XV 
 
DIARY IN AMERICA, 
 
 REMARKS ON ITS INSTITUTIONS. 
 
 BY 
 
 CAPT. MARRYAT, C.13., 
 
 "^ 
 AUTHOR OF 
 
 PETER SIMPLE," "JACOB FAITHFUL," 
 "FRANK MILDMAY." 
 
 IN TWO VOLUMES. 
 VOL. It. 
 
 V 
 
 PHILADELPHIA: 
 
 CAREY & HART. 
 
 1830. 
 
Y.2- 
 
 Entered according to the Act of Congress, in the year 1838, by F MARRYAT, 
 in the Clerk s Office of the District Court for tho Eastern District of 
 Pennsylvania. 
 
DIARY IN AMERICA 
 
 CHAPTER XXXI. 
 
 THERE is extreme beauty in the Ohio river. As may 
 be supposed, where the rise and fall are so great the 
 hanks are very steep; and, now that the water is low, 
 it appears deeply embedded in the wild forest scenery 
 through which it flows. The whole stream is alive with 
 small fresh-water turtle, who play on the surface of its 
 clear water; while the most beautiful varieties of the but 
 terfly tribe cross over from one side to the other, from 
 the slave-States to the free their liberty, at all events, 
 not being interfered with as, on the free side, it would 
 be thought absuid to catch what would not produce a 
 cent; while, on the slaves, their idleness and their in 
 difference to them are their security. 
 
 Set ~ff, one of nine, in a stage-coach, for the Blue 
 Sulphur springs. The country which is very pic 
 turesque, has been already described. It is one con 
 tinuation of rising ground, through mountains covered 
 with trees and verdure. Nature is excessively fond of 
 drapery in America: I have never yet fallen in with a 
 naked rock. She clothes every thing; and although you 
 may occasionally meet with a slight nudity, it is no more 
 than the exposure of the neck or the bare feet of the 
 mountain-nymph. This ridge of the Alleghanies is very 
 steep; but you have no distinct view as you climb up, 
 not even at the Hawk s Nest, where you merely peep 
 down into the ravine below. You are jammed up in the 
 forests through which you pass nearly the whole of the 
 way; and it was delightful to arrive at any level, and fall 
 
 VOL. n. I 
 
4 DIARY IN AMERICA. 
 
 in with the houses and well-tilled fields of the Virginian 
 farmers, exhibiting every proof of prosperity and ease. 
 The heat was dreadful; two horses fell dead, and I 
 thought that many others would have died, for two of 
 the wheels were defective, and the labour of the poor 
 animals, in dragging us constantly up hill, was most se 
 vere. 
 
 The indifference of the proprietors of public convey 
 ances in America as to the safety of their passengers, 
 can only be accounted for by the extreme indifference 
 of the passengers themselves, and the independent feel 
 ing shown by every class, who, whatever may be their 
 profession, will never acknowledge themselves to be 
 what we term the servants of the public. Here was an 
 instance. The coach we were put into was defective 
 in two of its wheels, and could only be repaired at Louis- 
 burg, about a hundred miles distant. Instead of send 
 ing it on to that town empty, as would have been done 
 by our coach proprietors, and providing another (as they 
 had plenty,) for the passengers; instead of this, in or 
 der to save the extra trouble and expense, they risked 
 the lives of the passengers; on a road with a precipice 
 on one side of it for at least four-fifths of the way. One 
 of the wheels would not hold the grease, and creaked 
 most ominously during the whole journey; and we were 
 obliged to stop and pour water on it continually. The 
 box and irons of the other were loose, and before we 
 were half way it came off, and we were obliged to stop 
 and get out. But the Americans are never at a loss 
 when they are in a fix. The passengers borrowed an 
 axe; in a short time wedges were cut from one of tk e 
 trees at the road-side, and the wheel was so well re 
 paired that it lasted us the remainder of our journey. 
 
 Our road for some time lay through the valley of 
 Kenawha, through which runs the river of that name 
 a strong, clear stream. It is hemmed in by mountains 
 on each side of it; and here, perhaps, is presented the 
 most curious varieties of mineral produce that ever were 
 combined in one locality. The river runs over a bed 
 of horizontal calcareous strata, and by perforating this 
 strata about forty or fifty feet below the level of the 
 river, you arrive at salt-springs, the waters of which 
 
DIARY IN AMERICA. O 
 
 are pumped up by small steam-engines, and boiled 
 down into salt in buildings erected on the river s banks. 
 The mountains which hem in the river are one mass 
 of coal; a gallery is opened at that part of the foot of 
 the mountain most convenient to the buildings, and 
 the coal is thrown down by shoots or small rail 
 ways. Here you have coal for your fuel; salt water 
 under fresh; and as soon as the salt is put into the bar 
 rels (which are also made from the mountain timber,) 
 the river is all ready to transplant them down to the 
 Ohio. But there is another great curiosity in this val 
 ley: these beds of coal have produced springs, as they 
 are termed, of carburetted hydrogen gas, which run 
 along the banks of the river close to the water s edge. 
 The negroes take advantage of these springs when they 
 come down at night to wash clothes; they set fire to the 
 springs, which yield them sufficient light for their work. 
 The one which I examined was dry, and the gas bubbled 
 up through the sand. By kicking the sand about, so as 
 to make communications after I had lighted the gas, I 
 obtained a very large flame, which I left burning. 
 
 The heat, as we ascended, was excessive, and the 
 passengers availed themselves of every spring, with the 
 exception of those just described, that they fell in with 
 on the route. We drank of every variety of water ex 
 cepting pure water sometimes iron, sometimes sul 
 phur; and, indeed, every kind of chalybeate, for every 
 rill was impregnated in some way or another. At last, 
 it occurred to me that there were such things as che 
 mical affinities, and that there was no saying what 
 changes might take place by the admixture of such a 
 variety of metals and gases, so I drank no more. I 
 did not like, however, to interfere with the happiness of 
 others, so I did not communicate my ideas to my fellow- 
 passengers, who continued drinking during the whole 
 day; and as I afterwards found out, did not sleep very 
 v/ell that night; they were, moreover, very sparing in 
 die use of them the next day. 
 
 There area great variety of springs already dicovered 
 on these mountains, and probably there will be a grest 
 
DIARY IN AMERICA. 
 
 many more. Already they have the blue, the white, 
 and the red sulphur springs; the sweet and the salt; the 
 warm and the hot, all of which have their several vir 
 tues; but the greatest virtue of all these mineral springs 
 is, as in England and every where else, that they oc 
 casion people to live regularly, to be moderate in the 
 use of wine, and to dwell in a pure and wholesome air. 
 They always remind me of the eastern story of the Der- 
 -vise, who, being sent for by a king who ha d injured his 
 health by continual indulgence, gave him a racket-ball, 
 which he informed the king possessed wonderful medi 
 cinal virtues; with this ball his majesty was to play at 
 racket two or three hours every day with his courtiers. 
 The exercise it induced, which was the only medicinal 
 virtue the ball possessed, restored the king to health. 
 So it is with all watering places: it is not so much the use 
 of the water, as the abstinence from what is pernicious, 
 together with exercise and early hours, which effect the 
 majority of cures. 
 
 We arrived first at the blue sulphur springs, and I 
 remained there for one day to get rid of the dust of tra 
 velling. They have a very excellent hotel there, with 
 a ball-room, which is open till eleven o clock every 
 night; the scenery is very pretty, and the company was 
 good as indeed is the company at all these springs, 
 for they are too distant, and the travelling too expensive 
 for every body to get there. But the blue sulphur are 
 not fashionable, and the consequence was, we were 
 not crowded, and were very comfortable. People who 
 cannot get accommodated at the white sulphur, remain 
 here until they can, the distance between them being 
 only twenty-two miles. 
 
 The only springs which are fashionable are the while 
 sulphur, and as these springs are a feature in American 
 society, I shall describe them more particularly. 
 
 They are situated in a small valley, many hundred 
 feet above the level of the sea, and are about fifteen or 
 twenty acres in area, surrounded by small hills covered 
 with foliage to their summits : at one end of the valley 
 is the hotel, with the large dining-room for all the vi- 
 
DIARY IN AMERICA. 7 
 
 sitors. Close to the hotel, but in another building, is 
 the ball-room, and a little below the hotel on the other 
 side, is the spring 1 itself; but beautiful as is the whole 
 scenery, the great charm of this watering place is, the 
 way in which those live who visit it. The rises of the 
 hills which surround the valley are covered with little 
 cottages, log-houses, and other picturesque buildings, 
 sometimes in rows, and ornamented with verandahs, 
 without a second story above, or kitchen below. Some 
 are very elegant and more commodious than the rest, 
 having been built by gentlemen who have the right given 
 to them by the company to whom the springs belong, 
 of occupying them themselves when there, but not of 
 preventing others from taking possession of them in 
 their absence. The dinners and other meals are, ge 
 nerally speaking, bad ; not that there is not a plentiful 
 supply, but that it is so difficult to supply seven hun 
 dred people sitting down in one room. In the morn 
 ing, they all turn out from their little burrows, meet in 
 the public walks, and go down to the spring before 
 breakfast; during the forenoon, when it is too warm, 
 they remain at home; after dinner they ride out or pay 
 visits, and then end the day, either at the ball-room, or 
 in little societies among one another. There is no 
 want of handsome equipages, many four in hand (Vir- 
 ginny long tails) and every accommodation for these equi 
 pages. The crowd is very great, and it is astonishing 
 what inconvenience people will submit to, rather than 
 not be accommodated somehow or another. Every 
 cabin is like a rabbit burrow. In the one next to where 
 I was lodged, in a room about fourteen feet square, and 
 partitioned off as well as it could be, there slept a gen 
 tleman and his wife, his sister and brother, and a female 
 servant. I am not sure that the nigger was not under 
 the bed at all events, the young sister told me that it 
 was not at all pleasant. 
 
 There is a sort of major-domo here, who regulates 
 every department: his word is law, and his fiat im- 
 moveable, and he presumes not a little upon his pow 
 er; a circumstance not to be surprised at, as he is as 
 1* 
 
DIARY IN AMERICA. 
 
 much courted and is as despotic as all the lady patron - 
 esses of Almacks rolled into one. He is called the 
 Metternich of I he mountains. No one is allowed ac 
 commodation at these springs who is not known, and 
 generally speaking, only those families who travel in 
 their private carriages. It is at this place that you feel 
 how excessively aristocratical and exclusive the Amer 
 icans would be, and indeed will be, in spite of their in 
 stitutions. Spa, in its palmiest days, when princes 
 had to sleep in their carriages at the doors of the 
 Hotels, was not more in. vogue than. are these white 
 sulphur springs with the elite of the United States. 
 And it is here, and here only, in the States, that you 
 do meet with what may be fairly considered as select 
 society, for at Washington there is a great mixture. 
 Of course all the celebrated belles of the different State.s 
 are to be met with here, as well as all the large fortune?, 
 nor is there a scarcity of pretty and wealthy widows, 
 The president, Mrs. Caton, the mother of Lady Wel- 
 lesley, Lady Strafford, and Lady Caermarthen, the 
 daughter of Carrol, of Carrolton, one of the real aristo 
 cracy of America, and a signer of the Declaration of 
 Independence, and all the first old Virginian and Ca- 
 roiinia families, many of them descendants of the old 
 cavaliers, were at the springs when I arrived there; and 
 I certainly must say that I never was at any watering- 
 place in England where the company was so good and 
 so. select as at the Virginia springs in America. 
 
 I .passed many pleasant days at this beautiful spot, 
 -ind was almost as unwilling to leave it as I was to. .part 
 with the Sioux Indians at St. Peters. Refinement and 
 simplicity arc equally charming. I was introduced to 
 a very beautiful girl here, whom I should not have 
 mentioned so particularly, had it not been that she 
 was the first and only lady in America that I observed 
 to whittle. She was sitting one fine morning on a 
 wooden bench, surrounded by admirers, and as she 
 carved away her seat with her pen-knife, so did she 
 cut deep into the .hearts of those who listened to her 
 lively conversation. 
 
DIARY IN AMERICA. 9 
 
 There are, as may be supposed, a large number of 
 negro servants here attending their masters and mis 
 tresses. I have often been amused, not only here, but 
 during my residence in Kentucky, at the high-sound 
 ing Christian names which have been given to them. 
 "Byron, tell Ada to come here directly." "Now, 
 Telemachus, if you don t leave Calypso alone, you ll 
 get a taste of the cow-hide." 
 
 Among others, attracted to the springs professionally, 
 was a very clever German painter, who, like all Ger 
 mans, had a very correct ear for music. He had 
 painted a kitchen-dance in Old Virginia, and in the 
 pictuce he had introduced all the well-known coloured 
 people in the place; amongst the rest were the band 
 of musicians, but I observed that one man was missing, 
 "Why did you not put him in," inquired I. "Why, 
 sir, I could not put him in; it was impossible; he never 
 plays in tune. Why, if I put him in, sir, he would 
 spoil the harmony of my whole picture!" 
 
 I asked this artist how he got on in America. He 
 replied, "But so-so; the Americans in general do not 
 estimate genius. They come to me and ask what 
 I want for my pictures, and I tell them. Then they 
 say, * how long did it take you to paint it? I answer 
 ; so many days. Well, then they calculate and say, 
 4 if it took you only so many days, you ask so many 
 dollars a-day for your work; you ask a great deal too 
 much; you ought to be content with so much per day, 
 and I will give you that. So that, thought I, inven 
 tion, and years of study, go for nothing with these peo 
 ple. There is only one way to dispose of a picture in 
 \merica, and that is, to raffle it; the Americans will 
 then run the chance of getting i^. If you do not like 
 to part with your pictures in that way, you must paint 
 portraits; people will purchase their own faces all over 
 the world: the worst of it is, that in this country, they 
 will purchase nothing else. 
 
 During my stay here I was told of one of the most 
 remarkable instances that perhaps ever occurred, of the 
 discovery of a fact by the party from whom it was of 
 
10 DIARY IN AMERICA. 
 
 the utmost importance to conceal it a very pretty in- 
 teresting young widow. She had married a promising 
 young man, to whom she was tenderly attached, and 
 who, a few months after the marriage, unfortunately fell 
 in a duel. Aware that the knowledge of the cause of 
 her husband s death would render the blow still more 
 severe to her, (the ball having passed through the eye 
 into his brain, and there being no evident gun-shot 
 wound,) her relations informed her that he had been 
 thrown from his horse and killed by the fall. She be 
 lieved them. She was living in the country; when, 
 about nine months after her widowhood, her brother 
 rode down to see her, and as soon as he arrived went 
 into his room to shave and dress. The window of his 
 room, which was on the ground-floor, looked out upon 
 the garden, and it being summer time, it was open. He 
 tore oil" a portion of an old newspaper to wipe his razor. 
 The breeze caught it, asd carried it away into the gar 
 den until it stopped at the feet of his sis-ter who hap 
 pened to be walking. Mechanically she took up the 
 fragment, and perceiving her husband s name upon it 
 she read it. It contained a full account of the duel in 
 which he lost his life! The shock she received was so 
 great that it unsettled her mind for nearly two years. 
 She had but just recovered, and for the first time re-ap 
 peared in public, when she was pointed out to me. 
 
 Returning to Guyandotte one of the travellers wished 
 to see the view from the Hawk s Nest, or rather wished 
 to be able to say that he had seen it. We passed the 
 spot when it was quite dark, but he persisted in going 
 there, and to help his vision, borrowed one of the coach- 
 lamps from the driver. He returned, and declared that 
 with the assistance of the lamp lie had had a very ex 
 cellent view, down a precipice of several hundred feet, 
 His bird s-eye view by candle-light must have been 
 very extensive. After all, it is but to be able to say 
 that they have been to such a place, or have seen such a 
 thing that, more than any real taste for it, induces the 
 majority of the world to incur the trouble and fatigue of 
 travelling. 
 
CHAPTER XXXII. 
 
 1 WAS informed that a camp meeting was to be held 
 about seven miles from Cincinnati, and, anxious to veri 
 fy the accounts I had heard of them, I availed myself 
 of this opportunity of deciding for myself. We pro 
 ceeded about five miles on the high road, and then di 
 verged by a cross-road until we arrived at a steep coni 
 cal hill, crowned with splendid forest trees without un 
 derwood; the trees being sufficiently apart to admit of 
 wagons and other vehicles to pass in every direction. 
 The camp was raised upon the summit of this hill, a 
 piece of table-land comprising many acres. About an 
 acre and a half was surrounded on the four sides by cabins 
 built up of rough boards; the whole area in the centre was* 
 fitted up with planks, laid about a foot from the ground^ 
 as seats. At one end, but not close to the cabins, was 
 a raised stand, which served as a pulpit for the preach 
 ers, one of them praying, while five or six others sat 
 down behind him on benches. There \vas ingress to 
 the area by the four corners; the whole of it was shaded 
 by vast forest trees, which ran up to the height of fifty 
 or sixty feet without throwing out a branch; and to the 
 trunks of these trees were fixed lamps in every direc 
 tion, for the continuance of service by night. Outside 
 the area, which may be designated as the church, were 
 hundreds of tents pitched in every quarter, their snowy 
 whiteness contrasting beautifully with the deep verdure 
 and gloom of the forest. These were the temporary ha 
 bitations of those who had corne many miles to attend the 
 meeting, and who remained there from the commence 
 ment until it concluded usually a period of from ten to 
 
12 
 
 DIARY IN AMERICA. 
 
 twelve days, but often much longer. The tents were 
 furnished with every article necessary for cooking; mat 
 tresses to sleep upon, &c.; some of them even had bed 
 steads and chests of drawers, which had been brought 
 in the waggons in which the people in this country 
 usually travel. At a farther distance were all the wag 
 gons and other vehicles which had conveyed the peo 
 ple to the meeting, whilst hundreds of horses were 
 tethered under the trees, and plentifully provided with 
 forage. Such were the general outlines of a most in 
 teresting and beautiful scene. 
 
 Where, indeed, could so magnificent a temple to the 
 Lord be raised as on this lofty hill, crowned as it was 
 with such majestic verdure. Compared with these 
 giants of the forest, the cabins and tents of the multi 
 tude appeared as insignificant and contemptible as almost 
 would man himself in the presence of the Deity. Many 
 generations of men must have been mowed down before 
 the arrival of these enormous trees to their present state 
 of maturity ; and at the time they sent forth their first 
 shoots, probably there were not on the whole of this 
 continent, now teeming with millions, as many white 
 men as are now assembled on this lield. I walked about 
 for some time surveying the panorama, when I returned 
 to the area, and took my seat upon a bench. In one 
 quarter thecoloured population had collected themselves; 
 their tents appeared to be better furnished and better 
 supplied with comforts than most of those belonging 
 to the whites. I put my head into one of the tents, and 
 discovered a sable damsel lying on a bed, and singing 
 hyms in a loud voice. 
 
 The major portion of those not in the area were 
 cooking the dinners. Fires were burning in every di 
 rection : pots boiling, chickens roasting, hams seeth 
 ing ; indeed there appeared to be no want of creature 
 comforts. 
 
 But the trumpet sounded, as in days of yore, as 
 a signal that the service was about to recommence, 
 and I went into the area and took my seat. One of 
 the preachers rose and gave out a hymn, which wag 
 
DIARY IN AMERICA. 13 
 
 sung by the congregation, amounting to about seven 
 or eight hundred. After the singing of the hymn was 
 concluded he commenced an extempore sermon : it 
 was good, sound doctrine, and, although Methodism, 
 it was Methodism of the mildest tone, and divested of 
 its bitterness of denunciation, as indeed is generally 
 the case with Methodism in America. I heard nothing 
 which could be offensive to any other sect, or which 
 could be considered objectionable by the most ortho 
 dox, and I began to doubt whether such scenes as 
 had been described to me did really take place at these 
 meetings. A prayer followed, and after about two 
 hours the congregation were dismissed to their din 
 ners, being first informed that the service would re 
 commence at two o clock at the sound of the trumpet. 
 In front of the pulpit there was a space railed off, and 
 strewed with straw, which I was told was the Anxious 
 seat, and on which sat those who were touched by 
 their consciences, or the discourse of the preacher ; but, 
 although there were several sitting on it, I did not per 
 ceive any emotion on the part of the occupants: they 
 were attentive, but nothing more. 
 
 When I first examined the area I saw a very large 
 tent at one corner of if, probably fifty feet long, by 
 twenty wide. It was open at the end, and, being full 
 of straw, I concluded it was used as a sleeping-place 
 for those who had not provided themselves with sepa 
 rate accommodation. About an hour after the service 
 was over, perceiving many people directing their steps 
 towards it, I followed them. On one side of the tent 
 were about twenty females, mostly young, squatted 
 down on the straw; on the other a few men; in the 
 centre was a long form, agninst which were some other 
 men kneeling, with their faces covered with their hands, 
 as if occupied in prayer. Gradually the numbers in 
 creased, girl after girl dropped down upon the straw 
 on the one side, and men on the other. At last an el 
 derly man gave out a hymn, which was sung with 
 peculiar energy; then another knelt down in the cen 
 tre, and commenced a prayer, shutting his eyes (as I 
 
14 DIARY IN AMERICA. 
 
 have observed most clergymen in the United States 
 do when they pray) and raising his hands above his 
 head ; then another burst out into a prayer, and ano 
 ther followed him ; then their voices became all con 
 fused together ; and then were heard the more silvery 
 tones of woman s supplications As the din increased 
 so did their enthusiasm; handkerchiefs were raised to 
 bright eyes, and sobs were intermingled with prayers 
 and ejaculations. It became a scene of Babel; more 
 than twenty men and women were crying out at the 
 highest pitch of their voices, and trying apparently to 
 be heard above the others. Every minute the excite 
 ment increased ; some wrung their hands and called 
 for mercy; some tore their hair; boys lay down cry 
 ing bitterly, with their heads buried in the straw ; there 
 was sobbing almost to suffocation, and hysterics and 
 deep agony. One young man clung to the form, cry 
 ing, " Satan tears at me, but I will hold fast. Help 
 help, he drags me down !" It was a scene of horrible 
 agony and despair ; and, when it was at its height, one 
 of the preachers came in, and, raising his voice high 
 above the tumult, entreated the Lord to receive into 
 his fold those who now repented and would fain return. 
 Another of the ministers knelt down by some young 
 men, whose faces were covered up and who appeared 
 to be almost in a state of phrensy; and putting his hands 
 upon them, poured forth an energetic prayer, well cal 
 culated to work upon their over excited feelings. 
 Groans, ejaculations, broken sobs, frantic motions and 
 convulsions succeeded ; some fell on their backs with 
 their eyes closed, waving their hands with a slow mo 
 tion, and crying out " Glory, glory, glory !" I quitted 
 the spot, and hastened away into the forest, for the 
 sight was too painful, too melancholy. Its sincerity 
 could not be doubted, but it was the effect of over-ex 
 citement, not of sober reasoning. Could such violence 
 of feeling have been produced had each party retired 
 to commune alone? most surely not. It was a fever 
 created by collision and contact, of the same nature 
 
DIARY IN AMERICA. 15 
 
 as that which stimulates a mob to deeds of blood and 
 horror. 
 
 Gregarious animals are by nature inoffensive. The 
 cruel and the savage live apart, and in solitude ; but 
 the gregarious, upheld and stimulated by each other, 
 become formidable. So it is with man. 
 
 I was told that the scene would be much more in 
 teresting and exciting after the lamps were lighted ; but 
 I had seen quite enough of it. It was too serious to 
 laugh at, and I felt that it was not for me to condemn. 
 "Cry aloud, and spare not," was the exhortation of the 
 preacher ; and certainly, if heaven is only to be taken 
 by storm, he was a proper leader for his congrega 
 tion. 
 
 Whatever may be the opinion of the reader as to the 
 meeting which I have described, it is certain that no 
 thing could be more laudable than the intention by 
 which these meetings were originated. At the first 
 settling of the country the people were widely scatter 
 ed, and the truths of the Gospei, owing to the scarcity 
 of preachers, but seldom heard. It was to remedy this 
 unavoidable evil that they agreed, like the Christians 
 in earlier times, to collect together from all quarters, 
 and pass many days in meditation and prayer, " ex 
 horting one another comforting one another." Even 
 now it is not uncommon for the settlers in Indiana and 
 Illinois to travel one hundred miles in their wagons to 
 attend ene of these meetings, meetings which are 
 now too often sullied by fanaticism on the one hand, 
 and on the other by the levity and infidelity of those 
 who go not to pray, but to scoff; or to indulge in the 
 licentiousness which, it is said, but too often follows, 
 when night has thrown her veil over the scene. 
 
 VOL. II. 2 
 
CHAPTER XXXIII. 
 
 LKXIKGTON, the capital of the State, is embosomed in 
 the very heart of the vale of Kentucky. This vale wa^ 
 the favourite hunting-ground of the Indians; and a 
 fairer country for the chase could not well be imagined 
 than this rolling, well-wooded, luxuriant valley, ex 
 tending from hill to hill, from dale to dale, for so many 
 long miles. No wonder that the Indians fought so hard 
 to retain, or the Virginians to acquire it ; nor was it 
 until much blood had saturated the ground, many reek 
 ing scalps had been torn from the head, and many a 
 mother and her children murdered at their hearths, that 
 the contest was relinquished. So severe were the 
 struggles, that the ground obtained the name of the 
 " Bloody Ground." But the strife is over ; the red man 
 has been exterminated, and peace and plenty now reign 
 over this smiling country. It is indeed a beautiful and 
 bounteous land; on the whole, the most eligible in the 
 Union. The valley is seven hundred and fifty feet 
 above the level of the sea, and, therefore, not so sub 
 ject to fevers as the States of Indiana and Illinois, and 
 indeed that portion of its own State which borders on 
 the Mississippi. But all the rest of the Kentucky land 
 is by no means equal in richness of soil to that of thi? 
 valley. There are about ninety counties in the State, 
 of which about thirty are of rich land; but four of them, 
 namely, Fayette, Bourbon, Scotts, and Woodford, are 
 the finest. The whole of these four counties are held 
 by large proprietors, who graze and breed stock to a 
 very great extent, supplying the whole of the Western 
 States with the best description of every kind of cattle. 
 
DIARY IN AMERICA. I/ 
 
 Cattle-shows are held every year, and high prize? 
 awarded to the owners of the finest beasts which are 
 there produced. The State of Kentucky, as well as 
 Virginia, is in fact an agricultural and grazing State: 
 the pasture is very rich, and studded with oak and 
 other timber, as in the manner I have described in 
 Iowa and Wisconsin. The staples of Kentucky are 
 hemp and mules ; the latter are in such demand for the 
 south that they can hardly produce them fast enough 
 for the market. The minimum price of a three year 
 old mule is about eighty dollars; the maximum usually 
 one hundred and sixty dollars, or thirty-five pounds, 
 but they often fetch much higher prices. I saw a pair 
 in harness, well matched, and about seventeen hands 
 high, for which they refused one thousand dollars 
 upwards of two hundred pounds. 
 
 The cattle-show took place when I was at Lexington. 
 That of horned beasts I was too late for; but the se 
 cond day I went to the exhibition of thorough-bred 
 horses. The premiums were for the best two-year old 
 yearlings, and colts, and many of them were very fine 
 animals. The third day was for the exhibition of 
 mules ; which, on account of size there being a great 
 desideratum, are bred only from mares: the full-grown 
 averaged from fifteen to sixteen hands high, but they 
 isayd often been knovrn to be seventeen hands hisrh. 
 I had seen them quite as large in a nobleman s carriage 
 in the south of Spain; but then they were considered 
 rare, and of great value. After all the other varieties 
 of age had made their appearance, and the judges 
 had given their decision, the mules foaled down this 
 year were to be examined. As they were still suck 
 ing, it was necessary that the brood mares should be 
 Jed into the enclosed paddock, where the animals were 
 inspected, that the foals might be induced to follow : as 
 soon as they were all in the enclosure the mares were 
 sent out, leaving all the foals by themselves. At first 
 they commenced a concert of wailing after their mo 
 thers, and then turned their lamentations into indigna- 
 
18 
 
 DIARY IN AMERICA. 
 
 tion and revenge upon each other. Such a ridiculous- 
 scene of kicking took place as J never before witnessed; 
 about thirty of them being most sedulously engaged in 
 the occupation, all at the same time. I never saw such 
 ill -behaved mules ; it was quite impossible for the judges 
 to decide upon the prize, for you could see nothing but 
 heels in the air; it was rap, rap, rap, incessantly 
 against one another s sides, until they were all turned 
 out and the show was over. I rather think the prize 
 must, in this instance, have been awarded to the one 
 that kicked highest. 
 
 The fourth day was for the exhibition of jackasses, 
 of two year and one year, and for foals, and jennies 
 also; this sight was to me one of peculiar interest. 
 Accustomed as we are in England to value a jackass 
 at thirty shillings, we look down upon them with con 
 tempt; but here is the case reversed : you look up at 
 them with surprise and admiration. Several were 
 shown standing fifteen hands high, with head and ears 
 in proportion : the breed has been obtained from the 
 Maltese jackass, crossed by those of Spain and the 
 south of France. Those imported seldom average 
 more than fourteen hands high ; but the Kcntuckians, 
 by greater attention and care, have raised them up to 
 fifteen hands, and sometimes even to sixteen. 
 
 But the price paid for these splendid animals, for 
 such they really were, will prove how much they are 
 in request. Warrior, a jackass of great celebrity, sold 
 for 5,000 dollars, upwards of 1,000 sterling. Half of 
 another jackass, Benjamin by name, was sold for 
 2,500 dollars. At the show I asked a gentleman what 
 he wanted for a very beautiful female ass, only one 
 year old; he said that he could have 1,000 dollars, 
 250 for her, but that he had refused that sum. For 
 a two year old jack, shown during the exhibition, they 
 asked 3,000 dollars, more than 600. I never felt 
 such respect for donkeys before; but the fact is, that 
 mule-breeding is so lucrative, that there is no price 
 which a very large donkey will not command, 
 
DIARY IN AMERICA. 19 
 
 I afterwards went to a cattle sale a few miles out of 
 the town. Don Juan, a two year old bull, Durham 
 breed, fetched 1,075 dollars; an imported Durham 
 cow, with her calf, 985 dollars. Before I arrived, a 
 bull and cow fetched 1,300 dollars each of them, about 
 ^280. The cause of this is, that the demand for good 
 slock, now that the Western States are filling up, be 
 comes so great, that they cannot be produced fast 
 enough. Mr. Clay, who resides near Lexington, is one 
 of the best breeders in the State, which is much in 
 debted to him for the fine stock which he has imported 
 from England. 
 
 Another sale took place, which I attended, and I 
 quote the prices: Yearling bull, 1,000 dollars; ditto 
 heifer, 1,500. Cows, of full Durham blood, but bred 
 in Kentucky, 1,245 dollars; ditto, 1,235 dollars. Im 
 ported cow and calf, 2,100 dollars. 
 
 It must be considered, that although a good Durham 
 oow will not cost more than twenty guineas perhaps 
 in England, the expenses of transport are very great, 
 and they generally stand in, to the importers, about 
 600 dollars, before they arrive at the state of Ken 
 tucky. 
 
 But to prove that the Kentuckians are fully justified 
 in giving the prices they do, I will show what was the 
 profit made upon an old cow before she was sold for 
 400 dollars. I had a statement from her proprietor, 
 who had her in his possession for nine years. She was 
 a full bred cow, and during the time that he had held 
 her in his possession, she had cleared him 15,000 dol 
 lars by the sate of her progeny : As follows : 
 
DIARY IN AMERICA, 
 
 
 
 Second 
 
 Third 
 
 Fourth 
 
 Years. 
 
 Calves. 
 
 Gensration. 
 
 Generation. 
 
 Generation. 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 3 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 4 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 
 6 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 i 
 
 
 7 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 i 
 
 8 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 9 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 1 
 
 
 9 
 
 7 
 
 5 
 
 3 
 
 Total, 24.-. 
 
 averaging 625 dollars a head, which is by no means a 
 large price, as the two cows, which sold at the sale for 
 1,235, and 1,225 dollars, were a part of her issue. 
 
 Lexington is a very pretty town, with very pleasant 
 society, and afforded me great relief after the unplea 
 sant sojourn I had had at Louisville; Conversing one 
 day with Mr. Clay, I had another instance given me 
 of the mischief which the conduct of Miss Martineau 
 Las entailed upon all those English who may happen 
 to visit America. Mr. Clay observed that Miss Mar 
 tineau had remained with him for some time, and that, 
 during her stay, she had professed very different, or at 
 least more modified opinions on the subject of slavery, 
 than those she has expressed in her book : so much so, 
 that one day, having read a letter from Boston caution 
 ing her against being cajoled by the hospitality and 
 pleasant society of the Western States, she handed it 
 to him, saying, " They want to make a regular aboli- 
 
DIARY IN AMERICA. 2l 
 
 tionist of me.", " When her work came out," continued 
 Mr. Clay, " although I read but very little of it, I turned 
 to this subject so important with us, and I must say I 
 was a little surprised to find that she had so changed 
 her opinions." The fact is, Miss Martineau appears to 
 have been what the Kentuckians call, " playing pos 
 sum." I have met with some of the Southern ladies 
 whose conversations on slavery are said, o-r supposed, 
 to have been those printed by Miss Martineau, and 
 they deny that they are correct. That the Southern 
 ladies are very apt to express great horror at living 
 too long a time at the plantations, is very certain ; not, 
 however, because they expect to be murdered in their 
 beds by the slaves, as they tell their husbands, but be 
 cause they are anxious to spend more of their time at 
 the cities, where they can enjoy more luxury and 
 amusement than can be procured at the plantations. 
 
 Every body rides in Virginia and Kentucky, master, 
 man, woman, and slave, zuid they all ride well: it is 
 quite as common to meet a woman on horseback as a 
 man, and it is a pretty sight in their States ta walk by 
 the church doors and see them all arrive. The churches 
 have stables, or rather sheds, built close to- them, for 
 the accommodation of the cattle. 
 
 Elopements in these States are all made on horse 
 back. The goal to be obtained is to cross to the other 
 side of the Ohio. The consequence is that it is a regu 
 lar steeple-chase; the young couple clearing every 
 thing, father and brothers following. Whether it is 
 that, having the choice, the young people are the best 
 mounted, I know not, but the runaways are seldom 
 overtaken. One couple crossed the Ohio when I was 
 at Cincinnati, and had just time to tie the noose before 
 their pursuers arrived. 
 
 At Lexington, on Sunday, there is not a carnage or 
 horse to be obtained by a white man for any conside 
 ration, they having all been regularly engaged for that 
 day by the negro slaves, who go out junketting in every 
 direction. Where they get the money I do not know ; 
 but certain it is, that it is always produced when re- 
 
DIA.KY IN AMERICA. 
 
 quired. I was waiting at the counter of a sort of pas 
 try-cook s, when three negro lads, about twelve or 
 fourteen years old, came in, and in a most authorita 
 tive tone, ordered three glasses of soda-water 
 Returned to Louisville 
 
CHAPTER XXXIV, 
 
 THERE is one great inconvenience in American tra 
 velling, arising from the uncertainty of river navigation. 
 Excepting the Lower Mississippi and the Hudson, and 
 not always the latter, the communication by water is 
 obstructed during a considerable portion of the year, 
 by ice in the winter, or a deficiency of water in the 
 dry season. This has been a remarkable season for 
 heat and drought; and thousands of people remain in 
 the States of Ohio, Virginia, and Kentucky, who are 
 most anxious to return home. It must be understood, 
 that during the unhealthy season in the Southern 
 States on the Mississippi, the planters, cotton-growers, 
 slave-holders, store-keepers, and indeed almost every 
 class, excepting the slaves and overseers, migrate to 
 the northward, to escape the yellow fever, and spend 
 a portion of their gains in amusement 
 
 They go to Cincinnati and the towns of Ohio, to the 
 Lakes occasionally, but principally to the cities and 
 watering places of Virginia and Kentucky, more espe 
 cially Louisville, where I now am ; and Louisville, be 
 ing also the sort of general rendezvous for departure 
 south, is now crammed with Southern people. The 
 steam-boats cannot run, for the river is almost dry ; 
 and I (as well as others) have been detained much 
 longer on the banks of the Ohio than was my intention. 
 There is land-carriage certainly, but the heat of the 
 weather is so overpowering that even the Southerns 
 dread it; and in consequence of this extreme heat, the 
 sickness in these western States has been much great- 
 
DIARY IN AMERICA. 
 
 er than usual. Even Kentucky, especially that part 
 which borders on the Mississippi, which, generally speak 
 ing, is healthy, is now suffering under malignant fevers. 
 I may here remark, that the two States, Illinois and In 
 diana, and the western portions of Kentucky and Ten 
 nessee, are very unhealthy ; not a year passes without 
 a great mortality from the bilious congestive fever, a 
 variety of the yellow fevei\ and the ague ; more espe 
 cially Illinois and Indiana, with the western portion of 
 Ohio, which is equally flat with the other two States, 
 The two States of Indiana and Illinois lie, as it were, 
 at the bottom of the western basin; the soil is wonder 
 fully rich, but the drainage is insufficient, as may be 
 seen from the sluggishness with which these rivers 
 flow. Many and many thousands of poor Irish emi 
 grants, and settlers also, have been struck down by 
 disease, never to rise again, in these rich, but unhealthy 
 States; to which, stimulated by the works published by 
 land-speculators, thousands and thousands every year 
 repair, and notwithstanding the annual expenditure of 
 life, rabidly increase the population. I had made up my 
 misKl 4o travel by land carriage to St. Louis, Missouri, 
 through the States of Indiana and Illinois, but two Ame 
 rican gentlemen, who had just arrived by that route, suc 
 ceeded in dissuading me. They had come over on horse 
 back. They described the disease and mortality as dread 
 ful. That sometimes, when they wished to put up their 
 horses at seven or eight o*clock in the evening, they were 
 compelled to travel on till twelve or one o clock before 
 they could gain admittance, some portion in every house 
 suffering under the bilious fever, tertian ague, or flux. 
 They described the scene as quite appalling. At some 
 houses there was not one person able to rise and at 
 tend upon the others; all were dying or dead; and to 
 increase the misery of their situations, the springs had 
 dried up, and in many places they could not procure 
 water except by sending many miles. A friend of mine, 
 who had been on a mission through the portion of 
 Kentucky and Tennessee bordering on the Mississippi, 
 made a very similar statement. He was not refused 
 
DIARY IN AMERICA. 25 
 
 to remain where he stopped, but he could procure no 
 assistance, and every where ran the risk of contagion. 
 He said that some of the people were obliged to send 
 their negroes with a wagon upwards of fifteen miles to 
 wash their clothes. 
 
 That this has been a very unhealthy season is cer 
 tain, but still, from all the information I could obtain, 
 there is a great mortality every year in the districts t 
 have pointed out ; and such, indeed, must be the case, 
 from the miasma created every fall of the year in these 
 rich alluvial soils, some portions of which have been 
 worked for fifty years without the assistance of manure, 
 and still yield abundant crops. It will be a long while 
 before the drainage necessary to render them healthy 
 can be accomplished. The sickly appearance of the 
 inhabitants establishes but too well the facts related to 
 me; and yet, strange to say, it would appear to be a 
 provision of Providence, that a remarkable fecundity 
 on the part of the women in the more healthy portions 
 of their Western States, should meet the annual ex 
 penditure of life. Three children at a birth are more 
 common here than twins are in England ; and they, 
 generally speaking, are all reared up. There have 
 been many instances of even four. 
 
 The western valley of America, of which the Mis 
 sissippi may be considered as the common drain, must, 
 from the surprising depth of the alluvial soil, have been 
 (ages back) wholly under water, and, perhaps, by some 
 convulsion raised up. What insects are we in our 
 own estimation when we meditate upon such stupen 
 dous changes! 
 
 Since I have been in these States I have been sur 
 prised at the stream of emigration which appears to 
 flow from North Carolina to Indiana, Illinois, and Mis 
 souri. Every hour you meet with a caravan of emi 
 grants from that sterile but healthy state. Every 
 night the banks of the Ohio are lighted up with their 
 fires, where they have bivouacked previously to cross 
 ing the river; but they are not like the poor German 
 
26 DIARY IN AMERICA. 
 
 or Irish settlers : they are well prepared, and have no 
 thing to do, apparently, but to sit down upon their 
 land. These caravans consist of two or three covered 
 \vagons, full of women and children, furniture, and 
 other necessaries, each draxvn by a team of horses ; 
 brood mares, with foals by their sides, following; half 
 a dozen or more rows, flanked on each side by the 
 men, with their long rifles on their shoulders ; some 
 times a boy or two, or a half-grown girl on horseback. 
 Occasionally they wear an appearance of more refine 
 ment and cultivation, as well as wealth, the principals 
 travelling in a sort of worn-out old carnage, the re 
 mains of the competence of former days. 
 
 I often surmised, as they travelled cheerfully along, 
 saluting me as they passed by, whether they would 
 not repent their decision, and sigh for their pine bar 
 rens and heath, after they had discovered that with 
 fertility they had to encounter such disease and mor 
 tality. 
 
 I have often heard it asserted by Englishmen, that 
 America has no coal. There never was a greater 
 mistake : she has an abundance, and of the very finest 
 -that ever was seen. At Wheeling and Pittsburg, and 
 on all the borders of the Ohio river above Guyandotte, 
 they have an inexhaustible supply, equal to the very 
 best offered to the London market. All the spurs of 
 the Alieghany range appear to be one mass of coal. 
 In the Eastern States the coal is of a different quality, 
 although there is some very tolerable. The anthracite 
 is bad, throwing out a strong sulphureous gas. The 
 fact is that wood is at present cheaper than coal, and, 
 therefore, the latter is not in demand. An American 
 told me one day, that a company had been working a 
 coal mine in an Eastern State, which proved to be of 
 a very bad quality; they had sent some to an influen 
 tial person as a present, requesting him to give his 
 opinion of it, as that would be important to them. 
 After a certain time he forwarded to them a certificate 
 couched in such terms as these : 
 
DIARY IN AMERICA. 27 
 
 " I do hereby certify that I have tried the coal sent 
 
 me by the company at , and it is my decided 
 
 opinion, that when the general conflagration of the 
 world shall take place, any man who will take his po 
 sition on that coal mine will certainly be the last man 
 who will be burnt." 
 
 I had to travel by coach for six days and nights, to 
 arrive at Baltimore. As it may be supposed, I was 
 not a little tired before my journey was half over ; I, 
 therefore, was glad when the coach stopped for a few 
 hours, to throw off my coat, and lie down on a bed. 
 At one town, where I had stopped, I had been reposing 
 more than two hours when my door was opened 
 but this was too common a circumstance for me to 
 think any thing of it; the people would come into my 
 room whether I was in bed or out of bed, dressed or 
 not dressed, and if I expostulated, they would reply, 
 " Never mind, we don t care, Captain." On this occa 
 sion I called out, " Well, what do you want]" 
 
 " Are you Captain M 1" said the person walk 
 ing up to the bed where I was lying. 
 
 " Yes, I am," replied I. 
 
 " Well, I reckon I wouldn t allow you to go through 
 our town without seeing you any how. Of all the 
 humans, you re the one I most wish to see." 
 
 I told him I was highly flattered. 
 
 " Well now," said he, giving a jump, and coming 
 down right upon the bed in his great coat, " I ll just 
 tell you; I said to the chap at the bar, Aint the Cap 
 tain in your house 1 Yes, says he. Then where 
 is he] says I. Oh, says he, he s gone into his own 
 room, and locked himself up ; he s a d d aristocrat, 
 and won t drink at the bar with other gentlemen. So 
 
 thought I, I ve read M s works, and I ll bo 
 
 swamped if he is an aristocrat, and by the tarnal I ll 
 go up and see ; so here I am, and you re no aristo 
 crat." 
 
 I should think not," replied I, moving my feet 
 away, which he was half sitting on. 
 
 VOL. II. 3 
 
28 DIARY IN AMERICA. 
 
 "Oh, don t move; never mind me, Captain, fin 
 quite comfortable. And how do you find yourself by 
 this time]" 
 
 " Very tired, indeed," replied I. 
 " I suspicion as much. Now, d ye see, I left four or 
 live good fellows down below who wish to see you; I 
 said I d go up first, and come down to them. The 
 fact is, Captain, we don t like you should pass through 
 our town without showing you a little American hos 
 pitality." 
 
 So saying he slid off the bed, and went out of the 
 room. In a minute he returned, bringing with him 
 four or five others, all of whom he introduced by 
 name, and reseated himself on my bed, while the 
 others took chairs. 
 
 " Now, gentlemen," said he, " as I was telling the 
 Captain, we wish to show him a little American hospi 
 tality ; what shall it be, gentlemen ; what d ye say a 
 bottle of Madeira ?" 
 
 An immediate answer not being returned he conti 
 nued, 
 
 " Yes, gentlemen, a bottle of Madeira ; at my ex 
 pense gentlemen, recollect that ; now ring the bell." 
 
 "I shall be most happy to take a glass of wine with 
 you," observed I, "but in my own room the wine 
 must be at my expense." 
 
 " At your expense, Captain; well, if it must be, I 
 don t care; at your expense, then, Captain, if you say 
 so; only you see, we must show you a little American 
 hospitality, as I said to them all down below; didn t I, 
 gentlemen?" 
 
 The wine was ordered, and it ended in my hospita 
 ble friends drinking three bottles; and then they all 
 shook hands with me, declaring how happy they should 
 be if I came to the town again, and allowed them to 
 *how me a little more American hospitality. 
 
 There was something so very ridiculous in this event 
 that I cannot help narrating it; but let it not be sup 
 posed, for a moment, that I intend it as a sarcasm upon 
 
DIARY IN AMERICA. 29 
 
 American hospitality in general. There certainly are 
 conditions usually attached to their hospitality, if you 
 wish to profit by it to any extent; and one is, that you 
 do not venture to find fault with themselves, their man 
 ners, or their institutions. 
 
 Note. That a guest, partaking of their hospitality, should 
 give his opinion unasked, and find fault, would be in very bad 
 taste, to say the least of it. But the fault in America is, that 
 you are compelled to give an opinion, and you cannot escape 
 by a doubtful reply: as the American said to me in Philadel 
 phia, " I wish a categorical answer." Thus, should you not 
 agree with them, you are placed upon the horns of a dilemma; 
 either you must affront the company, or sacrifice truth. 
 
 END OF DIARY. 
 
REMARKS, &c. &c. 
 
 LANGUAGE. 
 
 THE Americans boldly assert that they speak better 
 English than we do, and I was rather surprised not to 
 find a statistical table to that effect in Mr. Carey s 
 publication. What I believe the Americans would 
 imply by the above assertion is, that you may travel 
 through all the United States and find less difficulty in 
 understanding, or in being understood, than in some 
 of the counties of England, such as Cornwall, Devon 
 shire, Lancashire, and Suffolk. So far they are cor 
 rect; but it is remarkable how very debased the 
 language has become in a short period in America. 
 There are few provincial dialects in England much 
 less intelligible than the following. A Yankee girl, 
 who wished to hire herself out, was asked if she had 
 any followers, or sweethearts ? After a little hesita 
 tion, she replied, "Well, now, can t exactly say; 1 
 bees a sorter courted, and a sorter not; reckon more 
 a sorter yes than a sorter no." In many points the 
 Americans have to a certain degree obtained that 
 equality which they profess; and, as respects their 
 language, it certainly is the case. If their lower 
 classes are more intelligible than ours, it is equally 
 true that the higher classes do not speak the language 
 so purely or so classically as it is spoken among the 
 well-educated English. The peculiar dialect of the 
 English counties is kept up because we are a settled 
 country ; the people who are born in a county live in 
 it, and die in it, transmitting their scites of labour or 
 of amusement to their descendants, generation after 
 
LANGUAGE. 31 
 
 generation, without change : consequently, the provin 
 cialisms of the language become equally hereditary, 
 Now, in America, they have a dictionary containing 
 many thousands of words which, with us, are either 
 obsolete, or are provincialisms, or are words necessa 
 rily invented by the Americans. When the people of 
 England emigrated to the States, they came from eve 
 ry county in England, and each county brought its 
 provincialisms with it. These were admitted into the 
 general stock; and were since all collected and bound 
 up by one Mr. Webster. With the exception of a few 
 words coined for local uses (such as snags and saw 
 yers, on the Mississippi,) I do not recollect a word 
 which I have not traced to be either a provincialism 
 of some English county, or else to be obsolete English. 
 There are a few from the Dutch, such as stoup, for the 
 porch of a door, &c. I was once talking with an 
 American about Webster s dictionary, and he ob 
 served, " Well now, sir, I understand it s the only one 
 used in the Court of St. James, by the king, queen, and 
 princesses, and that by royal order. 
 
 The upper classes of the Americans do not, how 
 ever, speak or pronounce English according to our 
 standard; they appear to have no exact rule to guide 
 them, probably from a want of any intimate know 
 ledge of Greek or Latin. You seldom hear a deriva 
 tion from the Greek pronounced correctly, the accent 
 being generally laid upon the wrong syllable. In fact, 
 every one appears to be independent, and pronounces 
 just as he pleases. 
 
 But it is not for me to decide the very momentous 
 question, as to which nation speaks the best English. 
 The Americans generally improve upon the inventions 
 of others; probably they may have improved upon our 
 language. 
 
 I recollect some one observing how very superior 
 the German language was to the English, from their 
 possessing so many compound substantives and adjec 
 tives, whereupon his friend replied, that it was just as 
 
32 LANGUAGE. 
 
 easy for us to possess them in England if we pleased, 
 and gave us as an example an observation made by 
 his old dame at Eton, who declared that young Paulet 
 was, without any exception, the most good-for-no- 
 thingest, the most provoking-people-est, and the most 
 poke-about-every-cornerest boy she had ever had 
 charge of in her life. 
 
 Assuming this principle of improvement to be cor 
 rect, it must be acknowledged that the Americans have 
 added considerably to our dictionary; but, as I have 
 before observed, this being a point of too much delica 
 cy for me to decide upon, I shall just submit to the 
 reader the occasional variations, or improvements, as 
 they may be, which met my ears during my residence 
 in America, as also the idiomatic peculiarities, and 
 having so done, I must leave him to decide for himself. 
 
 I recollect once talking with one of the first men in 
 America, who was narrating to me the advantages 
 which might have accrued to him if he had followed up 
 a certain speculation, when he said, " Sir, if I had done 
 so, I should not only have doubled and trebled, but I 
 should have fourbled and fivebled my money." 
 
 One of the members of Congress once said, " What 
 the honourable gentleman has just asserted I consider 
 as catamount to a denial;" (catamount is the term 
 given to a panther or lynx.) 
 
 "I presume," replied his opponent, "that the ho 
 nourable gentleman means tantamount" 
 
 " No, sir, I do not mean tantamount; I am not so 
 ignorant of our language, not to be aware that cata 
 mount and tantamount are rmonymous." 
 
 The Americans dwell upon their words when they 
 speak a custom arising, I presume, from their cau 
 tious, calculating habits; and they have always more 
 or less of a nasal twang. 1 ojice said to a lady, " Why 
 do you drawl out your words in that way!" 
 
 "Well," replied she, "I d drawl all the way from 
 Maine to Georgia, rather than clip my words as you 
 English people do." 
 
LANGUAGE. 
 
 33 
 
 Many English words are used in a very different 
 sense from that which we attach to them; for in 
 stance : a clever person in America means an amiable 
 good-tempered person, and the Americans make the 
 distinction by saying, I mean English clever. 
 
 Our clever is represented by the word smart. 
 
 The verb to admire is also used in the East, instead 
 of the verb to like. 
 
 " Have you ever been at Paris?" 
 
 " No; but I should admire to go/ 
 
 A Yankee description of a clever woman: 
 
 " Well, now, she ll walk right into you, and talk to 
 you like a book;" or, as I have heard them say, " she ll 
 talk you out of sight." 
 
 The word ugly is used for cross, ill-tempered. "I 
 did feel so ugly when he said that." 
 
 Bad\$ used in an odd sense: it is employed for 
 awkward, uncomfortable, sorry: 
 
 " I did feel so bad when I read that " awkward. 
 
 " I have felt quite bad about it ever since " un 
 comfortable. 
 
 " She was so bad, I thought she would cry," sorry. 
 
 And as bad is tantamount to not good, I have heard 
 a lady say, 4 1 don t feel at all good, this morning." 
 
 Mean is occasionally used for ashamed. 
 
 " I never felt so mean in my life." 
 
 "We reckon this very handsome scenery, sir," said 
 an American to me, pointing to the landscape. 
 
 " I consider him very truthful," is another expres 
 sion. 
 
 " He stimulates too much." 
 
 " He dissipates awfully." 
 
 And they are very fond of using the noun as a verb, 
 as 
 
 " I suspicion that s a fact. 3 
 
 "I opinion quite the contrary." 
 
 The word considerable is in considerable demand 
 in the United States. In a work in which the letters 
 of the party had been given to the public as specimens 
 
34 LANGUAGE. 
 
 of good style and polite literature, it is used as fol 
 lows: 
 
 " My dear sister, I have taken up the pen early this 
 morning, as 1 intend to write considerable."* 
 
 The word great is oddly used for fine, splendid. 
 
 " She s the greatest gal in the whole Union." 
 
 But there is one word which we must surrender up 
 to the Americans as their very own, as the children 
 say. I will quote a passage from one of their pa 
 pers: 
 
 " The editor of the Philadelphia Gazette is wrong 
 in calling absquatiated a Kentucky/* A rase (he may 
 well say phrase instead of word.) It may prevail 
 there, but its origin was in South Carolina, where it 
 was a few years since regularly derived from the Latin, 
 as we can prove from undoubted authority. By the 
 way, there is a little corruption in the word as the Ga 
 zette uses it, absquatalized is the true reading." 
 
 Certainly a word worth quarrelling about! 
 
 * Are you cold, miss? said I to a young lady, who 
 pulled the shawl closer over her shoulders. 
 
 " Some" was the reply. 
 
 The English what? implying that you did not hear 
 what was said to you, is changed in America to the 
 word how? 
 
 "I reckon, 55 " I calculate," " I guess," are all used 
 as the common English phrase, " I suppose." Each 
 term is said to be peculiar to different states, but I 
 found them used every where, one as often as the other. 
 7 opine, is not so common. 
 
 A specimen of Yankee dialect and conversation: 
 
 " Well now, I ll tell you you know Marble Head? " 
 
 " Guess I do." 
 
 " Well, then, you know Sally Hackett." 
 
 " No, indeed." 
 
 "Not know Sally Hackett? Whv she lives at 
 Marble Head." 
 
 * Life and Remains of Charles Pond. 
 
LANGUAGE. 35 
 
 Guess I don t." 
 
 " You don t mean to say that?" 
 
 " Yes, indeed." 
 
 " And you really don t know Sally Hackett?" 
 
 " No, indeed." " 
 
 " I guess you ve heard talk of her?" 
 
 "No, indeed." 
 
 "Well, that s considerable odd. Now, I ll tell 
 you Ephrim Bagg, he that has the farm three miles 
 from Marble Head just as but now, are you sure 
 you don t know Sally Hackett?" 
 
 " No, indeed." 
 
 " Well, he s a pretty substantial man, and no mis 
 take. He has got a heart as big as an ox, and every 
 thing else in proportion, I ve a notion. He loves Sal. 
 the worst kind; and if she gets up there, she ll think 
 she has got to Palestine (Paradise;) arn t she a scream- 
 err I were thinking of Sal mysel, for I feel lone 
 some, and when I am thrown into my store promiscu 
 ous alone, I can tell you I have the blues, the worst 
 kind, no mistake I can tell you that. I always feel 
 a kind o queer when I sees Sal, but when I meet any 
 of the other gals I am as calm and cool as the milky 
 way," &c. &c. 
 
 The verb " to fix " is universal. It means to do 
 any thins;. 
 
 " Shall 1 fix your coat or your breakfast first?" 
 That is " Shall I brush your coat, or get ready your 
 breakfast first?" 
 
 Right away, for immediately or at once, is very 
 general. 
 
 " Shall I fix it right away i. e. " Shall I do it im 
 mediately?" 
 
 In the West, when you stop at an inn, they say 
 
 "What will you have? Brown meal and common 
 doings, or white wheat and chicken fixings,-" that 
 is, " Will you have pork and brown bread, or white 
 bread and fried chicken?" 
 
 Also, " Will you have afeed or a check?" A din 
 ner, or a luncheon? 
 
06 LANGUAGE. 
 
 In full blast something in the extreme. 
 
 " When she came to meeting, with her yellow hat 
 and feathers, was n t she in full blast?" 
 
 But for more specimens of genuine Yankee, I must 
 refer the reader to Sam Slick and Major Downing, and 
 shall now proceed to some farther peculiarities. 
 
 There are two syllables urn, hu which are very 
 generally used by the Americans as a sort of reply, in 
 timating that they are attentive, and that the party may 
 proceed with his narrative; but, by inflection and into 
 nation, these two syllables are made to express dissent 
 or assent, surprise, disdain, and (like Lord Burleigh s 
 nod in the play) a great deal more. The reason why 
 these two syllables have been selected is, that they can 
 be pronounced without the trouble of opening your 
 mouth, and you may be in a state of listlessness and 
 repose whilst others talk. I myself found them very 
 convenient at times, and gradually got into the habit of 
 using them. 
 
 The Americans are very local in their phrases, and 
 borrow their similes very much from the nature of their 
 occupations and pursuits. If you ask a Virginian or 
 Kentuckian where he was born, he will invariably tell 
 you that he was raised in such a county the term ap 
 plied to horses, and, in breeding States, to men also. 
 
 When a man is tipsy (spirits being made from grain,) 
 they generally say he is corned. 
 
 In the West, where steam-navigation is so abundant, 
 Avhen they ask you to drink they say, " Stranger, will 
 you take in wood?" -the vessels taking in wood as 
 fuel to keep the steam up, and the person taking in spi 
 rits to keep his steam up. 
 
 The roads in the country being cut through woods, 
 and the stumps of the trees left standing, the carriage? 
 are often brought up by them. Hence the expression 
 of, "Well, I am stumped this time." 
 
 I heard a young man, a farmer in Vermont, say, 
 when talking about another having gained the heart oi 
 a pretty girl, "Well, how he contrived to fork into her 
 
LANGUAGE. bi 
 
 young affections, I can t tell; but I ve a mind to put 
 my whole team on, and see if I can t run him off the 
 road." 
 
 The old phrase of " straining at a gnat, and swal 
 lowing a camel," in the Eastern States, rendered 
 " straining at a gate, and swallowing a saw-mill" 
 
 To strike means to attack. " The Indians have 
 struck on the frontier;" "A rattle-snake struck at 
 me." 
 
 To make tracks to walk away. " Well, now, I 
 shall make tracks:" from foot-tracks in the snow. 
 
 Clear out, quit, and put all mean " be off." " Cap 
 tain, now, you hush or put" that is, "Either hold 
 your tongue, or be off." Also, " Will you shut, mis 
 ter?" i. e. will you shut your mouth? i. e. hold your 
 tongue? 
 
 " Curl up " to be angry from the panther and 
 other animals when angry raising their hair. * " Rise 
 my dander up," from the human hair; and a nasty idea. 
 "Wrathy" is another common expression. Also, 
 Savage as a meat-axe." 
 
 Here are two real American words; 
 
 " Sloping" for slinking away; 
 
 " Splunging," like a porpoise. 
 
 The word " enthusiasm," in the south, is changed to 
 " entuzzy-muzzy." 
 
 In the Western States, where the raccoon is plentiful, 
 they use the abbreviation coon when speaking of peo 
 ple. When at New York, I went into a hair-dresser s 
 shop to have my hair cut; there were two young men 
 from the west one under the barber s hands, the other 
 standing by him. 
 
 " I say," said the one who was having his hair cut, 
 " I hear Captain M is in this country." 
 
 " Yes," replied the other, " so they say; I should 
 like to see the coon." 
 
 " I m a gone coon" implies " I am distressed or 
 ruined or lost." I once asked the origin of this ex 
 pression, and was very gravely told as follows: 
 
38 LANGUAGE. 
 
 " There is a Captain Martin Scott* in the United 
 States army who is a remarkable shot with a rifle. 
 He was raised, I believe, in Vermont. His fame was 
 so considerable through the State, that even the ani 
 mals were aware of it. He went out one morning 
 with his rifle, and spying a raccoon upon the upper 
 branches of a high tree, brought his gun up to his 
 shoulder; when the raccoon, perceiving it, raised his 
 paw up for a parley. " I beg your pardon, mister," 
 said the raccoon, very politely; " but may I ask you if 
 your name is Scott ?" " Yes," replied the captain. 
 * Martin Scott ?" continued the raccoon. " Yes," re 
 plied the captain. " Captain Martin Scott ?" still con 
 tinued the animal. " Yes," replied the captain, " Cap 
 tain Martin Scott?"" Oh ! then," says the animal, " I 
 may just as well come down, for I m a gone coon." 
 
 But one of the strangest perversions of the meaning 
 of a word which I ever heard of is in Kentucky, where 
 sometimes the word nasty is used for nice. For in 
 stance; at a rustic dance in that State, a Kentuckian 
 said to an acquaintance of mine, in reply to his asking 
 the name of a very fine girl, " That s my sister, stran 
 ger; and I flatter myself that she shews the nastiest. 
 ankle in all Kentuck." Unde derivatur, from the con 
 stant rifle-practice in that State, a good shot, or a pret 
 ty shot, is termed also a nasty shot, because it would 
 make a nasty wound : ergo, a nice or pretty ankle be 
 comes a nasty one. 
 
 The term for all baggage, especially in the south or 
 west, is " plunder." This has been derived from the 
 buccaneers, who for so long a time infested the bay- 
 ores and creeks near the mouth of the Mississippi, 
 and whose luggage was probably very correctly so de 
 signated. 
 
 I must not omit a specimen of American criticism. 
 
 " Well, Abel, whot d ye think of our native genus. 
 Mister Forrest?" 
 
 * Already mentioned in the Diary. 
 
LANGUAGE. 39 
 
 " Well, I don t go much to theatricals, that s a fact; 
 but I do think lie piled the agony up a little too high in 
 that last scene." 
 
 The gamblers on the Mississippi use a very refined 
 phrase for "cheating" "playing the advantages over 
 him." 
 
 But, as may be supposed, the principal terms used 
 are those which are borrowed from trade and com 
 merce. 
 
 The rest, or remainder, is usually termed the ba 
 lance. 
 
 " Put some of those apples into a dish, and the ba 
 lance into the store-room." 
 
 When a person has made a mistake, or is out in his 
 calculation* they say, " You missed a figure that 
 time." 
 
 In a skirmish last war, the fire from the British was 
 very severe, and the men in the American ranks were 
 fajling fast, when one of the soldiers stepped up to the 
 commanding officer and said, "Colonel, don t you 
 think that we might compromise this affair?" " Well, 
 I reckon I should have no objection to submit it to ar 
 bitration myself," replied the colonel. 
 
 Even the thieves must be commercial in their ideas. 
 One rogue meeting another, asked him what he had 
 done that morning; " Not much," was the reply, "I ve 
 only realized this umbrella." 
 
 This reminds me of a conversation between a man 
 and his wife, which was overheard by the party who 
 repeated it to me. It appears that the lady was eco 
 nomically inclined, and in cutting out some shirts for 
 her husband, resolved that they should not descend 
 much lower than his hips, as thereby so much linen 
 would be saved. The husband expostulated, but in 
 vain. She pointed out to him that it would improve 
 his figure, and make his nether garments set much 
 better; in a word, that long shirt-tails were quite un 
 necessary; and she wound up her arguments by ob 
 serving that linen was a very expensive article, and 
 that she could not see what on earth was the reason 
 
 VOL. n. 4 
 
40 LANGUAGE. 
 
 that people should stuff so much capital into their pan 
 taloons. 
 
 There is sometimes in the American metaphors an 
 energy which is very remarkable. 
 
 " Well, I reckon, that from his teeth to his toe nail, 
 there s not a human of a more conquering nature than 
 General Jackson." 
 
 One gentleman said to me, " I wish I had all hell 
 boiled down to a point, just to pour down your 
 throat." 
 
 It is a great pity that the Americans have not ad 
 hered more to the Indian names, which are euphonous, 
 and very often musical ; but, so far from it, they appear 
 to have had a pleasure in dismissing them altogether. 
 There is a river running into Lake Champlain, near 
 Burlington, formerly called by the Indians the Winoo- 
 ski, but this name has been superseded by the settlers, 
 who, by way of improvement, have designated it the 
 Onion River. The Americans have ransacked scrip 
 ture, and ancient and modern history, to supply them 
 selves with names, yet, notwithstanding, there appears 
 to be a strange lack of taste in their selection. On the 
 route to Lake Ontario you pass towns with such names 
 as Manlius, Sempronius, Titus, Cato, and then you 
 come to Butternuts. Looking over the catalogue of 
 cities, towns, villages, rivers, and creeks in the differ 
 ent States in the Union, I find the following repeti 
 tions : 
 
 Of towns, &c. named after distinguished individuals 
 there are, 
 
 Washingtons . 
 Jacksons . . 
 
 . . 43 
 
 . . 41 
 
 Carrolls 
 Adamses 
 
 .... 16 
 .... 18 
 
 Jeffersons . . 
 
 . . 32 
 
 Bolivars 
 
 .... 8 
 
 Franklins . . 
 
 . . 41 
 
 Clintons 
 
 .... 19 
 
 Madisons 
 Monroes 
 
 . . 26 
 . . 25 
 
 Waynes 
 
 .... 14 
 .... 6 
 
 Perry s . 
 
 . . 22 
 
 Clays 
 
 . ... 4 
 
 Fayettes 
 
 . . 14 
 
 Fultons 
 
 .... 17 
 
 Hamiltons 
 
 . . 13 
 
 
 
LANGUAGE. 
 
 41 
 
 Of other towns, &c. there are, 
 
 Columbias . . . 
 Centre Villes . . 
 Fairfields . . . 
 Athenses . . . 
 
 . 27 
 . 14 
 . 17 
 . 10 
 4 
 
 Libertys 
 Salems . 
 
 . . . 14 
 . . . 24 
 
 
 . . . 28 
 
 Muds . . 
 
 8 
 
 Little Muds 
 Muddies 
 
 . . . 1 
 
 ... 11 
 39 
 
 Crookeds . . . 
 Littles .... 
 
 . 22 
 
 . 20 
 
 Lonsrs 
 
 18 
 
 
 
 Clears 13 
 
 Blacks . 33 
 
 In colours they have, 
 
 Greens 16 
 
 Whites . 15 
 
 Blues . 
 
 Vermilions 
 
 Yellows 
 
 iv 
 
 Named after trees, 
 
 Cedars ..... 25 
 Cypresses . . . . 12 
 
 Laurels 14 
 
 Pines 18 
 
 After animals, 
 
 Beavers 23 
 
 Buffaloes $ 
 
 Bulls 
 
 Deers 13 
 
 Dogs 9 
 
 Elks . 11 
 
 Foxes 12 
 
 Otters .... 13 
 
 Raccoons 
 
 11 
 
 Wolves 16 
 
 Bears 12 
 
 Bear s Rump . . . J 
 
 After birds, &c. 
 
 Gooses 10 
 
 Ducks 
 Eagles 
 Pigeons 
 
 8 
 
 8 
 10 
 
 Fishes 7 
 
 Turkeys . . . . 12 
 
 Swans 15 
 
 Pikes 20 
 
42 LANGUAGE, 
 
 The consequence of these repetitions is, that if you 
 do not put the name of the State, and often of the coun 
 ty in the State in which the town you refer to may be, 
 your letter may journey all over the Union, and perhaps, 
 after all, never arrive at its place of destination. 
 
 The States have already accommodated each other 
 with nicknames, as per example: 
 
 Illinois people are termed . . . Suckers. 
 
 Missouri Pukes. 
 
 Michigan Wolverines. 
 
 Indiana Hoosiers. 
 
 Kentucky Corn Crackers, 
 
 Ohio Buckeyes, &c. 
 
 The names of persons are also very strange ; and 
 some of these are, at all events, obsolete in England, 
 even if they ever existed there. Many of them are 
 said to be French or Dutch names Americanized. But 
 they appear still more odd to us from the high-sounding 
 Christian names prefixed to them; as, for instance: 
 Philo Doolittle, Populorum Hightower, Preserved 
 Fish, Asa Peabody, Alonzo Lilly, Alceus Wolf, &c. I 
 was told by a gentleman that Doolittle was originally 
 from the French De 1 Hotel; Peabody from Pibaudiere; 
 Bunker from Bon Co3ur; that Mr. Ezekiel Bumpus is 
 a descendant of Mons. Bon Pas, &c., all which is very 
 possible. 
 
 Every one who is acquainted with Washington Ir 
 ving must know that, being very sensitive himself, he 
 is one of the last men in the world to do any thing to 
 annoy another. In his selection of names for his wri 
 tings, he was cautious in avoiding such as might be 
 known; so that when he called his old schoolmaster 
 Ichabod Crane, he thought himself safe from the risk 
 of giving offence. Shortly afterwards a friend of his 
 called upon him, accompanied by a stranger, whom he 
 introduced as Major Crane; Irving started at the name ; 
 "Major Ichabod Crane," continued his friend, much to 
 the horror of Washington Irving. 
 
 I was told that a merchant went down to New O:- 
 leans with one Christian name, and came back, after a 
 
LANGUAGE. 43 
 
 lapse of years with another. His name was John Flint. 
 The French at New Orleans translated his surname, and 
 called him Pierre Fusee: on his return the Pierre stuck 
 to him, was rendered into English as Peter, and he was 
 called Peter Flint ever afterwards. 
 
 People may change their names in the United States 
 by application to Congress. They have a story hardly 
 worth relating, although considered a good one in Ame 
 rica, having been told me by a member of Congress. 
 A Mr. Whitepimple, having risen in the world, was 
 persuaded by his wife to change his name, arid applied 
 for permission accordingly. The clerk of the office in 
 quired of him what other name he would have, and he 
 being very indifferent about it himself, replied careless 
 ly, as he walked away, " Oh, any thing;" whereupon 
 the clerk enrolled him as Mr. Thing Time passed on, 
 and he had a numerous family, who found the new 
 name not much more agreeable than the old one, for 
 there was Miss Sally Thing, Miss Dolly Thing, the old 
 Things, and all the little Things; and worst of all, the 
 eldest son being christened Robert, went by the name 
 of Thingum Bob. 
 
 There were, and [ believe still are, two lawyers in 
 partnership in New York, with the peculiar happy 
 names of Catchem and Chetum. People laughed at 
 seeing these two names in juxtaposition over the door; 
 so the lawyers thought it advisable to separate them by 
 (he insertion of their Christian names. Mr. Catchem s 
 Christian name was Isaac, Mr. Chetum s, Uriah. A 
 new board was ordered, but when sent to the painter, 
 it was found to be too short to admit the Christian 
 names at full length. The painter, therefore, put in 
 only the initials before the surnames, which made the 
 matter still worse than before, for there now appeared 
 
 " I. Catchem and U. Chetum." 
 
 I cannot conclude this chapter without adverting to 
 
 one or two points peculiar to the Americans. They 
 
 wish, in every thing, to improve upon the Old Country, 
 
 as they call us, and affect to be excessively refined in 
 
 4* 
 
44 LANGUAGE. 
 
 their language and ideas : but they forget that very of 
 ten in the covering, and the covering only, consists the 
 indecency, and that, to use the okl aphorism, " Very 
 nice people, are people with very nasty ideas." 
 
 They object to every thing nude in statuary. When 
 I was at the house of Governor Everett at Boston, I 
 observed a fine cast of the Apollo Belvidere, but, in 
 compliance with general opinion, it was hung with dra 
 pery, although Governor Everett himself is a gentleman 
 of refined mind and high classical attainments, and quite 
 above such ridiculous sensitiveness. In language it is 
 the same thing: there are certain words which are ne 
 ver used in America, but an absurd substitute is em 
 ployed. I cannot particularize them after this preface, 
 lest I should be accused of indelicacy myself. I may, 
 however, state one little circumstance, which will prove 
 the correctness of what I say. 
 
 When at Niagara Falls, I was escorting a young lady 
 with whom I was on friendly terms. She had been 
 standing on a piece of rock, the better to view the 
 scene, when she slipped down, and was evidently 
 hurt by the fall ; she had in fact grazed her shin. As 
 she limped a little in walking home, I said, " Did you 
 hurt your leg much." She turned from ine evidently 
 much shocked, or much offended ; and not being aware 
 that I had committed any very heinous offence, I begged 
 to know what was the reason of her displeasure. After 
 some hesitation, she said that as she knew me well, she 
 would tell me that the word leg was never mentioned 
 before ladies. I apologized for my want of refinement, 
 which was attributable to my having been accustomed 
 only to English society, and added, that as such arti 
 cles must occasionally be referred to, even in the most 
 polite circles of America, perhaps she would inform me 
 by what name I might mention them without shocking 
 the company. Her reply was, that the word limb was 
 used; "nay," continued she, "I am not so particular 
 as some people are, for I know those who always say 
 limb of a table, or limb of a piano-forte." 
 
 There the conversation dropped ; but a few months 
 
CREDIT. 45 
 
 afterwards I was obliged to acknowledge that the 
 young lady was correct when she asserted that some 
 people were more particular than even she was. 
 
 I was requested by a lady to escort her to a semi 
 nary for young ladies, and on being ushered into the 
 reception-room, conceive my astonishment at behold 
 ing a square piano-forte with four limbs. However, 
 that the ladies who visited their daughters, might feel 
 in its full force the extreme delicacy* of the mistress 
 of the establishment, and her care to preserve in their 
 utmost purity the ideas of the young ladies under her 
 charge, she had dressed all these four limbs in modest 
 little trousers, \vith frills at the bottom of them ! 
 
 CREDIT. 
 
 IN the State of New York they have abolished im 
 prisonment for debt ; this abolition, however, only 
 holds good between the citizens of that State, as no 
 one State in the Union can interfere with the rights of 
 another. A stranger, therefore, can imprison a New 
 Yorker, and a New Yorker can imprison a stranger, 
 but the citizens of New York cannot incarcerate one 
 another. Now, although the unprincipled may, and 
 do occasionally, take advantage of this enactment, yet 
 
 * "An English lady, who had long 1 kept a fashionable board 
 ing school in one of the Atlantic cities, told me that one of her 
 earliest cares with every new comer, was to endeavour to sub 
 stitute real delicacy for that affected precision of manner: 
 among many anecdotes, she told me of a young lady about 
 fourteen, who, on entering the receiving-room, where she only 
 expected to see a lady who had inquired for her, and finding a 
 young man with her, put her hands before her eyes and ran 
 out of the room again, screaming A man, a man, a man! 
 On another occasion, one of the young ladies in going up stairs 
 to the drawing-room, unfortunately met a boy of fourteen 
 coming down, and her feelings were so violently agitated, that 
 she stopped, panting and sobbing, nor would pass on till the 
 boy had swung himself up on the upper bannisters, to leave the 
 passage free." Mrs. Trollope s Domestic Manners of the Ame- 
 
46 CREDIT. 
 
 the effects of it are generally pood, as character be 
 comes more valuable. Without character, there will 
 be no credit; and without credit, no commercial man 
 can rise in this city. I was once in a store where the 
 widow who kept it complained to me, that a person 
 who owed her a considerable sum would not pay her; 
 and, aware that she had no redress, 1 asked her how 
 she would obtain her money. Her reply was : " Oh, 
 I shall eventually get my money, for I will shame him 
 out of it by exposure." 
 
 The Americans, probably from being such great 
 speculators, and aware of the uncertainty attending 
 their commerce, are very lenient towards debtors. If 
 ;i man proves that he cannot pay, he is seldom inter 
 fered with, but allowed to recommence business. This 
 is not only Christian-like, but wise. A. man thrown 
 into prison is not likely to find the means of paying his 
 debts; but if allowed his liberty and the means of earn 
 ing a subsistence, he may eventually be more fortunate, 
 and the creditors have a chance of being ultimately paid. 
 This, to my knowledge, has often been the case after 
 the release had been signed, and the creditors had no 
 farther legal claim upon the bankrupt. England has 
 not yet made up her mind to the abolition of imprison 
 ment for debt, but from what I have learnt in this city, 
 I have no hesitation in saying, that it would work well 
 for the morals of the community, and that more debts 
 would eventually be paid, than are paid under the pre 
 sent system. Another circumstance which requires to 
 be pointed out when we would examine into the char 
 acter of the New York commercial community, is, the 
 difference between their bankrupt-laws and those of 
 England. Here there is no law to compel a bankrupt 
 to produce his books; every man may be his own as 
 signee, and has the power of giving preference to one 
 creditor over another; that is to say, he may repay those 
 who have lent him money in the hope of preventing 
 his becoming a bankrupt, and all other debts of a like 
 description. He mny also turn over his affairs to an 
 assignee of his own selection, who then pays the debts 
 
CREDIT. 47 
 
 as he pleases. A bankrupt is also permitted to collect 
 his own debts. 
 
 The English bankrupt-laws were introduced, but af 
 ter one year s trial they were discontinued, as it was 
 found that they were attended with so much difficulty, 
 and, what is oi more importance to the Americans, with 
 so much loss of time. Again, in America, if a person 
 wishes to become a special partner (a sleeping partner) 
 in any concern, he may do so to any extent he pleases, 
 upon advertising the same, and is responsible for no 
 more than the sum he invests, although the house 
 should fail for ten times the amount. 
 
 Here is an advertisement of special partnership. 
 
 "Co-partnership. Notice is hereby given, that a 
 limited partnership hath been entered into by Lambert 
 Morange, D. N. Morange, and Samah Solomon, of the 
 city of New York, merchants, in pursuance of the pro 
 visions of the Revised Statutes of the State of New 
 York. The general nature of the business of said co 
 partnership is the manufacturing and selling of fur and 
 silk hats. The said Lambert Morange is the special 
 partner, and as such, hath contributed the sum of ten 
 thousand dollars in cash to the common stock: the said 
 D. N. Morange and Samah Solomon are the general 
 partners; and the said business is to be conducted un 
 der the name and firm, of D. N. Morange and Solomon; 
 said co-partnership is to commence on the 14th day 
 of March, 1837, and to expire on the 14th March. 
 1840. 
 
 L. MORANGE. 
 
 "March 14th, .D. N. MORANGE. 
 
 1837. SAMAH SOLOMON." 
 
 That this loose statement of the bankrupt-law may 
 be, and has been the cause of much dishonesty, is true, 
 but at the same time it is the cause of the flourishing 
 state of the community. The bee can always work; 
 indeed the bankrupt-laws themselves provide for a 
 man s not starving. In the city the bankrupt s house 
 hold furniture is sacred, that his family may not b 
 
48 CREDIT. 
 
 beggars; and in case of the bankruptcy of a farmer, 
 he is permitted not only to retain the furniture of his 
 cottage, but even his plough, with a proportion of his 
 team, his kine and sheep, are reserved for him, that he 
 may still be able to support his family. Surely this is 
 much preferable to the English system, under which 
 the furniture is dragged away, the hearth made deso 
 late, and the children left to starve because their father 
 has been unfortunate. Is it not better that a little vil- 
 lany should escape punishment, than that such cruelty 
 should be in daily practice? I say a little villany, for 
 if a man becomes bankrupt in New York, it is pretty 
 well known whether he has dealt fairly with his credi 
 tors, or has made a fraudulent bankruptcy: and if so, 
 his character is gone, and with it his credit, and with 
 out credit he never can rise again in that city, but must 
 remove to some other place. 
 
 In England, character will procure to a bankrupt a 
 certificate, but in New York it will leave him the means 
 of re-commencing business. In England, it is a dis 
 grace to be a bankrupt; in America, it is only a mis 
 fortune; but this distinction arises from the boldness 
 of the speculations carried on by the Americans in 
 their commercial transactioyis, and owing to which the 
 highest and most influential, as well as the smaller ca 
 pitalists, are constantly in a state of jeopardy. I do 
 not believe that there is any where a class of merchants 
 more honourable than those of New York. The no 
 torious Colonel Chartres said that he would give 
 20,000 for a character, because he would have made 
 100,000 by it. I shall not here enter into the ques* 
 tion, whether it is by a similar conviction, or by moral 
 rectitude of feeling, that the merchants of New York 
 are actuated; it is sufficient that it is their interest to 
 be honest, and that they are so. I state the case in 
 this way, because I do not intend to admit that the 
 honesty of the merchants is any proof of the morality 
 of a nation; and I think I am borne out in my opinion 
 by their conduct in the late state of difficulty, and the 
 strenuous exertions made by them to pay to the utter- 
 
CREDIT. 49 
 
 most farthing, sacrificing at times twenty per cent, in 
 order to be enabled to remit money to their London 
 and Liverpool correspondents, and fulh l their engage 
 ments with them. 
 
 That there is a great deal of roguery going on in 
 this city is undeniable, much more, perhaps, than 
 (taking into consideration the difference between the 
 populations) in the good city of London. But it should 
 be borne in mind that New York has become, as it 
 were, the Alsatia of the whole continent of Europe. 
 Every scoundrel who has swindled, forged, or robbed 
 in England, or elsewhere, makes his escape to New 
 York. Every pickpocket, who is too well known to 
 the English police, takes refuge here. In this city 
 they all concentrate; and it is a hard thing for the 
 New York merchants, that the stream of society which 
 otherwise might gradually become more pure, should 
 be thus poisoned by the continual inpourings of the 
 Continental dregs, and that they should be made to 
 share in the obloquy of those who are outcasts from 
 the society of the Old World. 
 
 America exists at present upon credit. If the credit 
 of her merchants were destroyed she would be checked 
 in her rapid advance. But this system of credit, which 
 is necessarily reciprocal, is nevertheless acted upon 
 with all possible caution. Many are the plans which 
 the large New York importers have been compelled to 
 resort to, to ascertain whether their customers from the 
 interior could be trusted or not. Agents have been 
 despatched to learn the characters, standing, and means 
 of the country dealers who are their correspondents, 
 and who purchase their goods; for the whole of the 
 transactions are upon credit, and a book of reference 
 as to people s responsibility is to be found in many of 
 the mercantile houses of New York. 
 
 Willing as I am to do justice to the New York mer 
 chants, I cannot, however, permit Mr. Carey s remarks 
 upon credit to pass unnoticed. Had he said nothing, [ 
 s hould have said no more ; but, as he asserts that the 
 s ecurity of property and credit in America is greater 
 
50 CREDIT. 
 
 than in England, I must, in defence of my country, 
 make a few observations. 
 
 At the commencement of his article Mr. Carey 
 says, 
 
 " In England confidence is almost universal. The 
 banker credits the manufacturer and the farmer. They 
 are willing to give credit to the merchant, because 
 they have confidence that he will pay them. He gives 
 credit to the shop-keeper, who, in his turn, gives credit 
 to the labourer. 
 
 "Immense masses of property change owners with 
 out examination; confidence thus producing a great 
 saving of labour. Orders to a vast extent are given, 
 with a certainty that they will be executed with per 
 fect good faith ; and this system is continued year after 
 year, proving that the confidence was deserved." 
 
 Now, after this admission what more can be re 
 quired) Confidence proves security of property, and 
 should any change take place so as to render the se 
 curity doubtful, confidence would immediately cease. 
 It is, therefore, rather bold of Mr. Carey, after such an 
 admission, to attempt to prove that the security of pro 
 perty is greater in America than in England; yet, ne 
 vertheless, such is his assertion. 
 
 Mr. Carey bases his calculation, first, upon the losses 
 sustained by the banks of England, in comparison 
 with those sustained by the banks of Massachusetts. 
 Here, as in almost every other argument, Mr. Carey 
 selects one small State a State, par excellence, supe 
 rior to all the others of the Union ; a pattern State, in 
 fact, as representing all America against all England. 
 He admits that, as you go South and West, the com 
 plexion of things is altered ; but notwithstanding this 
 admission, he still argues upon this one State only, 
 and consequently upon false premises. But, allow 
 ing that he proved that the losses of all the banks 
 in America were less than the losses of all the 
 banks in England, he would still prove nothing, or 
 if he did prove any thing, it would be against him 
 self. Why are the losses of American banks less? Sim 
 ply because they trust less. There is not that confi- 
 
51 
 
 dence in America that there is in England, and the want 
 of confidence proves the want of security of property. 
 
 The next comparison which Mr. Carey makes is be 
 tween the failures of the banks of the two countries ; and 
 in this argument he takes most of the States in the Union 
 into his calculation, and he winds up by observing (in 
 italics) that " From the first institution of banks in 
 America to the year 1837, the failures have been less by 
 about one-fourth, than those of England in the three 
 years of 1814, 15, and 16 ; and the amount of loss sus 
 tained by the public bears, probably, a still smaller pro 
 portion to the amount of business transactions." 
 
 Now, all this proves nothing, except that the banks of 
 America are more careful in discounting than our own, 
 and that by running less risk they lose less money. But 
 from it Mr. Carey draws this strange conclusion : 
 
 " Individuals in Great Britain enjoy as high a degree 
 of credit as can possibly exist, but confidence is more 
 universal in the United States." 
 
 Credit is the result of confidence ; and if, as appears 
 to be the case, the American confidence in each other wiH 
 not procure credit, it is a very useless compliment passed 
 between them. It is simply this " I am certain that 
 you are a very honest man, but notwithstanding I will 
 not lend you a shilling." Indeed Mr. Carey contradicts 
 himself, for, two pages farther on, he says r " The ex 
 istence of the credit system is evidence of mutual con 
 fidence." 
 
 I should like Mr. Carey to answer one question : 
 
 What would have been the amount of the failures of 
 the banks of America in 1837, if they had not suspended 
 cash payments ? It is very easy to carry on the banking 
 business when, in defiance of their charters, the banks 
 will give you nothing but their paper, and refuse you 
 specie. Banks which will not pay bullion for their own 
 notes are not very likely to fail, except in their covenant 
 with the public. But it is of little use for Mr. Carey to 
 assert on the one hand, or for me to deny on the other. 
 Every nation makes its own character with the rest of the 
 
 VOL ii 5 
 
52 CREDIT. 
 
 world, and it is by other nations that the question between 
 us must be decided. The question is then, " Is the cre 
 dit of America better than that of England, in the inter 
 course of the two countries with .each other, and with 
 foreign nations ?" Let the commercial world decide- 
 
53 
 
 PENITENTIARIES, &c. 
 
 ALTHOUGH, during my residence in the cities of the 
 United States, I visited most of the public institutions, I 
 have not referred to them at the time in my Diary, as 
 they have been so often described by preceding travellers. 
 I shall now, however, make a few remarks upon the pe 
 nitentiary system. 
 
 I think it was Wilkes who said, that the very worst 
 use to which you could put a man was to hang him ; 
 and such appears to be the opinion in America. That 
 hanging does not prevent crime, where people are driven 
 into it by misery and want, I believe; but it does prevent 
 crime where people commit it merely from an unrestrain 
 ed indulgence of their passions. This has been satisfac 
 torily proved in the United States. At one time the 
 murders in the city of New Orleans were just as fre 
 quent as in all the States contiguous to the Mississippi ; 
 but the population of the city determined to put an end 
 to such scenes of outrage. The population of New Or 
 leans is very different from that of the Southern States in 
 general, being composed of Americans from the Eastern 
 States, English merchants, and French Creoles. Vigorous 
 laws and an efficient police was established ; and one of 
 the southern planters, of good family and connexions, 
 having committed a murder, was tried and condemned. 
 To avoid the gallows, he committed suicide in prison. 
 This system having been rigorously followed up, New 
 Orleans has become perhaps the safest city in the Union ; 
 and now not even a brawl is heard in those streets where, 
 a few years back, murders occurred every hour of the 
 day. 
 
 In another chapter I shall enter more fully into this 
 question j at present I shall only say that there is a great 
 
54 PENITENTIARIES, &C. 
 
 unwillingness to take away life in America, and it is this 
 aversion to capital punishment which has directed the at 
 tention of the American community to the penitentiary 
 system. Several varieties of this species of punishment 
 have been resorted to, more or less severe. The most 
 rigid that of solitary confinement in dark cells, and with 
 out labour was found too great an infliction, as, in many 
 cases, it unsettled the reason, and ended in confirmed lu 
 nacy- Confinement, with the boon of light, but without 
 employment, was productive of no good effect ; the cul 
 prit sank into a state of apathy and indifference. After a 
 certain time, day and night passed away unheeded, from 
 the want of a healthy tone to the mind. The prisoners 
 were no longer lunatics, but they were little better than 
 brute animals. 
 
 Neither do I consider the present system, as practised 
 at the Sing Sing, the state prison of New York, as tend 
 ing to reform the offenders : it punishes them severely, 
 but that is all. Where corporal punishment is resorted to, 
 there always will be feelings of vindictiveness ; and all the 
 bad passions must be allowed to repose before the better 
 can gain the ascendant. 
 
 The best system is that acted upon in the Penitentiary 
 at Philadelphia, where there is solitary confinement, but 
 with labour and exercise. Mr. Samuel Wood, who super 
 intends this establishment, is a person admirably calculated 
 for his task, and I do not think that any arrangements 
 could be better, or the establishment in more excellent 
 hands. But my object was, not so much to view the pri 
 son and witness the economy of it, as to examine the pri 
 soners themselves, and hear what their opinions were. 
 The surgeon may explain the operation, but the patient 
 who has undergone it is the proper person to apply to, if 
 you wish to know the degree and nature of the pain in 
 flicted. I requested, therefore, and obtained permission, 
 to visit a portion of the prisoners without a third party be 
 ing present to prevent their being communicative ; select 
 ing some who had been in but a short time, others who 
 iiad been there for years, and referring also to the books, 
 as to the nature and degree of their offence. I ought to 
 
PENITENTIARIES, &C. 55 
 
 state that I re-examined almost the whole of the parties 
 about six months afterwards, and the results of the two 
 examinations are now given. I did not take their names, 
 but registered them in my notes as No. 1, 2, 3, &c. 
 
 No. 1 a man who had been sentenced to twelve years 
 imprisonment for the murder of his wife. He had been 
 bred up as a butcher. (I have observed that when the use 
 of the knife is habitual, the flinching which men naturally 
 feel at the idea of driving it into a fellow-creature, is over 
 come ; and a man who is accustomed to dissect the still 
 palpitating carcasses of animals, has very little compunc 
 tion in resorting to the knife in the event of collision with 
 his own race.) This fellow looked a butcher ; his face and 
 head were all animal ; he was by no means intelligent. 
 He was working at a loom, and had already been confined 
 for seven years and a half. He said that, after the first 
 six months of his confinement, lie had lost all reckoning 
 of time, and had not cared to think about it until lately, 
 when he enquired, and was told how long he had been 
 locked up. Now that he had discovered that more than 
 half his time had passed away, it occupied his whole 
 thoughts, and sometimes he felt very impatient. 
 
 Mr. Wood told me afterwards that this feeling, when 
 the expiration of the sentence was very near at hand, 
 sometimes amounted to agony. 
 
 This man had denied the murder of his wife, and still 
 persisted in the denial, although there was no doubt of 
 his having committed the crime. Of course, in this in 
 stance there was no repentance; and the Penitentiary 
 was thrown away upon him, further than that, for twelve 
 years, he could not contaminate society. 
 
 No. 2. sentenced to four years imprisonment for 
 forgery; his time was nearly expired. This was a very 
 intelligent man ; by profession he had been a schoolmas 
 ter. He had been in prison before for the same offence. 
 
 His opinion as to the Penitentiary was, that it could 
 
 do no harm, and might do much good. The fault of the 
 
 system was one which could not well be remedied, which 
 
 was, that there was degradation attached to it. Could 
 
 5* 
 
56 PENITENTIARIES, &C. 
 
 punishment undergone for crime be viewed in the same 
 way as repentance was by the Almighty, and a man, 
 after suffering for his fault, re-appear in the world with 
 clean hands, and be admitted into society as before, it 
 would be attended with the very best effects ; but there 
 was no working out the degradation. When he was re 
 leased from his former imprisonment, he had been obliged 
 to fly from the place where he was known. He was 
 pursued by the harshness of the world, not only in him 
 self, but in his children. No one would allow that his 
 punishment had wiped away his crime, and this was the 
 reason why people, inclined to be honest, were driven 
 again into guilt. Not only would the world not encour 
 age them, but it would not permit them to become hon 
 est ; the finger of scorn was pointed wherever they were 
 known, or found out, and the punishment after release 
 was infinitely greater than that of the prison itself. 
 
 Miss Martineau observes, " I was favoured with the 
 confidence of a great number of the prisoners in the 
 Philadelphia Penitentiary, where absolute seclusion is the 
 principle of punishment. Every one of these prisoners 
 (none of them being aware of the existence of any other) 
 told me that he was under obligations to those who had 
 charge of him for treating him with respect. r 
 
 No. 3 a very intelligent, but not educated man: im 
 prisoned three years for stealing. He had only been a 
 few months in the Penitentiary, but had been confined 
 for ten years in Sing Sing prison for picking pockets. I 
 asked him his opinion as to the difference of treatment 
 in the two establishments. He replied, " In Sing Sing 
 the punishment is corporal here it is more mental. In 
 Sing Sing there was little chance of a person s reforma 
 tion, as the treatment was harsh and brutal, and the feel 
 ings of the prisoners were those of indignation and re 
 sentment. Their whole time was occupied in trying how 
 they could deceive their keepers, and communicate with 
 each other by every variety of stratagem. Here a man 
 was left to his own reflections, and at the same time he 
 was treated like a man. Here he was his own tormentor ; 
 
PENITENTIARIES, &C. 57 
 
 at Sing Sing he was tormented by others. A man was 
 sent to Sing Sing for doing wrong to others ; when there, 
 he was quite as much wronged himself. Two wrongs 
 never made a right. Again, at Sing Sing they all work 
 ed in company, and knew each other ; when they met 
 again, after they were discharged, they enticed one another 
 to do wrong again. He was convinced that no man left 
 Sing Sing a better man than he went in. Here he felt 
 very often that he could become better perhaps he 
 might. At all events his mind was calm, and he had no 
 feelings of resentment for his treatment. He had now 
 leisure and quiet for self examination, if he chose to avail 
 himself of it. At Sing Sing there was great injustice, 
 and no redress. The infirm man was put to equal labour 
 with the robust, and punished if he did not perform as 
 much. The flogging was very severe at Sing Sing. He 
 once ventured to express his opinion that such was the 
 case, and (to prove the contrary he supposed) they 
 awarded him eighty-seven lashes for the information. 
 
 That many of this man s observations, in the parallel 
 drawn between the two establishments, are correct, must 
 be conceded ; but still some of his assertions must be 
 taken with due reservation, as it is evident that he had 
 no very pleasant reminiscences of his ten years geolo 
 gical studies in Sing Sing. 
 
 No. 4 an Irishman ; very acute. He had been im 
 prisoned seven years for burglary, and his time would 
 expire in a month. Had been confined also in Walnut 
 Street prison, Philadelphia, for two years previous to his 
 coming here. He said that it was almost impossible for 
 any man to reform in that prison, although some few did. 
 He had served many years in the United States navy. 
 He declared that his propensity to theft was only strong 
 upon him when under the influence of liquor, or tobacco, 
 which latter had the same effect upon him as spirits. He 
 thought that he was reformed now ; the reason why he 
 thought so was, that he now liked work, and had learnt 
 ^ profession in the prison, which he never had before. 
 He considered himself a good workman, as he could; 
 
58 PENITENTIARIES, &C. 
 
 make a pair of shoes in a day. He cannot now bear the 
 smell of liquor or tobacco. (This observation must have 
 been from imagination, as he had no opportunity in the 
 Penitentiary of testing his dislike.) He ascribed all his 
 crimes to ardent spirits. He was fearful of only one 
 thing : his time was just out, and where was he to go ? 
 If known to have been in the prison, he would never find 
 work. He knew a fact which had occurred, which would 
 prove that he had just grounds for his fear. A tailor, who 
 had been confined in Walnut Street prison with him, 
 had been released as soon as his time was up. He was 
 an excellent workman, and resolved for the future to be 
 honest. He obtained employment from a master tailor 
 in Philadelphia, and in three months was made foreman. 
 One of the inspectors of Walnut Street prison came in 
 for clothes, and his friend was called down to take the 
 measures. The inspector recognized him, and as soon 
 as he left the shop told his master that he had been in 
 the Walnut Street prison. The man was in consequence 
 immediately discharged. He could obtain no more work, 
 and in a few months afterwards found his way back 
 again to Walnut Street prison for a fresh offence. 
 
 No. 5 a fine intelligent Yankee, very bold in bearing. 
 He was in the Penitentiary under a false name, being 
 well connected ; had been brought up as an architect 
 and surveyor, and was imprisoned for having counter 
 feit bank notes in his possession. This fellow was a 
 regular lawyer, and very amusing ; it appeared as if 
 nothing could subdue his elasticity of spirit. He said 
 that he did not think that he should be better for his in 
 carceration ; on the contrary, that it would produce very 
 bad effects. " I am punished," said he, " not for having 
 passed counterfeit notes, but for having them in my pos 
 session. The facts are, I had lost all my money by 
 gambling ; and then the gamblers, to make me amends, 
 gave me some of their counterfeit notes, which they 
 always have by them. I do not say that I should not 
 have uttered them ; I believe that in my distress I should 
 have done so ; but I had not exactly made up my mind. 
 
PENITENTIARIES, &C. 59 
 
 At all events, / had not passed them when, from infor 
 mation given, I was taken up. This is certain, that not 
 having passed them, it is very possible for a man to have 
 forged notes in his possession without being aware of it; 
 but this was not considered by my judges, although it 
 ought to have been, as I had never been brought up be 
 fore ; and I have now been sentenced to exactly the same 
 term of imprisonment as those who were convicted of 
 passing them. Now, this I consider as unfair ; my 
 punishment is too severe for my offence, and that always 
 does harm it creates a vindictive feeling, and a desire 
 to revenge yourself for the injustice done to you. 
 
 " Now, sir," continued he, " I should have no objection 
 to compromise ; if they would reduce my punishment one 
 half, I would acknowledge the justice of it, and turn 
 honest when I go out again ; but if I am confined here for 
 three years, why it is my opinion that I shall revenge my 
 self upon society as soon as I am turned loose again." 
 This was said in a very cheerful, playful manner, as he 
 stood up before his loom. A more energetic expression, 
 a keener grey eye, I never met with. There was evidently 
 great daring of soul in this man. 
 
 No. 6 had only been confined six weeks ; his offence 
 was stealing pigs, and his companion in the crime had 
 been sent here with him. He declared that lie was inno 
 cent, and that he had been committed by false swearing. 
 There is no country in the \vorld where there is so much 
 perjury as in the United States, if I am to believe the 
 Americans themselves ; but Mr. Wood told me that he 
 was present at the trial, and that there was no doubt of their 
 guilt. This man was cheerful and contented ; he was 
 working at the loom, and had already become skilful. All 
 whom I had seen up to the present had employment of 
 some sort or other, and I should have passed over this 
 man, as T had done some others, if it had not been for the 
 contrast between him and his companion. 
 
 No. 7 this companion or accomplice. In consequence 
 of the little demand for the Penitentiary manufactures 
 this man had no employment. The first thing he told 
 me was that he had nothing to do, and was very miserable, 
 
60 PENITENTIARIES. &C. 
 
 He earnestly requested me to ask for employment for 
 him. He cried bitterly while he spoke, was quite un 
 manned and depressed, and complained that he had not been 
 permitted to hear from his wife and children. The want 
 of employment appeared to have completely prostrated 
 this man ; although confined but six weeks, he had already 
 lost the time, and enquired of me the day of the week 
 and the month. 
 
 No. 8 was at large. He had been appointed apothe 
 cary to the prison ; of course he was not strictly confined, 
 and was in a comfortable room. He was a shrewd man, 
 and evidently well educated; he had been reduced to 
 beggary by his excesses, and being too proud to work, he 
 had not been too proud to commit forgery. I had a long 
 conversation with him, and he made some sensible remarks 
 upon the treatment of prisoners, and the importance of 
 delegating the charge of prisoners to competent persons. 
 His remarks also upon American juries were very severe, 
 and, as I subsequently ascertained, but too true. 
 
 No. 9 a young woman, about nineteen ; confined for 
 larceny ; in other respects a good character. She was 
 very quiet and subdued, and said that she infinitely pre 
 ferred the solitude of the Penitentiary to the company 
 with which she must have associated had she been con 
 fined in a common gaol. She did not appear at all anxious 
 for the expiration of her term. Her cell was very neat, 
 and ornamented with her own hands in a variety of ways. 
 I observed that she had a lock of hair on her forehead 
 which, from the care, taken of it, appeared to be a favourite, 
 and as I left the cell, 1 said " You appear to have taken 
 great pains with that lock of hair, considering that you 
 have no one to look at you ?" " Yes, sir," replied she ; 
 " and if you think that vanity will desert a woman, even 
 in the solitude of a Penitentiary, you are mistaken." 
 
 When I visited this girl a second time, her term was 
 nearly expired ; she told me that she had not the least 
 wish to leave her cell, and that if they confined her for 
 two years more, she was content to stay. u I am quite 
 peaceful and happy here," said she, and I believe she 
 really spoke the truth. 
 
PENITENTIARIES, &C. 61 
 
 No. 10 a free mulatto girl, about eighteen years of 
 age, one of the most forbidding of her race, and with a 
 physiognomy perfectly brutal ; but she evidently had no 
 mean opinion of her own charms : her woolly hair was 
 twisted into at least fifty short plaits, and she grinned from 
 ear to ear as she advanced to meet me. " Pray may I in 
 quire what you are imprisoned for ?" said I. " Why, 
 replied she, smirking, smiling and coquetting, as she 
 tossed her head right and left " If you please, sir, I was 
 put in here for poisoning a whole family 1 She really 
 appeared to think that she had done a very praiseworthy 
 act. I inquired of her if she was aware of the heinous- 
 ness of her offence. " Yes, she knew it was wrong, but 
 if her mistress beat her again as she had done, she thought 
 she would do it again. She had been in prison three 
 years, and had four more to remain." I asked her if the 
 fear of punishment if another incarceration for seven 
 years would not prevent her from committing such a crime 
 a second time. " She didn t know ; she didn t like being 
 shut up found it very tedious, but still she thought was 
 not right sure but she thought that, if ill-treated, she 
 should certainly do it again." 
 
 I paid a second visit to this amiable young lady, and 
 asked her what her opinion was then. ** Why, she had 
 been thinking, but had not exactly made up her mind 
 but she still thought indeed she was convinced that 
 she should do it again." 
 
 I entered many other cells, and had conversation with 
 the prisoners ; but I did not elicit from them any thing 
 worth narrating. There is, however, a great deal to be 
 gained from the conversation which I have recorded. It 
 must be remembered that observations made by one pri 
 soner, which struck me as important, if not made by 
 others, were put as questions by me ; and I found that 
 the opinions of the most intelligent, although differently 
 expressed, led to the same result that the present sys 
 tem of the Philadelphia Penitentiary was the best that 
 had been invented. As the schoolmaster said, if it did no 
 good, it could do no harm. There is one decided advan 
 tage in this system, which is, that they all learn a trade. 
 
62 PENITENTIARIES, &C. 
 
 if they had not one before ; and, when they leave the pri 
 son, have the means of obtaining an honest livelihood, if 
 they wish so to do themselves, and are permitted so to 
 do by others. Here is the stumbling-block, which neu 
 tralizes almost air U|e x good effects which might be pro 
 duced by the Penitentiary system. The severity and 
 harshness of the world ; the unchristianlike feeling per 
 vading society, which denies to the penitent what indi 
 vidually they will have to plead for themselves at the 
 great tribunal, and which will not permit that punishment, 
 awarded and suffered, can expiate the crime ; on this 
 point, there is no hope of a better feeling being engen 
 dered. Mankind have been and will be the same ; and it 
 is only to be hoped that we may receive more mercy in 
 the next world than we are inclined to extend towards 
 our fellow-creatures in this. 
 
 As I have before observed, I care little for the observa 
 tions or assertions of directors or of officers entrusted 
 with the charge of the Penitentiaries and houses of cor 
 rection ; they are unintentionally biassed, and tilings that 
 appear to them to be mere trifles are very often extreme 
 hardships to the prisoners. It is not only what the body 
 suffers, but what the mind suffers, which must be con 
 sidered ; and it is from the want of this consideration that 
 arise most of the defects in those establishments, not only 
 in America, but every where else. 
 
 During my residence in the United States, a little work 
 made its appearance, which I immediately procured ; it 
 was the production of an American, a scholar, once in 
 the best society, but who, by intemperance, had forfeited 
 his claim to it. He wrote the very best satirical poem I 
 ever read by an American, full of force, and remarkable 
 for energetic versification ; but intemperance, the preva 
 lent vice of America, had reduced him to beggary and 
 wretchedness. He was (by his own request I under 
 stand) shut up in the House of Correction at South Bos 
 ton, that he might, if possible, be reclaimed from intem 
 perance ; and, on his leaving it, he published a small 
 work, called " The Rat-Trap, or Cogitations of a Convict 
 in the House of Correction." This work bears the mark 
 
PENITENTIARIES, &C. 61& 
 
 of a reflective, although buoyant mind ; and as he speaks 
 in the highest terms of Mr. Robbins the master, and be 
 stows praise generally when deserved, his remarks, al 
 though occasionally jocose, are well worthy of attention ; 
 and I shall, therefore, introduce a few of them to the 
 reader. 
 
 His introduction commences thus : 
 
 " I take it for granted that one of every two individuals 
 in this most moral community in the world has been, 
 will be, or deserves or fears to be, in the House of Cor 
 rection. Give every man his deserts, and who shall es 
 cape whipping? This book must, therefore, be interesting, 
 and will have a good circulation not, perhaps, in this 
 State alone. The State spends its money for the above 
 institution, and, therefore, has a right to know what it is ; 
 a knowledge which can never be obtained from the re 
 ports of the authorities, the cursory observations of visi 
 tors, or the statements of ignorant and exasperated con 
 victs. 
 
 What thief e er felt the halter draw, 
 With good opinion of the law ?" 
 
 It has been my aim to furnish such knowledge, and it 
 cannot be denied that I have had the best opportunities to 
 obtain it." 
 
 To show the prevalence of intemperance in this coun 
 try among the better classes, read the following : 
 
 " On entering the wool-shop, a man nodded to me, 
 whom I immediately recognized as a lawyer of no mean 
 talent, who had, at no very distant period, been an orna 
 ment of society, and a man well esteemed for many ex 
 cellent qualities, all of which are now forgotten, while his 
 only fault, intemperance, remains engraven on steel. This 
 was not his first term, or his second, or his third. At 
 this time of writing he is discharged, a sober man, anxious 
 for employment, which he cannot get. His having been 
 in the House of Correction shuts every door against him, 
 and he must have more than ordinary firmness if he does 
 not relapse again. From my inmost soul I pity him. 
 
 VOL. ii. 6 
 
64 PENITENTIARIES, &C. 
 
 Another aged man I recognized as a doctor of medicine : 
 his gray hairs would have been venerable in any other 
 place." 
 
 The labour in this House of Correction which he de 
 scribes is chiefly confined to wool-picking, stone-cutting, 
 and blacksmiths work. The fare he states to be plenti 
 ful, but not of the very best quality. Speaking of ill- 
 treatment, he says : 
 
 " The convicts all have the privilege of complaint 
 ngainst officers ; but while I was there no one used it but 
 myself. I believe they dared not. The officer would 
 probably deny or gloss over the cause of complaint, and 
 his word would be believed rather than that of the con 
 vict; and his power of retaliation is so tremendous, that 
 few would care to brave it. The chance is ten to one 
 that a complaint to the directors would be falsified and 
 prove fruitless ; and the visit of the governor, council, 
 and magistrates, for the purpose of inquiry, is mere mat 
 ter of form. When they asked me if I had reason to 
 complain of rny treatment, I answered in the negative, 
 because I really had none ; but had they asked me if there 
 was any defect in the institution, I would have pointed out 
 a good many." 
 
 The monotony of their existence is well described : - 
 
 " Few incidents chequered the monotony of our ex 
 istence. Who has a got a piece of steel in his eye ? 
 Who has gone to the hospital ? How many came to 
 day in the carryall ? were almost the only questions we 
 could ask. A man falling from the new prison, and 
 breaking his bones in a fashion not to be approved, was a 
 conversational godsend. One day the retiring tide left a 
 small box on the sands at the bottom of the House of 
 Correction wharf, which was picked up by a convict, 
 and found to contain the bequest of some woman who 
 had loved not wisely, but too well; namely, a pair of 
 new-born infants. In my mind, their fate was happy. If 
 they never knew woman s tenderness, neither did they 
 ever know woman s falsehood. There is less pleasure 
 than pain in this bad world, and the earlier we take leave 
 of it the better." 
 
PENITENTIARIES, &C. 65 
 
 He complains of due regard not being paid to the 
 cleanliness of the prisoners : 
 
 "A great defect in the police of the house was the 
 want of baths. We were shaved, or rather scraped, but 
 once a week. Washing one s face and hands in ice-cold 
 water of a winter morning, is little better than no ablu 
 tion at all. The harbour water is interdicted, lest the 
 convicts should swim away, and in the stone shop there 
 are no conveniences for bathing whatever : they would 
 cost something ! In the wool-shop, forty men have one 
 tubful of warm water once a week. When I say that 
 shirts are worn a week in summer, and (as well as draw 
 ers) two or three weeks in winter, it will at once be con 
 ceded that some further provision for personal cleanliness 
 is imperatively demanded. I hope neither this nor any 
 other remark I may think fit to make will be taken as 
 emanating from a fault-finding spirit, since, while I pro 
 nounce upon the disease, I suggest the remedy." 
 
 Speaking of his companions, he says : 
 
 "I had -expected to find myself linked with a band of 
 most outrageous ruffians, but such did not prove to be the 
 case. Few of them were decidedly of a vicious temper 
 ament. The great fault with them seemed to be a want 
 of moral knowledge and principle. Were I to commit a 
 theft I should think myself unworthy to live an instant ; 
 but some of them spoke of the felonies for which they 
 were adjudged to suffer with as much nonchalance as if 
 they were the every-day business of life, without scruple 
 and without shame. Few of them denied the justice of 
 their sentences ; and if they expressed any regret, it was 
 not that they had sinned, but that they had been detected. 
 The duration of the sentence, the time or money lost, the 
 physical suffering, was what filled their estimate of their 
 condition. Many had groans and oaths for a lost dinner, 
 a night in the cells, or a tough piece of work, but none 
 had a tear for the branding infamy of their conviction. 
 Yet some, even of the most hardened, faltered, and spoke 
 with quivering lip and glistening eye, when they thought 
 of their parents, wives, and children. The flinty Horeb 
 of their souls sometimes yielded gushing streams to the 
 
66 PENITENTIARIES, &(T. 
 
 force of that appeal. But there were very few who felt 
 any shame on their own account. Their apathy on the 
 point of honour was amazing. A young man, not twen 
 ty-five years old, in particular, made his felonies his 
 glory, and boasted that he had been a tenant of half the 
 prisons in the United States^ He was sentenced to four 
 years imprisonment for stealing a great number of pieces 
 of broad-cloth, which he unblushmgly told me he had 
 lodged in the hands of a receiver of stolen goods, and ex 
 pected to receive the value at the expiration of his sen 
 tence. He relied on the proverbial * honour among 
 thieves. That fellow ought to be kept in safe custody 
 the remainder of his natural life." 
 
 Certainly those remarks do not argue much for the re 
 formation of the culprit. 
 
 By his account, a parsimony in every point appears to 
 be the great desideratum aimed at. Speaking of the 
 chaplain to the institution, he says : 
 
 " Small blame to him ; 1 honour and respect the man, 
 though I laugh at the preacher. And I say, that seven 
 hundred and thirty sermons per annum, for three hun 
 dred dollars and a weekly dinner, are quite pork enough 
 for a shilling. No man goeth a warfare on his own 
 charges, and the labourer is worthy of his hire. I do 
 not see how he can justify such wear and tear of his pul 
 monary leather, for so small a sum, to his conscience. 
 What is a sixpenny razor or a nine-shilling sermon ? 
 Neither can be expected to cut not but his sermons- 
 would be very good for the use of glorified saints but, 
 alas ! there are none such in the House of Correction. 
 What is the inspiration of a penny-a-liner? I will sup 
 pose that one of the hearers is a sailor, who would relish 
 
 a-nd appreciate a sausage or a lobscouee.. Mr. sets 
 
 blanc mange before him. Messrs, ef the City Govern 
 ment, give your chaplain two thousand dollars a year, sa 
 that he may reside in the House of Correction, without 
 leaving his family to starvation ; let him visit each indi 
 vidual, learn his circumstances and character, and sym 
 pathise with him in all his sorrows, and, my word for it > 
 Mr. will have the love and confidence of alL He* 
 
PENITENTIARIES, &C. 67 
 
 will be an instrument of great good by his counsel and 
 exhortations. But as for his public preaching, this truly 
 good, pious, and learned man might as well sing psalms 
 to a mad horse. Fishes will not throng to St. Anthony, 
 or swine listen to the exorcism of an apostle, in these 
 godless days. If you think he will be overpaid for his 
 services, you may braze the duty of a school-master, who 
 is very much needed, to that of a ghostly adviser. 
 
 " Mr. never fails to pray strenuously that the mas 
 ter and officers may be supported and sustained, which 
 has given rise to the following tin-pot epigram : 
 
 " Support the master and the overseers, 
 
 O Lord ! so runs our chaplain s weekly ditty ; 
 
 Unreasonable prayers God never hears, 
 
 He knows that they re supported by the city." 
 
 He complains bitterly of the convicts not being per 
 mitted the use of any books but the Bible and Temper 
 ance Almanac.* 
 
 "Is it pleasant to look back on follies, vices, crimes ; 
 presently on blasted hopes, iron bars, and unrequited la 
 bour ; and forward upon misery, starvation, and a world s 
 scorn ? In some degree the malice of this regulation 
 which ought only to be inscribed on the statute-book or 
 hell, is impotent. The small glimpse of earth, sea, and 
 sky a convict can command, a spider crawling upon the 
 wall, the very corners of his cell, will serve, by a strong 
 effort, for occupation for his thoughts. Read the follow 
 ing tea-pot-graven monologue, written by some mentally 
 suffering-convict, and reflect upon it : 
 
 " Stone walls and iron bars my frame confine, 
 But the full liberty of thought is mine. 
 Sad privilege ! the mental glance to cast 
 O er crimes, o er follies and misconduct past. 
 Oh wretched tenant of a guarded cell, 
 Thy very freedom makes thy mind a hell. 
 
 * It is rather strange, but he says that he supposes that a full 
 half of the inmates of this House of Correction can neither read 
 nor write. 
 
 6* 
 
66 PENITENTIARIES, &C. 
 
 Come, blessed death ; thy grinded dart to me 
 Shall the bless d signal of deliverance be ; 
 With thy worst agonies were cheaply bought, 
 A last release, a final rest from thought." 
 
 " If the pains of a prison be not enough for you, I will 
 teach you a lesson in the art of torture which I learned 
 from our chaplain, or one of his substitutes. Make your 
 cells round and smooth ; let there be no prominent point 
 for the eye to rest upon, so that it must necessarily turn 
 inward, and I will warrant that you will soon have the 
 pleasure of seeing your victim frantic. Look well to the 
 temperance trash you physic us with, and you will find, 
 in the Almanac for 1837, a serious attempt to make Napo 
 leon Bonaparte out a drunkard, and to prove that a rum- 
 bottle lost him the battle of Waterloo. The author must 
 himself have been drunk when he wrote it. Are you not 
 ashamed, to set such pitiful cant, I will not say such wil 
 ful falsehood and slander, before any rational creature! 
 Did you not know that an overcharged gun would knock 
 the musketeer over by its recoil ? I do not tell you to give 
 tiie convicts all and any books they may desire ; but pray 
 what harm would an arithmetic do, unless it taught them 
 to refute the statistics of your lying almanac, which grave 
 ly advises farmers to feed their hogs with apples, to pre 
 vent folks from getting drunk on cider ? Why not tell 
 them to feed their cattle with barley and wheat for the same 
 reason? What mind was ever corrupted by Murray s 
 Grammar, or Washington Irving s Columbus? When 
 was ever falsehood the successful pioneer of truth ?" 
 
 His remarks upon visitors being permitted to see the 
 convicts are good. 
 
 " Among the annoyances, which others as well as my 
 self felt most galling, was the frequent intrusion of visitors, 
 who had no object but the gratification of a morbid curi 
 osity. Know all persons, that the most debased convict 
 has human feelings, and does not like to be seen in a parti 
 coloured jacket. If ye want to see any convict for any 
 good reason, ask the master to let you meet him in his 
 office ; and even there, you may rely upon it, your visit 
 
PENITENTIARIES, &C. 69 
 
 will be painful enough ; to be stared at by the ignorant and 
 the mean with feelings of pity, as if one were some mon 
 ster of Ind, was intolerable. I hope a certain connection 
 of mine, who came to see me unasked and unwelcome, 
 and brought a stranger with him to witness my disgrace, 
 may never feel the pain he inflicted on me. To a kind- 
 hearted Mac, who came in a proper and delicate way to 
 comfort when I thought all the world had forsaken me, I 
 tender my most grateful thanks. His kindness shall be 
 remembered by me while memory holds her seat. Let 
 the throng of uninvited fools who swarmed about us, ac 
 cept the following sally of the House of Correction muse, 
 from the pen, or rather the fork, of a fellow convict, It 
 may operate to edification-. 
 
 TO OUR VISITORS. 
 
 1 By gazing at us, sirs, pray what do you mean ? 
 Are we the first rascals that ever were seen ? 
 Look into your mirrors perhaps you may find 
 All villains are not in South Boston confined. 
 
 I m not a wild beast r to be seen for a penny ; 
 But a man, as well made and as proper as any ; 
 And what we most differ in is, well I wot, 
 That I have my merits, and you have them not. 
 
 * I own I m a drunkard ; but much I incline 
 To think that your elbow crooks as often as mine ; 
 Aye, breathe in my face, sir, as much as you will 
 One blast of your breath is as good as a gill. 
 
 How kind was our country, to find us a home 
 Where duns cannot plague us, or enemies come I 
 And you from the cup of her kindness may strain 
 A drop so sufficing, you ll not drink again. 
 
 And now that by staring with mouth and eyes open, 
 Ye have bruised the reeds that already were broken ; 
 Go home and, by dint of strict mental inspection, 
 Let each make his own house a House of Correction," 
 
 " This morceau was signed 
 
70 
 
 PENITENTIARIES, (fee. 
 
 The following muster-roll of crime, as he terms it, 
 which he obtained from the master of the prison, is curi 
 ous, as it exemplifies the excess of intemperance in the 
 United States bearing in mind that this is the moral 
 state of Massachusetts. 
 
 "The whole number of males committed to this House 
 of Correction from the time it was opened July 1st, 1833, 
 to Sept. 1st, 1837, was 1477. Of this number there 
 were common drunkards, 783, or more than one-half. 
 
 " The whole amount of females committed to this insti 
 tution from the time it was opened to Sept. 1837, was 869. 
 Of this number there were common drunkards 430, very 
 nearly one-half. 
 
 " And of the whole number committed there were 
 
 Natives of Massachusetts. . 720 
 
 New Hampshire 175 
 
 Maine 130 
 
 Vermont 17 
 
 Rhode Island 35 
 
 Connecticut 28 
 
 New York 50 
 
 New Jersey 3 
 
 Pennsylvania 28 
 
 Delaware 6 
 
 Maryland 10 
 
 Virginia 20 
 
 North Carolina 10 
 
 South Carolina 1 
 
 Georgia 5 
 
 District Columbia 3 
 
 United States 1241 
 
 Moral States 1005 
 
 Other States .. . 236 
 
 England 104 
 
 Scotland 38 
 
 Ireland 839 
 
 Provinces 69 
 
 France 10 
 
 Spain 2 
 
 Germany .. 
 
 Holland 2 
 
 Poland 2 
 
 Denmark , . . . 2 
 
 Prussia 1 
 
 Sweden 8 
 
 West Indies 12 
 
 Cape de Verds 
 
 Island of Malta 1 
 
 At Sea 7 
 
 Foreigners 1100 
 
 Unknown . . .... 5 
 
 Total, 
 
 234G 
 
 He sums up as follows : 
 
 "I have nearly finished, but I should not do justice to 
 my subject did I admit to avert to the beggarly catch-pen 
 ny system on which the whole concern is conducted. The 
 convicts raise pork and vegetables in plenty, but they must 
 not eat thereof; these things must be sent to market to 
 
PENITENTIARIES, &C. 71 
 
 balance the debit side of the prison ledger. The prisoners 
 must catch cold and suffer in the hospital, and the wool 
 and stone shops, because it would cost something to erect 
 comfortable buildings. They must not learn to read and 
 write, lest a cent s worth of their precious time should be 
 lost to the city. They may die and go to hell, and be 
 damned, for a resident physician and chaplain are expen 
 sive articles. They may be dirty ; baths would cost mo 
 ney, and so would books. I believe the very Bibles and 
 Almanacs are the donation of the Bible and Temperance 
 Societies. Every thing is managed with an eye to mo 
 ney making the comfort or reformation, or salvation, of 
 the prisoners are minor considerations. Whose fault is 
 this? 
 
 " The fault, most frugal public, is your own. You 
 like justice, but you do not like to pay for it. You like 
 to see a clean, orderly, well-conducted prison, and, as 
 far as your parsimony will permit, such is the House of 
 Correction. With all its faults, it is still a valuable in 
 stitution. It holds all, it harms few, and reforms some. 
 It looks well, for the most has been made of matters. If 
 you would have it perfect you must untie your purse- 
 strings, and you will lose nothing by it in the end," 
 
ARMY. 
 
 A STANDING army is so adverse to the institutions, 
 and so offensive to the people of a democracy, that, were 
 it possible, there would be no such thing as American 
 regular troops ; but, finding it impossible to do without 
 a portion, they have a force as follows : 
 
 General Staff 13 
 
 Medical Department 76 
 
 Pay ditto 18 
 
 Purchasing ditto 3 
 
 Corps of Engineers 28 
 
 Topographical 10 
 
 Ordnance Department ... 209 
 
 Four Regiments of Ar 
 tillery 1,GUG 
 
 Seven Regiments of In 
 fantry 3,118 
 
 Recruits and Unattached 1,418 
 
 Total . . 7,834 
 
 T\vo Regiments of Dra 
 goons 1,335 
 
 Of which military force the privates amount to only 5,652 men. 
 
 This is very insufficient, even to distribute among the 
 frontier forts as a check to the Indians, but now that the 
 Florida war has so long occupied the troops, these out- 
 posts have been left in a very unprotected state. Isolated 
 as the officers are from the world, (for these forts are 
 far removed from towns or cities,) they contrive to form 
 a society within themselves, having most of them re- 
 course to matrimony, which always gives a man some 
 thing to do, and acts as a fillip upon his faculties, which 
 might stagnate from such quiet monotony. The society, 
 therefore, at these outposts is small, but very pleasant, 
 All the officers being now educated at West Point, they 
 are mostly very intelligent and well-informed, and sol- 
 diers wives are always agreeable women all over the 
 world. The barracks turn out also a very fair shew of 
 children upon the green sward. The accommodations 
 
ARM*. 73 
 
 are, generally speaking, very good, and when supplies 
 can be received, the living is equally so; when they 
 cannot, it can t be helped, and there is so much money 
 saved. A suttler s store is attached to each outpost, and 
 the prices of the articles are regulated by a committee 
 of officers, and a tax is also levied upon the suttler in 
 proportion to the number of men in the garrison, the 
 proceeds of which are appropriated to the education of 
 the children of the soldiers and the provision of a library 
 and news-room. If the Government were to permit 
 officers to remain at any one station for a certain period, 
 much more would be done ; but the Government is con 
 tinually shifting them from post to post, and no one will 
 take the trouble to sow when he has no chance of reaping 
 the harvest. Indeed, many of the officers complained 
 that they had hardly had time to furnish their apart 
 ments in one fort when they were ordered off to another 
 not only a great inconvenience to them, but a great 
 expense also. 
 
 The American army is not a favourite service, and 
 this is not to be wondered at. It is illtreated in every 
 way ; the people have a great dislike to them, which is 
 natural enough in a Democracy; but what is worse, fo 
 curry favour with the people, the Government very often 
 do not support the officers in the execution of their duty. 
 Their furloughs are very limited, and they have their 
 choice of the outposts, where they live out of the world, 
 or the Florida war, when they go out of it. But the 
 greatest injustice is, that they have no half-pay : if not 
 wishing to be employed, they must resign their com 
 missions and live as they can. In this point there is 
 a great partiality shewn to the navy, who have such 
 excellent half-pay, although, to prevent remarks at such 
 glaring injustice to the other service, another term is 
 given to the naval half-pay, and the naval officers are- 
 supposed to be always on service. 
 
 The officers of the army are paid a certain sum, and 
 allowed a certain number of rations per month ; for in 
 stance, a major-general has two hundred dollars per 
 
74 ARMY. 
 
 month, and fifteen rations. According to the estimated 
 value of the rations, as given to me by one of the officers, 
 the annual pay of the different grades will be, in our 
 money, nearly as follows: 
 
 Army. . 
 
 Major-General 850 
 
 Brigadier-General. ....... 570 
 
 Colonel 340 
 
 Lieutenant-Colonel 280 
 
 Major 225 
 
 Captain 200 
 
 First Lieutenant 150 
 
 Second LLutenant 140 
 
 Cadet.. ..90 
 
 Navy* < 
 
 Same rank 960 
 
 Do 830 
 
 Do 525 
 
 Do. ..380 
 
 Do. . . 15H 
 
 The cavalry officers have a slight increase of pay. 
 
 The privates of the American regular army are not 
 the most creditable soldiers in the world ; they are chiefly 
 composed of Irish emigrants, Germans, and deserters 
 from the English regiments in Canada. Americans are 
 very rare ; only those who can find nothing else to do, 
 and have to choose between enlistment and starvation, 
 will enter into the American army. They do not, how 
 ever, enlist for longer than three years. There is not 
 much discipline, and occasionally a great deal of inso 
 lence, as might be expected from such a collection. Cor 
 poral punishment has been abolished in the American 
 army except for desertion ; and if ever there was a proof 
 of the necessity of punishment to enforce discipline, it is 
 the many substitutes in lieu of it, to which the officers 
 are compelled to resort all of them more severe than 
 flogging. The most common is that of loading a man 
 with thirty-six pounds of shot in his knapsack, and 
 making him walk three hours out of four, day and night 
 without intermission, with this weight on his shoulders, 
 for six days and six nights ; that is, he is compelled to 
 walk three hours with the weight, and then is suffered to 
 sit down one. Towards the close this punishment be 
 comes very severe ; the feet of the men are so sore and 
 swelled, that they cannot move for some days afterwards. 
 
ARMY. 75 
 
 I enquired what would be the consequence if a man were 
 to throw down his knapsack and refuse to walk. The 
 commanding-officer of one of the forts replied, that he 
 would be hung up by his thumbs till he fainted a 
 variety of piquetting. Surely these punishments savour 
 quite as much of severity, and are quite as degrading as 
 flogging. 
 
 The pay of an American private is good fourteen 
 dollars a month, out of which his rations and regimen 
 tals take eight dollars, leaving him six dollars a month 
 for pleasure. Deserters are punished by being made to 
 drag a heavy ball and chain after them, which is never 
 removed day or night. If discharged, they are flogged, 
 their heads shaved, and they are drummed out at the 
 point of the bayonet. 
 
 From the conversations I have had with many desert 
 ers from our army, who were residing in the United 
 States or were in the American service, I am convinced 
 that it would be a very well judged measure to offer a free 
 pardon to all those who would return to Canada and re- 
 enter the English service. I think that a good effective 
 regiment would soon be collected, and one that you 
 might trust on the frontiers without any fear of their de 
 serting again ; and it would have another good effect, 
 which is, that their statements would prevent the deser* 
 tion of others. 
 
 America, and its supposed freedom, is, to the British 
 soldiers, an Utopia in every sense of the word. They 
 revel in the idea ; they seek it, and it is not to be found. 
 The greatest desertion from the English regiments is 
 among the musicians composing the bands. There arc 
 so many theatres in America, and so few musicians, ex 
 cept coloured people, that instrumental performers of all 
 kinds are in great demand. People are sent over to 
 Canada, and the other British provinces, to pursuade 
 these poor fellows to desert, promising them very large 
 salaries, and pointing out to them the difference between 
 being a gentleman in America and a slave in the Eng 
 lish service. The temptation is too strong ; they desert ; 
 
 VOL. ii 7 
 
76 ARMY. 
 
 and when they arrive, they soon learn the value of the 
 promises made to them, and find how cruelly they have 
 been deceived. 
 
 The Florida war has been a source of dreadful vexa 
 tion and expense to the United States, having already 
 cost them between 20,000,000 and 30,600,000 of dol 
 lars, without any apparent prospect of its coming to a sat 
 isfactory conclusion. The American government has 
 also very much injured its character, by the treachery 
 and disregard of honour shown by it to the Indians, who 
 have been, most of them, captured under a flag of truce. 
 I have heard so much indignation expressed by the 
 Americans themselves at this conduct that I shall not 
 comment further upon it. It is the Federal Government, 
 and not the officers employed, who must bear the onus. 
 But this war has been mortifying, and even dangerous to 
 the Americans in another point. It has now lasted three 
 years and more. General after general has been super 
 seded, because they have not been able to bring it to a 
 conclusion ; and the Indians have proved, to themselves 
 and to the Americans, that they can defy them when they 
 once get them among the swamps and morasses. There 
 has not been one hundred Indians killed, although many 
 of them have been treacherously kidnapped, by a viola 
 tion of honour ; and it is supposed that the United States 
 have already lost one thousand men, if not more, in this 
 protracted conflict. 
 
 The aggregate force under General Jessop, in Florida, 
 in November 1837, was stated to be as follows : 
 
 Regulars 4,637 
 
 Volunteers 4,078 
 
 Seamen 100 
 
 Indians 178 
 
 8,893 
 
 It is supposed that the number of Indians, remaining 
 in Florida do not amount, men, women, and children, to 
 
ARMY. 
 
 77 
 
 more than 1,500; and General Jessop has declared to 
 the government that the war is impracticable. 
 
 MILITIA. The return of the militia of the United 
 States, for the year 1837, is as follows : 
 
 The number of MILITIA in the several States and Territories, ac 
 cording to the statement of George Bomford, Colonel of Ord 
 nance, dated 20th November, 1837. 
 
 States and Territories. 
 
 Date 
 of 
 Return. 
 
 Number 
 of 
 Militia. 
 
 Maine 
 
 1836 
 
 42,468 
 
 New Hampshire 
 
 1836 
 
 27,473 
 
 
 1836 
 
 44,911 
 
 
 1830 
 
 14,808 
 
 Mississippi . 
 
 1830 
 
 13,724 
 
 
 1830 
 
 60,982 
 
 Vermont . . . . . . 
 
 1824 
 
 25,581 
 
 Rhode Island 
 
 1832 
 
 1,377 
 
 Connecticut 
 
 1836 
 
 23,826 
 
 
 1836 
 
 184,728 
 
 New Jersey 
 
 1829 
 
 39,171 
 
 
 1834 
 
 202,281 
 
 Delaware 
 
 1827 
 
 9,229 
 
 Maryland 
 
 1836 
 
 46,854 
 
 
 1836 
 
 101,838 
 
 
 1835 
 
 64,415 
 
 
 1833 
 
 51,112 
 
 
 1834 
 
 48,461 
 
 
 1829 
 
 14,892 
 
 
 1836 
 
 71 483 
 
 Ohio 
 
 1836 
 
 146 428 
 
 Indiana 
 
 1833 
 
 53 913 
 
 Illinois 
 
 1831 
 
 27,386 
 
 Missouri 
 
 1835 
 
 6,170 
 
 
 1825 
 
 2,028 
 
 
 1831 
 
 5478 
 
 
 1831 
 
 827 
 
 Wisconsin Territory 
 
 none 
 
 
 District of Columbia 
 
 1832 
 
 1,249 
 
 
 
 1,333,091 
 
78 ARMY. 
 
 This is an enormous force, but at the commencement 
 of a war not a very effective one. In fact, there is no 
 country in the world so defenceless and so unprepared 
 for war as the United States, but, once roused up, no 
 country more formidable if any attempt is made to in 
 vade its territories. At the outbreak of a war, the States 
 have almost everything to provide; and although the 
 Americans are well adapted as materials for soldiers, still 
 they have to be levied and disciplined. At the com 
 mencement of hostilities, it is not improbable that a 
 well-organized force of 30,000 men might walk through 
 the whole of the Union, from Maine to Georgia ; but it 
 is almost certain that not one man would ever get back 
 again, as by that time the people would have been roused 
 and excited, armed and sufficiently disciplined ; and their 
 numbers, independent of their bravery, would overwhelm 
 three or four times the number I have mentioned. 
 
 Another point must not pass unnoticed, which is that 
 in America, the major part of which is still an uncleared 
 country, the system of warfare naturally partakes much 
 of the Indian practices of surprise and ambuscade ; and 
 the invaders will always have to labour under great disad 
 vantage of the Americans having that perfect knowledge of 
 the country which the former have not. 
 
 Most of the defeats of the British troops have been oc 
 casioned by this advantage on the part of the Americans, 
 added to the impracticability of the country rendering the 
 superior discipline of the British of no avail. Indeed 
 the great advantage of knowing the country were proved 
 by the American attempts to invade Canada during the 
 last war, and which ended in the capitulation of General 
 Hull. In an uncleared country, even where large forces 
 meet, each man, to a certian degree, acts independently, 
 taking his position, perhaps, behind a tree (treeing it, as 
 they term it in America), or any other defence which may 
 offer. Now, it is evident that, skilled as all the Americans 
 are in fire-arms, and generally using rifles, a disciplined 
 English soldier, with his clumsy musket, fights at a dis 
 advantage ; and, therefore, with due submission to his 
 Grace, the Duke of Wellington was very wrong when he 
 
ARMY. 79 
 
 stated, the other day in the House of Lords, that the 
 militia of Canada should be disbanded, and their place 
 supplied by regular troops from England. The militia of 
 Upper Canada are quite as good men as the Americans, 
 and can meet them after their own fashion. A certain 
 proportion of regulars are advantageous, as they are more 
 steady, and in case of a check can be more depended 
 upon ; but it is not once in five times that they will, either 
 in America or Canada, be able to bring their concentrated 
 discipline into play. But if the Americans have not the 
 discipline of our troops, their courage is undoubted, and 
 even upon a clear plain the palm of victory will always be 
 severely disputed. A Vermonter, surprised for a moment 
 at finding himself in a charge of bayonents with the Eng 
 lish troops, eyed his opponents, and said, " Well, I cal 
 culate my piece of iron is as good as yourn, anyhow," 
 and then rushed to the attack. People who "calculate" 
 m that way are not to be trifled with, as the annals of his 
 tory fully demonstrate. 
 
 A war between America and England is always to be de 
 precated. Notwithstanding that the countries are severed, 
 still the Americans are our descendants ; they speak the 
 same language ; and (although they do not readily admit 
 it) still look up to us as their mother country. It is true 
 that this feeling is fast wearing away, but still it is not 
 yet effaced. It is true also that, in their ambition and 
 their covetousness, they would destroy the mutual ad 
 vantages derived by both countries from our commercial 
 relations, that they might, by manufacturing as well as 
 producing, secure the whole profits to themselves. But 
 they are wrong ; for, great as America is becoming, the 
 time is not yet arrived when she can compete with English 
 capital, or work for herself without it. But there is 
 another reason why a war between the two countries is 
 so much to be deprecated, which is, that it must ever be 
 a cruel and an irritating war. To attack the Americans by 
 invasion will always be hazardous, and must ultimately 
 prove disastrous. In what manner, then, is England to 
 avenge any aggression that may be committed by the 
 Americans? Ail she can do is to ravage, burn > anades- 
 7 
 
80 ARMY. 
 
 troy ; to carry the horrors of war along their whole ex 
 tended line of coast, distressing the non-combatants, and 
 wreaking vengeance upon the defenceless. 
 
 Dreadful to contemplate as this is, and even more dread 
 ful the system of stimulating the Indian tribes to join us, 
 adding scalping, and murdering of women and children, 
 to other horrors, still it is the only method to which Eng 
 land could resort, and, indeed, a method to which she 
 would be warranted to resort, in her own behoof. More 
 over, in case of a future war, England must not allow it 
 to be of sueh short duration as was the last ; the Ameri 
 cans must be made to feel it, by its being protracted until 
 their commerce is totally annihilated, and their expenses 
 are increased in proportion with the decrease of their 
 means. 
 
 Let it not be supposed that England would harass the 
 coasts of America, or raise the Indian tribes against her, 
 from any feeling of malevolence, or any pleasure in the 
 sufferings w r hich must ensue. It would be from the 
 knowledge of the fact that money is the sinews of war 
 and consequently that, by obliging the Americans to call 
 out so large a force as she must do to defend her coast 
 and to repel the Indians, she would be put to such an 
 enormous expense, as would be severely felt throughout 
 the Union, and soon incline all parties to a cessation of 
 hostilities. It is to touch their pockets that this plan 
 must and will be resorted to ; and a war carried on upon 
 that plan alone, would prove a salutary lesson to a young 
 and too ambitious a people. Let the Americans recollect 
 the madness of joy with which the hats and caps were 
 thrown up in the air at New York, when, even after so 
 short a war with England, they heard that the treaty of 
 peace had been concluded ; and that too at a time when 
 England was so occupied in a contest, it may be said, 
 with the whole world, that she could hardly divert a por 
 tion of her strength to act against America : then let them 
 reflect how sanguinary, how injurious, a protracted war 
 with England would be, when she could direct her whole 
 force against them. It is, however, useless to ask a people 
 o reflect who are governed and ruled by the portion who 
 
ARMY. 8i 
 
 will not reflect. The forbearance must be on our part ; 
 and, for the sake of humanity, it is to be hoped that we 
 shall be magnanimous enough to forbear, for so long as 
 may be consistent with the maintenance of our national 
 honour. 
 
82 
 
 AMERICAN MARINE. 
 
 IT may be inferred that I naturally directed my atten 
 tion to every thing connected with the American marine, 
 and circumstances eventually induced me to search much 
 more minutely into particulars than at first I had intend 
 ed to do. 
 
 The present force of the American navy is rated as 
 folio w : 
 
 Ships of the Line. 
 
 Of 120 guns 1 
 
 80 guns 7 
 
 74 guns 3 
 
 Total 11 
 
 Frigates, let Class. 
 
 Of 54 guns 1 
 
 44 guns 14 
 
 Total IS 
 
 Frigates, Zd Class. 
 
 Of 36 guns 2 
 
 Sloops. 
 
 Of 20 guns 12 
 
 18 guns 3 
 
 Total 15 
 
 Schooners. 
 
 Of 10 guns 6 
 
 Others 7 
 
 Total 13 
 
 Grand Total . , . . 5& 
 
AMERICAN MARINE. 
 
 8g 
 
 NAVY LIST. 
 Vessels of War of the United States Navy, September, 1837. 
 
 Name and Rate. Where and when built Where employed. 
 
 Ships of the Line. 
 
 GUNS, j 
 
 Franklin 74; Philadelphia . 
 
 Washington 74 Portsmouth, N, 
 
 1815 
 
 H. 
 
 1816 
 . 1819 
 
 In ordinary at New- 
 
 York. 
 Ditto 
 
 ditto. 
 
 Columbus 74i Washington . 
 
 Ohio 80 ; New York 1820 
 
 North Carolina . . 80; Philadelphia . , 
 
 At Boston (repaired.) 
 
 Delaware 80: Gosport 
 
 Alabama 80 
 
 Vermont . . . . 
 Virginia . . . . 
 New York . . 
 Pennsylvania 
 
 .. 80 
 ! 80 
 .. 80 
 .. 120; Philadelphia . . 
 
 Ditto ditto. 
 1820^ commission (Pa 
 cific). 
 
 18201 At Norfolk (repaired.) 
 1 On stocks at Ports 
 mouth, N. H. 
 Ditto at Boston. 
 Ditto ditto. 
 On stocks, at Norfolk. 
 
 1837 
 
 Frigates, 1st Class, j 
 
 Independence 54| Boston J 8 14i On the coast of Brazil. 
 
 United States .... 44| Philadelphia ... 1797 T " " 
 
 At Philadelphia. 
 
 Constitution .... 44j Boston 1787 
 
 Guerriere 44 Philadelphia 
 
 Java 44; Baltimore . . 
 
 Potomac 44! Washington 
 
 Brandywine .... 44 Washington 
 
 Hudson 44 
 
 Columbia 
 
 i ! 
 
 Purchased 
 
 In commission (Medi 
 terranean.) 
 Ditto ditto. 
 
 1814 In ordinary, Norfolk. 
 
 1814| Receiving ship, ditto, 
 
 1821; In ordinary at ditto. 
 
 1825 1 Ditto. ditto. 
 
 1826 Receiving vessel at 
 New York. 
 
 Santee . 44, -, 
 
 Washington . . . 1836 
 
 Cumberland .... 44 
 
 Sabine 44 
 
 Savannah , 44 
 
 Raritan 44 
 
 St. Lawrence. . , . 44 
 
 In ordinary, Norfolk. 
 
 On stocks, at Ports 
 mouth, N. H. 
 
 Ditto at Boston. 
 
 Ditto at New York. 
 .Ditto ditto. 
 | Ditto at Philadelphia. 
 
 Ditto at Norfolk. 
 
 Frigates, %d Class. 
 
 | 
 Constellation , , T , 36 Baltimore 1797JIn commission (W 
 
AMERICAN MARINE. 
 
 Navy List (continued.) 
 
 Name and Rate. 
 
 When and where built 
 
 Where employed. 
 
 GUNS. 
 
 Macedonian .... 36 
 Sloops of War. 
 John Adams . 20 
 
 Norfolk (rebuilt) 1836 
 
 Norfolk (rebuilt) 1820 
 Boston (rebuilding) . . 
 Boston .... 1825 
 
 Ready for sea at Nor. 
 
 Ready for sea at N. Y. 
 
 At sea. 
 At sea. 
 In ordinary, Norfolk. 
 Ditto ditto. 
 In commission (W. I.) 
 At sea. 
 On the coast of Brazil. 
 In commission (West 
 Indies.) 
 Ditto. ditto. 
 Ditto ditto. 
 At Boston. 
 At sea. 
 
 In ordinary, Norfolk. 
 
 On the coast of Brazil . 
 In commission (West 
 Indies.) 
 In the Mediterranean, 
 In commission (East 
 Indies.) 
 In the Pacific. 
 1 Atlantic coast. 
 Employed near N. Y. 
 At Baltimore (con 
 demned.) 
 Receiving vessel at 
 Philadelphia. 
 
 1 
 1 New York (nearly 
 f ready for sea.) 
 
 Cyane 20 
 
 Boston 20 
 
 
 New York 1825 
 New York 1826 
 Boston 1826 
 
 Vincennes . . . .20 
 
 Warren 20 
 
 Natchez 20 
 
 Norfolk . . . 1827 
 
 Fal mouth . . 20 
 
 Boston 1827 
 
 Fail-field ... 20 
 
 New York 1828 
 Philadelphia . . 1828 
 
 Washington . . 1828 
 Portsmouth ... 1828 
 N.York (rebuilt) 1820 
 Baltimore ]813 
 
 New York 1813 
 
 Philadelphia . . 1821 
 Washington . . 1821 
 
 Washington . . 1821 
 New York 1831 
 
 Boston . . 1831 
 
 Vandalia 20 
 
 St. Louis 20 
 Concord ... .20 
 
 Erie 18 
 
 Ontario 18 
 
 Peacock 18 
 
 Schooners, fyc. 
 Dolphin 10 
 
 Grampus 10 
 
 Shark ... 10 
 
 Enterprise 10 
 
 Boxer . 10 
 
 Porpoise . . 10 Boston 1836 
 
 Experiment .... 4 
 Fox (hulk) 3 
 
 Sea Gull (galliot) . . . 
 Exploring Vessels. 
 Relief 
 
 Washington . . 1831 
 Purchased 1823 
 
 Purchased 1823 
 
 Philadelphia ... 1836 
 Boston . . 1836 
 
 Barque Pioneer 
 Barque Consort 
 Schooner Active .... 
 
 Boston .... 1836 
 
 Purchased 1837 
 
AMERICAN MARINE. 85 
 
 The rating of these vessels will, however, very much 
 mislead people as to the real strength of the armament. 
 The 74 s and 80 s are in weight of broadside equal to 
 most three-decked ships ; the first-classed frigates are 
 double-banked of the scantling, and carrying the com 
 plement of men of our 74 s. The sloops are equally 
 powerful in proportion to their ratings, most of them car 
 rying long guns. Although flush vessels, they are little 
 inferior to a 36-gun frigate in scantling, and are much too 
 powerful for any that we have in our service, under tha 
 same denomination of rating. All the line-of-battle ships 
 are named after the several States, the frigates after the 
 principal rivers, and the sloops of war after the towns, or 
 titiest and the names are decided by lot. 
 
 It is impossible not to be struck with the beautiful 
 architecture in most of these vessels. The Pennsylvania, 
 rated 120 guns, on four decks, carrying 140, is not by any 
 means so perfect as some of the line-of-battle ships.* The 
 Ohio is as far as I am a judge, the perfection of a ship of 
 
 * The following are the dimensions given me of the ship of the 
 
 line Pennsylvania : 
 
 feet laches. 
 
 In extreme length over all 237 
 
 Between the perpendiculars on the lower gun deck 220 
 
 Length of keel for tonnage 190 
 
 Moulded breadth of beam 56 9 
 
 do. do. from tonnage 57 6 
 
 Extreme breadth of beam outside the wales. ... 59 
 
 Depth of lower hold 23 
 
 Extreme depth amidships 51 
 
 Burthen 3366 tons, and has ports for 140 guns, all long thirty. 
 
 two pounders, throwing 2240 pounds of ball at each broadside, or 
 
 4480 pounds from the whole. 
 
 Her mainmast from the step to the truck 278 
 
 Main-yard 110 
 
 Main-topsail yard 82 
 
 Main-top-gallant yard 52 
 
 Main-royal yard 36 
 
 Size of lower shrouds 11 
 
 Do. of Mainstay 19 
 
 Do. of sheet-cable 25 
 
 The sheet anchor, made at Washington, weighs 1 1^660 pound*. 
 
86 AMERICAN MARINE. 
 
 the line. But in every class you cannot but admire the 
 superiority of the models and workmanship. The dock 
 yards in America are small, and not equal at present to 
 what may eventually be required, but they have land to 
 add to them if necessary. There certainly is no necessity 
 for such establishments or such storehouses as we have, 
 as their timber and hemp are at hand when required ; but 
 they are very deficient both in dry and wet docks. Pro 
 perly speaking, they have no great naval depot This 
 arises from the jealous feeling existing between the several 
 States. A bill brought into Congress to expend so many 
 thousand dollars upon the dock-yard at Boston, in Massa 
 chusetts, would be immediately opposed by the State of 
 New York, and an amendment proposed to transfer the 
 works intended to their dock-yard at Brooklyn. The other 
 States which possess dock-yards would also assert their 
 right, and thus they will all fight for their respective esta- 
 
 Main-topsail contains 1,531 yards. 
 
 The number of yards of canvass for one suit of sails is 18,341, 
 and for bags, hammocks, boat-sails, awnings, &c., 14,624; total 
 32,965 yards. 
 
 The Americans considered that in the Pennsylvania they possessed 
 the largest vessel in the world, but this is a great mistake ; one of 
 the Sultan s three-deckers is larger. Below are the dimension* of 
 the Queen, lately launched at Portsmouth ; 
 
 feet, inches. 
 
 Length on the gun-deck 204 
 
 Do. of Keel for tonnage 166 5 
 
 Breadth extreme 60 
 
 Do. for tonnage 59 2 
 
 Depth in bold 23 8 
 
 Burden in tons (No. 3,099) 
 
 Extreme length aloft 247 6 
 
 Extreme height forward 56 4 
 
 Do. midships 50 8 
 
 Do. abaft 62 6 
 
 Launching draught of water, forward 14 1 
 
 Do. abaft 19 
 
 Height from deck to deck, gun-deck 7 3 
 
 Do. middle-deck 7 
 
 Do. main-deck 7 tt 
 
AMERICAN MARINE. 87 
 
 blishments until the bill is lost, and the bone of contention 
 falls to the ground.* 
 
 It is remarkable that along the whole of the eastern coast 
 of America, from Halifax in Nova Scotia down to Pen- 
 sacola in the Gulf of Mexico, there is not one good open 
 harbour. The majority of the American harbours are 
 barred at the entrance, so as to preclude a lleet running 
 out and in to manoeuvre at pleasure ; indeed, if the tide 
 does not serve, there are few of them in which a line-of- 
 battle ship, hard pressed, could take refuge. A good 
 spacious harbour, easy of access, like that of Halifax in 
 Nova Scotia, is one of the few advantages, perhaps the 
 only natural advantage, wanting in the United States. 
 
 The American navy list is as follows : 
 
 Captains or Commodores... . 50 
 
 Masters Cammandant 50 
 
 Lieutenants 279 
 
 Surgeons 50 
 
 Passed Assistant-Surgeons. , 24 
 Assistant-Surgeons. 33 
 
 Passed Midshipmen 181 
 
 Midshipmen 227 
 
 Sailing-Masters 27 
 
 Sail-makers 25 
 
 Boatswains 22 
 
 Gunners 27 
 
 Carpenters 26 
 
 Pursers 45 
 
 Chaplains 9 
 
 * There are seven navy yards belonging to, and occupied for the 
 use of, the United States, viz. 
 
 The navy yard at Portsmouth, N. H., is situated on an island, 
 contains fifty eight acres, cost 5,500 dollars. 
 
 The navy yard at Charleston, near Boston, is situated on the north 
 side of Charles river, contains thirty-four acres, and cost 32,214 dolls. 
 
 The navy yard at New York is situated on Long Island, opposite 
 New York, contains forty acres, and cost 40,000 dollars. 
 
 The navy yard at Philadelphia is situated on the Delaware river, 
 in the district of Southwark, contains eleven acres to low-water 
 mark, and cost 37,000 dollars. 
 
 The navy yard at Washington, in the district of Columbia, is situ 
 ated on the eastern branch of the river Potomac, contains thirty- 
 seven acres, and cost 4,000 dallars. In this yard are made all the 
 anchors, cables, blocks, and almost all things requisite for the use of 
 the navy of the United States. 
 
 The navy yard at Portsmouth, near Norfolk in Virginia, is situated 
 on the south branch cf Elizabeth river, contains sixteen acres, and 
 cost 13,000 dollars. 
 
 There is also a navy yard at Pensacola, in Florida, which is 
 merely used for repairing ships on the West-India station. 
 
 VOL. ii. 8 
 
88 AMERICAN MARINE. 
 
 The pay of these officers is on the following scale, it 
 must be observed, that they do not use the term "half- 
 pay;" but when unemployed the officers are either 
 attached to the various dockyards or on leave. I have 
 reduced the sums paid into English money, that they may 
 be better understood by the reader : 
 
 Senior captain, on service , 960 
 
 On leave (i. e. half-pay) 730 
 
 Captains, squadron service 839 
 
 Navy -yard and other duty (half-pay) 730 
 
 Off duty (ditto) .525 
 
 Commanders on service 525 
 
 Navy-yard and other duty (half-pay) 440 
 
 On leave (ditto) 380 
 
 Lieutenants commanding 380 
 
 Navy-yard and other duty (half-pay) 315 
 
 Waiting orders (ditto) 250 
 
 Surgeons, according to their length of servitude, from 210 
 
 To 500 
 
 And half-pay in proportion. 
 
 Assistant surgeons from 200 
 
 To 250 
 
 Chaplains ; sea service 250 
 
 . On leave (half-pay) 170 
 
 Passed midshipmen, duty . , 156 
 
 Waiting orders (half-pay) 125 
 
 Midshipmen ; sea service 33 
 
 Navy-yard and other duty (half-pay)! ! ! 72 
 
 Leave (ditto) ! ! 63 
 
 Sailing masters; ships of the line 228 
 
 Other duty (half-pay) 209 
 
 Leave (ditto) 156 
 
 Boatswains, carpenters, sailmakers, & gunners ; ships of the line 156 
 
 Frigate 125 
 
 Other duty (half-pay) 105 
 
 On leave (ditto) 75 
 
 It will be perceived by the above list how very much 
 better all classes in the American service are paid in com 
 parison with those in our service. But let it not be sup 
 posed that this liberality is a matter of choice OH the part 
 of the American Government ; on the contrary, it is one 
 of necessity. There never was, nor never will be, any 
 thing like liberality under a democratic form of govern- 
 
AMERICAN MARINE. 
 
 89 
 
 liient. The navy is a favourite service, it is true, but the 
 officers of the American navy have not one cent more than 
 they are entitled to, or than they absolutely require. In a 
 country like America, where any one may by industry, in 
 a few years, become an independent, if not a wealthy man, 
 it would be impossible for the Government to procure offi 
 cers if they were not tolerably paid; no parents would 
 permit their children to enter the service unless they were 
 enabled by their allowances to keep up a respectable ap 
 pearance ; and in America every thing, to the annuitant 
 or person not making money, but living upon his income, 
 is much dearer than with us. The Government, there 
 fore, are obliged to pay them, or young men would not 
 embark in the profession ; for it is not in America as it is 
 with us, where every department is filled up, and no room 
 is left for those who would crowd in ; so that in the ea 
 gerness to obtain respectable employment, emolument 
 becomes a secondary consideration. It may, however, be 
 worth while to put in juxtaposition the half-pay paid to 
 officers of corresponding ranks in the two navies of Eng 
 land and America : 
 
 Officers. 
 
 America. England. 
 
 Half-pay post-captains, senior, on leave; corres 
 ponding to commodore or rear-admiral in Eng 
 land 
 
 Post captains off duty (that is, duly on shore) . . 
 
 On leave 
 
 Commanders off sea duty 
 
 In yards and on leave 
 
 Lieutenants ; shore duty 
 
 Waiting orders or on leave .... 
 
 Passed midshipmen, full pay 
 
 Half-pay 
 
 Midshipmen, full pay 
 
 Half-pay 
 
 . 
 730 
 730 
 2 5 
 440 
 380 
 315 
 250 
 156 
 125 
 83 
 63 
 
 . 
 
 456 
 
 191 
 155 
 
 90 
 25 
 
 
 25 
 
 
 
 My object in making the comparison between the two 
 services is not to gratify an invidious feeling. More ex 
 pensive as living in America certainly is, still the dispro- 
 
90 AMERICAN MARINE. 
 
 portion is such as must create surprise; and if it requires? 
 such a sum for an American officer to support himself in 
 a creditable and gentlemanlike manner, what can be ex 
 pected from the English officer with his miserable pit 
 tance, which is totally inadequate to his rank and station ? 
 Notwithstanding which, our officers do keep up their ap 
 pearance as gentlemen, and those who have no half-pay 
 are obliged to support themselves. And I point this out, 
 that when Mr. Hume and other gentlemen clamour against 
 the expense of our naval force, they may not be ignorant 
 of one fact, which is. that not only on half-pay, but when 
 on active service, a moiety at least of the expenses neces 
 sarily incurred by our officers to support themselves ac 
 cording to their rank, to entertain, and to keep their ships 
 in proper order, is, three times out of four, paid out of 
 their own pockets, or those of their relatives ; and that is 
 always done without complaint, as long as they are not 
 checked in their legitimate claims to promotion. 
 
 In the course of his employment in the Mediterranean. 
 one of our captains was at Palermo. The American com 
 modore was there at the time, and the latter gave most 
 sumptuous balls and entertainments. Being very intimate 
 with each other, our English captain said to him one day, 
 " I cannot imagine how you can afford to give such par 
 ties ; 1 only know that I cannot ; my year s pay would 
 be all exhausted in a fortnight." " My dear fellow," re 
 plied the American commodore, " do you suppose that I 
 am so foolish as to go to such an expense, or to spend my 
 pay in this manner ; I have nothing to do with them ex 
 cept to give them. My purser provides every thing, and 
 keeps a^regular account, which I sign as correct, and send 
 home to government, which defrays the whole expenses, 
 under the head of Conciliation Money," I do not mean 
 to say that this is requisite in our service ; but still it is 
 not fair to refuse to provide us with paint and other arti 
 cles, such as leather, &c., necessary to fit out our ships ; 
 thus, either compelling us to pay for them out of our own 
 pockets, or allowing the vessels under our command to 
 look like any thing but men-of-war, and to be styled, very 
 truly, a disgrace to the service. Yet such is the well- 
 known fact. And I am informed that the reason why our 
 
AMERICAN MARINE. 91 
 
 Admiralty will not permit these necessary stores to be sup 
 plied is that, as one of the Lords of the Admiralty was 
 known to say, " if we do not provide them, Ihe captains 
 most assuredly will, therefore let us save the Government 
 the expense. 
 
 During my sojourn in the United States I became ac 
 quainted with a large portion of the senior officers of the 
 American navy, and 1 found them gifted, gentleman-like, 
 and liberal. With them I could converse freely upon 
 all points relative to the last war, and always found 
 them ready to admit all that could be expected. The 
 American naval officers certainly form a strong contrast 
 to the majority of their countrymen, and prove, by their 
 enlightened and liberal ideas, how much the Americans, 
 in general, would be improved if they enjoyed the same 
 means of comparison with other countries which the 
 naval officers, by their profession, have obtained. Their 
 partial successes during the late war were often Ihe 
 theme of discourse, which was conducted with candour 
 and frankness on both sides. No unpleasant feeling was 
 ever excited by any argument with them on the subject, 
 whilst the question, raised amongst their " free and en 
 lightened" brother citizens, who knew nothing of the 
 matter, was certain to bring down upon me such a torrent 
 of bombast, falsehood, and ignorance, as required all my 
 philosophy to submit to with apparent indifference. But 
 I must now take my leave of the American navy, and 
 notice their merchant marine. 
 
 Before I went to the United Slates I was aware that a 
 large proportion of our seamen were in their employ. I 
 knew that the whole line of packets, which is very ex 
 tensive, was manned by British seamen ; but it was not 
 until I arrived in the States that I discovered the real 
 state of the case. 
 
 During my occasional residence at New York, I was 
 surprised to find myself so constantly called upon by 
 English seamen, who had served under me in the different 
 ships I had commanded since the Peace. Every day 
 seven or eight would come, touch their hats, and remind 
 8* 
 
92 AMERICAN MARINE. 
 
 me in what ships, and in what capacity, they had done 
 their duty. I had frequent conversations with them, and 
 soon discovered that their own expression, " We are all 
 here, sir," was strictly true. To the why and the where- 
 fore, the answer was invariably the same " Eighteen 
 dollars a month, sir." Some of them, I recollect, told 
 me that they were going down to New Orleans, because 
 the sickly season was coming on ; and that during the 
 time the yellow fever raged they always had a great ad 
 vance of wages, receiving sometimes as much as thirty 
 dollars per month. T did not attempt to dissuade them 
 from their purpose ; they were just as right to risk their 
 lives from contagion at thirty dollars a month, as to 
 stand and he fired at at a shilling a day. The circum 
 stance of so many of my own men being in American 
 ships, and their assertion that there were no other sailors 
 than English at New York, induced me to enter very 
 minutely into my investigation, of which the following 
 are the results : 
 
 The United States, correctly speaking, have no com 
 mon seamen, or seamen bred up as apprentices before 
 the mast. Indeed a little reflection will show how un 
 likely it is that they ever should have ; for who would 
 submit to such a dog s life (as at the best it is), or what 
 parent would consent that his children should wear out 
 an existence of hardship and dependence at sea, when 
 he could so easily render them independent on shore ? 
 The same period of time requisite for a man to learn his 
 duty as an able seaman, and be qualified for the pittance 
 of eighteen dollars per month, would be sufficient to 
 establish a young man as an independent, or even wealthy, 
 landowner, factor, or merchant. That there are classes 
 in America who do go to sea is certain, and who and 
 what these are I shall hereafter point out ; but it may be 
 positively asserted that, unless by escaping from their 
 parents at an early age, and before their education is 
 complete, they become, as it were, lost, there is in the 
 United States of America hardly an instance of a white 
 boy being sent to sea, to be brought up as a foremast 
 man. 
 
AMERICAN MARINE. 93 
 
 It may be here observed that there is a wide difference 
 in the appearance of an English seaman and a portion 
 of those styling themselves American seamen, who are 
 to be seen at Liverpool and other seaports ; tall, weedy, 
 narrow-shouldered, slovenly, yet still athletic men, with 
 their knives worn in a sheath outside of their clothes, and 
 not with a lanyard round them, as is the usual custom 
 of English seamen. There is, I grant, a great difference 
 in their appearance, and it arises from the circumstance of 
 those men having been continually in the trade to New 
 Orleans and the South, where they have picked up the 
 buccaneer airs and customs which are still in existence 
 there ; but the fact is, that, though altered also by cli 
 mate, the majority of them were Englishmen born, who 
 served their first apprenticeship in the coasting trade, 
 but left it at an early age for America. They may be 
 considered as a portion of the emigrants to America, 
 having become in feeling, as well as in other respects, 
 bond fide Americans. 
 
 The whole amount of tonnage of the American mer 
 cantile marine may be taken, in round numbers, at 
 12,000,000 tons, which may be subdivided as follows : 
 
 REGISTERED. 
 
 Tons. 
 
 Foreign trade 700,000 
 
 Whale fishery 130,000 
 
 ENROLLED. 
 
 Coasting trade 920,000 
 
 Steam 150,000 
 
 Coast fisheries 100,000 
 
 Total .... 2,000,000 
 
 The American merchant vessels are generally sailed 
 with fewer men than the British. We calculate five 
 men to one hundred tons, which I believe to be about 
 the just proportion. Mr. Carey, in his work, estimates 
 the proportion of seamen in American vessels to be 4? to 
 every one hundred tons, and I shall assume his calcula- 
 
94 AMERICAN MARINE. 
 
 tion as correct. The number of men employed in the 
 American mercantile navy will be as follows : 
 
 Men. 
 
 Foreign trade 30,333 
 
 Whale fishery 5,000 
 
 Coasting trade 39,000 
 
 Steam 6,500 
 
 Coast fisheries 4,333 
 
 Total ....... 85,799 
 
 And now I will submit, from the examinations I have 
 made, the proportions of American and British seamen 
 which are contained in this aggregate of 85,799 men. 
 
 In the foreign trade we have to deduct the masters of 
 the ships, the mates, and the boys who are apprenticed 
 to learn their duty, and rise to mates and masters (not 
 to serve before the mast). These I estimate at 
 
 Masters 1,500 
 
 Mates 3,000 
 
 Apprentices 1,500 
 
 Ditto, coloured men, as cooks, 
 
 stewards, &c 2,000 
 
 Total 8,000 
 
 which, deducted from 30,333, will leave 22,333 seamen 
 in the foreign trade, who, with a slight intermixture of 
 Swedes, Danes, and, more rarely, Americans, may be 
 asserted to be all British seamen. 
 
 The next item is that of the men employed in the 
 whale fishery ; and, as near as I can ascertain the fact, 
 the proportions are two-thirds Americans to one-third 
 British. The total is 5,633 ; out of which 3,756 are 
 Americans, and 1,877 British seamen. 
 
 The coasting trade employs 39,000 men ; but only a 
 small proportion of them can be considered as seamen, 
 as it embraces all the internal river navigation. 
 
 The steam navigation employs 6,500 men, of whom 
 of course not one in ten is a seaman. 
 
 The fisheries for cod and herring employ about 4, 333 
 
AMERICAN MARINE. 95 
 
 men ; they are a mixture of Americans, Nova Scotians, 
 and British, but the proportions cannot be ascertained ; 
 it is supposed that about one-half are British subjects, i. 
 e. 2,166. 
 
 When, therefore, I estimate that the Americans employ 
 at least thirty thousand of our seamen in their service, I 
 do not think, as my .subsequent remarks will prove, that 
 I am at all overrating the case. 
 
 The questions which are now to be considered are, 
 the nature of the various branches in which the seamen 
 employed in the American marine are engaged, and 
 how far they will be available to America in case of a 
 war. 
 
 The coasting trade is chiefly composed of sloops, 
 manned by two or three men and boys. The captain is 
 invariably part, if not whole, owner of the vessel, and 
 those employed are generally his sons, who work for 
 their father, or some emigrant Irishmen, who, after a 
 few months practice, are fully equal to this sort of 
 fresh-water sailing. From the coasting trade, therefore, 
 America would gain no assistance. Indeed, the majori 
 ty of the coasting trade is so confined to the interior, that 
 it would not receive much check from a war with a foreign 
 country. 
 
 The coast fisheries might afford a few seamen, but 
 very few ; certainly not the number of men required to 
 man her ships of war. As in the coasting trade, they 
 are mostly owners or partners. In the whale fishery 
 much the same system prevails ; it is a common spec 
 ulation ; and the men embarking stipulate for such a 
 proportion of the fish caught as their share of the profits. 
 They are generally well to do, are connected together, 
 and are the least likely of all men to volunteer on board 
 of the American navy. They would speculate in priva 
 teers, if they did anything. 
 
 From steam navigation, of course, no seaman could be 
 obtained. 
 
 Now, as all service is voluntary, it is evident that the 
 only chance America has of manning her navy is from the 
 thirty thousand British seamen in her employ, the other 
 
96 AMERICAN MARINE* 
 
 branches of navigation either not producing seamen, or 
 those employed in them being too independent in situa 
 tion to serve as fore-mast men. When I was at the dif 
 ferent sea-ports, I made repeated enquiries as to the fact, 
 if ever a lad was sent to sea as a fore-mast man, and I 
 never could ascertain that it ever was the case. Those 
 who are sent as apprentices, are learning their duty to re 
 ceive the rating of mates, and ultimately fulfil the office of 
 captains ; and it may here be remarked, that many Ame 
 ricans, after serving as captains for a few years, return on 
 shore and become opulent merchants ; the knowledge 
 which they have gained during their maritime career 
 proving of the greatest advantage to them. There are a 
 number of free black and coloured lads who are sent to 
 sea, and who, eventually, serve as stewards and cooks ; 
 but it must be observed, that the masters and mates are 
 not people who will enter before the mast and submit to 
 the rigorous discipline of a government vessel, and the 
 cooks and stewards are not seamen ; so that the whole 
 dependence of the American navy, in case of war, is upon 
 the British seamen who are employed in her foreign trade 
 and whale fisheries, and in her men-of-war in commission 
 during the peace. 
 
 If America brings up none of her people to a seafaring 
 life before the mast, now that her population is upwards 
 of 13,000,000, still less likely was she to have done it 
 when her population was less, and the openings to wealth 
 by other channels were greater : from whence it may be 
 fairly inferred, that, during our continued struggle with 
 France, when America had the carrying trade in her hands, 
 her vessels were chiefly manned by British seamen ; and 
 that when the war broke out between the two countries, 
 the same British seamen who were in her employ man 
 ned her ships of war and privateers. It may be surmised 
 that British seamen would refuse to be employed against 
 their country. Some might; but their is no character so 
 devoid of principle as the British sailor and soldier. In 
 Dibdin s songs, we certainly have another version, "True 
 to his country and king," &c., but I am afraid they do 
 not deserve it : soldiers and sailors are mercenaries ; they 
 risk their lives for money ; it is their trade to do so ; and 
 
AMERICAN MARINE. 97 
 
 if they can get higher wages they never consider the jus 
 tice of the cause, or whom they fight for. Now, America 
 is a country peculiarly favourable for those who have little 
 conscience or reflection ; the same language is spoken 
 there ; the wages are much higher, spirits are much 
 cheaper, and the fear of detection or punishment is trifling : 
 nay, there is none ; for in five minutes a British seaman 
 may be made a bond-fide American citizen, and of course 
 an American seaman. It is not surprising, therefore, that 
 after sailing for years out of the American ports in Ame 
 rican vessels, the men, in case of war, should take the 
 oath and serve. It is necessary for any one wanting to 
 become an American citizen ; that he should give notice 
 of his intention ; his notice gives him, as soon as he has 
 signed his declaration, all the rights of an American citi 
 zen, excepting that of voting at elections, which requires 
 a longer time, as specified in each State. The declara 
 tion is as follows : 
 
 " That it is his bond-fide intention to become a citizen 
 of the United States, and to renounce for ever all allegiance 
 and fidelity to any foreign power, potentate, state, or 
 sovereignty whatever, and particularly to Victoria, the 
 Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ire 
 land, to whom he is now a subject." Having signed this 
 document, and it being 1 publicly registered, he becomes a 
 citizen, and may be sworn to as such by any captain of 
 merchant vessel or man-of-war, if it be required that he 
 should do so. 
 
 During the last war with America, the Americans hit 
 upon a very good plan as regarded the English seamen 
 whom they had captured in our vessels. In the day-time 
 the prison doors were shut and the prisoners were harshly 
 treated ; but at night, the doors were left open : the con 
 sequence was, that the prisoners whom they had taken 
 added to their strength, for the men walked out, and en 
 tered on board of their men-of-war and privateers. 
 
 This fact alone proves that I h^ve not been too severe 
 in my remarks upon the character of the English sea 
 men ; and since our seamen prove to be such " Dugald 
 Dalgettys," it is to be hoped that, should we be so un 
 fortunate as again to come in collision with America, the 
 same plan may be adopted in this country. 
 
S8 AMERICAN MARINE. 
 
 Now, from the above remarks, three points are clearly 
 deducible : 
 
 1. That America always has obtained, and for a long 
 period to come will obtain, her seamen altogether from 
 Great Britain ; 
 
 2. That those seamen can be naturalized immediately, 
 and become American seamen by law ; 
 
 3. That, under present circumstances, England is un 
 der the necessity of raising seamen, not only for her own 
 navy, but also for the Americans ; and that, in proportion 
 as the commerce and shipping of America shall increase, 
 so will the demand upon us become more onerous ; and 
 that should we fail in producing the number of seamen 
 necessary for both services, the Americans will always 
 be full manned, whilst any defalcation must fall upon our 
 selves. 
 
 And it may be added, that, in all cases, the Americans 
 have the choice and refusal of our men ; and, therefore, 
 they have invariably all the prime and best seamen which 
 we have raised. 
 
 The cause of this is as simple as it is notorious ; it is 
 the difference between the wages paid in the navies and 
 merchant vessels of the two nations : 
 
 . s. . s. 
 
 American ships per month 310 
 
 British ships ditto 2 2 to 2 10 
 
 American men-of-war ditto 2 
 
 British men-of-war ditto 114 
 
 It will be observed, that in the American men-of-war 
 the able-seaman s pay is only 2 ; the consequence is, 
 that they remain for months in port without being able to 
 obtain men. 
 
 But we must now pass by this cause and look to the 
 origin of it ; or, in other words, how it is that the Ameri 
 cans are able to give such high wages to our seamen as 
 to secure the choice of any number of our best men for 
 their service ; and how it is that they can compete with, 
 and even under-bid, our merchant vessels in freight, at the 
 same time that they sail at a greater expense ? 
 
 This has arisen partly from circumstances, partly from 
 
AMERICAN MARINE* 99 
 
 a series of mismanagement on our part, and partly from 
 the fear of impressment. But it is principally to be as 
 cribed to the former peculiarly unscientific mode of calcu 
 lating the tonnage of our vessels ; the error of which sys 
 tem induced the merchants to build their ships so as to 
 evade the heavy channel and river duties ; disregarding all 
 the first principles of naval architecture, and considering 
 the sailing properties of vessels as of no consequence. 
 
 The fact is, that we over-taxed our shipping. 
 
 In order to carry as much freight as possible, and, at 
 the same time, to pay as few of the onerous duties, our 
 mercantile shipping generally assumed more the form of 
 floating boxes of merchandize than sailing vessels ; and 
 by the false method of measuring the tonnage, they were 
 enabled to carry 600 tons, when, by measurement, they 
 were only taxed as being of the burden of 400 tons : but 
 every increase of tonnage thus surreptitiously obtained, 
 was accompanied with a decrease in the sailing properties 
 of the vessels. Circumstances, however, rendered this of 
 less importance during the war, as few vessels ran without 
 the protection of a convoy ; and it must be also observed, 
 that vessels being employed in one trade only, such as 
 the West India, Canada, Mediterranean, &c., their voyages 
 during the year were limited, and they were for a certain 
 portion of the year unemployed. 
 
 During the war, the fear of impressment was certainly 
 a strong inducement to our seamen to enter into the 
 American vessels, and naturalize themselves as American 
 subjects ; but they were also stimulated, even at that 
 period, by the higher wages, as they still are now that 
 the dread of impressment no longer operates upon them. 
 
 It appears, then, that from various causes, our merchant 
 vessels have lost their sailing properties, whilst the Ameri 
 cans are the fastest sailers in the world ; and it is for that 
 reason, and no other, that, although sailing at a much 
 greater expense, the Americans can afford to outbid us, 
 and take all our best seamen. 
 
 An American vessel is in no particular trade, but ready 
 and willing to take freight any where when offered. She 
 sails so fast, that she can make three voyages whilst one 
 
 VOL. ii. 9 
 
100 AMERICAN MARINE. 
 
 of our vessels can make but two : consequently she has 
 the preference, as being the better manned, and giving the 
 quickest return to the merchant ; and as she receives three 
 freights whilst the English vessel receives only two, it is 
 clear that the extra freight will more than compensate for 
 the extra expense the vessel sails at in consequence of 
 paying extra wages to the seamen. Add to this, that the 
 captains, generally speaking, being better paid, are better 
 informed and more active men ; that, from having all the 
 picked seamen, they get through their work with fewer 
 hands ; that the activity on board is followed up and sup 
 ported by an equal activity, on the part of the agents and 
 factors on shore and you have the true cause why Ameri 
 ca can afford to pay and secure for herself all our best 
 seamen. 
 
 One thing is evident, that it is a mere question of pounds, 
 shillings, and pence, between us and America, and that 
 the same men who are now in the American service 
 would, if our wages were higher than those offered by 
 America, immediately return to us and leave her desti 
 tute. 
 
 That it would be worth the while of this country, in 
 case of a war with the United States, to offer 4 a-head 
 to able seamen is most certain. It would swell the naval 
 estimates, but it would shorten the duration of the war, 
 and in the end would probably be the saving of many 
 millions. But the question is, cannot and ought not some 
 thing to be done, now in time of peace, to relieve our 
 mercantile shipping interest, and hold out a bounty for a 
 return to those true principles of naval architecture, the 
 deviation from which has proved to be attended with such 
 serious consequences. 
 
 Fast-sailing vessels will always be able to pay higher 
 wages than others, as what they lose in increase of daily 
 expense, they will gain by the short time in which the 
 voyage is accomplished ; but it is by encouragement alone 
 that we can expect that the change will take place. Surely 
 some of the onerous duties imposed by the Trinity House 
 might be removed, not from the present class of vessels, 
 but from those built hereafter with first-rate sailing pro- 
 
SLAVERY. 101 
 
 parties. These, however, are points which call for a 
 much fuller investigation than I can here afford them ; 
 but they are of vital importance toour maritime superio. ity, 
 and as such should be immediately considered by the 
 Government of Great Britain. 
 
 SLAVERY. 
 
 IT had always appeared to me as singular that the Ame 
 ricans, at the time of their Declaration of Independence, 
 took no measures for the gradual, if not immediate, ex 
 tinction of slavery ; that at the very time they were offering 
 up thanks for having successfully struggled for their own 
 emancipation from what they considered foreign bondage, 
 their gratitude for their liberation did not induce them to 
 break the chains of those whom they themselves held in 
 captivity. It is useless for them to exclaim, as they now 
 do, that it was England who left them slavery as a curse, 
 and reproach us as having originally introduced the system 
 amongst them. Admitting, as is the fact, that slavery 
 did commence when the colonies were subject to the 
 mother country ; admitting that the petitions for its dis 
 continuance were disregarded, still there was nothing to 
 prevent immediate manumission at the time of the ac 
 knowledgment of their independence by Great Britian. 
 They had then every thing to recommence ; they had to 
 select a new form of government, and to decide upon new 
 laws; they pronounced, in their Declaration, that "all 
 men were equal ;" and yet, in the face of this Declaration, 
 and their solemn invocation to the Deity, the negroes, in 
 their fetters, pleaded to them in vain. 
 
 I had always thought that this sad omission, which has 
 left such an anomaly in the Declaration of Independence 
 
102 SLAVERY. 
 
 as to have made it the taunt and reproach of the Ameri 
 cans by the whole civilized world, did really arise from 
 forgetfulness ; that, as is but too often the case, when we 
 are ourselves made happy, the Americans in their joy at 
 their own deliverance from a foreign yoke, and the repos 
 sessing themselves of their own rights, had been too much 
 engrossed to occupy themselves with the undeniable 
 claims of others. But I was mistaken ; such was not the 
 case, as I shall presently shew. 
 
 In the course of one of my sojourns in Philadelphia, 
 Mr. Vaughan, of the Athenaeum of that city, stated to me 
 that he had found the original draft of the Declaration of 
 Independence, in the hand-writing of Mr. Jefferson, and 
 that it was curious to remark the alterations which had 
 been made previous to the adoption of the manifesto which 
 was afterwards promulgated. It was to Jefferson, Adams, 
 and Franklin, that was entrusted the primary drawing up 
 of this important document, which was then submitted to 
 others, and ultimately to the Convention, for approval ; 
 and it appears that the question of slavery had NOT been 
 overlooked when the document was first framed, as the 
 following clause, inserted in the original draft by Mr. 
 Jefferson, but expunged when it was laid before the 
 Convention, will sufficiently prove. After enunaeratiag 
 the grounds upon which they threw off their allegiance to 
 the King of England, the Declaration continued, in Jeffer 
 son s nervous style : 
 
 " He [the king] has waged cruel war against human 
 nature itself, violating its most sacred rights of life and 
 liberty, in the person of a distant people who never offended 
 him ; captivating and carrying them into slavery, in 
 another hemisphere, or to incur miserable death in their 
 transporting thither. This piratical warfare, the op 
 probrium of infidel powers, is the warfare of the Christian 
 King of Great Britain, determined to keep open a market 
 where men should be bought and sold ; he has prostituted 
 his negative for suppressing every legislative attempt to 
 prohibit or to restrain this execrable commerce ; and that 
 this assemblage of horrors might want no fact of distia- 
 
SLAVERY. 103 
 
 guished dye, he is now exciting these very people to rise 
 in arms among us, and to purchase that liberty of which he 
 has deprived them, by murdering the people upon whom 
 he also obtruded them ; thus paying off former crimes 
 committed against the liberties of one people, with crimes 
 which he urges them to commit against the lives of 
 another." 
 
 Such was the paragraph which had been inserted by 
 Jefferson, in the virulence of his democracy, and his de 
 sire to hold up to detestation the King of Great Britain. 
 Such was at that time, unfortunately, the truth ; and had 
 the paragraph remained, and at the same time emancipa 
 tion been given to the slaves, it would have been a lasting 
 stigma upon George the Third. But the paragraph was 
 expunged ; and why ? because they could not hold up to 
 public indignation the sovereign whom they had abjured, 
 without reminding the world that slavery still existed in a 
 community which had declared that "all men were 
 equal ;" and that if y in a monarch, they had stigmatised it 
 as " violating the most sacred rights of life and liberty," 
 and " waging cruel war against human nature," they 
 could not have afterwards been so barefaced and unblush 
 ing as to continue a system which was at variance with 
 every principle which they professed.* 
 
 It does, however, satisfactorily prove that the question 
 of slavery was not overlooked? on the contrary, their de 
 termination to take advantage of the system was delibe 
 rate, and, there can be no doubt, well considered : the 
 very omission of the paragraph proves it. I mention these 
 facts to show that the Americans have no right to revile us 
 on being the cause of slavery in America. They had the 
 means, and were bound,, as honourable men, to. act up ta 
 
 * Miss Martineau, in her admiration of democracy, says that, in 
 the formation of the government, " The rule by which they worked 
 was no less than the golden one, which seems to have been, by some 
 unlucky chance, omitted in the Bibles of other statesmen, "Do unto 
 others as ye would that they should do unto you." I am afraid the 
 American Bille, by some unlucky chance, has alsoomitted that precept 
 9* 
 
104 SLAVERY. 
 
 their Declaration ; but they entered into the question, they 
 decided otherwise, and decided that they would retain 
 their ill-acquired property at the expense of their prin 
 ciples. / 
 
 The degrees of slavery in America are as various in 
 iheir intensity as are the communities composing the 
 Union. They may, however, be divided with great pro 
 priety under two general heads eastern and western sla 
 very. By eastern slavery I refer to that in the Slave 
 States bordering on the Atlantic, and those Slave States on 
 the other side of the Alleghany Mountains, which may 
 be more directly considered as their colonies, viz. in the 
 first instance, Maryland, Delaware, Virginia, North and 
 South Carolina ; and, secondly, Kentucky and Tennessee. 
 We have been accustomed lately to class the slaves as 
 non-predial and predial, that is, those who are domestic 
 and those who work on the plantations. This classifica 
 tion is not correct, if it is intended to distinguish be 
 tween those who are well, and those who are badly treat 
 ed. The true line to be drawn is between those who 
 \vork separately, and those who are worked in a gang anct 
 superintended by an overseer. This is fully exemplified 
 in the United States, where it will be found that in all 
 States where they are worked in gangs the slaves are- 
 harshly treated, while in the others their labour is light. 
 
 Now, with the exception of the rice grounds in South 
 Carolina, the Eastern States are growers of corn, hemp, 
 and tobacco; but their chief staple is the breeding of 
 horses, mules, horned cattle, and other stock : the largest 
 portion of these States remain in wild luxuriant pasture, 
 more especially in Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee, 
 either of which States is larger than the other four men 
 tioned. 
 
 The proportion of slaves required for the cultivation of 
 the purely agricultural and chiefly grazing farms or plan 
 tations in these States is small, fifteen or twenty being 
 sufficient for a farm of two hundred or three hundred 
 acres ; and their labour, which is mostly confined to tend 
 ing slock,, is not only very light, but of the quality most 
 
SLAVERY, 105 
 
 agreeable to the negro. Half the day yon will see him 
 on horseback with his legs idly swinging as he goes along, 
 or seated on a shaft-horse driving his waggons. He is 
 quite in his glory; nothing delights a negro as much as 
 riding or driving, particularly when he has a whole team 
 under his control. He takes his waggon for a load of 
 corn to feed the hogs, sits on the edge of the shaft as he 
 tosses the cobs to the grunting multitude, whom he ad 
 dresses in the most intimate terms ; in short, every thing 
 is done leisurely, after his own fashion. 
 
 In these grazing States, as they may very properly be 
 called, the negroes are well fed ; they refuse beef and 
 mutton, and will have nothing but pork ; and are, without 
 exception, the fattest and most saucy fellows I ever met 
 with in a state of bondage; and such may be said gene 
 rally to be the case with all the negroes in the Eastern 
 States which I have mentioned. The rice grounds in 
 South Carolina are unhealthy, but the slaves are very 
 kindly treated. But the facts speak for themselves. When 
 the negro works in a gang with the whip over him, he 
 may be overworked and ill-treated ; but when he is not 
 regularly watched, he will take very good care that the 
 work he performs shall not injure his constitution. 
 
 It has been asserted, and generally credited, that in the 
 Eastern States negroes are regularly bred up like the cat 
 tle for the Western market. That the Virginians and the 
 inhabitants of the other Eastern slave States do sell ne 
 groes which are taken to the West, there is no doubt ; but 
 that the negroes are bred expressly for that purpose, is, as 
 regards the majority of the proprietors, far from the fact : 
 it is the effect of circumstances over which they have had 
 no control. Virginia, when first settled, was one of the 
 richest States, but by continually cropping the land with 
 out manuring it, and that for nearly two hundred years, 
 the major portion of many valuable estates has become 
 barren, and the land is no longer under cultivation ; in con 
 sequence of this, the negroes (increasing so rapidly as they 
 do in that country) so far from being profitable, have be- 
 "ome a serious tax upon their masters, who have to rear 
 
1# SL AVERT. 
 
 and maintain, without having any employment to give 
 them. The small portion of the estates under Cultivation 
 will subsist only a certain portion of the negroes : the re 
 mainder must, therefore, be disposed of, or they would 
 eat their master out of his home.* That the slaves are not 
 willingly disposed of by any of the proprietors I am cer 
 tain, particularly when it is known that they are purchased 
 for the West. I know of many instances of this, and was 
 informed by others ; and by wills, especially, slaves have 
 been directed to be sold for two-thirds of the price which 
 they would fetch for the Western market, on condition 
 that they were not to leave the State, These facts esta 
 blish two points, viz: that the slave in the Eastern States 
 is well treated, and that in the Western States slavery still 
 exists with all its horrors. The common threat to, and 
 ultimate punishment of, a refractory and disobedient slave 
 in the East, is to sell him for the Western market. Many 
 slave proprietors, whose estates have been worn out in the 
 East, have preferred migrating to the West with their 
 slaves rather than sell them, and thus is the severity of the 
 \Vestern treatment occasionally and partially mitigated.! 
 But doing justiee, as I always will, to those who have 
 
 * " Many fine looking districts were pointed out to me in Vir 
 ginia, formerly rich in tobacco and Indian corn, which had been com 
 pletely exhausted by the production of crops for the maintenance of 
 the slaves. In thickly-peopled 1 countries where the great towns are 
 at hand, the fertility of such soils may be recovered and even im 
 proved by manuring, but over the tracts of country I now speak of, 
 no such advantages are within the farmer s reach." Captain Hall. 
 
 t " Many, very many,, with whom I met would willingly have re 
 leased their slaves, but the law requires that in such cases they should 
 leave the State ; and this would mostly be not to improve their condi 
 tion, but to banish them from their home, and make them miserable 
 outcasts. What they cannot for the present remove they are anxious 
 to mitigate, and I have never seen kinder attention paid to any domes 
 tics than by such persons to their slaves. In defiance of the infamous 
 laws, making it criminal for the slave to be taught to read, and diffi 
 cult to assemble for an act of worship, they are instructed, and they 
 aic assisted to worship God." Rev. Mr. Reid.. 
 
SLAVERY. 107 
 
 been unjustly calumniated, at the same time I must admit 
 that there is a point connected with slavery in America 
 which renders it more odious than in other countries ; I 
 refer to the system of amalgamation which has, from pro 
 miscuous intercourse, been carried on to such an extent, 
 that you very often meet with slaves whose skins are 
 whiter than their master s. 
 
 At Louisville, Kentucky, I saw a girl, about twelve 
 years old, carrying a child ; and, aware that in a slave 
 State the circumstance of white people hiring themselves 
 out to service is almost unknown, I inquired of her if she 
 were a slave. To my astonishment, she replied in the 
 affirmative. She was as fair as snow, and it was impos 
 sible to detect any admixture of blood from her appear 
 ance, which was that of a pretty English cottager s child. 
 
 I afterwards spoke to the master, who stated when he 
 had purchased her and the sum which he had paid. 
 
 I took down the following advertisement for a runaway 
 slave, which was posted up in every tavern I stopped at 
 in Virginia on my way to the Springs. The expression 
 of, "m a manner white" would imply that there was 
 some shame felt in holding a white man in bondage : 
 
 " Fifty Dollars Reward. 
 
 " Ran away from the subscriber, on Saturday, the 21st instant, a 
 slave named 
 
 GEORGE, 
 
 between twenty and twenty-four years of age, five feet five or six 
 inches high, slender made, stoops when standing, a little bow legged ; 
 generally wears right and left boots and shoes ; had on him when he 
 left a fur cap, a checked stock and linen round about ; had with him 
 other clothing, a jean coat with black horn buttons, a pair of jean 
 pantaloons, both coat and pantaloons of handsome grey mixed ; no 
 doubt other clothing not recollected. He had with him a common 
 silver watch ; he wears his pantaloons generally very tight in the 
 legs. Said boy is in a manner white, would be passed by and taken 
 for a white man. His hair is long and straight, like that of a white 
 person ; looks very steady when spoken to, speaks slowly, and would 
 not be likely to look a person full in the face when speaking to him. 
 It is believed he is making his way to Canada by way of Ohio. 1 
 
108 SLAVERY. 
 
 will give twenty dollars for the apprehension of said slave if taken, 
 in the county, or fifty dollars if taken out of the county, and secur 
 ed so that I recover him again. 
 
 ANDREW BEIRNE, Jun. t 
 
 Union Monroe City, 
 July 3 1st, 1838. Virginia." 
 
 The above is a curious document, independently of its 
 proving the manner in which man preys upon his fellow- 
 man in this land of liberty aud equality. It is a well- 
 known fact, that a considerable portion of Mr. Jefferson s 
 slaves were his own children.* If any of them abscond 
 ed, he would smile, thereby implying that he should not 
 be very particular in looking after them ; and yet this 
 man, this great and GOOD man, as Miss Martineau calls 
 him, this man who penned the paragraph I have quoted, 
 as having been erased from the Declaration of Independ 
 ence, who asserted that the slavery of the negro was a 
 violation of the most sacred rights of life and liberty, per 
 mitted these his slaves and his children, the issue of his 
 own loins, to be sold at auction after his demise, not even 
 emancipating them, as he might have done, before his 
 death. And, but lately, a member of Congress for Geor 
 gia, whose name I shall not mention, brought up a fine 
 family of children, his own issue by a female slave ; for 
 many years acknowledged them as his own children ; 
 permitted them to call him by the endearing title of papa, 
 and eventually the whole of them were sold by public 
 auction, and that, too, during his own life-time ! 
 
 But there is, I am sorry to say, a more horrible in 
 stance on record and one well authenticated. A planter 
 of good family (I shall not mention his name or the State 
 in which it occurred, as he was not so much to blame as 
 were the laws,) connected himself with one of his own 
 
 * " The law declares the children of slaves are to follow the for 
 tunes of the mother. Hence the practice of planters selling and 
 bequeathing their own children." Miss Martineau. 
 
SLAVERY. 109 
 
 female slaves, who was nearly white ; the fruits of this 
 connection were two daughters, very beautiful girls, who 
 were sent to England to be educated. They were both 
 grown up when their father died. At his death his affairs 
 were found in a state of great disorder ; in fact, there was 
 not sufficient left to pay his creditors. Having brought up 
 and educated these two girls and introduced them as his 
 daughters, it quite slipped his memory that, having been 
 born of a slave and not manumitted, they were in reality 
 slaves themselves. This fact was established after his 
 decease ; they were torn away from the affluence and re 
 finement to which they had been accustomed, sold and 
 purchased as slaves, and with the avowed intention of the 
 purchaser to reap his profits from their prostitution ! ! ! 
 
 It must not, however, be supposed that the planters of 
 Virginia and the other Eastern States, encourage this 
 intercourse ; on the contrary, the young men who visit 
 at the plantations cannot affront them more than to take 
 notice of their slaves, particularly the lighter coloured, 
 who are retained in the house and attend upon their 
 wives and daughters. Independently of the moral fee 
 ling which really guides them (as they naturally do not 
 wish that the attendants of their daughters should be 
 degraded) it is against their interest in case they should 
 wish to sell ; as a mulatto or light male will not fetch 
 so high a price as a full-blooded negro ; the cross between 
 the European and negro, especially the first cross, i. c. 
 the mulatto, is of a sickly constitution, and quite unable 
 to bear up against the fatigue of field labour in the West. 
 As the race becomes whiter, the stamina is said to im 
 prove. 
 
 Examining into the question of emancipation in 
 America, the first enquiry will be, how far this consum 
 mation is likely to be effected by means of the aboli 
 tionists. Miss Martineau, in her book, says, "The good 
 work has begun, and will proceed." She is so far right ; 
 it has begun, and has been progressing very fast, as 
 may be proved by the single fact of the abolitionists 
 
110 SLAVERY. 
 
 facturing States, as they are most anxious to be. 
 Should this happen, the raw cotton grown by slave- 
 labour will employ the looms of Massachusetts ; and 
 then, as the Quarterly Review very correctly observes, 
 " by a cycle of commercial benefits, the Northern and 
 Eastern States will feel that there is some material 
 compensation for the moral turpitude of the system of 
 slavery." 
 
 The slave proprietors in these States are as well 
 aware as any political economist can be, that slavery is 
 a loss instead of a gain, and that no State can arrive at 
 that degree of prosperity under a state of slavery which 
 it would under free labour. The case is simple. In 
 free labour, where there is competition, you exact the 
 greatest possible returns for the least possible expendi 
 ture ; a man is worked as a machine ; he is paid for 
 what he produces, and nothing more. By slave labour, 
 you receive the least possible return for the greatest pos 
 sible expense, for the slave is better fed and clothed than 
 the freeman, and does as little work as he can. The 
 slave-holders in the Eastern States are well aware of 
 this, and are as anxious to be rid of slavery as are the 
 abolitionists ; but the time is not yet come, nor will it 
 come until the country shall have so filled up as to ren 
 der white labour attainable. Such, indeed, are not the 
 expectations expressed in the language of the represen 
 tatives of their States when in Congress ; but, it must 
 be remembered, that this is a question which has con 
 vulsed the Union, and that, not only from a feeling of 
 pride, added to indignation at the interference, but from 
 a feeling of the necessity of not yielding up one tittle 
 upon this question, the language of determined resistance 
 is in Congress invariably resorted to. But these gen 
 tlemen have one opinion for Congress, and another for 
 their private table ; in the first, they stand up unflinch 
 ingly for their slave rights ; in the other they reason 
 calmly, and admit what they could not admit in public. 
 There is no labour in the Eastern States, excepting that 
 of the rice plantations in South Carolina, which cannot 
 be performed by white men ; indeed, a large proportion 
 of the cotton in the Carolinas is now raised by a free 
 
SLAVERY. Ill 
 
 while population. In the grazing portion of these 
 States, white labour would be substituted advan 
 tageously, could white labour be procured at any rea 
 sonable price. 
 
 The time will come, and I do not think it very dis 
 tant, say perhaps twenty or thirty years, when, provided 
 America receives no check, and these States are not in 
 judiciously interfered with, that Virginia, Kentucky, 
 Delaware, Maryland, North Carolina, (and, eventually, 
 but probably somewhat later, Tennessee and South 
 Carolina) will, of their own accord, enrol themselves 
 among the free States. As a proof that in the Eastern 
 slave States the negro is not held in such contempt, or 
 justice towards him so much disregarded, I extract the 
 following from an American work : 
 
 " An instance of the force of law in the Southern 
 States for the protection of the slave has just occurred, 
 in the failure of a petition to his excellency, P. M. But 
 ler, Governor of South Carolina, for the pardon of Naza 
 reth Allen, a white person, convicted of the murder of 
 a slave, and sentenced to be hung. The following is 
 part of the answer of the governor to the petitioners : 
 
 " The laws of South Carolina make no distinction 
 in cases of deliberate murder, whether committed on a 
 black man or a white man ; neither can I. I am not a 
 law-maker, but the executive officer of the laws already 
 made ; and I must not act on a distinction which the 
 legislature might have made, but has not thought fit to 
 make. 
 
 " That the crime of which the prisoner stands con 
 victed was committed against one of an inferior grade 
 in society, is a reason for being especially cautious in 
 intercepting the just severity of the law. This class of 
 our population are subjected to us as well for their pro 
 tection as our advantage. Our rights, in regard to them, 
 are not more imperative than their duties; and the in 
 stitutions, which for wise and necessary ends have ren 
 dered them peculiarly dependent, at least pledge the law 
 to be to them peculiarly a friend and protector. 
 
 " The prayer of the petition is not granted. 
 
 " PIERCE M. BUTLER/ " 
 
112 SLAVERY. 
 
 In the Western States, comprehending Missouri, 
 Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi, Georgia, and Alaba 
 ma, the negroes are, with the exception perhaps of the 
 two latter States, in a worse condition than they ever 
 were in the West-India Islands. This may be easily 
 imagined, when the character of the white people who 
 inhabit the larger portion of these States is considered 
 a class of people, the majority of whom are without 
 feelings of honour, reckless in their habits, intemperate, 
 unprincipled, and lawless, many of them having fled 
 from the Eastern States, as fraudulent bankrupts, 
 swindlers, or committers of other crimes, which have 
 subjected them to the penitentiaries miscreants defy 
 ing the climate, so that they can defy the laws. Still 
 this representation of the character of the people in 
 habiting these States must, from the chaotic state of 
 society in America, be received with many exceptions. 
 In the city of New Orleans, for instance, and in 
 Natchez, and its vicinity, and also among the planters, 
 there are many most honourable exceptions. I have 
 said the majority: for we must look to the mass the 
 exceptions do but prove the rule. It is evident that 
 slaves under such masters can have but little chance of 
 good treatment, and stories are told of them at which 
 humanity shudders. 
 
 It appears, then, that the slaves, with the rest of the 
 population of America, are working their way west, 
 end the question may now be asked Allowing that 
 slavery will soon be abolished in the Eastern States, 
 what prospect is there of its ultimate abolition and total 
 extinction in America 1 
 
 I can see no prospect of exchanging slave labour for 
 free in the Western States, as, with the exception of 
 Missouri, I do not think it possible that white labour 
 could be substituted, the extreme heat and unhealthi- 
 ness of the climate being a bar to any such attempt. 
 
 The cultivation of the land must be carried on by a 
 negro population, if it is to be carried on at all. The 
 question, therefore, to be considered is, whether these 
 States are to be inhabited and cultivated by a free or a 
 
SLAVERY. 113 
 
 slave negro population. It must be remembered, that 
 not one-twentieth part of the land in the Southern 
 States is under cultivation ; every year, as the slaves 
 are brought in from the East, the number of acres 
 taken into cultivation increases. Not double or triple 
 the number of the slaves at present in America would 
 be sufficient for the cultivation of the whole of these 
 vast territories. Every year the cotton crops increase, 
 and at the same time the price of cotton has not ma 
 terially lowered : as an every where increasing popu 
 lation takes off the whole supply, this will probably 
 continue to be the case for many years, since it must 
 be remembered that, independently of the increasing 
 population increasing the demand, cotton, from its com 
 parative cheapness, continually usurps the place of 
 some other raw material ; this, of course, adds to the 
 consumption. In various manufactures, cotton has al 
 ready taken the place of linen and fur; but there must 
 eventually be a limit to consumption : and this is cer 
 tain, that as soon as the supply is so great as to exceed 
 the demand, the price will be lowered by the competi 
 tion ; and, as soon as the price is by competition so 
 lowered as to render the cost and keeping of the slave 
 greater than the income returned by his labour, then, 
 and not till then, is there any chance of slavery being 
 abolished in the Western States of America.* 
 
 The probability of this consummation being brought 
 about sooner is in the expectation that the Brazils, 
 Mexico, and particularly the independent State of Texas, 
 will in a few years produce a crop of cotton which may 
 considerably lower its price. At present, the United 
 States grow nearly, if not more, than half of the cotton 
 produced in the whole world, as the return down to 
 1831 will substantiate. 
 
 * The return at present is very great in these Western States ; 
 the labour of a slave, after all his expenses are paid, producing on 
 an average 300 dollars (.65) per annum to his master. 
 10* 
 
SLAVERY. 
 
 Cotton grown all over the world in the years 1821 and 
 increase in each country in ten 
 
 1831 ; showing the 
 
 years. 
 
 United States, - - 
 Brazil, 
 
 West Indies, - - - 
 Egypt, 
 Rest of Africa, - - 
 India, 
 
 1821. 
 180,000,000 Ibs. 
 32,000,000 
 10,000,000 
 6,000,000 
 40,000,000 
 175,000,000 
 
 1831. 
 
 385,000,000 Ibs. 
 38,000,000 
 9,000,000 
 18,000,000 
 36,000,000 
 180,000,000 
 
 Rest of Asia, - - - 
 Mexico and South") 
 America, except J. 
 Brazil, J 
 Elsewhere, - - - 
 
 135^000,000 
 44,000,000 
 8,000,000 
 
 115 ,000 ,000 
 35,000,000 
 4,000,000 
 
 In the World, - - 630,000,000 820,000,000 
 
 The increase of cotton grown all over the world in 
 ten years is therefore 190,000,000 Ibs. Brazil has only 
 increased 6,000,000 ; Egypt has increased 12,000,000 ; 
 India, 5,000,000. Africa, West Indies, South America, 
 Asia, have all fallen off; but the defalcation has been 
 made good by the United States, which have increased 
 their growth by 205,000,000 of Ibs.* 
 
 * Increase of cotton grown in the United States, from the year 
 1802 to 1831 : 
 
 Years. 
 
 1802 
 
 1803 
 
 1804 
 
 1805 
 
 1806 
 
 1807 
 
 1808 
 
 1809 
 
 1810 
 
 1811 
 
 1812 
 
 1813 
 
 1814 
 
 1815 
 
 1815 
 
 11,8. 
 
 55,000,000 
 60,000,000 
 65,000,000 
 70,000,000 
 80,000,000 
 80,000,000 
 75,000,000 
 82,000,000 
 85,000,000 
 82,000,000 
 75,000,000 
 75,000,000 
 70,000,000 
 100,000,000 
 100,000,000 
 
 Years. 
 
 1817 
 
 1818 
 
 1819 
 
 1820 
 
 1821 
 
 1822 
 
 1823 
 
 1824 
 
 1825 
 
 1826 
 
 1827 
 
 1828 
 
 1829 
 
 1830 
 
 1831 
 
 Ibs. 
 
 130,000,000 
 125,000,000 
 167,000,000 
 160,000,000 
 180,000,000 
 210,000,000 
 185,000,000 
 215.000,000 
 255,000,000 
 300,000,000 
 270,000,000 
 325,000,000 
 365,000,000 
 350,000,000 
 385,000,000 
 
SLAVERY, 115 
 
 In the Southern portion of America there are millions 
 of acres on which cotton can be successfully cultivated, 
 particularly Texas, the soil of which is so congenial 
 that they can produce 1,000 15. to the 400 Ib. raised by 
 the Americans; and the quality of the Texian cotton is 
 said to be equal to the finest Sea Island produce. It is 
 to Texas particularly that we must look for this pro 
 duce, as it can there be raised by white labour;* and, 
 being so produced, will, as soon as its population in 
 creases to a certain extent, be able to undersell that 
 which is grown in America by the labour of the slave. 
 
 From circumstances, therefore, Texas, which but a 
 few years since was hardly known as a country, be 
 comes a State of the greatest importance to the civffised 
 and moral world. 
 
 I am not in this chapter about to raise the question how 
 Texas has been ravished from Mexico. Miss Marti- 
 neau, with all her admiration of democracy, admits it 
 to have been " the most high-handed theft of modern 
 times ;" and the letter of the celebrated Dr. Channing 
 to Mr. Clay has laid bare to the world the whole nefa 
 rious transaction. In this letter Dr. Channing points 
 out the cause of the seizure of Texas, and the wish to 
 enrol it among the Federal States. 
 
 " Mexico, at the moment of throwing off the Spanish 
 yoke, gave a noble testimony of her loyalty to free 
 principles, by decreeing, * That no person thereafter 
 should be born a slave, or introduced as such into the 
 Mexican States ; that all slaves then held should re^ 
 ceive stipulated wages, and be subject to no punish 
 ment but on trial and judgment by the magistrate. 
 The subsequent acts of the government fully carried 
 out these constitutional provisions. It is matter of deep 
 
 * It may be asked : How is it, as Texas is so far south, that a 
 white population can labour there? It is because Texas is a 
 prairie country, and situated at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico, 
 A sea-breeze always blows across the whole of the country, render 
 ing it cool, and refreshing it notwithstanding the power of the 
 sun s ruys. This breeze is apparently a continuation of the trade- 
 winds following the course of the sun, 
 
116 SLAVERY. 
 
 grief and humiliation, that the emigrants from this 
 country, whilst boasting of superior civilisation, refused 
 to second this honourable policy, intended to set limits 
 to one of the greatest of social evils. Slaves come into 
 Texas with their masters from the neighbouring States 
 of this country. One mode of evading the laws was, 
 to introduce slaves under formal indentures for long 
 periods, in some cases, it is said, for ninety-nine years ; 
 but by a decree of the State Legislature of Coahuila 
 and Texas, all indentures for a longer period than ten 
 years were annulled, and provision was made for the 
 freedom of children during this apprenticeship. This 
 settled, invincible purpose of Mexico to exclude slavery 
 from her limits, created as strong a purpose to annihi 
 late her authority in Texas. By this prohibition, Texas 
 was virtually shut against emigration from the South 
 ern and Western portions of this country ; and it is 
 well known that the eyes of the South and West had 
 for some time been turned to this province as a new 
 market for slaves, as a new field for slave labour, and 
 as a vast accession of political power to the slave-hold 
 ing States. That such views are prevalent we know ; 
 for, nefarious as they are, they found their way into 
 the public prints. The project of dismembering a neigh 
 bouring republic, that slaveholders and slaves might 
 overspread a region which had been consecrated to a 
 free population, was discussed in newspapers as coolly 
 as if it were a matter of obvious right and unquestion 
 able humanity. A powerful interest was thus created 
 for severing from Mexico her distant province." 
 
 The fact is this : America, (for the government look 
 ed on and offered no interruption,) has seized upon 
 Texas, with a view of extending the curse of slavery, 
 and of finding a mart for the excess of her negro popu 
 lation : if Texas is admitted into the Union, all chance 
 of the abolition of slavery must be thrown forward to 
 such an indefinite period, as to be lost in the mist of 
 futurity ; if, on the contrary, Texas remains an inde 
 pendent province, or is restored to her legitimate owners, 
 and in either case slavery is abolished, she then be- 
 
SLAVERY. 117 
 
 comes, from the very circumstance of her fertility and 
 aptitude for white labour, not only the great check to 
 slavery, but eventually the means of its abolition- 
 Never, therefore, was there a portion of the globe upon 
 which the moral world must look with such interest. 
 
 England may, if she acts promptly and wisely, make 
 such terms with this young State as to raise it up as a 
 barrier against the profligate ambition of America. 
 Texas was a portion of Mexico, and Mexico abolished 
 slavery ; the Texians are bound (if they are Texians 
 and not Americans) to adhere to what might be consi 
 dered a treaty with the whole Christian world ; if not, 
 they can make no demand upon its sympathy or pro 
 tection, and it should be a sine qua non with England 
 and all other European powers, previous to acknow 
 ledging or entering into commercial relations with 
 Texas, that she should adhere to the law which was 
 passed at the time that she was an integral portion of 
 Mexico, and declare herself to be a Free State if she 
 does not, unless the chains are broken by the negro 
 himself, the cause and hopes of Emancipation are 
 lost. 
 
 There certainly is one outlet for the slaves, which, as 
 they are removed farther and farther to the west, will 
 eventually be offered : that of escaping to the Indian 
 tribes which are spread over the western frontier, and 
 amalgamating with them ; such indeed, I think, will 
 some future day be the result, whether they gain their 
 liberty by desertion, insurrection, or manumission. 
 
 Of insurrection there is at present but little fear. In 
 the Eastern slave States, the negroes do not think of it, 
 and if they did, the difficulty of combination and of pro 
 curing arms is so great, that it would be attended with 
 very partial success. The intervention of a foreign 
 power might indeed bring it to pass, but it is to be 
 hoped that England, at all events, will never be the 
 party to foment a servile war. Let us not forget that 
 for more than two centuries we have been particeps 
 criminis, and should have been in as great a difficulty 
 as the Americans now are, had we had the negro popu- 
 
118 
 
 SLAVERY. 
 
 lation on our own soil, and not on distant islands which 
 could be legislated for without affecting the condition of 
 the mother country. Nay, at this very moment, by 
 taking nearly the whole of the American cotton off their 
 hands in exchange for our manufactures, we are our 
 selves virtually encouraging slavery by affording the 
 Americans such a profitable mart for their slave labour. 
 
 There is one point to which I have not yet adverted, 
 which is, Whether the question of emancipation is like 
 ly to produce a separation between the northern and 
 southern States? The only reply that can be given is, 
 that it entirely depends upon whether the abolition party 
 can be held in check by the Federal Government. That 
 the Federal Government will do its utmost there can be 
 no doubt, but the Federal Government is not so power 
 ful as many of the Societies formed in America, and es 
 pecially the Abolition Society, which every day adds to 
 its members. The interests of the North are certainly 
 at variance with the measures of this society, yet still it 
 gains strength. The last proceedings in Congress show- 
 that the Federal Government is aware of its rapid ex 
 tension, and are determined to do all in its power to 
 suppress it. The following are a portion of the resolu 
 tions which were passed last year by an overwhelming 
 majority. 
 
 The first resolution was, " That the government is of 
 limited powers, and that by the constitution of the 
 United States, Congress has no jurisdiction whatever 
 over the institution of slavery in the several States of 
 the confederacy;" the last was as follows: "Resolved, 
 therefore, that all attempts on the part of Congress to 
 abolish slavery in the District of Columbia, or the terri 
 tories, or to prohibit the removal of the slaves from 
 State to State; or to discriminate between the constitu 
 tion of one portion of the confederacy and another, with 
 the views aforesaid, are in violation of the constitu 
 tional principles on which the union of these States 
 rests, and beyond the jurisdiction of Congress ; and that 
 every petition, memorial, resolution, proposition, or 
 paper touching or relating in any way or to any extent 
 
SLAVERY. 119 
 
 whatever to slavery as aforesaid, or the abolition there 
 of, shall, without any further action thereon, be laid on 
 the table, without printing, reading, debate, or refe 
 rence."" Question put, " Shall the resolutions pass 1" 
 Yeas, 198; Noes, 6. Examiner. 
 
 These resolutions are very firm and decided, but in 
 England people have no idea of the fanaticism displayed 
 and excitement created in these societies, which are a 
 peculiar feature in the States, and arising from the na 
 ture of their institutions. Their strength and perseve 
 rance are such that they bear down all before them, and, 
 regardless of all consequences, they may eventually 
 control the government. 
 
 As to the question which portion. of the States will 
 be the losers by a separation, I myself think that it will 
 be the Northern States which will suffer. But as I 
 always refer to American authority when I can, I had 
 better give the reader a portion of a letter written by 
 one of the Southern gentlemen on this subject. In a 
 letter to the editor of the National Gazette, Mr. Cooper, 
 after referring to a point at issue with the abolitionists, 
 not necessary to introduce here, says " I shall there 
 fore briefly touch upon the subject once more; and if 
 further provocation is given, I may possibly enter into 
 more details hereafter ; for the present I desire to hint 
 at some items of calculation of the value of the Union to 
 the North. 
 
 " 1. Mr. Rhett, in his bold and honest address, has 
 stated that the expenditures of the Government for 
 twenty years, ending 183G, have been four hundred and 
 twenty millions of dollars; of which one hundred and 
 thirty were dedicated to the payment of the national 
 debt. Of the remainder, two hundred and ten millions 
 were expended in the Northern, and eighty millions in 
 the Southern States. Suppose this Union to be severed, 
 I rather guess the Government expenditure of what is 
 now about fifteen millions a-year to the North, would 
 be an item reluctantly spared. No people know better 
 what to do w 7 ith the * cheese-parings and the candle- 
 ends than our good friends to. the North. 
 
120 SLAVERY. 
 
 " 2. I beg permission to address New York especi 
 ally. In the year 1836 our exports were one hundred 
 and sixteen millions of dollars, and our imports one 
 hundred and forty millions. It is not too much to assign 
 seventy-five millions of these imports to the State of 
 New York. The South furnishes on an average two- 
 thirds of the whole value of the exports. Jt is fair, 
 therefore, to say, that two-thirds of the imports are con 
 sumed in the South, that is, fifty millions. The mer 
 cantile profit on fifty millions of merchandise, added to 
 the agency and factorage of the Southern products 
 transmitted to pay for them, will be at least twenty per 
 cent. That is, New York is gainer by the South, of at 
 least ten millions of dollars annually ; for the traffic is 
 not likely to decrease after the present year. No wonder 
 her merchants are like princes ! Sever the Union, and 
 what becomes of them ? 
 
 u 3. The army, the navy, the departments of Govern 
 ment, are supported by a revenue obtained from the in 
 direct taxation of Custom-house entries, the most fraudu 
 lent and extravagant mode of taxation known. Of this 
 the south pays two-thirds. What will become of the 
 system if the South be driven away? 
 
 " 4. The banking system of the Northern States is 
 founded mainly on the traffic and custom of the South. 
 Withdraw that for one twelvemonth, and the whole 
 banking system of the North 
 
 Tumbles all precipitate, 
 Down dash d. 
 
 Suppose even one State withdrawn from the Union, 
 would not the pecuniary intercourse with Europe be 
 paralysed ot once 1 
 
 " 5. The South even now are the great consumers of 
 New England manufactures. W r e take her cotton, her 
 woollen goods, her boots and shoes. These last form 
 an item of upwards of fourteen millions annually, manu 
 factured at the North. Much also of her iron ware 
 comes to the South ; many other notions are sent 
 
SLAVERY. 121 
 
 among us, greatly to the advantage of that wise people, 
 who know better the value of small gains and small 
 savings than we do. 
 
 " 6. What supports the shipping of the North but her 
 commerce ; and of her commerce two-thirds is Southern 
 commerce. Nor is her commerce in any manner or de 
 gree necessary to the South ; Europe manufactures 
 what the South wants, and the South raises what Eu 
 rope wants. Between Europe and the South there is 
 not and cannot be any competition, for there is no com 
 mercial or manufacturing, or territorial interference to 
 excite jealousies between them. We want not the 
 North. We can do without the North, if we separate 
 to-morrow. We can find carriers and purchasers of all 
 we have to sell and of all we wish to buy, without cast 
 ing one glance to the North. 
 
 " 7. The North seems to have a strange inclination to 
 quarrel with England. The late war of 1812 to 1814 
 was a war for Northern claims and Northern interests, 
 now we are in jeopardy from the unjust interference in 
 favour of the patriots of Canada; and a dispute is threat 
 ened on account of the Northeastern boundary. The 
 manufacturing and commercial interferences of the North 
 with Europe will always remain a possible, if not a 
 probable, source of disputes. The North raises what 
 Europe raises ; commercially they need not each other 
 they are two of a trade, they raise not what each 
 other wants they are rivals and competitors when 
 they go to war. Does not the South, who is not inte 
 rested in it, pay most part of the expense ? and is not 
 the war expenditure applied to the benefit of the North? 
 Sever, if you please, the Union, and the North will have 
 to pay the whole expense of her own quarrels. 
 
 " 8. Our system of domestic servitude is a great eye 
 sore to the fanatics of the North. But there are very 
 many wise and honest men in the North ; ay, even in Mas 
 sachusetts. I ask of these gentlemen does not at least 
 one-third of the labour produce of every Southern slave 
 ultimately lodge in the purse of the North ? If the South 
 
 VOL. II. 11 
 
122 SLAVERY. 
 
 works for itself it works also for the Northern merchant, 
 and views his prosperity without grudging. 
 
 " 9. Nor is it a trifling article of gain that arises from 
 the expenditure of Southern visiters and Southern tra 
 vellers, who spend their summers and their money in the 
 North. The quarrelsome rudeness of Northern society 
 is fast diminishing this source of expenditure among us. 
 Sever the Union and we relinquish it altogether. We 
 can go to London, Paris, or Rome, as cheaply and as 
 pleasantly as to Saratoga or Niagara. 
 
 " Such are some of the advantages which the North 
 derives from a continuance of that Union which her 
 fanatic population is so desirous to sever. A popula 
 tion with whom peace, humanity, mercy, oaths, con 
 tracts, and compacts, pass for nothing whose promises 
 and engagements are as chaff before the wind to whom 
 bloodshed, robbery, assassination, and murder are ob 
 jects of placid contemplation whose narrow creed of 
 bigotry supersedes all the obligations of morality, and 
 all the commands of positive law. With such men what 
 valid compact can be made 1 The appeal must be to 
 those who think that a deliberate compact is mutually 
 binding on parties of any and every religious creed. 
 To such men I appeal, and ask ought you not resolute 
 ly to restore peace, and give the South confidence and 
 repose ? 
 
 " I have now lived twenty years in South Carolina, 
 and have had much intercourse with her prominent and 
 leading men ; not a man among them is ignorant how 
 decidedly, in most respects, the South would gain by a 
 severance from the North, and how much more advan 
 tageous is this union to the North than to the South. 
 But I am deeply, firmly persuaded that there is not one 
 man in South Carolina that would move one step to 
 ward a separation, on account of the superior advan 
 tages the North derives from the Union. No Southern is 
 actuated by these pecuniary feelings; no Southern be 
 grudges the North her prosperity. Enjoy your advan 
 tages, gentlemen of the North, and much good may they 
 
SLAVERY. 123 
 
 do ye, as they have hitherto. But if these unconstitu 
 tional abolition attacks upon us, in utter defiance of the 
 national compact, are to be continued, God forbid this 
 Union should last another year. 
 
 " I am, sir, your obedient servant, 
 
 " THOMAS COOPER," 
 
124 
 
 RELIGION IN AMERICA. 
 
 IN theory nothing appears more rational than that 
 every one should worship the Deity according to his 
 own ideas form his own opinion as to his attributes, 
 and draw his own conclusions as to hereafter. An es 
 tablished church appears to be a species of coercion, not 
 that you are obliged to believe in, or follow that form of 
 worship, but that, if you do not, you lose your portion 
 of certain advantages attending that form of religion 
 which has been accepted by the majority and adopted 
 by the government. In religion, to think for yourself 
 wears the semblance of a luxury, and, like other luxu 
 ries, it is proportionably taxed. 
 
 And yet it would appear as if it never were intended 
 that the mass should think for themselves, as every 
 thing goes on so quietly when other people think for 
 them, and every thing goes so wrong when they do 
 think for themselves: in the first instance, where a por 
 tion of the people think for the mass, all are of one opi 
 nion ; whereas in the second, they divide and split into so 
 many molecules, that they resemble the globules of 
 water when expanded by heat, and like them are in a 
 state of restlessness and excitement. 
 
 That the partiality shown to an established church 
 creates some bitterness of feeling is most true, but, 
 being established by law, is it not the partiality shown 
 for the legitimate over the illegitimate? All who choose 
 may enter into its portals, and if people will remain out 
 of doors of their own accord, ought they to complain 
 that they have no house over their heads ? They cer 
 tainly have a right to remain out of doors if they please, 
 but whether they are justified in complaining afterwards 
 is another question. Perhaps the unreasonableness of the 
 demands of the Dissenters in our own country will be 
 
RELIGICW IN AMERICA. 
 
 125 
 
 better brought home to them by my pointing out the 
 effects of the Voluntary System in the United States. 
 
 In America every ore worships the Deity after his 
 own fashion ; not only the mode of worship, but even 
 the Deity itself, varies. Some worship God, some Mam 
 mon ; some admit, some deny, Christ; some deny both 
 God and Christ; some are saved by living prophets 
 only ; some go to heaven by water, while some dance 
 their way upwards. Numerous as are the sects, still 
 are the sects much subdivided. Unitarians are not in 
 unity as to the portion of divinity they shall admit to 
 our Saviour ; Baptists, as to the precise quantity of 
 water necessary to salvation ; even the Quakers have 
 split into controversy, and the men of peace are at open 
 war in Philadelphia, the city of brotherly love. 
 
 The following is the table of the religious denomina 
 tions of the United States, from the American Almanac 
 of 1838 : - 
 
 Table of the Religious Denominations of the United States. 
 
 Congrega- Minis- Communi- Ponillatinn 
 tions. tfii-a. rants. Copulation 
 
 Baptists - . 6,319 
 
 4,239 
 
 452,000 i 
 
 
 Freewillers 
 
 753 
 
 612 
 
 38,876 ! 
 
 
 Seventh Day - 
 
 42 
 
 46 
 
 4,503 f 
 
 4,oUU,UUU 
 
 Six Principle - 
 
 16 
 
 10 
 
 2,117 j 
 
 
 Roman Catholics 
 
 433 
 
 389 
 
 
 800,000 
 
 Christians 
 
 1,000 
 
 800 
 
 150,000 
 
 300,000 
 
 Ccngregationalists 
 
 1,300 
 
 1,150 
 
 160,000 
 
 1,400,000 
 
 Dutch Reformed 
 
 197 
 
 192 
 
 22,215 
 
 450,000 
 
 Episcopalians 
 
 850 
 
 899 
 
 
 600,000 
 
 Friends 
 
 500 
 
 
 
 100,000 
 
 German Reformed 
 
 600 
 
 180 
 
 30,000 
 
 
 Jews 
 
 
 
 
 15,000 
 
 Lutherans 
 
 750 
 
 267 
 
 62,266 
 
 540,000 
 
 Mennonites 
 
 200 
 
 
 30,000 
 
 
 Wesleyans 
 
 
 2,764 
 
 650,103 ) 
 
 
 Protestants 
 
 400 
 
 50,000 C 
 
 o,UUU T 000 
 
 Moravians, - 24 
 
 33 
 
 5,745 
 
 12,000 
 
 Mormonites 
 
 
 12,000 
 
 12,000 
 
 New Jerusalem Church 27 
 
 33 
 
 
 5,000 
 
 11* 
 
126 RELIGION IN AMERICA. 
 
 Minis- Communi- 
 tiona. ters. cants. 
 
 Presbyterians - - 2,807 2,225 274,084 ^ 
 
 Cumberland - - 500 450 50,000 
 
 Associate - 183 87 16,000 \ 2,175,000 
 
 Reformed - 40 20 3,000 
 
 Associate Reformed 214 116 12,000 j 
 
 Shakers - 15 45 6,000 
 
 Tunkers - 40 40 3,000 30,000 
 
 Unitarians - . 200 174 180,000 
 
 Universalists - - 653 317 600,000 
 
 1,983,905 
 
 In this list many varieties of sects are blended into 
 one. For instance, the Baptists who are divided ; also 
 the Friends, who have been separated into Orthodox 
 and Hicksite, the Camelites, &c. &c. But it is not 
 worth while to enter into a detail of the numerous 
 minor sects, or we might add Deists, Atheists, &c. for 
 even no religion is a species of creed. It must be ob 
 served, that, according to this table, out of the whole 
 population of the United States, there are only 1,983,905, 
 (with the exception of the Catholics, who are communi 
 cants,) that is, who have openly professed any creed ; 
 the numbers put down as the population of the different 
 creeds are wholly supposititious. How can it be other 
 wise, when people have not professed? It is computed, 
 that in the census of 1840 the population of the States 
 will have increased to 18,000,000, so thatat maybe said 
 that only one-ninth portion have professed and openly 
 avowed themselves Christians. 
 
 Religion may, as to its consequences, be considered 
 under two heads ; as it affects the future welfare of the 
 individual when he is summoned to the presence of the 
 Deity, and as it affects society in general, by acting 
 upon the moral character of the community. Now, ad 
 mitting the right of every individual to decide whether 
 he will follow the usual beaten track, or select for him 
 self a by-path for his journey upward, it must be ac 
 knowledged that the results of this free-will are, in a 
 
RELIGION IN AMERICA. 127 
 
 moral point of view, as far as society is concerned, any 
 thing but satisfactory. 
 
 It would appear as if the majority were much too 
 frail and weak to go alone upon their heavenly journey; 
 as if they required the support, the assistance, the en 
 couragement, the leaning upon others who are journey 
 ing with them, to enable them successfully to gain the 
 goal. The effects of an established church are to ce 
 ment the mass, cement society and communities, and 
 increase the force of those natural ties by which fami 
 lies and relations are bound together. There is an at 
 traction of cohesion in an uniform religious worship, 
 acting favourably upon the morals of the mass, and 
 binding still more closely those already united. 
 
 Now, the voluntary system in America has produced 
 the very opposite effects : it has broken one of the 
 strongest links between man and man, for each goeth 
 his own way : as a nation, there is no national feeling 
 to be acted upon ; in society, there is something want 
 ing, and you ask yourself what it is 1 ? and in families it 
 often creates disunion : I know one among many others, 
 who, instead of going together to the same house of 
 prayer, disperse as soon as they are out of the door: 
 one daughter to a Unitarian chapel, another to a Baptist ; 
 the parents to the Episcopal ; the sons, any where, or 
 no where. But worse effects are produced than even 
 these : where any one is allowed to have his own pe 
 culiar way of thinking, his own peculiar creed, there 
 neither is a watch, nor a right to watch over each 
 other ; there is no mutual communication, no encou 
 ragement, no parental control ; and the consequence is, 
 that by the majority, especially the young, religion be 
 comes wholly and utterly disregarded. 
 
 Another great evil, arising from the peculiarity of the 
 voluntary system, is, that in many of the principal sects 
 the power has been wrested from the clergy and as 
 sumed by the laity, who exercise an inquisition most 
 injurious to the cause of religion ; and to such an excess 
 of tyranny is this power exercised, that it depends upon 
 the laity, and not upon the clergy, whether any indivi- 
 
128 RELIGION IN AMERICA. 
 
 dual shall or shall not be admitted as a communicant at 
 the table of our Lord.* 
 
 Referring to religious instruction, Mr. Carey in his 
 work attempts to prove the great superiority of religious 
 instruction and church accommodation in America, as 
 compared with those matters in this country. He draws 
 his conclusions from the number of churches built and 
 provided for the population in each. Like most others 
 of his conclusions, they are drawn from false premises : 
 he might just as well argue upon the number of horses 
 in each country, from the number of horse-ponds he 
 might happen to count in each. In the first place, the 
 size of the churches must be considered, and their ability 
 to accommodate the population ; and on this point the 
 question is greatly in favour of England ; for with the 
 exception of the cities and large towns, the churches 
 scattered about the hamlets and rising towns are small 
 even to ridicule, built of clap-boards, and so light that, 
 if on wheels, two pair of English post-horses would trot 
 them away to meet the minister. 
 
 Mr. Carey also finds fault with the sites of our 
 churches, as being unfortunate in consequence of the 
 change of population. There is some truth in this re 
 mark; but our churches being built of brick and stone, 
 cannot be so easily removed ; and it happens that the 
 sites of the majority of the American churches are 
 equally unfortunate, not as in our case, from the popu 
 lation having left them, but from the population not 
 having come to them. You may pass in one day a 
 dozen towns having not above twenty or thirty private 
 houses, although you will invariably find in each a 
 hotel, a bank, and churches of two or three denomina 
 tions, built as a speculation, either by those who hold 
 the ground lots, or by those who have settled there, and 
 as an inducement to others to come and settle. The 
 
 * Miss Martineau may well inquire, " How does the existing 
 state of religion accord with the promise of its birth? In a country 
 which professes to every man the pursuit of happiness in his own 
 way, what is the state of his liberty in the most private and indi 
 vidual of all concerns ?" 
 
RELIGION IN AMERICA. 129 
 
 churches, as Mr. Carey states, exist, but the congrega 
 tions have not arrived ; while you may, at other times, 
 pass over many miles without finding a place of wor 
 ship for the spare population. I have no hesitation in 
 asserting, not only that our 12,000 churches and cathe 
 drals will hold a larger number of people than the 20,000 
 stated by Mr. Carey to be erected in America, but that 
 as many people, (taking into consideration the difference 
 of the population,) go to our 12,000, as to the 20,000 in 
 the United States. 
 
 Neither is Mr. Carey correct when he would insinu 
 ate that the attention given by the people in America to 
 religious accommodation is greater than with us. It is 
 true, that more churches, such as they are, are built in 
 America ; but pay ing an average of 12,000 for a church 
 built of brick or stone in England, is a very different 
 thing from paying 12,000 dollars for a clap-board and 
 shingle affair in America, and which compared with 
 those of brick and mortar, are there in the proportion of 
 ten to one. And further, the comparative value of 
 church building in America is very much lowered by 
 the circumstance that they are compelled to multiply 
 them, to provide for the immense variety of creeds 
 which exist under the voluntary system. When people 
 in a community are all of one creed, one church is suf 
 ficient ; but if they are of different persuasions, they 
 must, as they do in America, divide the one large church 
 into four little ones. It is not fair, therefore, for Mr. 
 Carey to count churches.* 
 
 But, although I will not admit the conclusions drawn 
 from Mr. Carey s premises, nor that, as he would at 
 tempt to prove, the Americans are a more religious 
 people than the English, I am not only ready, but 
 anxious to do justice to the really religious portion of 
 its inhabitants. I believe that in no other country is 
 
 * " We know also that large sums are expended annually for the 
 building 1 of churches or places of worship, which in cities cost from 
 10,000 to 100,000 dollars each; and in the country from 500 to 
 5,000 dollars." Voice from America by an American Gentleman. 
 [What must be the size of a church which costs 500 dollars ?] 
 
130 RELIGION IN AMERICA. 
 
 there more zeal shown by its various ministers, zeal 
 even to the sacrifice of life ; that no country sends out 
 more zealous missionaries ; that no country has more 
 societies for the diffusion of the gospel ; and that in no 
 other country in the world are larger sums subscribed 
 for the furtherance of those praiseworthy objects as in 
 the Eastern States of America. I admit all this, and 
 admit it with pleasure, for I know it to be a fact : I only 
 regret to add, that in no other country are such strenu 
 ous exertions so incessantly required to stem the tor 
 rent of atheism and infidelity which so universally exists 
 in this. Indeed this very zeal, so ardent on the part of 
 the ministers, and so aided by the well-disposed of the 
 laity, proves that what I have just now asserted is, un 
 fortunately, but too true. 
 
 It is not my intention to comment upon the numerous 
 sects, and the varieties of worship practised in the Uni 
 ted States. The Episcopal church is small in proportion 
 to the others, and as far as I can ascertain, although it 
 may increase its members with the increase of popula 
 tion, it is not likely to make any vigorous or successful 
 stand against the other sects. The two churches most 
 congenial to the American feelings and institutions are 
 the Presbyterian and Congregationalists.* They may, 
 indeed, in opposition to the hierarchy of the Episcopal, 
 be considered as Republican churches; and admitting 
 that many errors have crept into the Established church 
 from its too intimate union with the State, I think it will 
 be proved that, in rejecting its errors and the domina 
 tion of the mitre, the seceders have fallen into still great 
 er evils ; and have for the latter, substituted a despot 
 ism to which every thing, even religion itself, must in 
 America succumb. 
 
 In a republic, or democracy, the people will rule in 
 every thing: in the Congregational church they rule as 
 deacons ; in the Presbyterian as elders. Affairs are 
 litigated and decided in committees and councils, and 
 
 * "The Congregationalists answer to the Independents of Eng 
 land, and are sympathetically, and to a great extent, lineally 
 descendants of the Puritans." Voice from Amtrica, p. 62. 
 
RELIGION IN AMERICA. 131 
 
 thus is the pastoral office deprived of its primitive and 
 legitimate influence, and the ministers are tyrannised 
 over by the laity, in the most absurd and most unjusti 
 fiable manner. If the minister does not submit to their 
 decisions, if he asserts his right as a minister to preach 
 the word according to his reading of it, he is arraigned 
 and dismissed. In short, although sent for to instruct 
 the people, he must consent to be instructed by them or 
 surrender up his trust. Thus do the ministers lose all 
 their dignity and become the slaves of the congregation, 
 who give them their choice, either to read the Scriptures 
 according to their reading, or to go and starve. I was 
 once canvassing this question with an American, who 
 pronounced that the laity were quite right, and that it 
 was the duty of the minister to preach as his congrega 
 tion wished. His argument was this : " If I send to 
 Manchester for any article to be manufactured, I expect 
 it to be made exactly after the pattern given, if not I 
 will not take it : so it is with the minister : he must find 
 goods exactly suited to his customers, or expect them to 
 be left on his hands !" 
 
 And it really would appear as if such were the gene 
 ral opinion in the United States. Mr. Colton, an Ame 
 rican minister, who turned from the Presbyterian to the 
 Episcopal church, in his " Reasons for Episcopacy," 
 makes the following remarks ;* speaking of the deacons 
 and elders of their churches, he says 
 
 " They may be honest and good men, and very pious ; 
 but in most churches they are men of little intellectual 
 culture ; and the less they have, the more confident and 
 unbending are they in their opinions. If a minister 
 travels an inch beyond the circle of their vision in theo 
 logy, or startle them with a new idea in his interpretation 
 of Scripture, it is not unlikely that their suspicion of his 
 orthodoxy will be awakened. If he does any thing out 
 
 * I must request the reader s forbearance at the extreme length 
 of the quotations, but I cannot well avoid making them. What 
 ever weight my opinion, as the opinion of an observant traveller 
 may have, it must naturally be much increased if supported, as it 
 always is when opportunity offers, by American authority. 
 
132 
 
 RELIGION IN AMERICA. 
 
 of the common course, he is an innovator. If, from the 
 multiplicity of his cares and engagements, he is now 
 and then obliged to preach an old sermon, or does not 
 visit so much as might be expected, he is lazy. For 
 these and for other delinquencies, as adjudged by these 
 associates, it becomes their conscientious duty to ad 
 monish him. He who is appointed to supervise the 
 flock, is himself supervised. * I have a charge to give 
 you, said a deacon to me once, the first time and the 
 moment I was introduced to him, after I had preached 
 one or two Sabbaths in the place, and, as it happened, it 
 was the first word he said after we shook hands, adding, 
 I often give charges to ministers. I knew him to be 
 an important man, and the first in the church ; but as I 
 had nothing at stake there that depended on his favour, I 
 could not resist the temptation of replying to him in 
 view of his consequential airs, * * You may use your dis 
 cretion, sir, in this particular instance; but I can tell 
 you that ministers are sometimes overcharged. How 
 ever, I did not escape. 
 
 "It seems to be a principle in Presbyterian and 
 Congregational churches, that the minister must be 
 overlooked by the elders and deacons ; and if he does 
 not quietly submit to their rule, his condition will be 
 uncomfortable. He may also expect visitations from 
 women to instruct him in his duty ; at least they will 
 contrive to convey to him their opinions. It is said of 
 Dr. Bellamy, of Bethlehem, Connecticut, who was emi 
 nently a peace-maker, and was always sent for by all 
 the churches in the country around, at a great distance, 
 
 " The American clergy are the most backward and timid class 
 in the society of which they live ; self-exiled from the great moral 
 question of the time; the least informed with true knowledge the 
 least efficient in virtuous action the least conscious of that Chris- 
 tian and republican freedom which, as a native atmosphere of piety 
 and holiness, it is their prime duty to cherish and diffuse," Miss 
 
 Marlineau. 1 quote this paragraph to contradict it. The 
 
 American clergy are, in the mass, equal, if not superior to any in 
 the world: they have to struggle with difficulties almost insur 
 mountable, (as I shall substantiate,) and worthily do they perform 
 their tasks. 
 
RELIGION IN AMERICA. 133 
 
 to settle their difficulties, that having just returned from 
 one of these errands, and put up his horse, another mes 
 sage of the same kind came from another quarter * And 
 what is the matter 1 said the Doctor to the messenger. 
 
 1 Why, said he, Deacon has Has that s 
 
 enough. There never is a difficulty in a church, but 
 some old deacon is at the bottom of it. 
 
 " Unquestionably, it is proper, wise, and prudent for 
 every minister to watch and consult the popular opinion 
 around him, in relation to himself, his preaching, and 
 his conduct. But, if a minister is worthy to be the 
 pastor of a people, he is also worthy of some confidence, 
 and ought to receive deference. In his own proper 
 work he may be helped, he may be sustained, but he 
 cannot be instructed by his people; he cannot in gene 
 ral be instructed by the wisest of them. Respectful 
 and kind hints from competent persons he may receive, 
 and should court he may profit by them. But, if he 
 is a man fit for his place, he should retain that honour 
 that will leave him scope, and inspire him with courage 
 to act a manly part. A Christian pastor can never ful 
 fil his office, and attain its highest ends, without being 
 free to act among his people according to the light of 
 his conscience and his best discretion. To have elders 
 and deacons to rule over him, is to be a slave is not 
 to be a man. The responsibilities, cares, burdens, and 
 labours of the pastoral office are enough, without being 
 impeded and oppressed by such anxieties as these. In 
 the early history of New England, a non-conformist mi 
 nister, from the old country, is represented to have said, 
 after a little experience on this side of the water, I left 
 England to get rid of my lords the bishops ; but here I 
 find in their place my lords, the brethren and sisters ; 
 save me from the latter, and let me have the former. 
 
 " It has actually happened within a few years in New 
 England, and I believe in other parts of the country, 
 that there has been a system of lay visitation of the 
 clergy for the purpose of counselling, admonishing, and 
 urging them up to their duty ; and that these self-com 
 missioned apostles, two and two, have gone from town 
 
 VOL. II. 12 
 
134 RELIGION IN AMERICA. 
 
 to town, and from district to district of the country, 
 making inquisition at the mouth of common rumour, 
 and by such methods as might be convenient, into the 
 conduct and fidelity of clergymen whom they never 
 saw ; and, having exhausted their means of informa 
 tion, have made their way into the closets of their 
 adopted proteges ; to advise, admonish, pray with, and 
 for them, according as they might need. Having ful 
 filled their office, they have renewed their march, * staff 
 and scrip, in a straightforward way, to the next parish 
 in the assigned round of their visitations, to enact the 
 same scene, and so on till their work was done. 
 
 " Of course, they were variously received ; though, 
 for the most part, I believe they have been treated civil 
 ly, and their title to this enterprise not openly disputed. 
 There has been an unaccountable submission to things 
 of this kind, proving in deed that the ministers thus vi 
 sited were not quite manly enough ; or that a public 
 opinion, authorising these transactions, had obtained 
 too extensive a sway in their own connexion, and 
 among their people, to be resisted. By many, doubt 
 less, it was regarded as one of the hopeful symptoms of 
 this age of religious experiment. 
 
 " I have heard of one reception of these lay apostles, 
 which may not be unworthy of record. One pair of 
 them for they went forth two and two, and thus far 
 were conformed to Scripture both of them mechanics, 
 and one a shoemaker, having abandoned their calling 
 to engage in this enterprise, came upon a subject who 
 was not well disposed to recognise their commission. 
 They began to talk with him : * We have come to stir 
 you up. How is the shoe business in your city f 
 said the clergyman to the shoemaker, who was the 
 speaker ; for it was a city from which they came. The 
 shoemaker looked vacant, and stared at the question, 
 as if he thought it not very pertinent to his errand ; 
 and, after a little pause, proceeded in the discharge of 
 his office : We have come to give your church a 
 shaking. Is the market for shoes good V said the 
 clergyman. Abashed at this apparent obliquity, the 
 
RELIGION IN AMERICA. 135 
 
 shoemaker paused again ; and again went on in like 
 manner. To which the clergyman : Your business is 
 at a stand, sir, I presume ; I suppose you have nothing 
 to do? And so the dialogue went on ; the shoemaker 
 confining himself to his duty, and the clergyman talk 
 ing only of shoes, in varied and constantly-shifting col 
 loquy, till the perverse and wicked pertinacity of the 
 latter discouraged the former ; and the shoemaker and 
 his brother took up their hats, * to shake off the dust of 
 their feet, and turn away to a more hopeful subject. 
 The clergyman bowed them very civilly out of doors, 
 expressing his wish, as they departed, that the shoe 
 business might soon revive. Of course, these lay apos 
 tles, in this instance, were horror-struck ; and it cannot 
 be supposed they were much inclined to leave their 
 blessing behind them. 
 
 " I believe I do not mistake in expressing the con 
 viction that there are hundreds, not to say thousands, 
 of the Presbyterian and Congregational clergy, who 
 will sympathise with me thoroughly in these strictures 
 on the encroachments of the laity upon pastoral pre 
 rogative ; who groan under it ; who feel that it ought 
 to be rebuked and corrected, but despair of it; and 
 who know that their usefulness is abridged by it to an 
 amount that cannot be estimated.* It can hardly be 
 
 * " The Rev. Mr. Reid mentions a very whimsical instance of 
 the interference of the laity in every possible way. He says, that 
 being at church one Sabbath, there was one reverend old man, 
 certainly a leader among them, who literally, as the preacher went 
 on with his sermon, kept up a sort of recitation with him ; as, for 
 instance, the preacher continuing his sermon 
 
 The duty here inferred is, to deny ourselves 
 
 Elder. God enable us to do it. 
 
 Preacher. It supposes that the carnal mind is enmity against 
 God 
 
 Elder. Ah, indeed, Lord, it is. 
 
 Preacher. The very reverse of what God would have us to be 
 
 Elder. God Almighty knows it s true. 
 
 Preacher. How necessary, then, that God should call upon us to 
 renounce every thing 
 
 Elder. God help us ! 
 
 Preacher. Is it necessary for^e to say more ? 
 
 a 
 
 
136 RELIGION IN AMERICA. 
 
 denied, I think, that the prevalence of this spirit has 
 greatly increased within a few years, and become a 
 great and alarming evil. This increase is owing, no 
 doubt, to the influence and new practices introduced 
 into the religious world by a certain class of ministers, 
 who have lately risen and taken upon themselves to 
 rebuke and set down as unfaithful all other ministers 
 who do not conform to their new ways, or sustain 
 them in their extravagant career." 
 
 The interference, I may say the tyranny, of the laity 
 over the ministers of these democratic churches is, 
 however, of still more serious consequences to those 
 who accept such arduous and repulsive duty. It is a 
 well-known fact that there is a species of bronchitis, or 
 affection of the lungs, peculiar to the ministers in the 
 United States, arising from their excessive labours in 
 their vocation. I have already observed, that the zeal 
 of the minister is even unto death : the observations of 
 Mr. Colton fully bear me out in my assertion. 
 
 " There is another serious evil in the Presbyterian 
 and Congregational denominations, which has attained 
 
 Elder. No oh no ! 
 
 Preacher. Have I not said enough ? 
 
 Eider. Oh, yes, quite enough. 
 
 Preacher. I rejoice that God calls me to give up every thing 
 
 Elder. Yes, Lord, I would let it all go. 
 
 Preacher. You must give up all 
 
 Elder. Yes all. 
 
 Preacher. Your pride 
 
 Elder. My pride 
 
 Preacher. Your envy 
 
 Elder. My envy. 
 
 Preacher. Your covetousness^-r 
 
 Elder. My covetousness. 
 
 Preacher. Your anger r 
 
 Elder. Yes my anger. 
 
 Preacher. Sinner, then, how awful is your condition ! 
 
 Elder. How awful ! 
 
 Preacher. What reason for all to examine themselves. 
 
 Elder. Lord, help us to search our hearts ! 
 
 Preacher, Could you have more motives? I have done. 
 
 Elder. Thank God- Thank God for his holy word. 
 
 Amen." 
 
RELIGION IN AMERICA. 137 
 
 to the consequence of an active and highly influential 
 element in these communities. I refer to the excessive 
 amount of labour that is demanded of the clergy, which 
 is undermining their health, and sending scores to their 
 graves every year, long before they ought to go there. 
 It is a new state of things, it must be acknowledged, 
 and might seem hopeful of good, that great labours and 
 high devotion to the duties of the Christian ministry in 
 our country will not only be tolerated, but are actually 
 demanded and imperatively exacted. At first glance 
 it is a most grateful feature. But, when the particulars 
 come to be inquired into, it will be found that the mind 
 and health-destroying exactions now so extensively 
 made on the energies of the American clergy, par 
 ticularly on these two classes I am now considering, 
 are attributable, almost entirely, to an appetite for cer 
 tain novelties, which have been introduced within a few 
 years, adding greatly to the amount of ministerial la 
 bour, without augmenting its efficiency, but rather 
 detracting from it. Sermons and meetings without end, 
 and in almost endless variety, are expected and de 
 manded ; and a proportionate demand is made on the 
 intellect, resources, and physical energies of the preacher. 
 ^Ie must be as much more interesting in his exercises 
 and exhibitions as the increased multiplicity of public 
 religious occasions tend to pall on the appetite of 
 hearers. Protracted meetings from day to day, and 
 often from week to week, are making demands upon 
 ministers, which no human power can sustain ; and, 
 where these are dispensed with, it is often necessary to 
 introduce something tantamount, in other forms, to 
 satisfy the suggestions and wishes of persons so in 
 fluential as to render it imprudent not to attempt to 
 gratify them. In the soberest congregations, throughout 
 nearly all parts of the land, these importunate and 
 (without unkindness, I am disposed to add) morbid 
 minds are to be found, often in considerable numbers. 
 Almost every where, in order to maintain their ground 
 and satisfy the taste of the times, labours are demanded 
 of ministers in these two denominations enough to kill 
 12* 
 
138 RELIGION IN AMERICA. 
 
 any man in a short period. It is as if Satan had come- 
 into the world in the form of an angel of light, seeming 
 to be urging on a good work, but pushing it so hard as 
 to destroy the labourers by over-exaction. 
 
 " The wasting energiesthe enfeebled, ruined health 
 -the frequent premature deaths the failing of ministers 
 in the Presbyterian and Congregational connexions 
 from these causes all over the country, almost as soon 
 as they have begun to work all which is too manifest 
 not to be seen, which every body feels that takes any 
 interest in this subject are principally, and with few 
 exceptions, owing to the unnecessary exorbitant de 
 mands on their intellectual powers, their moral and phy 
 sical energies. And the worst of it is, we not only have 
 no indemnification for this amazing, immense sacrifice, 
 by a real improvement of the state of religion, but the 
 public mind is vitiated : an unnatural appetite for spu 
 rious excitements, all tending to fanaticism, and not a 
 little of it the essence of fanaticism, is created and nou 
 rished. The interests of religion in the land are actually 
 thrown backward. It is a fever, a disease which nothing 
 but time, pains, and a change of system can cure. A 
 great body of the most talented, best educated, most 
 zealous, most pious, and purest Christian ministers in 
 the country not to disparage any others a body 
 which in all respects will bear an advantageous com 
 parison with any of their class in the world, is threaten 
 ed to be enervated, to become sickly, to have their 
 minds wasted, and their lives sacrificed out of season, 
 and with real loss to the public, by the very means 
 which prostrates them, even though we should leave 
 out of the reckoning the premature end to which they 
 are brought. This spectacle, at this moment before the 
 eyes of the wide community, is enough to fill the mind 
 of an enlightened Christian with dismay. I have myself 
 been thrown ten years out of the stated use of the min 
 istry by this very course, and may, therefore, be entitled 
 to feel and to speak on the subject. And when I see my 
 brethren fallen and falling around me, like the slain in 
 battle, the plains of our land literally covered with these 
 
RELIGION IN AMERICA. 139 
 
 unfortunate victims, I am constrained to express a most 
 earnest desire, that some adequate remedy may be ap 
 plied." 
 
 It is no matter of surprise, then, that I heard the min 
 isters at the camp meeting complain of the excess of 
 their labours, and the difficulty of obtaining young men 
 to enter the church :* who, indeed, unless actuated by 
 a holy zeal, would submit to such a life of degradation ? 
 what man of intellect and education could submit to be 
 schooled by shoemakers and mechanics, to live poor, 
 and at the mercy of tyrants, and drop down dead like 
 the jaded and over-laden beast from excess of fatigue 
 and exertion 1 Let me again quote the same author: 
 
 " It is these excessive, multitudinous, and often long 
 protracted religious occasions, together with the spirit 
 that is in them, which have been for some years break 
 ing up and breaking down the clergy of this land. It 
 has been breaking them up. It is commonly observed, 
 that a new era has lately come over the Christian con 
 gregations of our country in regard to the permanence 
 of the pastoral relation. Time was in the memory of 
 those now living when the settlement of a minister was 
 considered of course a settlement for life. But now, as 
 everybody knows, this state of things is utterly broken 
 up ; and it is, perhaps, true that, on an average, the 
 clergy of this country do not remain more than five 
 years in the same place.t And it is impossible they 
 should, in the present state of things. They could not 
 stand it. So numerous are their engagements ; so full 
 
 * The Rev. Mr. Reid observes, speaking of the Congregational- 
 ists, "When I rose to support his resolution, as requested, all were 
 generously attentive. At the close I alluded emphatically to one 
 fact in the report, which was, that out of 4,500 churches there 
 were 2,000 not only void of educated pastors, but void of pastors; 
 and I insisted that, literally, they ought not to sleep on such a state 
 of things." Reid and Matheson s Tour. 
 
 f " I was sorry to find that, in this part of the state, the ministers 
 are so frequently changing the scene of their pastoral labours. The 
 fault may sometimes be in themselves ; but, from conversations I 
 have heard on the subject, I am inclined to believe that the people 
 are fond of change." Rev. Mr. Reid. 
 
140 RELIGION IN AMERICA. 
 
 of anxiety is their condition in a fevered state of the 
 public mind acting upon them from all directions ; so 
 consuming are their labours in the study and in public, 
 pressed and urged upon them by the demands of the 
 time; and, withal, so fickle has the popular mind be 
 come under a system that it is forever demanding some 
 new and still more exciting measure some new socie 
 ty some new monthly or weekly meeting, which per 
 haps soon grows into a religious holiday some spe 
 cial effort running through many days, sometimes last 
 ing for weeks, calling for public labours of ministers, of 
 the most exciting kind throughout each day from the 
 earliest hour of the morning to a late hour of night ; 
 for reasons and facts of this kind, so abundant, and now 
 so obvious to the public that they need only to be refer 
 red to to be seen and appreciated, it is impossible that 
 ministers should remain long in the same place. Their 
 mental and physical energies become exhausted, and 
 they are compelled to change ; first, because it is not in 
 the power of man to satisfy the appetite for novelties 
 which is continually and from all quarters making its 
 insatiate demands upon them ; and next, that, if possi 
 ble, they may purchase a breathing time and a tran 
 sient relief from the overwhelming pressure of their 
 cares and labours. 
 
 " But, alas ! there is no relief: they are not only bn> 
 ken up, but they find themselves fast breaking down. 
 "Wherever they go, there is the same demand for the 
 same scene to be acted over. There is there can be 
 no stability in the pastoral relation, in such a state 
 of the public mind ; and, what is still more melancholy 
 and affecting, the pastors themselves cannot endure it 
 they cannot live. They are not only constantly 
 fluctuating literally afloat on the wide surface of the 
 community but their health is undermined their spi 
 rits are sinking and they are fast treading upon each 
 other s heels to the grave, their only land of rest. 
 
 *< Never, since the days of the apostles, was a coun 
 try blessed with so enlightened, pious, orthodox, faith 
 ful, willing clergy, as the United States of America at 
 
RELIGION IN AMERICA. 141 
 
 this moment ; and never did a ministry, so worthy of 
 trust, have so little independence to act according to 
 their conscience and best discretion. They are liter 
 ally the victims of a spiritual tyranny that has started 
 up and burst upon the world in a new form at least, 
 with an extent of sway that has never been known. 
 It is an influence which comes up from the lowest con 
 ditions of life, which is vested in the most ignorant 
 minds, and therefore, the more unbending and uncon 
 trollable. It is an influence which has been fostered 
 and blown into a wide-spread flame by a class of itine 
 rating ministers, who have suddenly started up and 
 overrun the land, decrying and denouncing all that 
 have not yielded al once to their sway ; by direct and 
 open efforts shaking and destroying public confidence 
 in the settled and more permanent ministry, leaving 
 old paths and striking out new ones, demolishing old 
 systems and substituting others, and disturbing and de 
 ranging the whole order of society as it had existed be 
 fore. And it is to this new state of things, so harassing, 
 so destructive to health and life, that the regular minis 
 try of this country (the best qualified, most pious, most 
 faithful, and in all respects the most worthy Christian 
 ministry that the Church has ever enjoyed in any age) 
 are made the victims. They cannot resist it, they are 
 overwhelmed by it." 
 
 The fact is, that there is little or no healthy religion 
 in their most numerous and influential churches ; it is 
 all excitement. Twenty or thirty years back the Me 
 thodists were considered as extravagantly frantic, but 
 the Congregationalists and Presbyterians in the United 
 States have gone far a-head of them, and the Metho 
 dist church in America has become to a degree Epis 
 copal, and softened down into, perhaps, the most pure, 
 most mild, and most simple of all the creeds professed. 
 
 I have said that in these two churches the religious 
 feeling was that of excitement : I believe it to be more 
 or less the case in all religion in America ; for the Ame 
 ricans are a people who are prone to excitement, not 
 only from their climate but constitutionally, and it is 
 
142 RELIGION IN AMERICA. 
 
 the caviare of their existence. If it were not so, why 
 is it necessary that revivals should be so continually 
 called forth a species of stimulus, common, I believe, 
 to almost everysect and creed, promoted and practised 
 in all their colleges, and considered as most important 
 and salutary in their results. Let it not be supposed 
 that I am depreciating that which is to be understood 
 by a revival in the true sense of the word ; not those 
 revivals which were formerly held for the benefit of all 
 and for the salvation of many : I am raising my voice 
 against the modern system, which has been so univer 
 sally substituted for the reality; such as has been so 
 fully exposed by Bishop Hopkins, of Vermont, and by 
 Mr. Colton, who says 
 
 " Religious excitements, called revivals of religion, 
 have been a prominent feature in the history of this 
 country from its earliest periods, more particularly 
 within a hundred years ; and the agency of man has 
 always had more or less to do in their management, or 
 in their origination, or in both. Formerly in theory 
 (for man is naturally a philosopher, and will always 
 have his theory for every event and every fact), they 
 were regarded as Pentecostal seasons, as showers from 
 heaven, with which this world below had nothing to do 
 but to receive and be refreshed by them as they came. 
 A whole community, or the great majority of them, ab 
 sorbed in serious thoughts about eternal things, in 
 quiring the way to heaven, and seeming intent on the 
 attainment of that high and glorious condition, presents 
 a spectacle as solemn as it is interesting to contem 
 plate. Such, doubtless, has been the condition of 
 many communities in the early and later history of 
 American revivals ; and it is no less true that the 
 fruits have been the turning of many to God and his 
 ways. 
 
 " The revivals of the present day are of a very different 
 nature.* There are but two ways by which the mind 
 
 * The American clergymen are supported in their opinion on 
 tlie present revivals and their consequences by Doctors Reid and 
 
RELIGION IN AMERICA. 143 
 
 of man can be brought to a proper sense of religion 
 one is by love, and the other by fear ; and it is by the 
 latter only that modern revivals become at all effective. 
 Bishop Hopkins says, very truly,- " Have we any ex 
 ample in the preaching of Christ and his apostles of the 
 use of strong individual denunciation? Is there one sen 
 tence in the word of inspiration to justify the attempt 
 to excite the feelings of a public assembly, until every 
 restraint of order is forgotten, and confusion Jbecomes 
 identified with the word of God."* Yet such are the 
 revivals of the present day as practised in America. 
 Mr. Colton calls them "Those startling and astounding 
 shocks which are constantly invented, artfully and habitu 
 ally applied, under all the power of sympathy, and of a 
 studied and enthusiastic elocution, by a large class of 
 preachers among us. To startle and to shock is their 
 great secret their power." 
 
 The same author proceeds : 
 
 " Religion is a dread and awful theme in itself. That 
 is, as all must concede, there are revealed truths belong 
 ing to the category. To invest these truths with terrors 
 that do not belong to them, by bringing them out in dis 
 torted shapes and unnatural forms ; to surprise a tender 
 and unfortified rnind by one of awful import, without ex 
 hibiting the corresponding relief which Christianity has 
 provided; to frighten, shock, and paralyse the mind with 
 alternations and scenes of horror, carefully concealing the 
 ground of encouragement and hope, till reason is shaken 
 and hurled from its throne, for the sake of gaining a 
 
 Matheson, who, otherwise favourable to them, observe, " These 
 revival preachers have denounced pastors with whom they could 
 not compare, as dumb dogs, hypocrites, and formalists, leading 
 their people to hell. The consequences have been most disastrous. 
 Churches have become the sport of derision, distraction, and dis 
 order. Pastors have been made unhappy in their dearest connex 
 ions. So extensive has been this evil that, in one presbytery of 
 nineteen churches, there were only three who had settled pastors; 
 and in one synod, of 1832, of a hundred and three churches, only 
 fifty-two had pastors." 
 
 * "The Primitive Church Compared, &c.," by the Bishop of 
 Vermont. 
 
144 RELIGION IN AMERICA. 
 
 convert, and in making a convert to make a maniac (as 
 doubtless sometimes occurs under this mode of preach 
 ing, for we have the proof of it), involves a fearful 
 responsibility. I have just heard of an interesting girl 
 thus driven to distraction, in the city of New York, at 
 the tender age of fourteen, by being approached by the 
 preacher after a sermon of this kind, with a secretary by 
 his side with a book and pen in his hand to take down 
 the names and answers of those who, by invitation, 
 remained to be conversed with. Having taken her name, 
 the preacher asked, Are you for God or the devil ? 
 Being overcome, her head depressed, and in tears, she 
 made no reply. Put her down, then, in the devil s 
 book ! said the preacher to his secretary. From that 
 time the poor girl became insane ; and, in her simplicity 
 and innocence, has been accustomed to tell the story of 
 her misfortunes." 
 
 And yet these revivals are looked up to and supported 
 as the strong arm of religion. It is not only the igno 
 rant or the foolish, but the enlightened and the educated 
 also, who support and encourage them, either from a 
 consideration of their utility, or from that fear, so uni 
 versal in the United States, of expressing an opinion 
 contrary to the majority. How otherwise could they be 
 introduced once or twice a year into all the colleges 
 the professors of which are surely most of them men of 
 education and strong mind? Yet such is the fact. It is 
 announced that some minister, peculiarly gifted to work 
 in revivals, is to come on a certain day. Books are 
 thrown on one side, study is abandoned, and ten days 
 perhaps are spent in religious exercises of the most vio 
 lent and exciting character. It is a scene of strange 
 confusion, some praying, some pretending to pray, some 
 scoffing. Day after day it is carried on, until the ex 
 citement is at its height, as the exhortations and the 
 denunciations of the preacher are poured into their ears. 
 A young American who was at one of the colleges, and 
 gave me a full detail of what had occurred, told me that 
 on one occasion a poor lad, frightened out of his senses, 
 and anxious to pray, as the vengeance and wrath of the 
 
RELIGION IN AMERICA. 145 
 
 Almighty was poured out by the minister, sunk down 
 upon his knees and commenced his prayer with "Al 
 mighty and diabolical God !" No misnomer, if what 
 the preacher had thundered out was the truth. 
 
 As an example of the interference of the laity, and of 
 the description of people who may be so authorised, the 
 same gentleman told me that at one revival a deacon said 
 
 to him previous to the meeting, " Now, Mr. , if 
 
 you don t take advantage of this here revival and lay up 
 a little salvation for your soul, all I can say is, that 
 vou ought to have your (something) confoundedly well 
 kicked." 
 
 What I have already said on this subject will, I think, 
 establish two points, first, that the voluntary system does 
 not work well for society ; and secondly, that the minis 
 ters of the churches are treated with such tyranny and 
 contumely, as to warrant the assertion, that in a country, 
 like the United States, where a man may, in any other 
 profession, become independent in a few years, the 
 number of those who enter into the ministry must de 
 crease at the very time that the population and demand 
 for them will increase. 
 
 We have now another question to be examined, and a 
 very important one, which is Are those who worship 
 under the voluntary system supplied at a cheaper rate 
 than those of the established churches in this kingdom ? 
 
 I say this is an important question, as there is no 
 doubt that one of the principal causes of dissenting has 
 been the taxes upon religion in this country, and the 
 wish, if it were attainable of worshipping at free cost. 
 In entering into this question, there is no occasion to 
 refer to any particular sect, as the system is much the 
 same with them all, and is nearly as follows: 
 
 Some pious and well-disposed people of a certain per 
 suasion, we will say, imagine that another church might, 
 if it were built, be well filled with those of their own 
 sect ; and that, if it is not built, the consequences will 
 be that many of their own persuasion will, from the habit 
 of attending other churches, depart from those tenets 
 
 VOL. 11. 13 
 
146 RELIGION IN AMERICA. 
 
 which they are anxious should not only be retained by 
 those who have embraced them, but as much as possi 
 ble promulgated, so as to gather strength and make con 
 verts for it should be borne in mind that the sectarian 
 spirit is one great cause of the rapid church-building in 
 America.* One is of Paul, another of Apollos. They 
 meet, and become the future deacons and elders, in all 
 probability, to whom the minister has to bow ; they 
 agree to build a church at their own risk : they are 
 not speculators, but religious people, who have not the 
 least wish to make money, but who are prepared, if ne 
 cessary, to Jose it. 
 
 Say then that a handsome church (I am referring to 
 the cities) of brick or stone, is raised in a certain quar 
 ter of the city, and that it costs 75,000 dollars. When 
 the interior is complete, and the pews are all built, they 
 divide the whole cost of the church upon the pews, more 
 or less value being put upon them according to their 
 situations. Allowing that there are two hundred pews, 
 the one hundred most eligible being valued at five hun 
 dred dollars each, and the other one hundred inferior at 
 two hundred and fifty dollars ; these prices would pay the 
 75,000 dollars, the whole expense of the church building. 
 
 The pews are then put up to auction ; some of the 
 most eligible will fetch higher prices than the valuation, 
 while some are sold below the valuation. If all are not 
 sold, the residue remains upon the hands of the parties 
 who built the church, and who may for a time be out of 
 pocket. They have however, to aid them, the extra 
 price paid for the best pews, and the sale of the vaults 
 for burial in the church-yard. 
 
 Most of the pews being sold, the church is partly paid 
 for. The next point is to select a minister, and, after 
 due trial, one is chosen. If he be a man of eloquence 
 and talent, and his doctrines acceptable to the many, the 
 church fills, the remainder of the pews are sold, and so 
 
 * Churclies are also built upon speculation, as they sometimes 
 are in England. 
 
RELIGION IN AMERICA. 147 
 
 far the expenses of building the church are defrayed ; 
 but they have still to pay the salary of the minister, the 
 heating and lighting of the church, the organist, and the 
 vocalists : this is done by an assessment upon the pews, 
 each pew being assessed according to the sum which it 
 fetched when sold by auction. 
 
 I will now give the exact expenses of an American 
 gentleman in Boston, who has his pew in one of the 
 largest churches. 
 
 He purchased his pew at auction for seven hundred 
 and fifty dollars, it. being one of the best in the church. 
 The salaries of the most popular ministers vary from 
 fifteen hundred to three or four thousand dollars. The 
 organist receives about five hundred ; the vocalists from 
 two or three hundred dollars each. To meet his share 
 of these and the other expenses, the assessment of this 
 gentleman is sixty-three dollars per annum. Now, the 
 interest of seven hundred and fifty dollars in America 
 is forty-five dollars, and the assessment being sixty-three 
 one hundred and eight dollars per annum, or twenty- 
 two pounds ten shillings sterling for his yearly expenses 
 under the voluntary system. This, of course, does not 
 include the offerings of the plate, charity sermons, &c., 
 all of which are to be added, and which will swell the 
 sum, according to my friend s statement, to about thirty 
 pounds her annum.* 
 
 It does not appear by the above calculations that the 
 voluntary system has cheapness to recommend it, when 
 people worship in a respectable manner, as you might 
 hire a house and farm of fifty acres in that State for the 
 same rent which this gentleman pays for going to 
 church ; but it must also be recollected that it is quite 
 
 * " A great evil of our American churches is, their great respect- 
 ability or exclusivencss. Here, being of a large size and paid by 
 Government, the church is open to all the citizens, with an equal 
 right and equal chance of accommodation. In ours, the dearncss 
 of pew-rent, especially in Episcopal and Presbyterian, turns po 
 verty out of doors. Poor people have a sense of shame, and I know 
 many a one, who, because he cannot go to Heaven decently, will 
 not go at all." Sketches of Paris by an American Gentleman, 
 
148 RELIGION IN AMERICA. 
 
 optional, and that those who do not go to church need 
 not pay at all. 
 
 It was not, however, until late years that such was 
 the case. In Massachusetts, and in most of the Eastern 
 States, the system was not voluntary, and it is to this 
 cause that may be ascribed the superior morality and 
 reverence for religion still existing, although decaying, 
 in these States. By former enactments in Massachu 
 setts, landowners in the country were compelled to con 
 tribute to the support of the church. 
 
 Pews in cities or towns are mentioned in all deeds 
 and wills as personal property; but in the country, be 
 fore the late Act, they were considered as real estate. 
 
 A pew was allotted to each farm, and whether the 
 proprietor occupied it or not, he was obliged to pay for 
 it ; but by an Act of the Massachusetts State regula 
 tion, passed within these few years, it was decided that 
 no man should be compelled to pay for religion. The 
 consequence has been, that the farmers now refuse to 
 pay for their pews, the churches are empty, and a por 
 tion of the clergy have been reduced to the greatest 
 distress. An itinerant ranter, who will preach in the 
 open air, and send his hat round for cents, suits the 
 farmers much better, as it is much cheaper. Certainly 
 this does not argue much for the progressive advance 
 ment of religion, even in the moral State of Massachu 
 setts. 
 
 In other points the cause of morality has, till lately, 
 been upheld in these Eastern States. It was but the 
 other day that a man was discharged from prison, who 
 had been confined for disseminating atheistical doctrines. 
 It was, however, said at the time, that that was the last 
 attempt that would ever be made by the authorities to 
 imprison a man for liberty of conscience ; and I believe 
 that such will be the case. 
 
 The Boston Advocate says " Abner Kneeland came 
 out of prison yesterday, where he has been for sixty 
 days, under the barbarous and bigoted law of Massa 
 chusetts, which imprisons men for freedom of opinions. 
 As was to have been expected, Kneeland s liberation 
 
RELIGION IN AMERICA. 149 
 
 u-as made a sort of triumph. About three hundred 
 persons assembled, and were addressed by him at the 
 jail, and he was conveyed home in a barouche. During 
 his persecution in prison, liberal sums of money have 
 been sent to him. How much has Christianity gained 
 by this foul blot upon the escutcheon of Massachu 
 setts 7" 
 
 It is, however, worthy of remark, that those States 
 that have enforced religion and morality, and have 
 punished infidelity,* are now the most virtuous, the 
 most refined, and the most intellectual, and are quoted 
 as such by American authors, like Mr. Carey, who by 
 the help of Massachusetts alone can bring out his sta 
 tistics to any thing near the mark requisite to support 
 his theories. 
 
 It is my opinion that the voluntary system will never 
 work well under any form of government, and still less 
 so under a democracy. 
 
 Those who live under a democracy have but one pur 
 suit, but one object to gain, which is wealth. No one 
 can serve God and Mammon. To suppose that a man 
 who has been in such ardent pursuit of wealth, as is the 
 American for six days in the week, can recall his atten 
 tion and thoughts to serious points on the seventh, is 
 absurd ; you might as well expect him to forget his to 
 bacco on Sunday. 
 
 Under a democracy, therefore, you must look for reli 
 gion among the women, not among the men, and such 
 is found to be the case in the United States. As Sam 
 Slick very truly says, " It s only women who attend 
 meeting ; the men folks have their politics and trade to 
 talk over, and hav n t lime Even an established 
 church would not make people as religious under a de- 
 
 * Miss Martineau complains of this as contrary to the unaliena- 
 ble rights of tnan : "Instead of this, we find laws framed against 
 speculative atheists; opprobrium directed against such as embrace 
 natural religion otherwise than through Christianity, and a yet 
 more bitter oppression exercised by those who view Christianity in 
 one way over those who regard it in another." 
 13* 
 
150 RELIGION IN AMERICA. 
 
 mocratic form of government as it would under any 
 other.* 
 
 I have yet to point out how slander and defamation 
 flourish under a democracy. Now, this voluntary sys 
 tem, from the interference of the laity, who judge not 
 only the minister, but the congregation, gives what ap 
 pears to be a legitimate sanction to this tyrannical sur 
 veillance over the conduct and behaviour of others. I 
 really believe that the majority of men who go to church 
 in America do so not from zeal towards God, but from 
 fear of their neighbours; and this very tyranny in the 
 more established persuasions, is the cause of thousands 
 turning away to other sects which are not subjected to 
 scrutiny. The Unitarian is in this point the most con 
 venient, and is therefore fast gaining ground. Mr. Col- 
 ton observes, " Nothing can be more clear, than that 
 Scripture authority against meddling, tattling, slander, 
 scandal, or in any way interfering with the private con 
 cerns, conduct, and character of our neighbours, except 
 as civil or ecclesiastical authority has clothed us with 
 legitimate powers, is specific, abundant, decided, em 
 phatic. It is founded in human nature; it is essential to 
 the peace of society ; a departure from it would be 
 ruinous to social comfort. If therefore it is proper to 
 introduce any rule on this point into a mutual church 
 covenant, it seems to me that the converse of that which 
 is usually found in that place ought to be substituted. 
 Even the apostles, as we have seen, found it necessary 
 to rebuke the disposition prevalent in their time to med 
 dle with the affairs, and to make inquisition into the con 
 duct of others. But it should be recollected, that the 
 condition of Christians and the state of society then 
 
 * Mrs. Trollope observes, "A stranger taking 1 up his residence 
 in any city in America must think the natives the most religious 
 people upon earth." This is very true ; the outward observances 
 are very strict ; why so will be better comprehended when the 
 reader lias finished my remarks upon the country. The author of 
 Mammon very truly observes, that the only vice which we can 
 practise without being- arraigned for it in this world, and at the 
 same time go through tbe/wms of religion, is covetousness. 
 
RELIGION IN AMERICA. 151 
 
 were wicfely different from the same things with us. 
 Christianity was a new religion, and its disciples were 
 generally obnoxious. They were compelled by their 
 circumstances to associate most intimately ; they were 
 bound together by those sympathies and ties, which a 
 persecuted and suffering class always feel, independent 
 of Christian affection. Hence in part we account for 
 the holy and exemplary ardour of their attachments to 
 their religion and to each other. But even in these cir 
 cumstances, and under these especial intimacies, or 
 rather, perhaps, on account of them, the apostles found 
 it necessary to admonish them against the abuse of that 
 confidence so generally felt and reciprocated by those 
 who confessed Christ in those unhappy times ; an abuse 
 so naturally developed in the form of meddling and pri 
 vate inquisition." 
 
 I quote the above passage, as, in the United States, the 
 variety of sects, the continual splitting and breaking up of 
 ihose sects, and their occasional violent altercations, have 
 all proved most injurious to society, and to the cause of 
 religion itself. Indeed religion in the States may be said 
 to have been a source of continual discord and the unhing 
 ing of society, instead of that peace and good-will incul 
 cated by our divine Legislator. It is the division of the 
 Protestant church which has occasioned its weakness in 
 this country, and will probably eventually occasion, if not 
 its total subversion, at all events its subversion in the west 
 ern hemisphere of America. 
 
 The subjugation of the ministry to the tyranny of their 
 congregations is another most serious evil ; for either they 
 must surrender up their consciences or their bread. In 
 too many instances it is the same here in religion as in po 
 litics : before the people will permit any one to serve them 
 in any office, he must first prove his un fitness by sub 
 mitting to what no man of honesty or conscientious rec- 
 litude woultl subscribe to. This must of course in both 
 cases be taken with exceptions, but it is but too often the 
 fact. And hence lias arisen another evil, which is that 
 there are hundreds of self-constituted ministers, who wan 
 der over the western country, using the word of God as a 
 
152 RELIGION IN AMERICA. 
 
 cloak, working upon the feelings of the women to obtain 
 money, and render religion a by-word among the men, 
 who will in all probability some day rise up and lynch 
 some dozen of them, as a hint for the rest to clear out. 
 
 It would appear as if Locofocoism and infidelity had 
 formed a union, and were fighting under the same ban 
 ner. They have recently celebrated the birth-day of Tom 
 Paine, in Cincinnati, New York, and Boston. In Cin 
 cinnati, Frances Wright Darusmont, better known as 
 Fanny Wright, was present, and made a violent politico- 
 atheistical speech on the occasion, in winch she denounced 
 banking, and almost every other established institution of 
 the country. The nature of the celebration in Boston 
 will be understood from the following toast given on the 
 occasion. 
 
 By George Chapman : " Christianity and the banks 
 tottering on their last legs. May their downfall be 
 speedy," &c. &c. 
 
 Miss Martineau informs us that * The churches of 
 Boston, and even the other public buildings, being guarded 
 by the dragon of bigotry, so that even Faith, Hope, and 
 Charity are turned back from the doors, a large building 
 is about to be erected for the use of all, Deists not exeept- 
 ed, who may desire to meet for free discussion. She 
 adds, ** Thin at least is an advance!" And in a few 
 pages further : ** The eagerness in pursuit of speculative 
 truth is shown by the rapid sale of every heretical work. 
 The clergy complain of the enormous spread of bold 
 books, from the infidel tract to the latest handling of the 
 miracle question, as sorrowfully as the most liberal mem 
 bers of society lament the unlimited circulation of the false 
 morals issued by certain Religious Tract Societies. Both 
 testify to the interest taken by the public in religion. 
 The love of truth is also shown by the outbreak of heresy 
 in all directions !" 
 
 Having slated the most obvious objections to the vo 
 luntary system, I shall now proceed to show how far rny 
 opinions are corroborated by American authorities. The 
 author of " A Voice from America," observes very truly, 
 that the voluntary system of supporting religion in Ame- 
 
RELIGION IN AMERICA. 153 
 
 rica is inadequate to the purpose, and he closes his argu 
 ment with the following observation: 
 
 "How far that part of ihe system of supporting reli 
 gion in America, which appeals to the pride and public 
 spirit of the citizens, in erecting and maintaining religious 
 institutions on a respectable footing, in towns, cities, and 
 villages, and among rival sects and in this manner 
 operating as a species of constraint is worthy to be 
 called voluntary, we pretend not to say. But this com 
 prehends by far the greatest sum that is raised and ap 
 propriated to these objects. All the rest is a mere 
 fraction in comparison. And yet it is allowed, and made 
 a topic of grievous lamentation, that the religious wants 
 of the country are mosi inadequately supplied ; and such, 
 indeed, we believe to be the fact." 
 
 The next point referred to by this author is, " that the 
 American system of supporting religion has brought 
 about great instability in the religious world, and induced 
 a ruinous habit of change." 
 
 This arises from the caprice of the congregation, for 
 Americans are naiurally capricious and fond of change : 
 whether it be concerning a singer, or an aclor, or a cler 
 gyman, it is ihe same thing. This American author ob 
 serves, " There are few clergymen that can support their 
 early popularity for a considerable time ; and as soon as 
 it declines, they must be^in to think of providing else 
 where for themselves. They go migrate and for the 
 same reason, in an equal term of time, they are liable to 
 bo forced to migrate again. And thus there is no stabi 
 lity, but everlasting change, in the condition of the Ame 
 rican clergy. They change, the people change all is a 
 round of change because all depends on the voluntary 
 principle. The clerical profession in America is, in 
 deed, like that of a soldier: always under arms, fre 
 quently fighting, and always ready for a new campaign 
 a truly militant state. A Clergyman s Guide would 
 be of little use, so far as the object might be to direct 
 where to find him : he is not this year where he was 
 last." And. as must be the consequence, he justly ob 
 serves, " Such a system makes the clergy servile, and 
 
154 RELIGION IN AMERICA. 
 
 the people tyrannical." " When the enmity of a single 
 individual is sufficient to destroy a resident pastor s peace, 
 and to break him up, how can he be otherwise than ser 
 vile, if he has a family about him, to whom perpetual 
 change is inconvenient and disastrous? There is not a 
 man in his flock, however mean and unworthy of influ 
 ence, whom he does not fear ; and if he happens to dis 
 please a man of importance, or a busy woman, there is 
 an end to his peace ; and he may begin to pack up. This 
 perpetual bondage breaks down his mind, subdues his 
 courage, and makes a timid nervous woman of one who 
 is entitled, and who ought to be, a man. He drags out 
 a miserable existence, and dies a miserable slave. There 
 are exceptions to this rule, it is true ; because there are 
 clergymen with talent enough to rise above these disad 
 vantages, enforce respect, and maintain their standing, in 
 spite of enemies." 
 
 But there is another very strong objection, and most 
 important one, to the voluntary system, which I have 
 delayed to bring forward; which is, that there is no 
 provision for the poor in the American voluntary church 
 system. Thus only those who are rich and able to afford 
 religion can obtain it. At present, it is true that the ma 
 jority of the people in America have means sufficient to 
 pay for seats in churches, if they choose to expend the 
 money ; but as America increases her population, so will 
 she increase the number of her poor ; and what will be 
 the consequence hereafter, if this evil is to continue ? 
 The author I am now quoting from observes, " At best 
 the poor are unprovided for, and the talents of the 
 clergy are always in the market to the highest bidder.* 
 There have been many attempts to remedy this evil, in 
 the dense population of cities, by setting up a still more 
 voluntary system, called * free churches, in which the 
 
 * This is true. When I was in the States one of the most popu 
 lar preachers quitted his church at Boston to go to New York, 
 where he was offered an increase of salary ; telling his parishioners 
 " that he found he would be more useful elsewhere" the very 
 language used by the laity to the clergyman when they dismiss 
 Mm. 
 
RELIGION IN AMERICA. 155 
 
 pews are not rented, but free to all. But they are uni 
 formly failures" 
 
 Two other remarks made by this author are equally 
 correct ; first, that the voluntary system tends to the 
 multiplication of sects without end ; and next, that the 
 voluntary system is a mendicant system, and involves one 
 of the worst features of the Church of Rome, which is, 
 that it tends to the production of pious frauds. But I 
 have already, in support of my arguments, quoted so 
 much from this book that I must refer the reader to the 
 work itself. 
 
 At present, Massachusetts, and the smaller Eastern 
 States, are the strong-hold of religion and morality ; as 
 you proceed from them farther south or west, so does the 
 influence of the clergy decrease, until it is totally lost in 
 the wild States of Missouri and Arkansas. With the 
 exception of certain cases to be found in Western Vir 
 ginia, Kentucky, and Ohio, the whole of the States to 
 the westward of the Alleghany Mountains, comprising 
 more than two-thirds of America, may be said to be either 
 in a state of neglect and darkness, or professing the Ca 
 tholic religion. 
 
 Although Virginia is a slave State, I think there is 
 more religion there than in some of the more northern 
 free States ; but it must be recollected, that Virginia has 
 been long settled, and the non-predial state of the slaves is 
 not attended with demoralising effects ; and I may here 
 observe that the black population of America is decidedly 
 the most religious, and sets an example to the white, par 
 ticularly in the free States.* 
 
 * Mr. Reid, in his Tour, describes a visit which lie paid to a black 
 church in Kentucky : 
 
 " By the law of the State, no coloured persons are permitted to 
 assemble for worship, unless a white person be present and preside. 
 
 " One of the black preachers, addressing me as their strange 
 master, begged that I would take charge of the service. I declined 
 doing so. He gave out Dr. Watt s beautiful psalrn, * Show pity, 
 Lord, oh ! Lord forgive. They all rose immediately. They had 
 no books, for they could not read ; but it was printed on their 
 memory, and they sung- it off with freedom and feeling-. 
 
 " The senior black, who was a preacher among them, then of- 
 
1 56 RELIGION IN AMERICA. 
 
 It may be fairly inquired, can this be true ? Not fifty 
 years back, at tlie time of tiie Declaration of Independence, 
 was not the American community one of the most vir 
 tuous in existence ? Such was indeed the case, as it is 
 now equally certain that they are one of the most de 
 moralised. The question is, then, what can have created 
 such a change in the short period of fifty years ? 
 
 The only reply that can be given, is, that as the Ameri 
 cans, in their eagerness to possess ne\v lands, pushed 
 away into the west, so did they leave civilisation behind, 
 and return to ignorance and barbarism ; they scattered 
 their population, and the word of God was not to be heard 
 in the wilderness. 
 
 That as she increased her slave States, so did she givo 
 employment, land, and power to those who were indif 
 ferent to all law, human or divine. And as, since the 
 formation of the Union, the people have yearly gained 
 advantages over the Government until they now control 
 it, so have they controlled and fettered Religion until it 
 produces no good fruits. 
 
 Add to this the demoralising effects of a democracy 
 which turns the thoughts of all to Mammon, and it will 
 be acknowledged that this rapid fall is not so very sur 
 prising. 
 
 But, if the Protestant cause is growing weaker every 
 day from disunion and indifference, there is one creed 
 which is rapidly gaining strength ; I refer to the Catholic 
 church, which is silently, but surely advancing.* Its 
 
 fered prayer and preached; his prayer was humble and devotional. 
 In one portion, he made an affecting 1 allusion to their wrong?. 
 Thou knowest, said the good man, with a broken voice, our* 
 state that it is the meanest that we are as mean and low as man 
 can be. But we have sinned we have forfeited all our rights to 
 THEE, and we would submit before Thee, to these marks of thy 
 displeasure. " 
 
 Mr. Reid subsequently asserts, that the sermon delivered by the 
 black was an " earnest and efficient appeal ;" and, afterwards, hear 
 ing a sermon on the same day from a white preacher, he observes 
 that it was a "cerz/ sorry affair" in contrast with what he had be 
 fore witnessed. 
 
 * Although it is not forty years since the first Roman Catholic 
 
RELIGION IN AMERICA. 157 
 
 great field is in the west, where in some States, almost 
 all are Catholics, or from neglect and ignorance altogether 
 indifferent as to religion. The Catholic priests are dili 
 gent, and make a large number of converts every year, 
 and the Catholic population is added to by the number of 
 Irish and German emigrants to the West, who are almost 
 all of them of the Catholic persuasion. 
 
 Mr. Tocqueville says 
 
 44 1 think that the Catholic religion has erroneously been 
 looked upon as the natural enemy of democracy. Among 
 the various sects of Christians, Catholicism seems to me, 
 on the contrary, to be one of those which are most fa 
 vourable to equality of conditions. In the Catholic 
 church, the religious community is composed of only 
 two elements the priest and the people. The priest 
 alone rises above the rank of his flock, and all below 
 him are equal. On doctrinal points, the Catholic faith 
 places all human capacities upon the same level. It 
 subjects the wise and the ignorant, the man of genius 
 and the vulgar crowd, to the details of the same creed ; 
 it imposes the same observances upon the rich and the 
 needy ; it inflicts the same austerities upon the strong 
 and the weak; it listens to no compromise with mortal 
 man ; but, reducing all the human race to the same 
 standard, it confounds all the distinctions of society at 
 the foot of the same altar, even as they are confounded 
 in the sight of God. If Catholicism predisposes the faith 
 ful to obedience, it certainly does not prepare them for in 
 equality ; but the contrary may be said of Protestant 
 ism, which generally tends to make men independent, 
 more than to render them equal." 
 
 see was created, there is now in the United States a Catholic popa- 
 lation of 800,000 souls under the government of the Pope, an Arch 
 bishop, 12 Bishops, and 433 priests. The number of churches is 401 ; 
 mass-houses, about 300; colleges, 10; seminaries for young men, 
 9 ; theological seminaries, 5; noviciates for Jesuits, monasteries, and 
 convents, with academies attached, 31 ; seminaries for young ladies, 
 30 ; schools of the Sisters of Charity, 29 ; an academy for coloured 
 girls at Baltimore ; a female infant school, and 7 Catholic news, 
 papers. 
 
 VOL. IT. 14 
 
158 RELIGION IN AMERICA. 
 
 And the author of A Voice from America observes 
 " The Roman Catholic church bids fair to rise to im 
 portance in America. Thoroughly democratic as her 
 members are, being composed, for the most part, of the 
 lowest orders of European population, transplanted to 
 the United States with a fixed and implacable aversion 
 to every thing bearing the name and in the shape of 
 monarchy, the priesthood are accustomed studiously to 
 adapt themselves to this state of feeling, being content 
 with that authority that is awarded to their office by 
 their own communicants and members."* 
 
 Now, I venture to disagree with both these gentle 
 men. It is true, as Mr. Tocqueville observes, that the 
 Catholic church reduces all the human race to the same 
 standard, and confounds all distinctions not, however, 
 upon the principle of equality or democracy, but be 
 cause it will ever equally exert its power over the high 
 and the low, assuming its right to compel princes and 
 kings to obedience, and their dominions to its subjec 
 tion. The equality professed by the Catholic church, 
 is like the equality of death, all must fall before its 
 power ; whether it be to excommunicate an individual 
 or an empire is to it indifferent ; it assumes the power 
 
 * The Rev. Dr. Reid observes : 
 
 " I found the people at this time under some uneasiness in re 
 lation to the spread of Romanism. The partisans of that system are 
 greatly assisted from Europe by supplies of money and teachers. 
 The teachers have usually more acquired competency than the 
 native instructors : and this is a temptation to parents who are 
 seeking accomplishments for their children, and who have a high 
 idea of European refinements. It appeared, that out of four schools, 
 provided for the wants of the town (Lexington, Kentucky) three 
 were in the hands of the Catholics." 
 
 To which we may add Miss Martineau s observations : 
 
 " The Catholics of the country, thinking themselves now suffi 
 ciently numerous to be an American Catholic church, a great 
 stimulus has been given to prosclytisrn. This has awakened fear 
 and persecution; which last has again been favourable to the in 
 crease of the sect. While the Presbyterians preach a harsh, ascetic, 
 persecuting religion, the Catholics dispense a mild and indulgent 
 one; and the prodigious increase of their numbers is a necessary 
 consequence. It has been so impossible to supply the demand for 
 priests, ihat the term of education has been shortened by two years." 
 
RELIGION IN AMERICA. 159 
 
 of the Godhead, giving and taking away, and its mem 
 bers stand trembling before it, as they shall hereafter 
 do in the presence of the Deity. 
 
 The remark of the author of the Voice from America, 
 " that aware of the implacable aversion of the people to 
 monarchy, the priesthood are accustomed studiously to 
 adapt themselves to this state of feeling" proves rather 
 to me the universal subtlety shown by the Catholic 
 clergy, which, added to their zeal and perseverance, so 
 increases the power of the church. At present Catho 
 licism is, comparatively speaking, weak in America, and 
 the object of that church is, to become strong ; they do 
 not, therefore, frighten or alarm their converts by any 
 present show of the invariable results ; but are content 
 to bide their time, until they shall find themselves strong 
 enough to exert their power with triumphant success. 
 The Protestant cause in America is weak, from the evil 
 effects of the voluntary system, particularly from its 
 division into so many sects. A house divided against 
 itself cannot long stand ; and every year it will be found 
 that the Catholic church will increase its power : and it 
 is a question whether a hierarchy may not eventually 
 be raised, which, so far from advocating the principles 
 of equality, may serve as a check to the spirit of demo 
 cracy becoming more powerful than the Government, 
 curbing public opinion, and reducing to better order the 
 present chaotic state of society. 
 
 Judge Haliburton asserts, that all America will be a 
 Catholic country. That all America west of the Alle- 
 ghanies will eventually be a Catholic country, I have 
 no doubt, as the Catholics are already in the majority, 
 and there is nothing, as Mr. Cooper observes, to pre 
 vent any State from establishing that, or any other reli 
 gion, as the Religion of the State;* and this is one of 
 the dark clouds which hang over the destiny of the 
 western hemisphere. 
 
 * " There is nothing in the constitution of the United States to 
 prevent all the States, or any particular State, from possessing an 
 established religion." Cooper s Democrat. 
 
160 RELIGION IN AMERICA. 
 
 The Reverend Mr. Reid says : " It should really 
 seem that the Pope, in the fear of expulsion from Eu 
 rope, is anxious to find a reversion in this new world. 
 The crowned heads of the continent, having the same 
 enmity to free political institutions which his holiness 
 has to free religious institutions, willingly unite in the 
 attempt to enthral this people. They have heard of the 
 necessities of the West ; they have the foresight to see 
 that the West will become the heart of the country, and 
 ultimately determine the character of the whole ; and 
 they have resolved to establish themselves there. Large, 
 yea princely, grants have been made from the Leopold 
 society, and other sources, chiefly, though by no means 
 exclusively, in favour of this portion of the empire that 
 is to be. These sums are expended in erecting showy 
 churches and colleges, and in sustaining priests and 
 emissaries. Every thing is done to captivate, and to 
 liberalise in appearance, a system essentially despotic. 
 The sagacity of the effort is discovered, in avoiding to 
 attack and shock the prejudices of the adult, that they 
 may direct the education of the young. They look to 
 the future; and they really have great advantages in 
 doing so. They send out teachers excellently qualified ; 
 superior, certainly, to the run of native teachers.* Some 
 value the European modes of education as the more 
 excellent, others value them as the mark of fashion ; 
 the demand for instruction, too, is always beyond the 
 supply, so that they find little difficulty in obtaining the 
 charge of Protestant children. This, in my judgment, 
 is the point of policy which should be especially re 
 garded with jealousy; but the actual alarm has arisen 
 from the disclosure of a correspondence which avows 
 designs on the West, beyond what I have here set 
 down. It is a curious affair, and is one other evidence, 
 if evidence were needed, that popery and Jesuitism are 
 one." 
 
 * The Catholic priests who instruct are to my knowledge the 
 host educated men in the States. It was a pleasure to be in their 
 company. 
 
RELIGION IN AMERICA. 161 
 
 I think that the author of Sam Slick may not be 
 wrong in his assertion, that all America will be a Catho 
 lic country. I myself never prophesy ; but I cannot 
 help remarking, that even in the most anti-Catholic per 
 suasions in America there is a strong Papistical feeling ; 
 that is, there is a vying with each other, not only to ob 
 tain the best preachers, but to have the best organs and 
 the best singers. It is the system of excitement which, 
 without their being aware of it, they carry into their devo 
 tion. It proves that, to them there is a weariness in the 
 church service, a tedium in prayer, which requires to be 
 relieved by the stimulus of good music and sweet voices. 
 Indeed, what with their anxious seats, their revivals, their 
 music, and their singing, every class and sect in the 
 States have even now so far fallen into Catholicism, that 
 religion has become more of an appeal to the senses 
 than to the calm and sober judgment. 
 
 14* 
 
162 
 
 SOCIETIES AND ASSOCIATIONS. 
 
 ALTHOUGH in a democracy the highest stations and 
 preferments are open to all, more directly than they may 
 be under any other form of government, still these prizes 
 are but few and insufficient, compared with the number 
 of total blanks which must be drawn by the ambitious 
 multitude. It is, indeed, a stimulus to ambition (and a 
 matter of justice, when all men are pronounced equal), 
 that they all should have an equal chance of raising 
 themselves by their talents and perseverance; but, when 
 so many competitors are permitted to enter the field, few 
 can arrive at the goal, and the mass are doomed to dis 
 appointment. However fair, therefore, it may be to 
 admit all to the competition, certain it is that the compe 
 tition cannot add to the happiness of a people, when we 
 consider the feelings of bitterness and ill-will naturally 
 engendered among the disappointed multitude. 
 
 In monarchical and aristocratical institutions, the mid 
 dling and lower classes, whose chances of advancement 
 are so small that they seldom lift their eyes or thoughts 
 above their own sphere, are therefore much happier, and 
 it may be added, much more virtuous than those who 
 struggle continually for preferment in the tumultuous sea 
 of democracy. Wealth can give some importance, but 
 wealth in a democracy gives an importance which is so 
 common to many that it loses much of its value ; and 
 when it has been acquired, it is not sufficient for the 
 restless ambition of the American temperament, which 
 will always spurn wealth for power. The effects there 
 fore of a democracy are, first to raise an inordinate ambi 
 tion among the people, and then to cramp the very ambi 
 tion which it has raised ; and, as I may comment upon 
 hereafter, it appears as if this ambition of the people, in- 
 dividua ly checked by the nature of their institutions, 
 
SOCIETIES AND ASSOCIATIONS. 163 
 
 becomes, as it were, concentrated and collected into a 
 focus in upholding and contemplating the success and 
 increase of power in the Federal Government. Thus 
 has been produced a species of demoralising reaction ; 
 the disappointed units to a certain degree satisfying 
 themselves with any advance in the power and import 
 ance of the whole Union wholly regardless of the means 
 by which such increase may have been obtained. 
 
 But this unsatisfied ambition has found another vent 
 in the formation of many powerful religious and other 
 associations. In a country where there will ever be an 
 attempt of the people to tyrannise over every body and 
 every thing, power they will have ; and if they cannot 
 obtain it in the various departments of the States Go 
 vernments, they will have it in opposition to the Go 
 vernment ; for all these societies and associations con 
 nect themselves directly with politics.* It is of little 
 consequence by what description of tie these " sticks in 
 the fable" are bound up together ; once bound together 
 they are not to be broken. In America religion severs 
 the community, but these societies are the bonds which 
 to a certain degree reunite it. 
 
 To enumerate the whole of these societies actually 
 existing, or which have been in existence, would be 
 difficult. The following are the most prominent. 
 
 List of Benevolent Societies, with their Receipts in the 
 year 1834. 
 
 Dolls. Cents. 
 American Board of Commissioners for 
 
 Foreign Missions .... 155,002 24 
 
 * "Not long afterwards, a prominent Presbyterian clergyman of 
 Philadelphia thought fit to preach and publish a sermon, wherein 
 it was set forth and conclusively proved, that on such and such 
 contingencies of united religious effort of the religious public, the 
 majority of the American people could be made religious ; conse 
 quently they might carry their religious influence to the polls, 
 consequently the religious would be able to turn all the profane 
 out of office ; and consequently, the American people would become 
 a Christian nation ." Voice from America , by an American Gen 
 tleman. 
 
164 
 
 SOCIETIES AND ASSOCIATIONS. 
 
 Dolls. Cents. 
 
 American Baptist Board of Foreign Mis 
 sions . .... 63,000 00 
 Western Foreign Mission Society at Pitts 
 burgh, Pennsylvania .... 16,296 46 
 Methodist Episcopal Missionary Society 35,700 15 
 Protestant Episcopal Foreign and Domes 
 tic Missionary Society . . . 26,007 97 
 American Home Missionary Society . 78,911 24 
 Baptist Home Missionary Society . . 11,44828 
 Board of Missions of the Reformed Dutch 
 
 Church (Domestic) .... 5,572 97 
 Board of Missions of the General Assem 
 bly of the Presbyterian Church (Domes 
 tic) estimated 40,000 00 
 
 American Education Society . . . 57,122 20 
 Board of Education of the General Assem 
 bly of the Presbyterian Churches . 38,000 00 
 Northern Baptist Education Society . 4,681 11 
 Board of Education of the Reformed 
 
 Dutch Church 1,27020 
 
 American Bible Society .... 88,600 82 
 
 American Sunday School Union . . 136,855 58 
 General Protestant Episcopal Sunday 
 
 School Union 6,641 00 
 
 Baptist General Tract Society . . 6,126 97 
 
 American Tract Society . . . 66,485 83 
 
 American Colonization Society . . 48,939 17 
 
 Prison Discipline Society . . . 2,364 00 
 
 American Seaman s Friend Society . 16,064 00 
 
 American Temperance Society . . 5,871 12 
 
 Total 8,910,961 31 
 
 Many of these societies had not been established 
 more than ten years at the date given ; they must have 
 increased very much since that period. Of course, many 
 of them are very useful, and very well conducted. 
 There are many others: New England Non-resistance 
 Society. Sabbath Observance Society, &c.; in fact, the 
 
SOCIETIES AND ASSOCIATIONS. 165 
 
 Americans are Society mad. I do not intend to speak 
 with the least disrespect of the societies, but the zeal or 
 fanaticism (if I may use the term) with which many, if 
 not all, of them are carried on, is too remarkable a fea 
 ture in the American character to be passed over with 
 out comment. Many of these societies have done much 
 good, particularly the religious societies ; but many 
 others, from being pushed too far, have done great mis 
 chief, and have very much assisted to demoralise the 
 community. I remember once hearing a story of an 
 ostler who confessed to a Catholic priest ; he enumerated 
 a long catalogue of enormities peculiar to his profession, 
 and when he had finished, the priest inquired of him 
 " whether he had ever greased horses teeth to prevent 
 their eating their corn 1" this peculiar offence not having 
 been mentioned in his confession. The ostler declared 
 that he never had ; absolution was given, and he de 
 parted. About six months afterwards, the ostler went 
 again to unload his conscience ; the former crimes and 
 peccadilloes were enumerated, but added to them were 
 several acknowledgments of having at various times 
 " greased horses teeth" to prevent their eating their 
 corn. " Ho ho !" cried the priest, " why, if I recollect 
 right, according to your former confession you had 
 never been guilty of this practice. How comes it that 
 you have added this crime to your many others 1" 
 " May it please you, father," replied the ostler, " I had 
 never heard of it, until you told me." 
 
 Now this story is very apropos to the conduct pur 
 sued by many of these societies in America : they must 
 display to the public their statistics of immorality and 
 vice ; they must prove their usefulness by informing 
 those who were quite ignorant, and therefore innocent, 
 that there are crimes of which they had no idea ; and 
 thus, in their fanatic wish to improve, they demoralise. 
 Such have been the consequences among this excitable 
 yet well-meaning people. The author of" A Voice from 
 America" observes : 
 
 " It has been thought suitable to call the attention of 
 mothers and daughters over the wide country to the 
 condition and evils of brothels and of common prostitu- 
 
166 SOCIETIES AND ASSOCIATIONS. 
 
 tion, in towns and cities; to send out agents (young 
 men) to preach on the subject; and to organise subsi 
 diary societies, after the fashion of all reforms. The 
 annual report of 4 The New York Female Moral Re 
 form Society, for 1838 (a very decent name certainly 
 for the object), announces 361 auxiliaries, and 20,000 
 members, with 16,500 subscribers (all females !) to the 
 Advocate of Moral Reform, a semi-monthly paper, 
 published by the parent society, devoted to the text of 
 the seventh commandment, and to the facts and results 
 growing out of its violation. This same class of reform 
 ers have heretofore been accustomed to strike off prints 
 of the most unmentionable scenes of these houses of 
 pollution in their naked forms, and in the very acts of 
 crime, for public display, that the public might know 
 what they are : in other words, as may be imagined, to 
 make sport for the initiated, to tempt the appetites and 
 passions of the young, who otherwise would have 
 known little or nothing about it, into the same vortex 
 of ruin, and to cause the decent and virtuous to turn 
 away with emotions of ineffable regret." 
 
 I cannot here help inquiring, how is it, if the Ameri 
 cans are, as they assert, both orally and in their printed 
 public documents, a very moral nation, that they find it 
 necessary to resort to all these societies for the improve 
 ment of their brother citizens ; and how is it that their 
 reports are full of such unexampled atrocities, as are 
 printed and circulated in evidence of the necessity of 
 their stemming the current of vice * The Americans 
 were constantly twitting me about the occasional cases 
 of adultery and divorce which appear in our newspa 
 pers, assuring me, at the same time, that there was 
 hardly ever such a thing heard of in their own moral 
 community. Now, it appears that this subject has not 
 only been taken up by the clergy, (for Dr. Dwight, late 
 president of Yale College, preached a sermon on the 
 seventh commandment, which an American author as 
 serts " was heard with pain and confusion of face, and 
 which never can be read in a promiscuous circle without 
 exciting the same feelings ;") but by one of their socie 
 ties also ; ancl, although they have not assumed the 
 
SOCIETIES AND ASSOCIATIONS. 167 
 
 name of the Patent Anti-Adultery Society, they are 
 positively doing the work of such a one, and the details 
 are entered into in promiscuous assemblies without the 
 least reservation. 
 
 The author before mentioned says : 
 
 44 The common feeling on the subject has been de 
 clared false delicacy ; and, in order to break ground 
 against its sway, females have been forced into the van 
 of this enterprise ; and persuaded to act as agents, not 
 only among their own sex, but in circumstances where 
 they must necessarily agitate the subject with men, 
 not wives with husbands, which would be bad enough, 
 but young and single women with young and single 
 men! And we have been credibly informed, that 
 attempts have been made to form associations among 
 wives to regulate the privileges, and to attain the end of 
 temperance, in the conjugal relation. The next step, 
 of course, will be tee-totalism in this particular; and, as 
 a consequence, the extinction of the human race, unless 
 peradventure the failure of the main enterprise of the 
 Moral Reform Society should keep it up by a progeny 
 not to be honoured."* 
 
 Let it be remembered, that this is not a statement of 
 my own ; but it is an American who makes the asser 
 tion, which I could prove to be true, might I publish 
 what I must not. 
 
 From the infirmity of our natures, and our prone- 
 ness to evil, there is nothing so corrupting as the statis 
 tics of vice. Can young females remain pure in their 
 ideas, who read with indifference details of the grossest 
 nature ? Can the youth of a nation remain uncontami- 
 nated who are continually poring over pages describing 
 sensuality, and will they not, in their desire of " some 
 thing new," as the prophet says, run into the very vices 
 of the existence of which they were before unconscious 1 
 It is this dangerous running into extremes which has 
 occasioned so many of these societies to have been pro 
 ductive of much evil. A Boston editor remarks 
 " The tendency of the leaders of the moral and bene- 
 
 * " A Voice from America." 
 
168 SOCIETIES AND ASSOCIATIONS. 
 
 volent reforms of the day to run into fanaticisms, 
 threatens to destroy the really beneficial effects of all 
 associations for these objects. The spirit of propa- 
 gandism, when it becomes over zealous, is next of kin 
 to the spirit of persecution. The benevolent associa 
 tions of the day are on the brink of a danger that will 
 be fatal to their further usefulness if not checked." 
 
 Of the Abolition Society and its tendency, I have 
 already spoken in the chapter on slavery. I must not, 
 however, pass over another which at present is rapidly 
 extending its sway over the whole Union, and it is 
 difficult to say whether it does most harm or most good 
 I refer to the Temperance Society. 
 
 The Rev. Mr. Reid says 
 
 " In the short space of its existence upwards of seven 
 thousand Temperance Societies have been formed, em 
 bracing more than one million two hundred and fifty 
 thousand members. More than three thousand distil 
 leries have been stopped, and more than seven thousand 
 persons who dealt in spirits have declined the trade. 
 Upwards of one thousand vessels have abandoned their 
 use. And, most marvellous of all ! it is said that above 
 ten thousand drunkards have been reclaimed from 
 intoxication ;" and he adds, " I really know of no one 
 circumstance in the history of this people, or of any 
 people, so exhilarating as this. It discovers that power 
 of self-government, which is the leading element of all 
 national greatness, in an unexampled degree." Now 
 here is a remarkable instance of a traveller taking for 
 granted that what is reported to him is the truth. The 
 worthy clergyman, himself evidently without guile, 
 fully believed a statement which was absurd, from the 
 simple fact that only one side of the balance sheet had 
 been presented. 
 
 That 7,000 Temperance Societies have been formed 
 is true. That 3,000 distilleries have stopped from 
 principle may also be true; but the Temperance Society 
 Reports take no notice of the many which have been 
 set up in their stead by those who felt no compunction 
 at selling spirits. Equally true it may be that 7,000 
 dealers in spirits have ceased to sell them ; but if they 
 
SOCIETIES AND ASSOCIATIONS. 169 
 
 have declined the trade, others have taken it up. That 
 the crews of many vessels have abandoned the use of 
 spirituous liquors is also the fact, and that is the greatest 
 benefit which has resulted from the efforts of the Tem 
 perance Society ; but I believe the number to be greatly 
 magnified. That 10,000 drunkards have been re 
 claimed that is, that they have signed papers and 
 taken the oath may be true ; but how many have fallen 
 away from their good resolutions, and become more 
 intemperate than before, is not recorded ; nor how many 
 who, previously careless of liquor, have, out of pure 
 opposition, and in defiance of the Society, actually 
 become drunkards, is also unknown. In this Society, 
 as in the Abolition Society, they have canvassed for 
 legislative enactments, and have succeeded in obtaining 
 them. The legislature of Massachusetts, which State 
 is the strong-hold of the Society, passed an act last 
 year, by which it prohibited the selling of spirits in a 
 smaller quantity than fifteen gallons, intending thereby 
 to do away with the means of dram-drinking at the 
 groceries, as they are termed ; a clause, however, per 
 mitted apothecaries to retail smaller quantities, and the 
 consequence was that all the grog-shops commenced 
 taking out apothecaries licences. That being stopped, 
 the striped pig was resorted to : that is to say, a man 
 charged people the value of a glass of liquor to see a 
 striped pig, which peculiarity was exhibited as a sight, 
 and, when in the house, the visitors were offered a 
 glass of spirits for nothing. But this act of the legisla 
 ture has given great offence, and the State of Massa 
 chusetts is now divided into two very strange political 
 parties, to wit, the topers and the tee-totallers. It is 
 asserted that, in the political contest which is to take 
 place, the topers will be victorious ; and if so, it will be 
 satisfactorily proved that, in the very enlightened moral 
 State of Massachusetts, the pattern of the Union, there 
 are more intemperate than sober men. 
 
 In this dispute between sobriety and inebriety the 
 clergy have not been idle: some denouncing alcohol 
 from the pulpit ; some, on the other hand, denouncing 
 
 VOL. n. 15 
 
170 SOCIETIES AND ASSOCIATIONS. 
 
 the Temperance Societies as not being Christians. 
 Among the latter the Bishop of Vermont has led the 
 van. In one of his works, " The Primitive Church," he 
 asserts that 
 
 " The Temperance Society is not based upon re 
 ligious, but worldly principles. 
 
 " That it opposes vice and attempts to establish virtue 
 in a manner which is not in accordance with the word 
 of God," &c. &c. 
 
 His argument is briefly this : The Scriptures forbid 
 drunkenness. If the people will not do right in obe 
 dience to the word of God, but only from the fear of 
 public opinion, they show more respect to man than 
 God. 
 
 The counter argument is : The Bible prohibits many 
 other crimes, such as murder, theft, &c. ; but if there 
 were not punishments for these offences agreed upon 
 by society, the fear of God would not prevent these 
 crimes from being committed. 
 
 That in the United States public opinion has more 
 influence than religion I believe to be the case ; and 
 that in all countries present punishment is more con 
 sidered than future is, I fear, equally true. But I do 
 not pretend to decide the question, which has occasioned 
 great animosities, and on some occasions, I am in 
 formed, the dismissal of clergymen from their churches. 
 
 The tee-totallers have carried their tenets to a length 
 which threatens to invade the rights of the church, for 
 a portion of them, calling themselves the Total Absti 
 nence Society, will not use any wine which has alcohol 
 in it in taking the sacrament, and as there is no wine 
 without a portion of alcohol, they have invented a 
 harmless mixture, which they call wine. Unfortunately, 
 many of these temperance societies, in their zeal, will 
 admit of no medium party you must either abstain 
 altogether, or be put down as a toper. 
 
 It is astonishing how obstinate some people are, and 
 how great is the diversity of opinion. I have heard 
 many anecdotes relative to this question. A man, who in 
 dulged freely, was recommended to join the society 
 " Now," said the minister, "you must allow that there is 
 
SOCIETIES AND ASSOCIATION S. 171 
 
 nothing so good, so valuable to man as water. What is 
 the first thing you call for in sickness but water? What 
 else can cool your parched tongue like water? What 
 did the rich man ask for when in fiery torments 1 What 
 does the wretch ask for on the rack ! You cannot always 
 drink spirits, but water you can. Water costs nothing, 
 and you save your money. Water never intoxicates, or 
 prevents you from going to your work. There is nothing 
 like water. Come now, Peter, let me hear your opinion. 
 
 " Well then, sir, I think water is very good, very ex 
 cellent for navigation." 
 
 An old Dutchman, who kept an inn at Hoboken, had 
 long resisted the attacks of the temperance societies, until 
 one night he happened to get so very drunk, that he ac 
 tually signed the paper and took the oath. The next 
 morning he was made acquainted with what he had un 
 consciously done, and, much to the surprise of his friends, 
 he replied, " Well, if I have signed and sworn, as you tell 
 me I have, I must keep to my word," and from that hour 
 the old fellow abstained altogether from his favourite 
 schnaps. But the leaving off a habit which had become 
 necessary had the usual result. The old man took to his 
 bed, and at last became seriously ill. A medical man was 
 called in, and, when he was informed of what had occur 
 red, perceived the necessity of some stimulus, and or 
 dered that his patient should take one ounce of French 
 brandy every day. 
 
 " An ounce of French brandy," said the old Dutchman, 
 looking at the prescription. " Well, dat is goot ; but 
 how much is an ounce ?" Nobody who was present could 
 inform him. "I know what a quart, a pint, or a gill of 
 brandy is," said the Dutchman ; " but I never yet had a 
 customer call for an ounce. Well, my son, go to the 
 schoolmaster; he is a learned man, and tell him I wish to 
 know how much is one ounce." 
 
 The message was carried. The schoolmaster, occupied 
 with his pupils, and not liking the interruption, hastily, 
 and without further inquiries of the messenger, turned 
 x>ver his Bonnycastle, and arriving at the table of avoir 
 dupois weight, replied, " Tell your father that sixteen 
 drams make an ounce. 11 
 
172 SOCIETIES AND ASSOCIATIONS. 
 
 The boy took back the message correctly, and when the 
 old Dutchman heard it, his countenance brightened up " A 
 goot physician, a clever man I only have drink twelve 
 drams a day, and he tells me to take sixteen. I have 
 taken one oath when I was drunk, and I keep it ; now 
 dat I am sober I take anoder, which is, I will be very 
 sick for de remainder of my days, and never throw my 
 physic out of the window." 
 
 There was a cold-water celebration at Boston, on 
 which occasion the hilarity of the evening was increased 
 by the singing of the following ode. Nobody will ven 
 ture to assert that there is any spirit in the composition, 
 and judging from what I have seen of American manners 
 and customs, I am afraid that the sentiments of the four 
 last lines will not be responded to throughout the Union. 
 
 " ODE. 
 In Eden s green retreats 
 
 A water-brook that played 
 Between soft, mossy seats 
 Beneath a plane-tree s shade, 
 
 Whose rustling leaves 
 Danced o er its brink, 
 Was Adam s drink, 
 And also Eve s. 
 
 Beside the parent spring 
 
 Of that young brook, the pair 
 Their morning chaunt would sing ; 
 And Eve, to dress her hair, 
 
 Kneel on the grass 
 That fringed its side, 
 And made its tide 
 Her looking-glass. 
 
 And when the man of God 
 
 From Egypt led his flock, 
 They thirsted,;arid his rod 
 Smote the Arabian rock, 
 
 And forth a rill 
 Of water gushed, 
 And on they rushed, 
 And drank their fill. 
 
 Would Eden thus have smiled 
 
 Had wine to Eden come ? 
 Would Horeb s parching wild 
 
 Have been refreshed with rum ? 
 
SOCIETIES AND ASSOCIATIONS. 173 
 
 And had Eve s hair 
 Been dressed in gin, 
 Would she have been 
 
 Reflected fair ? 
 
 Had Moses built a still 
 
 And dealt out to that host, 
 To every man his gill, 
 
 And pledged him in a toast, 
 
 How large a band 
 Of Israel s sons 
 Had laid their bones 
 In Canaan s land ? 
 
 1 Sweet fields, beyond Death s flood, 
 
 Stand dressed in living green, 
 For, from the throne of God, 
 To freshen all the scene, 
 
 A river rolls, 
 Where all who will 
 May come and fill 
 Their crystal bowls. 
 
 If Eden s strength and bloom 
 
 Cold water thus hath given 
 If, e en beyond the tomb, 
 It is the drink of heaven 
 
 Are not good wells, 
 And crystal springs, 
 The very things 
 For our hotels ?" 
 
 As I shall return to the subject of intemperance in my 
 examination of society, I shall conclude this chapter with 
 an extract from Miss Martineau, whose work is a strange 
 compound of the false and the true : " My own convic 
 tions are, that associations, excellent as they are for me 
 chanical objects, are not fit instruments for the achieve 
 ment of moral aims ; that there has been no proof that the 
 principle of self-restrtiint has been exalted and strength 
 ened in the United Slates by the Temperance movement, 
 while the already too great regard to opinion, and sub 
 servience to spiritual encroachment, have been much 
 increased ; and, therefore, great as may be the visible 
 benefit of the institution, it may at length appear that 
 they have been dearly purchased." 
 15 
 
174 
 
 LAW. 
 
 THE lawyers are the real aristocracy of America ; they 
 comprehend nearly the whole of the gentility, talent, and 
 liberal information of the Union. Any one who has had 
 the pleasure of being at one of their meetings, such as 
 the Kent Club at New York, would be satisfied that there 
 is no want of gentlemen with enlightened, liberal ideas in 
 the United States ; but it is to the law, the navy, and the 
 army, that you must chiefly look for this class of people. 
 Such must ever be the case in a democracy, where the 
 mass are to be led ; the knowledge of the laws of the 
 country, and the habit of public speaking, being essential 
 to those who would preside at the helm or assist in the 
 evolutions : the consequence has been, that in every era 
 of the Union, the lawyers have always been the most 
 prominent actors ; and it may be added that they ever 
 will play the most distinguished parts. Clay and Web 
 ster of the present day are, and all the leading men of the 
 former generation were, lawyers. Their presidents have 
 all been lawyers, and any deviation from this custom has 
 been attended with evil results ; witness the elevation of 
 General Jackson to the presidency, and the heavy price 
 which the Americans have paid for their phantom glory. 
 The names of Judge Marshall and of Chancellor Kent 
 are well known in this country, and most deservedly so: 
 indeed, I am informed it has latterly been the custom in 
 our own law courts, to cite as cases the decisions of many 
 of the superior American judges a just tribute to their 
 discrimination and their worth. 
 
 The general arrangement of that part of the Ameri 
 can constitution relating to the judicature is extremely 
 good, perhaps the best of all their legislative arrange 
 ments, yet it contains some great errors ; one of which 
 is, that of district and inferior judges being elected, as 
 
LAW. 175 
 
 it leaves the judge at the mercy of an excitable and 
 overbearing people, who will attempt to dictate to him 
 as they do to their spiritual teacher. Occasionally he 
 must choose whether he will decide as they wish, or lose 
 his situation on the ensuing election. Justice as well as 
 religion will be interfered with by the despotism of the 
 democracy. 
 
 The Americans are fond of law in one respect, that 
 is, they are fond of going to law. It is excitement to 
 them, and not so expensive as in this country. It is a 
 pleasure which they can afford, and for which they 
 cheerfully pay. 
 
 But, on the other hand, the very firs-t object of the 
 Americans, after a law has been passed, is to find out 
 how they can evade it : this exercises their ingenuity, 
 and it is very amusing to observe how cleverly they 
 sometimes manage it. Every state enactment to uphold 
 the morals, or for the better regulation of society, is im 
 mediately opposed by the sovereign people. 
 
 An act was passed to prohibit the playing at nine 
 pins, (a very foolish act, as the Americans have so few 
 amusements) : as soon as the law was put in force, it was 
 notified every where, " Ten pins played here," and they 
 have been played every where, ever since. 
 
 Another act was passed to put down billiard tables, 
 and in this instance every precaution was taken by 
 an accurate description of the billiard table, that the 
 law might be enforced. Whereupon an extra pocket 
 was added to the billiard table, and thus the law was 
 evaded. 
 
 When I was at Louisville, a bill which had been 
 brought in by Congress, to prevent the numerous acci 
 dents which occurred in steam navigation, came into 
 force. Inspectors were appointed to see that the steam 
 boats complied with the regulations ; and those boats 
 which were not provided according to law, did not re 
 ceive the certificate from the inspectors, and were liable 
 to a fine of five hundred dollars if they navigated with 
 out it. A steam-boat was ready to start; the passen 
 gers clubbed together and subscribed half the sum, (two 
 
176 LAW. 
 
 hundred and fifty dollars), and as the informer was to 
 have half the penalty, the captain of the boat went and 
 informed against himself and received the other half; 
 and thus was the fine paid. 
 
 At Baltimore, in consequence of the prevalence of 
 hydrophobia, the civic authorities passed a law, that 
 all dogs should be muzzled, or, rather, the terms were, 
 " that all dogs should wear a muzzle," or the owner 
 of a dog not wearing a muzzle, should be brought up 
 and fined ; and the regulation further stated that any 
 body convicted of having " removed the muzzle from 
 off a dog should also be severely fined." A man, 
 therefore, tied a muzzle to his dog s tail (the act not 
 stating where the muzzle was to be placed). One of 
 the city officers, perceiving this dog with his muzzle at 
 the wrong end, took possession of the dog and brought 
 it to the Town-hall ; its master, being well known, was 
 summoned, and appeared. He proved that he had com 
 plied with the act, in having fixed a muzzle on the dog ; 
 and, further, the city officer having taken the muzzle 
 off the dog s tail, he insisted that he should be fined 
 five dollars for so doing. 
 
 The striped pig, I have already mentioned; but were 
 I to relate all I have been told upon this head, it would 
 occupy too much of the reader s time and patience. 
 
 The mass of the citizens of the United States have 
 certainly a very great dislike to all law except their 
 own, i. e. the decision of the majority ; and it must be 
 acknowledged that it is not only the principle of equali 
 ty, but the parties who are elected as district judges, 
 that, by their own conduct, contribute much to that 
 want of respect with which they are treated in their 
 courts. When a judge on his bench sits half asleep, 
 with his hat on, and his coat and shoes off; his heels 
 kicking upon the railing or table which is as high or 
 higher than his head ; his toes peeping through a pair of 
 old worsted stockings, and with a huge quid of tobacco 
 in his cheek, you cannot expect that much respect will 
 be paid to him. Yet such is even now the practice in 
 the interior of the Western States. I was much amused 
 
LAW. 177 
 
 at reading an English critique upon a work by Judge 
 Hall (a district judge), in which the writer says, " We 
 can imagine his honour in all the solemnity of his flow 
 ing wig," &c. &c. The last time I saw his honour he 
 was cashier to a bank at Cincinnati, thumbing Ameri 
 can bank-notes dirtier work than is ever practised in 
 the lowest grade of the law, as any one would say if he 
 had ever had many American bank-notes in his posses 
 sion. 
 
 As may be supposed, in a new country like America, 
 many odd scenes take place. In the towns in the in 
 terior, a lawyer s office is generally a small wooden 
 house, of one room, twelve feet square, built of clap 
 board, and with the door wide open ; and the little 
 domicile with its tenant used to remind me of a spider 
 in its web waiting for flies. 
 
 Not forty years back, on the other side of the Al- 
 ]eghany Mountains, deer skins at forty cents per pound, 
 and the furs of other animals at a settled price, were 
 legal tenders, and received both by judges and lawyers 
 as fees. The lawyers in the towns on the banks of the 
 Susquehanna, where it appears the people (notwith 
 standing Campbell s beautiful description) were ex 
 tremely litigious, used to receive all their fees in kind, 
 such as skins, corn, whisky, &c. &c., and, as soon as 
 they had sufficient to load a raft, were to be seen gliding 
 down the river to dispose of their cargo at the first fa 
 vourable mart for produce. Had they worn the wigs and 
 gown of our own legal profession, the effect would 
 have been much more picturesque. 
 
 There is a record of a very curious trial which oc 
 curred in the State of New York. A man had lent a 
 large iron kettle, or boiler, to another, and it being re 
 turned cracked, an action was brought against the bor 
 rower for the value of the kettle. After the plaintiff s 
 case had been heard, the counsel for the defendant rose 
 and said " Mister Judge, we defend this action upon 
 three counts, all of which we shall most satisfactorily 
 prove to you. 
 
 " In the first place, we will prove, by undoubted evi- 
 
178 LAW. 
 
 dence, that the kettle was cracked when we borrowed 
 it; 
 
 " In the second, that the kettle, when we returned it, 
 was whole and sound ; 
 
 " And in the third, we will prove that we never bor 
 rowed the kettle at all." 
 
 There is such a thing as proving too much, but one 
 thing is pretty fairly proved in this case, which is, that 
 the defendant s counsel must have originally descended 
 from the Milesian stock. 
 
 I have heard many amusing stories of the peculiar 
 eloquence of the lawyers in the newly settled Western 
 States, where metaphor is so abundant. One lawyer 
 was so extremely metaphorical upon an occasion, when 
 the stealing of a pig was the case in point, that at last 
 he got to " corruscating rays." The judge (who appear 
 ed equally metaphorical himself) thought proper to pull 
 
 him up by saying " Mr. , I wish you would take 
 
 the feathers from the wings of your imagination, and 
 put them into the tail of your judgment." 
 
 Extract from an American paper : 
 
 " Scene. A Court-house not fifty miles from the city 
 of Louisville Judge presiding with great dignity A 
 noise is heard before the door He looks up, fired with 
 indignation. Mr. Sheriff, sir, bring them men in here ; 
 this is the temple of liberty this is the sanctuary of 
 justice, and it shall not be profaned by the cracking of 
 nuts and the eating of gingerbread. " Marblehcad 
 Register. 
 
 1 have already observed that there is a great error in 
 the office of the inferior and district judges being elec 
 tive, but there are others equally serious. In the first 
 place the judges are not sufficiently paid. Captain Ha 
 milton remarks 
 
 " The low salaries of the judges constitute matter of 
 general complaint among the members of the bar, both 
 at Philadelphia and New York. These are so inade 
 quate, when compared with the income of a well-em 
 ployed barrister, that the State is deprived of the advan 
 tage of having the highest legal talent on the bench. 
 Men from the lower walks of the profession, therefore, 
 
LAW. 179 
 
 are generally promoted to the office ; and for the sake of 
 a wretched saving of a few thousand dollars, the public 
 are content to submit their lives and properties to the 
 decision of men of inferior intelligence and learning. 
 
 " In one respect, I am told, the very excess of demo 
 cracy defeats itself. In some States the judges are so 
 inordinately under-paid, that no lawyer who does not 
 possess a considerable private fortune can afford to ac 
 cept the office. From this circumstance, something of 
 aristocratic distinction has become connected with it, 
 and a seat on the bench is now more greedily coveted 
 than it would be were the salary more commensurate 
 with the duties of the situation." 
 
 The next error is, that political questions are permit 
 ted to interfere with the ends of justice. It is a well- 
 known fact that, not long ago, an Irishman, who had 
 murdered his wife, was brought to trial upon the eve of 
 an election ; and although his guilt was undoubted, he 
 was acquitted, because the Irish party, which were so 
 influential as to be able to turn the election, had declar 
 ed that, if their countryman was convicted, they would 
 vote on the other side. 
 
 But worst of all is the difficulty of finding an honest 
 jury a fact generally acknowledged. Politics, private 
 animosities, bribery, all have their influence to defeat 
 the ends of justice, and it argues strongly against the 
 moral standard of a nation that such should be the case ; 
 but that it is so is undoubted.* The truth is that the ju 
 ries have no respect for the judges, however respectable 
 they may be, and as many of them really are. The 
 feeling " I m as good as he" operates every where. 
 There is no shutting up a jury and starving them out as 
 with us ; no citizen, " free and enlightened, aged twenty- 
 one, white," would submit to such an invasion of his 
 rights. Captain Hamilton observes 
 
 " It was not without astonishment, I confess, that I 
 
 * Miss Martineau, speaking of the jealousy between the Ameri 
 can and the French Creoles says " No American expects to get a 
 verdict, on any evidence, from a jury of French Creoles." 
 
180 LAW. 
 
 remarked that three-fourths of the jurymen were engag 
 ed in eating bread and cheese, and that the foreman 
 actually announced the verdict with his mouth full, 
 ejecting the disjointed syllables during the intervals of 
 mastication ! In truth, an American seems to look on a 
 judge exactly as he does on a carpenter or coppersmith ; 
 and it never occurs to him, that an administrator of 
 justice is entitled to greater respect than a constructor 
 of brass knockers, or a sheather of a ship s bottom. 
 The judge and the brazier are paid equally for their 
 work ; and Jonathan firmly believes that, while he has 
 money in his pocket, there is no risk of his suffering 
 from the want either of law or warming pans." 
 
 One most notorious case of bribery, I can vouch for, 
 as I am acquainted with the two parties, one of whom 
 purchased the snuff-box in which the other enclosed the 
 notes and presented to the jurymen. A gentleman at 
 New York, of the name of Stoughton, had a quarrel with 
 another of the name of Goodwin : the latter followed 
 the former down the street, and murdered him in open 
 day by passing a small sword through his body. The 
 case was as clear as a case could be, but there is a great 
 dislike to capital punishment in America, and particularly 
 was there in this instance, as the criminal was of good 
 family and extensive connexions. It was ascertained 
 that all the jury except two intended to acquit the priso 
 ner upon some pretended want of evidence, but that 
 these two had determined that the law should take its 
 course, and were quite inexorable. Before the jury had 
 retired to consult upon the verdict, it was determined 
 by the friends of the prisoner that an attempt should be 
 made by bribery to soften down the resolution of these 
 two men. As they were retiring, a snuff-box was put 
 into the hands of one of them by a gentleman, with the 
 observation that he and his friend would probably find a 
 pinch of snuff agreeable after so long a trial. The 
 snuff-box contained banknotes to the amount of 2,500 
 dollars (,500 sterling). The snuff-box and its contents 
 were not returned, and the prisoner was acquitted. 
 
 The unwillingness to take away life is a very remark- 
 
LAW. ]81 
 
 able feature in America and were it not carried to such 
 an extreme length, would be a very commendable one. 
 An instance of this occurred just before my arrival at 
 New York. A young man by the name of Robinson, 
 who was a clerk in an importing house, had formed a 
 connexion with a young woman on the town of the 
 name of Ellen Jevvitt. Not having the means to meet 
 her demands upon his purse, he had for many months 
 embezzled from the store goods to a very large amount, 
 which she had sold to supply her wants or wishes. 
 At last, Robinson, probably no longer caring for the girl, 
 and aware that he was in her power, determined upon 
 murdering her. Such accumulated crime can hardly be 
 conceived ! He went to sleep with her, made her drunk 
 with champagne before they retired to bed, and then as 
 she lay in bed murdered her with an axe, which he had 
 brought with him from his master s store. The house 
 of ill fame in which he visited her was at that time full 
 of other people of both sexes, who had retired to rest - 
 it is said nearly one hundred were there on that night, 
 thoughtless of the danger to which they were exposed. 
 Fearful that the murder of the young woman would be 
 discovered and brought home to him, the miscreant 
 resolved to set fire to the house, and by thus sending 
 unprepared into the next world so many of his fellow- 
 creatures, escape the punishment which he deserved. 
 He set fire to the bed upon which his unfortunate victim 
 laid, and having satisfied himself that his work was 
 securely done, locked the door of the room, and quiHed 
 the premises. A merciful Providence, however, directed 
 otherwise: the fire was discovered, and the flames 
 extinguished, and his crime mad6 manifest. The evi 
 dence in an English court would have been more than 
 sufficient to convict him; but in America, such is the 
 feeling against taking life, that, strange to say, Robinson 
 was acquitted, and permitted to leave for Texas, where, 
 it is said, he still lives under a false name. I have heard 
 this subject canvassed over and over again in New 
 York ; and, although some, with a view of extenuating 
 to a foreigner such a disgraceful disregard to security of 
 life, have endeavoured to show that the evidence was 
 VOL. ii. 16 
 
182 LAW. 
 
 not quite satisfactory, there really was not a shadow of 
 doubt in the whole case.* 
 
 But leniency towards crime is the grand characteristic 
 of American legislation. Whether it proceeds, (as I 
 much suspect it does,) from the national vanity being 
 unwilling to admit that such things can take place among 
 " a very moral people," or from a more praiseworthy 
 feeling, ! am not justified in asserting: the reader must 
 form his own opinion, when he has read all I have to 
 say upon other points connected with the subject. 
 
 I have been very much amused with the reports of the 
 sentences given by my excellent friend the recorder of 
 New York. He is said to be one of the soundest law 
 yers in the Union, and a very worthy man ; but I must 
 say, that as recorder, he does not add to the dignity of 
 the bench by his facetious remarks, and the peculiar lenity 
 he occasionally shows to culprits.! 
 
 I will give an extract from the newspapers of some 
 of the proceedings in this court, as they will, I am con 
 vinced, be as amusing to the reader as they have been 
 to me. 
 
 The Recorder then called out ** Mr. Crier, make the 
 usual proclamation ;" " Mr. Clerk, call out the prisoners, 
 and let us proceed to sentencing them !" 
 
 Clerk. Put Stephen Schofield to the bar. 
 
 It was done. 
 
 Clerk. Prisoner, you may remember you have here 
 tofore been indicted for a certain crime by you commit 
 ted ; upon your indictment you were arraigned ; upon 
 your arraignment you pleaded guilty, and threw yourself 
 upon the mercy of the court. What have you now to 
 say, why judgment should not be passed upon you ac 
 cording to law. 
 
 The prisoner, who was a bad-looking mulatto, was si 
 lent. 
 
 * America though little more than sixty years old as a nation, 
 has already published an United States Criminal Calendar (Boston, 
 1835). I have this book in my possession, and, although in num 
 ber of criminals it is not quite equal to our Newgate Calendar, it 
 far exeeds it in atrocity of crime. 
 
 t Some allowance must be made for the license of the reporters, 
 but in the main it is a very fair specimen of the recorder s style 
 and language. 
 
LAW. 183 
 
 Recorder. Schofield, you have been convicted of a 
 very bad crime ; you attempted to take liberties with a 
 young white girl a most serious offence. This is get 
 ting to be a very bad crime, and practised, I am sorry to 
 say, to a great extent in this community: it must be put 
 a stoj) to. Had you been convicted of the whole crime, 
 we should have sent you to the State -prison for life. As 
 it is, we sentence you to hard labour in the State-prison 
 at Sing Sing for five years; and that s the judgment of 
 the court ; and when you come out, take no more liber 
 ties with white ^irls. 
 
 Prisoner. Thank your honour it ain t no worse. 
 Clerk. Bring out Mary Burns. 
 It was done. 
 
 Clerk. Prisoner, you may remember, &c. &c. upon 
 your arraignment you pleaded not guilty, and put yourself 
 on your country for trial ; which country hath found you 
 guilty. What have you now to say why judgment should 
 not be pronounced upon you according to law ? 
 (Silent.) 
 
 Recorder. Mary Burns, Mrs. Forgay gave you her 
 chemise to wash. 
 
 Prisoner. No, she didn t give it to me, 
 Recorder. But you got it somehow, and you stole 
 the money. Now, you see, our respectable fellow-citi 
 zens, the ladies, must have their chemises washed, and, 
 to do so, they must put confidence in their servants ; and 
 they have a right to sew their money up in their chemise 
 if they think proper, and servants must not steal it from 
 them. As you re a young woman, and not married, it 
 would not be right to deprive you of the opportunity to 
 get a husband for five years ; so we shall only send you 
 to Sing Sing for two years and six months ; the keeper 
 will work you in whatever way he may think proper. 
 Go to the next. 
 
 Charles Liston was brought out and arraigned, pro 
 forma." He was a dark negro. 
 
 Clerk. Liston, what have you to say why judgment, 
 
 &C. ? 
 
 Prisoner. All I got to say to his honour de honoura 
 ble court is, dat I see de error of my ways, and I hope 
 
184 LAW. 
 
 dey may soon see de error of deirs. I broke de law of 
 my free country, and I must lose my liberty, and go to 
 Sing Sing. But I trow myself on de mercy of de Recor 
 der : and nil I got to say to his honour, de honourable 
 Richard Riker, is, dat I hope he ll live to be de next 
 mayor of New York till I come out of Sing Sing. 
 
 Recorder (laughing). A very good speech ! But, 
 Liston, whether I m mayor or not, you must suffer some. 
 Tiiis stealing from entries is a most pernicious crime, 
 and one against which our respectable fellow-citizens can 
 scarcely guard. Two-thirds of our citizens hang their 
 hats and coals in entries, and we must protect their hats 
 and coats. We, therefore, sentence you to Sing Sing for 
 five years. Go to the next. 
 
 John M Donald and Godfrey Urawluck were put to 
 the bar. 
 
 Recorder. M Donald and Crawluck, you stole two 
 beeves. Now, however much I like beef, I d be very 
 hungry before I d steal any beef. You are on the high 
 road to ruin. You went up the road to Harlem, and 
 down the road to Yorkville, and you ll soon go to de 
 struction. We shall send you to Sing Sing for two 
 years each ; and when you come out, lake your mo 
 ther s maiden name, and lead a good life, and don t eat 
 any more beef I mean don t steal any more beeves. 
 Go to the next. 
 
 Luke Staken was arraigned. 
 
 Recorder. Staken, you slept in a room with Lahay, 
 and stole all his gold (1000 dollars). This sleeping in 
 rooms with other people, and stealing their things, is a 
 serious offence, and practised to a great extent in this 
 city ; and what makes the matter worse, you stole one 
 thousand dollars in specie, when specie is so scarce. 
 We send you to Sing Sing for five years. 
 
 Jacob Williams was arraigned. He looked as if he 
 had not many days to live, though a young man. 
 
 Recorder. Williams, you stole a lot of kerseymere 
 from a store, and ran off with it a most pernicious 
 crime ! But, as your health is not good, we shall only 
 send you to Sing Sing for three years and six months. 
 
 John H. Murray was arraigned. 
 
 Recorder. Murray, you re a deep fellow. You got a 
 
LAW. 185 
 
 Green Mountain boy into an alley, and played at "shuf 
 fle and burn," and you burned him out of a hundred 
 dollars. You must go to Sing Sing for five years ; and 
 we hope the reputable reporters attending for the re 
 spectable public press, will warn our respectable country 
 friends, when they come into New York, not to go into 
 Orange Street, and play at " shuffle and burn" among 
 bad girls and bad men, or they ll very likely get burnt, 
 like this Green Mountain boy. Go to the next. 
 
 William Shay, charged with shying glasses at the 
 head of a tavern-keeper. Guilty. 
 
 Recorder. This rioting is a very bad crime, Shay, and 
 deserves heavy punishment ; but as we understand you 
 have a wife and sundry little Shays, we ll let you off, 
 provided you give your solemn promise never to do so 
 any more. 
 
 Shay. I gives it wery solemnonly. 
 
 Recorder. Then we discharge you. 
 
 Shay. Thank your honour your honour s a capital 
 judge. 
 
 John Bowen, charged with stealing a basket. Guilty. 
 
 Recorder. Now, John, we ve convicted you : and you ll 
 have to get out stone for three months on Blackwell s 
 Island that s the judgment of the Court. 
 
 William Buckly and Charles Rogers, charged with 
 loafing sleeping in the park, and leaving the gate open 
 were discharged, with a caution to take care how 
 they interfered with corporation rights in future, or they 
 would get their corporation into trouble. 
 
 Ann Boyle, charged with being too lively in the street. 
 Let off on condition of being quiet for the time to come. 
 
 Thomas Dixon, charged with petty larceny. Guilty. 
 
 Dixon. I wish to have judgment suspended. 
 
 Recorder. It s a bad time to talk about suspension ; 
 why do you request this ? 
 
 Dixon. I ve an uncle I want to see, and other rela 
 tions. 
 
 Recorder. In that case we ll send you to Blackwell s 
 Island for six months, you ll be sure to find them all 
 there. Sentence accordingly. 
 
 Charles Enroff, charged with petty larceny coming 
 16* 
 
186 LAW. 
 
 Paddy over an Irish shoemaker, and thereby cheating 
 him out of a pair of shoes. Guilty. 
 
 Sentenced to the Penitentiary, Blackwell s Island, for 
 six months, and to get out stone. 
 
 Charles Thorn, charged with assaulting Miss Rachael 
 Prigmore. 
 
 Recorder. Miss Prigmore, how came this man to 
 strike you ? 
 
 Rachael. Because I wouldn t have him. (A laugh.) 
 He was always a teazing me, and spouting poetry about 
 roses and thorns ; so when I told him to be off he struck 
 me. 
 
 Prisoner (theatrically). Me strike you ! Oh, Ra 
 chael 
 
 " Perhaps it was right to dissemble your love, 
 But why did you kick me down stairs ?" 
 
 Prisoner s Counsel. That s it, your honour. Why did 
 she kick him down stairs ? 
 
 This the fair Rachael indignantly denied, and the pri 
 soner was found guilty. 
 
 Recorder. This striking of women is a very bad crime, 
 you must get out stone for two months. 
 
 Prisoner. She ll repent, your honour. She loves me 
 I know she does. 
 
 " On the cold flinty rock, when I m busy at work, 
 Oh, Rachael, I ll think of thee." 
 
 Thomas Ward, charged with petty larceny. Guilty. 
 Ward had nothing to offer to ward off his sentence, 
 therefore he was sent to the Island for six months. 
 
 Maria Brandon, charged with petty larceny. Guilty. 
 Sentenced to pick oakum for six months. 
 
 Maria. Well, I ve friends, that s comfort, they ll sing 
 
 44 Oh come to this bower, my own stricken deer." 
 
 Recorder. You re right, Maria, it s an oakum bower 
 you re going to. 
 
 The Court then adjourned.* 
 
 * There is, as will appear by the quotations, as much fun in the 
 police reports in New York as in the best of ours : the style of the 
 Recorder is admirably taken off. 
 
LAW. 187 
 
 But all these are nothing compared with the follow 
 ing, which at first I did not credit. I made the strictest 
 inquiry, and was informed by a legal gentleman present 
 that it was correct. I give the extract as it stood in the 
 newspapers. 
 
 " Influence of a Pretty Girl. * Catherine Manly, said 
 the Recorder yesterday, in the sessions, you have been, 
 convicted of a very bad crime. This stealing is a very 
 serious offence; but, as you are a pretty girl! w r e ll 
 suspend judgment, in hopes you will do better for the 
 future. " We have often heard that justice was blind. 
 What a fib to say so ! 
 
 Mr. Carey, in his publication on Wealth, asserts that 
 security of property and of person are greater in the 
 United States than in England. How far he is correct I 
 shall now proceed to examine. Mr. Carey says, in his ob 
 servations on security of person "Comparing Massa 
 chusetts with England and Wales, we find in the former 
 1 in 86,871 sentenced to one year s imprisonment or 
 more : whereas, in the latter 1 in 70,000 is sentenced 
 to more than one year. The number sentenced to one 
 year or more in England is greater than in Pennsylvania. 
 It is obvious, therefore, that security is much greater 
 in Massachusetts than in England, and consequently 
 greater than in any other part of the world." 
 
 Relative to crimes against security of property, he 
 asserts 
 
 " Of crimes against property, involving punishments 
 of one year s imprisonment, or more, we find 
 
 In Pennsylvania - - 1 in 4,400 
 
 In New York - 1 in 5,900 
 
 In Massachusetts - - 1 in 5,932 
 
 "While in England, in the year 1834, 
 their convictions for offences against 
 property, involving punishments ex 
 ceeding over oneyear s imprisonment, 
 was - - 1 in 3,120 
 
 Now, that these numbers are fairly given, as far as 
 they go, I have no doubt; but the comparison is not just, 
 because, first, in America crime is not so easily detected; 
 and, secondly, when detected, conviction does not always 
 follow. 
 
188 LAW. 
 
 Mr. Carey must be well aware that, in the American 
 newspapers you continually meet with a paragraph like 
 tins : " A body of a white man, or of a negro, was 
 found floating near such and such a wharf on Saturday 
 last with evident marks of violence upon it, &c. &c., and 
 the coroner s inquest is returned either found drowned, 
 or violence by person or persons unknown." Now, let 
 Mr. Carey take a list from the coroner s books of the 
 number of bodies found in this manner at New York, 
 and the number of instances in which the perpetrators 
 have been discovered ; let him compare this list with a 
 similar one made for England and Wales, and he will 
 then ascertain the difference between the crimes commit 
 ted in proportion to the convictions which take place 
 through the activity of the police in our country, and, it 
 may be said, the total want of police in the United 
 States. 
 
 As to the second point, namely, that when crimes are 
 detected, conviction does not follow,* I have only to 
 refer back to the cases of Robinson and Goodwin, two 
 instances out of the many in which criminals in the 
 United States are allowed to escape, who, if they had 
 committed the same offence in England, would most 
 certainly have been hanged. But there is another point 
 which renders Mr. Carey s statement unfair, which is, 
 that he has no right to select one, two, or even three 
 States out of twenty-six, and compare them all with 
 England and Wales. 
 
 The question is, the comparative security of person 
 
 * Miss Martineau, speaking of a trial for murder in the United 
 States, says, " I observed that no one seemed to have a doubt of his 
 guilt. She replied that there never was a clearer case; but that he 
 would be acquitted ; the examination and trial were a mere form, 
 of which every one knew the conclusion beforehand. The people 
 did not choose to see any more hanging, and till the law was so 
 altered as to allow an alternative of punishment, no conviction for 
 a capital offence would be obtainable. I asked on what pretence 
 the young man would be got off, if the evidence against him was 
 as clear as it was represented. She said some one would be found 
 to swear an alibi. . . . 
 
 "A tradesman swore an alibi; the young man was acquitted, 
 and the next morning he was on his way to the West." 
 
LAW. 189 
 
 and property in Great Britain and the United States, I 
 acknowledge that, if Ireland were taken into the account, 
 it would very much reduce our proportional numbers ; 
 but, then, there crime is fomented by traitors and dema 
 gogues a circumstance which must not be overlooked. 
 
 Still, the whole of Ireland would offer nothing equal 
 in atrocity to what I can prove relative to one small 
 town in America: that of Augusta, in Georgia, contain 
 ing only a population of 3,000, in which, in one year, 
 there were fifty -nine assassinations committed in open 
 day, without any notice being taken of them by the 
 authorities. 
 
 This, alone, will exceed all Ireland, and I therefore do 
 not hesitate to assert, that if every crime committed in 
 the United States were followed up by conviction, as it 
 would be in Great Britain, the result would fully sub 
 stantiate the fact that, in security of person and property, 
 the advantage is considerably in favour of my own 
 country. 
 
 LYNCH LAW. 
 
 ENGLISHMEN express their surprise that in a moral 
 community such a monstrosity as Lynch law should 
 exist ; but although the present system, which has been 
 derived from the original Lynch law, cannot be too 
 severely condemned, it must, in justice to the Ameri 
 cans, be considered that the original custom of Lynch 
 law was forced upon them by circumstances. Why the 
 term Lynch law has been made use of, I do not know ; 
 but in its origin the practice was no more blamable than 
 were the laws established by the Pilgrim fathers on their 
 first landing at Plymouth, or any law enacted amongst a 
 community left to themselves, their own resources, and 
 their own guidance and government. Lynch law, as at 
 first constituted, was nothing more than punishment 
 awarded to offenders by a community who had been in 
 jured, and who had no law to refer to, and could have no 
 redress if they did not lake the law into their own hands; 
 
190 LAW. 
 
 the present system of Lynch law is, on the contrary, an 
 illegal exercise of the power of the majority in opposi 
 tion to and defiance of the laws of the country, and the 
 measure of justice administered and asvarded by those 
 laws. 
 
 It must be remembered that fifty years ago, there 
 were but few white men to the westward of the Alle- 
 ghany Mountains ; that the States of Kentucky and 
 Tennessee were at that time as scanty in population as 
 even now are the districts of loway and Columbia ; that 
 by the institutions of the Union a district required a 
 certain number of inhabitants before it could be acknow 
 ledged as even a district ; and that previous- to such 
 acknowledgment, the people who had squatted on the 
 land had no claim to protection or law. It must also 
 be borne in mind, that these distant territories offered 
 an asylum to many who fled from the vengeance of the 
 laws, men without principle, thieves, rogues, and vaga 
 bonds, who escaping there, would often interfere with 
 the happiness and peace of some small yet well-con 
 ducted community, which had migrated and settled on 
 these fertile regions. These communities had no appeal 
 against personal violence, no protection from rapacity 
 and injustice. They were not yet within the pale of the 
 Union ; indeed there are many even now in this precise 
 situation (that of the Mississippi, for instance), who have 
 been necessitated to make laws of government for them 
 selves, and who acting upon their own responsibilities, 
 do very often condemn to death, and execute.* It was, 
 therefore, to remedy the defect of there being no esta 
 blished law, that Lynch law, as it is termed, was ap- 
 
 * " A similar case is to be found at the present day, west of the 
 Mississippi. Upon lands belonging to the United States, not yet 
 surveyed or offered for sale, are numerous bodies of people who 
 have occupied them, with the intention of purchasing them when 
 they shall be brought into the market. These persons are called 
 squatters, and it is not to be supposed that they consist of the elite 
 of the emigrants to the West; yet we are informed that they have 
 organised a government fur themselves, and regularly elect magis 
 trates to attend to the execution of the laws. They appear, in this 
 respect, to be worthy descendants of the pilgrims." Carey OH 
 Wealth. 
 
LYNCH LAW. 191 
 
 plied to; without it, all security, all social happiness 
 would have been in a state of abeyance. By degrees, all 
 disturbers of the public peace, all offenders against justice 
 met with their deserts ; and it is a query, whether on 
 its first institution, any law from the bench was more 
 honestly and impartially administered than this very 
 Lynch law, which has now had its name prostituted by 
 the most barbarous excesses and contemptuous viola 
 tion of all law whatever. The examples I am able to 
 bring forward of Lynch law, in its primitive state, will 
 all be found to have been based upon necessity, and a 
 due regard to morals and to justice. For instance, the 
 harmony of a well-conducted community would be in 
 terfered with by some worthless scoundrel, who would 
 entice the young men to gaming, or the young women 
 to deviate from virtue. He becomes a nuisance to the 
 community, and in consequence the heads or elders 
 would meet and vote his expulsion. Their method was 
 very simple and straight-forward ; he was informed that 
 his absence would be agreeable, and that if he did not 
 " clear out" before a certain day, he would receive forty 
 lashes with a cow-hide. If the party thought proper to 
 defy this notice, as soon as the clay arrived he received 
 the punishment, with a due notification that, if found 
 there again after a certain time, the dose would be re 
 peated. By these means they rid the community of a 
 bad subject, and the morals of the junior branches were 
 not contaminated. Such was in its origin the practice 
 of Lynch law. 
 
 A circumstance occurred within these few years in 
 which Lynch law was duly administered. At Dubuque, 
 in the lovvay district, a murder was committed. The 
 people of Dubuque first applied to the authorities of the 
 State of Michigan, but they discovered that the district 
 of loway was not within the jurisdiction of that State; 
 and, in fact, although on the opposite side of the river 
 there was law and justice, they had neither to appeal 
 to. They would not allow the murderer to escape; 
 they consequently met, selected among themselves a 
 judge and a jury, tried the man, and, upon their own 
 responsibility, hanged him. 
 
192 LYNCH LAW. 
 
 There was another instance which occurred a short 
 time since at Snakes Hollow, on the western side of 
 the Mississippi, not far from the town of Dubuque. A 
 band of miscreants, with a view of obtaining possession 
 of some valuable diggings (lead mines) which were in 
 the possession of a grocer who lived in that place, mur 
 dered him in the open day. The parties were well 
 known, but they held together and would none of them 
 give evidence. As there were no hopes of their con 
 viction, the people of Snakes Hollow armed themselves, 
 seized the parties engaged in the transaction, and 
 ordered them to quit the territory on pain of having a 
 rifle-bullet through their heads immediately. The 
 scoundrels crossed the river in a canoe, and were 
 never after heard of. 
 
 I have collected these facts to show that Lynch law 
 has been forced upon the American settlers in the Wes 
 tern States by circumstances ; that it has been acted 
 upon in support of morality and virtue, and that its 
 awards have been regulated by strict justice. But I 
 must now notice this practice with a view to show how 
 dangerous it is that any law should be meted out by 
 the majority, and that what was commenced from a 
 sense of justice and necessity, has now changed into a 
 defiance of law, where law and justice can be readily 
 obtained. The Lynch law of the present day, as prac 
 tised in the States of the West and South, may be 
 divided into two different heads : the first is, the ad 
 ministration of it in cases in which the laws of the 
 States are considered by the majority as not having 
 awarded a punishment adequate, in their opinion, to the 
 offence committed ; and the other, when from excite 
 ment the majority will not wait for the law to act, but 
 inflict the punishment with their own hands. 
 
 The following are instances under the first head. 
 
 Every crime increases in magnitude in proportion as 
 it affects the welfare and interest of the community. 
 Forgery and bigamy are certainly crimes, but they are 
 not such heavy crimes as many others to which the 
 same penalty is decreed in this country. But in a com 
 mercial nation forgery, from its effects, becomes most 
 
LYNCH LAW. 193 
 
 injurious, as it destroys confidence and security of pro 
 perty, affecting the whole mass of society. A man 
 may have his pocket picked of 1000 or more, but this 
 is not a capital offence, as it is only the individual who 
 suffers; but if a man forges a bill for 5 he is (or 
 rather was) sentenced by our laws to be hanged. 
 Bigamy may be adduced as another instance : the 
 heinousness of the offence is not in having more than 
 one wife, but in the prospect of the children of the first 
 marriage being left to be supported by the community. 
 Formerly, that was also pronounced a capital offence. 
 Of punishments, it will be observed that society has 
 awarded the most severe for crimes committed against 
 itself, rather than against those which most offend God. 
 Upon this principle, in the Southern and Western States, 
 you may murder ten white men and no one will ar 
 raign you or trouble himself about the matter ; but steal 
 one nigger, and the whole community are in arms, and 
 express the most virtuous indignation against the sin of 
 theft, although that of murder will be disregarded. 
 
 One or two instances in which Lynch law was called 
 in to assist justice on the bench, came to my knowledge. 
 A Yankee had stolen a slave, but as the indictment was 
 not properly worded, he knew that he w r ould be acquit 
 ted, and he boasted so, previous to the trial coming on. 
 He was correct in his supposition ; the flaw in the in- 
 dictrnent was fatal, and he was acquitted. " I told you 
 so," said he, triumphantly smiling as he left the court, 
 to the people who had been waiting the issue of the 
 trial. 
 
 " Yes," replied they, " it is true that you have been 
 acquitted by Judge Smith, but you have not yet been 
 tried by Judge Lynch." The latter Judge was very 
 summary. The Yankee was tied up, and cow-hided 
 till he was nearly dead ; they then put him into a dug 
 out and sent him floating down the river. Another 
 instance occurred which is rather amusing, and, at the 
 same time, throws some light upon the peculiar state of 
 society in the West. 
 
 There was a bar-keeper at some tavern in the State 
 of Louisiana (if I recollect right) who was a great fa- 
 
 VOL. II. 17 
 
194 LYNCH LAW. 
 
 vourite ; whether from his judicious mixture of the pro 
 portions in mint-juleps, and gin-cocktails, or from other 
 causes, I do not know; but what may appear strange 
 to the English, he was elected to an office in the law- 
 courts of the State, similar to our Attorney-General, and 
 I believe was very successful, for an American can turn 
 his hand or his head to almost any thing. It so happened 
 that a young man who was in prison for stealing a ne 
 gro, applied to this Attorney-General to defend him in 
 the court. This he did so successfully that the man 
 was acquitted ; but Judge Lynch was as usual waiting 
 outside, and when the attorney came out with his client, 
 the latter was demanded to be given up. This the 
 attorney refused, saying that the man was under his 
 protection. A tumult ensued, but the attorney was 
 firm ; he drew his bowie-knife, and addressing the 
 crowd, said, " My men, you all know me : no one 
 takes this man, unless he passes over my body." The 
 populace were still dissatisfied, and the attorney, not 
 wishing to lose his popularity, and at the same time 
 wanting to defend a man who had paid him well, re 
 quested the people to be quiet a moment until he could 
 arrange the affair. He took his client aside, and said to 
 him, " These men will have you, and will Lynch you, 
 in spite of all my efforts; only one chance remains for 
 you, and you must accept it : you know that it is but a 
 mile to the confines of the next State, which if you gain 
 you will be secure. You have been in prison for two 
 months, you have lived on bread and water, and you 
 must be in good wind, moreover, you are young and 
 active. These men who wish to get hold of you are 
 half drunk, and they never can run as you can. Now, 
 I ll propose that you shall have one hundred and fifty 
 yards law, and then if you exert yourself, you can 
 easily escape." The man consented, as he could not 
 help himself: the populace also consented, as the 
 attorney pointed out to them that any other arrange 
 ment would be injurious to his honour. The man, 
 however, did not succeed ; he was so frightened that he 
 could not run, and in a short time he was taken, and 
 had the usual allowance of cow-hide awarded by Judge 
 
LYNCH LAW. 195 
 
 Lynch. Fortunately he regained his prison before he 
 was quite exhausted, and was sent away during the 
 night in a steamer. 
 
 At Natchez, a young man married a young lady of 
 fortune, and, in his passion, actually flogged her to 
 death. He was tried, but as there were no witnesses 
 but negroes, and their evidence was not admissible 
 against a white man, he was acquitted : but he did not 
 escape; he was seized, tarred and feathered, scalped, 
 and turned adrift in a canoe without paddles. 
 
 Such are the instances of Lynch law being superadd- 
 ed, when it has been considered by the majority that the 
 law has not been sufficiently severe. The other variety 
 of Lynch law is, when they will not wait for law, but, 
 in a state of excitement, proceed to summary punish 
 ment. 
 
 The case more than once referred to by Miss Mar- 
 tineau, of the burning alive of a coloured man at St. 
 Louis, is one of the gravest under this head. I do not 
 wish to defend it in any way, but I do, for the honour of 
 humanity, wish to offer all that can be said in extenua 
 tion of this atrocity : and I think Miss Martineau, when 
 she held up to public indignation the monstrous punish 
 ment, was bound to acquaint the public with the cause 
 of an excitable people being led into such an error. 
 This unfortunate victim of popular fury was a free co 
 loured man, of a very quarrelsome and malignant dis 
 position ; he had already been engaged in a variety of 
 disputes, and was a nuisance in the city. For an at 
 tempt to murder another coloured man, he had been 
 seized, and was being conducted to prison in the cus 
 tody of Mr. Hammond, the sheriff, and another white 
 person who assisted him in the execution of his duty. 
 As he arrived at the door of the prison, he watched his 
 opportunity, stabbed the person who was assisting the 
 sheriff, and, then passing his knife across the throat of 
 Mr. Hammond, the carotid artery was divided, and the 
 latter fell dead upon the spot. Now, here was a wretch 
 who, in one day, had three times attempted murder, and 
 had been successful in the instance of Mr. Hammond, 
 the sheriff, a person universally esteemed. Moreover, 
 
196 LYNCH LAW. 
 
 when it is considered that the culprit was of a race 
 who are looked upon as inferior ; that this successful 
 attempt on the part of a black man was considered 
 most dangerous as a precedent to the negro popula 
 tion ; that, owing to the unwillingness to take life away 
 in America, he might probably have escaped justice ; 
 and that this occurred just at the moment when the 
 abolitionists were creating such mischief and irritation : 
 although it must be lamented that they should have 
 so disgraced themselves, the summary and cruel pun 
 ishment which was awarded by an incensed populace 
 is not very surprising. Miss Martineau has, however, 
 thought proper to pass over the peculiar atrocity of the 
 individual who was thus sacrificed : to read her ac 
 count of the transaction, it would appear as if he were 
 an unoffending party, sacrificed on account of his 
 colour alone. 
 
 Another remarkable instance was the execution of 
 five gamblers at the town of Vicksburgh, on the Missis 
 sippi. It may appear strange that people should be 
 lynched for the mere vice of gambling: but this will be 
 better understood when, in my second portion of this 
 work, I enter into a general view of society in the 
 United States. At present it will be sufficient to say, 
 that as towns rise in the South and West, they gradu 
 ally become peopled with a better class ; and that, as 
 soon as this better class is sufficiently strong to accom 
 plish their ends, a purification takes place much to the 
 advantage of society. I hardly need observe, that these 
 better classes come from the Eastward. New Orleans, 
 Natches, and Vicksburgh are evidences of the truth of 
 observations I have made. In the present instance, it 
 was resolved by the people of Vicksburgh that they 
 would no longer permit their city to be the resort of a 
 set of unprincipled characters, and that all gamblers by 
 profession should be compelled to quit it. But, as I 
 have the American account of what occurred, I think it 
 will be better to give it in detail, the rather as I was in 
 formed by a gentleman residing there that it was per 
 fectly correct : 
 
 * Our city has for some days past been the theatre of 
 
LYNCH LAW. 197 
 
 the most novel and startling scenes that we have ever 
 witnessed. While we regret that the necessity for such 
 scenes should have existed, we are proud of the public 
 spirit and indignation against offenders displayed by the 
 citizens, and congratulate them on having at length ba 
 nished a class of individuals, whose shameless vices and 
 daring outrages have long poisoned the springs of mo 
 rality, and interrupted the relations of society. For years 
 past, professional gamblers, destitute of all sense of mo 
 ral obligation unconnected with society by any of its 
 ordinary ties, and intent, only on the gratification of their 
 avarice have made Vicksburgli their place of rendez 
 vous and, in the very bosom of our society, boldly 
 plotted their vile and lawless machinations. Here, as 
 every where else, the laws of the country were found 
 wholly ineffectual for the punishment of th^se indivi 
 duals; and, emboldened by impunity, their numbers and 
 their crimes have daily continued to multiply. Every 
 species of transgression followed in their train. They 
 supported a large number of tippling-houses, to which 
 they would decoy the youthful and unsuspecting, and, 
 after stripping them of their possessions, send them 
 forth into the world the ready and desperate instruments 
 of vice. Our streets were ever resounding with the 
 echoes of their drunken and obscene mirth, and no citi 
 zen was secure from their villany. Frequently, in armed 
 bodies, they have disturbed the good order of public as 
 semblages, insulted our citizens, and defied our civil 
 authorities. Thus had they continued to grow bolder in 
 their wickedness, and more formidable in their numbers, 
 until Saturday, the 4th of July (inst.), when our citizens 
 had assembled together, with the corps of Vicksburgh 
 volunteers, at a barbecue, to celebrate the day by the 
 usual festivities. After dinner, and during the delivery 
 of the toasts, one of the officers attempted to enforce 
 order and silence at the table, when one of these gam 
 blers, whose name is Cabler, who had impudently thrust 
 himself into the company, insulted the officer, and struck 
 one of the citizens. Indignation immediately rose high, 
 and it was only by the interference of the commandant 
 that he was saved from instant punishment. He was, 
 17* 
 
198 LYNCH LAW. 
 
 however, permitted to retire, and the company dispersed. 
 The military corps proceeded to the public square of the 
 city, and were there engaged in their exercises, when 
 information was received that Cabler was coming up, 
 armed, and resolved to kill one of the volunteers, who 
 had been most active in expelling him from the table. 
 Knowing his desperate character, two of the corps in 
 stantly stepped forward and arrested him. A loaded 
 pistol and a large knife and dagger were found upon his 
 person, all of which he had procured since he separated 
 from the company. To liberate him would have been 
 to devote several of the most respectable members of the 
 company to his vengeance, and to proceed against him 
 at law would have been mere mockery, inasmuch as, 
 not having had the opportunity of consummating his 
 design, no adequate punishment could be inflicted on 
 him. Consequently, it was determined to take him into 
 the woods and Lynch him which is a mode of punish 
 ment provided for such as become obnoxious in a man 
 ner which the law cannot reach. He was immediately 
 carried out under a guard, attended by a crowd of re 
 spectable citizens tied to a tree punished with stripes 
 tarred and feathered, and ordered to leave the city in 
 forty-eight hours. In the mean time, one of his com 
 rades, the Lucifer of his gang, had been endeavouring to 
 rally and arm his confederates for the purpose of rescu 
 ing him which, however, he failed to accomplish. 
 
 * Having thus aggravated the whole band of these 
 desperadoes, and feeling no security against their ven 
 geance, the citizens met at night in the Court-house, in 
 a large number, and there passed the following resolu 
 tions : 
 
 " Resolved, That a notice be given to all professional 
 gamblers, that the citizens of Vicksburgh are resolved to 
 exclude them from this place and its vicinity ; and that 
 twenty-four hours notice be given them to leave the 
 place. 
 
 " Resolved, That all persons permitting faro-dealing 
 in their houses, be also notified that they will be prose 
 cuted therefor. 
 
 " Resolved, That one hundred copies of the foregoing 
 
LYNCH LAW. iU 
 
 resolutions be printed and stuck up at the corners of the 
 streets and that this publication be deemed a notice. 
 
 " On Sunday morning, one of these notices was post 
 ed at the corners of each square of the city. During 
 that day (the 5th) a majority of the gang, terrified by 
 the threats of the citizens, dispersed in different direc 
 tions, without making any opposition. It was sincerely 
 hoped that the remainder would follow their example, 
 and thus prevent a bloody termination of the strife which 
 had commenced. On the morning of the 6th, the mili 
 tary corps, followed by a file of several hundred citizens, 
 marched to each suspected house, and sending in an 
 examining committee, dragged out every faro-table and 
 other gambling apparatus that could be found. 
 
 " At length they approached a house which was occupied 
 by one of the most profligate of the gang, whose name 
 was North, and in which it was understood that a garrison 
 of armed men had been stationed. All hoped that these 
 wretches would be intimidated by the superior numbers 
 of their assailants, and surrender themselves at discretion 
 rather than attempt a desperate defence. The house 
 being surrounded, the back door was burst open, when four 
 or five shots were fired from the interior, one of which 
 instantly killed Dr. Hugh S. Bodley, a citizen univer 
 sally beloved and respected. The interior was so dark 
 that the villains could not be seen ; but several of the citi 
 zens, guided by the flash of their guns, returned there 
 fire. A yell from one of the party announced that one 
 of the shots had been effectual, and by this time a crowd 
 of citizens, their indignation overcoming all other feelings, 
 burst open every door of the building, and dragged into 
 the light those who had not been wounded. 
 
 North, the ringleader, who had contrived this des 
 perate plot, could not be found in the building, but was 
 apprehended by a citizen, while attempting, in company 
 with another, to make his escape at a place not far distant. 
 Himself, with the rest of the prisoners, was then con 
 ducted in silence to the scaffold. One of them, not having 
 been in the building before it was attacked, nor appearing 
 to be concerned with the rest, except that he was the 
 brother of one of them, was liberated, The remaining 
 
200 LYNCH LAW. 
 
 number of five, among whom was the individual who had 
 heen shot, but who still lived, were immediately executed 
 in the presence of the assembled multitude. All sympathy 
 for the wretches was completely merged in detestation 
 and horror of their crime. The whole procession then 
 returned to the city, collected all the faro-tables into a 
 pile*, and burnt them. This being done, a troop of horse 
 men set out for a neighbouring house, the residence of J. 
 Hord, the individual who had attempted to organise a 
 force on the first day of this disturbance for the rescue of 
 Cabler, who had since been threatening to fire the city. 
 He had, however, made his escape on that day, and the 
 next morning crossed the Big Black, at Baldwin s Ferry, 
 in a state of indescribable consternation. We lament his 
 escape, as his whole course of life for the last three years 
 has exhibited the most shameless profligacy, and been 
 a series of continual transgressions against the laws of 
 God and man. 
 
 " The names of the individuals who perished were 
 as follow : North, Hullams, Dutch Bill, Smith, and 
 McCall. 
 
 " Their bodies were cut down on the morning after the 
 execution, and buried in a ditch. 
 
 * It is not expected that this act will pass without 
 censure from those who had not an opportunity of know 
 ing and feeling the dire necessity out of which it origi 
 nated. The laws, however severe in their provision, 
 have never been sufficient to correct a vice which must 
 be established by positive proof, and cannot, like others, 
 be shown from circumstantial testimony. It is practised, 
 too, by individuals whose whole study is to violate 
 the law in such a manner as to evade its punishment, 
 and who never are in want of secret confederates to swear 
 them out of their difficulties, whose oaths cannot be im 
 peached for any specific cause. We had borne with their 
 enormities until to suffer them any longer would not only 
 have proved us to be destitute of every manly sentiment, 
 but would also have implicated us in the guilt of accessa 
 ries to their crimes. Society may be compared to the 
 elements which, \ although 4 order is their first law/ can 
 sometimes be purified only by a storm. Whatever, 
 
LYNCH LAW, 202 
 
 therefore, sickly sensibility or mawkish philanthropy 
 may say against the course pursued by us, we hope thae 
 onr citizens will not relax the code of punishment which 
 they have enacted against this infamous and baleful class 
 of society; and we invite Natchez, Jackson, Columbus, 
 Warrenton, and ail our sister towns throughout the State, 
 in the name of our insulted laws, of offended virtue, and 
 of slaughtered innocence, to aid us in exterminating this 
 deep-rooted vice from our land. The revolution has beer* 
 conducted here by the most respectable citizens, heads of 
 families, members of all classes, professions, and pursuits. 
 None have been heard to utter a syllable of censure against 
 either the act or the manner in which it was performed. 
 
 " An Anti-Gambling Society has been formed, the 
 members of which have pledged their lives, fortunes, 
 and sacred honours for the suppression of gambling, 
 and the punishment and expulsion of gamblers. 
 
 " Startling as the above may seem to foreigners, it 
 will ever reflect honour on the insulted citizens of 
 Vicksburg, among those who best know how to appre 
 ciate the motives by which they were actuated. Their 
 city now stands redeemed and ventilated from all the 
 vices and influence of gambling and assignation houses; 
 two of the greatest curses that ever corrupted the mo 
 rals of any community." 
 
 That the society in the towns on the banks of the 
 Mississippi can only, like the atmosphere, "be purified 
 by storm," is, I am afraid, but too true. 
 
 I have now entered fully, and I trust impartially, into 
 the rise and progress of the Lynch Law, and I must 
 leave my readers to form their own conclusions. That 
 it has occasionally been beneficial, in the peculiar state 
 of the communities in which it has been practised, must 
 be admitted ; but it is equally certain that it is in itself 
 indefensible, and that but too often, not only much too 
 severe for the offence, but what is still more to be de 
 precated, the innocent do occasionally suffer with the 
 guilty. 
 
202 
 
 CLIMATE. 
 
 I WISH the remarks in this chapter to receive peculiar 
 attention, as in commenting upon the character of the 
 Americans, it is but justice to them to point out that 
 many of what may be considered as their errors, arise 
 from circumstances over which they have no control; 
 and one which has no small weight in this scale is the 
 peculiar climate of the country; for various as is the 
 climate, in such an extensive region, certain it is, that 
 in one point, that of excitement, it has, in every portion 
 of it, a very pernicious effect. 
 
 When I first arrived at New York, the effect of the 
 climate upon me was immediate. On the 5th of May, 
 the heat and closeness was oppressive. There was a 
 sultriness in the air, even at that early period of the 
 year, which to me seemed equal to that of Madras. 
 Almost every day there were, instead of our mild re 
 freshing showers, sharp storms of thunder and light 
 ning; but the air did not appear to me to be cooled by 
 them. And yet, strange to say, there were no inci 
 pient signs of vegetation : the trees waved their bare 
 arms, and while I was throwing off every garment 
 which I well could, the females were walking up and 
 down Broadway wrapped up in warm shawls. It ap 
 peared as if it required twice the heat we have in our 
 own country, either to create a free circulation in the 
 blood of the people, or to stimulate nature to rouse 
 after the torpor of a protracted and severe winter. In 
 a week from the period I have mentioned, the trees 
 were in full foliage, the belles of Broadway walking 
 about in summer dresses and thin satin shoes, the men 
 calling for ice, and rejoicing in the beauty of the 
 weather, the heat of which to me was most oppressive. 
 In one respect there appears to be very little difference 
 throughout all the States of the Union; which is, in the 
 extreme heat of the summer months, and the rapid 
 changes of temperature which take place in the twenty- 
 four hours. 
 
CLIMATE. 
 
 203 
 
 When I was on Lake Superior the thermometer stood 
 between 90 and 100 during the day, and at night was 
 nearly down to the freezing point. When at Si. Peter s, 
 which is nearly as far north, and farther west, the ther 
 mometer stood generally at 100 to 106 during the day, 
 and I found it to be the case in all the northern Slates 
 when the winter is most severe, as well as in the more 
 southern. When on the Mississippi and Ohio rivers, 
 where the heat was most insufferable during the day, 
 our navigation was almost every night suspended by the 
 thick dank fogs, which covered not only the waters but 
 the inland country, and which must be any thing but 
 healthy. In fact, in every portion of the States which I 
 visited, and in those portions also which 1 did not visit, 
 the extreme heat and rapid changes in the weather were 
 (according to the information received from other per 
 son?) the same. 
 
 But I must proceed to particulars. I consider the cli 
 mate on the sea-coasts of the eastern Slates, from Maine 
 to Baltimore, as the most unhealthy of all parts of Ame 
 rica ; as, added to the sudden changes, they have cold 
 and damp easterly winds, which occasion a great deal of 
 consumption. The inhabitants, more especially the wo 
 men, show this in their appearance, and ii is by the in 
 habitants that the climate must be tested. The women 
 are very delicate, and very pretty ; but they remind you 
 of roses which have budded fairly, but which a check in 
 the season have not permitted to blow. Up to sixteen 
 or seventeen, they promise perfection ; at that age their 
 advance appears lo be checked. Mr. Saunderson, in a 
 very clever and amusing work, which I recommend 
 every one to read, called Sketches of Paris," says : 
 ** Our climate is noted for three eminent qualities ex 
 treme heat and cold, and extreme suddenness of change. 
 If a lady has bad teeth, or a bad complexion, she lays 
 them conveniently to the climate ; if her beauty, like a 
 tender flower, fades before noon, it is the climate ; if she 
 has a bad temper, or a snub nose, still it is the climate. 
 But our climate is active and intellectual, especially in 
 winter, and in all seasons more pure and transparent 
 than the inky skies of Europe. It sustains the infancy 
 
204 CLIMATE. 
 
 of beauty why not its maturity ? It spares the bud- 
 why not the opened blossom, or the ripened fruit. Our 
 oegroes are perfect in their teeth why not the whites ? 
 The chief preservation of beauty in any country is health, 
 and there is no place in which this great interest is so 
 little attended to as in America. To be sensible of this, 
 you must visit Europe you must see the deep-bosomed 
 maids of England upon the Place Vendome and the Rue 
 Castiglione." 
 
 I have quoted this passage, because I think Mr. Saun- 
 derson is not just in these slurs upon his fair countrywo 
 men. I acknowledge that a bad temper does not directly 
 proceed from climate, although sickness and suffering, 
 occasioned by climate, may indirectly produce it. As 
 for the snub nose, I agree wiih him, that climate has not 
 so much to do with that. Mr, Saunderson is right in 
 saying, that the chief preservative of beauty is health ; 
 but may I ask him, upon what does health depend but 
 upon exercise? and if so, how many days are there in 
 the American summer in which the heat will admit of 
 exercise, or in the American winter in which it is possi 
 ble for women to walk out ? for carriage driving is not 
 exercise, and if it were, from the changes in the weather 
 in America, it will always be dangerous. The fact is, 
 that the climate will not admit of the exercise necessary 
 for health, unless by running great risks, and very often 
 contracting cold and chills, which end in consumption 
 and death. To accuse his countrywomen of natural in 
 dolence, is unfair ; it is an indolence forced upon them. 
 
 As for the complexions of the females, I consider they 
 are much injured by the universal use of close stoves, so 
 necessary in the extremity of the winters. Mr. S. s im 
 plication, that because negroes have perfect teeth, there 
 fore so should the whites, is another error. The negroes 
 were born for, and in, a torrid clime, and there is some 
 difference between their strong ivory masticators and the 
 transparent pearly teeth which so rapidly decay in the 
 eastern States, from no other cause than the variability of 
 the climate. Besides, do the teeth of the women in the 
 western States decay so fast? Take a healthy situation, 
 with an intermediate climate, such as Cincinnati, and you 
 
CLIMATE. 205 
 
 will there find not only good teeth, but as deep-bosomed 
 maids as you will in England ; so you will in Virginia, 
 Kentucky, Missouri, and Wisconsin, which, with a por 
 tion of Ohio, are the most healthy States in the Union. 
 There is another proof, and a positive one, that the 
 women are affected by the climate and not through any 
 fault of their own, which is, that if we transplant a delicate 
 American girl to England, she will in a year or two be 
 come so robust and healthy as not to be recognised upon 
 her return home ; showing that the even temperature of 
 our damp climate is, from the capability of constant exer 
 cise, more conducive to health, than the sunny, yet 
 variable atmosphere of America. 
 
 The Americans are fond of their climate, and consider 
 it, as they do every thing in America, as the very best in 
 the world. They are, as I have said before, most happy 
 in their delusions. But if the climate be not a healthy one, 
 it is certainly a beautiful climate to the eye ; the sky is so 
 clear, the air so dry, the tints of the foliage so inexpressi 
 bly beautiful in the autumn and early winter months : 
 and at night, the stars are so brilliant, hundreds being 
 visible with the naked eye which are not to be seen by 
 us, that I am not surprised at the. Americans praising the 
 beauty of their climate. The sun is terrific in his heat, 
 it is true, but still one cannot help feeling the want of it, 
 when in England, he will disdain to shine for weeks. 
 Since my return to this country, the English reader can 
 hardly form an idea of how much I have longed for the 
 sun. After having sojourned for nearly two years in 
 America, the sight of it has to me almost amounted to a ne 
 cessity, and I am not therefore astonished at an American 
 finding fault with the climate of England ; but neverthe 
 less, our climate, although unprepossessing to the eye, 
 and depressive to the animal spirits, is much more healthy 
 than the exciting and changeable atmosphere, although 
 beautiful in appearance, which they breathe in the United 
 States. 
 
 One of the first points to which I directed my attention 
 on my arrival in America, was to the diseases most pre 
 valent. In the eastern States, as may by supposed, they 
 have a great deal of consumption; in the western, the 
 VOL. ir. 18 
 
206 CLIMATE. 
 
 complaint is hardly known : but the general nature of the 
 American diseases are neuralgic, or those which affect 
 the nerves, and which are common to almost all the 
 Union. Ophthalmia, particularly the disease of the 
 ophthalmic nerve, is very common in the eastern States. 
 The medical men told me that there were annually more 
 diseases of the eye in New York city alone, than perhaps 
 all over Europe. How far this may be correct I cannot 
 say ; but this I can assert, that I never had any com 
 plaint in my eyes until I arrived in America, and during a 
 stay of eighteen months, I was three times very severely 
 afflicted. The oculist who attended me, asserted that he 
 had seven hundred patients. 
 
 The tic doloureux is another common complaint 
 throughout America, indeed so common is it, that I 
 should say that one out of ten suffers from it more or 
 less ; the majority, however, are women. 
 
 I saw more cases of delirium tremens in America, than 
 I ever heard of before. In fact, the climate is one of ex 
 treme excitement. I had not been a week in the coun 
 try before I discovered how impossible it was for a 
 foreigner to drink as much wine or spirits as he could in 
 England, and I believe that thousands of emigrants have 
 been carried off by making no alteration in their habits 
 upon their arrival.* 
 
 The winters in Wisconsin, loway, Missouri, and 
 Upper Canada, are dry and healthy, enabling the inha 
 bitants to take any quantity of exercise, and I found 
 that the people looked forward to their winters with 
 pleasure, longing for the heat of the summer to abate. 
 
 Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, and a portion of Ohio, are 
 very unhealthy in the autumns from the want of drain 
 age ; the bilious congestive fever, ague, and dysentery, 
 carrying off large numbers. Virginia, Kentucky, North 
 Carolina, and the eastern portions of Tennessee, are 
 comparatively healthy. South Carolina, and all the 
 
 * Vermont, New Hampshire, the interior portion of the State of 
 New York, and all the portions of the other States which abut on 
 the great lakes, are healthy, owing to the dryness of the atmosphere 
 being softened down by the proximity of such large bodies of water 
 
CLIMATE. 207 
 
 other southern States, are, as it is well known, visited 
 by the yellow fever, and the people migrate every fall 
 to the northward, not only to avoid the contagion, but 
 to renovate their general health, which suffers from the 
 continual demand upon their energies, the western and 
 southern country being even more exciting than the 
 east. There is a fiery disposition in the Southerners 
 which is very remarkable ; they are much more easily 
 excited than even the Spaniard or Italian, and their 
 feelings are more violent and unrestrainable, as I shall 
 hereafter show. That this is the effect of climate I shall 
 now attempt to prove by one or two circumstances, out 
 of the many which fell under my observation. It is 
 impossible to imagine a greater difference in character 
 than exists between the hot-blooded Southerner, and 
 the cold calculating Yankee of the eastern States. I 
 have already said that there is a continual stream of 
 emigration from the eastern States to the southward 
 and westward, the farmers of the eastern States leaving 
 their comparatively barren lands to settle down upon 
 the more grateful soils of the interior. Now, it is a 
 singular, yet a well known fact, in a very few years 
 the character of the Eastern armer is completely 
 changed. He arrives there a hard-working, careful, 
 and sober man ; for the first two or three years his 
 ground is well tilled* and his crops are abundant ; but 
 by degrees he becomes a different character: he ne 
 glects his farm, so that from rich soil he obtains no 
 better crops than he formerly did upon his poor land in 
 Massachusetts ; he becomes indolent, reckless, and often 
 intemperate. Before he has settled five years in the 
 Western country, the climate has changed him into a 
 Western man, with all the peculiar virtues and vices of 
 the country. 
 
 A Boston friend of mine told me that he was once on 
 board of a steam-boat on the Mississippi, and found 
 that an old schoolfellow was first mate of the vessel. 
 They ran upon a snag, and were obliged to lay the 
 vessel on shore until they could put the cargo on board 
 of another steam-boat, and repair the damage. The 
 passengers, as usual on such occasions, instead of 
 
208 CLIMATE. 
 
 grumbling at what could not be helped, as people do in 
 England, made themselves merry ; and because they 
 could not proceed on their voyage, they very wisely 
 resolved to drink champagne. They did so : a further 
 supply being required, this first mate was sent down 
 into the hold to procure it. My Boston friend happened 
 to be at the hatchway when he went down with a 
 flaring candle in his hand, and he observed the mate to 
 creep over several small barrels until he found the 
 champagne cases, and ordered them up. 
 
 " What is in those barrels?" inquired he of the mate 
 when he came up again. 
 
 44 Oh, gunpowder /" replied the mate. 
 
 " Good Heavens !" exclaimed the Bostonian, " is it 
 possible that you could be so careless 1 why I should 
 have thought better of you ; you used to be a prudent 
 man." 
 
 " Yes, and so I was, until I came into this part of the 
 country ;" replied the mate, " but somehow or another, 
 I don t care for things now, which, when I was in my 
 own State, would have frightened me out of my wits." 
 Here was a good proof of the Southern recklessness 
 having been imbibed by a cautious Yankee. 
 
 I have adduced the above instances, because I con 
 sider that the excitement so general throughout the 
 Union, and forming so remarkable a feature in the 
 American character, is occasioned much more by cli 
 mate than by any other cause : that the peculiarity of 
 their institutions affords constant aliment for this ex 
 citement to feed upon is true, and it is therefore seldom 
 allowed to repose. I think, moreover, that their climate 
 is the occasion of two bad habits to which the Ameri 
 cans are prone, namely, the use of tobacco and of spi 
 rituous liquors. An Englishman could not drink as 
 the Americans do; it would destroy him here in a very 
 short time, by the irritation it would produce upon his 
 nerves. But the effect of tobacco is narcotic and anti- 
 nervous ; it allays that irritation, and enables the Ame 
 rican to indulge in stimulating habits without their be 
 ing attended with such immediate ill consequences. 
 
 To the rapid changes of the climate, and to the ex- 
 
CLIMATE. 209 
 
 Ireme heat, must be also to a great degree ascribed the 
 excessive use of spirituous liquors ; the system being 
 depressed by the sudden changes, demanding stimulus 
 to equalise the pulse. The extraordinary heat during 
 the summer is also another cause of it. The Rev. Mr. 
 Reid says, in his Tour through the States, " the dispo 
 sition to drink now became intense ; we had only to 
 consider how we might safely gratify it ; the thermo 
 meter rose to 100, and the heat and perspiration were 
 intolerable." Now, if a Christian divine acknowledged 
 this feeling, it is not to be supposed but that others 
 must be equally affected. To drink pure water during 
 this extreme heat is very dangerous: it must be qualified 
 with some wine or spirit ; and thus is an American led 
 into a habit of drinking, from which it is not very easy, 
 indeed hardly possible, for him to abstain, except during 
 the winter, and the winters in America are too cold for 
 a man to leave off any of his habits. Let it not be sup 
 posed that I wish to excuse intemperance : far from it ; 
 but I wish to be just in my remarks upon the Ameri 
 cans, and show, that if they are intemperate (which 
 they certainly are), there is more excuse for them than 
 there is for other nations, from their temptation arising 
 out of circumstances. 
 
 There is but one other point to be considered in exa 
 mining into the climate of America. It will be admitted 
 that the American stock is the very best in the world, 
 being originally English, with a favourable admixture 
 of German, Irish, French, and other northern countries. 
 It moreover has the great advantage of a continual im 
 portation of the same varieties of stock to cross and 
 improve the breed. The question then is, have the 
 American race improved or degenerated since the first 
 settlement 1 If they have degenerated, the climate can 
 not be healthy. 
 
 I was very particular in examining into this point, 
 and I have no hesitation in saying, that the American 
 people are not equal in strength or in form to the Eng 
 lish. I may displease the Americans by this assertion, 
 and they may bring forward their Backwoodsmen and 
 their Kentuckians, who live at the spurs of the Alle- 
 18* 
 
210 EDUCATION. 
 
 ghany Mountains, as evidence to the contrary ; but 
 although they are powerful and tall men, they are not 
 well made, nor so well made as the Virginians, who 
 are the finest race in the Union. There is one peculiar 
 defect in the American figure common to both sexes, 
 which is, narrowness of the shoulders, and it is a very 
 great defect ; there seems to be a check to the expan 
 sion of the chest in their climate, the physiological 
 causes of which I leave to others. On the whole, they 
 certainly are a taller race than the natives of Europe, 
 but not with proportionate muscular strength. Their 
 climate, therefore, I unhesitatingly pronounce to be bad, 
 being injurious to them in two important points, of 
 healthy vigour in the body, and healthy action of the 
 mind ; enervating the one, and tending to demoralise 
 the other. 
 
 EDUCATION. 
 
 MR. CAREY, in his statistical work, falls into the great 
 error of most American writers that of lauding his own 
 country and countrymen, and inducing them to believe 
 that they are superior to all nations under heaven. This 
 is very injudicious, and highly injurious to the national 
 character : it upholds that self-conceit to which the 
 Americans are already so prone, and checks that im 
 provement so necessary to place them on a level with 
 the English nation. The Americans have gained more 
 by their faults having been pointed out by travellers 
 than they will choose to allow ; and, from his moral 
 courage in fearlessly pointing out the truth, the best 
 friend to America, among their own countrymen, has 
 been Dr. Channing. I certainly vvas under the impres 
 sion, previous to my visit to the United States, that 
 education was much more universal there than in Eng 
 land ; but every step I took, and every mile I travelled, 
 lowered my estimate on that point. To substantiate 
 my opinion by statistical tables would be difficult ; as, 
 after much diligent search, I find that I can only obtain 
 
EDUCATION. 211 
 
 a correct return of a portion of our own establish 
 ments ; but, even were I able to obtain a general re 
 turn, it would not avail me much, as Mr. Carey has no 
 general return to oppose to it. He gives us, as usual, 
 Massachusetts and one or two other States, but no 
 more ; and, as I have before observed, Massachusetts 
 is not America. His remarks and quotations from Eng 
 lish authors are not fair ; they are loose and partial 
 observations, made by those who have a case to sub 
 stantiate. Not that I blame Mr. Carey for making use 
 of those authorities, such as they are ; but I wish to 
 show that they have misled him. 
 
 I must first observe that Mr. Carey s estimate of edu 
 cation in England is much lower than it ought to be ; 
 and I may afterwards prove that, his estimate of educa 
 tion in the United States is equally erroneous on the 
 other side. 
 
 To estimate the amount of education in England by 
 the number of national schools must ever be wrong. 
 In America, by so doing, a fair approximation may be 
 arrived at, as the education of all classes is chiefly con 
 fined to them ; but in England the case is different ; not 
 only the rich and those in the middling classes of life, 
 but a large proportion of the poor, sending their chil 
 dren to private schools. Could I have obtained a re 
 turn of the private seminaries in the United Kingdom, 
 it would have astonished Mr. Carey. The small 
 parish of Kensington and its vicinity has only two 
 national schools, but it contains 292* private establish 
 ments for education ; and I might produce fifty others, 
 in which the proportion would be almost as remarkable. 
 I have said that a large portion of the poorer classes in 
 England send their children to private teachers. This 
 arises from a feeling of pride ; they prefer paying for 
 the tuition of their children rather than having their 
 children educated by the parish, as they term the 
 national schools. The consequence is, that in every 
 town, or village, or hamlet, you will find that there are 
 " dame schools," as they are termed, at which about 
 one-half of the children are educated. 
 
 * I believe this estimate is below the mark. 
 
212 EDUCATION. 
 
 The subject of national education has not been 
 warmly taken up in England until within these last 
 twenty-five years, and has made great progress during 
 that period. The Church of England Society for Na 
 tional Education was established in 1813. Two years 
 after its formation there were only 230 schools, con 
 taining 40,484 children. By the Twenty-seventh Re 
 port of this Society, ending the year 1838, these 
 schools had increased to 17,341, and the number of 
 scholars to 1,003,087. But this, it must be recollected, 
 is but a small proportion of the public education in 
 England ; the Dissenters having been equally diligent, 
 and their schools being quite as numerous in propor 
 tion to their numbers. We have, moreover, the work 
 house schools, and the dame schools before mentioned, 
 for the poorer classes ; and for the rich and middling 
 classes, establishments for private tuition, which, could 
 the returns of them and of the scholars be made, 
 would, 1 am convinced, amount to more than five times 
 the number of the national and public establishments. 
 But as Mr. Carey does not bring forward his statistical 
 proofs, and I cannot produce mine, all that I can do is 
 to venture my opinion from what I learnt and saw 
 during my sojourn in the United States, or have ob 
 tained from American and other authorities. 
 
 The State of Massachusetts is a school; it may be 
 said that all there are educated. Mr. Reid states in his 
 work : 
 
 "It was lately ascertained by returns from 131 towns 
 in Massachusetts, that the number of scholars was 
 12,393 ; that the number of persons in the towns be 
 tween the ages of fourteen and twenty-one who are 
 unable to write was fifty-eight ; and in one town there 
 were only three persons who could not read or write, 
 and those three were dumb." 
 
 I readily assent to this, and I consider Connecticut 
 equal to Massachusetts ; but as you leave these two 
 States, you find that education gradually diminishes.* 
 
 * A church-yard with its mementoes of mortality is sometimes 
 a fair criterion by which to judge of the degree of the education of 
 those who live near it. In one of the church-yards in Vermont, 
 
EDUCATION. 213 
 
 New York is the next in rank, and thus the scale de 
 scends until you arrive at absolute ignorance. 
 
 I will now give what I consider as a fair and impartial 
 tabular analysis of the degrees of education in the differ 
 ent States in the Union. It may be cavilled at, but it will 
 nevertheless be a fair approximation. It must be remem 
 bered that it is not intended to imply that there are not a 
 certain portion of well-educated people in those States 
 put down in Class 4, as ignorant States, but they are in 
 cluded in the Northern States, where they principally 
 receive their education. 
 
 Degrees of Education in the different States in the 
 
 Union. 
 1st Class. Population. 
 
 Massachusetts 700,000 
 
 Connecticut ...... 298,000 
 
 998,000 
 2d Class. 
 
 New York 2,400,000* 
 
 Maine 555,000 
 
 New Hampshire 300,000 
 
 Vermont ...... 330,000 
 
 Rhode Island 110,000 
 
 New Jersey 360,000 
 
 Ohio 1,300,000 
 
 5,355,000 
 
 3d Class. 
 
 Virginia 1,360,000 
 
 North Carolina 800,000 
 
 South Carolina ..... 650,000 
 
 Pennsylvania l,600,000t 
 
 there is a tomb-stone with an inscription which commences as 
 follows : " PAWS, reader, PAWS." 
 
 * New York is superior to the other States in this list; but Ohio 
 is not quite equal. I can draw the line no closer. 
 
 t Notwithstanding that Philadelphia is the capital, the State of 
 Philadelphia is a great dunce. 
 
214 EDUCATION. 
 
 Population. 
 
 Maryland 500,000 
 
 Delaware 80,000 
 
 Columbia (district) .... 50,000 
 
 Kentucky 800^000 
 
 5,840,000 
 
 4th Class. 
 
 Tennessee 900,000 
 
 Georgia 620,000 
 
 Indiana 550,000 
 
 Illinois 320,000 
 
 Alabama 500,000 
 
 Lousiana 350,000 
 
 Missouri 350,000 
 
 Mississippi 150,000 
 
 Michigan 120,000 
 
 Arkansas 70,000 
 
 Wisconsin 20,000 
 
 Florida (territory) .... 50,000 
 
 5,000,000 
 If I am correct, it appears then that we have, 
 
 Highly educated 998,000 
 
 Equal with Scotland .... 5,355,000 
 Not equal with England . . . 5,840,000 
 
 Uneducated 5,000,000 
 
 This census is an estimate of 1836, sufficiently near 
 for the purpose. It is supposed that the population of 
 the United States has since increased about two millions, 
 and of that increase the great majority is in the Western 
 States, where the people are wholly uneducated. Tak 
 ing, therefore, the first three classes, in which there is 
 education in various degrees, we find that they amount to 
 12,193,000 ; against which we may fairly put the 5,000,- 
 000 uneducated, adding to it, the 2,000,000 increased 
 population, and 3,000,000 of slaves. 
 
 I believe the above to be a fair estimate, although no 
 thing positive can be collected from it. In making a 
 comparison of the degree of education in the United 
 
EDUCATION. 215 
 
 States and in England, one point should not be over 
 looked. In England, children may be sent to school, 
 but they are taken away as soon as they are useful, and 
 have little time to follow up their education afterwards. 
 Worked like machines, every hour is devoted to labour, 
 and a large portion forget, from disuse, what they have 
 learnt when young. In America, they have the advan 
 tage not only of being educated, but of having plenty of 
 time, if they choose, to profit by their education in after 
 life. The mass in America ought, therefore, to be better 
 educated than the mass in England, where circumstances 
 are against it. I must now examine the nature of educa 
 tion given in the United States. 
 
 It is admitted as an axiom in the United States, that 
 the only chance they have of upholding their present 
 institutions is by the education of the mass ; that is to 
 say, a people who would govern themselves must be 
 enlightened. Convinced of this necessity, every pains 
 has been taken by the Federal and State governments to 
 provide the necessary means of education.* This is 
 granted; but now we have to inquire into the nature of 
 the education, and the advantages derived from such 
 education as is received in the United Slates. 
 
 In the first place, what is education ? Is teaching a 
 boy to read and write education ? If so, a large propor 
 tion of the American community may be said to be edu 
 cated ; but, if you supply a man with a chest of tools, 
 does he therefore become a carpenter ? You certainly 
 give him the means of working at the trade, but instead 
 of learning it, he may only cut his fingers. Reading 
 and writing without the further assistance necessary to 
 guide people aright, is nothing more than the chest of 
 tools. 
 
 Then, what is education? I consider that education 
 commences before a child can walk: the first principle 
 of education, the most important, and without which all 
 
 * Miss Martineau says t " Though, as a whole, the nation is 
 probably better informed than any other entire nation, it cannot 
 be denied, that their knowledge is far inferior to what their safety 
 and their virtue require." 
 
216 EDUCATION. 
 
 subsequent attempts at it are but as leather and prunella, 
 is the lesson of obedience of submitting to parental 
 control " Honour thy father and thy mother !" 
 
 Now, any one who has been in the United States 
 must have perceived that there is little or no parental 
 control. This has been remarked by most of the wri 
 ters who have visited the country; indeed, to an Eng 
 lishman it is a most remarkable feature. How is it 
 possible for a child to be brought up in the way that it 
 should go when he is not obedient to the will of his 
 parents ? I have often fallen into a melancholy sort of 
 musing after witnessing such remarkable specimens of 
 uncontrolled will in children ; and as the father and mo 
 ther both smiled at it, I have thought that they little 
 knew what sorrow and vexation were probably in store 
 for them, in consequence of their own injudicious treat 
 ment of their offspring. Imagine a child of three years 
 old in England behaving thus : 
 
 " Johnny, my dear, come here," says his mamma. 
 
 " I won t," cries Johnny. 
 
 " You must, my love, you are all wet, and you ll 
 catch cold." 
 
 " I won t," replies Johnny. 
 
 " Come, my sweet, and I ve something for you. v 
 
 " I won t." 
 
 " Oh ! Mr. , do, pray make Johnny come in. " 
 
 " Come in, Johnny," says the father. 
 
 k I won t." 
 
 ** I tell you, come in directly, sir do you hear?" 
 
 > I won t," replies the urchin, taking to his heels. 
 
 " A sturdy republican, sir," says his father to me. 
 smiling at the boy s resolute disobedience. 
 
 Be it recollected that I give this as one instance of a 
 thousand which I witnessed during my sojourn in the 
 country. 
 
 It may be inquired, how is it that such is the case at 
 present, when the obedience to parents was so rigorously 
 inculcated by the Puritan fathers, that by the Blue Laws, 
 the punishment of disobedience was death? Captain 
 Hall ascribes it to the democracy, and the rights of 
 equality therein acknowledged; but I think, allowing the 
 
EDUCATION. 217 
 
 spirit of their institutions to have some effect in pro 
 ducing this evil, that the principal cause of it is the total 
 neglect of the children by the lather, and his absence in 
 his professional pursuits, and the natural weakness of 
 most mothers, when their children are left altogether to 
 their care and guidance. 
 
 Mr. Saunderson, in his Sketches of Paris, observes 
 " The motherly virtues of our women, so eulogised by 
 foreigners, is not entitled to unqualified praise. There 
 is no country in which maternal care is so assiduous ; 
 but also there is none in which examples of injudicious 
 tenderness are so frequent." This I believe to be true ; 
 not that the American women are really more injudicious 
 than those of England, but because they are not sup 
 ported as they should be by the authority of the father, 
 of whom the child should always entertain a certain por 
 tion of fear mixed with affection, to counterbalance the 
 natural yearnings of a mother s heart. 
 
 The self-will arising from this fundamental error ma 
 nifests itself throughout the whole career of the Ameri 
 can s existence, and, consequently, it is a self- willed 
 nation par excellence. 
 
 At the age of six or seven you will hear both boys - 
 and girls contradicting their fathers and mothers, and 
 advancing their own opinions with a firmness which is 
 very striking. 
 
 At fourteen or fifteen the boys will seldom remain 
 longer at school. At college, it is the same thing ;* and 
 
 * Mrs. Trollopc says: "At sixteen, often much earlier, educa 
 tion ends and money making begins; the idea that more learning 
 is necessary than can be acquired by that time, is generally ridi 
 culed as absolute monkish bigotry: added to which, if the seniors 
 willed a more prolonged discipline, the juniors would refuse sub 
 mission. When the money getting begins, leisure ceases, and all 
 the lore which can be acquired afterwards is picked up from no 
 vels, magazines, and newspapers." 
 
 Captain Hall also remarks upon this point: "I speak now 
 from the authority of the Americans themselves. There is the 
 greatest possible difficultv in fixing young men long enough at 
 college. Innumerable devices have been tried with considerable 
 ingenuity to remedy this evil, and the best possible intentions by 
 
 VOL. II. 19 
 
218 EDUCATION. 
 
 they lenrn precisely what they please, and no more. 
 Corporal punishment is not permitted ; indeed, if we 
 are to judge from an extract I took from an American 
 paper, the case is reversed. 
 
 The following " Rules" are posted up in a New Jersey 
 school-house : 
 
 " No kissing girls in school time ; no licking the mas 
 ter during holydays." 
 
 At fifteen or sixteen, if not at college, the boy assumes 
 the man ; he enters into business, as a clerk to some 
 merchant, or in some store. His father s home is aban 
 doned, except when it may suit his convenience, his 
 salary being sufficient for most of his wants. He fre 
 quents the bar, calls for gin cocktails, chews tobacco, 
 and talks politics. His theoretical education, whether 
 he has profited much by it or not, is now superseded 
 by a more practical one, in which he obtains a most 
 rapid proficiency. I have no hesitation in asserting that 
 there is more practical knowledge among the Americans 
 than among any other people under the sun.* 
 
 It is singular that, in America, every thing, whether 
 it be of good or evil, appears to assist the country in 
 going a-head. This very want of parental control, how 
 ever it may affect the morals of the community, is cer 
 tainly advantageous to America, as far as her rapid ad 
 vancement is concerned. Boys are working like men 
 ibr years before they would be in England ; time is 
 money, and they assist to bring in the harvest. 
 
 the professors and other public-spirited persons who are sincerely 
 grieved to see so many incompetent, half-qualified men in almost 
 every corner of the country. 
 
 * Captain Hamilton very truly observes "Though I have un 
 questionably met in New York with many most intelligent and ac 
 complished gentlemen, still I think the fact cannot be denied, that 
 the average of acquirement resulting from education is a good deal 
 lower in this country than in the better circles in England. In all 
 the knowledge which must be taught, and which requires laborious 
 study for its attainment, I should say the Americans are consider 
 ably inferior to my countrymen. In that knowledge, on the other 
 hand, which the individual acquires for himself by actual observa 
 tion, which bears an immediate marketable value and is directly 
 available in the ordinary avocations of life, I do not imagine that 
 the Americans are excelled by any people in the world." 
 
EDUCATION. 219 
 
 But does this independence on the part of the youth 
 of America end here 1 On the contrary, what at first 
 was independence, assumes next the form of opposition, 
 and eventually that of control. 
 
 The young men, before they are qualified by age to 
 claim their rights as citizens, have their societies, their 
 book-clubs, their political meetings, their resolutions, all 
 of which are promulgated in the newspapers; and very 
 often the young men s societies are called upon by the 
 newspapers to come forward with their opinions. Here 
 is opposition. Mr. Cooper says, in his " Democrat" 
 (p. 152)- 
 
 " The defects in American deportment are, notwith 
 standing, numerous and palpable. Among the first may 
 be ranked, insubordination in children, and a great want 
 of respect for age. The former vice may be ascribed to 
 the business habits of the country, which leave so little 
 time for parental instruction, and, perhaps, in some de 
 gree to the acts of political agents, who. with their own 
 advantages in view, among the other expedients of their 
 cunning, have resorted to the artifice of separating 
 children from their natural advisers by calling meetings 
 of the young to decide on the fortunes and policy of the 
 country." 
 
 But what is more remarkable, is the fact that society 
 has been usurped by the young people, and the married 
 and old people have been, to a certain degree, excluded 
 from it. A young lady will give a ball, and ask none 
 but young men and young women of her acquaintance; 
 not a chaperon is permitted to enter, and her father and 
 mother are requested to stay up stairs, that they may 
 not interfere with the amusement. This is constantly 
 the case in Philadelphia and Baltimore, and I have heard 
 bitter complaints made by the married people concern 
 ing it.x Here is control. Mr. Saunderson, in his " Sketches 
 of Paris," observes 
 
 " They who give a tone to society should have matu 
 rity of mind ; they should have refinement of taste, which 
 is a quality of age. As long as college beaux and 
 boarding-school misses take the lead, it must be an 
 insipid society, in whatever community it may exist. Is 
 
220 EDUCATION. 
 
 it not villainous, in your Quakerships of Philadelphia, to 
 lay us before we have lived half our time out, upon the 
 shelf? Some of the native tribes, more merciful, eat 
 the old folks out of the way." 
 
 However, retribution follows : in their turn they mar 
 ry, and are ejected ; they have children, and are diso 
 beyed. The pangs which they have occasioned to their 
 own parents are now suffered by them in return, 
 through the conduct of their own children ; and thus it 
 goes on, and will go on, until the system is changed. 
 
 All this is undeniable ; and thus it appears that the 
 youth of America, being under no control, acquire just 
 as much as they please, and no more, of what may be 
 termed theoretical knowledge. This is the first great 
 error in American education, for how many boys are 
 there who will learn without coercion, in proportion to 
 the number who will not ? Certainly not one in ten, 
 and, therefore, it may be assumed that not one in ten is 
 properly instructed.* 
 
 Now, that the education of the youth of America is 
 much injured by this want of control on the part of the 
 parents, is easily established by the fact that in those 
 States where the parental control is the greatest, as in 
 Massachusetts, the education is proportionably superior. 
 But this great error is followed by consequences even 
 more lamentable : it is the first dissolving power of the 
 kindred attraction, so manifest throughout all American 
 society. Beyond the period of infancy there is no en 
 dearment between parents and children; none of that 
 sweet spirit of affection between brothers and sisters ; 
 none of those links which unite one family ; of that mutu 
 al confidence ; that rejoicing at each other s success ; 
 that refuge, when we are depressed or afflicted, in the 
 bosom of those who love us the sweetest portion of hu 
 man existence, which supports us under, and encourages 
 us firmly to brave, the ills of life nothing of this exists. 
 
 * The master of a school could not manage the gals, they being 
 exceedingly contumacious. Beat them, he dared not; so he hit 
 upon an expedient. He made a very strong decoction of worm 
 wood, and, for a slight offence, poured one spoonful down their 
 throats ; for a more serious one, he made them take two. 
 
EDUCATION.. 221 
 
 In short, there is hardly such a thing in America as 
 "Home, sweet home." That there are exceptions to 
 this, I grant ; but I spe-ik of the great majority of cases, 
 and the results upon the character of the nation. Mr. 
 Cooper, speaking of the weakness of the family tie in 
 America, says 
 
 " Let the reason be what it will, the effect is to cut us 
 off from a large portion of the happiness that is depend 
 ent on the affections." 
 
 The next error of American education is, that, in their 
 anxiety to instil into the minds of youth a proper and 
 ardent love of their own institutions, feelings and senti 
 ments are fostered which ought to be most carefully 
 checked. It matters little whether these feelings (in 
 themselves vices) are directed against the institutions of 
 other countries ; the vice more engendered remains, and 
 hatred once implanted in the breast of youth, will not be 
 confined in its action. Neither will national conceit 
 remain only national conceit or vanity be confined to 
 admiration of a form of government; in the present 
 mode of educating the youth of America, all sight is lost 
 of humility, good-will, and the other Christian virtues, 
 which are necessary to constitute a good man, whether 
 he be an American, or of any other country. 
 f Let us examine the manner in which a child is taught. 
 Democracy, equality, the vastness of his own country, 
 the glorious independence, the superiority of the Ame 
 rican in all conflicts by sea or land, are impressed upon 
 his mind before he can well read. All their elementary 
 books contain garbled and false accounts of naval and 
 land engagements, in which every credit is given to the 
 Americans, and equal vituperation and disgrace thrown 
 upon their opponents. Monarchy is derided, the equal 
 rights of man declared; all is invective, uncharitableness 
 and falsehood. 
 
 That I may not in this be supposed to have asserted 
 too much, t will quote a reading lesson from a child s 
 book, which I purchased in America as a curiosity, and 
 is now in my possession ; it is called the * Primary 
 Reader for Young Children ;" and contains many stories 
 besides this, relative to the history of the country. 
 19* 
 
222 EDUCATION . 
 
 " LESSON 62. 
 * Story about the 4ih of July. 
 
 6. " I must tell you what the people of New York 
 did. In a certain spot in that city there stood a large 
 statue, or representation, of King George III. it was 
 made of lead. In one hand he held a sceptre, or kind 
 of sword ; and on his head he wore a crown. 
 
 7. " When the news of the Declaration of Indepen 
 dence reached the city, a great multitude were seen run- 
 ring to the statue. 
 
 8. * The cry was heard, Down with it down with 
 it! and soon a rope was placed about its neck, and the 
 leaden King George came tumbling down. 
 
 9. " This might fairly be interpreted, as a striking 
 prediction of the downfall of the monarchical form of go 
 vernment in these United States. 
 
 10. ** If we look into history, we shall frequently find 
 great events proceeding from as trifling causes as the fall 
 of the leaden statue, which not unaptly represents the 
 character of a despotic prince. 
 
 11. "I shall only add, that when the statue was fairly 
 down, it was cut to pieces, and converted into musket- 
 balls, to kill the soldiers whom his majesty had sent over 
 to fight the Americans." 
 
 This is quite sufficient for a specimen. I have no 
 doubt it will be argued by the Americans " We are 
 justified in bringing up our youth to love our institu 
 tions." I admit it; but you bring them up to hate other 
 people, before they have sufficient intellect to understand 
 the merits of the case. 
 
 The author of" A Voice from America" observes 
 
 " Such, to a great extent, is the unavoidable effect of 
 that political education which is indispensable to all 
 classes of a self-governed people. They must be trained 
 to it from their cradle ; it must go into all schools ; it 
 must thoroughly leaven the national literature ; it must 
 be line upon line, precept upon precept/ here a little 
 and there a little ; it must be sung, discoursed, and 
 thought upon every where, and by every body. 
 
 And so it is ; and as if this scholastic drilling were not 
 sufficient, every year brings round the 4th of July, on 
 which is read ill every portion of the States the Act of 
 
EDUCATION. 223 
 
 Independence, in itself sufficiently vituperative, but in 
 variably followed up by one speech (if not more) from 
 some great personage of the village, harnlet, town, or 
 city, as it may be, in which the more violent he is against 
 monarchy and the English, and the more he flatters his 
 own countrymen, the more is his speech applauded. 
 
 Every year is this drilled into the ears of the Ame 
 rican boy, until he leaves school, when he takes a political 
 part himself, connecting himself with some young men s 
 society, where he spouts about tyrants, crowned heads, 
 shades of his forefathers, blood flowing like water, inde 
 pendence, and glory. 
 
 The Rev. Mr. Reid very truly observes, of the read 
 ing of the Declaration of Independence 
 
 " There is one thing, however, that may justly claim 
 the calm consideration of a great and generous people. 
 Now that half a century has passed away, is it neces 
 sary to the pleasures of this day to revive feelings in the 
 children which, if they were found in the parent, were to 
 be excused only by the extremities to which they were 
 pressed ? Is it generous, now that they have achieved 
 the victory, not to forgive the adversary 1 Is it manly, 
 now that they have nothing to fear from Britain, to in 
 dulge in expressions of hate and vindictiveness, which 
 are the proper language of fear 1 Would there be less 
 patriotism because there was more charity ? America 
 should feel that her destinies are high and peculiar. She 
 should scorn the patriotism which cherishes the love of 
 one s own country, by the hatred of all others." 
 
 I think after what I have brought forward, the reader 
 will agree with me, that the education of the youth in 
 the United States is immoral, and the evidence that it is 
 so, is in the demoralisation which has taken place in the 
 United States since the era of the Declaration of Inde 
 pendence, and which fact is freely admitted by so many 
 American writers 
 
 parenlum pejor avis tulit 
 Nos nequiores, mox daturos 
 Progeniem vitiosiorem." 
 
 Horace, lib. iii. ode 6. 
 
 I shall by and by show some of the effects produced 
 by this injudicions system of education ; of which, if it 
 
224 EDUCATION. 
 
 is necessary to uphold their democratical institutions, I 
 can only say, with Dr. Franklin, that the Americans 
 " pay much too dear for their whistle. 1 
 
 It is, however, a fact, that education (such as I have 
 shown it to be) is in the United States more equally dif 
 fused. They have very few citizens of the States (ex 
 cept a portion of those in the West) who may be con 
 sidered as " hewers of wood and drawers of water," 
 those duties being performed by the emigrant Irish and 
 German, and the slave population. The education of the 
 higher classes is not by any means equal to that of the 
 old countries of Europe. You meet very rarely with a 
 good classical scholar, or a very highly educated man, 
 although some there certainly are, especially in the 
 legal profession. The Americans have not the leisure 
 for such attainments ; hereafter they may have ; but at 
 present they do right to look principally to Europe for 
 literature, as they can obtain it thence cheaper and 
 better. In every liberal profession you will find that 
 the ordeal necessary to be gone through is not such as 
 it is with us; if it were, the difficulty of retaining the 
 young men at college would be much increased. To 
 show that such is the case, I will now just give the dif 
 ference of the acquirements demanded in the new and 
 old country to qualify a young man as an M. D. 
 
 English, Physician. American Physician. 
 
 1. A regular classical education 1. Not required. 
 
 at a college. 
 
 2. Apprenticeship of not less 2. One year s apprenticeship. 
 
 than five years. 
 
 3. Preliminary examination in 3. Not required. 
 
 the classics, &c. 
 
 4. Sixteen months attendance at 4. Eight months in two years. 
 
 lectures in 2 years. 
 
 5. Twelve months hospital prac- 5. Not required. 
 
 tice. 
 
 6. Lectures on botany, natural 6. Not required. 
 
 philosophy, &c. 
 
 If the men in America enter so early into life that they 
 have not time to obtain the acquirements supposed to 
 be requisite with us, it is much the same thing with the 
 females of the upper classes, who, from the precocious 
 ripening by the climate and consequent early mar- 
 
EDUCATION. 225 
 
 riages, may be said to throw down their dolls that they 
 may nurse their children. 
 
 The Americans are very justly proud of their women, 
 and appear tacitly to acknowledge the want of theoreti 
 cal education in their own sex by the care and attention 
 which they pay to the instruction of the other. Their exer 
 tions are, however, to a certain degree, checked by the cir 
 cumstance, that there is not sufficient time allowed pre 
 vious to the marriage of the females to give that soli 
 dity to their knowledge which would insure its perma 
 nency. They attempt too much for so short a space of 
 time. Two or three years are usually the period during 
 which the young women remain at the establishments, 
 or colleges I may call them (for in reality they are female 
 colleges). In the prospectus of the Albany Female Aca 
 demy, I find that the classes run through the following 
 branches : French, book-keeping, ancient history, ec 
 clesiastical history, history of literature, composition, 
 political economy, American constitution, law, natural 
 theology, mental philosophy, geometry, trigonometry, 
 algebra, natural philosophy, astronomy, chemistry, bo 
 tany, mineralogy, geology, natural history, and techno 
 logy, besides drawing, penmanship, &c. &c. 
 
 It is almost impossible for the mind to retain, for any 
 length of time, such a variety of knowledge, forced into 
 it before a female has arrived to the age of sixteen or 
 seventeen, at which age, the study of these sciences, as 
 is the case in England, should commence, notfinish. I 
 have already mentioned, that the examinations which 
 I attended were highly creditable both to preceptors 
 and pupils ; but the duties of an American woman, as 
 I shall hereafter explain, soon find her other occupation, 
 and the ologies are lost in the realities of life. Diplo 
 mas are given at most of these establishments on the 
 young ladies completing their course of studies. In 
 deed, it appears to be almost necessary that a young 
 lady should produce this diploma as a certificate of be 
 ing qualified to bring up young republicans. I observed 
 to an American gentleman how youthful his wife ap 
 peared to be "Yes," replied he, " I married her a 
 month after she had graduated." The following are 
 the terms of a diploma, which was given to a young 
 
226 EDUCATION. 
 
 lady at Cincinnati, and which she permitted me to 
 copy : 
 
 44 In testimony of the zeal and industry with which 
 
 Miss M T has prosecuted the prescribed 
 
 course of studies in the Cincinnati Female Institution, 
 and the honourable proficiency which she has attained 
 in penmanship, arithmetic, English grammar, rhetoric, 
 belles-lettres, composition, ancient and modern geogra 
 phy, ancient and modern history, chemistry, natural 
 philosophy, astronomy, &c. &c. &c., of which she has 
 given proofs by examination, 
 
 " And also as a mark of her amiable deportment, in 
 tellectual acquirements, and our affectionate regard, we 
 have granted her this letter the highest honour BE 
 STOWED in this institution. 
 
 " Given under our hands at 
 
 (Seal.) Cincinnati, 
 
 " this 19th day of July, Anno Domini, 1837." 
 
 The ambition of the Americans to be a-head of other 
 nations in every thing, produces, however, injurious 
 effects, so far as the education of the women is con 
 cerned. The Americans will not " leave well alone" 
 they must " gild refined gold," rather than not consider 
 themselves in advance of other countries, particularly 
 of England. They alter our language, and think that, 
 they have improved upon it ; as in the same way they 
 would raise the standard of morals higher than with 
 us, and consequently fall much below us, appearances 
 supplying the place of the reality. In these endeavours 
 they sink into a sickly sentimentality, and, as I have 
 observed before, attempts at refinement in language, 
 really excite improper ideas. As a proof of the ridicu 
 lous excess to which this is occasionally carried, I shall 
 insert an address which I observed in print ; had such 
 a document appeared in the English newspapers, it 
 would have been considered as a hoax. 
 
 " MRS. MANDELLE S ADDRESS 
 " To the Young Ladies of the Lancaster Female 
 
 Academy, at an Examination, March 3d, 1838. 
 "Affectionate Pupils: With many of you this is 
 our final meeting in the relative position of teacher and 
 
EDUCATION. 227 
 
 pupil, and we must part perhaps to meet no more. That 
 this reflection filtrates from my mind to my heart with 
 saddening influence, I need scarce assure you. But 
 Hope, in a voice sweet as * the wild strains of the Eolian 
 harp, whispers in dulcet accents, * we may again meet. 1 
 In youth the impressions of sorrow are fleeting and 
 evanescent as the vapery sail," 1 that momentarily o er- 
 shadows the luciferous orb of even, vanishes and leaves 
 her disc untarnished in its lustre : so may it be with you 
 may the gloom of this moment, like the elemental pro 
 totype, be but the precursor of reappearing radiance un- 
 dimmed by the transitory shadow. 
 
 " Happy and bright indeed has been this small portion 
 of your time occupied, not only in the interesting pursuit 
 of science, but in a reciprocation of attentions and sym 
 pathies, endeared by that holiest ligament of earthly 
 sensibilities, religion, which so oft has united us in soul 
 and sentiment, as the aspirations of our hearts simul 
 taneously ascended to the mercy-seat of the great. Jehovah ! 
 The remembrance of emotions like these are ineffaceable 
 by care or sorrow, and only blotted out by the immutable 
 hand of death. These halcyon hours of budding exist 
 ence are to memory as the oasis of the desert, where we 
 may recline beneath the soothing influence of their um 
 brage, and quaff in the goblet of retrospection the lucid 
 draught th^l refreshes for the moment, and is again for 
 gotten. Permit me to solicit, that ihe immaculate prin 
 ciples of virtue, I have so ofien and so carefully incul 
 cated, may not be forgotten, but perseveringly cherished 
 and practised. May the divine dictates of reason mur 
 mur in harmonious cadence, bewitching as the fabled 
 melody of the musical bells on the trees of the Mahome- 
 dan Paradise. She dwells not alone beneath the glitter 
 ing star, nor is always encircled by the diamond cestus 
 and the jewel d tiara ! indeed not ! and the brilliancy 
 emulged from the spangling gems, but mj-.ke more hi 
 deous the dark, black spot enshrined in the effulgence. 
 The traces of her peaceful footsteps aie found alike in the 
 dilapidated hovel of the beggared peasant, and the velveted 
 saloon of the coroneted noble; who may then apportion 
 her a home or assign her a clime ? In making my ac 
 knowledgments for the attentive interest with which you 
 
228 EDUCATION. 
 
 received my instructions ; and the respectful regard you 
 manifested in appreciating my advice, it is not as a com 
 pliment to your vanity, but a debt due to your politeness 
 and good sense. Long, my beloved pupils, may my 
 precepts and admonitions live in your hearts ; and hasten 
 you, (in the language of Addison,) to commit yourselves 
 to the care of Omnipotence, and when the morning calls 
 again to toil cast all your cares upon him the Author of 
 your being, who has conducted you through one stage of 
 existence, and who will always be present to guide and 
 attend your progress through eternity." 
 
 An advertisement of Mr. Bonfil s Collegiate Institute 
 for Young Ladies, after enumerating the various branches 
 of literature to be taught, winds up with the following 
 paragraph : 
 
 " And finally, it will be constantly inculcated, that their 
 education will be completed when they have the power 
 to extend unaided, a spirit of investigation, searching and 
 appreciating truth, without passing the bounds assigned 
 to the human understanding" 
 
 I have now completed two volumes, and although I 
 omitted the major portion of my Diary, that I might not 
 trespass too long upon the reader, my task is still far 
 from its termination. The most important parts of it 
 an examination into the American Society and their Go 
 vernment, and the conclusions to be drawn from the ob 
 servations already made upon several subjects ; in short, 
 the working out of the problem, as it were, is still to be 
 executed. I have not written one line of this work with 
 out deliberation and examination. What 1 have already 
 done has cost me much labour what I have to do will 
 cost me more. I must therefore, claim for myself the in 
 dulgence of the public, and request that, injustice to the 
 Americans, they will not decide until they have perused 
 the second portion, with which I shall as speedily as I 
 can wind up my observations upon the United States, and 
 their Institutions. F. M. 
 
 THE END. 
 
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