre 
 parations were making for the accommodation of at 
 least 1000 people. The cost of this establishment has 
 been spoken of as 1,030,000 dollars; but doubtless 
 this is below the mark. 
 
 Some not less interesting features of these great 
 hotels remain to be noticed. They generally print their 
 own bills of fare, which are freshly executed with the 
 date, daily. Their suites of hot and cold baths, their 
 billiard-rooms, and their barbers shops, are on a most 
 commodious scale. The Americans appear to be parti 
 cularly punctilious as regards their hair and beard, 
 and a frequent visit to the peruquier seems an indis 
 pensable part of their personal economy. All English 
 gentlemen in the present day those who rely on the 
 service of valets excepted shave their own beard, for 
 which purpose they take portable dressing-cases along 
 with them on their journeys. I never could understand 
 why the not overindulgent Americans, lodging in the 
 great hotels, or travelling by river steam-boats, require 
 to be shaved by professional tonsors. At all events, 
 there, in the barber s apartment, in every hotel, are 
 seen seated a number of gentlemen under the hands 
 of coloured operators. And in what luxurious atti 
 tudes ! leaning back in a couch-like chair, and the 
 feet exalted on a velvet-covered rest, we have a picture 
 of ease and lassitude which I should fancy is only to be 
 matched in the dressing-rooms of nobles and princes. 
 
 Perhaps it may be expected that I should say a word 
 on that subject of everlasting condolence servants. I 
 was agreeably disappointed to find that the Americans 
 are not so badly off for domestic assistance as they are 
 usually represented to be. A great change for the 
 better in this respect has lately occurred, through the 
 
NEW YORK. 189 
 
 influx of Irish. It is wonderful to notice how soon an 
 Irishman in a long-tailed ragged coat and patched knee- 
 corduroys, is transformed into a hotel garcon, dressed 
 neatly in a white jacket and pants, combed, brushed, 
 and rendered as amenable to discipline as if under the 
 orders of a drill-sergeant. Thus smartened up, the 
 Irish have become a most important people in the 
 United States. Irish girls, who would fail to find an 
 open door in London, are here received with a sigh of 
 delight ; and what American housewives and hotel- 
 keepers would now do without them, is painful to 
 reflect upon. It being apparently a fixed maxim in 
 the mind of every white man and woman in the States, 
 that domestic service is intolerable, the inpouring of 
 Irish has solved an immense difficulty. Numerous, 
 and spread over a wide region, this useful people have 
 already dispossessed in a great degree the coloured race, 
 who, consequently pushed into humbler situations, 
 suffer, it may be presumed, an aggravation of their 
 sufficiently unhappy lot. I found corps of coloured 
 waiters chiefly in Canada. At only one place (Congress 
 Hall Hotel, Albany) did I see them in any of the 
 northern states. Whether white or coloured, the 
 waiters in every hotel, when attending table, are 
 marshalled into the saloon, each carrying a plated 
 dish in his hand, the procession reminding one of the 
 theatrical march in Aladin ; and in the setting down, 
 and uncovering these dishes, and walking off with the 
 lids the whole corps moving off in line they obey a 
 fugleman with that military precision, which among a 
 people less imperturbable than the Americans, could 
 scarcely fail to excite a certain degree of merriment. 
 
 The laundry departments of the American hotels 
 ought not to be forgotten in the list of marvels. Placed 
 under the management of a special clerk, who records 
 all necessary details, the arrangements for washing, 
 
190 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 drying, and ironing, would astonish any ordinary 
 laundress. The drying is done by rapidly-whirling 
 machines, which wring out the wet, and cause the 
 articles to pass through currents of hot air, so as to 
 turn them out ready for the ironer in the space of a 
 few minutes. Depending on these aids, the American 
 needs not to encumber himself with great loads of 
 underclothing in his excursions. Anywhere, in an hour 
 or two, he can get everything washed and dressed, as 
 if he had just started from home. Arrangements for 
 his comfort do not stop here. In New York, and 
 generally in other large cities, the hotels, for the most 
 part, have a range of shops or stores on the ground- 
 floor, fronting the street, adapted to supply the wants 
 of travellers. Articles of clothing, gloves, jewellery, 
 umbrellas, canes, note-paper, perfumery, medicines, 
 and so on, are found in these shops, which in one 
 place (Washington) I found were connected with the 
 hotel by a back-entrance from the main corridor. An 
 American hotel is not a house : it is a town. 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 NEW YORK CONCLUDED. 
 
 STANDING on the steps of the Astor House, we have 
 the thoroughfare of Broadway right and left, with the 
 Park in front Barnum s theatre, covered with great 
 gaudy paintings, across the way and can here perhaps 
 better than anywhere else, observe the concourse of 
 passengers and vehicles. Accustomed to the flow of 
 omnibuses in London, the number of this variety of 
 public conveyance though great, does not excite surprise. 
 That which appears most novel, is the running to and 
 fro of railway-cars on East Broadway, a thoroughfare 
 terminating opposite to us at the extremity of the Park. 
 Already I have spoken of a railway-train being brought 
 in detachments by horses into the heart of the city ; but 
 this is only one of several such intrusions. Permitted, 
 for some mysterious reason, by the civic authorities, 
 lines of rail are laid along several prominent thorough 
 fares an exceedingly convenient arrangement as regards 
 transit from one part of the city to another, but not 
 quite pleasant, I should think, to the inhabitants of 
 these streets and squares through which the cars make 
 their perambulations. The cars on these street-railways 
 are hung low, seated like an omnibus, and will stop at 
 any point to take up or set down passengers. The 
 ordinary omnibuses of New York have no cad behind. 
 The door is held close by a cord or belt from the hand 
 of the driver, who relaxes it to allow the entry or exit 
 
192 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA/ 
 
 of the passengers. I was amused with the manner in 
 which the fare is taken in these vehicles. The passenger 
 who wishes to be set down, hands his money through a 
 hole in the roof to the driver, who forthwith relaxes the 
 cord, and the door flies open. As there appeared to be 
 no check on two or more departing when only one had 
 paid, I suppose the practice of shirking fares is not very 
 common. I cannot say that the omnibus-system of 
 New York is an improvement on our own. The drivers 
 are still more unconscionable in their reception of extra 
 passengers, particularly if the applicants be ladies. In 
 such cases, the gentlemen either stand, or take the ladies 
 on their knee. I happened to see a cram of this kind two 
 or three times ; and I observe that the abuse forms a 
 theme of jocular complaint in the New York newspapers. 
 The necessity for seeking vehicular conveyance arises 
 not more from the extreme length of the city, than the 
 condition of the principal thoroughfares. I am indeed 
 sorry to hint that New York is, or at least was during 
 my visit, not so cleanly as it might be. Statists assure 
 us that it possesses 1500 dirt-carts, and in 1853 cost 
 the sum of 250,000 dollars for cleaning. Where these 
 carts were, and how all this money was expended, I 
 cannot imagine. The mire was ankle-deep in Broad 
 way, and the more narrow business streets were barely 
 passable. The thing was really droll. All along the 
 foot-pavements there stood, night and day, as if fixtures, 
 boxes, buckets, lidless flour-barrels, baskets, decayed 
 tea-chests, rusty iron pans, and earthenware jars full of 
 coal-ashes. There they rested, some close to the houses, 
 some leaning over into the gutter, some on the door 
 steps, some knocked over and spilt, and to get forward 
 you required to take constant care not to fall over them. 
 Odd as this spectacle seemed on Saturday at noon, it 
 was still more strange on Sunday, when bells were 
 ringing, and people were streaming along to church. 
 
NEW YORK CONCLUDED. 193 
 
 Passing up Broadway on this occasion, and looking 
 into a side-street, the scene of confused debris was of 
 a kind not to be easily forgotten ashes, vegetable 
 refuse, old hats without crowns, worn-out shoes, and 
 other household wreck, lay scattered about as a field of 
 agreeable inquiry for a number of long-legged and 
 industrious pigs. I often laugh at the recollection of 
 these queer displays, and wonder whether the boxes and 
 barrels of ashes are yet removed from Broadway, or 
 whether Pearl, Nassau, and Fulton Streets have seen 
 the face of a scavenger ! 
 
 It was a delicate subject to touch upon, but I did 
 venture to inquire into the cause of these phenomena. 
 One uniform answer maladministration in civic affairs ; 
 jobbing of members of the corporation into each other s 
 hands. Considering that the body labouring under 
 these imputations was chosen by popular suffrage, the 
 blame thrown upon them, I thought, was as much due 
 to the electors as the elected. Something, in explana 
 tion, was said of the overbearing influence of the lower 
 and more venal class of voters; but giving all due 
 weight to an argument of this kind, it seemed to me 
 that we had here only a vivid demonstration of that 
 species of desertion of public duties, which is seen in 
 London and other great marts of commerce, where 
 men, being too busy to mind anything but their own 
 affairs, leave the civic administration to the idle, the 
 selfish, and incompetent. Be this as it may, things 
 at the time of my sojourn had come to a deplorable 
 pass. You could not take up a newspaper without 
 seeing accounts of unchecked disorders, or reading 
 sarcasms on official delinquencies. In the New York 
 Herald for November 28, 1853, the following passages 
 occur in an article on Rowdies a class of brawling 
 reprobates who molest the public thoroughfares : 
 
 The insecurity of human life in New York has 
 if 
 
194 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 become proverbial; and it is a grave question with 
 many, whether it is not practically as bad to live under 
 the despotism of a felonious rabble as the tyranny of 
 an aristocrat. Our police, with a few exceptions, are 
 the worst in the world. It is a notorious fact that they 
 are seldom in the way when crimes are committed, and 
 when they see them by accident, they are very likely 
 to skulk away and avoid all danger and difficulty. If 
 a bank or some wealthy individual has lost a large sum 
 of money, they will probably get hold of it, because 
 they calculate upon a handsome reward. But when 
 they know they cannot make anything extra anything 
 beyond their salary there is not one in a hundred of 
 them will give himself the least concern about the lives 
 or limbs of the citizens who pay them for protection. 
 We perceive that their pay has increased of late. We 
 don t find that it has contributed very much to increase 
 their vigilance. The whole evil lies in a nut-shell 
 it is the accursed system of politics that prevails at 
 primary elections, and thence spreads its ramifications 
 over the entire social fabric. Strike at the root, and 
 the poison-tree will fall/ 
 
 Perhaps the most appalling feature in the economy 
 of New York, is the number of fires, many of them 
 involving enormous losses of property. According to 
 an official report quoted in a newspaper, the amount 
 of property destroyed by fire in New York in 1853, was 
 5,000,000 of dollars. In not a few instances, it has 
 been feared that these conflagrations are the work of 
 incendiaries for the sake of plunder ; though I incline 
 to the belief that they originate in a more simple cause 
 the headlong speed and incautiousness with which 
 affairs are ordinarily conducted.* When fires do occur, 
 
 * Since the above was written, a fire has occurred in Broadway, at which 
 a number of firemen lost their lives by injuries sustained on the occasion. 
 The coroner s jury in deciding on the cause of the deaths, added the following 
 
NEW YORK CONCLUDED. 195 
 
 they are greatly facilitated by the slenderness of 
 inner partitions and wooden stairs in the houses ; and 
 though the exertions of the fire-brigades are generally 
 beyond all praise, they are not able to prevent exten 
 sive destruction and loss. The frequency of these 
 conflagrations, which sometimes involve a sacrifice of 
 life as well as of property, cannot, however, be said to 
 have met with that serious attention which such grave 
 casualties would seem to demand. The stimulus to 
 push forward in business acting like a species of in 
 toxication, appears to cause an indifference to misfor 
 tune. In short, there is no time to ponder over losses 
 no time even to avoid being cheated. An anecdote 
 in illustration of the impetuous way in which matters 
 are managed, was told to me as a remarkably good 
 thing of its kind. Two men, one day, with a long 
 ladder and proper implements, gravely proceeded to 
 take down the metal rain-conductor from a house of 
 business, and carried it off without question or molest 
 ation. A few days afterwards they returned, restored 
 the tube to its place, also unchallenged, and having 
 finished operations, presented an account for repairs, 
 &c., which was instantly paid, the truth being that no 
 mending was required, and the whole affair a trick; 
 but the parties plundered had no time for inquiry, and 
 settled the demand in order to be done with it. How 
 many petty exactions are daily submitted to 011 the 
 same principle ! 
 
 As a great emporium of commerce, growing in size 
 and importance, New York offers employment in a 
 variety of pursuits to the skilful, the steady, and 
 industrious, and on such terms of remuneration as 
 
 opinion, confirmatory of the worst suspicions as to incendiarism : We 
 believe that the fire was caused by incendiaries, and that they entered on 
 the roof for the purpose of plunder, having obtained access thereto from 
 the roof of an adjoining building. 
 
196 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 leaves little room for complaint. It would, however, 
 be a prodigious mistake to suppose that amidst this 
 field for well-doing, poverty and wretchedness are 
 unknown. In New York, there is a place called the 
 Five Points, a kind of St Giles s; and here, and in 
 some other quarters of this great city, you see and 
 hear of a sink of vice and misery resembling the more 
 squalid and dissolute parts of Liverpool or Glasgow. 
 For this the stranger is not prepared by the accounts 
 he has received of the condition of affairs in America. 
 Wages of manual labour, a dollar to two dollars a day. 
 Servants, labourers, mechanics, wanted. The rural 
 districts crying for hands to assist in clearing and 
 cultivating the ground. Land to be had for the merest 
 trifle. The franchise, too, that much-coveted boon, 
 offered to all. Alas ! man s destiny, on whichever side 
 of the Atlantic, is not altogether to live by voting, but 
 by working. What signify high wages, land, and 
 liberty, if people shew 110 disposition to earn and make 
 a proper use of these advantages if, instead of labour 
 ing at some useful occupation, they habitually squander 
 away existence, and do all sorts of wicked things to 
 keep soul and body together. New York contains 
 many thousands of this order of desperates, or call 
 them unfortunates, if you will men ruined by follies 
 and crimes in the old country ; outfitters J sent abroad 
 by friends who wish never more to see or hear of them ; 
 refugee politicians, who, after worrying Europe, have 
 gone to disturb America (which, fortunately, they are 
 not able to do) ; beings who might have lived creditably 
 in the Golden Age, but who possess no accurate ideas 
 of the responsibilities of this drudging nineteenth cen 
 tury; immigrants weakened and demoralised by their 
 treatment on board ship ; and to sum up with an item 
 which includes nearly everything else intemperates 
 living upon their wits and the bottle. Collectively 
 
NEW YORK CONCLUDED. 197 
 
 forming a mass of vice and wretchedness,, we have here, 
 in fact, a dangerous class/ the cryptogamia of society, 
 flourishing in dark holes and corners, just as it is seen 
 to do in any large city of the Old World. Is it an 
 ordination of nature that every great seat of population 
 shall contain so much human wreck ? 
 
 From whatever cause it may originate, New York 
 is beginning to experience the serious pressure of a 
 vicious and impoverished class. Prisons, hospitals, 
 asylums, juvenile reformatories, alms-houses, houses of 
 refuge, and an expensive, though strangely ineffective 
 police, are the apparatus employed to keep matters 
 within bounds. The governors of a cluster of penal 
 and beneficiary institutions report, that in 1852, they 
 expended 465,109 dollars in administering relief to 
 80,357 persons. Passing over any notice of the many 
 thousands, including crowds of recently arrived immi 
 grants, assisted by other associations, we have here a 
 number equal to 1 in 7 of the population, coming 
 under review as criminals or paupers in the course of a 
 year a most extraordinary thing to be said of any place 
 in a country which offers such boundless opportunities 
 for gaining a respectable subsistence. Let Europe, 
 however, bear her proper share of the shame. Of 
 all who pass through the prisons, or stand in need of 
 charitable assistance, it is found that 75 per cent, are 
 foreigners; and the cheerful and untiring manner in 
 which relief is administered to so many worthless and 
 unfortunate strangers, surely goes far to extenuate the 
 reproach of dollar- worship/ which has been cast on the 
 American character. To fortify the weak and lift the 
 fallen, much is humanely attempted to be done through 
 religious agencies. Bible and tract societies, and 
 church-missions, make extraordinary exertions; and 
 the industrious and affluent, moved by representa 
 tions from the press, are uniting in efforts for social 
 
198 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 improvement. At the time of my visit, the subject of 
 a better class of dwellings for the working-classes was 
 agitated; and looking at the overcrowded houses, and 
 the excessively high rents paid, it seemed to me that a 
 movement of this kind was desirable. Since my return 
 home, an unsuccessful effort has been made to pass a law 
 for shutting up the taverns (the number of which was 
 5980 in the early part of 1853) ; these establishments 
 being believed to be a main source of all the prevalent 
 vice and poverty in the city. 
 
 If New York has the misfortune to suffer from an 
 accumulating mass of crime and poverty, it cannot be 
 said that she takes little pains to avert this calamity 
 through the efficacy of religious ministrations or ele 
 mentary education. In 1853, the city contained 254 
 churches, conducted, I believe, with a zeal equal to 
 anything we can offer. From personal examination, I 
 am able to speak with greater precision on the subject 
 of school instruction. The educational system of New 
 York, in its higher and lower departments, is on a 
 singularly complete scale. Independently of a number 
 of private academies, there are as many as 230 schools, 
 of which twenty-two are for coloured children, in 
 all of which education is entirely free. These free- 
 schools, which are judiciously scattered through every 
 locality, and open to all, are supported entirely by funds 
 granted from the revenue of the municipality the 
 appropriation having been 633,813 dollars, or about 
 125,000 sterling for the current year. Such is the 
 considerate liberality of the city corporation in main 
 taining the schools and keeping up their efficiency, that 
 one would almost be disposed to think that this much 
 abused body is, after all, not so bad as it is called. I 
 fear that more is done than the people properly appre 
 ciate. The registered number of pupils in the various 
 free-schools on the 1st of January 1853, was 127,237 ; 
 
NEW YORK CONCLUDED. 190 
 
 but it appears that the average attendance was only 
 44,596 * a fact which throws a curious light on the 
 method of training youth. With a profusion of 
 schools, nothing to complain of in the routine of in 
 struction, and nothing to pay, it is certainly strange 
 to find that, on an average, many more than one-half 
 of all the children nominally at school, were absent; 
 though from what cause is not explained. According 
 to recent accounts, it would appear that the poverty 
 and neglect of parents rendered it as necessary in New 
 York as in London or Edinburgh, to supplement all the 
 ordinary means of education with a class of schools 
 for the ragged vagrants of the streets so close is the 
 analogy becoming between the condition of cities in 
 the New and Old World.f 
 
 That education of an elementary kind should be 
 offered without charge to all classes of children, at the 
 public expense, will not appear so surprising as that 
 
 * Annual Report of the Board of Education of the City and County of 
 New York, 1853. 
 
 f With the princely fortunes accumulating on the one hand, and the 
 stream of black poverty pouring in on the other, contrasts of condition are 
 
 springing up as hideous as those of the Old World There should be 
 
 a cure which should go to the source of our social evils in the great cities. 
 .... In the meantime, we call attention to the efforts now being made by 
 various parties hi our city to meet these increasing wants. A circular appears 
 in another column from an association of ladies, acting in connection with the 
 Children s Aid Society, which shews the character of these enterprises. A 
 Ragged School, or, better named, an Industrial School, is opened, where the 
 children who are too poor for the public schools are taught a common- 
 school education and a means of livelihood. A soup-kitchen is connected 
 with the establishment. The labour, as in the London Ragged Schools, is 
 mostly performed by volunteers ; though here entirely by ladies, often from 
 our highest and most intelligent circles. We understand there are now eight 
 of these schools in the city. It is a new feature in New York high life 
 this active labour and sympathy for the poor. Much of it may be a fashion, 
 like most of our New York impulses ; still it is a noble fashion. It is the 
 first step towards bridging over this fearful gulf now widening between 
 different classes. New York Tribune, April 21, 1854. 
 
200 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 instruction even up to the higher branches of study 
 may be obtained by any youth in New York who 
 claims and is found prepared for receiving such a boon. 
 I allude here to the operations of the Free Academy, 
 which may be described as the crowning-point of 
 the free-school system. This institution I felt much 
 interest in visiting. It occupies a large building, more 
 like a college than a school, and in reality is a college 
 in all but the name. Under the superintendence of 
 fourteen professors and a number of tutors, I found 
 upwards of 400 youths, divided in classes and accom 
 modated in different apartments, receiving an education 
 of the most liberal kind at the public cost. Mathema 
 tics, Classics and Modern Languages, Oratory, Drawing, 
 Composition, and the Natural Sciences, were among the 
 subjects taught; a large library is also open to the 
 pupils. The annual charge on the school-fund for this 
 academy is about 20,000 dollars. The public support 
 of such an establishment is considered, I believe, to 
 be of doubtful policy. The most obvious objection is, 
 that public property is taxed to educate a select num 
 ber with professional aims in view. It must, however, 
 be borne in mind, that the child of the poorest is as 
 eligible as the child of the most wealthy citizen; the 
 only test for admission being the ability to pass a suit 
 able and impartially conducted examination. I felt no 
 small pleasure in learning that social distinction was 
 totally unknown in the academy; and that at least 
 thirty of the boys were the sons of persons in a humble 
 rank of life. 
 
 The progress of refined tastes in New York has been 
 significantly marked by the establishment of a Crystal 
 Palace, emulative of similar constructions in Europe, 
 and which I considered myself fortunate in arriving in 
 time to visit. Placed in a somewhat confined situation 
 in Reservoir Square, towards the northern extremity 
 
NEW YORK CONCLUDED. 201 
 
 of the city, the edifice was not exteriorly seen to 
 advantage, and was rather cramped in its proportions. 
 Although considerably less in size than the Irish Exhi 
 bition, and a pigmy in dimensions as compared with the 
 Palace at Sydenham, it was, nevertheless, a fine thing 
 of its kind, and must have furnished a fair idea of the 
 nature and appearance of the Great Exhibition in Hyde 
 Park. In shape it was a cross, 365 feet long each way, 
 with a lofty dome in the centre, 100 feet in diameter. 
 Some lesser erections filled up the angles of the 
 cross, and with a separate building of two stories for 
 machinery in the lower, and pictures in the upper 
 gallery, the whole afforded space for a highly respect 
 able exhibition. The interior arrangements and style 
 of decoration bore a close resemblance to what was 
 observed in the structure in Hyde Park courts for 
 particular classes of productions, rows of statuary, 
 galleries with flags and drapery, and stands for the 
 lighter articles of manufacture. 
 
 To this Exhibition, Great Britain, France, Austria, 
 the Netherlands, and other European countries, had 
 contributed objects of useful and ornamental art; but 
 the bulk of the articles shewn were American, and 
 testified to the extraordinary progress in industrial 
 pursuits. It was observable, that this progress em 
 braced little in pictorial art, or the higher order of 
 design. Of the collection of 654 paintings, the greater 
 number were from Germany, Holland, France, and 
 England; the whole contributed by the United States 
 being about forty. One picture I had seen previously 
 the First of May, by Winterhalter, which represents the 
 Duke of Wellington presenting a casket to his godson, 
 the young Prince Arthur; it was contributed to the 
 Exhibition by Queen Victoria, and attracted many 
 admirers. In the fine arts, America cannot yet be 
 reasonably expected to rival Europe ; though under the 
 
202 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 fostering influence of wealth, that rivalry will, of course, 
 come in time. What the Americans do excel in, is the 
 invention of tools, machinery, and miscellaneous objects 
 directly useful. In these departments, therefore, there 
 was material for profound meditation; and in seeing 
 the ingenious and beautifully executed implements in 
 wood and metal, and machines for saving and expediting 
 labour, I wished that England had not been satisfied 
 with deputing two or three commissioners to attend 
 the opening of the Exhibition, but that whole companies 
 of mechanics had come to admire and be instructed. 
 Altogether, the Exhibition afforded a striking specimen 
 of native skill and resources ; and a conviction was left 
 on the mind, that to treat either that skill or these 
 resources with indifference, would be highly impolitic. 
 Besides being much pleased with the machinery at rest 
 and in motion, including some finely executed steam- 
 engines, I felt much interest in the extent and variety 
 of minerals, the collection of which was remarkably 
 perfect. Coal, salt, marbles, metals, and other articles, 
 all found in abundance, pointed to the amount of 
 hidden wealth in the several states. Coal of the 
 richest kind was also exhibited from Nova Scotia ; but 
 the sight of it suggested the unpleasing reflection, 
 that the great mineral-fields of that ill-used province, 
 gifted by a late English sovereign to a favourite, 
 are pretty nearly useless either to the possessor or the 
 public. 
 
 On the occasion of my visit, the Exhibition was 
 crowded with a well-dressed and orderly company ; and 
 I should fancy that as respects the education of the eye 
 in matters of taste, it must have been productive of 
 good effects. Unfortunately, it proved a lamentable 
 failure as a commercial enterprise. Originated and 
 conducted by a joint-stock company, with only honor 
 ary patronage from government, the Exhibition, at its 
 
NEW YORK CONCLUDED. 203 
 
 close, was found not to have paid its expenses not so 
 much from any imperfect appreciation of its merits, as 
 from delays in opening. The design, I believe, is to 
 re-open and permanently keep up the Exhibition with 
 some new and attractive features, under the presidency 
 of the immortal Barnum ! 
 
 In New York, the means of social improvement, 
 through the agency of public libraries, lectures, and 
 reading-rooms, are exceedingly conspicuous. One of the 
 most munificent of these institutions, is the recently 
 opened Astor Library, founded by an endowment of the 
 late John Jacob Astor, who bequeathed a fund of 
 400,000 dollars to erect a handsome building and store 
 it with books for the free use of the public. I went 
 to see this library, and found that it consisted of a 
 splendid collection of 100,000 volumes, a large propor 
 tion of which were works in the best European editions, 
 properly classified, with every suitable accommodation 
 for literary study. The New York Mercantile Library, 
 and the Apprentices Library, are institutions con 
 ducted with great spirit and of much value to the 
 community. A very large and handsome building 
 was in process of erection at a cost of 300,000 dollars, 
 by a benevolent citizen, Mr Peter Cooper, for the 
 purpose of a free reading-room and lectures. The 
 limited space at my disposal does not enable me 
 to particularise other institutions of this class, or to 
 notice the learned societies in which the higher order 
 of intellects co-operate. 
 
 The prevalence of education throughout the United 
 States leads, as may be supposed, to a taste for reading, 
 which finds the widest indulgence in easily acquired 
 newspapers and books. Newspapers are seen every 
 where in the hands of the labouring as well as the 
 wealthy classes. Every small town issues one or more 
 of these papers, and in large cities they are produced 
 
204 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 in myriads. In the streets, at the doors of hotels, and 
 in railway-cars, boys are seen selling them in con 
 siderable numbers. Nobody ever seems to grudge 
 buying a paper. In the parlours of public-houses and 
 hotels in England, a newspaper is handed from one 
 person to another, because the purchase of a copy 
 would be expensive; but we see little of this practice 
 in America. Every morning at the Astor House, 
 I should think some hundreds of newspapers were 
 bought by the guests. At breakfast, almost every 
 man had a paper. And I believe I may safely aver, 
 that no working-man of any respectability goes without 
 his paper daily, or at least several times a week. News 
 papers, in a word, are not a casual luxury, but a 
 necessary of life in the States ; and the general lowness 
 of price of the article admits of its widest diffusion. 
 
 Many of these papers are only a cent equal to a 
 half-penny each; but two or three cents are a more 
 common price, and some are charged five or six 
 cents. Compared with the expensively got up and 
 well-written morning papers of London, the American 
 newspapers, though low-priced, are scarcely entitled 
 to be called cheap. Much of their space is occupied 
 with advertisements, and in some cases the whole 
 readable matter amounts to a few paragraphs of news 
 and remarks connected with party politics. Indulgence 
 in personalities is usually, and with truth, regarded as 
 the worst of their editorial features. In this respect, 
 however, they cannot be said to differ materially from 
 many of the newspapers of the British provinces; and 
 recollecting with shame the recent libellous malignities 
 of certain English newspapers directed against a high 
 personage, we are scarcely entitled to speak of the 
 editorial imperfections of the Americans as altogether 
 singular. Such as they are, and low in price, the 
 newspapers of the United States fulfil an important 
 
NEW YORK CONCLUDED. 205 
 
 purpose in the public economy; and with all their 
 faults, the free discussion of every variety of topic in 
 their pages is, as some will think, better than no dis 
 cussion at all. In nothing, perhaps, is there such a 
 contrast between Great Britain and America, as in the 
 facilities for disseminating newspapers. In the former 
 country, newspapers can hardly be said to reach the 
 hands of rural labourers. We could, indeed, point out 
 several counties in Scotland which cannot support so 
 much as a single weekly paper ; but depend for intel 
 ligence on a few prints posted from a distance such 
 prints affording no local information, and throwing no 
 light whatever on the peculiar, and it may be unfortu 
 nate, political and social circumstances in which the 
 people of these counties are placed. On the other 
 hand, such is the saliency of thought, such the freedom 
 of action, in the United States, that a town has hardly 
 time to get into shape before its newspaper is started ; 
 and as one always leads to two, we have soon a pair of 
 journals firing away at each other, and keeping the 
 neighbourhood in amusement, if not in a reasonable 
 amount of intelligence. While it may, therefore, suit 
 the policy of England to centralise and deal out opinion 
 according to certain maxims of expediency, and also by 
 every ingenious device to limit the number of news 
 papers, the people of the United States, taking the 
 thing into their own hands, have organised a press as 
 universal and accessible as the most ordinary article 
 of daily use. On the establishment of a newspaper 
 among them, there are no fiscal restrictions whatever. 
 There is no stamp, and, consequently, no vexatious 
 government regulations requiring to be attended to 
 no particular form of imprint necessary. Exempted 
 likewise from paper -duty, and never having been 
 burdened with a tax on advertisements, they are in 
 every sense of the word free. The transmission of 
 
203 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 newspapers by post in the United States is on an 
 equally simple footing. A newspaper despatched to 
 any place within the state in which it is published, is 
 charged only half a cent (a farthing) for postage, and 
 when sent to any other part of the United States, a 
 cent ; bnt in this latter case, if a quantity be paid for 
 in advance, the cost is only the half-cent. It is proper 
 to state, that these charges do not include delivery at 
 the houses of the parties addressed that being the 
 subject of a separate small fee; and it is here, both as 
 regards letters and newspapers, that the superiority of 
 the British post-office system is conspicuous. 
 
 Decentralising in principle, the newspaper system of 
 the States still relies for the more important items of 
 home and foreign intelligence on the prints of the 
 large cities, which spare neither pains nor expense, by 
 electric-telegraph or otherwise, in procuring the earliest 
 and most exciting news. In this respect, New York 
 may be said to take the lead, by means of several 
 newspapers conducted with a remarkable degree of 
 energy among which may be noticed the Herald, 
 Tribune, Post, and Commercial Advertiser. In con 
 nection with this prominent feature of New York, it 
 seems proper to state that this city has latterly acquired 
 importance, if not for literary production, at least 
 for the dispersion of books; encroaching, so far, on 
 the older literary marts of Boston and Philadelphia. 
 Periodically in New York there occur great sales by 
 auction to the trade not of mere parcels of books, but 
 whole editions prepared for the purpose, and trans 
 mitted from publishing houses in different parts of 
 the Union. These sales, like the book-fairs of Leipsic, 
 attract purchasers from great distances, and literary 
 wares are disposed of on a scale of extraordinary 
 magnitude. New York likewise possesses a number 
 of publishers of books, original and reprinted, though, 
 
NEW YORK CONCLUDED. 207 
 
 so far as I could judge, the works, generally, are not 
 of tlie same high-standing as those which are issued 
 from the long-established and classic press of Boston. 
 As a place of publication, New York is best known for 
 its periodicals; of which, with newspapers included, 
 there are as many as a hundred and fifty addressed to 
 every shade of opinion. 
 
 By the politeness of Mr Dana, I was conducted over 
 the printing establishment of the Tribune, and had 
 pointed out to me a machine resembling one I saw 
 several years ago in the Times printing-office, and 
 which was turning out broadsheets with inconceivable 
 rapidity. At the large book-manufacturing concern 
 of the Messrs Harpers, which I visited a few days 
 previous to the fire, the machinery employed was 
 more novel. Thirty-four flat-pressure steam-presses, 
 all afterwards destroyed, were producing the finest 
 kind of work, such as is still effected only by hand- 
 labour in England, into which country the inventor, 
 Adams of Boston, would doubtless be doing a service 
 to introduce them. The practice of stereotyping by 
 an electric process, so as to multiply plates at a small 
 cost, and as yet scarcely known in England, was also 
 in use at the same office. The enormous demand for 
 every moderate-priced product of the press, has, of 
 course, necessitated the resort to these simplifications 
 of labour. The circulation of Harpers Magazine is 
 stated to be upwards of 100,000 copies, which no hand- 
 labour could produce, nor cylinder-printing properly 
 effect, considering the fineness of the wood-engravings 
 usually interspersed through the letter-press. Unfor 
 tunately, with every disposition to admire the vigour 
 displayed by the Harpers in conducting their popular 
 miscellany, one can entertain little respect for a work 
 which systematically adopts articles, often without 
 acknowledgment, from English periodicals. Occupying 
 
208 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 a much higher literary status, is the monthly magazine, 
 started a year ago by Mr G. P. Putnam, whose efforts 
 in cultivating native American talent, and in sustaining 
 a work of a purely original character, will, we hope, 
 be crowned with the success which they deserve. 
 
 In the course of my rambles through the printing- 
 offices of New York, I alighted upon an establishment 
 in which the Household Words of Mr Dickens was 
 furnishing employment to one of the presses. As 
 yet, the work I am myself connected with had been 
 exempted from sharing in the glory of an unautho 
 rised transatlantic impression, and I had reason for 
 gratulation accordingly. But who can tell what a 
 few days may bring forth? Since my return to 
 England, Chambers 9 s Journal has yielded to its destiny, 
 and, side by side with Mr Dickens s popular print, 
 affords what is thought a fair ground for enterprise 
 to a publisher in New York necessarily to the 
 damage of the interests concerned in importing and 
 supplying the original edition of the work. How far 
 the circulation of 10,000 copies, said to be achieved 
 by this reprint, is likely to repay the party interested, 
 I am unable to say. The absence of a law of inter 
 national copyright renders any such imitative re 
 printing legal; and though feeling that, abstractedly, 
 the present arrangements are by no means consistent 
 with a sense of justice, I have declined, for obvious 
 reasons, to enter into any argument on the subject. 
 
 It has sometimes been remarked of George III., 
 that instead of fighting his American subjects, he 
 would have shewn somewhat more prudence by 
 removing family, court, and all, to the States; and 
 so leaving Great Britain, as the lesser country, to 
 shift for itself, as a colony. Some such plan of 
 packing up and removal might almost be recom 
 mended to persons designing to follow out a course 
 
NEW YORK CONCLUDED. 209 
 
 connected professionally with any department of 
 literature. Already, certain English publishing-houses 
 are turning attention to the great and ever-extend 
 ing field of enterprise in the United States, where 
 books, as in the case of newspapers, are not a luxury 
 of the rich, but a necessary part of the household 
 furniture of those depending for subsistence on daily 
 labour. With a view to partaking in the advan 
 tages to be derived from the universal demand for 
 literary products in the States, some kind friends 
 strongly counselled the transference of myself bodily 
 to New York; and though coming rather late in the 
 day, the idea was not without its allurements. In one 
 respect, at least, the American possesses an advantage 
 over the English publisher: he is not subjected to 
 heavy taxation in carrying on his operations. When 
 I mentioned to the publishers of New York, that the 
 various works issuing from the establishment with 
 which I was connected, and addressed mainly to classes 
 to whom it was of importance to the state itself that 
 literature should be made as accessible as possible, 
 were loaded with a tax of 10,000 dollars per annum in 
 the form of paper-duty, no small wonder was expressed. 
 Why/ said they, continue to spend your existence in 
 a country in which the earnings of industry are laid 
 under such heavy contributions? The inquiry might 
 more pertinently have been put to a younger man, or 
 to one who had fewer inducements to stick to the old 
 ship; but it is exactly the kind of question which, 
 considered in its different aspects, is now drawing 
 away so many eager minds across the Atlantic. 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 BOSTON LOWELL. 
 
 AFTER paying a few visits to Brooklyn on the one side, 
 and the New Jersey shore on the other, I left New 
 York, and proceeded northwards to spend a short time 
 in New England; my journey taking me direct to 
 Boston in one day distance by railway 236 miles, for 
 which the fare was five dollars. By this line of route, 
 very large numbers pass to and from New York daily. 
 The cars, starting in detachments, with teams of 
 horses, from Canal Street, were united in a long train 
 outside the town, and then drawn in good style by a 
 locomotive at the rate of about twenty-five miles an 
 hour. The line, which makes a considerable bend in 
 its course, proceeds by way of New Haven, Hartford, 
 Springfield, and Worcester; and so traversing a popu 
 lous country, goes through the state of Connecticut 
 into Massachusetts. 
 
 After passing New Haven, a handsomely built town, 
 the seat of Yale College, the country improves in 
 appearance; and in the neighbourhood of Hartford, 
 within the valley of the Connecticut river, the land 
 is green, rich, and beautiful. When we reach Spring 
 field, the arable plains of Connecticut are exchanged 
 for the rugged and pastoral hills of Massachusetts ; and 
 we need not to be told that we have arrived in a region 
 which depends not on natural products, but on an 
 intense spirit of manufacturing industry, for its wealth 
 
BOSTON LOWELL. 211 
 
 and importance. Placed on a group of conical mounts, 
 partly environed by inlets of the sea, Boston is seen 
 on our approach to be an odd mixture of towns and 
 lakes, which the stranger requires several days to com 
 prehend and which I cannot say I quite understand 
 even yet. A fine bay, as formerly noticed, admits 
 shipping from the sea up to the various wharfs that 
 fringe the lower parts of the city, and renders Boston 
 one of the best seats of exterior commerce on the 
 whole coast of America. 
 
 It will be recollected, that it was not in this inviting 
 harbour that the Pilgrim Fathers landed in New 
 England, December 22, 1620, but at Plymouth, about 
 thirty-six miles distant along the coast to the south. 
 Boston was settled ten years later by a fresh band 
 of English refugees, fleeing from religious persecution, 
 and was at first called Tremont; but this descriptive 
 name was afterwards changed to Boston, in compli 
 ment to the Kev. John Cotton, who had emigrated from 
 Boston in Lincolnshire; and so Boston it remains, 
 along with all its traditions, historic and biographical. 
 I hinted on a previous occasion, that a glance at Boston 
 would disenchant any one from illusory ideas respecting 
 the Americans. The city, occupying the slopes of a 
 rounded low hill, is thoroughly English in aspect 
 the brick-houses smarter, perhaps, and excelling in 
 their brilliant green jalousies, plate-glass windows, and 
 general air of neatness. A number of the public and 
 other buildings are of granite, and the broad side-pave 
 ments are of this durable material. Boston is English 
 even in its irregularity. Instead of being laid out on 
 the rectangular American pattern, and garnished with 
 rows of trees, the streets wind and diverge in different 
 directions, some broad and some narrow, some steep 
 and some level, according to fancy or the nature of the 
 ground the greater part clinging parasitically round 
 
212 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 the chief of the Tremonts, which is crowned with the 
 conspicuous dome of the State-house. 
 
 I was not prepared by any previous account for the 
 throng of carriages, drays, and foot-passengers in the 
 leading thoroughfares of Boston. Washington Street, 
 which stretches longitudinally through the city, cannot 
 be compared to Broadway in New York, or the Strand 
 in London, yet as a fashionable business thoroughfare 
 it has few equals. Tremont Street, which is parallel 
 with it a little higher up the hill, is another princi 
 pal avenue through the city, communicating at one 
 end with the celebrated Boston Common. This is 
 much the finest thing of the kind in America. It 
 is an enclosed piece of ground, fifty acres in extent, 
 ornamented with trees and a fountain, irregular in 
 surface, and enclosed with a railing ; it is always 
 open for foot-passengers, and is devoted exclusively 
 to the public use. On three sides, it is bounded 
 by a terrace-like street, with a range of well-built 
 houses, the residence of the elite of Boston. This 
 spacious grassy common has a general inclination to 
 the south, and at its upper part, the line of street 
 embraces the State-house, from the summit of which 
 a very fine panoramic view of the city and its environs 
 is obtained. 
 
 In Boston there are some public buildings in the 
 best styles of architecture, and it may be said that to 
 whatever side we turn, evidences of intelligence and 
 taste are presented. After a visit to New York, the 
 appearance of Boston is particularly pleasing. Instead 
 of dirt, noise, and all sorts of irregularities, we have 
 cleanliness, comparative tranquillity, and, as it seems, 
 a system of municipal government in which things 
 are not left altogether to take charge of themselves. 
 In these and some other respects, Boston will pro 
 bably please all who like to see a well-managed and 
 
BOSTON LOWELL. 213 
 
 respectable city its police not a sham, and its streets 
 really swept in requital for the money expended on them. 
 So far are police arrangements carried, that smoking, as 
 I was informed, is not allowed in the public thorough 
 fares. A regard for neatness and decorum was a 
 predominant feature in the minds of the Puritan 
 settlers of Massachusetts, and still remains impressed 
 on the character of their descendants. We can, indeed, 
 see that in manners and various social arrangements, 
 the New England states Maine, New Hampshire, 
 Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut 
 possess a distinctive character. The cradle of civil 
 liberty, they are also the source of those great schemes 
 of free elementary education extending over the 
 Union; while in most things which tend to general 
 improvement, their people are generally seen taking 
 the lead. Some writer has remarked, that the com 
 parative barrenness of the soil of Massachusetts has 
 proved an incalculable blessing to America. Unable 
 from natural sources to support a large population, the 
 country has thrown off swarms of emigrants, who have 
 carried with them the shrewd keenness, perseverance, 
 and love of independence of the New England race, 
 which, in point of fact, is a living type of the hardy 
 and thoughtful English who battled against the Stuarts 
 in the middle of the seventeenth century. Spreading 
 into other states, these New Englanders are seen to win 
 their way by an aptitude for business and a wonderful 
 power of organisation. As merchants, lawyers, and 
 magistrates, they are acknowledged to be an important 
 element one might almost say the cement of 
 American society. Retaining the temperament and 
 modes of expression of their English ancestry, we find 
 that they are more wiry in constitution, and speak 
 in a higher and more nasal tone than is observable 
 elsewhere. 
 
214 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 Moulded from a Puritan ancestry, it might be 
 expected that the Bostonians, with many changes in 
 sentiment, would still possess a slender appreciation 
 of the fine arts; but the elegance of many of their 
 buildings, and their love of music, demonstrated by 
 the recent opening of a large and handsome hall for 
 musical entertainments, would infer that they retain 
 little of the ancient sourness of manners. They are, 
 however, like another people whom we could name 
 not signalised by any love for theatrical representations. 
 The drama, I should think, is in a low condition in 
 Boston. I went one evening to a theatre, which was 
 tolerated under the name of a Museum/ To invest it 
 with this illusory character, its spacious vestibule was 
 environed with cases of dried snakes, stuffed birds, 
 and other curiosities, which nobody, so far as I could 
 see, took the trouble to look at, the centre of attraction 
 being a theatre beyond, fitted up with a hanging- 
 gallery, and pews as like a church as possible. The 
 house was crowded with a respectable and attentive 
 audience, but the acting was of an inferior kind; and 
 what in my opinion was more objectionable, the piece 
 performed was a melodrama, in which religion was 
 irreverently blended with buffoonery. I am at a loss 
 to say whether this, like the adoption of the term 
 Museum/ was a device to soothe public prejudice, but 
 it communicated that impression. 
 
 One of the days of my sojourn in Boston was the 
 24th of November, which, by proclamation of the 
 governor of Massachusetts, was kept as Thanksgiving- 
 day according to an old custom in the New England 
 states. The institution of this religious festival is 
 traced to an early period in colonial history, and has 
 gradually assumed a national character. Each state 
 may select the day most convenient to itself: that 
 adopted, however, by Massachusetts, seems to set the 
 
BOSTON LOWELL. 215 
 
 fashion, and accordingly there is an almost universal 
 holiday. On this occasion, all business was suspended 
 in Boston, the stores" were shut, and the churches of 
 every denomination were open. In the afterpart of the 
 day, things relaxed a little. There was a thronging 
 in and outlff the city on excursions and visits, and 
 among other ^gns of jollitjAhe Museum opened its 
 attractions. *R^*day, in snort, came pretty closely 
 up to the old English Christmas one half devoted to 
 church, and the other half to dining and amusement, 
 like a genuine medisevtfl festival. I was told that the 
 meeting together of members of a family on Thanks 
 giving-day was maintained as a sacred practice in New 
 England, and that many travelled hundreds of miles to 
 be present. It is not less a universal custom to have 
 a turkey to dinner on the occasion of these family 
 reunions; ^lollttoo poy to purchase this delicacy, are 
 usually presented wfth :/t by friends or employers ; and, 
 as may be supposed, the number of turkeys required 
 throughout the Nejf England states is immense. The 
 opening of the chinches for public worship permitted 
 me to attend Kjpfs Chapel, a respectable-looking 
 stone-built church^ nearly opposite the Tremont Hotel, 
 where I had taken up my quarters. This church, 
 fitted with high family-pews of dark wood, like those 
 of the parish churches of England, retained very nearly 
 the appearance it possessed previous to the revolution, 
 when it was the place of worship of- the English 
 governor of the province. The service was liturgical, 
 but differed in some respects from that of the Church 
 of England. Adjacent is a bury ing-ground, separated 
 by a railing from the street, and said to contain on 
 one of the tombstones the oldest carved date in 
 America 1642. 
 
 In visiting Boston, so many are the memorials of 
 the great revolutionary struggle, that one feels as if 
 
216 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 surrounded by illustrations of history. The Old South 
 Meeting House, where, on the 6th of March 1770, was 
 held the town meeting to remonstrate with the governor 
 against bringing in troops to overawe the inhabitants; 
 Faneuil Hall, a huge brick-building in the market 
 place, celebrated for assemblages of the Sons of 
 Liberty; Griffin s Wharf, where, on a moonlight 
 night, December 16, 1773, under the popular impulse 
 given by Josiah Quincy, a large crowd went on board 
 the Dartmouth, and other English ships, and within 
 two hours poured the contents of 342 chests of tea into 
 the harbour; the level slip of peninsula called Boston 
 Neck, which unites the city with the mainland, and 
 where were placed the British fortified lines in August 
 1774; the scenery on the western side of Charles 
 River, including Bunker s and Breed s Hills, where 
 took place the memorable action of June 17, 1775; 
 Dorchester Heights, on the mainland, to the south, &c. 
 Among the chief of the objects of curiosity, is the 
 Bunker Hill Monument, occupying a conspicuous 
 situation in the neighbourhood. To reach the spot 
 where this monument has been erected, I crossed the 
 Charles River by a long and low wooden bridge, sup 
 ported on piles, and passing through Charlestown, 
 arrived at the base of a grassy mound, little more 
 than a hundred feet above the level of the sea. Such 
 is Breed s Hill, which has been selected as the most 
 favourable site for the Bunker Hill Monument. 
 Originally in an open down, the locality is now 
 crowded with houses, which seem to be closing round 
 the hill, very much to the injury of its appearance. 
 The top of the hill has been levelled and laid out with 
 walks, radiating from an iron rail which surrounds 
 the monument. Access to the summit is gained by a 
 staircase. The monument is an obelisk of whitish 
 granite, 221 feet in height, with a square base of 30 
 
BOSTON LOWELL. 217 
 
 feet, whence it tapers to a point. It is a chastely 
 correct work of art a thing dignified and beautiful 
 in its very simplicity. Many years were spent in 
 bringing it to a complete state, on account of the 
 difficulty experienced in raising the necessary funds 
 for its execution. It was inaugurated by a public 
 ceremonial in 1843, on which occasion Daniel Webster 
 delivered one of his most admired orations. 
 
 Accustomed as one is to find everything new in 
 America, Boston, in its historical and social features, 
 presents so much of an old and settled character, that 
 it may be said to stand out alone in its resemblance to 
 a European city. Although constructed principally of 
 wood, no place could be imagined more English than 
 Cambridge, a suburban city, situated to the south of 
 Charlestown, and reached in the same way by an 
 extremely long wooden bridge. This is the seat of 
 Harvard University, an institution dating as far back 
 as 1638, and now, with its various schools, the most 
 important and best attended college in the United 
 States. A glance at Old Cambridge, as it is named, 
 shews us a variety of smart buildings scattered about 
 among trees, with broad winding roads giving access 
 to pretty villas, each with its flower-plot in front, and 
 delightful bits of lawn used for pasturage or recreation. 
 The grass, to be sure, is not so compact or so green as 
 it is in England, the dryness of the climate forbidding 
 that anywhere in America; but the imitation is here 
 as near the original as possible. Driving along one 
 of the broad thoroughfares, our vehicle stops at the 
 gateway of one of the most venerable wooden villas. 
 It is a neat house of two stories, with pilasters in the 
 bald Grecian style of the Georgian era, attics in the 
 roof, and side-verandas, resting on wooden pillars. 
 Across the garden-plot in the front, two short flights 
 of steps lead up terrace-banks towards the door. The 
 
218 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 view in front is open, being across a grassy plain in the 
 direction of Boston. This house became the abode of 
 General Washington on the 2d of July 1775, when he 
 came from New York to take command of the American 
 army ; and here he resided part of his time during the 
 contest in the neighbourhood. At present, the villa is 
 owned and inhabited by Mr H. W. Longfellow, pro 
 fessor of modern languages in the adjacent university, 
 and one of the most accomplished living poets in the 
 United States. Introduced by a literary friend, I had 
 the honour of making the acquaintance of a person 
 whose writings are esteemed in England as well as 
 America, and of seeing the interior of the historically 
 interesting mansion he inhabits. The walls of the 
 room a kind of library-boudoir into which I was 
 shewn, were panelled according to an old fashion, and 
 the furniture was of that tastefully antique kind which 
 seemed appropriate to the past and present character 
 of the dwelling. The whole place speaks of other days. 
 Adjoining the house are various tall elms, probably a 
 century old a- highly respectable antiquity for America 
 and the patch of garden appears to be preserved in 
 the form it possessed when Washington paced across 
 it on that celebrated summer morning when he went 
 forth to put himself at the head of liis troops. The 
 spot where this event occurred was in the neighbouring 
 common ; here, under the shadow of a large tree, called 
 Washington s Elm, standing at a central point between 
 two cross-roads, he is said to have drawn his sword, 
 and formally entered on command. 
 
 It says much for the staid character of the 
 Bostonians, that families connected not only with 
 the revolutionary era, but with the early settlement 
 of the province, still maintain a respectable position 
 in the town, and form what may be called an aristo 
 cracy, distinguished alike by wealth and honourable 
 
BOSTON LOWELL. 219 
 
 public service. So much has been written of the 
 peculiar attractions of Boston society, that I am 
 fortunately left nothing to say, further than to take 
 the opportunity of offering thanks for the many polite 
 attentions I received from all with whom I had any 
 intercourse. Although only a few days in the city and 
 its neighbourhood, I had an opportunity of making 
 some satisfactory inquiries respecting the prevalent 
 system of elementary education, and of visiting some 
 of the excellent literary institutions with which the 
 intelligent inhabitants of Boston have had the good 
 taste to provide themselves. The Athenaeum, con 
 sisting of a library and reading-room, was the finest 
 thing of the kind I had seen in America ; for, besides 
 a collection of 50,000 volumes, there was a gallery of 
 paintings and sculpture of a high class. Among insti 
 tutions of a more popular character, may be noticed 
 the Mercantile Library Association, at whose rooms I 
 was shewn a collection of about 13,000 volumes ; also, 
 the Lowell Institute, established by a bequest of 250,000 
 dollars, for the purpose of providing free lectures on 
 science, art, and natural and revealed religion. Some 
 movements were on foot to widen the sphere of intel 
 lectual improvement by means of a free library and 
 otherwise : and from the great number of publishing 
 establishments, it was evident that the demand for 
 literature was considerable. Everybody reads and 
 everybody buys books/ said a publisher to me one day ; 
 and he added : every mechanic, worth anything at all, 
 in Massachusetts, must have a small library which he 
 calls his own ; besides, the taste for high-class books is 
 perceptibly improving. A few years ago, we sold great 
 quantities of trashy Annuals ; now, our opulent classes 
 prefer works of a superior quality/ At the same time, 
 I learned that a number of copies of instructive popular 
 works which I had been concerned in publishing, had 
 
220 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 been imported for the use of school-libraries; and as 
 there are about 18,000 such libraries in the United 
 States, the amount of books of various kinds required 
 for this purpose alone may be supposed to be very 
 considerable. 
 
 Like most visitors of Massachusetts, I made an 
 excursion to Lowell a manufacturing city of 37,000 
 inhabitants, at the distance of twenty-five miles north 
 west of Boston. A railway-train occupied an hour in 
 the journey, which was by way of Lexington a small 
 town at which the first shots were fired (April 19, 1775) 
 at the beginning of the revolutionary struggle. The 
 country traversed was level, enclosed, and here and 
 there dotted over with pretty villages and detached 
 dwellings, in the usual New England style. Lowell 
 may be described as a village of larger growth, com 
 posed of houses of brick or wood, disposed in straight 
 lines forming spacious and airy streets. Several rail 
 ways centre at the spot, but there is little noise or 
 bustle in the thoroughfares. All the cliildren are at 
 school, and most of the adult inhabitants are in the 
 several manufactories. The day is sunshiny and 
 pleasant, and a few infants are playing about the doors 
 of neat dwellings in the short streets which lead to the 
 mills. These mills are of the ordinary cotton-factory 
 shape great brick-buildings, with rows of windows 
 with small panes, and all are enclosed within 
 courtyards, or otherwise secluded from intrusion. 
 
 The whole of the Lowell mills being moved by water- 
 power, we agreeably miss the smoky atmosphere which 
 surrounds the Lancashire factories. The power is 
 derived from the Merrimack, a river of considerable 
 size, which is led by an artificial canal from a point 
 above a natural fall in its course, to the various works. 
 In 1853, there were twelve incorporated manufacturing 
 concerns in Lowell and its neighbourhood ; principally 
 
BOSTON LOWELL. 221 
 
 engaged in cotton spinning and weaving, carpet-manu 
 facturing, calico-printing, and machine-making. The 
 chief and oldest of the various corporations is the 
 Merrimack Manufacturing Company, established in 
 1822, and possessing a capital of 2,500,000 dollars. 
 Its operations are carried on in six large buildings; it 
 has at work 71,072 spindles, 21 14 power-looms, employs 
 1650 females and 650 males, and makes 377,000 yards 
 of cloth per week. The goods it produces are prints 
 and sheetings. Besides going over the extensive works 
 of this establishment, I visited the mills of the Lowell 
 Manufacturing Company, where I found 800 females 
 and 500 males employed principally in the spinning of 
 wool and weaving of carpets the designs of these 
 articles being good, with bright and decided colours. 
 
 Cotton-spinning and weaving factories are pretty 
 much the same all the world over, and I do not feel 
 entitled to say that there was any remarkable exception 
 in the establishments which here fell under my notice. 
 In each there prevailed the greatest neatness and regu 
 larity. The females employed were tidy in dress, yet 
 not very different in this respect from what I had seen 
 in factories at home; for the nature of the work does 
 not admit of finery, and it is only at leisure hours and 
 on Sundays that silks and parasols make their appear 
 ance. In the windows of one of the large factories, I 
 saw that flowers in pots were a favourite subject of 
 culture, which I accepted as a token of the good taste 
 of these young lady-artisans. Boarding-houses, gene 
 rally the property, and under the supervision of the 
 mill-owners, are situated at a short distance from the 
 factories. These houses are of brick, three stories in 
 height, and have exteriorly the aspect of what we 
 should call dwellings of the middle classes. Of the 
 orderliness of these establishments, their neatly fur 
 nished rooms, pianos, and accommodations of various 
 
222 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 lands, it is unnecessary for me to go into particulars ; 
 neither need I call to remembrance the literary exer- 
 citations of the female inmates, demonstrated by the 
 Lowell Offering, and Mind among the Spindles. Among 
 American girls, the general objection to domestic 
 service is not attended with any dislike to working 
 in factories. Many young women, the daughters of 
 farmers, do not therefore disdain to employ themselves 
 three or four years at Lowell, in order to realise a sum 
 which will form a suitable dowry at marriage, to, which, 
 of course, all look forward as a natural termination of 
 their career at the mills ; and as no taint of immorality 
 is attachable to their conduct while under the roof of 
 any of the respectable boarding-houses, they may be 
 said to be objects of attraction to young farmers looking 
 out for wives. I was informed that, latterly, a number, 
 have come from Lower Canada, and return with quite 
 a fortune to the parental home. 
 
 Undoubtedly, the strict regulations enforced by the 
 proprietors of the mills, along with the care taken to 
 exclude any female of doubtful character, largely con 
 tribute to the good working of this remarkable system. 
 But as human nature is the same everywhere, I am 
 disposed to seek for another cause for the orderly 
 behaviour and economic habits of the Lowell operatives 
 and this I believe to be the hope of a permanent 
 improvement of their condition. The sentiment of hope 
 is observed to enjoy a vigorous existence in America. 
 Prepared by education, the way is open to all ; and so 
 easily is an independent position gained, that none need 
 to sink down in despair, or become tipplers in mere 
 desperation and vacuity of thought. Even in working 
 at cotton-mills, hope has its aspirations in a way not 
 permitted by the customs of England. The factories 
 of Lowell have been spoken of as belonging to incor 
 porations. These are joint-stock companies, established 
 
BOSTON LOWELL. 223 
 
 by a charter from the state legislature, and have the 
 validity and privileges accorded only to such companies 
 in England as are established by special act of parlia 
 ment. To procure such an act, supposing it would be 
 granted to an ordinary manufacturing concern, would 
 cost at least 500, or more probably 800; but in 
 Massachusetts, or any other state of the Union, the 
 entire expense of a charter would be thought high at 
 100 dollars, or 20; and I heard of cases in which 
 charters did not cost more than 5. At whatever 
 expense these state-charters are procured, they enable 
 small capitalists to unite to carry out with safety a 
 particular commercial object. The shareholders are 
 responsible only to the extent of their shares, unless 
 they become managers, when they are bound to the 
 limit of their fortune. For anything I know, there 
 may be inherent weakness in the principle of these 
 organisations, but they seem to go on satisfactorily at 
 Lowell, and other places in the New England states; 
 and if they do not command the respect of large 
 capitalists, they at all events do not give rise to feelings 
 of hostility between employer and employed. The 
 stock of the Merrimack Manufacturing Company, which 
 has been stated at 2,500,000 dollars, consists of shares 
 of 1000 dollars each; and I have the authority of 
 Mr Isaac Hinckley, the resident manager, for saying, 
 that the persons employed by the company own more 
 than eighty shares of the capital stock, or 80,000 
 dollars ; and as the market- value of a share is at present 
 1320 dollars, it is tolerably evident that the concern is 
 paying well, and in good credit. While it may be 
 acknowledged that the management of factories estab 
 lished on this plan is not likely to be so prompt and 
 vigorous as those owned by a single individual, it is 
 surely a matter of some importance to have arranged 
 a scheme, by which operatives have the power of 
 
224 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 becoming proprietors, to a certain extent, of the mills 
 in which they habitually labour. Whether with the 
 hope of obtaining this distinction, or of investing accumu 
 lated capital in other kinds of property, the operatives 
 are depositors to a very great amount in the savings- 
 banks in Lowell. Mr Hinckley mentioned, that the 
 Lowell Institution for Savings, had at last report about 
 1,060,000 dollars of deposits, mostly belonging to 
 persons employed in mills; and he thought the City 
 Institution had about half that amount/ In a pub 
 lished account, it is stated that the number of depositors 
 last year was 6224, nearly all of whom were persons 
 employed in the mills/ Facts such as these say more 
 for the good habits of the New England operatives than 
 the highest eulogy. 
 
 All the manufacturing establishments in Lowell 
 concur in issuing a printed table of statistics annually. 
 In the paper of this kind, dated January 1853, the 
 average wage of females, clear of board, per week, is 
 two dollars ; and of males, clear of board, four dollars, 
 eighty cents. If we add that one dollar, twenty-five 
 cents is the price of board for females, and two dollars 
 for males, a fair idea will be obtained of the wages of 
 labour in the Lowell factories. In English money, the 
 average weekly earnings of a female may be set down 
 at 13s. 6d., and of a male, at from 19s. 6d. to 21s.; 
 and, keeping in view that the practice is to secure on 
 an average twelve working-hours each day, English 
 factory-operatives may draw for themselves a com 
 parison between their own position and that of the 
 workers in the mills of Lowell. 
 
 It is scarcely necessary to remark, that the pros 
 perity of Lowell, and the agreeable circumstances of 
 the operatives, rest on a somewhat precarious founda 
 tion, owing their existence as they do to a tariff which 
 excludes the more cheaply produced goods of England. 
 
BOSTON LOWELL. 225 
 
 America lias, indeed, strong prejudices in favour of 
 paying high prices within herself for clothing, as 
 contrasted with being supplied more cheaply from a 
 distance ; but, after what we have seen of the instability 
 of a protective system in our own country, no one can 
 tell what revolutions of sentiment a few years may 
 bring about amongst so quick and intelligent a people 
 as those of the United States. Were it not for this 
 consideration,, I should be inclined to express my 
 surprise that the mill-operatives of Lancashire and 
 Lanarkshire have never struck upon the idea of remov 
 ing to one or other of the many fields of demand for 
 their labour across the Atlantic. 
 
 It appears from statistical returns, that there are 
 now upwards of a thousand cotton manufacturing 
 establishments in the United States, fully one-half 
 being in New England; and of these, Massachusetts 
 has 213, the value of the goods produced in which, in 
 1845, was above 12 millions of dollars. Considerable 
 as was this item, it formed only a small amount in a 
 general estimate of manufactures in Massachusetts, 
 which reached a total of 115 millions of dollars. 
 Leaving to Connecticut much of the trade of fabricating 
 clocks and other light and ingenious articles, Massa 
 chusetts owns many concerns in which the great staples 
 of industry in textile fabrics and metals are produced. 
 Among the trades which it may be said to have made 
 peculiarly its own, at least as regards the eastern 
 states, is that of boot and shoe making. I may state 
 on credible authority, that in 1845, the value of leather 
 tanned was 3,800,000 dollars, and that boots and shoes 
 were produced to the value of 14,799,000 dollars. 
 Probably the value is now as much as 20 millions of 
 dollars ; and that anything like such a sum (4,000,000 
 sterling) should be realised every year for these articles, 
 in a state with no more than a third of the population 
 
 o 
 
226 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 of Scotland, is not a little surprising; and the fact is 
 only comprehended by referring to the vastly extended 
 territory over which the manufacturer finds a market. 
 No inconsiderable quantity of the coarser kind of shoes, 
 called brogans/ is disposed of for the use of slaves in 
 the south, where manufacturing arrangements are on a 
 limited and imperfect scale; and as these shoes are 
 only one of many varieties of articles made in the free, 
 for sale in the slave states, it is tolerably evident that, 
 so far as material interests are concerned, the northern 
 manufacturers, and all depending on them, have little 
 reason to wish for a speedy termination to slavery. 
 Lynn, a seaport town in Massachusetts, I understand, 
 takes the lead in the boot and shoe trade ; the quantity 
 made in that place alone being 4,500,000 pairs per 
 annum, mostly of a fine kind, for ladies and children. 
 Recently, a machine has been introduced for fixing the 
 soles of shoes by means of pegs ; the inventor being a 
 person in Salem, in Massachusetts. I was shewn some 
 boots which had been prepared in this manner, and 
 was told that a pair could be pegged in two minutes. 
 One can imagine from all he hears, that the shoe 
 manufacture must exercise a commanding importance 
 in the state ; and if any doubt be left as to the fact, 
 it will be removed by knowing that a few years ago 
 there were as many as fifteen members of the gentle 
 craft 7 in the legislature of Massachusetts. 
 
CHAPTER, XIV. 
 
 RHODE ISLAND. 
 
 CRAMPED into a small space between Massachusetts 
 and Connecticut, we may see on the map a state called 
 Rhode Island the island from which it derives its 
 name being a mere speck within a bay on the sea-coast, 
 and the bulk of the state being in reality on the main 
 land. How this little state came into political exist 
 ence, is one of the most interesting circumstances in 
 American history. 
 
 I have had occasion to refer to an unfortunate 
 feature in the character of the Pilgrim Fathers their 
 extreme intolerance. Though fleeing from religious 
 persecution in England, and suffering for conscience 
 sake, their polity admitted of no departure whatever 
 from their own tenets and practices. Themselves in 
 exile as Nonconformists, they sternly repressed by 
 fine, imprisonment, and even the gallows, everything 
 like nonconformity to their own favourite form of belief. 
 The early history of New England abounds in the 
 most revolting instances of this species of oppression ; 
 and no case appeals so warmly to modern sympathy 
 as that of Roger Williams. This was a young English 
 divine of good education, who arrived in America in 
 1631, and became a much-esteemed Puritan preacher. 
 Being, however, of a kindly disposition and enlarged 
 understanding, he could not reconcile the legalised 
 principle of intolerance with the injunctions of the 
 
228 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 Gospel; and in spite of remonstrances against a 
 continuance in error/ he at length boldly proclaimed 
 the doctrine of freedom of conscience, which till that 
 time was practically unknown. The proposition that 
 no man should be troubled on account of his religious 
 opinions, was intolerable to the magistracy of the 
 settlement; and Williams, abandoning family and 
 home, was constrained to flee from place to place for 
 personal safety. The account of his wanderings and 
 privations among the Indian tribes who hung about the 
 borders of Massachusetts, forms the subject of a deeply 
 affecting narrative, which has lately been given to the 
 world by one every way competent for the task. 
 Passing over the history of his sufferings in the wilder 
 ness, we find Williams still undaunted, and resolute 
 in carrying out his opinions to a practical issue. 
 Borrowing a canoe, he sets out with five adherents 
 on what may be called a voyage of discovery; his 
 object being to find a spot where every man might 
 live and enjoy his religious opinions in peace. In this 
 adventurous excursion, Providence seemed to guide the 
 frail vessel to the banks of a small arm of the sea, 
 projected inland from Narraganset Bay. Here, accord 
 ing to tradition, being hailed from a rock by a friendly 
 Indian, Williams and his party landed, and were 
 hospitably received by the chiefs of the Narragansets, 
 from whom he received a grant of territory, to which, 
 in pious gratitude, he gave the name of Providence. 
 This event occurred in June 1636, and was the founda 
 tion of a new English settlement a place of shelter, 
 as Williams described it, for persons distressed for 
 conscience/ Being situated beyond the jurisdiction 
 of New Plymouth and Massachusetts, the magistrates 
 of these colonies had no proper title to interfere with 
 the settlers in Providence, and they satisfied themselves 
 with prognostications of disaster and ruin to a state 
 
RHODE ISLAND. 229 
 
 which, was so deficient in the elements of authority. 
 Contrary to these anticipations, the young settlement 
 throve amazingly,, by the flocking in of persons desirous 
 of liberty to profess their peculiar religious opinions. 
 To all who came, Williams, like a benevolent patriarch 
 of old, gave freely of the lands he had acquired, and he 
 is said to have left nothing for himself or family. As 
 population accumulated, he felt the inconvenience of 
 acting without legal sanction ; and he accordingly pro 
 ceeded to England in 1644, and procured a charter 
 from Charles I., constituting an English colony under 
 the title of the Plantations of Providence and Rhode 
 Island. On the occasion of a second visit to Eng 
 land in 1663, Williams obtained a more comprehen 
 sive charter from Charles II.; and curiously enough, 
 through every phase of history, the provisions of 
 this latter document have continued, with certain 
 modifications, to be the constitution of the state of 
 Rhode Island. 
 
 The opportunity of visiting a spot hallowed by one 
 of the noblest struggles for civil and religious liberty of 
 which histoiy offers an example, was not, I thought, to 
 be neglected. I had only two days to spare previous 
 to going southward, and these I resolved on devoting 
 to a pilgrimage to the small commonwealth founded by 
 the immortal Roger Williams. So numerous are the 
 railways diverging from Boston, that no difficulty is 
 experienced in proceeding in the required direction. 
 On a bracing and clear Saturday morning, I took the 
 line to Providence, situated at the distance of about 
 forty-two miles in a southerly direction. The route 
 pursued lay through a country of hill and valley, dotted 
 over with rough shrubby woods, enclosed pasture-fields, 
 and villages of white houses, where manufactures of 
 some kind appear to be carried on. These seats of 
 industry are seen chiefly nestling in hollows, on the 
 
230 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 banks of small streams, where they enjoy a command 
 of water, either for moving machinery or to aid in the 
 process of manufacture. Everything denotes that we 
 are passing through a district of the usual orderly New 
 England character. At the several stations along the 
 line, a respectable class of persons drop into and depart 
 from the cars, and it seemed to me that the cars them 
 selves were the neatest and most commodious I had yet 
 seen in my excursion. 
 
 After clearing the minor places on its route, the train 
 entered a spacious valley with an arm of the sea at its 
 lower extremity; and here, on both sides of a tidal 
 basin connected by bridges, stands the venerable city 
 of Providence. It was my good-fortune to have made 
 the acquaintance of a gentleman of the place in the 
 course of my voyage across the Atlantic; and hospi 
 tably entertained by him on the present occasion, I was 
 enabled to acquire much useful information respecting 
 the locality. To get to my friend s residence, it was 
 necessary to drive up a steep street leading from the 
 central part of the town in an easterly direction towards 
 a high level ground above, on which rows of handsome 
 villas have recently been erected. The villas are, 
 indeed, mostly of wood, but they are very pretty, with 
 neat gardens in front, and gateways by which you may 
 drive up to the door. Some have glass conservatories 
 for flowers and tropical plants, connected with the 
 drawing-rooms ; and it is seen from other indications, 
 that we have got among a class of dwellings inhabited 
 by families of taste and opulence. 
 
 Temporarily settled in one of these suburban struc 
 tures, I requested as a favour to be conducted to the 
 spot where Roger Williams had landed in the settle 
 ment. It was at no great distance. The site of the 
 city of Providence, and this part of its environs, is a 
 stretch of land between two indentations of the sea ; 
 
RHODE ISLAND. 231 
 
 and we have only to walk about a mile to tlie eastern 
 boundary of the peninsula to find the subject of our 
 research. A short ramble along a broad and newly 
 laid out avenue, offering frontages for building-lots, 
 led us to the brink of a high bank, from which we 
 could look down on the memorable scene. Before us 
 is a sea- water inlet, of no great breadth, with a sandy 
 and rocky shore on each side, surmounted by rough, 
 shrubby banks; all being as yet untouched by art, 
 though probably destined to be involved in the traffic 
 which in the first instance has settled around the 
 harbour of Providence. By a rough path, we scrambled 
 down the declivity to the water s edge, and there stood 
 on the dark slaty rock from which Williams is said 
 to have been saluted by the Indian. According to the 
 legend, the words What cheer/ were employed on 
 this occasion; and till the present day the seal of the 
 city of Providence represents Williams s landing, sur 
 mounted by What cheer as a motto. What cheer 
 is the perpetual slogan of the Rhode Islanders. It is 
 seen stamped on their public documents; and in the 
 principal street of Providence, there has lately been 
 erected a remarkably fine building, entitled What 
 Cheer Hall! 
 
 After visiting the landing-place of Williams, I pro 
 ceeded towards the town in quest of other memorials of 
 the apostle of toleration. Of these, however, not many 
 are in existence. Williams, at his death, left nothing 
 of an enduring kind but the memory of his good deeds, 
 and over his mortal remains no monumental stone has 
 been erected. The humble edifice in which he minis 
 tered has long ago been succeeded by a larger and 
 more handsome church pertaining to the Baptist com 
 munion. It is situated in the midst of an open piece 
 of ground, on the slope of the hill near the town. On 
 the brow of the eminence, from which a fine view is 
 
232 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 obtained, there has been erected a neat edifice for -the 
 accommodation of the Historical Society of Providence. 
 Here, among many curiosities of an old date referring 
 to colonial affairs, were shewn some crown-charters ; and 
 in a mass of detached papers I had the pleasure of 
 seeing several letters of Roger Williams, written in a 
 small cramped hand, and yellow with age almost the 
 only relics which Providence can shew of its celebrated 
 founder. Across the way, and at the same elevation, 
 are situated various stone buildings devoted to the 
 purposes of the Brown University an institution 
 directed by the Baptists, and under the presidency of 
 Dr Wayland, author of a well-known treatise on moral 
 philosophy. I looked through the library of the uni 
 versity, which consisted of 20,000 volumes of choice 
 literature, kept in the finest order. In a more central 
 part of the town, is the Athenaeum, an establishment 
 which combines a large library for general use with a 
 reading-room, where I found a choice of English news 
 papers and periodicals. Providence possesses a variety 
 of benevolent and disciplinary institutions, and is not 
 behind any city of its size in New England for the 
 number of its schools. On the Sunday during my 
 stay, I attended one of the Congregational churches, 
 in which a good practical discourse was delivered to 
 a respectable audience. The population of Providence 
 is about 37,000, who possess among them thirty-five 
 churches of one kind or other ; so that it can scarcely 
 be said the tolerant doctrines of Williams have led to a 
 neglect of religious ordinances. 
 
 Rhode Island possesses several other towns of 
 importance, one of them being Newport, a place of 
 fashionable summer resort, situated on the island which 
 gives its name to the state. In its general industrial 
 features, Rhode Island resembles the neighbouring 
 New England states, being thickly studded with 
 
RHODE ISLAND. 233 
 
 cotton, woollen, and other manufacturing establishments, 
 for which water-power presents numerous facilities. 
 But more interesting than any of its material pur 
 suits, is the singularly democratic character of its 
 constitution, which, as has been said, differs little from 
 that which was imparted by Charles II. to the colonists. 
 While Massachusetts was placed under the authority 
 of a governor delegated by the crown, the settlers of 
 Rhode Island were empowered to elect a governor from 
 among themselves, and the routine of the election has 
 proceeded uninterruptedly since 1663. The revolution 
 which overthrew the English authority in the States 
 generally, was therefore attended with no novelties in 
 the administration of Rhode Island. A governor, senate, 
 and house of representatives are elected annually by 
 the citizens of the state, the ordinary expenses of 
 which, derived from a population of 147,000, and an 
 area of 47 by 37 miles, are only 50,000 dollars. 
 Besides this sum, the state expends directly from its 
 treasury for education 35,000 dollars per annum, to 
 which may be added 55,000 dollars raised by local 
 assessment for the same purpose. The yearly salary 
 of the governor, I xmder stand, is 400 dollars. Think 
 of 80 a year for a governor; and think also of 
 another fact which excites equal surprise a state in 
 which more is expended for education than for the 
 whole apparatus of civil government! Happy little 
 state, which seems to go on flourishingly under a 
 taxation of a dollar a head, everything included ! And 
 yet in this elysium there has been a rebellion. In 
 
 1842, an extreme party, much to the discredit of Rhode 
 Island, took up arms to vindicate their irregular pro 
 ceedings; but the community plucking up courage, 
 quelled the insurrection with little trouble; and in 
 
 1843, the existing modified constitution was adopted 
 with general approbation. 
 
234 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 Settled into the condition of an old country, Rhode 
 Island, like Massachusetts and Connecticut, does not 
 offer a field for copious immigration; but I am war 
 ranted in saying that artisans, and almost every class 
 of manual labourers, would have no difficulty in get 
 ting employment at good wages. At Providence, I was 
 told of an Irish labourer who had contrived to save 
 1500 dollars, with which he cleared out for the Western 
 States, where land is still easily acquired. In the 
 course of my conversation with gentlemen who called 
 on me during my short stay in the place, I was ques 
 tioned respecting the condition of the working- classes 
 in Great Britain ; the subject being apparently a matter 
 of interest to those intelligent inquirers. The descrip 
 tion I was able, from personal knowledge, to give of 
 the ploughmen in Scotland, was listened to with much 
 surprise. A rural labourer of this class/ I said, ( is 
 born and lives all his days in a humble cottage, thatched 
 or slated, consisting only of one apartment, which con 
 tains two beds. The floor is of clay, beaten hard, and 
 is generally damp and productive of rheumatisms. 
 The inside of the walls is usually whitened, seldom 
 plastered; and a ceiling is ordinarily made of old mats 
 nailed to rafters, about seven feet from the floor. The 
 furniture consists principally of half-a-dozen deal-chairs, 
 a deal-table, some plain crockery, one or two iron pots, 
 and a flat disk of iron, whereon to bake oaten-cakes or 
 bannocks of peasemeal. Besides this kind of bread, 
 the food of the family consists of oatmeal-porridge, 
 milk, hard cheese, and a little fried bacon ; occasionally 
 broth, with a modicum of meat. In the house of a 
 thrifty ploughman, no tea, coffee, sugar, or any luxury 
 whatever is used, except on very rare occasions. To 
 take up the ploughman at infancy/ I continued, he goes 
 to the parish school, which is perhaps three miles 
 distant; and he is there instructed to read, write, and 
 
RHODE ISLAND. 235 
 
 cipher, for which his parents pay the teacher a fee of 
 from two to four shillings every quarter of a year. 
 They also furnish him with books; one of these is a 
 Bible the reading of which as an ordinary lesson, 
 with the committing of a catechism and some psalms 
 to his memory, as a task, usually constitute what 
 in Scotland is called a " religious education." If the 
 family is numerous, one juvenile, in corduroys and 
 bare feet, is indulged with schooling only in alternate 
 quarters. The schoolmaster may be good or bad; but 
 over him the parents of pupils possess no control what 
 ever. He is a fixture for life, and amenable only to the 
 clergy of the Established Church, to whom he probably 
 becomes a kind of sycophant. Should his life be 
 extended to superannuation, no assistant can be legally 
 imposed on him; and in some instances, accordingly, 
 the education given is most miserable. What with 
 this poor sort of schooling, herding cows, or helping at 
 farm-work, the youth grows to manhood, and is hired 
 at a country fair to act as a ploughman. Young 
 unmarried ploughmen are in some places lodged in 
 huts by themselves, or accommodated with beds in the 
 haylofts over the stables in either case, greatly to 
 their demoralisation. Getting over this critical period 
 of his life, the ploughman marries, and a fresh family 
 routine ensues. The cottage he occupies is one of four 
 or five, built in a row, not far from the farm-steading, 
 and called collectively, "the hinds houses." Each 
 cottage is provided with a small garden for growing 
 vegetables; but seldom has it a single exterior accom 
 modation of any kind. Coal, sticks gathered for fuel, 
 and a dunghill, lie heaped in front or rear a scene 
 of dirt and confusion. In this habitation and the 
 adjoining fields, the ploughman passes his days. For 
 his remuneration, he has the use of his dwelling rent- 
 free ; and besides a money- wage, has so much meal and 
 
236 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 other perquisites as make up a total of about <30 per 
 annum ; to which liberty to keep a pig and fowls are 
 considered to be important additions. What he gives 
 for all this is a hard servitude, admitting of little 
 relaxation or intellectual improvement. He possesses 
 no political privileges whatever. Publicly, he is not 
 recognised, further than being under the protection of 
 the law, or as forming material for the militia ballot, 
 when that is in operation. He is not called on to 
 serve on any jury, or to take part in any parish or 
 county meetings, or to vote for one thing or other. 
 His condition, in short, when considered apart from 
 religious consolations, is without hope. From his miser 
 able earnings, after rearing a family, what, in old age, 
 can he have saved? Unless aided by his daughters, 
 some of whom may be in domestic service, or employed 
 to work in the fields, he probably dies a parish pauper. 
 Latterly/ I added, an attempt has been made by the 
 gentry to render the ploughmen s dwellings more con 
 sistent with decency and comfort, and in some places 
 considerable improvements have been introduced/ 
 
 It appears to me/ said a gentleman present, that 
 the condition of your rural labourers is little better 
 than that of unprivileged serfs/ 
 
 ( There is this great difference/ I observed, e our rural, 
 and all other classes of labourers, are not a degraded or 
 despised caste. They are free, and, under fortunate 
 circumstances, may rise from a humble to a high 
 station/ 
 
 1 True, so far, was the reply. f But the freedom you 
 impart is associated with such depressing influences, 
 that the chance of rising is very slender. The state of 
 popular education in Scotland, according to your own 
 account, is very bad; and in England it is worse. 
 Only one-half of the women who are married in 
 England can sign their names. Great numbers of the 
 
RHODE ISLAND. 237 
 
 rural labourers cannot read. Your aristocracy, having 
 insured the ignorance and incapacity of the peasantry, 
 turn round and say they are unfitted to exercise any 
 political privileges a pretty kind of liberty that ! The 
 Americans are amused with the schemes resorted to in 
 England for the purpose of promoting improved tastes 
 among the humbler classes. Parties who, as members 
 of the legislature, habitually vote against every reason 
 able plan for extending education, unite with benevolent 
 ladies and gentlemen to offer premiums to the best 
 cultivators of flowers, bees, and cabbages ; and we 
 observe by the Times, that a society in England holds 
 out expectations of a prize of a new coat, with fancy 
 metal buttons, to every peasant who reaches sixty years 
 of age, without demanding or receiving relief from the 
 parish ! Anything rather than educate the people 
 charity rather than justice ! 
 
 I was glad to say in answer to these remarks, that 
 at present considerable efforts were being made to 
 extend education in Great Britain, which would at no 
 distant day be successful. The circumstance of so 
 many English travellers inquiring into the methods of 
 popular instruction in the United States, shewed that 
 attention was directed to the subject. 
 
 As you, then/ said my acquaintance, f are making 
 inquiries of this nature, be pleased to understand that 
 the education of all is a paramount necessity of our 
 condition. For our own safety, we must educate the 
 people; whereas in Great Britain, where the humbler 
 classes have no political privileges, it appears to be a 
 matter of indifference whether they are educated or 
 not/ 
 
 It is unnecessary to continue my notes of this con 
 versation. The last remark may be said to have 
 brought out the philosophy of the question. Ele 
 mentary education, so far as to enable every freeman 
 
238 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 to exercise the duties of citizenship with credit to 
 himself and without danger to his neighbours, is a 
 state necessity in America. But we should be doing 
 injustice to leave it to be supposed that this guiding 
 principle dates from the era of American independence. 
 It is English, not American ; and originated with the 
 rule of the Pilgrim Fathers, who, with all their prag 
 matical and intolerant notions, had so high a sense of 
 the advantages of elementary instruction, that one of 
 their first public acts was to enjoin upon the municipal 
 authorities the duty of seeing that every child within 
 their jurisdictions should be educated/ This was as 
 early as 164.2, since which period, the system of ele 
 mentary schools has been improved in various ways, and 
 firmly established throughout the New England States, 
 whence it has extended to other parts of the Union. 
 
 A few facts respecting the system of education in the 
 parent state of Massachusetts, may here be adverted 
 to. In the first place, the education is conducted at 
 the public expense, and therefore no fees are paid by 
 pupils. The doctrine on this point is that the public 
 highway is not more open and free for every man in 
 the community, than is the public school-house for 
 every child; and each parent feels that a free education 
 is as secure a part of the birthright of his offspring, 
 as Heaven s bounties of light and air. The state not 
 only commands that the means of education should be 
 provided for all, but she denounces penalties against all 
 individuals, and all towns and cities, however populous 
 or powerful they may be, that shall presume to stand 
 between her bounty and its recipients. In her righteous 
 code, the interception of knowledge is a crime; and if 
 parents are unable to supply their children with books, 
 she becomes a parent, and supplies them/ * 
 
 * Report on Common Schools of Massachusetts, by Horace Mann. 1849. 
 
RHODE ISLAND. 239 
 
 The next remarkable feature of the common-school 
 system of Massachusetts is, that it is tinder the 
 administration of a general board of education, with 
 local boards elected by all who pay school-rates. No 
 corporations, lay or ecclesiastic, have anything to say 
 in the matter. Schools are erected in districts, or 
 divisions of towns, according to the wants of the 
 population, as ascertained by a periodical census. The 
 laws regulating the number of schools are exceedingly 
 minute in their provisions. In 1850, the population 
 of Massachusetts was 994,499, or close upon a million. 
 Two years later that is, in 1852 there were in the 
 state 202,880 children between five and fifteen years 
 of age, for whose education the sum of 921,532 dollars 
 was raised by public means, being very nearly a dollar 
 for every inhabitant. Of the above number of children, 
 the mean average attendance at the common schools 
 was 144,477. It appears, however, that 20,812 
 attended private schools and academies; so that the 
 entire number of children habitually at school was 
 165,289, or about 1 in 6 of the population. In none 
 of the reports coming under my notice is any expla 
 nation given of the cause why the attendance falls 
 so far short of the actual number of children. On 
 inquiring into the circumstance, it was said that many 
 parents were satisfied with sending their children 
 three months in the year to school; the extreme 
 temperature in winter and summer was also said to 
 cause irregularity of attendance; and a heavy com 
 plaint was made against foreigners, more particularly 
 Irish, for not taking care to send their children regu 
 larly to the free-schools. In Massachusetts there are 
 laws against truantcy ; parents who neglect to enforce 
 the attendance of their children at the free-schools, or 
 any private school of their own choosing, being liable in 
 penalties ; but I fear these laws are loosely executed. 
 
240 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 In the appointment of teachers, no religious test is 
 imposed; it being sufficient that they are of a sound 
 moral character, and competent for their duties. I 
 believe that much difficulty is experienced in finding 
 teachers who will attach themselves permanently to 
 their situations; and the constant shifting tends to 
 interrupt and injure the routine of instruction. 
 
 The state, in enjoining universal education, does not 
 consider itself entitled to prescribe instruction in any 
 specific religious doctrines these being left to be 
 taught by parents, by religious pastors, or by other 
 private agencies. The teacher, however, is recom 
 mended to begin the duties of the day by reading a 
 portion of the Scriptures, or by repeating the Lord s 
 Prayer. The absence of direct religious instruction is 
 represented by a recent English traveller as a defect in 
 the New England system, which is leading to universal 
 demoralisation. I feel assured that this, like some 
 other faults with which the Americans are charged, is 
 a gross misrepresentation, founded on the views of 
 interested parties for even in New England, certain 
 denominations are chagrined at not being allowed to 
 monopolise the duty of imparting, at the expense of 
 the state, their own peculiar tenets.* Much, I was 
 
 * In connection with this subject, I may introduce the following passage 
 from the National Magazine (December 1853), a respectable periodical 
 published in New York : At the present moment an important discussion 
 is going on [in England] in reference to popular education ; arid the question 
 has been not a little embarrassed by reports from certain sources in this 
 country, that our system tends to a wide-spread and confirmed infidelity, and 
 to great laxity of morals. It is a significant fact, that these opinions have 
 only been advanced by those who were previously committed to the advocacy 
 of parochial or sectarian schools. The discussion has been of great service, 
 however ; for it has awakened the community to the importance of insisting 
 upon high moral qualifications in their instructors, and upon decided Christian 
 discipline in the schools. An interesting inquiry, suggested by an English 
 gentleman, was made in reference to the statements above alluded to, under 
 the direction of certain friends of the Massachusetts Board of Education. The 
 
RHODE ISLAND. 241 
 
 told, is done to extend religious instruction on a footing 
 of kindly interest, by means of Sabbath -evening 
 classes; and so far as I may judge, from what fell 
 under my notice at Boston, an extraordinary degree 
 of attention is given to this kind of instruction by 
 young persons of both sexes, connected with different 
 congregations. I may add, that if the people are not 
 animated by moral and religious convictions, they 
 greatly belie outward appearances; for it is certain 
 that no such scenes of loathsome vice or intemperance 
 are seen in Boston as may be witnessed in the streets 
 of Edinburgh or Glasgow. 
 
 I can positively affirm, from personal observation, 
 that, in point of general discipline, the American 
 schools greatly excel any I have ever seen in Great 
 Britain. In Canada and in the States, every suitable 
 provision is made for the purposes of decency a thing 
 usually neglected in the parish and burgh school- 
 system of Scotland. I was much pleased with the 
 arrangements in the American schools to prevent 
 disorder, or improper interference one with another 
 among the pupils. All are seated at small desks, not 
 more than two together, in rows ; so that the teacher 
 can conveniently reach every seat in the school. It is 
 customary, likewise, to cause all the pupils to enter 
 and depart slowly and decorously, instead of being 
 
 object of the inquiry was to discover how many of the attendants upon 
 the common schools were also members of Sabbath-schools, and were receiv 
 ing religious instruction through this instrumentality. The result reached, 
 by examining the schools in Boston, Lowell, and representative towns in 
 commercial and agricultural districts, was that, on an average, 90 per cent, 
 of all the children connected with the common schools were at the time of 
 the examination, or had been, connected with the Sabbath-school, and were 
 receiving, through this important instrumentality, religious culture. This 
 was, indeed, an unexpected and gratifying result, justifying a remark that 
 has somewhere been made that the Sabbath-school is the evangelist of the 
 common school. 
 
 P 
 
242 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 suffered, as I observe, even in some of the more 
 pretentious schools of Edinburgh, to rush rudely out 
 like so many wild animals. In Massachusetts, and 
 generally in the States, the plan of imparting a free 
 education according to abilities, is pursued through 
 several grades primary, intermediate, and grammar 
 schools, such as have been noticed in New York ; and 
 I would, from the bare knowledge of this fact, ask 
 any one to compare so wide a range of instruction 
 at the public cost, with the meagre and antiquated 
 routine of elementary education legally maintained 
 in Scotland, and which some persons complacently 
 represent as the perfection of human wisdom. Boston, 
 with a population of about 150,000, appropriates 
 330,000 dollars for the support of public schools, being 
 more than a fourth of the whole city taxes; and as 
 the number of pupils is nearly 23,000, the yearly cost 
 of educating each child is therefore about fifteen 
 dollars. In what city in Great Britain could we find 
 the inhabitants voluntarily taxing themselves to give 
 every child an education at 3 a head? Besides her 
 elementary and advanced schools, her normal schools, 
 and her university, Massachusetts supports a State 
 Reform School at Westborough. It is on the principle 
 of an industrial institution work of various kinds, 
 including field-labour, being given to the inmates. 
 To this school, young persons from seven to eighteen 
 or nineteen years of age are sent by courts of justice, 
 for petty offences. Of 724 committed since the opening 
 of the school, 115 were born in foreign countries, 
 mostly in Ireland. 
 
 Looking at Massachusetts as a small and compara 
 tively sterile state, of only a million of inhabitants, it 
 is matter of astonishment that she does so much for 
 social amelioration. f For public, free education alone/ 
 says Horace Mann, in the paper already quoted, 
 
RHODE ISLAND. 243 
 
 Massachusetts expends annually more than a million 
 of dollars. To support religious institutions for the 
 worship of God and the salvation of men, she annually 
 expends more than another million; and what she 
 gives away, in the various forms of charity, far 
 exceeds a third sum of equal magnitude. For the 
 support of the poor, nine-tenths of whose cost originate 
 with foreigners, or come from one prolific vice, whose 
 last convulsive energies she is now struggling to 
 subdue, she annually pays more than 300,000 dollars; 
 for the support and improvement of public highways, 
 she pays a much larger sum; and within the last 
 dozen or fourteen years, she has invested a capital in 
 railways, within and without the state, of nearly or 
 quite 60 millions of dollars/ Whence comes all this 
 wealth? asks this fervid writer; and the answer is 
 ready : f One copious, exhaustless fountain supplies 
 all this abundance. It is Education the intellectual, 
 moral, and religious education of the people/ I am 
 glad to be able to present this as the opinion of one 
 who may be presumed to be better acquainted with 
 the kind of instruction which is generally imparted, 
 than any stranger who makes a casual visit to 
 Massachusetts. 
 
 I have elsewhere had occasion to refer to the general 
 neatness of the dwellings of the operative-classes in 
 America, their self-respect and orderly conduct, their 
 love of reading and anxiety to improve their circum 
 stances ; and that these qualities are in no small degree 
 a result of a system of universal school instruction, we 
 have the best testimony in the special Reports of Mr 
 George Wallis and Mr Joseph Whitworth, concerning 
 the New York Industrial Exhibition, laid before 
 parliament a few months ago. A few passages from 
 these interesting Reports may not be here out of 
 place. 
 
244 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 Speaking of American workmen, Mr Wallis ob 
 serves, that no one can fail to be impressed with the 
 advantages derived from the long and well-directed 
 attention paid to the education of the whole people by 
 the public-school systems of the New England States 
 and of the state of Pennsylvania. Here, where sound 
 and systematic education has been longest, and, in all 
 probability, most perfectly carried out, the greatest 
 manufacturing developments are to be found; and 
 here it is also where the greatest portion of the skilled 
 workmen of the United States are educated, alike in 
 the simplest elements of knowledge, as in the most 
 skilful application of their ingenuity to the useful arts 
 and the manufacturing industry of their country, and 
 from whence they are spread over the vast territories 
 of the Union, becoming the originators, directors, and, 
 ultimately, the proprietors of establishments which 
 would do no discredit to the manufacturing states of 
 Europe/ Mr Wallis goes on to say c As there is no 
 apprenticeship system, properly so called, the more 
 useful the youth engaged in any industrial pursuit 
 becomes to his employer, the more profitable it is for 
 himself. Bringing a mind prepared by thorough school 
 discipline, and educated up to a far higher standard 
 than those of a much superior social grade in society 
 in the Old World, the American working-boy develops 
 rapidly into the skilled artisan; and having once 
 mastered one part of his business, he is never con 
 tent until he has mastered all. Doing one mechanical 
 operation well, and only that one, does not satisfy him 
 or his employer. He is ambitious to do something 
 more than a set task, and, therefore, he must learn all. 
 The second part of his trade he is allowed to learn 
 as a reward for becoming master of the first ; and so 
 on to the end, if he may be said ever to arrive at that. 
 The restless activity of mind and body the anxiety to 
 
RHODE ISLAND. 245 
 
 improve his own department of industry the facts 
 constantly before him of ingenious men who have 
 solved economic and mechanical problems to their 
 own profit and elevation are all stimulative and 
 encouraging ; and it may be said, that there is not a 
 working-boy of average ability in the New England 
 States, at least, who has not an idea of some mechanical 
 invention or improvement in manufactures, by which, 
 in good time, he hopes to better his position, or rise 
 to fortune and social distinction/ 
 
 At present, a body of operative carpenters in a large 
 town in England have struck work, in consequence of 
 their employers having introduced machinery into their 
 establishments. Facts of this kind continually occur 
 ring in Great Britain, contrast strangely with the 
 statements presented by Mr Whitworth respecting the 
 eagerness with which American operatives, through a 
 superior intelligence, assist in promoting mechanical 
 contrivances. He says, wherever machinery can be 
 introduced as a substitute for manual labour, it is 
 universally and willingly resorted to ; of this the facts 
 stated in my Report contain many conclusive proofs, 
 but I may here specially refer, as examples, to plough- 
 making, where eight men are able to finish 30 per day; 
 to door-making, where twenty men make 100 panelled 
 doors per day ; to last-making, the process of which is 
 completed in 1J minutes; to sewing by machinery, 
 where one woman does the work of 20; to net-mak 
 ing, where one woman does the work of 100. It is this 
 condition of the labour-market, and this eager resort 
 to machinery wherever it can be applied, to which, 
 under the guidance of superior education and intelli 
 gence, the remarkable prosperity of the United States 
 is mainly due/ He afterwards mentions, that the 
 results which have been obtained in the United States, 
 by the application of machinery wherever it has been 
 
246 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 practicable to manufactures, are rendered still more 
 remarkable by the fact, that combinations to resist its 
 introduction are there unheard of. The workmen hail 
 with satisfaction all mechanical improvements, the 
 importance and value of which, as releasing them from 
 the drudgery of unskilled labour, they are enabled 
 by education to understand and appreciate/ Mr 
 "VYhitworth concludes by saying, that the principles 
 which ought to regulate the relations between the 
 employer and employed seem to be thoroughly under 
 stood and appreciated in the United States ; and while 
 the law of limited liability affords the most ample 
 facilities for the investment of capital in business, the 
 intelligent and educated artisan is left equally free to 
 earn all he can, by making the best use of his hands, 
 without let or hinderance by his fellows. It rarely 
 happens that a workman who possesses peculiar skill 
 in his craft is disqualified to take the responsible 
 position of superintendent, by the want of education 
 and general knowledge, as is frequently the case in this 
 country. In every state in the Union, and particularly 
 in the north, education is, by means of the common 
 schools, placed within the reach of each individual, 
 and all classes avail themselves of the opportunities 
 afforded/ But in the United States there is another 
 element of improvement in ceaseless operation the 
 press. The desire of knowledge so early implanted 
 is greatly increased, while the facilities for diffusing it 
 are amply provided through the instrumentality of an 
 almost universal press. No taxation of any kind has 
 been suffered to interfere with the free development of 
 this powerful agent for promoting the intelligence of 
 the people; and the consequence is, that where the 
 humblest labourer can indulge in the luxury of his 
 daily paper, everybody reads, and thought and intelli 
 gence penetrate through the lowest grades of society. 
 
RHODE ISLAND. 247 
 
 The benefits which thus result from a liberal system 
 of education and a cheap press to the working- classes 
 of the United States, can hardly be overestimated in a 
 national point of view ; but it is to the co-operation of 
 both that they must undoubtedly be ascribed. For 
 if, selecting a proof from among the European states, 
 the condition of Prussia be considered, it will be found 
 that the people of that country, as a body, have not 
 made that progress which, from the great attention 
 paid to the education of all classes, might have been 
 anticipated; and this must certainly be ascribed to 
 the restrictions laid upon the press, which have so 
 materially impeded the general advancement of the 
 people. Wherever education and an unrestricted press 
 are allowed full scope to exercise their united influence, 
 progress and improvement are the certain results; and 
 among the many benefits which arise from their joint 
 co-operation, may be ranked most prominently the 
 value which they teach men to place upon intelligent 
 contrivance, the readiness with which they cause new 
 improvements to be received, and the impulse which 
 they thus unavoidably give to that inventive spirit 
 which is gradually emancipating man from the rude 
 forms of labour, and making what were regarded as 
 the luxuries of one age to be looked upon in the next 
 as the ordinary and necessary conditions of human 
 existence/ 
 
 It would be easy, if room permitted, to extend our 
 observations on the subject of elementary education in 
 the New England and other states. What has been 
 said is enough to shew that in this department of public 
 affairs, the Americans and I may add, the Canadians 
 have got completely the start of the people of Great 
 Britain, who indeed, in this respect, are behind the 
 English Puritans of the seventeenth century behind 
 even John Knox, a century earlier. While generation 
 
248 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 after generation in England is passing away imper 
 fectly instructed for the present, and as imperfectly 
 prepared for a future state of existence, our American 
 brethren, unimpeded by obstructions of any kind, have 
 shot far ahead, and are carrying the triumphs of free 
 and universal education to limits scarcely so much as 
 dreamed of in this country. 
 
CHAPTER XV. 
 
 WASHINGTON. 
 
 THE season was now considerably advanced, and I had 
 just time to make a run southwards, previous to the 
 opening of Congress at Washington, on the 5th of 
 December, at which I felt some curiosity to be present. 
 The journey would, unfortunately, take me twice over 
 the same ground; but for this there was no help. I 
 proposed to go through New York to Philadelphia, 
 and thence, without stopping, through Baltimore to 
 Washington, leaving the return excursion to be per 
 formed with somewhat more deliberation. As a chain 
 of railways is extended from Boston much further south 
 than I had any intention of going, it was practicable to 
 make the whole journey in from two to three days. 
 
 On a Monday morning, at eight o clock, I bade 
 adieu to my kind friends in Providence, and taking my 
 place in the cars, hoped to arrive at Philadelphia late 
 in the evening. But in this plan of operations I was 
 destined to experience disappointment. The cars got 
 on admirably for about a dozen miles, when on slowly 
 leaving a station, they were by a sudden concussion 
 brought to an abrupt halt. Quietly and apathetically 
 a few persons sallied forth to see what was the matter 
 I went with them ; and finally, everybody in the train 
 came out to learn the particulars of the disaster. 
 
 There we all stood in a group near the locomotive, 
 which, with the tender behind it, was placed in a highly 
 
250 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 critical position. By an act of carelessness, exceedingly 
 common on the American railways, the person in 
 charge of a siding had neglected to adjust the points 
 to suit the up-train, and the locomotive having run 
 right off the track, was stuck fast in the middle of a 
 rudely constructed wooden bridge; one of its fore- 
 wheels whirling in the air over the abyss beneath. A 
 little more impetus would have sent the whole train 
 to the bottom of the river, which flowed through the 
 ravine. As no personal injury, however, was sustained, 
 the accident was rather amusing than otherwise. I 
 had again an opportunity of remarking the placid 
 impassibility of the American character. In England, 
 there would have been vehement upbraidings of some 
 body or other. Here, there was perfect imperturbability. 
 Everybody looked on in silence, as if nothing particular 
 had occurred. The only person who made himself 
 heard, was an umbrella pedler, who, taking advantage 
 of what he probably considered to be a fortunate 
 assemblage of customers, rushed madly about recom 
 mending his wares to public notice, and assuring every 
 one that he would never have such another chance of 
 purchasing a good, substantial, and cheap umbrella. 
 In a moment, I saw that my day s journey was cut 
 short. The railway was only a single line, and the 
 bridge, blocked up by the locomotive, was barely pass 
 able on foot. Our only hope was the arrival of a train 
 in the opposite direction, which might exchange passen 
 gers, and return on its track. Meanwhile, the morning 
 was very cold, and most of us sought the refuge of a 
 small station-house, which was provided with a fire in 
 an iron stove. Around the cheering blaze we clustered 
 a solemn band, into the midst of which the everlasting 
 umbrella pedler ever and anon thrust himself with his 
 bundle under his arm, telling everybody that now was 
 the time to buy a right good cotton umbrella. And so 
 
WASHINGTON. 251 
 
 an hour was spent in the station-house, till the train 
 from Worcester was heard approaching, and drawing 
 up in time to avoid running in upon the unfortunate 
 locomotive in its path. 
 
 I say, conductor, how are we to get across that 
 there bridge? asked several passengers. You see it 
 is quite open, with only beams for us to step upon, and 
 hardly room to pass/ 
 
 The conductor paid no attention to any such inquiries, 
 but began carrying across portmanteaus and carpet 
 bags, while the conductor of the other train did the 
 same with the baggage under his charge; and for half 
 an hour there was a scrambling of men, women, and 
 children, conductors and baggage-masters, to and fro, 
 till the exchange was wholly effected the scene remind 
 ing one of the Vision of Mirza, no one, however, having 
 the misfortune to drop through the openings in the 
 bridge into the dark pool below. I had the honour of 
 conducting a middle-aged lady and band-box across the 
 gulf, and was rewarded with a warmth of thanks and 
 good wishes which I had not on any previous occasion 
 experienced. Having all successfully achieved the 
 adventure of crossing, we took our places in the train, 
 which then moved on to Worcester, leaving the passen 
 gers who had come with it to find their way to Pro 
 vidence as they best might. The last thing I saw was 
 a crowd of them pulling at a rope which was attached 
 to the errant locomotive ; but how long they pulled, or 
 whether they got the engine back to its proper position 
 on the rails, I am unable to say. Without further 
 detention, we arrived in Worcester, but so considerably 
 behind time, that the morning train from Boston to 
 New York had long since passed. 
 
 I did not altogether regret a delay of five or six 
 hours in what I found to be one of the prettiest and 
 busiest towns in New England. The wide streets, 
 
252 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 ornamented with trees,, were lined with large and hand 
 some stores, while in the environs there appeared to be 
 various manufactories of some importance. Worcester 
 is a kind of American Birmingham; articles of hard 
 ware being its principal products, among which 
 telegraph-wire and pistols have a prominent place. 
 Recollecting the name of a manufacturer of railway- 
 cars, I visited his establishment, and procured some 
 information that promised to be useful. I was gratified 
 with the respectable appearance of the operatives in the 
 town, and learned that, in point of sobriety and other 
 estimable habits, they were not behind their brethren 
 in other parts of Massachusetts. At the hotel where I 
 dined, the bar had been abolished; and, as usual, the 
 large company at the table-d hote drank nothing but 
 iced-water. As the majority of the persons present 
 seemed to be commercial travellers, the spectacle of 
 such temperance contrasted strangely with what I knew 
 to be customary in England. 
 
 Catching the evening train from Boston on its way 
 to New York, I arrived at my old quarters in the 
 Astor, an hour after midnight, and set off again, 
 without delay, in the morning. The journey south 
 wards from New York, begins by crossing North Eiver 
 in a ferry-boat to Jersey City on the opposite shore; 
 and there a train is in waiting to carry forward the 
 passengers. On this occasion, a large number required 
 accommodation; for members of Congress, with their 
 families, were taking their flight to Washington for the 
 season, and others were on their way to regions still 
 more distant. 
 
 The route through the state of New Jersey was tame 
 and uninteresting. Much of the land is level, with a 
 reddish sandy soil, yielding heavy crops of peaches and 
 other fruits; and numberless orchards, some not quite 
 stripped of their produce, were passed in the journey. 
 
WASHINGTON. 253 
 
 At the distance of eighty-seven miles, the train was 
 intercepted on the borders of the state by a navigable 
 river, half a mile wide; on the further side of which 
 was seen a large city of brick-houses, faced by at least 
 a mile of wharfs and shipping. In a few minutes, we 
 have exchanged our seats in the cars for the deck of 
 a steamer, and are borne forward on the surface 
 of the beautiful Delaware to the far-famed city of 
 Philadelphia. 
 
 Reaching the city of Brotherly Love, I do not stay 
 in my journey; but ungraciously passing over classic 
 ground, hasten to the railway -station, where the cars 
 are ready to set out. Now begins a fresh excursion, 
 the train in the first place crossing the Schuylkill, and 
 then proceeding through an old and settled part of 
 Pennsylvania; but the land is still mostly level, and 
 the soil appears thin, with a scrubby vegetation. It 
 is usually understood that the river Delaware marks 
 a change in climate. Here we find the air milder than 
 it is in the north ; and the number of black faces winch 
 make their appearance, give token of an approach 
 to new social conditions. In the course of the day s 
 run, several rivers and creeks of the sea are crossed on 
 viaducts one of them a long and low wooden erection 
 on piles in the water ; and at two places the trajet is 
 performed, as at the Delaware, in ferry-boats. The 
 first of the ferries is that of the Susquehanna, a large 
 river in Maryland, flowing into Chesapeake Bay. The 
 shifting here, to reach Havre-de-Grace, a small town 
 on the southern bank, is complained of by some 
 travellers; but I accepted it as rather an agreeable 
 variety in the excursion. The interior of the steamer 
 which carried the passengers across was fitted up with 
 a restaurant, where tea, coffee, and other light refresh 
 ments were served at a moderate cost. For the 
 accommodation of persons of colour, an inferior place 
 
254 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 of refreshment, fitted up separately, was under the 
 charge of a respectably dressed female mulatto. In 
 this arrangement there was nothing very novel ; for 
 in the New England States, as well as in the state of 
 New York, I had everywhere found separate churches 
 and separate schools for the use of the coloured 
 population. By such experiences in travelling, one is 
 partly prepared for the more severe distinctions 
 incidental to the states in which slavery prevails. 
 
 Baltimore, which I saw for a short time in passing, 
 and also on my return, occupies a pleasant situation on 
 a rising-ground overlooking the river Patapsco, and is 
 one of the best built, as it is among the oldest, cities 
 in the United States. Placed on a navigable water 
 connected with the Chesapeake, it appears to be a busy 
 mart of foreign commerce, with a considerable number 
 of vessels loading and unloading at its quays. Like 
 other eastern cities, it has competed for the trade 
 of the West; and now, by means of a railway to 
 Wheeling, on the Ohio, has largely increased its 
 operations. Although only about a hundred and 
 twenty years old, Baltimore, in 1850, contained 
 195,000 inhabitants, and at present is in as thriving 
 a condition as any city in the Union. It is celebrated 
 for the number of its public monuments, one of which 
 is commemorative of those who fell defending the city 
 against the attack of the British in 1814. 
 
 Maryland does not contain many slaves, and I 
 believe the number in this state, as well as in Delaware, 
 is gradually diminishing. The harvest being past, and 
 the fields generally stripped of everything but Indian 
 corn-stalks and other refuse, the country had a some 
 what dreary aspect. At different places, in passing 
 along, negroes in frieze-jackets and round hats were 
 observed ploughing up the stubble the work not 
 exactly such as would gain a prize at a match on 
 
WASHINGTON. 255 
 
 Tweedside, although both horses and ploughs seemed 
 to he of the hest kind. Generally, five or six teams 
 were going in one field, with an overseer riding about 
 on horseback. In the distance, might be seen the neat 
 villa residences of the proprietors, with clusters of 
 white cottages for the slaves and their families. The 
 whole routine of farming seemed, indeed, to be different 
 from what is observable in the northern states, where 
 small properties are cultivated almost entirely by the 
 settler and his family every one working diligently, 
 and nothing being paid away for hired labour of any 
 kind. 
 
 Brought thus in sight of slavery, though under no 
 revolting circumstances, I could not, with all my 
 anticipations, avoid feeling somewhat shocked; but 
 what for the moment chiefly occupied my mind, was 
 the apparently uneconomic practice of buying men at 
 a considerable cost to labour in the fields, instead of 
 hiring and dismissing them at pleasure. To a gentle 
 man who was seated before me in the car, I ventured 
 to hint that the practice of using purchased labour 
 must here place the farmers at a considerable disad 
 vantage. He acknowledged that such was the case 
 to a certain extent. Slavery, said he, does very 
 well, nay, is absolutely necessary, in the hot southern 
 states, where no negro would work but on compulsion, 
 and where free white labourers could not work at all 
 without falling a sacrifice to the climate. But here 
 abouts, things are different. Our crops could be 
 cultivated by farmers and their families, as in the 
 north/ 
 
 Then/ said I, why is the system of slavery . 
 continued if it can be advantageously done away 
 with? 
 
 Ah! don t ask me that/ was the reply; it is here an 
 old institution, and matters have arranged themselves 
 
256 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 accordingly. It is an unfortunate state of things, and 
 I daresay will be remedied some day. My opinion 
 is, that much mischief has been done by the rough 
 manner in wliich the Abolitionists have abused the 
 slave-owners, many of whom are very worthy people. 
 If the subject were treated calmly, the system of slavery 
 in these middle states would soon drop away. At this 
 moment, considerable numbers of New Englanders are 
 buying farms in Virginia, and introducing their own 
 vigorous method of working. Exhausted estates are 
 constantly to be had at very low prices; and in the 
 hands of the smart Yankee farmers, who know how to 
 plough deep and to lay on plenty of guano, they turn 
 out capital speculations/ 
 
 Do these fresh incomers/ I inquired, employ 
 negroes ? 
 
 I think not ; they trust to themselves, though they 
 may have one or two helps/ 
 
 Will the free negroes readily work for them? I 
 asked ; touching on a rather trying question. 
 
 Not if they can help it. The truth is, sir, the 
 whole coloured races, of every shade, are a poor, listless 
 set of people; not but there are exceptions among 
 them. I never knew any who would not amuse them 
 selves, or idle away their time, rather than follow 
 steady employment. They do very well as porters, 
 house-servants, coachmen, barbers, waiters, or cooks 
 anything connected with eating they are good at. 
 They also do tolerably well as preachers; in short, 
 anything that does not involve hard continuous work/ 
 
 Would they not make good railway excavators ? y 
 
 Not at all ; the labour would be too heavy for 
 them. Notwithstanding the numbers of free negroes, 
 our railways have been made principally by Irish. Ah ! 
 ! sir/ was added with a grin, Pat & the boy ! 
 
 - I am sorry/ said I, to hear so bad an account of 
 
WASHINGTON. 257 
 
 the poor coloured races. May not their unfortunate 
 defects of character be traced in no small degree to 
 the treatment they have received ? 
 
 1 Cannot tell anything at all about that/ replied my 
 companion. I just know this, that I am heartily sick 
 of them; and should be glad to see the country rid of 
 the whole concern. They are a regular nuisance, sir ! 
 
 The person who made these remarks was an officer 
 in the uniform of the United States 7 navy, on his way 
 to Washington ; and they were made with the sincerity 
 and frankness of a sailor. I have thought it proper to 
 record what was said, in order to convey an idea of 
 sentiments, far from uncommon in America, respecting 
 the coloured population. 
 
 It was dark before the train reached Washington. 
 About nine o clock, it drew up at a handsome station, 
 outside of which were in waiting a string of carriages, 
 invitingly open for passengers. By the recommenda 
 tion of my new naval friend, I seated myself in that 
 belonging to Willard s Hotel, and was in a few minutes 
 riding towards the further extremity of the city. The 
 moon shone out as we passed the Capitol, and by its 
 silvery light revealed a large white edifice, with a dome 
 towering above us, on the summit of a commanding 
 eminence. At the distance of a mile westward along 
 Pennsylvania Avenue, the termination of my long 
 day s journey was reached; and I thankfully sought 
 refreshment and repose. 
 
 Travellers do not usually speak flatteringly of Wash 
 ington. Every one seems to think it his duty to have a 
 slap at its pretensions, which fall so very far short of the 
 reality. It is my misfortune in this, as in some other 
 things, to differ from most of my predecessors, and to 
 see little ground for either sarcasm or jocularity. All 
 that can be said of Washington is, that it is a city in 
 process of being built and occupied ; and has already, 
 
 Q 
 
258 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 since its commencement about sixty years ago, acquired 
 a population of 40,000, independently of an increase 
 from members of the legislature with their families, 
 and visitors, during the sessions of Congress. After 
 the witticisms at its alleged spectral appearance, I was 
 rather surprised to discover that, instead of a few 
 mansions scattered about among trees, with miles of 
 interval, it consisted of a number of streets lined 
 with continuous rows of houses, several fine public 
 buildings, and a fair show of stores and hotels. 
 Why the Americans should aim at building a city 
 specially for the accommodation of their government, 
 is not quite clear to the minds of Europeans, who are 
 accustomed to great overgrown capitals in which the 
 wealth and grandeur of a nation are concentrated. 
 Originating partly in the wish to remove the adminis 
 tration beyond the immediate action of popular influ 
 ences, Washington, I believe, owes its rise chiefly to 
 the desirableness of placing the political metropolis 
 in a locality apart from, and independent of, any 
 particular state. The situation, though no longer 
 equidistant from the several states in the Union, was 
 exceedingly well chosen by the great man whose name 
 was given to the city. The Chesapeake Bay, one of 
 the largest inlets of the Atlantic, receives, about half 
 way up on the western side, the large river Potomac, 
 itself for a long way up a kind of firth or sea two to 
 three miles in width. Where it narrows to about a 
 mile, at the distance of 290 miles from the Atlantic, 
 the Potomac parts into two branches ; and between 
 these, on the left or eastern bank of the principal 
 branch, Washington has been erected. The peninsula 
 so selected, is spacious, with gentle slopes, and would 
 afford accommodation for a city many miles in extent. 
 On a central ridge of ground, with a stretch of open 
 downs between it and the Potomac, stands the principal 
 
WASHINGTON. 259 
 
 portion of the city; the Capitol, or seat of legis 
 lation, being at the eastern extremity, on a detached 
 eminence, and the house of the President on the top of 
 a rising-ground a mile westward. 
 
 Planned wholly on paper before a single house was 
 built, the thoroughfares have been arranged in parallel, 
 rectangular, and diagonal lines : those which run in 
 one direction being called from the letters of the 
 alphabet; and those which cross them being named 
 First, Second, Third Street ; and so on. The diagonal 
 thoroughfares, the most important of all, are styled 
 Avenues; and of these Pennsylvania may be con 
 sidered the principal. I should think this is the widest 
 street in the world. It measures 160 feet in width 
 the whole of the middle part for carriages being as 
 well paved as the streets of London, and the footwalks 
 laid with stone or brick. Along the sides of these 
 footpaths are rows of trees, imparting an agreeable 
 shade in the heats of summer. Built of brick, red 
 sandstone, or wood, the houses throughout the city are 
 of the smart and tasteful kind seen in the northern 
 states ; and as there is plenty of space for mews-lanes, 
 nothing incongruous is obtruded on the eye of the 
 stranger, unless it be the number of negroes of both 
 sexes, principally slaves. At the period of my visit, 
 much was doing in the way of levelling and paving the 
 streets; and I learned that the value of property had 
 lately risen considerably. 
 
 Having surmounted the initiatory difficulties, Wash 
 ington may now be said to be in a course of improve 
 ment creditable to the liberality of the nation ; for all 
 public works are undertaken at the expense of the 
 Treasury. The district of Columbia, in which the city 
 is placed a small territory, formerly a part of Mary 
 land, and possessing no separate political character is 
 under the administration of Congress. Complaints are 
 
260 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 occasionally heard of the expenses to which the country 
 is put on account of Washington; but if the people 
 only knew the sums lavished by parliament on the 
 palaces, parks, and police of the British metropolis, 
 at the cost of the entire United Kingdom, they would 
 have reason to be thankful for being so mercifully 
 dealt with. 
 
 As yet, comprehended within a narrow compass, and 
 open in all quarters to visitors, Washington may be 
 satisfactorily seen in a single forenoon. The first thing 
 done is to visit the Capitol, which is observed standing 
 proudly on its eminence, surrounded by an enclosed 
 pleasure-ground, at the eastern extremity of Penn 
 sylvania Avenue. In walking down this principal 
 thoroughfare on the morning after my arrival, there 
 was little bustle to remind one of being in a political 
 metropolis of some celebrity. In the long line of 
 street, there appeared only an omnibus on its way 
 to George Town, in the vicinity,, and one or two 
 hackney-cabs. As the morning was fine, the steps of 
 the various hotels were already crowded with lately 
 arrived members of Congress ; and the various parties 
 clustering in debate, shewed that matters in connection 
 with the approaching proceedings were in agitation. 
 
 Built of light-coloured stone, and in the Corinthian 
 style of architecture, the Capitol, with its wings, hand 
 some portico, and lofty dome, is an edifice of imposing 
 appearance. Advancing up the exterior nights of 
 steps, and entering the portal, we are ushered into a 
 central rotunda, ninety-five feet in diameter, and 
 lighted from the cupola above. On the walls around 
 this spacious vestibule, and on a level with the eye, are 
 placed a series of large pictures representing scenes 
 in American history; two of which, the surrender of 
 Burgoyne and of Cornwallis, cannot but bring 
 unpleasant recollections to the mind of the English 
 
WASHINGTON. 261 
 
 visitor. Chairs are placed in front of the pictures, for 
 the benefit of strangers, who are further accommodated 
 with a printed key to the figures. At different points, 
 doors lead to inner lobbies, whence access is gained to 
 the Hall of the House of Representatives, and to the 
 Senate-chamber, the Library, and other rooms all so 
 frequently described, that I spare any account of 
 them on the present occasion. I must not omit, 
 however, to mention one thing, from its extreme 
 novelty. This is the perfect liberty to roam at will, 
 without question and without payment, over the whole 
 building. Nor is there any want of attendants ready 
 and willing to afford any sort of information. By one 
 of these, I was obligingly conducted to the top of the 
 cupola, whence a splendid view was obtained of the 
 city beneath ; the two environing arms of the Potomac, 
 beyond which were the woody hills of Virginia, 
 forming a framework to the picture. On descending 
 from this giddy altitude, I ventured to offer a gratuity 
 to my conductor, which he respectfully refused, with 
 an explanation worthy of recording : I cannot take 
 any money, sir, for doing my duty. I am a public 
 officer, and paid by the public/ If there be a door 
 or gallery keeper in either House of Parliament, who 
 would in this way refuse half-a-crown, let him by all 
 means be named, for he must unquestionably be a 
 prodigy ! 
 
 The grounds around the building are prettily laid 
 out with shady walks; and near the entrance is a 
 sparkling fountain with a drinking-cup, to appease 
 the insatiate craving for water, which seems a kind of 
 disease among the Americans. In the grounds on 
 the east, is the celebrated statue of Washington by 
 Greenough; it is of colossal size, in a sitting posture, 
 and being executed in Parian marble, the effect is 
 striking, though the spectator is not inclined to admire 
 
262 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 the exploded fancy of representing a modern soldier as 
 a half-naked Roman. There are several other figures 
 connected with the Capitol, hut none which appears to 
 require notice. 
 
 The public "buildings I next visited were the Post- 
 office and Patent-office, two remarkably fine edifices 
 of white marble, near the centre of the town. The 
 Patent-office contains a most extraordinary collection 
 of models of articles which have been the subject of 
 a patent ; and no other spectacle could furnish so 
 comprehensive a notion of the inventive faculties of 
 the Americans. A spacious hall, with ranges of 
 glass-cases lining the walls and projected across the 
 floor, is full of every variety of object in mechanical 
 art and science. Adjoining, are apartments devoted 
 to the examination and enrolment of articles ; and on 
 the floor above, is a museum of natural history and 
 objects of antiquarian interest. Compared with the 
 treasures of the British Museum, the collection is 
 insignificant ; and as centralisation at the cost of a 
 whole people is repugnant to the constitution of the 
 States, it may be apprehended that the national 
 museum will never attain the extent and grandeur 
 exhibited in the collections of European capitals. 
 The articles most worthy of notice are certain relics 
 connected with American history as, the dress, 
 sword, and camp-equipage of General Washington, 
 and the original document in vellum, declaratory 
 of the independence of the States, bearing the 
 autographs of the signers, very much faded. In a 
 separate glass-case stands the old wooden printing- 
 press at which Franklin wrought when a journeyman 
 in London in 1725-6. Removed from the office in 
 Wild Street, Lincoln s Inn Fields, where the young 
 American aquatic had laboured at his vocation, the 
 machine underwent several changes of proprietors, till 
 
WASHINGTON. 263 
 
 it was finally presented to the government of the United 
 States by Mr J. B. Murray of New York. An inscrip 
 tion on a brass-plate narrates the circumstance of 
 Franklin having visited the press in London in 1768, 
 when he came to England as agent for Massachusetts. 
 
 Among the latest additions to the attractions of 
 Washington, the Smithsonian Institute is the most 
 important; for it bears reference to the culture of 
 general knowledge, on so liberal a scale as cannot but 
 prove valuable to the community. Originating in the 
 bequest of an English gentleman named Smithson, in 
 favour of the United States government, a large sum 
 has been appropriated to the erection of a building of 
 red sandstone in the Norman style of architecture, 
 comprising a number of towers and pinnacles. The 
 building occupies a favourable situation in the middle 
 of a lawn, nineteen acres in extent, to the south of the 
 city, near the road towards the Potomac. On visiting 
 it, I found that it was not yet finished. But the main 
 portions, consisting of a library and lecture-room, were 
 open, both being free to all. Some valuable treatises 
 have already appeared for general distribution at the 
 expense of the institution. About a quarter of a mile 
 westward, overlooking the Potomac, a gigantic obelisk 
 was in course of erection to the memory of General 
 Washington to whom, with all deference, the multi 
 plicity of such testimonials becomes a little tiresome, 
 besides tending to suggest that America has never 
 produced any other person worthy of commemoration. 
 This enormous pile, which is designed to reach 600 feet 
 from the ground, is reared by voluntary subscription 
 throughout the United States. I suppose nothing 
 since the days of the Pyramids has been built on so 
 stupendous a scale. 
 
 When a stranger has seen these things, there is 
 nothing left to do but take a look at the mansion of 
 
264 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 the President, and the adjoining buildings devoted to 
 the Treasury and other administrative offices. To this 
 quarter the court end of the town, as I may call it 
 I now adjourned, for the purpose of calling on a gentle 
 man connected with the government. Here, I have 
 pleasure in saying, I was received in the same perfectly 
 urbane and unceremonious manner I had uniformly 
 experienced in my interviews with officials in all the 
 places I had visited. 
 
 ( You will call on the President, of course/ said this 
 newly acquired friend. 
 
 I should be glad to do so/ I replied ; but I know no 
 one to introduce me. I know nothing of the etiquette 
 to be employed on the occasion/ 
 
 Come along with me, and I will introduce you. 
 The President is perfectly accessible/ 
 
 So saying, we set out immediately; and after 
 crossing an enclosed patch of pleasure-ground, arrived 
 at the White House, which has a fine look-out from 
 the brow of an eminence, in a southerly direction, 
 over the Potomac. The edifice, with a lofty portico 
 of Ionic columns on its northern front, has a massive 
 effect, with accommodation, I should think, for a 
 large establishment. Neither as regards exterior nor 
 interior appearances, however, was there anything to 
 remind the stranger that the occupant was the head 
 of a great nation. After seeing pretty nearly all the 
 royal palaces in Europe, and being accustomed to 
 observe that the persons of monarchs were surrounded, 
 either for safety or distinction, with military guards, 
 I was much struck with the total absence of force 
 in any shape around the dwelling of the President; 
 which, undefended from real or imaginary violence, 
 can only, in the simplicity of its arrangements, be 
 compared with a gentleman s residence in a quiet rural 
 district. The only person in charge was a door-keeper, 
 
WASHINGTON. 265 
 
 who admitted us to one of the lower reception-rooms 
 a large apartment, decorated in the French style in 
 which we paced about a few minutes till our cards were 
 carried up stairs to the President, who was said to be 
 engaged with his cabinet. 
 
 Mention to the President/ said my conductor, in 
 giving the cards, that this is a gentleman from 
 Europe. 
 
 Whether this recommendation had any effect, I know 
 not; but after a short delay, we were requested to 
 ascend. In going up stairs, my friend introduced me 
 to several members of the House of Representatives, 
 who were coming down. Two of them, I was after 
 wards informed, had been originally operative brick 
 layers, who, by a course of industry and self-culture, 
 had raised themselves to an honourable position. 
 
 Almost immediately on reaching the assigned apart 
 ment, General Pierce entered from a side-room, and 
 shaking hands, received me in a most agreeable manner ; 
 at the same time stating, that he was now much 
 occupied, and hoped to have the pleasure of seeing me 
 again before my departure from Washington. He was 
 in a plain black dress, apparently about forty-five years 
 of age, and I thought care-worn by the ceaseless and 
 onerous duties he is called on to perform. 
 
 I regret that the demands on my time did not permit 
 my waiting for any of the soirees at the White House, 
 which usually commence with the congressional sittings; 
 and it was not, therefore, my good-fortune to see any 
 more of the President, to whom I am, however, indebted 
 for the affable manner in which he was pleased to 
 receive me. Returning to my hotel, I pondered on the 
 singularly simple forms by which the President of the 
 United States regulates his personal intercourse with 
 the world. 
 
 I spent another day in Washington, making inquiries 
 
266 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 of various kinds, and forming some agreeable acquaint 
 ances in the place. It had been suggested to me, 
 that I should, as a matter of duty, call on the British 
 minister. I endeavoured to do so ; but after wandering 
 about for two hours in a straggling suburb, west from 
 the President s house, where his excellency was said to 
 dwell, I failed in discovering his residence ; no one to 
 whom I applied knowing anything at all about it. 
 
 In these and other rambles about Washington, the 
 number of negro slaves, of both sexes and all ages, 
 in the streets and doorways, and serving in various 
 capacities, was exceedingly conspicuous ; and this 
 anomalous feature in the social condition of the capital, 
 within the very precincts of the executive and legisla 
 ture, was felt to lower the respect which, on general 
 grounds, we are disposed to entertain towards the 
 federal government. It would almost seem as if 
 Congress were ashamed of the existence of slavery 
 within the district over which it exercises a municipal 
 sway. According to a late enactment, no public sales 
 of slaves or slave-pens are permitted within the district 
 of Columbia. By this means, the more offensive 
 attributes of the institution do not meet the eye in 
 Washington; and those who desire to see sales by 
 auction of human creatures, require to travel a hundred 
 miles southward to Richmond, in Virginia. With no 
 vulgar curiosity, but a wish to satisfy my mind as 
 regards various controversial particulars, I resolved 
 to make an excursion to Richmond; and the account 
 of this trip, a kind of episode in my visit to Washington, 
 will furnish the subject of next chapter. 
 
CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 RICHMOND, IN VIRGINIA. 
 
 WHEN does the carriage leave the door for the 
 steamer down the Potomac ? I asked the book-keeper 
 of Willard s Hotel in Washington. 
 
 At six o clock in the morning, and nine in the 
 evening/ was the reply. 
 
 I preferred setting out in the morning, and was ready 
 accordingly Mr Willard being up at this early hour, 
 and considerately providing each guest at his departure 
 with a cup of coffee (without charge) . 
 
 The ride to the landing-place of the steamers, across 
 an open stretch of ground, occupies about half an hour, 
 and on my arrival, I found that a number of persons 
 who had just come by the northern train, were going 
 on board a steamer, which was lying at the extremity 
 of a wooden pier. Speedily everything was adjusted. 
 A very droll-looking negro lad, in a kind of cocked-hat, 
 and boots pulled over a pair of ragged pants, drew in 
 the rope, and we were off. 
 
 The Potomac, more like an inland sea than a river, 
 and here a mile in width, forms the connecting-link 
 between the northern and southern railways. The 
 line, as yet, stopped at Washington; and to get again 
 upon the track, it was necessary to descend the Potomac 
 fifty-five miles, to a place called Acquia Creek, where 
 the railway to Richmond commences. An English 
 traveller has said such sore things of the steamers on 
 
268 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 the Potomac, that I did not feel quite at ease in making 
 so long an excursion in one of them : but I am bound 
 in justice to say, that so far as my experience went, 
 there was nothing to complain of. For a company of 
 about fifty persons, two tables were prepared for break 
 fast in a manner that would have done no discredit to 
 a first-class hotel. A good-humoured negro barber 
 plied his vocation in his little apartment. And the 
 toilet apparatus comprehended no wooden bowls such 
 articles having utterly vanished, if they ever existed 
 anywhere but in the imagination. 
 
 In fine weather, the sail down the Potomac from 
 Washington must be exceedingly pleasant; for the 
 river, though broad, is not so wide as to give indistinct 
 ness to the scenery on the banks. On the right, we 
 have the woody heights of Virginia, and on the left, 
 the hills of Maryland, with frequent glimpses of villa- 
 residences and farm- settlements on both sides. At the 
 distance of six or seven miles below Washington, but 
 on the Virginia side, we come abreast of Alexandria, a 
 town of 10,000 inhabitants, with a good deal of shipping 
 at its quays, and signs of manufacturing industry on a 
 considerable scale. Eight miles further down, on the 
 same side, is seen upon a green knoll among the pic 
 turesque woody eminences, an object of interest which, 
 cold as the morning is, attracts nearly all the passengers 
 from the well- warmed cabin. This is Mount Vernon, 
 once the residence of General Washington, and where, 
 in a vault amidst the grounds, the remains of the great 
 man were intombed. It is a neat country residence, 
 with a tall veranda in front, changed in no respect from 
 what it was sixty years ago; but a local authority 
 speaks of the grounds, which were kept in the greatest 
 trimness by Washington, being now in a discreditable 
 state of disorder a circumstance which, if true, 
 demands the attention of the American people. 
 
RICHMOND, IN VIRGINIA. 269 
 
 Unfortunately, the spot is not easily reached by land, 
 otherwise I should have gladly made it the object of 
 a pilgrimage. 
 
 As the day advanced, the chilliness of the atmosphere 
 wore off, and on arriving at Acquia Creek, the air felt 
 mild and agreeable, although it was the 1st of December. 
 The train was in waiting on a long jetty, and in less 
 than ten minutes it had received its freight of passen 
 gers and luggage, and was under-way. Such was my 
 entrance into Virginia that fine old state, settled by 
 English gentlemen of family, and whose history calls up 
 such melancholy thoughts of the unfortunate Raleigh. 
 
 Much of the country through which we passed was 
 uncleared of woods, which had a wild appearance, and 
 the land, where opened to agricultural operations, 
 seemed to be of a poor description. Among the trees 
 growing naturally in the patches of tangled forest, was 
 the arbor vitae. which here attains a considerable size. 
 Rhododendrons hung their faded blossoms by the road 
 sides, where they grew like common weeds; and in 
 other kinds of vegetation, there was still the lingering 
 aspect of autumn. On crossing the Rappahannock, at 
 Fredericksburg, the agricultural character of the country 
 was much improved; but even at the best, and all the 
 way to Richmond, a distance of sixty miles from the 
 Potomac, it fell short of what I had seen in Western 
 Canada and Ohio. Yet possessing, as it does, the 
 elements of fertility, what might not be expected from 
 the land, if put under an enlightened system of tillage ! 
 The ploughing, performed by slaves under the inspec 
 tion of overseers riding about the fields on horseback, 
 was very defective; for it seemed scarcely to tear up 
 the soil, and left large pieces altogether untouched. 
 As the train passed, the negro ploughmen invariably 
 stopped in their labour to look at, and speculate on, 
 the phenomenon, as if their heart was not in their work, 
 
270 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 and they took every opportunity of shirking it. From 
 the way they seemed to be proceeding, I feel pretty 
 safe in averring, that two ordinary Scotch ploughmen 
 would get through as much labour in a day as any 
 six of them, and do the work, too, in a greatly superior 
 manner. 
 
 In the course of the journey, a number of passengers 
 were set down at different stations, leaving so few in 
 the train, that at length another gentleman and myself 
 found ourselves alone in one of the cars. My com 
 panion was a man of probably forty years of age, stout 
 made, with sandy hair and whiskers, and had I seen 
 him in England, I should have said he was a working- 
 mechanic, probably a stone-mason, dressed in his Sun 
 day clothes, and out on a holiday. I am particular in 
 referring to his appearance, in order, if possible, to 
 throw some light on the habits in which he very freely 
 indulged. Apparently engaged in deep thought, he 
 continued chewing tobacco with a voracity I had never 
 seen equalled, and which provoked such an incessant 
 torrent of expectoration, that at last the floor around 
 him presented a most unsightly spectacle. 
 
 I think travellers, generally, in their descriptions, 
 exaggerate the chewing and spitting of the Americans. 
 It is, in reality, only here and there you meet a person 
 who abandons himself to these nauseous practices, 
 while to the mass of the more respectable people in the 
 States, they are probably as disagreeable as to any 
 well-bred European. The invectives, however, directed 
 against the Americans on this score, dispose me to 
 believe that the English who visit the United States, 
 and pick out so many faults, are either ignorant 
 or neglectful of the manners of their own country. 
 Among the less-instructed classes in Great Britain, 
 spitting in the streets, and other places, is exceed 
 ingly common; and since young gentlemen betook 
 
RICHMOND, IN VIRGINIA. 271 
 
 themselves to smoking tobacco in common clay-pipes, 
 the vice may be said to have become fashionable in the 
 junior departments of high-life at anyrate, we do not 
 see that it meets with public censure. Now, if it be 
 considered that in the United States, the rise from 
 one condition of life to another is astonishingly rapid, 
 and that all classes travel together in the same cars, 
 and live together in the same hotels, it will not be 
 difficult to understand how certain obnoxious practices 
 should obtrude themselves on the notice of the more 
 polished class of travellers. 
 
 The train arrived at Richmond about two o clock in 
 the afternoon ; and by an omnibus in attendance, I was 
 transferred to a hotel, which proved to be no way 
 inferior to the establishments in the states further 
 north. The whole of the waiters were negroes, in 
 white jackets; but among the female domestics I 
 recognised one or two Irish girls the sight of them 
 helping to make good what I had everywhere heard 
 stated about the Irish dispossessing the coloured races. 
 At Willard s Hotel, in "Washington, all the waiters, as 
 well as the female servants, were Irish ; and here, also, 
 they will probably be so in a short time. 
 
 Situated on a high and sloping bank on the left side 
 of the James River, Richmond is much less regular in 
 outline than the greater number of American cities. 
 Its streets, straggling in different directions on no 
 uniform plan, are of an old-established appearance, 
 with stores, churches, and numerous public buildings. 
 Besides the principal thoroughfares, there are many 
 narrow streets or lanes of a dismal, half-deserted 
 appearance, generally dirty, and seemingly ill drained 
 and ventilated. Everywhere, the number of black 
 faces is considerable; for in a population of 27,000, 
 as many as 9000 are said to be slaves. The dwellings 
 occupied by the lower classes of coloured people are of 
 
272 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 a miserable kind, resembling the worst brick-houses in 
 the back-lanes of English manufacturing towns. In 
 the upper part of the city, there are some rows of hand 
 some villas, and in this quarter is a public square, with 
 the Capitol, or seat of legislature, in a central and 
 conspicuous situation. In walking through this public 
 edifice towards dusk, I observed that it was guarded by 
 an armed sentinel, the sight of whom had almost the 
 startling effect of an apparition; for it was the first 
 time I had seen a bayonet in the United States, and 
 suggested the unpleasant reflection, that the large 
 infusion of slaves in the composition of society was 
 not unattended with danger. 
 
 A fine view is obtained from the front of the Capitol, 
 overlooking the lower part of the city, the river with 
 its falls, and the country in the distance. The falls of 
 the James River appear to have determined the situa 
 tion of the town. These falls unitedly amount to a 
 descent of eighty feet, and are made available for 
 turning a number of large mills for grinding flour, and 
 other purposes. The occurrence of such falls is only 
 one of a series of similar phenomena along the east 
 coast of America, where, by recessions of the sea, a 
 terrace-range crosses the rivers at a less or greater 
 distance from the ocean, causing an abrupt descent, 
 which is valuable as a water-power. The falls of the 
 James River cease in front of the city, where there 
 are several rocky and woody islets, and at this point 
 two long wooden bridges afford communication with 
 a manufacturing suburb on the right bank. 
 
 Although, in many respects, inferior in point of 
 appearance as compared with the smart New-England 
 cities, Richmond shewed various symptoms of pros 
 perity and progress. A species of dock for shipping 
 was in process of excavation adjoining the bridges, and 
 several large cotton -factories were in the course of 
 
RICHMOND, IN VIRGINIA. 073 
 
 erection. In the streets in this lower quarter,, there 
 was an active trade in the packing and sale of tobacco, 
 quantities of which, like faded weeds, were being carted 
 to the factories by negroes. The cotton manufacture 
 is carried on in several large establishments, and will 
 soon be extended, but principally, I was told, by means 
 of northern capital, and the employment of hired white 
 labourers, who, for factory purposes, are said to be 
 preferable to persons of colour. 
 
 Richmond is known as the principal market for the 
 supply of slaves for the south a circumstance under 
 stood to originate in the fact that Virginia, as a matter 
 of husbandry, breeds negro labourers for the express 
 purpose of sale. Having heard that such was the 
 case, I was interested in knowing by what means and 
 at what prices slaves are offered to purchasers. With 
 out introductions of any kind, I was thrown on my 
 own resources in acquiring this information. Fortu 
 nately, however", there was no impediment to encounter 
 in the research. The exposure of ordinary goods in 
 a store is not more open to the public than are the 
 sales of slaves in Richmond. By consulting the local 
 newspapers, I learned that the sales take place by 
 auction every morning in the offices of certain brokers, 
 who, as I understood by the terms of their adver 
 tisements, purchased or received slaves for sale on 
 commission. 
 
 Where the street was in which the brokers conducted 
 their business, I did not know ; but the discovery was 
 easily made. Rambling down the main street in the 
 city, I found that the subject of my search was a 
 narrow and short thoroughfare, turning off to the 
 left, and terminating in a similar cross thoroughfare. 
 Both streets, lined with brick-houses, were dull and 
 silent. There was not a person to whom I could 
 put a question. Looking about, I observed the 
 
274 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 office of a commission-agent, and into it I stepped. 
 Conceive the idea of a large shop with two windows, 
 and a door between ; no shelving or counters inside ; 
 the interior a spacious, dismal apartment, not well 
 swept; the only furniture a desk at one of the 
 windows, and a bench at one side of the shop, three 
 feet high, with two steps to it from the floor. I say, 
 conceive the idea of this dismal-looking place, with 
 nobody in it bnt three negro children, who, as I 
 entered, were playing at auctioning each other. An 
 intensely black little negro, of four or five years of age, 
 was standing on the bench, or block, as it is called, 
 with an equally black girl, about a year younger, by 
 his side, whom he was pretending to sell by bids to 
 another black child, who was rolling about the floor. 
 
 My appearance did not interrupt the merriment. 
 The little auctioneer continued his mimic play, and 
 appeared to enjoy the joke of selling the girl, who 
 stood demurely by his side. 
 
 Fifty dolla for de gal fifty dolla fifty dolla I 
 sell dis here fine gal for fifty dolla/ was uttered with 
 extraordinary volubility by the woolly-headed urchin, 
 accompanied with appropriate gestures, in imitation, 
 doubtless, of the scenes he had seen enacted daily on 
 the spot. I spoke a few words to the little creatures, 
 but was scarcely understood; and the fun went on as 
 if I had not been present : so I left them, happy in 
 rehearsing what was likely soon to be their own fate. 
 
 At another office of a similar character, on the 
 opposite side of the street, I was more successful. 
 Here, on inquiry, I was respectfully informed by a 
 person in attendance, that the sale would take place 
 the following morning at half-past nine o clock. 
 
 Next day, I set out accordingly, after breakfast, for 
 the scene of operations, in which there was now a little 
 more life. Two or three persons were lounging about, 
 
RICHMOND, IN VIRGINIA. 275 
 
 smoking cigars; and, looking along the street, I 
 observed that three red flags were projected from the 
 doors of those offices in which sales were to occur. On 
 each flag was pinned a piece of paper, notifying the 
 articles to be sold. The number of lots was not great. 
 On the first, was the following announcement : f Will 
 be sold this morning, at half-past nine o clock, a Man 
 and a Boy/ 
 
 It was already the appointed hour; but as no com 
 pany had assembled, I entered and took a seat by the 
 tire. The office, provided with a few deal-forms and 
 chairs, a desk at one of the windows, and a block 
 accessible by a few steps, was tenantless, save by a 
 gentleman who was arranging papers at the desk, and 
 to whom I had addressed myself on the previous 
 evening. Minute, after minute passed, and still nobody 
 entered. There was clearly no hurry in going to 
 business. I felt almost like an intruder, and had 
 formed the resolution of departing, in order to look 
 into the other offices, when the person referred to left 
 his desk, and came and seated himself opposite to me 
 at the fire. 
 
 You are an Englishman/ said he, looking me 
 steadily in the face ; do you want to purchase ? 
 
 Yes/ I replied, f l am an Englishman; but I do 
 not intend to purchase. I am travelling about for 
 information, and I shall feel obliged by your letting 
 me know the prices at which negro servants are sold/ 
 
 I will do so with much pleasure/ was the answer. 
 Do you mean field-hands or house-servants ? 
 
 { All kinds, I replied ; I wish to get all the 
 information I can. 
 
 With much politeness, the gentleman stepped to his 
 desk, and began to draw up a note of prices. This, 
 however, seemed to require careful consideration; and 
 while the note was preparing, a lanky person, in a 
 
276 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 wide-awake hat, and chewing tobacco, entered, and 
 took the chair just vacated. He had scarcely seated 
 himself, when, on looking towards the door, I observed 
 the subjects of sale the man and boy indicated by 
 the paper on the red flag enter together, and quietly 
 walk to a form at the back of the shop, whence, as the 
 day was chilly, they edged themselves towards the fire, 
 in the corner where I was seated. I was now between 
 the two parties the white man on the right, and the 
 old and young negro on the left and I waited to see 
 what would take place. 
 
 The sight of the negroes at once attracted the 
 attention of Wide-awake. Chewing with vigour, he 
 kept keenly eyeing the pair, as if to see what they were 
 good for. Under this searching gaze, the man and boy 
 were a little abashed, but said nothing. Their appear 
 ance had little of the repulsiveness we are apt to asso 
 ciate with the idea of slaves. They were dressed in a 
 gray woollen coat, pants, and waistcoat, coloured cotton 
 neckcloths, clean shirts, coarse woollen stockings, and 
 stout shoes. The man wore a black hat; the boy 
 was bareheaded. Moved by a sudden impulse, Wide 
 awake left his seat, and rounding the back of my chair, 
 began to grasp at the man s arms, as if to feel their 
 muscular capacity. He then examined his hands and 
 fingers ; and, last of all, told him to open his mouth 
 and shew his teeth, which he did in a submissive 
 manner. Having finished these examinations, Wide 
 awake resumed his seat, and chewed on in silence as 
 before. 
 
 I thought it was but fair that I should now have my 
 turn of investigation, and accordingly asked the elder 
 negro what was his age. He said he did not know. I 
 next inquired how old the boy was. He said he was 
 seven years of age. On asking the man if the boy was 
 his son, he said he was not he was his cousin. I was 
 
RICHMOND, IN VIRGINIA. 277 
 
 going into other particulars, when the office-keeper 
 approached, and handed me the note he had been pre 
 paring; at the same time making the observation that 
 the market was dull at present, and that there never 
 could be a more favourable opportunity of buying. I 
 thanked him for the trouble which he had taken; and 
 now submit a copy of his price-current : 
 
 Best Men, 18 to 25 years old, . 1200 to 1300 dollars. 
 
 Fair do. do. do. , . 950 to 1050 
 
 Boys, 5 feet, . 850 to 950 
 
 Do., 4 feet 8 inches, . , . 700 to 800 
 
 Do., 4 feet 5 inches, ... 500 to 600 
 
 Do., 4 feet, . . . 375 to 450 
 
 Young Women, . . , . 800 to 1000 
 
 Girls, 5 feet, . . . 750 to 850 
 
 Do., 4 feet 9 inches, ... 700 to 750 
 
 Do., 4 feet, 350 to 452 
 
 (Signed) , 
 
 Richmond, Virginia. 
 
 Leaving this document for future consideration, I 
 pass on to a history of the day s proceedings. It was 
 now ten minutes to ten o clock, and Wide-awake and 
 I being alike tired of waiting, we went off in quest 
 of sales further up the street. Passing the second 
 office, in which also nobody was to be seen, we were 
 more fortunate at the third. Here, according to 
 the announcement on the paper stuck to the flag, 
 there were to be sold ( A woman and three children; a 
 young woman, three men, a middle-aged woman, and 
 a little boy/ Already a crowd had met, composed, I 
 should think, of persons mostly from the cotton-plant 
 ations of the south. A few were seated near a fire 
 on the right-hand side, and others stood round an iron 
 stove in the middle of the apartment. The whole place 
 had a dilapidated appearance. From a back-window, 
 there was a view into a ruinous courtyard; beyond 
 which, in a hollow, accessible by a side-lane, stood a 
 
278 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 shabby brick-house, on which the word Jail was 
 inscribed in large black letters,, on a white ground. I 
 imagined it to be a depot for the reception of negroes. 
 
 On my arrival, and while making these preliminary 
 observations, the lots for sale had not made their 
 appearance. In about five minutes afterwards they 
 were ushered in, one after the other, under the charge 
 of a mulatto, who seemed to act as principal assistant. 
 I saw 110 whips, chains, or any other engine of 
 force. Nor did such appear to be required. All the 
 lots took their seats on two long forms near the stove ; 
 none shewed any sign of resistance; nor did any one 
 utter a word. Their manner was that of perfect 
 humility and resignation. 
 
 As soon as all were seated, there was a general 
 examination of their respective merits, by feeling their 
 arms, looking into their mouths, and investigating the 
 quality of their hands and fingers this last being 
 evidently an important particular. Yet there was no 
 abrupt rudeness in making these examinations no 
 coarse or domineering language was employed. The 
 three negro men were dressed in the usual manner 
 in gray woollen clothing. The woman, with three 
 children, excited my peculiar attention. She was neatly 
 attired, with a coloured handkerchief bound round her 
 head, and wore a white apron over her gown. Her 
 children were all girls, one of them a baby at the 
 breast, three months old, and the others two and three 
 years of age respectively, rigged out with clean white 
 pinafores. There was not a tear or an emotion visible 
 in the whole party. Everything seemed to be considered 
 as a matter of course ; and the change of owners was 
 possibly looked forward to with as much indifference 
 as ordinary hired servants anticipate a removal from 
 one employer to another. 
 
 While intending purchasers were proceeding with 
 
RICHMOND, IN VIRGINIA. 279 
 
 personal examinations of the several lots, I took the 
 liberty of putting a few questions to the mother of the 
 children. The following was our conversation : 
 
 Are you a married woman ? 
 
 Yes, sir/ 
 
 How many children have you had ? } 
 
 Seven/ 
 
 Where is your husband ? 
 
 In Madison county/ 
 
 When did you part from him ? J 
 
 On Wednesday two days ago/ 
 
 ( Were you sorry to part from him? 
 
 1 Yes, sir/ she replied with a deep sigh ; ( my heart 
 was almost broke/ 
 
 Why is your master selling you ? 
 
 ( I don t know he wants money to buy some land 
 suppose he sells me for that/ 
 
 There might not be a word of truth in these answers, 
 for I had no means of testing their correctness; but 
 the woman seemed to speak unreservedly, and I am 
 inclined to think that she said nothing but what, if 
 necessary, could be substantiated. I spoke, also, to 
 the young woman who was seated near her. She, like 
 the others, was perfectly black, and appeared stout and 
 healthy, of which some of the persons present assured 
 themselves by feeling her arms and ankles, looking 
 into her mouth, and causing her to stand up. She 
 told me she had several brothers and sisters, but 
 did not know where they were. She said she was a 
 house-servant, and would be glad to be bought by 
 a good master looking at me, as if I should not 
 be unacceptable. 
 
 I have said that there was an entire absence of 
 emotion in the party of men, women, and children, 
 thus seated preparatory to being sold. This does not 
 correspond with the ordinary accounts of slave-sales, 
 
280 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 which are represented as tearful and harrowing. My 
 belief is, that none of the parties felt deeply on the 
 subject, or at least that any distress they experienced 
 was but momentary soon passed away, and was for 
 gotten. One of my reasons for this opinion rests on 
 a trifling incident which occurred. While waiting for 
 the commencement of the sale, one of the gentlemen 
 present amused himself with a pointer-dog, which, at 
 command, stood on its hind-legs, and took pieces of 
 bread from his pocket. These tricks greatly enter 
 tained the row of negroes, old and young ; and the poor 
 woman, whose heart three minutes before was almost 
 broken, now laughed as heartily as any one. 
 
 Sale is going to commence this way, gentlemen/ 
 cried a man at the door to a number of loungers out 
 side ; and all having assembled, the mulatto assistant 
 led the woman and her children to the block, which he 
 helped her to mount. There she stood with her infant 
 at the breast, and one of her girls at each side. The 
 auctioneer, a handsome, gentlemanly personage, took 
 his place, with one foot on an old deal-chair with a 
 broken back, and the other raised on the somewhat 
 more elevated block. It was a striking scene. 
 
 ( Well, gentlemen/ began the salesman, here is a 
 capital woman and her three children, all in good 
 health what do you say for them? Give me an 
 ofier. (Nobody speaks.) I put up the whole lot at 
 850 dollars 850 dollars 850 dollars (speaking very 
 fast) 850 dollars. Will no one advance upon that? 
 A very extraordinary bargain, gentlemen. A fine 
 healthy baby. Hold it up. (Mulatto goes up the first 
 step of the block; takes the baby from the woman s 
 breast, and holds it aloft with one hand, so as to 
 shew that it was a veritable sucking-baby.) That will 
 do. A woman, still young, and three children, all 
 for 850 dollars. An advance, if you please, gentlemen. 
 
RICHMOND; IN VIRGINIA. 281 
 
 (A voice bids 860.) Thank you, sir 860; any one 
 bids more? (A second voice says, 870; and so on 
 the bidding goes as far as 890 dollars, when it stops.) 
 That won t do, gentlemen. I cannot take such a 
 low price. (After a pause, addressing the mulatto) : 
 She may go down/ Down from the block the woman 
 and her children were therefore conducted by the 
 assistant, and, as if nothing had occurred, they calmly 
 resumed their seats by the stove. 
 
 The next lot brought forward was one of the men. 
 The mulatto beckoning to him with his hand, re 
 quested him to come behind a canvas screen, of two 
 leaves, which was standing near the back-window. 
 The man placidly rose, and having been placed behind 
 the screen, was ordered to take off his clothes, which 
 he did without a word or look of remonstrance. 
 About a dozen gentlemen crowded to the spot while 
 the poor fellow was stripping himself, and as soon as 
 he stood on the floor, bare from top to toe, a most 
 rigorous scrutiny of his person was instituted. The 
 clear black skin, back and front, was viewed all over 
 for sores from disease ; and there was no part of his 
 body left unexamined. The man was told to open and 
 shut his hands, asked if he could pick cotton, and 
 every tooth in his head was scrupulously looked at. 
 The investigation being at an end, he was ordered to 
 dress himself; and having done so, was requested to 
 walk to the block. 
 
 The ceremony of offering him for competition was 
 gone through as before, but no one would bid. The 
 other two men, after undergoing similar examinations 
 behind the screen, were also put up, but with the same 
 result. Nobody would bid for them, and they were 
 all sent back to their seats. It seemed as if the 
 company had conspired not to buy anything that day. 
 Probably some imperfections had been detected in the 
 
282 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 personal qualities of the negroes. Be this as it may, 
 the auctioneer, perhaps a little out of temper from 
 his want of success, walked off to his desk, and the 
 affair was so far at an end. 
 
 This way, gentlemen this way 1 / was heard from 
 a voice outside, and the company immediately hived 
 off to the second establishment. At this office there 
 was a young woman, and also a man, for sale. The 
 woman was put up first at 500 dollars ; and possessing 
 some recommendable qualities, the bidding for her 
 was run as high as 710 dollars, at which she was 
 knocked down to a purchaser. The man, after the 
 customary examination behind a screen, was put up 
 at 700 dollars; but a small imperfection having been 
 observed in his person, no one would bid for him ; and 
 he was ordered down. 
 
 This way, gentlemen this way, down the street, 
 if you please ! was now shouted by a person in the 
 employment of the first firm, to whose office all very 
 willingly adjourned one migratory company, it will 
 be perceived, serving all the slave- auctions in the place. 
 Mingling in the crowd, I went to see what should be 
 the fate of the man and boy, with whom I had 
 already had some communication. 
 
 There the pair, the two cousins, sat by the fire, 
 just where I had left them an hour ago. The boy was 
 put up first. 
 
 Come along, my man jump up ; there a a good 
 boy ! said one of the partners, a bulky and respect 
 able-looking person, with a gold chain and bunch of 
 seals; at the same time getting on the block. With 
 alacrity the little fellow came forward, and, mounting 
 the steps, stood by his side. The forms in front were 
 filled by the company ; and as I seated myself, I found 
 that my old companion, Wide-awake, was close at hand, 
 still chewing and spitting at a great rate. 
 
RICHMOND, IN VIRGINIA. 283 
 
 Now, gentlemen/ said the auctioneer, putting his 
 hand on the shoulder of the boy, here is a very fine 
 boy, seven years of age, warranted sound what do 
 you say for him ? I put him up at 500 dollars 500 
 dollars (speaking quick, his right hand raised up, 
 and coming down on the open palm of his left) 500 
 dollars. Any one say more than 500 dollars. (560 
 is bid.) 560 dollars. Nonsense ! Just look at him. 
 See how high he is. (He draws the lot in front of him, 
 and shews that the little fellow s head comes up to his 
 breast.) You see he is a fine, tall, healthy boy. Look 
 at his hands/ 
 
 Several step forward, and cause the boy to open and 
 shut his hands the flexibility of the small fingers, 
 black on the one side, and whitish on the other, being 
 well looked to. The hands, and also the mouth, having 
 given satisfaction, an advance is made to 570, then to 
 580 dollars. 
 
 Gentlemen, that is a very poor price for a boy of 
 this size. (Addressing the lot) : Go down, my boy, 
 and shew them how you can run/ 
 
 The boy, seemingly happy to do as he was bid, 
 went down from the block, and ran smartly across 
 the floor several times; the eyes of every one in the 
 room following him. 
 
 Now, that will do. Get up again. (Boy mounts 
 the block, the steps being rather deep for his short 
 legs; but the auctioneer kindly lends him a hand.) 
 Come, gentlemen, you see this is a first-rate lot. 
 (590600610620630 dollars are bid.) I will 
 sell him for 630 dollars. (Right hand coming down 
 on left.) Last call. 630 dollars once 630 dollars 
 twice. (A pause ; hand sinks.) Gone ! 
 
 The boy having descended, the man was desired to 
 come forward; and after the usual scrutiny behind a 
 screen, he took his place on the block. 
 
284 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 Well, now, gentlemen/ said the auctioneer, { here is 
 a right prime lot. Look at this man ; strong, healthy, 
 able-bodied ; could not be a better hand for field-work. 
 He can drive a wagon, or anything. What do you 
 say for him ? I offer the man at the low price of 800 
 dollars he is well worth 1200 dollars. Come, make 
 an advance, if you please. 800 dollars said for the 
 man (a bid), thank you; 810 dollars 810 dollars 
 810 dollars (several bids) 820 830 850 860 going 
 at 860 going. Gentlemen, this is far below his value. 
 A strong-boned man, fit for any kind of heavy work. 
 Just take a look at him. (Addressing the lot) : Walk 
 down. (Lot dismounts, and walks from one side of 
 the shop to the other. When about to reascend the 
 block, a gentleman, who is smoking a cigar, examines 
 his mouth and his fingers. Lot resumes his place.) 
 Pray, gentlemen, be quick (continues the auctioneer) ; 
 I must sell him, and 860 dollars are only bid for 
 the man 860 dollars. (A fresh run of bids to 945 
 dollars.) 945 dollars once, 945 dollars twice (looking 
 slowly round, to see if all were done), 945 dollars, 
 going going (hand drops) gone! 
 
 During this remarkable scene, I sat at the middle 
 of the front form, with my note-book in my hand, in 
 order to obtain a full view of the transaction. So 
 strange was the spectacle, that I could hardly dispel 
 the notion that it was all a kind of dream; and 
 now I look back upon the affair as by far the most 
 curious I ever witnessed. The more intelligent 
 Virginians will sympathise in my feelings on the 
 occasion. I had never until now seen human beings 
 sold; the thing was quite new. Two men are 
 standing on an elevated bench, one white and the 
 other black. The white man is auctioning the black 
 man. What a contrast in look and relative position ! 
 The white is a most respectable-looking person ; so far 
 
RICHMOND, IN VIRGINIA. 285 
 
 as dress is concerned, he might pass for a clergyman 
 or church- warden. There he stands can I believe my 
 eyes? in the might of an Anglo-Saxon, sawing the 
 air with his hand, as if addressing a missionary or 
 any other philanthropic meeting from a platform. 
 Surely that gentlemanly personage cannot imagine 
 that he is engaged in any mortal sin ! Beside him 
 is a man with a black skin, and clothed in rough 
 garments. His looks are downcast and submissive. 
 He is being sold, just like a horse at TattersalTs, or 
 a picture at Christie and Hanson s I must be 
 under some illusion. That dark object, whom I have 
 been always taught to consider a man, is not a man. 
 True, he may be called a man in advertisements, and 
 by the mouth of auctioneers. But it is only a figure 
 of speech a term of convenience. He is a man in 
 one sense, and not in another. He is a kind of man 
 stands upright on two legs, has hands to work, wears 
 clothes, can cook his food (a point not reached by 
 monkeys), has the command of speech, and, in a way, 
 can think and act like a rational creature can even 
 be taught to read. But nature has thought fit to 
 give .him a black skin, and that tells very badly 
 against him. Perhaps, also, there is something wrong 
 with his craniological development. Being, at all 
 events, so much of a man genus homo is it quite 
 fair to master him, and sell him, exactly as suits 
 your convenience you being, from a variety of fortu 
 nate circumstances, his superior? All this passed 
 through my mind as I sat on the front form in the 
 
 saleroom of Messrs , while one of the members 
 
 of that well-known firm was engaged in pursuing, by 
 the laws of Virginia, his legitimate calling. 
 
 Such were a forenoon s experiences in the 
 slave-market of Richmond. Everything is described 
 
286 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 precisely as it occurred, without passion or prejudice. 
 It would not have been difficult to be sentimental on 
 a subject which appeals so strongly to the feelings ; 
 but I have preferred telling the simple truth. In a 
 subsequent chapter, I shall endeavour to offer some 
 general views of slavery in its social arid political 
 relations. 
 
CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 CONGRESS. 
 
 THE sales of slaves in Richmond were over for the 
 day ; and as I had procured the information for which 
 I had made a run into Virginia, I made the best of 
 my way back to Washington by rail and steamer. 
 Among my fellow-passengers were a number of 
 members of Congress, pushing onward to be in time 
 for the day of opening, which was at hand. 
 
 In the course of Saturday there were numerous 
 arrivals; the hotels, smartened up after a long dull 
 season, were thronged to overflowing; and there was 
 an air of business in the usually tranquil thorough 
 fares. On Sunday, I went to an Episcopal church 
 an elegant new building, which was crowded with a 
 highly respectable body of worshippers. 
 
 Next morning ushered in an important day, Monday, 
 the 5th of December, appointed for the assembling 
 of Congress great excitement in the hotel parlours, 
 groups eagerly discussing who was to be Speaker of 
 the House of Representatives ; who was to be appointed 
 printer to Congress (a thing so good that one year of 
 it is considered to be enough) ; and other matters of 
 consequence. Rumours cunningly floated about to 
 mislead opponents were, as usual, seen through. 
 Every one was on the alert, and ready to be at his 
 post. 
 
 At half-past eleven o clock, I walked down 
 
288 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 Pennsylvania Avenue with a friend, who kindly under 
 took to be my cicerone. It was a beautifully clear day, 
 rather cold, but with that lightness and dryness of 
 atmosphere which is peculiar to America. Members 
 were proceeding, singly, in pairs, or several together, 
 towards the Capitol, where they went at once to their 
 respective seats. There was no crowding in the streets 
 to witness the opening of Congress ; for there was not 
 a bit of finery or pomp about the whole affair no 
 procession of President and his court, no corps diplo 
 matique, no carriages, no trumpeters, and no dragoons. 
 For anything that could be seen, the Capitol might 
 be supposed to be a church, into which members and 
 spectators were composedly pouring. There was an 
 entire absence of pretension : no bribe was payable 
 for admission to the galleries. At the doors of our 
 Houses of Parliament, may be seen a number of 
 officials, whom it is usually necessary to conciliate 
 with cash. The Americans have had the good sense 
 to get rid of these pampered lackeys. My friend 
 and I walked into the House of Representatives 
 unchallenged, and placed ourselves in a recess outside 
 the barrier which bounds the seats of the members; 
 and here I was introduced to several persons of 
 political notoriety. 
 
 The House was full. Representatives from California 
 and other distant states were already present the 
 whole assemblage forming a body of well-dressed 
 persons, such as you would see any day on Change. 
 There was little diversity of costume. A black dress- 
 coat, black satin waistcoat, and black stock, constitute 
 the general attire ready for court, dinner, ball, public 
 meeting, or anything. A few wore beards, but clean 
 shaving was the rule. Standing, sitting, lounging, 
 talking, according to fancy, they spent the time till 
 noon. The moment the hands of the clock point to 
 
CONGRESS. 289 
 
 twelve/ said my friend, business will commence/ A 
 clerk, seated in advance, and a little below the vacant 
 chair of the Speaker, kept his eye fixed on a clock 
 over the doorway, and accordingly rung his bell when 
 the hour of noon was indicated. 
 
 Every one being seated and in order, the work of 
 the session commenced by the calling of the roll, each 
 member answering to his name. The vote was after 
 wards taken for Speaker, when much the larger number 
 having named Linn Boyd of Kentucky, that gentleman 
 was conducted to the chair amidst general plaudits. 
 On the whole, I received a favourable impression of the 
 method of conducting the business of the House, which 
 was simple yet effective. Judging, however, by the 
 accounts given in the newspapers of debates on ques 
 tions of moment, it would appear that very impassioned 
 scenes occur, and that at such times language is 
 employed which would shock, and would not be 
 tolerated in, the House of Commons. At the same 
 time, I am told that petty means of annoying political 
 opponents while speaking, such as braying, crowing 
 like a cock, and so forth, have not obtained a footing 
 in America; and so far the democracy of the States 
 has an advantage. 
 
 The Senate, or Upper House, opens at the same 
 hour as the House of Representatives; and, before 
 departure, I had an opportunity also of noticing some 
 of its proceedings, and being made acquainted with 
 several of its members among others, the Hon. 
 Charles Sumner, whose eloquent harangues are 
 well known in England. 
 
 The plain, business-like way in which legislation is 
 conducted, has been mentioned in disparagement of 
 Congress a thing not easy to understand. In Great 
 Britain, tradition and precedent are considered to be 
 of so much importance, that arrangements altogether 
 
290 THINGS AS THEY AKE IN AMERICA. 
 
 new, however reasonable in the abstract, are viewed 
 with extreme suspicion, and can with the greatest 
 difficulty be effected. In the United States,, on the 
 contrary, every subject may be said to stand on its 
 own merits, and is legislated for accordingly. The 
 English, for example, under a habitual respect for 
 what is sanctioned by antiquity, and fearful of dis 
 turbing the foundations of a venerable fabric, admit 
 of extensions in the representative system with the 
 utmost reluctance ; while the Americans, having no 
 antiquity to venerate, no traditionary usages to 
 embarrass, go right up to the point, and organise a 
 code of representation on the broadest possible prin 
 ciple. Whether in doing so, they achieve a higher 
 degree of rational liberty, is a different question. What 
 concerns us at present, is the mode of their procedure. 
 Right or wrong, they have had no other course open 
 to them. They have acted under the necessities of 
 their condition. 
 
 In England, there has always existed a traditional 
 authority, which, from time to timg, has imparted 
 privileges to the people; but in the States, starting 
 at the revolution, there was no authority to impart 
 anything. The monarcliical authority was expelled, 
 and power was vested in the people at large. Yet, as 
 a fact in constitutional history, it is interesting to 
 know that the Americans at this crisis in their affairs 
 were not left to organise a government out of chaos. 
 The British monarchy had long previously established 
 Houses of Assembly in its thirteen colonies, and by 
 these agencies, it will be remembered, the new organ 
 isation was tranquilly moulded. The thirteen states, 
 therefore, federally united, were but the old colonies, 
 minus their English governors, and plus the legislative 
 independence they had secured. Besides this inherit 
 ance of constituted forms, the States retained the laws 
 
CONGRESS. 291 
 
 of England, with all the ordinary municipal arrange 
 ments ; and to this day the stranger observes that each 
 of the original thirteen states possesses, to a lesser or 
 greater extent, the impress which was given to it by 
 its charters from the English monarchy. f We get 
 copies of all your parliamentary reports,, all your 
 statutes/ said a member of Congress to me on visiting 
 the Capitol; f we know what you are about, and our 
 law-courts constantly quote your procedure/ Could 
 there be a greater compliment paid to England, which, 
 even after a separation of eighty years, is allowed to 
 exert a parental influence over her children? Could 
 America do herself more honour than in making this 
 handsome acknowledgment ? 
 
 By the creation out of wild territory, conquest, and 
 purchase, the Union, at the time of my visit to the 
 political metropolis, comprehended thirty-one states; 
 and the manner in which these are represented in 
 Congress may be alluded to. The Senate, answering 
 to our House of Lords, is composed of two members 
 from each state, irrespective of its size or amount of 
 population; consequently, the number is sixty-two. 
 These senators are chosen by the legislatures of the 
 several states for the term of six years. One-third 
 retire every two years, by which means a degree 
 of permanency is imparted to the institution. The 
 Vice-president of the United States is the President 
 of the Senate, in which he has a casting vote ; in 
 his absence, a temporary president is elected from the 
 body. 
 
 The House of Representatives is a purely popular 
 assembly. The members are elected every two years 
 by the people of the several states, and according to 
 a rule fixed by Act of Congress in 1850. By this 
 law, the number of representatives is established at 
 233. These representatives are appointed by universal 
 
292 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 suffrage among free citizens the poorest as well as 
 the richest having a vote. The number of voters for 
 each representative is apportioned to each elective 
 district every ten years ; the number is determined 
 by the simple plan of dividing the whole population 
 by 233 ; the quotient being, therefore, the number 
 apportioned. In the event of a state being admitted 
 to the Union, a member is assigned to it until next 
 decennial period, when a fresh division by 233 takes 
 place. Thus to the ordinary number of 233, one is at 
 present temporarily added for California, making the 
 actual number 234. Besides these members, the 
 House comprehends a delegate from each of several 
 territories; but these, though allowed to speak on any 
 subject, do not vote. The recent addition of Nebraska 
 to the number of states, will make some change in this 
 respect. 
 
 In appointing senators and representatives, whether 
 to Congress or to the legislatures of the several 
 states, the Americans proceed on the principle of 
 asking no public service for nothing. Every member 
 is paid from public funds for his attendance. For a 
 number of years, the rate of compensation for each 
 member of the Senate and House of Representatives 
 has been eight dollars a day during attendance on 
 Congress; no deduction being made on account of 
 sickness. Each, also, receives eight dollars for every 
 twenty miles of travel by the usual road, in going 
 to or returning from Washington. The Speaker of 
 the House of Representatives is allowed sixteen dollars 
 a day. 
 
 There can be little doubt that these payments are 
 sufficiently tempting, to induce needy men to seek 
 the post of representative ; the allowance, however, 
 is altogether inadequate to compensate the loss which 
 is frequently incurred by a neglect of professional 
 
CONGRESS. 293 
 
 duties, and the expense of living several months from 
 home. As an additional inducement to assume the 
 function of senator or representative, the members of 
 Congress enjoy a large franking privilege. They may 
 send or receive letters or packets free by post not 
 exceeding two ounces, and public documents three 
 pounds, in weight. Members of Congress would be 
 more than human, if such a privilege were not as 
 greatly abused as it was in England, when franking 
 was tolerated here. One of the more apparent results, 
 is the enormous increase of matter passing through 
 the Post-office so great as sometimes to retard the 
 mails, and derange the transmission of letters and 
 newspapers. A few days previous to the meeting of 
 Congress, I found the lobbies and passages of the 
 public offices in Washington encumbered with great 
 loads of packages of printed reports, which men were 
 preparing for the approaching demand. Neatly done 
 up in buff-tinted covers, these packages, piled in 
 huge heaps, attested the lavish scale on which public 
 documents are printed for distribution, and the 
 labour to be incurred in inscribing them with the 
 magical symbols Pub. Doc., and signature of a 
 member. We observe by a newspaper, that this 
 extraordinary system of franking is beginning to be 
 seriously challenged, more particularly since it has 
 been proposed to raise the ordinary charge for postage, 
 in order to meet the cost of carrying so much free 
 material. A characteristic paragraph on the subject is 
 subjoined.* 
 
 * When the members reach Washington, they find large quantities of 
 documents printed and enveloped under the orders of the preceding session, 
 and begin franking right and left. Two or three days thereafter, the stage- 
 routes diverging from the temporary termini of the railways, especially in 
 the west, are choked up by a medley of letters, newspapers, and documents. 
 A stage-driver goes for the mail, and finds twice as much ready for him as 
 
294 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 With an extensive and clear field in their favour,, 
 and no embarrassment from antiquated usages, the 
 United States have been able to accomplish aims for 
 the good of society which Great Britain has found 
 utterly impracticable. In organising systems of 
 national education at the public expense, the several 
 states have, for example, completely outstripped the 
 old country. Yet as, in this respect, monarchical 
 Canada is quite as far forward as the States, it would 
 be an error to suppose that republicanism is the cause 
 of the remarkable step in advance. Candidly consi 
 dered, it will be seen that the legislation of the United 
 Kingdom, when obstructions are overcome and an 
 intelligent public feeling fairly roused, is abreast, if 
 not ahead, of that of Congress. I would, in particular, 
 call attention to the strides in advance made by 
 England as regards freedom of commercial intercourse 
 
 his horses can possibly draw. So he picks up two or three bags, and starts 
 off, leaving the residue to a more convenient season ; and the next driver 
 finds a still larger pile awaiting him, and treats it in the same manner. 
 Thus, we have had a ton of our weekly paper lying at one time at some 
 half-way house on the route, and our disappointed subscribers writing us the 
 most unflattering letters, ordering us to send on the papers they had paid us 
 for, or send back their money. . . . The short of the matter is this : Congress 
 is now paying some half a million of dollars a year out of the Treasury for 
 printing documents, and perhaps a million more for their transportation and 
 delivery to the members favourite constituents. We think this all wrong 
 that everything should pay its way that he who is not willing to pay 
 postage on his documents, does not really want, and will not be benefited by 
 them. Yet, we can stand the abuse as it is. But Mr Olds and his Fogy 
 committee, propose in effect to take this load off the Treasury, and put it on 
 the postage-payers. Now, we tell the members of Congress, that this won t 
 go down most decidedly not. So long as they pay the shot out of the 
 Treasury postage as well as printing the people won t mind it ; but from 
 the day that letters are made to pay two cents each extra to take this load 
 off the Treasury, there will be a low muttering, which those who put their 
 ears to the ground may hear ; and the members from the free states who 
 vote in favour of the change, will get badly scratched whenever they are 
 candidates again. If they don t believe it now, they will, after trying the 
 experiment. New York Tribune, May 9, 1854. 
 
CONGRESS. 295 
 
 and navigation, leaving America to come laggingly 
 behind,, along with the nations for whom she, politi 
 cally speaking, entertains anything but respect. The 
 people of the United States, if true to themselves 
 and the principles of a sound political economy, ought 
 not, for the sake of special interests, to have been 
 second in this great movement will they even be 
 second? Need I add, that the Americans have done 
 themselves no honour in so long postponing the enact 
 ment of an international copyright treaty a subject 
 legislated upon years ago by Great Britain. 
 
 In the matter of cheap postage, the States have 
 had the misfortune to be imitators of England, instead 
 of taking the initiative ; moreover, with the full know 
 ledge of the Post-office organisation of the United 
 Kingdom, and possessing an overplus revenue, the Ame 
 ricans have strangely failed to place their postal-system 
 on a footing so perfect as it might be. The franking 
 privilege, accorded not only to members of Congress, 
 but (restrieteclly) to an inferior class of postmasters, 
 is an abuse which surprises us to see still tolerated. 
 More remarkable is it to find that the ordinary rate 
 of prepaid postage of three cents for a single letter, 
 does not infer delivery. When the American post 
 undertakes to convey letters and newspapers, the 
 service extends only to their transmission from post- 
 office to post-office. For their delivery at the house 
 of the party to whom they are addressed, there is an 
 additional charge of one or two cents. It is an ordinary 
 custom everywhere in the States, to call for letters or 
 newspapers at the post-office, and by an arrangement 
 with the postmaster, each person has a box into which 
 his correspondence is put. In New York, I observed 
 great crowds daily at the post-office seeking for letters. 
 Let this monstrously inconvenient practice be com 
 pared with the plan pursued in London, of sending out 
 
296 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 four or five times a day a host of carriers, each with 
 his bundle of letters and newspapers for delivery at the 
 doors of the parties to whom they are addressed, with 
 out any additional charge. An American gentleman, 
 who had been some time in London, mentioned to me 
 that nothing surprised and delighted him so much as 
 the incessant distribution of letters ; care being taken 
 to transfer the carriers in detachments to their respec 
 tive beats by means of rapidly-driven omnibuses. 
 t Your government/ said he, is completely ahead of 
 ours in this respect. We could not do better than 
 transfer your postal- system, body and bones, to the 
 States/ 
 
 Legislation in these, as well as matters of more 
 grave concern, is of course regulated by the expression 
 of public sentiment ; but in no country is it more diffi 
 cult than in America to ascertain what really consti 
 tutes the unprejudiced feeling of the community. The 
 States are not one, but many nations, united by a com 
 mon interest, but differing greatly in social usages and 
 opinions. Subjects of important concern are viewed 
 in one light by the north, and in another by the south ; 
 just as it might be expected to be by nations in the 
 north and south of Europe. Then there is the univer 
 sal division of society into Whigs (answering in some 
 degree to the English Tories or Conservatives), and 
 Democrats, or extreme Republicans. Beyond these 
 distinctions of genera and species, there is an indefinite 
 number of varieties and sub-varieties Free-soilers, 
 Hunkers, Hards, Softs, Woolly-heads, Doughfaces, &c., 
 rather puzzling to the uninitiated, yet of practical signi 
 ficance; for I observe that in some cases of examina 
 tions before judicial tribunals, the party sobriquet of 
 witnesses is appended to their names in the published 
 record of proceedings as if credibility of evidence 
 depended on political opinion ! 
 
CONGRESS. 297 
 
 Party-spirit is, to all appearance, the soul of American 
 society regulating and controlling everything. What 
 any man says or does is too commonly judged by the 
 press according to the opinion he entertains on political 
 subjects. Bad as we are in this respect in England, we 
 do not go quite this length, unless when sectarian 
 interests are concerned there, we regret to say, our 
 so - called religious newspapers possess the worst 
 features of the least respectable American journals. 
 A natural consequence of the fierceness with which 
 persons are attacked for their political sentiments, is 
 an indisposition to mingle in public affairs. I was told 
 over and over again in the States, by people of sub 
 stance and intelligence, that they shrunk from appear 
 ance in public affairs would have nothing to do with 
 the vulgar wranglings at elections left things to go 
 any way. This can hardly be considered a sound state 
 of things, for it amounts to delivering up the country to 
 the most noisy and viperish of the population. In New 
 York, as has been observed, the civic government has, 
 from this cause, been practically in the hands of the 
 mob, from which, however, as I understood, a spasmodic 
 effort of the more respectable classes was about to 
 rescue it. 
 
 Things will be better for a little time/ said a 
 gentleman of New York, speaking to me on this 
 subject; f but they will soon fall back to their former 
 condition the most noisy and calumnious will carry 
 the day/ 
 
 We are scarcely entitled to make this a special 
 charge against the democracy of the States, for a 
 similar reluctance to take part in political movements 
 is observable among certain classes in England ; 
 and such must ever be the case until the world is 
 better instructed, and knows and feels that in consti 
 tutional governments the franchise is as much a duty 
 
298 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 as a privilege. The keen party-spirit, the corrupt 
 practices, the intimidation, the obloquy cast on 
 opponents, are all dwelt upon as grievous sins in the 
 republican elections of America the ballot is spoken 
 of as a sham. True, perhaps, in every particular ; but 
 after recent experiences, can any Englishman have the 
 conscience to hold up the finger of scorn on account of 
 these real or alleged imperfections? On such a subject, 
 the fact of so many members of the House of Commons 
 being convicted of bribery and corruption and of so 
 many others being ordinarily elected through the 
 meanest venal influences ought at least to make us 
 careful how we utter a reproach. 
 
 Whatever be the faults of the American government, 
 it cannot be said that extravagance is one of them. 
 The Minister of the Exchequer is not called on to devise 
 schemes of taxation to make the two ends meet. His 
 only difficulty is a very strange one it is what to do 
 with the money in the public Treasury ! In 1853, the 
 entire expenditure of the government of the United 
 States was 54,000,000, and its receipts were 61,000,000, 
 of dollars. By accumulated balances, there was at the 
 same time on hand the sum of 75,000,000 dollars ; and 
 how this money should be disposed of was a matter of 
 very serious concern. To be sure, there was a debt of 
 65,000,000 dollars; but it was at a high premium, 
 and by a sacrifice it could easily have been discharged. 
 Portions of the debt were, indeed, being paid off, when 
 opportunities offered, and in a few years the whole will 
 be extinguished, without impairing the balance. At 
 present a variety of schemes are on foot for disposing 
 of this unfortunate overplus. All intelligent indivi 
 duals, of course, see that the rational mode of procedure 
 is to abolish certain branches of revenue ; and so bring 
 the draughts down to the necessary outlay. But to this 
 there are objections on the part of the manufacturing 
 
CONGRESS. 299 
 
 community. The federal government levies no 
 direct taxes on the people. Its revenue is principally 
 from custom-house duties, which in 1853 amounted to 
 nearly 59,000,000 dollars. Now, these duties are of a 
 protective character. They tax the nation at large, by 
 an aggravation of prices, in order to give a monopoly 
 to certain branches of native industry; and their 
 removal or considerable modification would be equiva 
 lent to free-trade, which the public mind, jealous of 
 foreign competition, is not prepared for. Meanwhile, 
 the accumulating cash in the Treasury presents a 
 dilemma of a different kind. It is universally felt to 
 be a source of corruption and danger. Every faction 
 is scheming to have a clutch at it. As a spare fund at 
 command, it may induce some rash warlike expedition, 
 or be otherwise employed in the undue extension of the 
 Union. A third evil connected with it, is the gradual 
 abstraction of money from circulation, in order to be 
 locked profitlessly up in the Treasury ; thereby starving 
 commerce of its proper means of support. So that, if 
 tilings go on as they are doing, the curious conjuncture 
 may come about, of all the available money in the 
 country finding its way into the national Exchequer, 
 where it is not wanted, and trade, accordingly, being 
 brought to a stand. Any way it can be viewed, the 
 accumulation is considered to be most pernicious in its 
 effects, both as regards administrative policy and social 
 wellbeing ; and the gravest politicians admit that, in 
 comparison with the evils of the present system, an 
 annual deficit would be a national blessing. After all, 
 there would seem to be worse things than a National 
 Debt ! 
 
 While attending the opening of Congress, it was 
 explained to me that much was done in the way of 
 lobbying and log-rolling phrases unknown in England, 
 though the things signified are by no means wanting. 
 
300 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 By lobbying, is meant the influence exerted privately 
 on members by interested parties hanging abont the 
 lobbies of the Capitol; and it is said jocularly, that in 
 the passing of bills as much depends on the activity of 
 members for the lobby as on the real representatives. It 
 seems to be one of the duties of these lobbiers, to make 
 such compromises among parties as will induce them 
 to support the measures of each other. One member, 
 for example, wishing to carry a bill for a grant of 
 public land towards a projected railway, and another 
 desiring to extend slavery into a new state, will, by 
 discreet management, be induced to assist each other 
 with a vote. Such is log-rolling : mutual assistance by 
 a compromise, as it may be, of principle. 
 
 As we all know, splendid examples of log-rolling are 
 of daily occurrence in the House of Commons, through 
 the agency of party whippers-in; and neither are we 
 altogether deficient in a practice, equally irregular, 
 which the Americans describe as speaking for bunkum. 
 I heard of some interesting cases of bunkum, by which 
 is signified the bringing forward of a sham proposal, 
 in order to catch popular applause. A member, for 
 instance, desirous of standing well with his constituents, 
 makes an oratorical display in favour of a measure in 
 which they are interested; but with the knowledge 
 that such a measure is impracticable, and will not be 
 carried. In fact, he does not want to carry it; the 
 sole object of the orator is to impose on his supporters, 
 and acquire the character of a meritorious public leader. 
 I was told that in one of the state legislatures, a bill 
 for the Maine Liquor Law was proposed, entirely with 
 a view to bunkum. It was, indeed, passed by the 
 Lower House ; all the members who voted for it having 
 dishonestly thrown the odium of rejection on the Senate. 
 The Senate, however, seeing through the trick, passed 
 the bill also; and, finally, the governor appended his 
 
CONGRESS. 301 
 
 assent, rendering it a law the whole thing, from first 
 to last, being a piece of mutual deception. The result 
 was, that in the state in question, the law became 
 practically a dead-letter. That such actually was the 
 occurrence, I am unable to say from my own know 
 ledge; yet I think the circumstance as related must 
 possess a certain degree of truth, for I observe by a 
 newspaper, that in a neighbouring state, where a 
 similar law has just been enacted, the people are 
 recommended f to organise a club or league in each 
 township and city, to take care that this act is promptly 
 and thoroughly enforced/ because, f if this is not done, 
 the act will prove only a sham and a disgrace/ Are 
 we to understand from the counsel thus given by the 
 press, that the enforcement of laws is to depend on 
 popular leagues or clubs ? a doctrine which would 
 argue prodigious weakness in the ordinary executive 
 power. 
 
 It does not appear that the President of the United 
 States holds any personal intercourse with Congress. 
 As has been shewn, he does not, at least, attend at the 
 opening of the session; a day or two after that event, 
 he sends his Message, a voluminous document, to be 
 read to the members. To one accustomed to the out 
 ward forms of respect for sovereigns in Europe, the 
 manner in which the President and his measures are 
 sometimes referred to, appears to be inconsistent with 
 the high position he occupies. The latest American 
 newspaper which has come to hand, gives an account 
 of his being burned in effigy, on the ground of his 
 connection with the Nebraska bill. The function of 
 the President, however, is more analogous to that of 
 a prime-minister than a king. He is a responsible 
 officer only the first magistrate of the Republic. The 
 comparatively small salary allowed him cannot be 
 expected to go far towards keeping up the paraphernalia 
 
302 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 of state. It amounts to only 25,000 dollars (5000) 
 per annum ; and as the President is appointed for only 
 four years, the pecuniary advantages are not great. 
 Perhaps the patronage belonging to the office is an 
 object of no inconsiderable importance. According to 
 a practice now of some standing, it is usual for every 
 new President to dismiss some thousands of persons 
 from office, and to appoint his own supporters in their 
 stead; the consequence of which is, that a large 
 number of individuals naturally become agitators for 
 a presidential change. We are accustomed in England 
 to see vacant offices filled by the party in power, on 
 account of political bias; but expulsion is unknown, 
 unless for incompetency, or on some other grounds 
 equally valid. Should the projected arrangement be 
 carried into effect, of appointing persons to civil offices 
 only after they have undergone an examination as to 
 competency, Great Britain will have made a signal 
 step forward in administrative policy, eminently worthy 
 of being copied in the United States, where things, in 
 this respect, are about as bad as they can possibly be. 
 The present President being a Democrat, and democracy 
 having the ascendant in Congress, offices are, of course, 
 filled with Democrats, greatly to the chagrin of the 
 Whigs, who live in the expectation that, by a happy 
 turn in affairs, their time of office is coming. All 
 writers, native and foreign, deplore this most mischievous 
 custom of changing the ordinary and humble officials 
 of government, according to the rise and fall of party ; 
 and it undeniably forms one of the worst features of 
 the American state. 
 
 At Washington, as well as other cities I visited, 
 everybody with whom I had the honour of conversing 
 on public matters, spoke with respect of England, and 
 entertained the hope that nothing would ever occur to 
 cause any serious disagreement between that country 
 
CONGRESS. 303 
 
 and the States; and such, I imagine, to be a very 
 general feeling in America, notwithstanding the occa 
 sional remarks of a contrary nature by a portion of 
 the press. I need hardly say, that I reciprocated the 
 sentiments of good-will which were expressed, and 
 perhaps was not thought the less of for giving it as 
 my impression, that the least admirable thing about 
 the government of the States was the extreme deference 
 to popular clamour. You are/ I said, great, wealthy, 
 and with a boundless field of well-doing; your public 
 economy is, in most things, worthy of all praise; but 
 if legislation is to be conducted on the principle of 
 yielding to every gale of popular and inconsiderate 
 impulse if you do not take time to reflect on conse 
 quences you may be impelled into the most dangerous 
 course of policy; your day of trouble may not be far 
 distant/ Late events, afterwards to be alluded to, do 
 not leave these hints unjustified. 
 
CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA. 
 
 TERMINATING my brief visit to Washington, I made 
 my way northwards by railway through Baltimore to 
 Philadelphia, the journey occupying little more than 
 six hours. Writing now after an interval of several 
 months, I throw my mind back to the very delightful 
 residence of a few days which it was my fortune to 
 enjoy in the city of Brotherly Love. My quarters 
 were at the Girard House, a hotel in Chestnut Street 
 of the first class ; but so much of my time was engaged 
 in making calls, seeing sights, and picking up scraps 
 of information, that my stay was a perpetual change 
 of scene and circumstances. 
 
 When William Penn fixed on the spacious peninsula 
 between the Delaware on the east, and the Schuylkill 
 on the west, for the site of a large city, he may be said 
 to have selected one of the most charming and con 
 venient spots 011 the whole coast of America. Approach 
 able from the sea by the Delaware, the land, with a 
 gentle yet sufficient rise from the water, was originally 
 a fertile plain, dotted over with trees, and inhabited 
 only by a few Indians. Such was the sylvan scene on 
 which the first English settlers made their appearance 
 in 1681, and began the reclamation of the wilderness. 
 What do we now see after a period of a hundred 
 and seventy-three years ? A city, the second in point 
 of size in the United States second, however, to 
 
PHILADELPHIA. 305 
 
 none in beauty, regularity, and all the blessings 
 attending on good order and intelligence. We are 
 called on so frequently to note the rapid progress 
 of American cities, that the subject ceases to excite 
 surprise. There is something, however, more than 
 usually wonderful in the growth of Philadelphia. At 
 about the time of the Revolution, when the English 
 abandoned it, the number of inhabitants, army 
 included, was only 21,000; so that when Franklin 
 was at the zenith of his glory as a philosopher and 
 statesman, the city of his adoption was in reality but 
 a comparatively small place. Since that not distant era, 
 the population has mounted to nearly, if not beyond, 
 500,000; and to all appearance it is destined to equal 
 that of New York. That Philadelphia may, indeed, 
 be soon the first of American cities, would not be 
 astonishing; for it possesses the advantage of being 
 now, since railway communication was opened, on the 
 speediest route from the Atlantic to the Ohio and 
 Mississippi, and of having ample room to expand in 
 its dimensions, which New York unfortunately has not. 
 Every one has heard of the plainness of Philadelphia. 
 According to ordinary notions, it is a plain brick town, 
 with straight lines of street crossing each other at right 
 angles, and altogether as dull and monotonous as its 
 Quaker founders could have desired. In this, as in 
 many things, the fancy dresses up a picture which is 
 dispelled by actual observation. So far from being a 
 dull or dismal town, Philadelphia is found to be a 
 remarkably animated city, with streets crowded with as 
 fashionable a set of people as you could wish to see, and 
 displaying a greater number of private carriages than 
 are paraded in any other part of America. It may 
 be allowed that the scheme of long and straight rows of 
 brick buildings, with scarcely any variation in shape, is 
 not very tasteful ; but a severe regularity in this respect 
 
306 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 is better than no plan at all, with the consequent con 
 fusion of streets,, lanes, and mysterious back-courts with 
 which such cities as London are afflicted. As a relief 
 to the monotony of Philadelphia, the houses are con 
 structed of a species of brick so smooth and fine, and 
 so neatly laid, that all other brick-built cities sink in 
 comparison. Then, let it be understood, that the 
 basement story of many of the houses, the architraves, 
 and nearly all the nights of steps to the doors, are 
 of pure white marble. Next, take into account the 
 punctiliously clean windows of plate-glass the broad 
 granite pavements the well-swept, I might almost say 
 washed, streets the rows of leafy trees for shadowing 
 the foot-passengers the air of neatness generally 
 prevailing and you have a tolerable idea of the capital 
 of Pennsylvania. 
 
 Going into particulars, many other things strike the 
 stranger. Latterly, the taste of the inhabitants has 
 overleaped the primitive architectural design, and begun 
 to substitute magnificent buildings of marble and red 
 sandstone for those of brick. The ordinary height is 
 also here and there exceeded; and now a pleasing 
 variety takes the place of the ancient and much- 
 complained of uniformity. Similar changes are observ 
 able in the naming of streets; although, all things 
 considered, the old plan is perhaps the best. It con 
 sisted in distinguishing all the streets running one way 
 according to numbers, as First, Second, Third Street, 
 and so on ; and naming all those which proceeded in a 
 cross direction, after trees, as Chestnut, Mulberry, Spruce 
 Street, &c. The old names, as far as they went, are 
 happily preserved. Running right across the town, from 
 the Delaware to the Schuylkill, is Chestnut Street, the 
 main or fashionable thoroughfare ; and near its centre, 
 comprehending a space from First to Fourth Street, 
 is the chief seat of business operations. Suddenly 
 
PHILADELPHIA. 307 
 
 put down hereabouts, the English stranger would be 
 surprised at the traffic which seems to prevail, the 
 thronging of well-dressed people, and the unexpected 
 splendour of the shops large stores shewing a long 
 vista of elegant counters, shelving, and glass-cases, such 
 as may be seen in the better parts of London and Paris, 
 and stocked with the most costly articles of luxury. 
 Proceeding eastwards along Chestnut Street, we finally 
 arrive at the Delaware, which is faced by a long quay- 
 like street, with a frontage of wooden wharfs jutting 
 into the water; and here, as far as the eye can carry, 
 nothing is seen but the masts and cordage of vessels, 
 the puffing of steamers arriving and departing, and the 
 struggling of draymen, porters, and sailors, engaged in 
 the business of loading and unleading articles of com 
 merce. At the upper extremity of the quay, the ship 
 ment of coal, brought down by railway from the great 
 Pennsylvanian coal-fields, seems to be conducted on so 
 large a scale, that a Northumbrian might be deceived 
 into the idea that he was on the banks of the Tyne. 
 
 Renewed and improved in various ways, Philadelphia 
 shews few architectural relics of its early history. We 
 see nothing of any edifice in which Franklin resided; 
 and neither, until the time of my visit, had any public 
 monument been erected to his memory, which, however, 
 is preserved in connection with various institutions. 
 The most remarkable building, dating from the pre- 
 revolutionary period, is the old State-house, situated 
 a short way back from the line of thoroughfare in 
 Chestnut Street, so as to form a kind of square. It 
 is a respectable, old-fashioned looking brick structure, 
 consisting of a ground and upper story, with a spire 
 partly of wood rising from the centre, and a wing added 
 to each end. This edifice, which was erected so early 
 as 1734, afforded accommodation for the congressional 
 assemblies of the Revolution; and it was here, in the 
 
308 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 large apartment on the left-hand side of the doorway, 
 that the famed Declaration of Independence was signed. 
 At present^ the apartment, which is unfurnished, seems 
 to be reserved as a sacred show-place for strangers. It 
 contains a few relics of antiquarian interest; one of 
 these being the bell which, at about two o clock in the 
 afternoon of the 4th of July 1776, sounded a peal from 
 the spire above, to announce that the Declaration had 
 been subscribed. k Having been subsequently fractured, 
 it is now laid aside here as an object of curiosity. The 
 other apartments of the old State-house are occupied 
 chiefly as courts of justice ; for Philadelphia, although 
 the principal city of Pennsylvania, is not honoured by 
 being made the place of meeting of the state legislature. 
 That dignity, according to the usual American plan of 
 huddling away the business of legislation into retired 
 nooks, has, since 1812, belonged to the small town of 
 Harrisburg, a hundred miles distant, on the Susquehanna 
 river. 
 
 Behind the old State-house is an enclosed space with 
 rows of trees; no doubt an agreeable summer-lounge 
 to the Hancocks, Washingtons, and Franklins of revo 
 lutionary memory. Adjacent to the further extremity 
 of the enclosure, is one of the few squares in the city, 
 forming a lawn, with walks and seats, and prettily 
 ornamented with trees. On visiting this spot, which is 
 open to the public, I was amused by observing the tame- 
 ness of a number of gray squirrels, which at call came 
 down from their nests in the trees, and were fed by the 
 children who were playing about the grass. It was 
 pleasing to learn that these little animals did not suffer 
 any injury from the youthful visitors of the square, and 
 that care was taken of them by the public. How much 
 good, I thought, might be done, by thus accustoming 
 children to look kindly on the creatures which God has 
 committed to our general regard and bounty ! 
 
PHILADELPHIA. 309 
 
 Few cities are so well provided with water as 
 Philadelphia. Beyond the environs on the west, the 
 Schuylkill, which is a river about the size of the 
 Thames, is dammed up and thrown back into a 
 capacious pool,, whence the water is led away and 
 pumped by powerful wheels into a reservoir, nearly 
 100 feet high. By these means, 1,500,000 gallons of 
 water are raised every twenty-four hours, and sup 
 plied by mains to the city in such profusion, that 
 every family has an ample command of this prime 
 necessary of life. The water-works on the Schuylkill 
 form a favourite resort for the inhabitants of the 
 city. The scene at the spot where the river falls 
 over the barrier forming the dam, is very charming. 
 Immediately beneath, a handsome suspension-bridge 
 has lately been erected, by which access is readily 
 obtained to the opposite banks. 
 
 In the neighbourhood of these hydraulic-works, is 
 situated the celebrated Eastern Penitentiary of Penn 
 sylvania, which, originating in the efforts of a few 
 humane individuals interested in the subject of penal 
 discipline, has formed a model for the system of 
 prisons now authorised in Great Britain. Having 
 visited pretty nearly all the large prisons in Germany, 
 France, and England, I felt a degree of interest in 
 comparing their arrangements with those in operation 
 in this American institution. The plan adopted is that 
 of the separate system, as it is called, but with con 
 siderable modifications. About eleven acres of ground 
 are surrounded by a wall thirty feet high, with battle- 
 mented turrets ; and in the middle of the enclosure is 
 the prison, designed on the principle of corridors radiat 
 ing from a central point. The cells open from, and are 
 ranged along, the corridors, in the usual manner, each 
 containing a convict, who, from entiy to dismissal, lives 
 and works in his cell, and is allowed no communication 
 
310 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 with other prisoners. In England, it is customary 
 to permit the prisoners to have outdoor exercise at cer 
 tain hours in courtyards. Here, a more humane and 
 reasonable practice is followed. Each cell is provided 
 with a small courtyard, into which the unhappy inmate 
 may, during the day, step at pleasure. The door into 
 this little airing-ground is at the end of the cell opposite 
 the door, and according to taste, is laid out partly as 
 a parterre of flowers, in the cultivation of which the 
 prisoner may relieve the wretchedness of his confine 
 ment. In several instances, on entering the cells, I 
 found the inmates in their courtyards reading in the 
 sunshine, which stole over the top of the high bound 
 ing- walls; and I thought, that this open communing 
 with nature must have in it something soothing and 
 improving to the feelings. Hand- weaving at small 
 looms, and shoemaking, seemed the principal crafts 
 pursued by the prisoners. In one of the cells, occupied 
 by a shoemaker, there was a pair of pigeons, which sat 
 meekly on the edge of a pail by the man s side; and 
 on questioning him respecting these animals, he said he 
 prized them as companions. "They do me good/ he 
 said, c when I look at them : their cooing cheers me when 
 I am alone/ I was glad that the prison authorities 
 allowed the unfortunate man this simple pleasure. But 
 it seems to be one of the aims of the directors of the 
 institution, to neglect no means of operating on the 
 moral sentiments of the prisoners. Though styled the 
 separate system, the discipline admits of the freest 
 intercourse with respectable visitors. The best people 
 in Philadelphia call upon, and hold converse with the 
 convicts, who doubtless receive no small benefit through 
 such agencies. 
 
 The last cell I visited was double the size of the 
 others, and occupied by a man who was busily engaged 
 at a bench, making chairs with carpentry tools. On our 
 
PHILADELPHIA. 311 
 
 entry, he did not look up, but continued at his employ 
 ment. He was a stout-made young man, probably not 
 more than thirty years of age, with a good-humoured 
 expression of countenance, and was dressed in a linen 
 blouse, confined round the waist. A more unlikely 
 person for a criminal could hardly be imagined. After 
 a few introductory observations, I inquired the nature 
 of the offence for which he was committed. His answer 
 was the single and startling word Murder ! 
 
 Whom did you kill? I asked. His reply was 
 affecting. 
 
 I killed my wife ; but it was in self-defence. She 
 was a bad woman; she had been drinking with some 
 men in my own house, and when I returned home after 
 a short absence, she ran at me with an axe. I saved 
 myself by holding out my razor, which happened to be 
 in my pocket at the time ; it unfortunately struck upon 
 her neck, and she bled to death. I was tried, and 
 condemned to twelve years imprisonment/ Such was 
 the man s story ; and if true in all particulars, it seems 
 to infer scant justice in the tribunals. On looking 
 about, I observed a child s chest of drawers, which the 
 prisoner said he had made for his daughter, who came 
 at times to see him, and whose visits afforded him the 
 only gleam of happiness in his lot. I could not but feel 
 deeply interested in this individual ; and I ventured to 
 throw out the hope, that by good conduct he might by 
 and by obtain a remission of his sentence. On the 
 whole, after making a survey of the prison, and hearing 
 explanations respecting its arrangements, I was more 
 favourably impressed with the genial system pursued, 
 than with the comparatively arid discipline which 
 prevails in our penitentiaries. Besides this general 
 receptacle for criminals, there are two houses of refuge 
 for juvenile vagrants and offenders in Philadelphia one 
 for white and another for coloured inmates ; for even in 
 
312 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 crime and suffering, colour asserts a distinction here as 
 elsewhere in the States. 
 
 The humane system of prison-discipline introduced 
 into Philadelphia, seems to be appropriate in a city 
 founded by a body of religionists whose aim has always 
 been that of practical benevolence. Begun by Friends, 
 this sect has left its impress on the public institutions, 
 and also the usages of the inhabitants, but has long 
 since dwindled down to be one of the least noticeable 
 religious bodies in the city, and in the present day, the 
 number of persons dressed as Quakers in the streets is 
 in no way conspicuous. 
 
 The public buildings of Philadelphia such as banks, 
 hospitals, churches, theatres, and other establishments, 
 including a Merchants Exchange are of a more than 
 usually elegant style of architecture ; and it seemed as 
 if in no city in the union was greater progress making 
 than in this department of the arts. One of the more 
 stately of these public edifices is the Girard Bank, in 
 Third Street, once occupied by Stephen Girard, and 
 where that remarkable person amassed the large 
 fortune which, at his death, was bequeathed to the city 
 for the support of an institution for orphans, and 
 other purposes. The Girard College, founded by this 
 appropriation, and now occupied as an educational 
 hospital for children, is situated at a short distance 
 from the town on a high ground, towards the Schuyl- 
 kill, and is by far the finest building, in point of size, 
 material, and purely Grecian character, in the United 
 States. On the evening after my arrival, a gentleman 
 kindly undertook to conduct me to this, the grandest 
 architectural product of America. Placed as it is within 
 a spacious pleasure-ground, I was struck with its mag 
 nificent proportions and general aspect. It is in form a 
 parallelogram, composed entirely of white marble, with 
 a basement of steps all round. With eight Corinthian 
 
PHILADELPHIA. 313 
 
 pillars at each end, and eleven on each side, supporting 
 a pediment and roof, it presents an exact model of the 
 higher class Greek temples. The pillars are 6 feet in 
 diameter, and 55 feet high, exclusive of base and capital. 
 As it was open to inspection, I ascended by an inner 
 stair to the roof, whence a magnificent view was obtained 
 over the city and country to the west. . The roof itself 
 is a curiosity. It is composed of slabs of marble, 
 resembling tiles, and the weight of these alone is 
 about 1000 tons. Consisting chiefly of class-rooms, the 
 edifice does not lodge the pupils, who, with the teachers 
 and other officers, reside in two separate or out build 
 ings. The whole of this superb monument cost nearly 
 2,000,000 of dollars. I call it monument; for, like 
 Heriot s and Donaldson s Hospitals at Edinburgh, it 
 is, in reality, a thing devised by the founder to keep 
 his name from sinking into oblivion. The rearing of 
 children in monastic establishments of this class, is an 
 error of the past, which one does not expect to find 
 perpetuated in so new a country as America; and the 
 sight of Girard College, with all its architectural 
 elegance, is on this account felt to be more painful 
 than otherwise. 
 
 As regards general education, Pennsylvania has 
 followed the example set by the New England states ; 
 and now the stranger will be gratified in witnessing 
 a completely ramified system, adapted to the wants of 
 the community, free from sectarian bias, and conducted 
 entirely at the public cost, as a matter of municipal 
 policy. Nearly an entire day was devoted by me to 
 visiting schools and academies established on this 
 liberal basis ; and, like all who have made similar 
 inquiries, I rejoiced to see such admirable means 
 adopted to insure the intelligence of future generations. 
 As elsewhere, I observed that in these public schools the 
 children of different classes of people attended without 
 
314 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 reserve the son of a carter, for example, being seen 
 beside the son of a judge a state of things less imput- 
 able to any republican notion, than to the fact, that the 
 education given could not be excelled, if it could be at 
 all approached, in any private establishment. Perhaps, 
 also, something is due to another fact ; which is, that 
 the children of a humbler class of persons are usually 
 as well dressed as those of a superior station; for in 
 general circumstances, American operatives, with their 
 high sense of self-respect, dress themselves and their 
 families in a manner which admits of no challenge 
 from the more opulent classes. The entire number 
 of publicly supported schools, ranging from the primary 
 to the higher establishments, is about 300, with upwards 
 of 800 teachers, of whom the majority are young 
 women specially educated for the purpose in a normal 
 school. Besides these institutions, there are many 
 denominational academies; and latterly, a School 
 of Design has been commenced for the purpose of 
 improving the tastes of young persons connected with 
 manufacturing establishments. 
 
 Like Boston and New York, Philadelphia abounds 
 in public libraries, museums, and scientific and artistic 
 institutions. I was taken from library to library 
 through a long and bewildering series, each addressed 
 to a different class of readers apprentices, merchants, 
 and men of scientific and literary acquirements. In this 
 excursion, I visited the rooms of the American Philo 
 sophical Society the oldest institution of the kind in 
 the United States, having been begun by Dr Franklin, 
 whose venerable portrait hangs in one of the apart 
 ments. The custodier of the institution, among other 
 curiosities, shewed a number of letters of Franklin ; 
 and what was more historically interesting, the original 
 draught of the Declaration of Independence by Jefferson, 
 containing the fiery passage in reference to negro 
 
PHILADELPHIA. 315 
 
 slavery, which was discreetly struck out on the final 
 revisal of the document. 
 
 Once the political metropolis of the States, nothing 
 of that character now pertains to Philadelphia but the 
 national Mint, which, for some special reasons, has not 
 been removed to Washington. After a sight of the 
 Royal Mint in London, one would not expect to find 
 any novelty here ; but the establishment is exceedingly 
 worthy of being visited, if only to see the extent of the 
 coming process, and the beauty of the mechanism which 
 is employed. Accommodated in a large marble building, 
 with a portico and pillars in front, the Mint is conducted 
 with a singular accuracy of arrangement under proper 
 officers, and according to the latest improvements in 
 the arts. Many of the lighter operations, including 
 the weighing and filing of the gold pieces, and the 
 assorting of quantities of coin, are performed by young 
 women. While being politely conducted through the 
 several departments by the principal of the establish 
 ment, I inquired what means were adopted for securing 
 the integrity of the persons employed ; and was told in 
 reply, that none was attempted beyond the ordinary 
 checks as to weight. Our true check, however, said 
 the intelligent functionary, f is the sentiment of self- 
 respect. All are put on their honour, and the smallest 
 act of dishonesty in one would be felt as a disgrace to 
 the whole. We are repaid for our confidence nothing 
 is lost; thefts are unknown/ Can they be a bad 
 people, of whom such a character is given ? I think 
 not. 
 
 Since the discovery of gold in California, the coinage 
 has been immense. Travellers, a few years ago, spoke 
 of the abundance and wretchedness of the paper-money 
 circulating everywhere through the States. You still 
 see dollar-notes, purporting to be issued by state and 
 city banks; but, to all appearance, the circulating 
 
316 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 medium is to a very large extent, if not chiefly, in gold 
 coins. At the time of my visit, the principal deficiency 
 was in silver, for small-change; though new quarter 
 dollars of that metal, resembling an English shilling, 
 were coming into use, and are now perhaps plentiful. 
 The most common coins were the gold dollar a most 
 beautiful small piece the two-and-a-half dollar, and 
 the five-dollar piece. The eagle a ten-dollar gold coin 
 was seldom visible, and more seldom still, the double 
 eagle. Latterly, it has been proposed to coin fifty- 
 dollar gold pieces; and some of an octagonal form of 
 that amount have been actually executed at California, 
 and are seen in the windows of the money-changers in 
 New York. On looking over the collection of native 
 and foreign coins in the Mint at Philadelphia, it is 
 observable that the Americans come quite up to the 
 English in some details of mechanical execution, but 
 are still distanced in artistic design. The devices on 
 the various American pieces, gold and silver, are not 
 elegant, neither is the die-sinking so perfect as it might 
 be; and to an improvement in both these points, the 
 United States government, for the sake of its own 
 credit, could not do better than direct attention. It 
 appears that for several years the coinage in the Mint 
 at Philadelphia has been upwards of 50,000,000 of 
 dollars per annum. Taken in connection with the pro 
 duct of the English and French Mints, it is stated on 
 authority, that the coined money ushered into existence 
 in the year 1853, attained the value of 38,725,831 a 
 quantity of hard cash added to the ordinary currency 
 which gives an impressive idea of the industrial 
 transactions of modern times. 
 
 After all that a stranger can say of the more 
 remarkable edifices and institutions in a city after 
 describing the aspect of the streets and of the people 
 who crowd them he necessarily leaves off with the 
 
PHILADELPHIA. 317 
 
 conviction, that he has failed to impart a full and 
 correct idea of what came under his notice. How, for 
 example, am I able to communicate a just notion of 
 the intelligence, the refinement, the enterprise of the 
 Philadelphians their agreeable and hospitable society, 
 their pleasant evening-parties, their love of literature, 
 their happy blending of the industrial habits of the 
 north with the social usages of the south? All this 
 must be left to conjecture, as well as the Oriental 
 luxury of their dwellings, and the delicate beauty of 
 their ladies. I only indulge in the hope that these fair 
 and fascinating beings will not accuse me of want of 
 gallantry in hinting to them, in the gentlest possible 
 manner, that they have one fault at least I think 
 they have one, however, common to all their country 
 women, and that is, staying too much in the house, in 
 an atmosphere not quite, but nearly, as hot as that 
 of an oven. O these terribly suffocating apartments, 
 with the streams of warm air rushing out of gratings 
 from some unimaginable hot cavern beneath siroccos 
 of the desert led, as a matter of fancy, into drawing- 
 rooms languor-promoting and cheek-blanching gales 
 enemies to health and longevity ! How the ordinary 
 duties of life are carried on in these hot-houses, I 
 cannot understand. Sometimes I was inclined to 
 think that there must be a great chilliness in American 
 constitutions that they must feel cold much more 
 readily than we do in England, where, even in the 
 coldest weather, houses are rarely heated beyond 65 
 degrees, and that by open fires promotive of ventilation. 
 From whatever reason, the Americans heat their dwell 
 ings to a degree of which we in the old country have 
 not the faintest conception. That such a practice is 
 the main cause of a want of rosy colour in the com 
 plexion, and that appearance of premature old age in 
 many persons of both sexes, is past a doubt ; though I 
 
318 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 am not aware that the subject has met with attention 
 from physiologists. What with the thin dry air out 
 of doors, and hot stoves within, the Americans/ said 
 a facetious friend, get themselves regularly baked 
 shrivelled up before their time. No wonder they are 
 everlastingly drinking cold water : if they did not keep 
 moistening themselves, they would dry up to mummies/ 
 This joke was rather hard, but not altogether un 
 deserved. 
 
 Philadelphia is somehow associated, par excellence, 
 in the minds of the English with the idea of America. 
 When we think of the history of that great country, 
 or of its statesmen, or patriots, up comes the notion 
 of Philadelphia in a very remarkable way. The story 
 of Franklin s early struggles, imprinted on the mind 
 of every boy, has perhaps something to do with this 
 psychological spectrum. We all recollect his efforts to 
 get up a printing-office the deceptions promises of the 
 English governor to lend him money to import a small 
 stock of types his newspaper, started originally by 
 Keimar in 1723, and the second in the province his 
 experiments in drawing lightning from the clouds and 
 many other interesting circumstances in his career. It 
 is now about a hundred and twenty years since Franklin 
 commenced as a bookseller and printer in Philadelphia, 
 and gave, as it may be said, a literary reputation to the 
 place. From small beginnings, the trade in the pro 
 duction of books has increased so largely, that now the 
 city in this respect is a formidable rival to Boston and 
 New York. Besides a large number of magazines, and 
 journals of science and art, published periodically, there 
 were, at the time of my visit, as many as twelve or 
 thirteen daily, and upwards of forty weekly, newspapers 
 several of them religious, for Sunday-reading. From 
 several publishing-houses, there are issued vast quan 
 tities of books in miscellaneous literature; and here, 
 
PHILADELPHIA. 319 
 
 among oilier curiosities which interested me profes 
 sionally, I alighted upon the large concern of Messrs 
 Lippincott, Grambo, and Company, which, independ 
 ently of a trade in publishing, carries on the peculiar 
 business of book-merchants. A spacious building, 
 several stories in height, is stored, floor above floor, 
 with books gathered from all the publishers in the 
 Union, as well as from England, and ready for selection 
 and purchase by retail-booksellers coming from every 
 part of the States. Any person, for example, wishing 
 to open a book-store in California, or some other 
 distant quarter, may here, in a walk from bin to bin, 
 acquire such a varied stock as suits his purse or his 
 inclination. Say that he is going to open for a 
 season at Saratoga, the White Sulphur Springs of 
 Virginia, or any other fashionable watering-place, there 
 he has his choice of handy little volumes, flashily gilt, 
 in the light line. Or, say that he wishes to go into the 
 school, or heavy trade, still he finds a mine of material 
 ready to his fingers. In an hour, he might load a 
 wagon with all the varied literary wares he can possibly 
 require; just as a country draper, dropping into one 
 of the streets about Cheapside, is able to lay in his 
 miscellaneous stock of haberdashery for the season. I 
 was told by one of the principals of the firm, that it 
 had dealings in every seat of population of any import 
 ance from New Orleans to Toronto, and from the 
 Atlantic to beyond St Louis. Think of commercial 
 travellers being despatched on a journey of 2000 miles 
 as far as from London to Cairo or Jerusalem ! 
 
 Such concerns as this are types of the manufacturing 
 and trading establishments of Philadelphia, which, in 
 different departments, is making extraordinary endea 
 vours to reach the position taken from it half a 
 century ago by New York. A person accustomed 
 to think of Birmingham as the only great seat of 
 
320 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 manufactures in metal, would be surprised to see the 
 large establishments in Philadelphia for the production 
 of that single article, the locomotive, of which several 
 hundreds are exported annually to England. In a 
 factory of another kind, I found 800 persons employed 
 in making gas-lustres and chandeliers ; and in a third, 
 were seen 150 operatives engaged in the manufacture of 
 gold chains and other varieties of jewellery. In the 
 fabrication of military and ladies dress-trimmings, some 
 hundreds of hands are also employed; and one house 
 pointed out to me, was said to make 1000 umbrellas 
 and parasols in a day. The manufactures of the place 
 are stated as amounting to the value of 64,000,000 of 
 dollars per annum. The opulence introduced through 
 this means is vastly augmented by the produce of the 
 rich mineral fields of Pennsylvania, which here finds an 
 outlet. As has been hinted, New York has taken the 
 place of Philadelphia as the leading entrepot of com 
 merce in the States an event traceable in some degree 
 to its readier access from Europe, but principally to the 
 opening of the Erie Canal, and other channels of com 
 munication with the Great West/ Neglectful of its 
 interests in this respect, and with capital directed to 
 mining industry, Philadelphia has seen its rival on the 
 Hudson outstrip it in the race of prosperity. At length, 
 awakened to a sense of their danger, and recovered 
 from a temporary financial depression, the Philadelphians 
 are going ahead at a great rate, and it will behove 
 New York to look to its laurels. No Atlantic city 
 can ever take a commanding position, if unprovided 
 with a direct and easy access to the valleys of the Ohio 
 and Mississippi, and the great lake-countries on the 
 north. Philadelphia has found that out, and by 
 means of railways recently opened, is busied in getting 
 back the traffic which it ought never to have parted 
 with. One thing, however, is wanting. Reposing on 
 
PHILADELPHIA. 321 
 
 the west on the one side, it will need to cultivate 
 an intercourse with England on the other. The 
 Delaware must be the port of entry and departure of 
 first-class steamers in weekly communication with 
 Southampton or Liverpool; for at present, no incon 
 siderable portion of the goods and passengers for 
 Philadelphia require, for the sake of speed, to go round 
 by New York a circumstance attended with numerous 
 inconveniences. I believe the Delaware a massive 
 river, and presenting miles of frontage for traffic is 
 fitted to bear with safety, to and from the ocean, 
 vessels of any burden ; and with such an estuary, and 
 such internal resources, it would be difficult to assign 
 a limit to its greatness. 
 
 I left Philadelphia with more regret than I had 
 experienced in departing from any other city in 
 America. As regards good organisation, refinement, and 
 prosperity, the only eastern city fit to be named with it, 
 is Boston; and when I add Toronto, the three seats 
 of population are mentioned, which, according to my 
 fancy, offer the attractions usually sought for by a 
 class of emigrants whose aim goes beyond mere 
 money-making or the ordinary necessities of existence. 
 Philadelphia, though not picturesque, is invested with 
 charms to invite the settlement of the enterprising, 
 the tasteful, and the moderately opulent. In the far 
 northern townships, the severity of winter and the 
 brevity of summer may repel the fastidious in climate ; 
 but nothing is left to pine for on the banks of the 
 lovely Schuylkill or the noble Delaware. Even the 
 idler, who needs the habitual solacement of his clubs, 
 his whist-parties, his conversaziones, and his billiards, 
 will have no difficulty in discovering the objects of his 
 search in Philadelphia. 
 
 Hastening northwards, by a railway train which took 
 me through Trenton, the scene of Washington s famous 
 
 u 
 
322 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 exploit, after crossing the Delaware on the night of 
 Christmas 1776, I arrived in New York a day or two 
 before my departure for England; and here I may 
 pause to make some general observations suggested 
 by my excursion. 
 
CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 RAILWAYS, TELEGRAPHS, AND OTHER THINGS. 
 
 THE railways, now an extraordinary feature of the 
 United States, are rapidly developing the latent 
 resources of the country, and effecting such changes on 
 the general aspect of affairs, that in a few years hence 
 an inconceivable progress will have been attained. 
 There are some things so peculiar about the American 
 railway-system, and so desirable to be made known in 
 England, that I propose to offer a few explanations 
 on the subject, the result of personal inquiry and of 
 information derived from official papers. 
 
 Railways for the transport of stone and coal came 
 into operation in Massachusetts and Pennsylvania in 
 1826 and 1827, and increased in number for general 
 traffic up to 1848, when 6000 miles of railway were 
 completed throughout the States. Since that stage 
 in their history, they have considerably increased, and 
 been pushed to great distances towards the interior. 
 In October 1853, the length of railways in actual 
 operation in the United States was 14,494 miles, nearly 
 one-half of which was in the New England States and 
 in the state of New York. The number of railways in 
 these states, and also in Pennsylvania, surprises every 
 traveller from Europe. They are seen radiating in 
 several directions from every city, interlining and 
 crossing and sending out branches, so as to bring 
 every seat of population of any importance into ready 
 
324 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 communication with the chief marts of commerce. In 
 Massachusetts alone, in the early part of 1853, there 
 were about 1200 miles of railway a large number for 
 a state with one-third of the population of Scotland. 
 At the same period, New York had 2123 miles; 
 Pennsylvania, 1244 miles; and Ohio, which is by 
 comparison a newly settled state, 1385 miles. Large 
 extensions have now been made in all ; and the entire 
 railway-system of the United States at the present 
 moment may be said to comprehend nearly 18,000 
 miles, with several thousand miles in course of con 
 struction. It is anticipated that, previous to the year 
 1860, there will be completed within the limits of the 
 United States at least 35,000 miles of railway. 
 
 The principle pursued in organising this marvellous 
 system of transport, has been, in the first place, to 
 rest satisfied with single lines until the resources of a 
 district were so far opened up, and capital thereby 
 created, as to warrant the construction of double 
 tracks. Only a few have as yet attained the dignity 
 of double lines. I have no recollection of seeing more 
 than one railway which had reached this degree of 
 maturity that down the banks of the Hudson to 
 New York and even it is only double at particular 
 places. It will be understood, therefore, that American 
 railways are almost all only single tracks, and do 
 not admit of trains passing each other, except at 
 appointed stations. Sometimes a train has to stop 
 for an hour till the arrival of the one in the opposite 
 direction; but this, as with other inconveniences, is 
 felt to be of inferior moment in comparison with 
 having no railway at all ; and keeping in remembrance 
 the wretched state of the ordinary roads, or rather 
 tracks in mud, not worthy of the name of roads, I 
 am not in the least surprised at the patience shewn 
 by Americans in waiting for trains at mid- way stations. 
 
RAILWAYS, TELEGRAPHS, AND OTHER THINGS. 325 
 
 In general, however, there is not much detention on 
 this account; it being ordinarily contrived that meals 
 may be taken at the places where such unavoidable 
 delays occur. 
 
 Contented at the outset with single lines, the pro 
 jectors of railways are also satisfied with other 
 simple and economic arrangements. Where bridges 
 or viaducts are required, they are usually constructed 
 of logs of wood, both for the upright supports and 
 cross-bearers, applied in a rough state from the adze, 
 without polish or painting. In some instances, there 
 are long viaduct connections of this kind across 
 lakes and inlets of the sea; and so little are they 
 above the surface, that the trains seem as if 
 running on the water. I seldom saw any ledges to 
 these viaducts; and nothing could have saved the 
 trains had they slipped from the track. In the more 
 populous and advanced districts, we occasionally see 
 viaducts across rivers, constructed at a considerable 
 cost of stone and iron. There is a handsome bridge 
 of this kind near Philadelphia, and another of stupen 
 dous proportions on the New York and Dunkirk line 
 of railway. 
 
 The rails ordinarily employed are of the T shape, 
 common in England, whence they are largely imported ; 
 and the gauge is, with some exceptions, our own width 
 of 4 feet 8^ inches. The universal practice is to lay 
 them in an unexceptionable manner on transverse 
 wooden sleepers, of which there seems to be no scarcity 
 anywhere, for they are generally placed not more than 
 a foot apart; this abundance of sleepers apparently 
 compensating for a want of proper ballasting or packing 
 with gravel. Little trouble is taken to dress the 
 surface, to drain the sides, or to fence the lines. Where 
 the railways intersect cultivated fields, or patches of a 
 superior kind of pasture-land, the lines are enclosed 
 
326 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 with the usual zigzag rails ; but in many places there 
 are no fences of any kind,, and the lines can be crossed by 
 foot-passengers without challenge. Sometimes, owing 
 to the want of fences, cattle stray upon the lines, and 
 are killed; although, to avert such catastrophes, the 
 locomotives are provided with a shelving-fender in front, 
 called a cow-catcher, which is intended to clear the 
 tracks of any large object that may be in the way. At 
 various places, the railways proceed for miles through 
 thick forests of tall trees, and there the prospect from 
 the windows of the cars is wild and solemn. Lofty 
 pines, intermingled with birch and maple, rise like a 
 wall on each side. Here and there, occur small clear 
 ings, in which huge trunks and boughs are strewn 
 about, rotting into mould, or gathered together in heaps 
 to be burned. Sometimes the outermost trees have 
 been partly torn up by the roots by the last gale of 
 wind, and recline on those behind them, or impend in 
 dangerous proximity to the line, as if nodding in 
 anger at the passing trains inonarchs of the wood, 
 whose reign in these ancient solitudes has been 
 strangely intruded upon by the rushing enginery of 
 modern transport. Probably, there is a law to enjoin 
 the cutting down of trees within a proper distance 
 of the line; but if there be, it is not always strictly 
 regarded. From the neglect of such precautions, 
 trees that are blown down occasionally fall across the 
 tracks, causing accidents or stoppages. On coming 
 from Cleveland towards Buffalo, through a forest 
 which skirts Lake Erie, I learned that, two days 
 previously, a fallen tree had retarded the train for 
 several hours, and caused considerable inconvenience 
 to the passengers. 
 
 The economising of means is likewise carried to a 
 considerable length in the construction of inexpensive 
 station-houses. The more important termini, at the 
 
RAILWAYS, TELEGRAPHS, AND OTHER THINGS. 327 
 
 principal cities, consist of handsome suites of offices, for 
 the sale of tickets, waiting-rooms, and other purposes, 
 but on a scale very inferior in point of grandeur to what 
 we see at Euston Square the very outlay on the 
 pillared entrance to that establishment being enough to 
 make a railway of moderate extent on the American 
 pattern. At Philadelphia and Washington, the termini 
 are more than usually elegant. Those of New York are 
 commonplace, and confused in their arrangements : nor 
 do they require to be of an imposing character ; for in 
 the last-mentioned city, the cars enter and depart in 
 detachments, drawn by horses. The method of con 
 structing the cars with steps accessible from the ground, 
 renders high platforms unnecessary; and such slight 
 elevations as are placed for the accommodation of 
 passengers, being mad^e of wood, like a raised flooring, 
 there is, in this particular also, a saving of outlay. In 
 the waiting- apartments, there is likewise nothing very 
 fine; and the only distinction is a separate reception- 
 room, and in many places a separate wicket for the 
 sale of tickets, exclusively for ladies. At many stations 
 on the western lines, I observed no waiting-rooms of 
 any kind, if we exclude from that category the space 
 outside the bar of the ticket-seller. At Richmond, in 
 Virginia, I was set down in the middle of the public 
 street, and saw no trace of a station-house, further 
 than a small office where tickets were obtained. 
 
 So far, it will be perceived that an American rail 
 way is got up on an exceedingly cheap plan; and, 
 placed in comparison with the magnificently con 
 structed lines of England, it might be pronounced 
 a rude and shabby affair. As regards initiatory 
 expenses, something instructive can be said. In most 
 of the states, each railway company requires to have 
 a special statute or charter, which is procured at an 
 insignificant cost; all that is necessary being to shew 
 
328 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 that the proposed company is provided with means 
 to carry out its undertaking. In several states, 
 including New York and Ohio, no special charter is 
 now needed for a railway. A general railway law 
 prescribes the rules to be followed by all corporate 
 concerns; and within the provisions named, any rail 
 way company, if it has the means, may commence 
 operations. There is thus, in reality, no impediment 
 to the covering the whole country with railways ; 
 and this freedom is imparted on the solid ground, 
 that each company best knows its own interests, and 
 that nobody will be so foolish as to throw away 
 money in making a railway, any more than in 
 setting up a store, or building a factory, where it is 
 not wanted. This free-and-easy system may be 
 attended with evils; but some will perhaps think it 
 preferable to the expensive and generally futile 
 contests about railway bills in Parliament. 
 
 Thus relieved of many expenses which weigh heavily 
 on our system, and diminish profits, the American 
 railway companies have the farther advantage of 
 getting land for nothing, or at very insignificant 
 prices. In the western, or unimproved parts of the 
 country, land for railways is sometimes given by town 
 ships, counties, or the state authorities, in order to 
 encourage capitalists; and I heard even of instances 
 in which the public contributed not only the land, 
 but the earth-works so much alive are the people 
 to the advantage of having a district opened up by 
 such communication. In the older settled states, 
 land is less easily procured, and may have cost in many 
 places as much as 10 to 20 an acre ; the highest of 
 these prices, however, being not more than a twentieth 
 of what is paid for some of the most wretched land in 
 Great Britain. 
 
 The only expenses worth speaking of in the 
 
RAILWAYS,, TELEGRAPHS, AND OTHER THINGS. 329 
 
 construction of American railways, are those incurred 
 for labour and for iron rails. Wood for sleepers can, 
 in many places, be had for the cost of cutting and 
 preparing. To the great open prairies, wood as well 
 as rails must, of course, be brought from distant 
 quarters; but the expense of carriage is balanced 
 by the comparatively light cost of earth-works. In 
 these prairies, a railway may be carried 500 miles in 
 a straight line on nearly a dead-level the line 
 stretching onward through grass and flowers without 
 the slightest obstruction, and appearing to the eye like 
 a zone girdling the earth. In these level regions, the 
 cost for railways, including every outlay, is stated to 
 be about 20,000 dollars per mile; but the general 
 average cost over the whole States, as I see by an 
 official document, is 34,307 dollars, or about 6866 
 per mile. No doubt, this is a small sum compared 
 with the average cost of our great lines, swollen by 
 the rapacity of landowners, by parliamentary expenses, 
 and extravagances of various kinds. But as single 
 lines, of an economical kind, are now being constructed 
 in Scotland for little more than 4000 per mile, I 
 am inclined to think that, but for the protective duties 
 imposed on foreign rails (and perhaps, also, a little 
 quiet jobbing), the cost of lines in the United States, 
 all things considered, would be materially less than 
 it is.* 
 
 An English railway, as is well known, is secluded 
 from end to end within palings and gateways, the whole 
 forming an enclosure from which passengers are not 
 allowed to make their exit without delivering up their 
 tickets. Things are entirely different in the United 
 
 * In 1851, the total sum invested in railways in the United States was 
 592,770,000 dollars, of which amount 300,000,000 dollars were borrowed 
 on bonds, at an interest of 8 to 10 per cent, per annum. The estimated 
 actual profits of the railway companies vary from 5 to 10 per cent. 
 
330 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 States. The side-palings, as above mentioned, are afc 
 best only fences of particular fields; and near the 
 stations no gates are employed to detain passengers. 
 Every kind of mechanism for seclusion is rendered 
 unnecessary, by the plans for selling and receiving back 
 tickets. Within all the principal termini, there are 
 offices where tickets may be procured, and there are 
 likewise, in every city of importance, general railway 
 agency-offices, resembling shops, where tickets for a 
 series of railways, en suite, may be purchased. There 
 seems to be considerable competition among the agents 
 who keep these establishments, in order to induce 
 passengers to go by particular lines. Their shops are 
 known by naming placards hung out at the doors, and 
 vast quantities of handbills are distributed, recommen 
 datory of certain routes as the cheapest and speediest. 
 It would be impossible to give an idea of the profusion 
 with which such alluring advertisements are scattered 
 among travellers. At the hotels, they are literally 
 sown broadcast on the ground; it being nothing 
 singular to see a lad enter with a mass of yellow or pink 
 coloured bills, and throw them about on the tables, 
 chairs, and floor of the bar, to be picked up and read 
 according to pleasure. 
 
 Whether purchased from agents, or at the stations, 
 the tickets do not carry any date, further than the year 
 in which they are issued. The practice is to sell all the 
 tickets required in the route, although embracing the 
 lines of several companies. In England, there is a 
 more convenient plan of issuing a single through- 
 ticket, which carries the passenger forward to the end 
 of his journey. I am not aware that this is adopted 
 any where in America. So far as my experience goes, 
 the passenger is furnished with several tickets for the 
 line of railway on his route. Comparatively few per 
 sons, however, put themselves to the trouble of waiting 
 
RAILWAYS, TELEGRAPHS, AND OTHER THINGS. 331 
 
 to buy tickets at the stations, but unceremoniously 
 enter the cars, and take their seats even at the last 
 moment, leaving the business of settlement to be adjusted 
 with the conductor. Let me say a word respecting this 
 functionary. 
 
 An American conductor is a nondescript being, half 
 clerk, half guard, with a dash of the gentleman. He is 
 generally well dressed ; sometimes wears a beard ; and 
 when off duty, he passes for a respectable personage at 
 any of the hotels, and may be seen lounging about in 
 the best company with a fashionable wife. No one 
 would be surprised to find that he is a colonel in the 
 militia, for good Whips in the old coaching- time are 
 known to have boasted that distinction. At all events, 
 the conductor would need to be a person of some integ 
 rity, for the check upon his transactions is infinitesi- 
 mally small. One thing is remarkable about him you 
 do not get a sight of him till the train is in motion, 
 and when it stops he disappears. I can account 
 for this mysterious feature in his character, only by 
 supposing, that as soon as he touches terra firma, he 
 removes from the front of his hat the word blazoned in 
 metal, which indicates his office; and so all at once 
 becomes an ordinary human being. The suddenness of 
 his appearance, when the train gets under- way, is very 
 marvellous. Hardly have the wheels made a revolution, 
 when the door at one end of the car is opened, and the 
 conductor, like a wandering spirit, begins his rounds. 
 Walking down the middle, with a row of seats on each 
 side, and each seat holding two persons, he holds out 
 his hand right and left as he proceeds, allowing no 
 one to escape his vigilance. All he says is Ticket V 
 and he utters the word in a dry, callous tone, as if it 
 would cost something to be cheerful. If you have 
 already bought a ticket, you render it up to this 
 abrupt demand, and a check-ticket is given in 
 
332 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 exchange. Should you have followed the ordinary 
 practice, and have no ticket to produce, the conductor 
 selects the ticket you require from a small tin box 
 he carries under his arm, and you pay him the cost 
 of it, increased in price to the extent of five cents, as 
 a penalty for having had to buy it in the cars such 
 fine being exigible, according to a printed notification 
 on the walls of the station-houses. 
 
 Having finished off in the car in which you are 
 seated, the conductor opens the door at the further 
 end, steps from the platform across a gulf of two feet, 
 to the platform of the next car; and so goes through 
 the whole train, till he reaches the van devoted to 
 the baggage, where he has a kind of den for counting 
 his money, and cogitating over his affairs. But as 
 there is no rest for the wicked, so there is no repose 
 for a conductor. Just before coming up to a station, 
 he makes his appearance, and takes a deliberate survey 
 of his customers, receiving checks from those who are 
 about to depart. When the train is in motion again, 
 the same ceremony is gone through rather trouble 
 some, it must be owned; but the conductor has a 
 faculty for remembering who have checks for a long, 
 and who for a short journey, and ceases to say Ticket 
 more than two or three times to anybody. When 
 it grows dark, the conductor does not trust to the 
 lamp which lights up each car; he carries a lantern 
 with a strong reflector, which enables him to scrutinise 
 the equivocal bank-notes that may be tendered in 
 payment. To enable him to perform this operation 
 satisfactorily, the lantern is made with a tin hoop 
 beneath, and through this ring the arm is thrust, so 
 as to leave both hands disengaged. 
 
 The checks which are distributed and collected by 
 the conductor in the manner just explained, consist 
 of narrow pieces of pasteboard about three inches long, 
 
RAILWAYS, TELEGRAPHS, AND OTHER THINGS. 333 
 
 and are of some use to travellers. On one side there 
 is a list of the various stopping-places, with the inter 
 mediate distances in miles; and thus, on consulting 
 them, we are able to ascertain our progress. Informa 
 tion in this form is very desirable; for as there is a 
 great deficiency of railway-officers at the stations, and 
 as the conductor is usually out of the way when you 
 want to ask a question, you are very much left to such 
 knowledge as the checks and the American Bradshaw 
 are able to furnish. 
 
 Wanting the precision, and, it may be, the comfort 
 of the English railway- system, the routine of procedure 
 in America is in one respect superior. I allude to the 
 arrangements connected with baggage. Every train 
 possesses a luggage- van (called a crate), and within an 
 opening in its side is found a baggage-master, who takes 
 charge of every person s luggage without any additional 
 fee. The way this is done deserves notice. On going 
 up to the baggage-master with a portmanteau, he, on 
 learning your destination, attaches a brass-plate on 
 which a number is struck, the plate being hung to a 
 leather strap which he loops through the handle of the 
 portmanteau. At the same time, he gives you a dupli 
 cate brass-plate, on producing which at the end of your 
 journey, your portmanteau is rendered up. At all the 
 principal termini, you are spared the trouble of even 
 looking after your luggage. Just before arrival, the 
 baggage-master leaves his van, and walking through 
 the cars, asks every person if he would like his luggage 
 delivered, and where. Thankful to be relieved of what 
 is at best an annoyance, you give up your duplicate 
 brass-ticket, the number of which is immediately entered 
 in a book, with the name of the hotel you are going 
 to ; and, behold ! in half an hour or less after arrival, 
 there lies your luggage on the floor of your bedroom. 
 This trouble is requited by a small fee, which is paid 
 
834 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 by the clerk of the hotel, and entered in your account. 
 There is a very extensive process of baggage-delivery 
 of this kind in New York and other large cities. I 
 should, however, recommend travellers in the States 
 to carry with them only a hand-valise, or carpet-bag, 
 which they would be allowed to take with them into 
 the cars. 
 
 Economical as the trains are in general construction, 
 and with little cost, as I should think, for attendants, 
 the expense of running them must also bear but 
 lightly on the revenue. The common rate of speed 
 is from twenty to thirty miles per hour. Two 
 passenger-trains, each way per diem, is an ordinary 
 allowance ; and from the general levelness of the 
 country, the cost of haulage cannot be excessive. 
 English locomotives consume coke, manufactured for 
 the purpose ; but American engines are much less 
 nice in this respect they fire up with billets of wood, 
 procured at a trifling cost, and stored in large stacks 
 along the road, ready for use. From this rough fuel, 
 when ignited, sparks rise in large quantities; but to 
 prevent their egress, a capacious grating is placed 
 over the chimney, and we do not hear of any damage 
 being done by them. For the most part, the engines 
 are powerful, and seem fit for any kind of work. 
 
 The most peculiar thing of all about these railways 
 is the passenger-carriage always called a car by the 
 Americans. The object which in exterior appearance 
 most nearly resembles an American railway-car, is one 
 of those houses on wheels which accompanies travelling 
 shows and menageries ; the only difference being that the 
 car is double the length. The car is, in reality, nothing 
 more than a long wooden box, painted yellow, with a 
 roundish shaped roof; a door at each end ; and a row of 
 windows at each side. Outside the door, is a small 
 platform, provided with a flight of steps on each side, 
 
RAILWAYS,, TELEGRAPHS, AND OTHER THINGS. 335 
 
 and wliich reaches to within a foot of the ground. The 
 platform is guarded by an outer railing, except in 
 the middle, opposite the door; and by means of this 
 egress, the conductor is enabled to cross from plat 
 form to platform, along the whole train. Passengers, 
 if they please, may also perform this feat while the 
 train is in motion; but it is not unattended with 
 danger, and there is a placard within the cars 
 cautioning persons from standing on the platforms. 
 
 Cars differ somewhat in their interior organisation. 
 Some have a small apartment at one end for ladies, or 
 nurses with children. More commonly, they consist of 
 a long unbroken sweep, with two rows of seats, and a 
 pathway of eighteen inches between. Fully seated, a 
 car should hold thirty persons on each side, or a total 
 of sixty ; but allowing space for a stove, the number is 
 generally fifty-six or fifty-eight; and fully equipped 
 and ornamented, such a car costs 2200 dollars, or 
 440. Considering the narrowness of the railway- 
 track, I often wondered how these cars could accom 
 modate four persons in the breadth, independently 
 of the pathway between the seats. Space is obtained 
 only by making the cars overhang the track, to a 
 much greater extent than we are accustomed to in 
 England. Mounted on two swivel-trucks, one before 
 and another behind, each with four wheels, the car, 
 long as it is, turns round a corner with the ease of 
 a gentleman s carriage; by which contrivance, in sur 
 veying for a railway, it is not thought necessary to 
 make long sweeping curves. 
 
 Running, as has been mentioned, right through cities 
 and across highways, with no other protection to the 
 public than the caution to Look out for the locomotive 
 when the bell rings/ it is matter for surprise that 
 so few accidents, comparatively speaking, take place. 
 Perhaps something is due to the circumstance, that 
 
336 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 the conductor can at all times communicate with the 
 engine-driver by means of a cord, which is confined 
 like a bell-wire along the ceiling of each car, and 
 arranged at the starting of the trains. Such accidents 
 as occur,, arise chiefly from carelessness; and it was 
 my impression, from what fell under my notice, that 
 there is much recklessness in the management, and a 
 general indifference to regularity or safety. 
 
 Candidly considered, the American railway-system 
 has many imperfections. Its rude arrangements, 
 including the plan of making no distinction in the 
 classes of travellers, would never pass muster in Europe. 
 Nevertheless, it is well adapted to the wants of the 
 great new country in which it has been naturalised, 
 and we may expect that it will in time undergo every 
 desirable improvement. Already the most gigantic 
 efforts have been made to unite the chief cities on the 
 Atlantic with the Valley of the Mississippi and the vast 
 regions westward and northward from it. From Port 
 land in Maine, Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and 
 Baltimore, lines now proceed direct to the interior, 
 where they are united to other lines, either finished 
 or about to be so, by which a traveller may reach the 
 principal cities in Ohio, Illinois, Missouri, and Wis 
 consin. Joined to the lines now constructed, and 
 forming in Canada, the north will be thoroughly laid 
 open for settlement; and connected with a line pro 
 ceeding southwards from Illinois, traffic will be opened 
 up on the one hand with Mobile and New Orleans, and 
 on the other, with the regions bordering on Lakes 
 Huron and Superior. The next steps are to reach 
 Oregon and California; and the manner in which such 
 extensions are to be executed now engages earnest con 
 sideration. The most urgently called for of these lines 
 is that to California, by a pass through the Rocky 
 Mountains ; and when this is effected, it will be possible 
 
RAILWAYS, TELEGRAPHS, AND OTHER THINGS. 337 
 
 to reach San Francisco in four days from New York, 
 and by the additional means of steam-vessels, to go 
 round the world in three months. Traversing from the 
 borders of the Mississippi to San Francisco, a country 
 1600 miles in breadth, the line cannot be undertaken 
 without liberal aid from government. We may venture 
 to hope this will not be refused ; for on no more noble 
 object could the overplus public funds be employed, 
 than in uniting by railway the Atlantic with the Pacific, 
 and so pouring across America the copious stream of 
 European and Asiatic commerce. 
 
 From the great, though still imperfect, railway 
 organisation of the States, we obtain but an inadequate 
 idea of the indomitable energy of the people, and the 
 mighty field over which they direct their enterprise. 
 Their canal and river navigation, extending over more 
 than 10,000 miles, is in itself a wonder ; and in this, 
 as in all other affairs, private enterprise greatly excels 
 the operations of the government. In truth, the 
 government, with a multiplicity of interests to con 
 ciliate, and naturally weak in its authority, is left 
 completely behind in the race of public improvement. 
 The fact of there being, in 1852, mail-routes to the 
 aggregate length of 214,284 miles, and post-offices to 
 the number of 20,901, is outshone by the statistics of 
 the express-system for forwarding parcels, money, &c. 
 Conducted by private individuals and companies, 
 and originating only about twelve years ago, the 
 various express-houses are the goods and money 
 carriers of the Union, and have now agencies in every 
 part of the States and Canada; one company alone 
 employing 1500 men, and its dispatches travelling not 
 less than 25,000 miles per diem. 
 
 The system of intercommunication is completed by 
 the operations of the telegraph companies. In the 
 States, three kinds of telegraphs are employed those 
 
338 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 of Morse, House, and Bain; the difference between 
 them being mainly the method of indication. That 
 which came chiefly under my notice, was the plan of 
 printing the messages on a narrow slip of paper. 
 Unitedly, the various telegraphic-systems pervade the 
 entire region between the Atlantic and the Mississippi, 
 and from Nova Scotia and Canada to New Orleans. 
 The number of miles of telegraph in the States is 
 now about 20,000, and in Canada, and other British 
 possessions, from 2000 to 3000. The wires are carried 
 along the sides of the railways, across fields and 
 rivers, through forests, and in cities they may be seen 
 crossing the streets and the tops of the houses. From 
 New York, two lines proceed south to New Orleans : 
 one by way of Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, 
 and Charleston, making a length of 1966 miles; the 
 other runs from Cleveland, on Lake Ontario, by 
 Cincinnati and Nashville, being a length of 1200 
 miles. Messages connected with markets, the rise 
 and fall of stocks, news from Europe, and other matters 
 of public news, are staple communications ; but so small 
 a price is charged, that there is also a large amount 
 of miscellaneous correspondence. A message of ten 
 words, for example, may be sent from Washington to 
 St Louis a distance of 989 miles for 1 dollar 20 
 cents. Under 200 miles, the charge is about a cent 
 per word. It is stated on good authority, that on 
 some lines as many as 700 messages are sent in one 
 clay. So rapid is the transit, that the news brought to 
 New York by a European steamer, at eight o clock A. M., 
 has been telegraphed, by way of Cincinnati, to New 
 Orleans, and the effects there produced on the market 
 returned to New York by eleven o clock being a 
 circuit of nearly 4000 miles in three hours. 
 
 The amount of telegraphic business is largely 
 increased by the number of dispatches for the press. 
 
RAILWAYS, TELEGRAPHS, AND OTHER THINGS. 339 
 
 An association of the seven principal morning papers 
 in New York, during the year ending 1st November 
 185.2, dispensed, unitedly or as individuals, 64,000 
 dollars for dispatches and special and exclusive mes 
 sages large sums to be paid for news by papers which 
 are sold for a penny each. Such an expenditure could 
 not, indeed, be incurred but for the greatness of the 
 circulation of these papers the daily issue of some of 
 them being upwards of 100,000 copies. The mention 
 of such a fact as this, affords in itself a testimony to the 
 spirit of intelligent inquiry which sustains the press of 
 the United States. It is only, indeed, after being a 
 little time in that country, that we gain a proper idea 
 of the extent to which the business of newspaper 
 publication may be carried, when liberated from mono 
 poly, and left entirely to public enterprise. I should 
 not expect to be credited, did I not speak from official 
 authority,* when I say, that on the 1st of June 1850, 
 there were in the United States 350 daily newspapers, 
 with an aggregate circulation of 750,000 copies; as 
 many as 2000 weeklies, circulating in the aggregate 
 2,875,000 copies; and that altogether, including semi- 
 weekly, tri-weekly, monthly, &c., there were 2800 
 prints, with a total aggregate circulation of 5,000,000. 
 The number of newspapers printed during the year 
 which then expired, amounted to 422,600,000 copies 
 a fact which throws more light on the freedom 
 of thought in the States than any other I could 
 advance. 
 
 * Abstract of Seventh Census. Washington : 1853. 
 
CHAPTER XX. 
 
 GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 LIMITED as had been my excursion and opportunities 
 of observation, the broad fact was sufficiently impressed 
 on my mind, that the people of England know but 
 little of America, while that little is disfigured by 
 certain prejudices and misapprehensions. Travellers 
 have, for the most part, dealt so unkindly by the 
 Americans, that I was unprepared for much that 
 came in my way of a nature that can be spoken of only 
 with respect. Their energetic industry, perseverance, 
 and enterprise; the tastefulness of their dwellings, 
 and (with one unfortunate exception) the cleanliness 
 and good government of their cities; their patriotism 
 and independence of sentiment; their temperance; 
 their respect for women; their systems of popular 
 education; their free and untaxed press; their sponta 
 neous yet ample support of the ordinances of religion,* 
 as well as of every variety of beneficiary institution 
 all seemed to me to merit commendation, and to 
 
 * In 1850, there were in the United States 36,011 churches, with an 
 aggregate accommodation for 13,849,896 persons; and the total value of 
 church property was 86,416,639 dollars. The Methodists, Baptists, Presby 
 terians, and Episcopalians, were the most numerous bodies. As regards 
 education: in 1850, nearly 4,000,000 of young persons were receiving 
 instruction in the various educational institutions of the country, or at the 
 rate of 1 in every 5 free persons ; the teachers numbered more than 
 115,000 ; and the colleges and schools nearly 100,000 their support being 
 chiefly from legally imposed rates. 
 
GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 341 
 
 overbalance greatly such imperfections as have been 
 fastened upon and exaggerated in the descriptions 
 presented by tourists. 
 
 Undeniably, the personal manners of the Americans 
 do not, in general, come up to the standard established 
 in England. In ordinary circumstances, we miss 
 some of the more polite observances of Europe; 
 but the blank does not represent an unmitigated 
 loss. We are not encumbered with the formalities of 
 an inexorable etiquette; nor do we see that stiffness 
 of manner in the general intercourse between class 
 and class, which is stamped on English society. The 
 hauteur of rank is totally unknown, nor would it be 
 tolerated. In the absence of hereditary honours, 
 opulence and refinement create distinctions; but these 
 are simply respected, not worshipped. We all know, 
 of course, that ordinary politeness, or graciousness of 
 manner, is a different thing from servility; and there 
 can be little doubt that, as America grows older, and 
 competition becomes more intense, a proper perception 
 of this not unimportant truth will be more widely 
 spread and acted on. 
 
 If the less-cultivated Americans be as yet faulty in 
 this respect, their shortcomings are obviously traceable 
 to the great breadth of field over which they exercise a 
 command. Happy in not being cribbed and confined 
 within a town, or even a spacious district, they can 
 choose their locality over more than thirty states ; and 
 if one place does not come up to expectations, they can 
 resort to another. Neither do they feel themselves 
 indissolubly tied to any particular profession. I was 
 frequently assured that no man in the States is 
 damaged by a change from one line of industry to 
 another. Every trade is open to everybody; and as, 
 from the general diffusion of education, every one is 
 prepared to do his duty creditably, he is presumed to 
 
342 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 be able to turn his hand to almost anything. Hence, 
 the restlessness of the American character. Attach 
 ment to locality is scarcely known; and shifting from 
 place to place,, a thousand miles at a stretch, with a 
 view to bettering the condition, seems to be an ordinary 
 occurrence. There is, in fact, an immense internal 
 migration. New England is continually throwing off 
 swarms towards the newly opened territories and 
 states in the far West; the latest manifestation of 
 this kind being the movement of a colony of 
 settlers from Massachusetts to the newly organised 
 state of Nebraska. 
 
 The abundance of all material comforts, may perhaps 
 be mentioned as a cause of the occasionally rude in 
 dependent bearing which falls under notice. No such 
 indication of fulness exists in England. Straitened in 
 circumstances, and burdened with taxation, but with 
 a conventional necessity for keeping up appearances, 
 a large proportion of our middle classes require to be 
 exceedingly frugal in the consumption of articles of 
 domestic use. A person accustomed to shifts of this 
 nature, is astonished at the profusion at table in all 
 quarters of America. There is, at least, no stinting 
 as to food. It was often pressed on my notice, that 
 the hired labourers in the fields are provided with 
 better fare than falls to the lot of thousands of the 
 genteeP classes in England. 
 
 In no part of America did I see any beggars or 
 ragged vagrants; and except in New York, the con 
 dition of which is exceedingly anomalous, I did not 
 observe any drunkenness there having been, as I 
 understood, a great reform in this particular. I should 
 say that, independently of the Maine Law/ public 
 opinion on the subject of drinking-usages is consider 
 ably in advance of that of England. My belief, however, 
 is, that owing to peculiarities of climate, there is less 
 
GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 343 
 
 desire to partake of stimulants, and less immunity from 
 the consequences of an excessive use of them, than in 
 the humid atmosphere of northern Europe. Other 
 things struck me favourably. I observed that all 
 classes were well dressed. My attention was called 
 to the fact, that when operatives had finished the 
 labours of the day, they generally changed their 
 garments, and were as neatly attired as those in higher 
 stations. It was also observable that mechanics, in 
 good employment, occupy better houses, pay higher 
 rents, and dress their wives and families better, than 
 is usual in England or Scotland; that they, in short, 
 aim at living in greater respectability; and in doing 
 so, necessarily avoid such indulgences as would impro 
 perly absorb their means. It was agreeable to note, 
 that the English language is everywhere spoken well. 
 I heard no patois, no local dialect. The tone of 
 speech was uniform, though more nasal in some parts 
 of New England than in other places. 
 
 In forming an opinion of a country, much depends 
 on the point from which it is viewed. The point of 
 view for America, as it appears to me, is America itself. 
 To look at it with English eyes and English expecta 
 tions, is surely unwise. Hopeless would it be for any 
 one fresh from the old country to look for magnificent 
 gentlemen s seats, fine lawns, beautiful hedgerows, 
 admirable roads, superb carriages, old-settled usages and 
 institutions, and that artificiality of manner which in 
 England has required a thousand years to mature. 
 We must take America as it is, and make the best of 
 it. It is a new, and, as yet, not fully settled country ; 
 and, all things considered, has done wonders during its 
 short progress. No one can forget that, except in the 
 case of Virginia, and one or two other places, it has 
 been peopled by the more humble, or, at all events, 
 struggling classes of European society. The aristocracy 
 
344 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 of England have shrunk from it. Instead of acting 
 as leaders, and becoming the heroes of a new world,, 
 they have left the high honour of founding commu 
 nities throughout America to groups of miscellaneous 
 individuals, who at least possessed the spirit to cross 
 the Atlantic in quest of fortune, rather than sink 
 into pauperism at home. 
 
 The proper aspect, therefore, in which to view 
 America, is that of a field for the reception of emigrants. 
 It was thus I beheld it ; and from all that came under 
 my notice, I am bound to recommend it as a new 
 home to all whose hearts and hands are disposed to 
 labour, and who, for the sake of future prospects, as 
 regards themselves and families, are willing to make 
 a present sacrifice. To all classes of married manual 
 labourers, the United States and Canada offer a 
 peculiarly attractive field; not so much so, however, 
 from the higher rates of remuneration, as the many 
 opportunities for advantageously making investments, 
 and by that means greatly improving their circum 
 stances. This, indeed, is the only point worth pressing 
 on notice. In England, the operative having scarcely 
 any means of disposing of small savings to advantage 
 the interest of the savings-bank forming no adequate 
 temptation he rarely economises, but recklessly spends 
 all his earnings, of whatever amount, on present indul 
 gences. It is vain, I fear, to try to convince him of 
 this folly. Practically, he is without hope ; and, unin- 
 structed, he does not reflect on consequences. In 
 America, on the contrary, everything contributes to 
 excite his higher emotions. The sentiment of hope is 
 stimulated in an extraordinary degree. In the more 
 newly settled cities and townships, so many bargains 
 may be had of small portions of land, which may 
 probably, in a year or two hence, be sold for many 
 times the original cost, that there is the greatest 
 
GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 345 
 
 possible reason for economising and becoming capital 
 ists. The saved twenty dollars of to-day may,, by a 
 judicious investment, be shortly a hundred, nay, a 
 thousand, dollars; so that, with a reasonable degree 
 of prudence, a person in humble circumstances rises 
 by rapid and sure strides to fortune. 
 
 I feel assured that this tends to explain the superior 
 character of the American workman. In coming down 
 Lake St Clair in a steamer, there was on board 
 a Canadian settler, who had some years ago left 
 Scotland, and was now in the enjoyment of a pleasant 
 and thriving farm on the banks of the lake. On 
 conversing with him respecting his affairs, he told 
 me that all the time he was in the Old Country, 
 he never felt any inducement to save; for it was 
 a dreary thing to look forward to the accumulation 
 of a shilling or two a week, with no prospect of 
 trading on the amount, and only at the end of his 
 days having a few pounds in the savings-bank. 
 But here/ said he, f with a saving of two dollars 
 we can buy an acre of land, and may, perhaps, sell it 
 again afterwards for ten dollars; and this kind of 
 thing makes us all very careful/ Did not this man s 
 explanation solve the problem which now engages the 
 attention of writers on social economy? Did it not 
 go far towards elucidating the cause of so much of 
 our intemperance the absence of hope ? The native 
 American, however, possesses advantages over the 
 immigrant. With intelligence sharpened by education, 
 he is better able to take advantage of all available 
 means of improvement in his condition ; the press 
 rouses him with its daily stimulus ; the law interposes 
 no impediment of taxes and embarrassing forms on 
 the transfer of property; the constitution offers him 
 the prospect of rising to a position of public confi 
 dence; no overshadowing influence weighs on his 
 
346 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 spirits; he is socially and politically free; his whole 
 feelings, from boyhood, have been those of a respon 
 sible and self-reliant being, who has had much to 
 gain by the exercise of discretion. 
 
 If I may use the expression, there is a spontaneity 
 in well-doing in America. In the circumstances just 
 referred to, men conduct themselves properly, because it 
 is natural for them to do so; and from the aspect of 
 the American operative-classes, I am disposed to think 
 they would feel affronted in being made objects of 
 special solicitude by those in a more affluent condition. 
 To speak plainly, why should one class of persons in 
 a community require constantly to have the thinking 
 done for them by another class ? I am afraid, that 
 wherever such appears necessary, as in England, there 
 is something socially defective. The whole tendency of 
 institutional arrangements in America, as has been 
 shewn, is to evoke feelings of self-reliance. A contrary 
 tendency still prevails to a large extent in Great Britain, 
 where, from causes which it is unnecessary to recapitu 
 late, the humbler classes require to be ministered to 
 and thought for, as if they were children. We must 
 contrive means for amusing them, and keeping them 
 out of mischief; call meetings to get up reading- 
 rooms, baths, wash-houses, and temperance coffee 
 houses for them; offer prizes to those among them 
 who will keep the neatest houses and gardens; and 
 in so many ways busy ourselves about them, that at 
 length it would seem as if it were the duty of one-half 
 the community to think for the other. The spectacle 
 of well - educated, thoughtful, independent America, 
 enabled me to see through the fallacy of first disabling 
 a man from thinking and acting for himself, and then 
 trying to fortify him by a system of well-meant, but 
 really enervating patronage. It is something to have 
 to say of the United States, that the mechanics and 
 
GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 347 
 
 rural labourers of that country do not require to be 
 patronised. 
 
 The persons in America who seemed to me to 
 merit compassion most, were not the poor, for of these 
 there are not many, except in a few large cities : those 
 who are to be pitied, are the rich. Obtaining wealth 
 by a course of successful industry, it would appear 
 as if there were no other means of spending it than 
 in rearing splendid mansions, and furnishing them in 
 a style of Oriental luxury, and thereafter living in 
 gorgeous magnificence, like the prince-merchants of 
 Genoa in the past times of Italian glory. So far as 
 the actual founders of fortunes are concerned, there 
 is, perhaps, little to discommend in all this; but it 
 was disagreeably pressed on my notice, that the sons 
 of these millionaires, born to do nothing but to live 
 on their father s earnings, were much to be pitied. 
 In New York, they were seen lounging about idly in 
 the parlours and bar-rooms of the hotels, worn out 
 with dissipation, and the nightly victims of gambling- 
 houses, of which there are a number in Broadway on 
 a scale of matchless splendour. Among the vices they 
 have lately thought fit to introduce, is the practice, 
 now obsolete in England, of encouraging professional 
 pugilism, the exercise of which occasionally leads to 
 serious affrays. In Great Britain, as we all know, 
 a considerable part of the fortunes realised in trade 
 is expended in the purchase of land, and in effecting 
 rural improvements of various kinds; the country, by 
 such means, becoming a useful engine of depletion to 
 the town; but in America, land conveys no honour, 
 and is not bought except as a temporary investment, 
 or as a source of livelihood. Wealthy men, therefore, 
 would have nothing to look for in rural life beyond 
 the pleasure of a villa; so far as I could learn, they 
 do not even go that length, but consume their means, 
 
348 
 
 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 for the most part, in the more seductive but not 
 very refining enjoyments of the city. With few 
 exceptions, therefore, families of any note do not con 
 tinue in affluence more than one or two generations. 
 An old family 5 in America, must ever be a kind of 
 miracle. The principle which seems to be laid down 
 is, that family distinction is adverse to democratic 
 institutions; and that, consequently, each generation 
 ought to be left to shift for itself a philosophic rule, 
 no doubt, but which, like many other good maxims, 
 is not without practical difficulties. 
 
 Leaving the wealthier classes of New York to dis 
 cover, if they can, what is the use of money after they 
 have made it, it is more to my purpose to call attention 
 to the advantages which America presents as an outlet 
 for the redundant and partially impoverished classes 
 of the United Kingdom. When I reflect on the 
 condition of the rural labourers in many parts of 
 Great Britain and Ireland the poorness of their 
 living; their generally wretched dwellings; the little 
 pains taken to afford them an education calculated 
 to excite their better feelings; their blank prospects 
 as to old age; and when I consider that, within a 
 short distance, there is a country inviting their 
 settlement, where they can scarcely fail to attain 
 a position of comfort and respectability, I am sur 
 prised that the exodus/ great as it is, is not many 
 times greater in fact, the astonishing thing, as it 
 appears to me, is, how under present circumstances any 
 at all remain.* 
 
 * On the day on which this was written, I saw, seated on the ground by 
 the side of a road in Scotland, a party of ploughmen and female field-workers 
 taking their mid-day refreshment, which consisted solely of coarse bannocks 
 of peasemeal, milk drank from a bottle, and morsels of meagre cheese. Could 
 I avoid drawing a comparison between this hard lot, and that of the well- 
 paid and well-provisioned labourers in Nova Scotia. Canada, and the 
 United States ? 
 
GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 349 
 
 Perhaps part of the reluctance to remove to America 
 is due to fears on the score of health. Peculiar in some 
 respects, the climate of those northern and middle 
 regions to which emigrants usually direct their course, 
 need not, however, be the subject of apprehension. The 
 most remarkable peculiarity of the air, as has been 
 already hinted, is its dryness. The prevailing westerly 
 winds, coming over thousands of miles of land, lose 
 their moisture before reaching the more settled regions 
 in the east, and are felt to be thin and desiccating. 
 Except in swampy districts, damp in any form is un 
 known, moisture being almost immediately absorbed. 
 Newly plastered houses are dry enough to be inhabited 
 a day or two after being finished. Clothes put out 
 to dry, need to hang but a short time. In writing, 
 I observed that the ink dried in half the time it 
 would have required to do so in England. That such 
 properties in the atmosphere have an injurious effect 
 on the constitution, is more than probable; at least, I 
 observed that the people generally were less florid in 
 complexion, and less robust, than the English. At the 
 same time, it was my conviction, especially as regards 
 females, that much more injury is done to health in 
 Canada and the States by the overheating of apartments 
 with stoves, than by the aridity of the atmosphere. 
 From statistical inquiry, it does not, however, appear 
 that life is to any appreciable degree less valuable in 
 the northern and middle parts of the States than it is 
 in England the damage which may be done by the 
 dryness of the air and the extremes of temperature 
 being, as it were, balanced by the unwholesome 
 influences of our atmospheric humidity. Settlers in 
 Canada, with whom I conversed on the subject, gave 
 the preference to the American climate, on account 
 not only of its pleasantly exhilarating properties, but 
 of its equable character. It is proper to say, that 
 
350 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 there may be some danger in proceeding to America 
 during the extreme heats of summer; and I would, 
 on this account, recommend travellers not to quit 
 England before August, from which time till December 
 the weather is temperate and agreeable. Crossing the 
 Atlantic in spring, during the prevalence of icebergs, 
 is particularly to be avoided. 
 
 Fears have been sometimes entertained, that the 
 constant influx of a large and generally uninstructed 
 class of foreigners, more particularly Irish, must have 
 a tendency to disorganise the institutional arrange 
 ments of the States, and even lower the tone of 
 society. Great, however, as is the flood of immigrants, 
 not of the most enlightened kind, it does not appear 
 that they exercise any deteriorating influences, or are in 
 any respect troublesome, except in New York and other 
 large seats of population. Scattering themselves over 
 the country, they are, for the most part, lost in the 
 general community, and soon acquire the sentiments 
 of self-respect common to the American character. 
 The change is remarkable in the case of the Irish. 
 Attaching themselves to such employments as, without 
 risk, bring in small sums of ready money, they are 
 found to be a saving and most useful class of people, 
 with tastes and aspirations considerably different from 
 those they formerly possessed. Altering so far, they 
 may almost be said to be more Americanised than 
 the Americans ; for they signalise themselves by 
 saying hard things of the Old Country, and if not the 
 most inveterate, are, at least, the most noisy of its 
 enemies. In the second generation, however thanks 
 to the universal system of education the Irishman has 
 disappeared. Associating in and out of school with the 
 shrewd native youth laughed, if not instructed, out of 
 prejudices the children of Irish descent have generally 
 lost the distinctive marks of their origin. 
 
GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 351 
 
 It is a curious proof of the permanency usually given 
 to any idea, true or false, by popular literature, that 
 well-informed persons in this country are still occasion 
 ally heard scoffing at Pennsylvania on account of her 
 repudiated bonds. We all remember the effect of the 
 half-whimsical complaints of the Rev. Sidney Smith 
 on this subject. We join in the laugh, sneer at the 
 Pennsylvanians ; and so it goes on. All the time, it 
 is an absolute fiction that this state ever repudiated 
 her debts. She did, indeed, at a moment of singular 
 pecuniary difficulty, affecting the whole nation, suspend 
 payment of the interest of her bonds. The country 
 having been so far drained of money, that barter had 
 to be resorted to, it was simply impossible for the state 
 to pay the interest on these debts ; but the debts were 
 always acknowledged, and as soon as possible payment 
 of the interest was resumed. No one ever lost a 
 penny by Pennsylvania. There are, indeed, I believe, 
 some states in the west and south which did for a time 
 repudiate; and even the most temporary exemplifica 
 tion of such a system must be deplored, for the effect 
 it could not but have in shaking the general faith in 
 American state probity. It is at the same time 
 true, that great as is the traffic between England 
 and America,* we hear no complaints against the 
 uprightness of the merchants of the latter country. 
 It appears from official inquiry, that, independently of 
 debts suspended by the defaulting states, the amount 
 lent by foreigners on bonds and other securities to 
 America is, at the lowest calculation, 40,000,000; 
 and the interest on this debt is, so far as I am aware, 
 always duly paid. 
 
 A question constantly arises, in looking at the 
 
 * In the year ending June 30, 1852, the imports into the United States 
 from Great Britain and Ireland were valued at 90,628,339 dollars, and the 
 exports to 115,569,975 dollars. 
 
352 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 political fabric of the United States : Will it last 
 does it not contain within itself the germs of 
 dissolution? In offering a few observations in reply, 
 it will be necessary to touch upon what is admitted 
 to be the most unpleasant social feature of this 
 remarkable country. 
 
 When the American colonists renounced their 
 allegiance to George III., and assumed an attitude 
 of independence, it was confidently predicted that 
 their nationality, unsupported by monarchical and 
 aristocratic institutions, could not possibly endure 
 beyond the first outburst of enthusiasm. The experi 
 ence of eighty years has failed to realise these prog 
 nostications ; and it may be said that the principle 
 of self-reliance has never been so successfully tested 
 as in the history of the United States. Left to 
 themselves, and favoured by breadth of territory, the 
 progress of the American people has for many years 
 been no ordinary phenomenon. 
 
 At the Declaration of Independence, the number 
 of states was thirteen, with a population of about 
 3,000,000 a wonderfully small number, to have 
 defied and beat off the British monarchy. In 1800, 
 when several new states had been added to the confe 
 deracy, the population was little more than 6,000,000. 
 During the next fifty years, there was a great 
 advance. In 1850, when the number of states had 
 increased to thirty-one, along with several territories 
 not organised into states, the population had reached 
 23,191,918. At this point, it was 3,000,000 ahead 
 of that of the island of Great Britain; and as at 
 this ratio it doubles every twenty-five years, we might 
 infer that towards the conclusion of the present 
 century, the United States will possess a population of 
 not far from 100,000,000. 
 
 Such are the prospects entertained by the Americans 
 
GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 353 
 
 themselves, with perhaps too slight a regard for a 
 seriously disturbing element in their calculations. 
 The present population, as above stated, are not all 
 whites exercising the privileges and animated with 
 the sentiments of freemen. In the number, are com 
 prehended 3,204,345 slaves, and 433,643 persons 
 of colour nominally free, but occupying a socially 
 degraded position. The presence of such an immense 
 mass of population, alien in blood and aspect, in the 
 midst of the commonwealth, is an awkward, and, I 
 fear, a dangerous, feature in the condition of the 
 United States, which cannot be passed over in any 
 impartial estimate of the prospective growth and 
 dignity of the country. 
 
 At the Revolution, there was, comparatively speaking, 
 but a handful of negro slaves in the several states, 
 introduced from Africa during the colonial administra 
 tion; and it was probably expected by Washington 
 and others, that in time the number would diminish, 
 and that, finally, it would disappear. The reverse, 
 however, has been the result. In the New England 
 States, New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, 
 slavery, wherever it existed, has been legally abolished, 
 leaving generally a residuum of free negroes; but in 
 the other older states, slavery is still in force, besides 
 being ingrafted in various new states, which have been 
 acquired by conquest or purchase; so that, as an 
 institution with large vested interests, it is stronger 
 and more lifelike than ever. According to the census 
 of 1850, it existed in fifteen out of thirty-one states; 
 in one of them, however New Jersey it was in the 
 form of an expiring apprenticeship. 
 
 For a number of years, as is well known, there has 
 been much angry discussion on the subject between 
 the northern and southern states ; and at times the 
 contention has been so great, as to lead to mutual 
 
854 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 threats of a dismemberment of the Union. A stranger 
 has no little difficulty in understanding how much of 
 this war of words is real, and how much is merely 
 an explosion of bunkum. In 1820, there occurred 
 a kind of truce between the belligerents, called the 
 Missouri Compromise; by which, in virtue of an 
 Act of Congress, all the territories north of latitude 
 36 30 were guaranteed frjee institutions. By means of 
 subsequent compromises, fugitive slaves were legally 
 reclaimable in the free states ; and there the matter 
 rested, till the recent passage of the act constituting 
 the state of Nebraska, by which the newly incorpo 
 rated inhabitants, though north of the line of demar 
 cation, are left the choice of their own institutions 
 at liberty, if they please, to introduce slavery. The 
 commotion in the north, consequent on this trans 
 action, has been considerable; and according to a 
 portion of the press, in tracing the progress of events, 
 Slavery is at length triumphant ; Freedom subservient 
 a sufficiently sorrowful confession to make respecting 
 a country which prides itself on its achievements in the 
 cause of civil liberty. 
 
 I repeat, it is difficult to understand what is the 
 genuine public feeling on this entangled question; for 
 with all the demonstrations in favour of freedom in 
 the north, there does not appear in that quarter to 
 be any practical relaxation of the usages which con 
 demn persons of African descent to an inferior social 
 status. There seems, in short, to be a fixed notion 
 throughout the whole of the states, whether slave or 
 free, that the coloured is by nature a subordinate race ; 
 and that, in no circumstances, can it be considered 
 equal to the white. Apart from commercial views, 
 this opinion lies at the root of American slavery; and 
 the question would need to be argued less on political 
 and philanthropic than on physiological grounds. 
 
GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 355 
 
 Previous to my departure from Richmond, in Virginia, 
 I had an accidental conversation with a gentleman, a 
 resident in that city, on the subject of slavery. This 
 person gave it as his sincere opinion, founded on close 
 observation, and a number of physiological facts, that 
 negroes were an inferior species or variety of human 
 beings, destined, or at least eminently suited, to be 
 servants to the white and more noble race ; that, 
 considering their faculties, they were happier in a 
 state of slavery than in freedom, or when left to their 
 own expedients for subsistence; and that their sale 
 and transfer was, from these premises, legitimate and 
 proper. Such opinions are, perhaps, extreme; but, on 
 the whole, I believe they pretty fairly represent the 
 views of the south on the subject of slavery,* which 
 is considered to be not merely a conventional, but an 
 absolutely natural institution, sanctioned by the precept 
 and example of ministers of the Gospel, and derived 
 from the most remote usages of antiquity. 
 
 It may have been merely a coincidence, but it is 
 remarkable, that all with whom I conversed in the 
 States on the distinctions of race, tended to the 
 opinion, that the negro was in many respects an 
 inferior being, and his existence in America an 
 anomaly. The want of mental energy and forethought, 
 the love of finery and of trifling amusements, distaste 
 of persevering industry and bodily labour, as well 
 as overpowering animal propensities, were urged as 
 general characteristics of the coloured population; 
 and it was alleged, that when consigned to their 
 own resources, they do not successfully compete with 
 the white Anglo-Americans, or with the immigrant 
 Irish; the fact being added, that in slavery they 
 
 * See Types of Mankind; by J. C. Nott and Geo. R. Gliddon. 1 vol., 4to. 
 Triibner & Co., London ; and Lippincott, Philadelphia. 1854. 
 
356 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 increase at the same ratio as the whites, while in 
 freedom,, and affected with the vices of society, the 
 ratio of increase falls short by one-third. Much of 
 this was new to me; and I was not a little surprised 
 to find, when speaking a kind word for at least a very 
 unfortunate, if not brilliant race, that the people of 
 the northern states, though repudiating slavery, did 
 not think more favourably of the negro character than 
 those further south. Throughout Massachusetts, and 
 other New England States, likewise in the states of 
 New York, Pennsylvania, &c., there is a rigorous 
 separation of the white and black races. In every 
 city, there are white and black schools, and white 
 and black churches. No dark-skinned child is suffered 
 to attend a school for white children. In Boston, 
 celebrated for its piety and philanthropy, all the 
 coloured children require to go to one school, how 
 ever inconveniently situated it may be for some of 
 them. This school was instituted in 1812, and the 
 following is the existing ordinance respecting it : 
 The coloured population in the city not being suffi 
 ciently numerous to require more than one school, it 
 has been thought proper to provide in this the 
 means of instruction in all the branches of learning, 
 which are taught in the several schools for white 
 Children/* In New York, there are nine public 
 schools exclusively for coloured children, besides a 
 coloured orphan asylum. In the city of Providence, 
 Rhode Island, it is ordained that ( there shall be three 
 public schools maintained exclusively for the instruction 
 of coloured children, the grades thereof to be deter 
 mined from time to time by the school committee/ In 
 Philadelphia, there is a similar organisation of district 
 schools for coloured children. 
 
 * Ruks of the School Committee of the City of Boston, 1853; p. 38. 
 
GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 357 
 
 As an explanation of these distinctions, I was in 
 formed that white would not sit beside coloured 
 children; and further, that coloured children, after a 
 certain age, did not correspondingly advance in 
 learning their intellect being apparently incapable 
 of being cultured beyond a particular point. From 
 whatever cause, it was clear that a reluctance to 
 associate with persons of negro descent was universally 
 inculcated in infancy, and strengthened with age. The 
 result is a singular social phenomenon. We see, in 
 effect, two nations one white and another black 
 growing up together within the same political circle, 
 but never mingling on a principle of equality. 
 
 The people of England, who see a negro only as a 
 wandering curiosity, are not at all aware of the repug 
 nance generally entertained towards persons of colour 
 in the United States : it appeared to me to amount to 
 an absolute monomania. As for an alliance with one 
 of the race, no matter how faint the shade of colour, 
 it would inevitably lead to a loss of caste, as fatal to 
 social position and family ties as any that occurs in 
 the Brahminical system. Lately, a remarkable illustra 
 tion of this occurred at New Orleans. It was a law 
 case, involving the question of purity of blood. The 
 plaintiff, George Pandelly, a gentleman in a respectable 
 station, sued Victor Wiltz for slander. Wiltz had 
 said that Pandelly had a taint of negro blood ; inas 
 much as one of his ancestresses was a mulatto of 
 African combination/ In describing the case to the 
 court, the counsel for the plaintiff was so overcome by 
 the enormity of the offence, that he shed tears ! He 
 produced several aged witnesses to prove that the 
 ancestress, mentioned by Wiltz as a mulatto, was 
 the great-great-grandmother of the plaintiff, and was 
 not a mulatto of negro origin, but a woman who had 
 derived her colour from Indian blood ! Satisfied with 
 
358 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 the evidence on this important point, the jury found a 
 verdict for the plaintiff, but no damages; which was 
 considered satisfactory the sole object of Mr Pandelly 
 having been to establish the purity of his descent. 
 
 All the efforts, in my opinion, which may be made 
 with a view to influencing the south in favour of 
 emancipation, are valueless so long as there exists a 
 determined resolution throughout northern society to 
 consider the coloured race, in all its varieties of shade, 
 as beneath the dignity of human nature, and in no 
 respect worthy to be associated with, countenanced, 
 honoured, or so much as spoken to on terms of equality. 
 Excluded, by such inflexible and carefully nourished 
 prejudices, from entertaining the slightest prospect of 
 ever rising beyond the humblest position; condemned 
 to infamy from birth ; not tolerated in the railway- cars 
 which are devoted to the use of the whites; turned 
 away from any of the ordinary hotels, no matter what 
 be their character, means, or style of dress ; in a word, 
 treated from first to last as Farias how can we expect 
 that objects of so much contumely are to improve in 
 their faculties or feelings, or to possess, in any degree, 
 the virtue of self-respect ? The wonder, indeed, is, that 
 they conduct themselves so well as they do, or that 
 they assume anything like the dress or manners of 
 civilised persons. 
 
 Glad to have had an opportunity of calling attention 
 to many cheering and commendable features in the 
 social system of the Americans, I consider it not less 
 my duty to say, that in their general conduct towards 
 the coloured race, a wrong is done which cannot be 
 alluded to except in terms of the deepest sorrow and 
 reproach. I cannot think without shame of the 
 pious and polished New Englanders adding to their 
 offences on this score, the guilt of hypocrisy. Affecting 
 to weep over the sufferings of imaginary dark-skinned 
 
GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 359 
 
 heroes and heroines; denouncing in well-studied plat 
 form oratory the horrid sin of reducing human beings 
 to the abject condition of chattels; bitterly scornful 
 of southern planters for hard-hearted selfishness and 
 depravity; fanatical on the subject of abolition ; wholly 
 frantic at the spectacle of fugitive slaves seized and 
 carried back to their owners these very persons are 
 daily surrounded by manumitted slaves, or their edu 
 cated descendants,, yet shrink from them as if the touch 
 were pollution, and look as if they would expire at 
 the bare idea of inviting one of them to their house 
 or table. Until all this is changed, the northern 
 Abolitionists place themselves in a false position, and 
 do damage to the cause they espouse. If they think 
 that negroes are MEN, let them give the world an 
 evidence of their sincerity, by moving the reversal of 
 all those social and political arrangements which now 
 in the free states exclude persons of colour, not only 
 from the common courtesies of life, but from the 
 privileges and honours of citizens. I say, until this is 
 done, the uproar about abolition is a delusion and a 
 snare. As things remain, the owners of slaves are 
 furnished with the excuse that emancipation, besides 
 being attended with no practical benefit, would be an 
 act of cruelty to their dependents ; for that the educa 
 tion given to free persons of colour only aggravates the 
 severity of their condition makes them feel a sense of 
 degradation, from which, as slaves in a state of ignorance, 
 they are happily exempted. The great question, then, 
 is, What is to be done with the slaves if they are 
 set at liberty ? Are they to grow up a powerful alien 
 people within the commonwealth, dangerous in their 
 numbers, but doubly dangerous in their conscious 
 ness of wrongs, and in the passions which may 
 incite them to acts of vengeance ? 
 
 Serious as is this question, there is one, perhaps, still 
 
360 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 more serious. Are the slaves to go on increasing in 
 a geometrical ratio 6,000,000 in 1875, 12,000,000 
 in 1900; and so on through an infinitude of years? 
 Sympathising so far with the Americans in the dilemma 
 in which circumstances have placed them, I cannot 
 say they have acted with discretion in seeing this 
 portentous evil widen in its sphere, and swell to such 
 vast dimensions, as at length to go beyond the reach 
 of all ordinary measures of correction. Nay, at this 
 moment the canker is extending its ramifications over 
 the boundless territories of the West; and it is to be 
 feared that, in a few years hence, the northern and 
 middle free states will be but a speck in comparison 
 with the slave region. This is a thing which con 
 cerns not the Americans alone, but the whole 
 civilised world. The highest intellects of Europe 
 are looking with breathless wonder at the spread 
 of the Anglo-Saxon race, impelled by their instincts, 
 and led by the hand of GOD over the vast continent 
 of America.* They talk of the not distant time 
 when there will be a nation counted by hundreds 
 of millions, speaking the English tongue, and governed 
 by the institutes of freemen. But always, in the 
 midst of their glowing anticipations, there arises 
 a terrific spectre human slavery reminding them 
 that it was this which blighted the old civilisa 
 tions, Egypt, Greece, Rome and why not America ! 
 Already in Virginia, naturally rich and beautiful, 
 there is a growing impoverishment, notwithstanding 
 that large sums are realised by the individuals who 
 rear human stock for the southern plantations. 
 In the partially deteriorated state of that fine old 
 English domain, and its apparent incapability of 
 
 * M. de Tocqueville speaks of the progressive settlement of the Anglo- 
 Saxons, as driven by the hand of God across the western wilderness, at the 
 average rate of seventeen miles per annum. 
 
GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 361 
 
 keeping pace with the more prosperous communities 
 of the north, it may be said to approximate to the 
 physical and moral condition which disfigured Italy 
 in the second century. Is history to he an endless 
 series of repetitions ? 
 
 What the Americans may do to counteract the 
 danger which threatens them, I cannot take it upon 
 me to say. With a growing belief that slavery is 
 injurious to the industrial and moral progress of a 
 state, the institution may, in no great length of time, 
 disappear from Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, and 
 Kentucky, because these states enjoy a temperate 
 climate, and are a fitting field for the settlement 
 of enterprising immigrants. Its expulsion from the 
 intertropical regions in the south, is matter for 
 less sanguine hope. The demand for American 
 cotton in the markets of Europe, increasing year by 
 year, too surely strengthens the institution in the 
 southern states, and surrounds the subject with 
 difficulties, not to be treated lightly or sentimentally, 
 but with the profound consideration of practical states 
 manship. That things can remain as they are, as 
 regards the relationship between the South and the 
 North, is by no means probable. The interests and 
 feelings of both are becoming mutually opposite and 
 hostile; and it should occasion little surprise to learn 
 that the South, smarting under alleged losses and 
 indignities, took the initiative of breaking up the 
 Union, and setting up for itself as an independent 
 power. In such a conjuncture, the North, reduced to a 
 second-rate sovereignty, could scarcely be expected to 
 retain a hold over the West, which would either form 
 a third group of independent states, or seek for 
 federation with the South. And so, in so far as poli 
 tical Unity is concerned, falls the mighty fabric 
 raised by Washington, and of whose destiny such 
 
362 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 high anticipations have been entertained ! In Canada 
 free from the taint and the contentions consequent 
 on slavery, and enjoying a high degree of liberty I 
 found it to be a common belief, that the union of the 
 States could not possibly long hold together ; and that 
 the North, in the event of a rupture, would sue for a 
 federation with the British American provinces, as a 
 natural ally. That these provinces united, populous, 
 and prosperous mil, some day, attain the dignity of 
 an independent nation, few can doubt; but it is 
 evident, that annexation to the States in present cir 
 cumstances would be neither agreeable nor expedient, 
 and will not be thought of.* 
 
 While lamenting the unsatisfactory condition, present 
 and prospective, of the coloured population, it is 
 gratifying to consider the energetic measures that 
 have been adopted by the African Colonisation 
 Society to transplant, with their own consent, free 
 negroes from America to Liberia. Viewing these 
 endeavours as at all events a means of encouraging 
 emancipation, checking the slave-trade, and at the 
 
 * On this point, I may be permitted to draw attention to the following 
 emphatic passages in a speech in the House of Assembly of Nova Scotia, 
 delivered in May last by the Hon. Joseph Howe, provincial secretary: 
 Sir, I believe annexation would be unwise for other reasons. I believe the 
 United States are large enough already. In a few years, the population of 
 that country must reach 100,000,000 ; they have as much work to do now 
 as they can do well ; and I believe before many years, if their union is pre 
 served, they will have more work to do than any legislature can despatch 
 after their modes in 365 days. . . . There is another question which must 
 be settled before you, or I, sir, or any Nova Scotian, will be a party to 
 annexation. Sir, I believe the question of slavery must be settled sooner or 
 later by bloodshed. I do not believe it can ever be settled in any other way. 
 That question shadows the institutions, and poisons the springs of public and 
 "social life among our neighbours. It saps all principles, overrides all obli 
 gations. Why, sir, I did believe, until very lately, that no constable, armed 
 with a law which violated the law of God, could capture a slave in any of 
 the northern states; but the Fugitive Slave Law has been enforced even in 
 Puritan New England, where tea could not be sold or stamps collected. 
 
GENERAL OBSERVATIONS. 363 
 
 same time of introducing Christianity and civilised 
 usages into Africa, they appear to have been deserving 
 of more encouragement than they have had the good- 
 fortune to receive. Successful only in a moderate 
 degree, the operations of this society are not likely 
 to make a deep impression on the numbers of the 
 coloured population ; and the question of their disposal 
 still remains unsettled. 
 
 With a conviction that much harm has been done 
 by exasperating reproaches from this side of the 
 Atlantic on the subject of slavery, 1 have done little 
 more than glance at the institution, or the dangers 
 which, through its agency, menace the integrity of 
 the Union. I have, likewise, refrained from any 
 lengthened comment on the constant discord arising 
 from the violence of faction, and have barely alluded 
 to the extreme hazards into which the nation, under 
 the impulse of popular clamour, is, from time to time, 
 hurried by reckless legislation. 
 
 Trustful that the American confederation is not 
 destined to be dismembered through the unhappy 
 conflicts which now agitate the community trustful 
 that the question of slavery is to be settled in a manner 
 more peaceful than is figured in the speech of Mr 
 Howe and having great faith in the power and acute 
 intelligence of the American people to carry them 
 through every difficulty (all their political squabbles 
 notwithstanding), provided they will only take time to 
 look ahead, and avoid the perils that beset their course, 
 I bid them and their country a respectful farewell. 
 
 At noon of the 14th of December, I went on board 
 the steamer Europa at New York, and in a few hours 
 the shores of America sunk beneath the waves of the 
 Atlantic. In thus quitting the New World, I felt how 
 imperfect had been my acquaintanceship with it. But 
 
364 THINGS AS THEY ARE IN AMERICA. 
 
 I was pleased to think that I had realised a long- 
 cherished wish, and was now able to speak, though 
 with diffidence, of the great country to which so many 
 inquiring minds are at present eagerly directed. 
 
 After a voyage unmarked by any particular incident, 
 I arrived in Liverpool on the evening of the 26th of 
 December. 
 
 THB END. 
 
 EDINBURGH : 
 PRINTED BY W. AND R. CHAMBERS. 
 
14 DAY USE 
 
 RETURN TO DESK FROM WHICH BORROWED 
 
 LOAN DEPT. 
 
 This book is due on the last date stamped below, 
 or on the date to which renewed. Renewals only: 
 
 Tel. No. 642-3405 
 
 Renewals may be made 4 days prior to date due. 
 Renewed books are subject to immediate recall. 
 
 REC P ID JAN 5 72 -2 PIVI 9 
 
 KEC.CIR.JUHU 77 
 
 A JG 1 1 1994 
 
 
 SEP 7 A 19S3 
 
 LD21A-40m-8, 71 
 (P6572slO)476-A-32 
 
 General Library 
 University of Califo 
 Berkeley 
 
36670 
 
 U.C. BERKELEY LIBRARIES 
 
 
 
 O5 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY