> i UC-NRLF B 3 SMfi 71b ?7^ mer UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY ■m^Mi'saA.-m'.m WITH THACKERAY IN AMERICA BY EYRE CRO:iA^E. A.R.A. \ ILLUSTRATED NEW YORK CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS 1893 FT' Copyright, 1893, by CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS Press of J. J. Little & Co. Astor Place, New York THIS BOOK DUE TO SIX months' CONSTANT TRAVEL WITH HER FATHER IS WITH HER KIND PERMISSION DEDICATED TO MRS. RICHMOND RITCHIE AS A TRIBUTE OF ADMIRATION FOR HER INHERITED LITERARY GIFTS AND FOR THE SAKE OF A LIFE-LONG FRIENDSHIP EYRE CROWE London 20th February iSg^ 21G051 P R E F A C E All readers of Thackeray know his dt'liglitful imaginary conversation-verses between " The Pen and the Album," written before his travels in the United States, and the concluding lines : — " Stranger ! I never writ a flattery, Nor signVl the page tliat register'd a lie." "The faithful old Gold Pen," to which he assigns these two noble qualificatit)ns of iinswei'ving truthful- ness, and which he then adds had served him already for three long years in making his sketches, was part of his equipment of materials taken to the States. AVhen it was not in his own grasp he allowed me to take it u[) for my sketching lucubrations, which were for the most part executed with its wondrously flexible and seemingly indestructil)le nib. He was so far pleased Avith my efforts that, not content with show- ing them to our American friends, who also nodded approvingly over their sometimes grotesque yet faith- ful renderings of e very-day scenes as they struck a viii PREFACE Lie\vc<>iiier's fancy, lie urged me to make a selection from them, and to forward tliem to London for publica- tion in an illustrated periodical. AVlietlier tliey ever readied tlieir destination I forgot to ascertain on my return. This neglect on my part I now lament, as amons: the drawins^s was one of the Washino-ton House of Representatives, with a portrayal of the different members sitting at their semi-circularly- placed desks, fronting the Speaker's Chair, over which soared majestically the American . eagle. This loss must be my apology for omitting from this collection any representation of the holders of the great politi- cal helm of the States. Perhaps the chance owner may hereafter let me know of its whereabouts, and in case of future editions, if any, kindly allow me to I'epair the gap. Whilst contrasting the scenes delineated forty years ago with subsequent accounts which have reached us in numberless books of travel, not to mention the useful successive "Appleton Guide" editions, I have been struck with the appositeness of Carlyle's epithet applied to progressive Columbia, as " the never-resting locomotive country." What was then fact may now seem to border on fiction. But, for my own part, I trust that this may be ac- cepted as a record of actual life indjued witli the subtle spirit (jf truth liowiug from "the faithful old I'UHFACE ix Gold Pen/' and not belying the liont\st character ascribed to it by the owner. I may take this opi)ortunity of here tliaidsf)n— The Irou Ja.-k William Ilickling Prescott l!0 George Ticknor .... 01 Expectaroons ...... 33 A Splashy Bed .... 33 "Thackeray's Works, Sir ! " . 34 A Group of Children 3C. In tlie Accommotlation Train . 37 Mr. Bancroft 38 Mr. Bancroft's Lecture 39 Table-Turniug .... 40 The Rev. Theodore Parker at the Tabern acle, New York 41 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Horace Greeley Tailpiece .... The Rev. II. Ikllows President Fillmore . New York, from Brooklyn Black Coachmen Lafargc Hotel The Brushing Process The Broadway The Broadway Omnibus . Seal-Tiger, So-called Banium's Museum . Buruum .... Barnum's Agent Drinks .... John X. Geuin's Hat Store Taking your ^Measure The Result At Harpers' G. W. Curtis . A Pair of Bluchers . At the Melodeon, Boston Custom House, Boston . From " Belshazzar's Feast " "Coasting" At the Boston Sessions . A Glimpse of 'Change Wall Street, New York . An Advertisement . Closing Time . A Jeweller's Sign A Do(-k Loafer The Rev. Eleazar Williams Wa>hinLrlon Irving . LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS XV Tlie Refreshment Iloom . Thomas Francis Mcaglier Sk'igh Stages .... Tlie Tombs Prison . An E.xecution Morning outside the Governor's Island . Vohiiiteers' Marcli . Clinton Hall .... After the Fire, New York Canvas-hack Ducks. News Room. Philadelphia Meeting of Friends, Philadeljihia Quakers ..... An Unpleasant Incident . Baltimore .... A Notice of Deatii . The Declaration of Independence A Black Servant Bust of Washington A Presidential Reception Presidents Pierce and Fillmore General Cass .... The Supreme Court in Session General Scott .... A Stump ..... Restoratives .... Testing Tobacco, Virginia Richmond .... In the Richmond Slave ^larkct An ()1<1 Stove .... After Iloudon's Washington . An American Barber's. Richmond, Easter Monday, Petersburg, Va. On the Banks of the Apiiomalto.x, Tombs Va. Peter «burii-, V PAdE 85 86 8, 89 90 91 93 95 96 97 98 99 101 103 104 106 107 109 113 lU 115 117 118 119 131 123 124 127 129 133 137 138 139 143 143 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIOSS Ou Board the Governor Dudley A Guard ..... A Negro Ball, Charleston, Ca. Dressed for the Ball At the Charleston Hotel . Negro Faces .... The Cliarleston Slave iNIarket . St. Micliaers Church, Charleston Negro Types .... Charleston .... " Cotton is King " . Shopping at Cliarleston . Market Women At the "Clarendon," New York The Chinese Divinity Student . Broadway Fashions . Bonaventura, near Savannah . A Peanut Seller A New York Congregation The Senate, Alljany Pierre Soule .... "Four Bells". Cape Clear .... PAGE 144 14.3 147 148 140 151 153 154 l.j.-, 156 157 158 159 160 162 163 164 165 166 169 171 172 176 WITH THACKERAY IN AMERICA THE EMBLEM OF OFFICE AV^ITH THACKERAY IF AMERICA CHAPTER I "Esmond" — Lectures at Liverpool and Manchester — Savile Morton — Voyage across the Atlantic — Boston — Custont House — Shandry- dan — Tremont — A Rapid Repast — Bunker's Hill — MM. Prescott and Tickuor — In the Cars — "Thackeray's Works" — Arrival in New York — Mr. Bancroft — Spirit-Rapping — The Rev. Tlieodore Parker and Horace Greeley. "Six months' tiimblino- about tlieworlil will <1'> v<»u no lianii," was tlie iiulucing plirase \\liicli Th.-K-ktray used wlien lie kindly asked nie to accompany him as his factotum and amanuensis on liis forthcoming; journeyinsjfs in the United States. AVheu he noticetl my hesitation as to acceptance of the post, arising- in a great measure from my doiihts as to iii\ liaviuii" 1 1 ' 2 M'JTII THACKERAY IX AMERICA the proper capacity — or " spryness," as lie expressed it — for organising and arranging the l^nsiness part of the lectnring, he pointed out that another half-year would elapse before his departure, and that I could try my 'prentice-hand, first, during these months, in the same capacity. 'Twas thus I found myself installed in doing secretarial work at his pleasant Kensingtonian home in Youno- Street. The end^lem of office, a kuomug-looking green dispatch-box, of which the outer leather case bore many traces of long and honour- able use in Continental travel, was presented to me by the owner, then possessor of a more splendid desk. I retain it no\v — not only as a valued memento and gift of the owner, but as reminding me of the many pleasant epistolary, documentary, and sketching fragments it contained during my subsequent stay in America. A selection of these sketches has been made, upon which the following text may be taken as merely a running commentary. T\vo scraps of paper lying for t^vo-score years dor- mant in this receptacle, in pocket-books, will serve to show the sort of mingled preoccupations engaging the author at that time, and will illustrate the easy duties involved in secretaryship. The first is a memorandum directing me to make inquiries at the British Museum. When my new indoctrination as amanuensis A ,sr/.M/' OF /:\ /•/■:/,' 3 beii'MH, tlic lirst ])(»rti«»ii of " KsiikukI " was coiiiiilftfil, written ii[>«)u small slij)s of iiotc-papcr kt'|tt in tlir tirm grip of an clastic liaiid. 'I'licy were not written, as was tlie case w itli the ealliLiiapliy of liis great proto- type the novel-writer Balzae, in crabbed liandwriting, bristling Avith after-tlionglit emendations, but, (»n tlie contrary, in the beautiful peninaiishij) so well known, and of Avliich the annexed slip is another exainj»le, and with scarcely any interpolations or niaiginal repentirs. The person who stated that all the wiiting of "Esmond" MS. \vas dictated was. therefore, to that extent inexact. The passage to which the note ivfei's 4 WJTII THACKERAY IX A3IERICA is iu the second hook of '' Esmond/' and contained, I think, in aljout the fifteentli chapter. I went to the great and unique source of all English trustworthy information, the British Museum, and I asked for the Gazettes as printed in 1708 hy the great Jacob Tonson, in Gray's Inn Gate, and I ferreted out the items to be incorj)orated in the narrative. But this last became so complex, as the author went on ^vith his story, that he had to trust not alone to vicarious excerpts, but used to charter a cab and to come along with me to the British Museum. An appeal to an obliging attendant brought us through the non-public portion of the Library, where, I remember, on his touching a hidden spring in ^\'hat seemed to be beautifully bound folios, but which were in reality only the sham backs of these, a door ilew open, and we were in the presence of Sir Antonio Panizzi, w^hose life Mr. Fagan has so pleasantly unfolded in after-years. He readily granted j^ermission to write in one of the secluded galleries, at a table placed in the midst of the volumes to be consulted. I sat down and ^vrote to dictation the scathing sentences about the 2:reat Marlborout>:h, the denouncino- of Cadoo-an, etc., etc. As a curious instance of literary contagion, it may be here stated that I got quite bitten \vith tin- expressed anger at their misdeeds against General AVebb, Thackeray's kinsman and ancestor ; and that I '•ESMOND" FINISHED 5 then looked upon Secretary ('nidouiK'rs (•(•iidiict witli perfect loathing. I was (piitr (Icl'iLilitcil to tiiid liis meannesses justl\- pilloi'ird in ''Esmond's" pages. Tt \\as not ^vitllout |)Ocnliar ])i(|uancy tliat tliis was done upon the site ol' ohl Montague Ileoiniiiiiij,- of a soinew hat l('iiL:th<'iu'iil»lishci' Mr. Fiehls had alivadv made siiijijestioiis as to lecturhig tliere. Questions of priority soon ci'opped up, ultimately left for final solution till the arrival in the States. The summer inontlis glided by, cluetly eni[)h)yed ill revising tlie "" Esmond "' proof-slieets, a slower process than is usually the case, owing to a compara- tively small sui)j)ly of the not-much-used type of the reign of Queeu Anne, which was one of the features of the first edition. A new club had at this time sprung into life, called by Thackeray the " Fielding," which met in Henri- etta Street, Coveut Garden. His contribution to its comfort was an illnstrated screen, print-covered for the most part, but made more valuable by the addi- tion of two of his own gold-pen-and-ink studies. The subjects were two street Ara])s caught in the law's meshes. The first was in the grip of a Bow Street runner of Fielding's time ; in the next a tattered son of St. Giles was being " run in " by the modern Bobby, who hauls him before the Beak, \vith a view to his improvement in a reformatory. Mrs. Ritchie has, in her pleasant "Chapters from some Unwritten Memoirs," told her numerous readers of her father's genuine relish of Carlyle's "enchanting 8 WITH THACKERAY IN AMERICA screen," to wliieli lie had also contributed. And, years ago, I recollect liis amused scanning of the motley prints upon the paravent of the " Trafalgar " at Greenwich — before the advent of " souchet " and whitebait — to which he had invited us. But as the " Trafalgar " has closed its doors, so has the once hos- pitable Fielding Club — to which I recollect also being invited as a guest — ^made way for more modern brick- work. Many guests have vanished thence. I wonder where these pleasant screen-appurtenances have gone to? I often have wished for the stenographic power, which enables many chroniclers to give the charm of the random talk of gifted men. Far pleasanter are these rapid utterances than the more poised sentences of public speaking. In this latter vein is on record the speech made at the " Freemasons' Tavern " this year by Thackeray as he presided at the Literary Fund Dinner. At the end of September we went down to Liver- pool, celebrating the inauguration of the lecturing tour by testing the famous " clear turtle " of the " Adelphi " there, ere we went into more homely quarters during our fortnight's stay. A veil is drawn here over this "memorial of gormandising," which, in truth, was sober enough. The twin courses of lectures o^iven in tlie two first .1 PRELIM IN AliV LECTURING TOUR 9 Octobt'i' weeks wei'e tlius dove-tailed as to time and delivery — :manchester Tutsdiiys. Th u rsdoi/ii. 28th Sept. 30tli Sept. r)tli Oct. 7th Oct. 12tli '• Uth " LIVERPOOL Wednesdays. Fridays. 29tb Sept. 1st Oct. 6th Oct. 8th " 13th " 15t]i " This arrangement necessitated see-sawing by train from one place to the other. There was a curious contrast in the initial recep- tion of the lectures in these Lancashire centres, the rooms of the Manchester Athenaeum beiuji; well filled, but at the Liverpool Philharmonic Hall, on the con- trary, tlie audience was so small as to call forth from one signing himself "Dickey Sam " (in the Liverpool Mercary of October 1st) the statement " that a more heart-depressing sight than that which presented itself to Mr. Thackeray, I think I have never ^vitnessed, to hear the Fielding of tlie nineteenth century.'' The subsequent lectures, however, made amends; and the whole course, in both })laces, went off with great eclat. At Liv^er2)ool cheery lodgings in Kenshaw Street, over Parry's Library, ^vere found for us; and free use was made of its stock of books — the Pul)lif Li))rarv, wliich only opened a few days after :j 10 M'lTIl THACKERAY IN AMERICA we left, beiuii' tlien unavailable — Steele's Letters and Bozzy's Life of Johnson coming in for re- perusal as old friends and ever-fresli companions. I only recollect tliat here Thackeray, in the inter- val of awaitino; the lecture hour in the little side room of the Philharmonic, either translated or amended his version of Berano-er's beautiful lines in " ]\Ia Vocation " — "Jete sur cette boule, Laid, clietif, et souffrant," etc. I forget whether, as first given in his Goldsmith lecture, the lines were read in French or not. During his stay at Liverpool occurred a tragical event, A^hich happened on the 4th, but which Avas only reported the next day, the 5tli of October. On opening a paper Thackeray read a brief telegram announcing that his friend Savile Morton, the Paris correspondent of the Daily JVews, had been stabbed — dying of his wounds — by a brother-journalist, seized 'with a fit of frenzied rasre ao:ainst him. It caused a great shock of surprise to us l^oth, whose friend he had been. Thackeray mournfully recapitulated his many charming qualities ; his artistic early educa- tion, merged, like his own, into more bread-winning literature ; and finally alluded to his many Bohemian adventures, sununing up his life as having been A DAM/'/:/: 11 "one s(.'ra])e/' His loss wms imicli IVlt hy the >t;ilV of the ])M[H'r he Ii;i tlic festivities, ill tirst-rute luiniour, late in the evening. Tlie next day, October 30tli, we bade farewell to (»ur kind hosts, and Ijefore ten o'clock, the a})pointed hour, we found oui'selves, on a bi'ight Hunshiny morn- ing, waiting for the tender at the end of the landing stasre. AVhilst we were luokinir out for it, and mind- ing that no traps were missing, ji messenger suddenly arrived with a large batch of correspondence and a yet lai'ger square brown-paper parcel. On opening the latter Thackeray found therein several copies of "Esmond," in three volumes, of A\hicli this instalment, the first issued, reached liim just in time befoi"e starting. He tui'ned over the uncut leaves, expressed himself well pleased Avith this Jinale of lengthened labour on his [)art, and thought the Smith and Elder firm had well capped their acceleration of pi'oihiction of the proof-sheets \\\x\v this winIiip 14 WITH THACKERAY IN AMERICA looked much smaller than onr anticipations had led lis to expect, and was not such as to correspond in impor- tance Avith the renowned ]>ers<)nages in the woi'ld of ON BOARD THE ''CANADA" literature now grouped together on board. Besides Thackeray, there ^vas Russell Lowell, fresh from Italy. Coming iij) the (•om])ani()n ladder, I noticed a A'.v voVAah' 15 liiirK" t'onii, in imistni'd-colom't'd iii('\]>i't'ssiM('s, and a w idcawak*' hat ci-owning a swarthy face 'rhi> was Aitlini' IIuLih (Mt»iiu-li, tlic poet and OxI'oid I)(>n. wliosf pnMislicd I)iary gives a pleasant aceount of tills vovaiiv and of the people on boai'd. I have ] ire- served the sketch of a few of them as they clusteied I'ound the Ijiniiacle. Towerino* above all in size, you note, chattinu", Titmarsh himself, with heaove the line of the lun'iznn. I soon discovered that 1 did not behms; to that class of peo})le who follow the advice of enterprisini;' eucyclopimlic dictionary jiublishers, to buy and read their vohimes through on a sea voyage, emerging from tlieir j)erusal at the eml in the possession of a j>()i't(Mitous fund of knowledge. 1 jireferred sketching to readinu". Here are selected a few of these jottings. First notice Captain Lang, sex- tant in hand, deter- niinini:: our where- abouts at noon, if the sun appeared at that convenient j u n c t u r e. .Vlso his lieutenant 16 WITH THACKERAY IN AMERICA drr. good lines, wlietlier assistiuii: liiiii in tliis im- poi'tant ()[)ei'ati()n. Next is a passenger, for wlioni his co-mates clnbbed together to present him with a valual^le razor and piece of soap on a r r i v a 1, as he see m e d utterly destitute of these two c o m m o d i t i e s. The sailors' dress and their well- knit forms always afford " heaving the log," as here seen, or giving a coat of paint to the masts or spar- gear. When nearing Cape Race the vessel was brought-to, and the engines suddenly ceased to throb, the steamer balancins; on a e:entle swell. Conversations ceased ; every- body Avatched to see what would be revealed by the deep-sea lead. (Brother laud - lubbers, please pro- nounce " dipsey - lead " as you here gaze at its shape and its tell-tale indicator A PASSENGER ARRIVAL AT JIALIFAX 17 iiiaiiN a of (lej)tli of the sea uikIcI' ynii in fathom.) 'Twas all right; we weiv in our proper course ; the liglits ceased to twinkle: <>ii the vessel })loULihe(l (»nce nioiv foi' Halifax. AVhen that 2)ort THE DEEP-SEA LEAI was readied, I remained l)el(»\v, and thus missey the iuvt'stiii'atiiiii' ('ust(»iii llmisc ollicials. TIk' luiTiraire l)i<»ii"]it 1)\' us looked (luitc iusii-iiifi- cant by eoiiiparison. A ]>ortiiiaiiteaii, a l»Iacl< l^al,^ a OLK CONVEYANCE (lispatch-case, and an umbrella, sunnned u|» the Thaekei'ayan irnpedinitntd, wliitdi, al(»ng wirli my still more exiguous luggage, were soon lioisted up on the top of a vehicle of the most ])riniitive ty]ie. My outline of it, hastily doiie in craxou, will L:iv«* a notion of its (piaiiit internal anatomy. lis ci-amix'ij 20 ir/7Y/ THACKERAY IN A3IERICA space ill-suited the long limbs ^\'llicll tried vainly to accommodate themselves within it, and a grin per- vaded the English humorist's face as he scanned its marvellous iittings of leather straps which served as back-rests. Before closing the door four dollars each Avas demanded by the rapacious driver; and when he was thus satisfied, the glorious sunset and its accompanying twin rainbow having made way by this time for dusk and for twinkling lights, we bumped into Boston by circuitous routes, till we reached the, hospitable shelter of the "Tremont House," where quarters had been secured beforehand for us. A gratulatory supper was soon put before us, and the kindly greeting of Mr. Fields in this huge banqUeting-room — which we had at this late hour to ourselves, till joined suddenly l)y owv friend Mr. Arthur Clougli — made amends in its cheering prospect for our somewhat forlorn arrival. The great feature was a large dish of oysters, one of which Thackeray took up on his fork-end, and o-lancing at it said it must have resembled the right ear of Malchus Avlieu cut off, as recorded in Holy Writ. Feeling somewhat oppressed by the banquet, Mr. Fields suggested, as a flnah and sedative, the straw-tickled sherry-cobbler. For this Ave adjourned to the smokino:-room. Thus began the series of Fih'ST iMi'i:i:ssin.\s 21 feast iiiii's in sii|t('i;tliiiii(laiict', wliirli afttTwai'cls made tlie c'liief i'eci|»i('iit descriKe Ins Aiiiciicaii tour as resiiltiiiL:' in «'in' mihrukeii " iiKligestioii." A\'e retired to \vell-eai'ii('(l ivst. Next inoi'iiintr, OH eoin]>ariiio; notes, we afj;i-ee(l tliat the ])e(ls seemed to us to liave I'ocked, and that wavedjreaks still acted as a lullaby in our sleep; Thackeray iroint;' so far as to aver that lie had actually tundded out of Led in the lurches of iinagiuation. Ill trying to recall first impressions as they struck us newcomers in this land of kith and kin, I seem to have been chiefly exercised by the ])recocity of youthful callings, mostly tending to the ac(juisiti(Ui of knowledge, and, along with it, the craving for intelligent mental pleasures : in the first instance, as exemjilified in the typical newsboy, who did not. as with us, din with ear-shriekinu: sounds the latest news from the pavement; lie simjily made his \\i\\ straioflit into drawino;-room or hotel pai-|i»ur with his batcli of "-'Eralds and Tribunes," \\\\\i^\\ once handed to the purchasers, lie went off, as a capitalist brat of eiirht years of asre. AVheii vou turned to the reader of the said papers, >ou found he was a lad scarcely in his teens, already devouring the toughest leaders, and mastering the news of the -world whilst whiffing his cigar, and not without making shies at a huge expectorator close at hand. WITH THACKERAY IX AMERICA Thackeray showed these graphic efforts of mine to limn their features to * guests of his, as- sembled at the "Tremont" at this time, as I tried my hand at carving an enor- mous turkey, my rirst mdoetrma- tion in dissection of such huge wings and drumsticks. Notwithstanding the bird's Eastern name, the as- sembled company, I I'ecollect, gave it a AY est em origin, and stated — I make no doubt, truly — that this f a V o rite Christmas fare originally came, as . it still con- tinued to do, from Vii'«»:inia. THE '• POKT TirXN" 23 Tlu'V gt>()(l-iiatiir<'(ll\ ackuowU'dgcd tlie i.'-i'iici-al tnitli of tlie (lesiu'iis, iit the lulls of mastication. As yet those masterly sketches which (Idi-lit us TUB " PDKT BrNV" in American ilhistrate licr visitor Ikt in- i-^^ ^IwiiW-'-Sl" "Iv-^ Scrv^i^ ^''^ teiitioii of closing her gosicr after lici- ])reseiit tour. A\'itli lier, as iu the case of too mauy faces met 26 WITH THACKERAY IN AMERICA in those now leniote tlays, it li;is to ])e recorded that Fate, in the shape of some mahirious attack, closed for ever lier ])iil)lic career long l:)efore it conld have been said to have run its natural course. A sketch of her as she appeared at this time, and her hand- gesture expressing her above-mentioned determination to retire, may be accepted as perhaps the last illus- tration taken of the features of Countess Rossi. The "Melodeon" (p. 41) was the handsome concert hall at that time ; ^ve Avent to hear the famous songstress there. Thackeray, ^vho ^vas to lecture there a month later, took note of the acoustic capabilities of the hall, and ascertained the proper voice-pitch needed. Mr. Fields has amused his readers by giving his version of this occasion, Avhen Thackeray, who sat beside him, volunteered to give imaginary readings of character of each person as they took their seats in the stalls near us. AVhen Mr. Fields, A\ho knew everybody, afterwai'ds told us the real life of those so playfully descri])ed, these I'eadings were found to be in most cases nuich nearer the reality than the usual guesses of palmists or plirenologists. These wiseacres may l)e said not to see nuich farther into character than yonder M'oodeii sailor seen perched on a supporting bracket on the Boston Quay, making believe to take an observa- tion with a sham sextant on a non-existent sun. In old and new guide-books, Avhen compared THE " Tin: MONT" to2:etliei', tli(' striking- cliaiiu't' is imticcd in f lie t';islii<.ii of hotel resorts. Thus \\v arc iiiroi'iiit'd that the claiins, tlieii paraiiioiiiit, of the " 'I'lviiioiit "" aiik.>'- Xilt • tu trk wish for ji teiiip)i'ai'y respite, 1 was iiit'(>niit'(l this was " an express table " for people anxious to catoli a train and Avitli few minutes to spai'e in dep^ustation. I carefully avoided it in future; I feel sure I sliould otherwise have succumbed to liver complaint. The latest victim to this dire and insidious mal- ady Avas the great orator Daniel AYebstei-. All tlie streets were, at this j)eri(>d. festooned ^vitll mourning draperies, his funeral having taken place on the 29th of October. The papers were tilled witli panegyrics of his career. One of his greatest flights of oratoiy, it Avas then averred, was on tlie occasion of tlie inauguration of the Quincy granite pillar, '1'1\ feet hif^h, better known as tlie Bunker ITill ^[ouumeut, ten years before his deatli. I naturally went to in- spect it, crossing the Cliarlestown Ferry for that purpose. I here give the outline of the pleasant prospect of Boston from that i)lace, thougli i)rol>ably ulterior conflagrations and demolitions may have relics, as noted afterwanls in the first chapter of ''The Virginians," were sus- pended at that time in the library of AVilliam Hickling Prescott, the historian. They have, since his death, been transferred to the Massachusetts Library as a bequest. They were the SAvords of two relatives of the historian, fighting on opposite sides at the neiio^hbourino; Port of Charlestown ; the naval hero's name, on the Poyal side, was Cap- tain John Linzee, grandfather of Mrs. Prescott ; the other, his oppo- nent, was Col. AVilliam Prescott, grandfather of the author. W. II. Prescott only lived half a dozen }'ears after the time of our meeting him, having a graceful eulogium paid him by his English friend. Most of the likenesses of him Avere full-faced, besides being youthful ones ; here is his profile, in which his blindness is not notice- able. In his conversation he made you forget this misfortune by his cheery and ])land wa}' of looking at life. I am glad to have caught its semblance. It brings l)ack to nund the cosy library. His wading through old records, aided by* his secretary, was portentous; but this did not (bill his bright view of men and things, which suited \o\\v humour as his W. H. I'KESCKTT ''OLD iir.\h'i:i,'" •.\\ clothes (lid tile wt'atlicr. 'Tis said, I know not with what truth, his ovcivoats wvw all lalx-llcd ms snitc(| for certain degrees of temperature, and wnc donned accoidin^ly when he sallied forth under the guidance of his secretary, lie was what we call an Ultra- Conservative, there known under the [)leasing a])])ella- tion of ''Old Iluiiker," In height and gait Pi'ofessor Fawcett, who cou(|uered fame also hy indomitable pluck against the same calamity, reminded me of his tall erect figure strolling out hitched to the elbow of his amanuensis. Belono-ino; also to the same euphoniously named p^n'ty A\as George Ticknor, historian of Span- ish literature, whose companion [)liysiognomy is here inserted. Here, again, in his home, Avere rows of well-ordered bookshelves. One evening — I recollect, it was after the " Cono-reve " lecture — we were lios- pitably invited to adjourn to Mr. TIcknoi'"s house foi- a sociable chat over pipes and baccy. A projws of ''pipes" and their introduction into the lecture of the evening, someone asked what they really meant, and what was the Pipe Office. Mi". Ticknor took down from one of his well-su})plied shelves a te(dinological dictionai'v — Spelmau's, I think — from which he icad 32 WITH THACKERAY IN AMERICA out the followiug explanation : — '' So called because the papers were kept in a large pipe or cask." But since that time, in the edition de luxe of Thackeray's works published in 1879, a full number Xxpecfixiitaf, <^vMit^. I in. of annotations appear to throw doubts upon this meaning, and the perj^lexed reader is allowed to choose whichever version he pleases. This fully justifies the reticence of the author, who only nodded in pai-tial acquiescence in the proposed reading of the word by his friend Mr. Ticknor. Difficulties hereafter might occur if trusting to conflicting lexicographers. For example, they allude EX PEC TOR A TORS to pipes, tliey dilate upon tol)acco, hut tlit' useful leceptacles for the luoistening results, popularly known as " spittoons," or " expectorators," or"expect- aroons," are terms jealously excluded from their A SPLASHY BED vocabnlaries ; yet they are palpable enoucrh to the senses. The courtyard of the Charleston Hotel was piled with these in the morning, when the whc^lesome water-hose was turned upon them vigorously, a sight quite nni(pie in its way. This, however, is in antici- pation of events. Insufficient, strange to say, they Avere, for I recol- lect being put into a bedroom the walls of which were maculated with the bistre-coloured emissions of foniier sluniberers on the same pillow. 3 ;u WITH TH ACKER A Y IN AMERICA ()u tlie l()tli of November, and in pleasant balmy Aveather, we left Boston for New York, after a week's stay. We took the cars at eight o'clock in the morn- ing, and I was dnly laden with a lot of heavy ]>rass checks corresponding to others fixed to our lug- gage, each label being suspended to a leather strap. Thackeray has described a scene ^vliicli I here illustrate in outline, though unconscious, as I saw it, of the bygone memories it personally evoked in his person, of which he afterwards, in the preface to the New York edition of his works, made the New York pu})lic, and therefore the whole reading world, a confidant. It was when " a rosy-cheeked little peri- patetic book-merchant " accosted him with his own ;'■.""( thackerayV works, sir I ■ (h\ Tin: WAV rn m:\v yoi.'h' 35 volumes, .-111(1 calk'd out "Thackeray's Works !'' quite unaware tliat lie \\as addressing the author hiinxelf. He therefore i-e-read his "Shabby (leiitetd Story/' of a dozen years before, as we wvvi' whisked along the undulating territory of Massaehusetts. 1 e\| tended twenty-live cents in the ])urchase of '' I'licle ToiiTs Cabin," and was properly harrowed by tlie tale told by Mrs. Beecher-Stowe. But Thackeray deelineil to ]>luiige into its tale of woe ; his o})inion exi)ressed upon it l)eing that stories founded upon sucli jtaiiiful themes were scarcely within the legitimate purview of story- telling. Besides, judicious friends had dinned well into his ears the ]>ropriety of his not conunitting himself to either side of the Slaveiy Question, then a biiniiiig one, if he wished his career as a lecturer not to Ijecome a burthen to him. He dwelt in preference upon the blithe aspects of American life, such as the group of children in the cars, eight in numl^er, eveiy one of whom he wished there and then to present with a erturbaljle good- humor and kindness made the best of the mishap. Besides, he had ])een amused by the advent of a Avt'll-known character, making his a]»])earanc(', upon his arrival, as an interviewer, as he did to ni(»st European celebrities, \vith a view to " co])y." More welcome was a more genuine chronicler, who was only second in visiting rotation, the historian Mr. 38 WITH THACKERAY IN AMERICA Baiici'oft, whom I found already in converse with liim. He had what the French call the nose-pincher . kind of spectacles ; over his forehead was the Napoleonic wisp of hair, and the air of diplomacy suffused his sallow features. It was only in conversa- tion, and by his references to literary Hinterland recol- lections, that you guessed him to be older than he looked. For examj)le, at dinner he said he had met Lord Byron once at Genoa. A reference to the pages of Thomas Moore shows this must have been as far back as the November of 1822, when Byron was oc- cupying his Villa Saluzzo, at Albano. Thackeray said he was then at Charterhouse. Mr, Bancroft lectured one evening before the Ne^v York Historical Society, where ^ve went to hear him. He sought relaxati(jn from his historical labours by inviting friends in the evening, and a night or two after our ari'ival Thackeray came back to the hotel, where I had remained solitarily, and described astonishing feats he had lieeu witness to for the first time. This was his initiation into the table-turning mystery, the hat-t\vii'ling, etc., accompanied by spirit- MR. BANCROFT 40 WITH THACKERAY IN AMERICA rapping manifestations : a nine days' wonder, or rather more. AVliilst tlie mania lasted Mr. Home was the hero of the hour. If we believe his published Memoirs — wliich, by the bye, are singularly reticent as to his stay in New York — at this period he was only twenty years of age, though looking older. Here he may TABLE-TT'RNINf; be seen Jotting down the alphabetical rajjs, whilst the rest of the company, tinger-tips touching each other, keep up the current of spiritual enunciation. Some words came out, wondrously distorted if names, and misspelt if niei'e Avords. It is to be feared that some maliciously disposed votaries on these occasions used TIIKoDOIiK I'Ah'KER 41 to ufive liiiii liugiiistie nuts to crack wliicli were beyond his limited comprelieiisioii. Belouiijini:: to the iiolde New EnizL-nid aiiiiv of authors may liere be mentioned tlic ]J<'v. 'I'heodore Parker, the Anti-Shivery clianipion and eloquent ilii.O— rn THE 1:EV. TIIE0T)0RE PARKER PREACHINO preacher. Tlioiigh liis home was at Boston, I tirst heard him lecture at the New York Tabernacle, full of fire and earnestness, quite refreshinii; to listen to. The audience was sufficiently crowded, thouiih the syllabus was as alarming as the title of Bossuet's 42 WITH THACKERAY IX AMERICA " Histoire Universelle." The subject Avas " The Pro- gress of Mankind." The reading requisite for such a theme was prodigious. Primitive man and his latest developments came under review. Franklin was belauded for teaching lightning to go straight, and not to destroy everything, as it did in its "rowdy days " — an illu- sion which tick- led the o-round- lings. On the whole it may be said that poor old Europe came in second-best. After the great names of Law- rence and Lo^vell J-jci-ace (jfrc;eUy./3^4«» liad been justly sino-led out as grand New England worthies, a Cockney was a little ruffled at finding " Chicopee and London " bracketed together as towns emblematic of advanced civilisation. London came second after a miniature Manchester \\ ith barely twelve thousand inhabitants ; but then it was in Massachusetts. The mention of Franklin bring^s to mind Horace Greeley, happily dubbed " a later Franklin " by the Til. Wh'i: HAY'S WK/jOMf-: 43 poet \\ hit I irr. • lie was a w ('|c(.iii(' \isitoi- at tlie '• C'larciidoii," and in a few x'litciicc^ 1icI|mm| oiic .-.oiin-'- wliat out ol* the taiiLilt'd maze (»t" .Viiierieun politics, and was a i^ocmI ty})e of the Piess militant. I \\a> al)l(' in after-years to return the eonipliiuent l)y aiiswcr- in^- iiiteiT02:atioiis as to affairs in Eiiro[»e wlicn I met liim in Paris. I rcmendx'r seeing' liim at an l*>iiulish (diarity ball ui\«'n there. He Avas much exercised, on askiui^- me to point out to liini which of the ladies were the noble patronesses whose titles fi!j;ured on the list of the evening's progrannnc, at Ix-iiiu- int'orincd that they so appeared. ^:);'6) /brw*^/ <*"1>'7 ''**t many l)eing present on that occasion. He hale resort. The announcements were made as follows : — LECTURES TO BE GIVEX ON THE FOLLOWING EVENINGS Fridays — 19tli November. Mondays — 22nd November. 26th " 29th 3rd December. Gtli December, At 8 o'clock. Price : — 3 Dollars for the Course. The subscription list was closed on Thursday even- ing, but the rush for tickets soon made it clear that a second course would 1)e necessary, and this ^vas also announced thus : — Wednesday, December 1st. Monday, December loth. Tuesday, " 7th. Wednesday, " 15th. Friday, " 10th. Friday, •' ITtli. filling up nearly a month's interval of time. The accompanying illustration (frontispiece), jotted down at the time from a back bench in the vow of open seats, gives an idea of the prospect. The lecturer ascended the somewhat liigli rostrum, which had been erected fronting the pulpit ; along with him came the secretary, Mr. Millard Felt, who, on the warm greetings 77//; FfiisT cnrnsF of lectures 47 of weleoiiu' sul)si(liiiulation rents per eo|i\ ; not, however — to the ■vviiter's chagrin — in Queen Aune type, lint in the ordinary type, and, if 1 mistake not, with tlie new- fangled Amei'ican .spelling of words, (juite transmogrifying its a[)pearance. These drawbacks were, however, couuterljalanced ; for the reprints had the effect of popularising the author, who Avas assailed by demands for 5^ . t . T\ w«v/\* .— niESIDENT riLLMOHK his discoui'ses. The nov,' transpontine suburb of Brooklyn came in for the next engagement. I went, not as is now done, across the wide expanse of river 1)\' a level bridg-e — one of the wonders of modern eno-ineeriuQi: — but by takiuGf the Fulton ferrv-boat, price one cent. The view of Xew York and its numerous steeple-topped roofs Avas very grand from tilt' water, with its array of merchant-ships, clippers, and liners. Here is an attempt to give an idea of it, but it needs the adjunct of tender melting-blue dis- tances to realise the scene. 4 50 WITH THACKERAY IN AMERICA NEW YORK, FROM BROOKLYN The steep ascent of the Main Street was at this time lined with non-splendid houses, the worse for wear. In one of these, and midway up, I climbed up some rickety stairs, and gave the lecture-announcement to a clerk at a desk, who copied it out, and, scarcely moving from his seat, handed the slip of paper to the type-setter. In a trice I had the proofs in hand, which Avere forwarded to other newspapers, and soon the lecturer found himself addressing an intelligent audience in one of the halls, of which I regret that I forget the name. It was the privilege of a certain number of the clergy of this district to grace the lecture l)y their presence, and their white chokers gave a solemnity of the Quaker order to the scene. At the jovial supper which followed the lecture this somewhat starched demeanour was replaced by boisterous hilarity. It is an odd circumstance that, whilst genuine humour often evanesces, the figments of the Joe-Millerian type keep fast hold on the niemory. Such an one belongs to this evening's entertainment, and elicited laughter. A country A. y /:/>•/< -AX /M /.\ 77.7/.S' ;,I 1)Uiiij)kiii, who had iicxci' seen cithci' a ih"ji-<> or a c-iii-ai', was ask(Ml l)y a siiiokci' of that swai"th\ hicci] wlirthci- hf woiihl wliitl a Ilaxaiiiiah. His icjilv was: " Xa, iia, Mr. I^cil. I caiiiia cat tii'c like \lot4l,VAW|«^- =fl0»V\iXx, 54 WITH THACKERAY IN AMERICA A row of negro servants, brush in lian be seen sittinij: on a bench in the entrance hall of the hotels. As the visitors came down, each of them, in rotation, seized the coat-collar and dusted it, ilicking the brush over the Avhole attire of the owner, who was THE BRUSHING PROCESS thus made smart for the day. Sj^ecialists, such as the "hat-negro" and the "elevator-man," were at that time unknown, and are quite modern develop- ments of the "help." Another sumptuous store of white marble ^^'as Stewart's haberdashery shop. This we sketched too ; but the sketch, true then, is no longer so ; the store and the goods have moved up town. The noble TiROADWA r 55 THE BKOADWAT owner's body lias Ijeen snatched, and, I regret to say, I am unaware whether he \vas ever recovered from tlie clutches of these ghouls. At rio-ht anofles ^vith the c^reat thorouo-hfare is AVall Street. The sketch on page 78 shows its fonner semblance, with overhead telegraph wires, I recollect going up one of the stairs of a house in it, and, instead of finding the man I wanted, I saw a scrap of paper fastened to the door by tw«» pins, stating laconically — "Gone t<» ?]urope ; l)ack in a few days." I believe this is not a bail indication of the rapid go-ahead mode of business liei-c. Broadway is in its full length two and a half miles. 56 WITH THACKERAY IX A 31 ERICA exteiicliug from Uiiioii Square to the Battery, and giving the gentleman-hmnger (tlie Titmarshiaii version of the French Jidneur) a very fair idea of the city's trades, hotels, amusements, bars, etc. New to us then, but familiarised to Cockney-land by its adoption in London, was the labour-saving system of com- bining in one person the conductor and driver of ^t«>lL«>M (;^u)^| ?^^^ THE BROADWAY OMNIBUS the omnibus, with its interior intimation— " Children taking seats full fare." In order to fulfil an appoint- ment made with Barnum's chief business agent, Mr. Le Grand Smith, to meet Barnum at his museum, Thackeray took seats in one of these popular vehicles, fondly fancying we should go in a straight line. But the pavement was torn up, cobble or flint stone making way for granite stones ; soon again, the wags BAILXUJrS o? asserted, to he once moi-e u[)ro()te(l to insert iron rails. This necessitated sucli constant divergence into ott'- streets, that walking was obviously a speedier method of transit. The simny side of Broadway Avas Ijright and cheerful, the sky beautifully blue overhead, and a clear atmosphere so exhilarating to the spirits that when wo at last reached and entered Baniuni's nuiseum the contrast of grime and gloom there per- vading: — as is often the case in haunts made to be viewed by sfas-lio-ht — onl\- made the scene more than usually dismal. There were stuffed quadrupeds in plenty ; there were sallow wax figures, prominent amongst A\hich memory recalls the groups of Lord Byron, surrounded by his Missolonghi bodyguard of ferocious Suliotes, aiTayed in faded tinselled costumes; also, further on, some Chinese notabilities were lying prone, with their effigy heads off their shoul- ders, not, as is too often the case in Celestial annals, after decapitation, but here only temporai'il}' deprived of their head- pieces for the purposes of cleaning. English relics, such as the signed copy of "Magna Charta," and 3EAL-TI0ER 58 WITH THACKERAY IX AMERICA BARNUM S MUSEUM tlie huge coach whicli once bore Queen Adelaide on gahi days, were conspicuous. Tavo semi-somnolent creatures attracted you — one being a " seal-tiger," roll- ing his eyes in ^vonderment at sucrh matutinal visitors, and the other its black keeper, whose special function it liAUXi'M'S 50 AVMs to rouse the (lonuaiit <'mi])lii))i.'Ui lying in its straw lair, and w li(^se eyes also revolved in the gloom. We had iise