ia
 
 
 EDWIN STANTONFICKI8 
 
 - HIS BOOK -4S9* 
 

 
 THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES
 
 ": 

 
 AMERICA, 
 
 ITS REALITIES AND RESOURCES: 
 
 COMPRISING 
 
 IMPORTANT DETAILS 
 
 CONNECTED WITH THE 
 
 PRESENT SOCIAL, POLITICAL, AGRICULTURAL, COMMERCIAL, 
 AND FINANCIAL STATE OF THE COUNTRY, 
 
 ITS 
 
 LAWS AND CUSTOMS, 
 
 TOGETHER WITH 
 
 A REVIEW OF THE POLICY OF THE UNITED STATES THAT LED TO 
 THE WAR OF 1812, AND PEACE OF 1814,-THE " RIGHT OF SEARCH," 
 
 THE TEXAS AND OREGON QUESTIONS, 
 
 ETC. ETC. 
 
 BY 
 
 FRANCIS WYSE, ESQ. 
 
 " Amicus Plato, aojicus Socrates, sed magis arnica vpritas. 
 
 VOL. I. 
 
 LONDON: 
 T. C. NEWBY, 72, MORTIMER STREET, 
 
 CAVENDISH SQUARE. 
 
 1846.
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 NOTWITHSTANDING the variety of works of travel, 
 the journals of tourists, and published narratives 
 
 ERRATA.VOL. I. 
 
 Page 73, 1. 11, /or " democratic learning" read " democratic leaning." 
 
 Page 82, 1. 4, for " ingredients to their republican form of government," read 
 
 " in their republican form of government." 
 
 Page 362,1. 17,/or "comparative trifling," read " comparatively trifling." 
 Page 366, 1. 12,/or " the 1842," read " the year 1 842." 
 Page 386, 1. 18,/or " weighty aid," read " mighty aid." 
 Page 460, 1. 6, from the bottom, for " whenever any of these institutions," 
 
 read " wherever any of these institutions." 
 
 
 with a people, wno are ever apprehensive oi a dis- 
 covery of their individual and national character, 
 with the imperfections, and many eccentricities by 
 which they are distinguished. 
 
 To supply the void that thus exists to present 
 the British public with some correct data on which 
 to ground its opinions, and to furnish the emigrant 
 of all grades, and professions, with every useful 
 instruction to assist and guide him in his hazardous 
 undertaking, are the objects which the author con- 
 templates in the present work. The real character 
 of the Americans of the United States their habits,
 
 v-l 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 NOTWITHSTANDING the variety of works of travel, 
 the journals of tourists, and published narratives 
 of the numerous other parties who have visited the 
 United States, assuming to present a correct de- 
 lineation of the American character, the habits and 
 customs of the American people but little has 
 transpired, amidst these various records, to convey 
 to the discriminating and impartial reader, much 
 less to the British emigrant, any real, solid, or useful 
 information, or beyond the mere .detail of the varied 
 incidents in which their respective authors may 
 have been themselves engaged, or the observations 
 resulting from an imperfect or hurried intercourse 
 with a people, who are ever apprehensive of a dis- 
 covery of their individual and national character, 
 with the imperfections, and many eccentricities by 
 which they are distinguished. 
 
 To supply the void that thus exists to present 
 the British public with some correct data on which 
 to ground its opinions, and to furnish the emigrant 
 of all grades, and professions, with every useful 
 instruction to assist and guide him in his hazardous 
 undertaking, are the objects which the author con- 
 templates in the present work. The real character 
 of the Americans of the United States their habits, 
 
 d "
 
 IV PREFACE. 
 
 and social organization, as well their political in- 
 fluence and power, he believes to be but imperfectly 
 known or understood in this country ; much less 
 the complex nature of their laws their uncertain 
 influence, with the slender protection that they 
 afford to either property or human life. 
 
 The experience acquired by a considerable sojourn 
 in the country, improved by observation and inquiry, 
 has enabled the author to cast some additional 
 light upon these matters, to explain more fully 
 the peculiar working of the Government and insti- 
 tutions of the country, and to present the citizens 
 of these States to the British public, not, perhaps, 
 in the outward clothing in which they would them- 
 selves wish to be represented, but in that plain and 
 intelligible garb, that a scrupulous adherence to 
 truth and fact, and a regard for strict impartiality, 
 has demanded at his hands. 
 
 FRANCIS WYSE. 
 
 Rathcullin, Waterford, 
 March 28th, 1846.
 
 A ME El C A. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Facilities of communication and of transport to America Ad- 
 vantages of Steam navigation New York and Philadelphia 
 packet ships The several Liners leaving Liverpool, London, 
 &c. Transient vessels to America and British Provinces In- 
 structions in the choice of a vessel, and other preliminary 
 arrangements before going on board Monotony of a life on 
 ship board Particulars of our voyage across the Atlantic 
 Clearing the river Mersey British Channel Western Islands 
 Mother Carey's Chickens A calm, its distressing conse- 
 quences Northern and Southern passage Great Bank of 
 Newfoundland Gulf stream Strange sail Icebergs En- 
 tanglement amongst them Extreme danger Soundings 
 The land Anchor at Staten Island Arrival at New York. 
 
 THE facilities of communication with the continent 
 of North America, are now so frequent, and afford 
 such varied accommodation, that the emigrant, or 
 traveller, can at all times consult his personal con- 
 venience, as well as his pecuniary means, in selecting 
 such description of vessel, as also such port in Eng- 
 land as he would wish to sail from. The great and 
 extraordinary improvements in steam navigation, 
 that have marked the last three or four eventful years, 
 in the naval history of the world, have determined, 
 within this period, the long doubted question of the 
 practicability of navigating the Atlantic by this 
 
 VOL. I. B
 
 Z FACILITIES AND ADVANTAGES 
 
 means : what was, but a short time ago, only attain- 
 able by the laborious and patient exertion of many 
 weeks, and frequently of months, is now reduced by 
 this extraordinary effort of man's genius, to the 
 certainty of a comparatively few days. Nations, here- 
 tofore distant in their geographical position, have been 
 brought into close affinity to each other, and a rapid 
 and increased interchange of mind, as of merchan- 
 dise, amongst the first of its beneficial consequences. 
 Steam ships of the first class, with accommodations 
 of a very superior order, now sail at stated periods, 
 under the British flag, from the ports of Liverpool 
 and Bristol, making the outward passage to New 
 York in about sixteen or eighteen days ; the return 
 voyage in about thirteen or fourteen. Besides these 
 opportunities, the emigrant, or traveller will find at 
 Liverpool, regularly appointed sailing packets, clear- 
 ing for New York, every six or eight days in suc- 
 cession, throughout the year, including the winter, 
 as the summer months ; the outward passage aver- 
 aging from thirty, to thirty-five days ; with several 
 other vessels of a large class, increasing the oppor- 
 tunity to almost a vessel daily. Packets also leave 
 this port for the city of Philadelphia, on the eighth 
 and twentieth of every month ; besides various 
 traders, 43 ritish, as well as American, to the ports of 
 Boston, Baltimore, Charleston, New Orleans, as also 
 in the summer season, to Quebec, and other parts 
 of the British American possessions. Regular, and 
 equally efficient, and well appointed packet ships, 
 leave the port of London at stated periods for New
 
 OF STEAM NAVIGATION. 
 
 York, touching at Portsmouth, from whence they 
 usually make their departure, on the third day of 
 their appointed sailing from London. There is also 
 a regular succession of first class vessels sailing from 
 Bristol and Hull in England ; Greenock in Scot- 
 land ; and Belfast and Londonderry in Ireland. 
 These latter are mostly intended for steerage passen- 
 gers, while the cabin accommodation, though not 
 equal to the steam packets, or regular New York 
 liners, is nevertheless good. 
 
 But the competition is now between the steamers, 
 and the old established sailing packets ; the former 
 presenting inducements beyond all others to the 
 merchant, or man of business, to whom the saving 
 of time is essential above every other consideration. 
 The line lately started by Mr. Cunard, and chartered 
 by the British Government to convey the North 
 American and United States mail, from Liverpool 
 to Boston, calling at Halifax, Nova Scotia, to land 
 and take up passengers, both going and coming, and 
 for which this enterprising individual is paid fifty-five 
 thousand pounds sterling per annum, are certainly 
 very superior vessels, evidencing the superiority 
 of British skill and workmanship in the construction 
 of steam machinery, beyond any other nation in the 
 world. The accommodations in both description of 
 vessels are unquestionably of the highest order. 
 Their cabins are fitted up with exceeding taste, and 
 almost without reference to their original cost. The 
 stores, and general living provided on board, is always 
 of the best that can be had, and may be said to equal the
 
 4 AMERICAN LINERS. 
 
 accommodation of a first-rate English hotel. Were 
 we, however, left to our own judgment to make choice 
 of the description or class of vessel we should sail in, 
 without control or limit as to time, we should 
 unquestionably select the American liner or packet 
 ship, above all others ; though in this we speak 
 against British enterprise, and the interest of our 
 countrymen, who have lately and largely embarked 
 in steam undertaking. We should certainly feel 
 more satisfaction on board of one of these vessels, as 
 appearing to our judgment by far the safest, and 
 most sea- worthy, and from their construction and 
 peculiar build, far better calculated to contend with 
 the severe and boisterous weather generally met 
 with, no matter at what season of the year, in a voy- 
 age across the Atlantic. Independent of the casual- 
 ties incidental to machinery, however perfect its 
 construction, or the dread contingency of fire, that 
 on board ship will seldom admit of escape ; super- 
 added to this, the disagreeable tremulous motion, 
 occasioned by the monotonous and ceaseless action of 
 the engine the offensive and nauseating smell of the 
 steam, inducing sea-sickness in the stoutest heart, 
 even with the fullest predetermination to resist its 
 influence ; added to which, the generally murky and 
 sooty condition of all on board, occasioned by the 
 smoke, and other escape from the funnel, that with 
 a head-wind, or without any wind, dispenses its 
 favours on all around, precluding the enjoyment of 
 the least satisfactory recreation on deck, or that 
 necessary exercise, so essential to the preservation of
 
 THE PRINCIPAL PACKETS. 
 
 health on shipboard. For these reasons, and notwith- 
 standing the numerous other vessels offered to the 
 emigrant, or traveller to select from, we would un- 
 hesitatingly recommend the New York packet ship, 
 if suited to his means, as by far the most eligible ; and 
 to take shipping from the port of Liverpool, rather 
 than from any other in the United Kingdom. Here 
 it is impossible that he can ever meet with disappoint- 
 ment, or the least difficulty in securing such accom- 
 modation as will answer his convenience, or that his 
 pecuniary resources will admit of ; without the risk 
 of being detained by frequent postponements, beyond 
 the usual or appointed day for sailing, except that 
 the weather should chance to be so boisterous as to 
 make it imprudent to venture out to sea. The prin- 
 cipal line-of-packets that leave this port for New 
 York are : 
 
 First, The Old, or Blackball line ; which consists 
 of eight first-class ships, and distinguished at sea by 
 a large black ball painted on their fore-top-sails. 
 
 Second, or the Star line ; composed of four 
 superior vessels, and known at sea by a large star 
 painted on their fore-top-sail. 
 
 Third, or the Swallowtail line ; also composed of 
 four first-class vessels distinguished by the swallow- 
 tailed shape of the flag, which they usually carry at 
 their mast-head. 
 
 Fourth, or Dramatic, has only been a very short 
 while established, numbering four of the finest first- 
 class ships that leave the port of New York, 
 
 These vessels, which are unequalled by the mer-
 
 6 FARE AND ACCOMMODATION. 
 
 chant ships of any other nation in the world, are 
 nearly of the same class, admeasuring from five to 
 eight, and eleven hundred tons register. They are 
 all American build, coppered and copper fastened ; 
 and sail under the American flag, although a large 
 amount of British capital is said to be invested in 
 them. They are mostly new ships, built for this 
 express trade ; sail remarkably fast, and are com- 
 manded by able and experienced seamen. The cabin 
 fare from Liverpool to New York, for every accom- 
 modation, including wines, &c. has lately been 
 reduced, and is now generally set down at thirty 
 guineas . The steamers charging thirty-eight guineas 
 without wine, and five guineas less, on the return 
 voyage to Liverpool ; in consequence of the less time 
 that a vessel usually takes, from the generally pre- 
 vailing winds, in crossing the Atlantic from the west- 
 ward. This sum is paid at the time of agreeing for 
 the passage. The accommodation also comprises a 
 separate cabin, or sitting-room for ladies, with neatly 
 furnished state-rooms attached, apart from the other 
 passengers ; with a communication opening into the 
 general saloon or dining-room. The entire arrange- 
 ment is exceedingly convenient, neat and well fitted 
 up, as well displaying good taste, as very superior 
 workmanship. There is also, belonging to the cabin, 
 a neat selected library, of modern English, and 
 French standard works ; and which seldom fails to 
 beguile many a tedious hour on the passage. Steer- 
 age passengers are also well provided at reasonable 
 rates in these vessels, but are compelled to find them-
 
 TRANSIENT VESSELS. 7 
 
 selves in everything of sea store, except water and 
 fuel ; taking with them six weeks provisions before 
 they are allowed on board. Their passage money 
 must also be paid before they are permitted to em- 
 bark. 
 
 The packets to Philadelphia, also those from 
 London to New York, will be found fully equal in 
 their general accommodation to those sailing from 
 Liverpool to the latter port. The passage money to 
 Philadelphia is generally less by five pounds than to 
 New York. Still we should hesitate to recommend 
 this route, even to those intending on their arrival 
 in the United States to travel south : as in the first 
 place, the voyage from Liverpool to Philadelphia 
 is so much longer and tedious, than to New York. 
 The passage up the Delaware, after rounding Cape 
 May, a distance of about one hundred miles, is fre- 
 quently a ten days' or fortnight's work, of the most 
 disagreeable kind ; the scenery is exceedingly flat, 
 of one continued sameness, and by no means inter- 
 esting. 
 
 Independent of these several opportunities, there 
 are frequent others of securing passage to New York 
 and other ports of the Union, by means of transient 
 vessels, and certainly at much less cost than by the 
 regular liners. Many of this class were originally 
 in the packet service, and having run out their usual 
 time, from seven to ten years, were then withdrawn 
 to make way for some new ship. They are usually 
 continued in the Liverpool trade, and though their 
 cabin accommodations are necessarily curtailed, to
 
 8 ROUTE BY QUEBEC. 
 
 enable them to carry larger freights, are nevertheless 
 exceedingly comfortable and eligible vessels, parti- 
 cularly for a family wishing to husband their means, 
 and prevent a useless expenditure in this first outlay. 
 Their charge for cabin passage, providing every 
 accommodation and requisite on board, except wines 
 and spirits, varies from fifteen to twenty-five pounds 
 each. But a family, particularly where there are 
 many children, may, by a special agreement with 
 the captain, secure their transport for a njuch less 
 sum. 
 
 There are also other opportunities of British ships 
 sailing for Quebec and other ports in the British 
 provinces, the passage money varying according to 
 the extent or limit of the vessel's accommodation, 
 which is usually much lower than by American ves- 
 sels to any port in the United States. But we should 
 by no means advise the emigrant, intending to locate 
 himself in any part of the Republic, to take this 
 route, with the hope of an ultimate saving of expense. 
 The ships employed are generally bad, and ill suited 
 for this service ; the way is circuitous, and sometimes 
 dangerous, particularly in the later part of the season, 
 and in the months of April, May, and June, after 
 the ice has broken up in the Saint Lawrence, and 
 more northern latitudes, and which is frequently 
 met floating to the southward, at this season of the 
 year The delays too, after that the emigrant has 
 landed, the long and tedious land and water carriage, 
 and consequent outlay to which he will have to 
 submit, before reaching his destination, should at all
 
 CHOICE OF A VESSEL. 
 
 times deter him from choosing this route, or mode 
 of conveyance ; besides, the general unsoundness of 
 many of the vessels employed in this trade from 
 British ports, the want of skill with which they are 
 often navigated, with the frequent and lamentable 
 sacrifice of human life, which is the consequence, 
 should urge him to consult his own safety, rather 
 than attempt the experiment. By the Custom-house 
 returns, it will appear, that the number of vessels in 
 the British North American trade, lost or missing in 
 the year 1836, was 74; in 1837-51 ; and in 1838 
 101 ; of the whole number that cleared out in 
 these several years, amounting in 1836, to 1,942; 
 in 18371,815; and in 18381,670.* 
 
 Assuming, then, that the emigrant or traveller 
 has selected Liverpool as his port of embarkation, 
 his first duty on arrival will be to ascertain those 
 vessels entered for such port in the United States, 
 as he intends going to ; this he can very easily 
 learn, either by application at the Exchange, or 
 other public rooms from " Gore's list," in which 
 they are usually advertised, or by visiting the Saint 
 George's Docks, where he can possess the further 
 advantage of seeing, and examining each ship for 
 himself. The steerage passenger will particularly 
 require to observe caution in his conduct, and will 
 
 * See Appendix, letter A, for an exceedingly interesting report 
 of the Select Committee, appointed by Parliament, 1839, to 
 inquire into Shipwrecks of Timber Ships, and the loss of life 
 attendant thereon, and to report to the House whether any, or 
 what means can be adopted to reduce the amount thereof in 
 
 future. 
 

 
 10 PRELIMINARY ARRANGEMENTS. 
 
 consult his interest in carefully avoiding all inter- 
 course, or other communication with the various 
 agents who swarm the wharfs, and public places, and 
 who are always ready to tender their services, pro- 
 fessing to secure passages at a much less rate than 
 at what the emigrant himself may be able to provide 
 one. A little reflection must satisfy him, that these 
 men who may be said to act as so many crimps, to 
 deceive and entrap the unwary, cannot live by the 
 mere tender of gratuitous services, but must derive 
 support from some known source. They are 
 usually paid by their employer, some stipulated 
 sum for every passenger whom they thus secure, and 
 from whom they seldom fail to levy further contri- 
 butions. This sum is, of course, to be added to 
 the passage money that the emigrant will have to 
 pay, and which he may just as well save, by doing 
 his own work, and judging for himself. 
 
 Having ascertained what vessels are first for sea, 
 the emigrant, or traveller, should next proceed on 
 board, to make such selection, and determine in 
 what ship he will take passage. In doing this, we 
 would advise his choosing a roomy, airy vessel, as 
 the most eligible. A close crowded cabin, inde- 
 pendent of health, is seldom the most agreeable. 
 He will also learn on going on board all such 
 information as may direct his future movements, the 
 time he should embark, &c. from the captain, who 
 is always ready to attend to every inquiry he may 
 make. This class of men are generally very intelli- 
 gent, and though their address and manners are
 
 SELECTION OF CABIN. 11 
 
 rather tinged with the characteristic bluntness of 
 their profession, are nevertheless of gentlemanly 
 deportment, and are seldom wanting in their exer- 
 tions to please, and accommodate themselves, when- 
 ever consistent with their duty, to the wishes, and 
 frequently to the whims and caprices of their 
 passengers. There are, however, some few excep- 
 tions in the list, some " hard cases" amongst them ; 
 and these we would earnestly advise the emigrant 
 and traveller by every possible means to avoid. 
 Much of the comfort or unpleasantness of his 
 passage will depend upon the man with whom he 
 may sail. We speak advisedly, from having had 
 the ill fortune in our outward voyage to fall in with 
 one of this class of illiterate, untutored " Down- 
 easters,"* the very extreme of incivility and coarse- 
 ness. The consequence was made apparent in the 
 very limited number of his cabin passengers, who 
 were restricted to five only. 
 
 Having made such choice, if a cabin passenger, 
 we should recommend his selecting as the most 
 eligible state room, or sleeping cabin, the one 
 furthest removed from the general gangway, or 
 passage, but as near midships, or the middle of the 
 vessel as possible. So should we recommend the 
 steerage passenger, as the motion or heaving of the 
 
 * The familiar designation by which the vessels, or captains of 
 ships belonging to, or trading from the North-eastern ports in 
 the United States are always known, who are generally more 
 homespun and made up of harder materials, than from other 
 parts of the Union.
 
 12 SEA STOCK. 
 
 ship is less felt in the centre than at the bow or stern, 
 or indeed in any other part of the vessel: an early 
 application on board for this purpose will be neces- 
 sary, in order to prevent disappointment, particularly 
 by the steerage passenger, if a married man, who 
 from thus making an early choice, may secure such 
 accommodation for his wife and family as the nature 
 of the circumstances will admit of. Whenever 
 many families embark in the same vessel, they will 
 materially consult their comforts, by being as near 
 as possible together. The necessity of such applica- 
 tion is the more obvious from the laws of the United 
 States of the 2nd March, 1819, in force for the 
 better regulating the number of passengers in all 
 such cases.* 
 
 Having selected a proper vessel marked his 
 berth, and paid his passage money, for which the 
 emigrant or traveller should be particular in taking 
 a receipt, the next matter he has to consider, if a 
 steerage passenger, is, the choice of a sea stock. He 
 may expect that for the first few days he will suffer 
 from the influence and effects of sea-sickness, as also 
 his wife and children, should he have any on board, 
 rendering him unequal to much exertion. It may 
 be well to provide against this most distressing 
 period of the entire voyage, with a small supply of 
 
 * As the proper observance of this Act will very materially 
 conduce to both the comfort and health of the passengers on 
 board, and as its provisions are too frequently broken through 
 its objects sacrificed to the avarice and cupidity of the owners, 
 or charter party, we give a copy thereof in the Appendix (letter B) 
 which it were well that every emigrant should understand.
 
 LUGGAGE. 13 
 
 cold meat, and fresh bread, which he will find a 
 useful auxiliary to what should be his usual sea 
 store, of tea, coffee, biscuits, two or three small 
 hams, with potatoes ; and should he have children 
 on board, some oatmeal, and molasses, or treacle ; 
 as also soap and candles. The quantity to be pro- 
 vided must altogether depend on the number of his 
 family their respective ages, as also the port to 
 which he intends sailing; allowing, in the usual 
 emigrant vessels, six weeks as the average passage 
 to New York seven weeks to Philadelphia, and 
 eight weeks to Baltimore. 
 
 Cleanliness, so very essential to health, is above 
 all things recommended. But this is always insisted 
 on by the captain, especially on board of American 
 vessels. A responsible part of the first mate's duty 
 is to see that all " 'tween decks," is kept in a whole- 
 some and healthy state, and properly fumigated, 
 at least once in each week, particularly in the warm 
 and summer season. Windsails are always pro- 
 vided, which create a free circulation of air " fore 
 and aft," and materially add to the health and com- 
 fort on board. 
 
 We should be unwilling to advise the emigrant, 
 embarking for the United States, encumbering him- 
 self with any quantity of household furniture. 
 This, he will find on arrival, can not only be pur- 
 chased much cheaper, but of equally good materials 
 and workmanship ; and if particular in such matters, 
 of the latest London and Parisian fashions : besides, 
 should he take any with him, he will run conside-
 
 14 INVESTING MONEY. 
 
 rable risk in its being damaged on ship-board, 
 which is sometimes difficult to prevent, even with 
 the greatest care and attention to packing, and 
 stowing away. But this recommendation does not 
 extend to wearing apparel, particularly woollens, 
 and the finer cotton fabrics, as well as various 
 articles of household economy, that may be pur- 
 chased cheaper in England, than in America ; and 
 with which the emigrant would do well to provide 
 himself before going on board. We shall endeavour 
 in its proper place to give such a detail of prices of 
 most articles of general use, as will enable him to 
 determine on such as it will be his interest to bring 
 with him. 
 
 In taking out money to the States, the emigrant, 
 or traveller, will find it his interest, instead of en- 
 cumbering himself with specie, on which it were 
 probable he would sustain a loss on arrival, to re- 
 tain such sum only as he might require for his 
 immediate necessary expenses, either in Spanish 
 dollars or sovereigns, and invest his remaining funds 
 with some respectable house or mercantile firm in 
 Liverpool, with connections, or a branch establish- 
 ment in New York, on which he will receive 
 duplicate orders for whatever sum he may so 
 lodge, to be paid to him on presenting such order, 
 with a premium, according to the then rate of ex- 
 change, without charge for brokerage or other- 
 wise. Here there is no risk, provided that but 
 common precaution is used in the selection of the 
 house ; no difficulty, or inconvenience, whilst every
 
 BILLS OF EXCHANGE. 15 
 
 accident is carefully guarded against, by leaving the 
 duplicate bill in the hands of some friend in Eng- 
 land, who will be enabled to recover the amount 
 thereof, in the event of shipwreck, capture, or other 
 casualty. 
 
 Bills of exchange on America, bearing interest, 
 may also be had both in London, and Liverpool. 
 But we should feel some reluctance in recommend- 
 ing to the emigrant, for the trifling consideration of 
 a few days interest, somewhat lessened by the de- 
 duction of brokerage fees from the amount, to 
 appropriate his money after this mode ; we should 
 rather caution him against the allurement offered to 
 him by the assurance of foreign money brokers, 
 mostly Jews, who are always ready to represent the 
 great advantages he will derive by adopting this 
 course, or taking out specie with him, instead of in- 
 vesting his money in the manner we have pointed 
 out. 
 
 With these remarks and general instructions, 
 the emigrant, or traveller, may now very safely pro- 
 ceed on board, and peaceably reconcile himself to 
 the many little inconveniences that a life on ship 
 board generally brings with it. If never before at 
 sea, he will very possibly find sufficient in the 
 voyage both to gratify and instruct, and will have 
 ample opportunity, before reaching the shores of the 
 New World, to consider and lay down such plans as 
 may be necessary to regulate and guide his future 
 proceedings. 
 
 It is a true, as well as an oft repeated observa-
 
 16 PROSPECTS OF THE EMIGRANT. 
 
 tion, " that there is room for every one in America." 
 Yet the emigrant, who supposes from this that he 
 lias only to reach its shores to cease from all labour, 
 and future exertion, and that he will grow rich 
 without industry and attentive management upon 
 his part to secure a livelihood, will find himself 
 woefully disappointed. The avenues to wealth, 
 are no doubt numerous; but riches, or indepen- 
 dence, are not to be arrived at without a steady and 
 patient effort to attain them. " America is the best 
 country in the world," observes the eminent Frank- 
 lin, " for those who will labour ; they can earn more 
 than any where else. The Government is frugal ; 
 they demand few taxes, so that the labour of the 
 poor man enriches himself, and is not expended on 
 kings and courtiers. The husbandman and me- 
 chanic are in honour here, because their employ- 
 ments are useful. The only encouragements held 
 out to strangers, are a good climate, a good soil, 
 and wholesome air and water ; plenty of provisions, 
 good pay for labour, kind neighbours, a free Go- 
 vernment, and a hearty welcome ; the rest depends 
 on their own industry and economy." As we mean 
 to give these subjects a separate consideration, and 
 shall revert to them in their proper place, we will 
 content ourselves, for the present, in accompanying 
 the emigrant on board his vessel, to superintend his 
 movements, and to direct him in the best course for 
 his future adoption. 
 
 There is at all times a sameness and monotony in 
 a seaman's life on ship board, divesting it of any
 
 LEAVE LIVERPOOL. 17 
 
 peculiar interest, that under ordinary circumstances 
 would induce us to pass over the incidents likely to 
 occur on the outward voyage to New York, and to 
 at once land the emigrant, or traveller, free from 
 bile, ill-humour, and sea-sickness, upon the shores of 
 the Western world. But as he is now about to com- 
 mit himself to an element to which he is probably a 
 stranger, and in seeking to arrive at the same desti- 
 nation, yield himself to the same inconvenience, to 
 which we have already some five or six times sub- 
 mitted, that we are reluctant to abandon him in this, 
 it may be his first journey across the Atlantic, and 
 leave him to mere surmise, as to the difficulties and 
 troubles he is about to encounter. For this reason 
 we submit a short account of our last voyage, and 
 any remarkable incident by which it was dis- 
 tinguished. 
 
 Having arrived at Liverpool, we determined to 
 embark in the first regular packet leaving that port 
 for New York. We lost no time in hurrying through 
 the necessary preliminaries of securing a passage 
 selecting a berth providing letters of introduction 
 exchanging the surplus English money in our 
 
 possession; and on the day of went on 
 
 board the advertised to sail on the following 
 
 morning. The day was propitious, and unusually 
 fine. We quitted our anchorage at 10 o'clock, and 
 left the Mersey amidst all the happy confusion of a 
 vessel preparing for a long voyage, and were towed 
 beyond the floating light in the entrance of the river, 
 by one of the steamers usually employed for this 
 
 VOL. i. c
 
 18 THE SHIP AND CREW. 
 
 purpose. A breeze soon after springing up from the 
 north-west, enabled us before dusk to reach " abreast 
 of the Head," and on the following day, to pass 
 the Tuscar and Hook lighthouses, the first off the 
 Wexford coast, the other at the entrance of the 
 Waterford harbour. On the following morning we 
 had run far out of sight of all land, and had cleared 
 the dangerous and uncertain navigation of the Irish 
 Channel. 
 
 For the next three days we had to contend with 
 light and variable winds, with frequent calms, which 
 prevented our making during, this time any very 
 considerable progress ; we had, however, run down 
 the English Channel, and succeeded in opening a 
 way into the broad Atlantic. The weather was beau- 
 tifully serene and exhilarating, whilst the many ves- 
 sels in the offing, chequered and diversified the scene, 
 and gave buoyancy to our spirits. Tis true that 
 many amongst us were turning their backs on all 
 former friends, and early associations severing those 
 ties which heretofore bound them to country and to 
 home, and seeking, with that inherent restlessness 
 of our common nature, to escape from those ills that 
 lay in their way, to " fly to others they knew not of." 
 
 Our party consisted of five only in the cabin, and 
 but few in the steerage ; we soon became acquainted 
 with each other, and from the exertion that each in 
 the outset made to please, gave an early assurance, 
 as far as other circumstances would admit, of a plea- 
 sant and agreeable passage. 
 
 The ship in which we sailed measured about six
 
 TACITURN CAPTAIN. 19 
 
 hundred tons was American built considered a 
 good sailor, and excellent " sea-boat," with a crew 
 composed of all nations, amounting to eighteen hands, 
 independent of the captain, two mates, the cook, 
 who is a most important personage in these vessels, 
 and two stewards, to attend the cabin, both men of 
 colour : she was only four years off the stocks, was 
 well found in all respects, and admirably fitted for 
 the packet service. 
 
 Our captain was a very young man, only two years 
 in charge of a ship, and though an excellent navigator, 
 and probably a good seaman, was most unsuited, as 
 our fate would have it, to the command of a vessel 
 of this kind. He was sullen, and uncouth, morose, 
 and remarkably taciturn ; and certainly afforded no 
 very pleasing specimen of the American character : 
 we knew him but at meals, whilst even then, no exer- 
 tion could seduce him into good humour, or beguile 
 him into conversation : he lived to himself, and for 
 himself smoking and consuming his hours away, 
 with a cigar for ever in his mouth; and as, we 
 verily believe, forming an exception to the general 
 character of men usually placed in his situation. 
 
 We made a third of our voyage, the entire dis- 
 tance being about 3500 miles, within the first week 
 or eight days, though the weather was exceedingly 
 moderate, and winds variable. The time, after a 
 while, began to hang heavily and wearisome on our 
 hands, as we had neither the usual resources of a 
 cabin library to resort to, or the other opportunities 
 of dispelling ennui by an occasional game of chess, 
 
 c 2
 
 20 WANT OF AMUSEMENT. 
 
 backgammon, &c. for the cabin books, from the 
 most culpable neglect, were either lost or mislaid ; 
 the chess men had shared the same fate ; as also the 
 backgammon board, that at one time had consti- 
 tuted a necessary part of the cabin furniture. All 
 this might be considered of little importance if on 
 shore ; but the dearth of occupation, or rational em- 
 ployment on board ship, (for anticipating we should 
 receive the usual accommodations in all such vessels, 
 we had neglected to have had near at hand any 
 books or other sources of amusement) is always 
 severely felt. As we advanced on our voyage, our 
 stock of anecdote became somewhat exhausted, 
 most of our stories had been twice and oft repeated ; 
 every contrary wind added to our weariness and 
 discontent, each day seeming an interminable length 
 in our existence. But such our fate, was attributa- 
 ble to the want of care, or consideration of our 
 captain ; for all these et ceteras, so necessary to our 
 comfort on ship board, had been carefully provided 
 in the first instance, by the owners, who only require 
 them to be subsequently looked after, and taken care 
 of; and who usually allocate to the captain for this 
 purpose, and the providing the cabin sea store, one half 
 of each passenger's passage money. The emigrant, 
 or traveller, will learn from this, how very much of 
 his comforts on the voyage, will depend upon the 
 man he may chance to sail with, which should cause 
 him to make inquiry before engaging his passage in 
 any vessel. 
 
 We had now reached the latitude of the Western
 
 THE STORMY PETREL. 21 
 
 Islands, and heretofore escaped meeting with any 
 very severe or blowing weather ; nothing, as yet, 
 to test the capabilities of our gallant ship, or excite 
 the apprehensions of the most timid landsman on 
 board; but of this we had not long to congra- 
 tulate ourselves. The Procellaria pelagica, the 
 Stormy Petrel, or as they are more familiarly 
 called, the " Mother Carey Chicken," yet why so 
 named, no one could inform us, were unusually nu- 
 merous and active, skimming to and fro in the 
 ship's wake, for the purpose of picking up any gar- 
 bage that might perchance fall overboard. The 
 appearance of these birds is considered by seamen 
 most portentous, denoting to the mariner, the near 
 approach of some coming storm, and are generally 
 regarded by them with a kind of superstitious 
 awe, or reverence, as embodying, in their belief, the 
 soul, or spirit of some shipwrecked friend, or de- 
 parted messmate. They are almost always on the 
 wing, have never been observed to near the land, 
 generally exchanging to an outward from an home- 
 ward bound vessel ; whilst the place in which they 
 breed, or bring forth their young, has never, we 
 believe, been satisfactorily ascertained.* Their ap- 
 
 * The Petrel has been lately described, in the fifth volume of 
 the Nautical Magazine, as of a rusty brown colour, with some 
 white markings; it has a very peculiar way of holding its head, 
 the bill being kept in nearly a vertical position, probably that the 
 eyes may be better able to survey the surface of the water below 
 it, where the bird derives its food. Although in shape not unlike 
 the Swallow, it has not the Swallow tail the wings are very long, 
 and the feet, except when the bird descends to the surface, are
 
 22 THE STORMY PETREL. 
 
 pearance in such unusual and continued numbers 
 on this occasion, was certainly followed by a severe 
 
 placed in a horizontal line with the tail, which is spread out, the 
 lower feathers of the back and upper part of the tail are white. 
 
 The popular name of Stormy, as a distinguishing prejucct to 
 this bird, has no doubt been given to it on account of its being 
 seen during gales of wind; but it is certainly erroneous to con- 
 sider that its appearance denotes a tempest; with equal propriety 
 may the opinion be fixed upon the gull tribe, for they are as 
 often observed in stormy weather as the other. The Poetasters 
 of all degrees have seized upon this idea, and we find them 
 accordingly introducing the bird as a sort of genie of the tempest; 
 one specimen is sufficient : 
 
 " For I never saw his active fleeting form 
 
 Sweeping with dusky wing the wave, 
 But I marked the tempest's rising storm 
 
 And thought of the seaman's wat'ry grave!" 
 
 In the calmest weather, in fact in all weather, *' blow high or 
 blow low," the Petrel may be seen disporting 
 
 " O'er the glad waters of the dark blue sea." 
 
 From pole to pole it is, par excellence, the " bird of the deep." 
 It has no local " habitat," but its tribe is spread over the whole 
 aqueous portion of the globe, and it is probable, though the 
 fact has never been ascertained, that it frequents the rocky and 
 uninhabited isles, to lay its eggs and rear its young. There are 
 several varieties of the Petrel, some much larger than others, 
 but whether they are migrant or confine themselves to certain 
 latitudes, has not yet been satisfactorily ascertained. Sailors 
 have strange notions that this bird, in the fashion of the mar- 
 supial quadrupeds, has a sort of pouch or bag under the wing 
 wherein she deposits her eggs; and considering that she never 
 alights on land, but is constantly, in the strictest sense, an inha- 
 bitant of the air, they imagine that the young are there hatched 
 and matured." 
 
 This supposition has been lately contended against by Lieut. 
 Williams, R. N., in a communication to the editor of the Nautical 
 Magazine, noticing the foregoing, in which he has endeavoured
 
 A HEAVY GALE. 26 
 
 and heavy gale of wind, which shortly after set in 
 with considerable force from the south-west, and 
 continued with unabated violence for near twenty- 
 four hours in succession. Our only casualty on 
 board was a foretopsail, in an attempt to close reef 
 it to the yard ; and beside the severe rolling, and 
 other heavy motion of the vessel, with an occasional- 
 sea that washed our decks, suffered no other incon- 
 venience. The gale, as is sometimes usual, was 
 succeeded by a calm, and variable weather, which, 
 much to our annoyance, and general discomfort, 
 
 to explain what has heretofore remained in incertitude and doubt. 
 The following are the gallant Lieutenant's own words : 
 
 " MOTHER CAREY'S CHICKENS. 
 
 " Sir, At page 330 of your April number (of 1836) an allusion 
 is made to these extraordinary birds, and the writer says that 
 although the fact has never been ascertained, they are supposed 
 to frequent rocky and uninhabited isles to lay their eggs and 
 rear their young. I am happy to be able to bear testimony to 
 the fact, that they do frequent such isles for the above purpose. 
 
 " While employed on the coast of Newfoundland, in the year 
 1827, we had occasion to moor a small vessel I was in charge of, 
 off Wadham Cove. The island which forms it is very small and 
 rocky, with here and there a little soil, on which there is gene- 
 rally nothing but a species of grass. But we found the place 
 completely occupied by sea-fowl. Soon after sunset there 
 appeared to come out of the ground, a great number of Mother 
 Carey's Chickens, and, supposing that they had nests there, we 
 immediately commenced a search for them. We were not long 
 in discovering that these birds made holes in the ground to lay 
 their eggs in, which generally consisted of three or four. The 
 mouth of the hole was invariably just large enough to admit 
 one bird at a time, and the stench proceeding from it was very 
 offensive, we were also much disturbed I remember by their noise 
 at night."
 
 24 EFFECTS OF THE SWELL. 
 
 continued for several successive days. We were, 
 however, sometimes amused by the numerous 
 whales, sharks, and merry porpoises, in their wanton 
 tricks playing around, frequently so near, as almost 
 to touch the vessel's side. We had also frequent 
 opportunities of seeing, and indeed of examining the 
 nautilus (argonauta), or as seamen usually term 
 them, " Portuguese Men of War," with a variety of 
 other submarine inhabitants, that occasionally sported 
 round the vessel, as she lay becalmed on her wide 
 expansive bed, with her sails indolently flapping to 
 and fro against the mast. 
 
 If there is any situation, save actual shipwreck, 
 in which a vessel may be placed at sea, more truly 
 distressing, and ungrateful to the feelings of those 
 on board, than another, it is surely the calm, that 
 immediately succeeds heavy blowing weather. The 
 swell, that still rolls undisturbed, mocks each effort 
 of man to subdue its influence, and in despite of his 
 authority, continues to disturb the peaceful serenity 
 of all else around, by the violent, and incessant 
 rolling of the unfortunate bark, until every plank 
 and timber in her frame, groans under the inflic- 
 tion. It is frequently the case, especially in the 
 Bay of Biscay, that vessels in the most settled calm, 
 but under the influence of a heavy Atlantic swell, 
 are nearly thrown upon their "beam ends," and 
 otherwise suffer far greater injury, particularly in 
 their spars and rigging, than could result from the 
 severest storm. 
 
 There are two understood routes from the British
 
 THE GULF STREAM, 25 
 
 Channel to the northern ports of the United States ; 
 one or other of which is selected by the vessels 
 making for this destination, according to the season 
 or time of the year, they may have to cross the 
 Atlantic. These are distinguished amongst seamen 
 as the northern, and southern passage ; the first 
 continuing to the northward of the Gulf stream, in 
 40 to 45 degrees northern latitude, until it crosses 
 the great bank of Newfoundland, as also Saint 
 George's bank on the American coast, which it 
 usually meets in 64 degrees west longitude. 
 
 The Gulf stream, which escapes from the gulf of 
 Mexico, from which it derives its name, by the 
 Floridas, through the old Bahama channel, runs 
 nearly parallel with the east coast of North America, 
 decreasing its velocity in its progress, from three 
 knots per hour ; at the same time extending its 
 width, as it proceeds to the northward, and verging 
 to the southward of the great bank of Newfoundland, 
 is joined by the arctic current from Bherring and 
 Davis Straits, which diverts its course to a south- 
 easterly direction. Its breadth is supposed fifty miles 
 on the American coast ; off Charleston it is probably 
 sixty miles ; off Cape Hatteras, near ninety ; and 
 off the Capes of Virginia, from one hundred to one 
 hundred and twenty ; and extends to about one 
 hundred and sixty leagues at the Azores. After 
 passing Gibraltar, Madeira, &c. it unites with the 
 tropical current, passes through the Caribbean sea, 
 and again falls into the gulf of Mexico, after running 
 a circuit of near fifteen thousand miles.
 
 26 THE SOUTHERN PASSAGE. 
 
 It was formerly supposed that this current was 
 principally occasioned by the Mississippi, and other 
 giant rivers of western America, that flow into 
 the Mexican gulf. But this opinion is now exploded, 
 and has given way to the received notion, that it is 
 altogether produced by the trade winds, that, blow- 
 ing continually from the eastward, in the latitude 
 of the tropics, propel a vast body of the water of 
 the Atlantic, to the north-eastern coast of South 
 America, and passing the West India islands, is 
 forced along the shores of Caraccas, Carthagena, &c, 
 into the Bay of Honduras, and subsequently escaping 
 through the narrow pass between Cape Cartouche 
 on the continent, and Cape Saint Antonio on the 
 island of Cuba, enters the gulf of Mexico, and unites 
 itself in its further progress with the waters of the 
 Mississippi. 
 
 The other, or southern passage to the United 
 States, crosses this stream, or great " oceanic river," 
 as it is sometimes called, first in its progress to the 
 south-east, and running for a considerable distance 
 almost parallel to its southern boundary, again 
 crosses it within about eighty leagues of the coast of 
 America. 
 
 Vessels sailing by the northern passage, though 
 exposed to much blowing weather, generally make 
 the quickest run. The distance, too, is somewhat 
 shorter. Our captain selected this route, regardless 
 of its difficulties, and particularly of the ice, that at 
 this time had broken up to the northward, and was 
 known to have drifted in very considerable quantities
 
 STRANGE SAIL. 27 
 
 by the arctic current across the bank of Newfound- 
 land. He affected to despise all notion of attendant 
 danger ; though it had become a matter of notoriety 
 before our leaving Liverpool, that an unusual number 
 of icebergs had already been met with by homeward- 
 bound vessels, deterring many others, proceeding on 
 the outward voyage, from selecting this route. 
 
 Several days had now passed by, without any 
 remarkable incident taking place to divert the scene 
 from its usual monotony. We had sometimes a fair 
 wind to cheer the prospect of a speedy release, and 
 termination of our voyage, but in general had to 
 contend with strong westerly winds, against which 
 it was difficult to make much head way. A vessel 
 was now and again descried from the mast head ; 
 sometimes visible from the deck. Those astern were 
 soon lost sight of, whilst our superior sailing gene- 
 rally enabled us to come up with any that might be 
 discovered a-head. The coming-up-with and hail- 
 ing a vessel at sea is always a joyous occurrence, 
 and exhilarating to all on board. It in a manner 
 brings us back to the world, to a communion with 
 our species, and dissipates for a while the feeling of 
 solitude and utter loneliness, that frequently seizes upon 
 the mind when at sea ; independent of the curiosity 
 to which it gives rise, in the minds of all, to discover 
 the name and character of the stranger the nation 
 under the protection of whose flag she is proceeding 
 on her way. But our captain seldom felt any 
 anxiety on this head ; and, if that a half quarter of 
 a mile might bring us within hailing distance of a
 
 28 APPROACH THE NEWFOUNDLAND BANK. 
 
 strange sail, would rather avoid, than encourage 
 such approach. 
 
 After experiencing two or three severe gales, which 
 are somewhat usual in crossing by the northern 
 passage, we now approached, with a fine easterly 
 breeze, the outward, or eastern skirt of the New- 
 foundland bank. The weather, for two or three 
 previous days, continued unusually fine ; the tem- 
 perature, however, subject to frequent variation ; the 
 thermometer having fallen, within the short space of 
 twenty-four hours, from 64 to 40 degrees, the 
 water to the temperature of 38 of Fahrenheit. The 
 evenings set in with unusual chill, accompanied by 
 heavy dense fogs, which prevented the possibility of 
 distinguishing the ship's length from the deck. It 
 was very evident that this sudden transition both in 
 weather and temperature of the sea, must have pro- 
 ceeded from some unusual, though defined agency 
 acting on both, which might with great propriety be 
 attributed to the icebergs supposed to be in our im- 
 mediate vicinage. The wind, as observed, was fair 
 from the eastward, which proved a far too powerful 
 incentive to our captain to " push a-head," rather 
 than adopt the advised course, of shortening sail at 
 nightfall ; or the more prudential one of heaving the 
 vessel to. But the character of his ship, and his own, 
 in a great measure, depended upon the quickness 
 and despatch with which he might make the passage. 
 He was, in consequence, deaf to all remonstrance, 
 and callous to every approach of danger that did not 
 appear imminent. The advantages resulting from
 
 " ICEBERGS A-HEAD." 29 
 
 a few hours fair wind, outweighed every other con- 
 sideration, and set at nought the perils that hovered 
 near. Every other eye was strained on the look out, 
 until at length about four o'clock P.M. of the second 
 day of our watching, all surmises were set at rest by 
 the man at the mast-head calling out, as he hailed the 
 quarter-deck " Icebergs a-head." A very natural 
 curiosity soon rallied our entire party on deck, and 
 for a while put an end to every other association in 
 our minds. A short run of about two hours brought 
 us near to this northern visitant, in order to avoid 
 which, we were compelled to alter our course two 
 and a half points to the northward. A second and 
 soon a third, hove in sight ; while, before sunset, we 
 could plainly distinguish eleven large islands, besides 
 several smaller ones, from the quarter-deck. 
 
 The appearance of these moving mountains, re- 
 flecting each shade of the evening's sun, as we passed 
 them in succession, was exceedingly beautiful. We 
 supposed them to have been from one hundred and 
 twenty, to one hundred and sixty feet above the sea 
 level, while two-thirds of their actual size lay buried 
 beneath the water ; stretching out to an unusual 
 width at every side, and forming reefs over which 
 the sea dashed with very considerable force. Their 
 shape or form, as well as size, is subject to continued 
 change, which is the more rapid, as they advance to 
 the southward. Our providentially falling in with 
 them, at the hour they first hove in sight, was of for- 
 tunate occurrence ; for if they had escaped observa- 
 tion till after dark, no human foresight could have
 
 30 SUDDEN ALARM. 
 
 saved the vessel from destruction ; as when dis- 
 covered, we were, what seamen term, " running free," 
 with a fine nine knot breeze, stem on to the first 
 descried, while the second, and third, lay a little 
 further on, the one on our larboard, and the other on 
 our starboard-bow. Though the wind still continued 
 fair, our captain, who at length appeared somewhat 
 conscious of his position, adopted on this night the 
 precaution of shortening sail, which was the more 
 necessary, as the evening had set in with an unusually 
 dense fog, intercepting all look-out from the vessel. 
 Beset as we now were on all sides, without know- 
 ing which way to turn, our situation seemed too 
 precarious to induce a very peaceful night's rest. 
 The ship continued to roll on at the lazy rate of four 
 knots, under single-reefed top-sails ; the stillness 
 being occasionally interrupted, by the bounding and 
 splashing of the porpoises, on either side, as well as 
 the grampus which sometimes neared the vessel, 
 disgorging water almost upon our deck. As the 
 morning approached, the wind fearfully increased ; 
 but as the day appeared it dispelled all apprehension. 
 The light however had scarcely beamed, when our 
 attention was aroused by an unusual noise, and a 
 clatter on deck, the vessel leaning heavily to the 
 breeze, and which strange uproar we found some 
 difficulty in reconciling as being caused by the usual 
 morning's work, of adjusting and trimming the 
 sails, washing decks, &c. We in part hastily dressed 
 and rushed on deck, where all was in the most 
 alarming, and seemingly inextricable state of con-
 
 DANGEROUS SITUATION. 31 
 
 fusion. The top-sail-haulyards, preparatory to close- 
 reefing the sails, were already let go ; the sails 
 flapping with a boisterous fury to and fro ; while 
 the numerous ropes, disengaged from their usual 
 fastenings, kept swinging through the air at each 
 motion of the vessel, as if discharged from all 
 further office. The seamen, apparently under no 
 control, kept running fore and aft in the wildest 
 alarm, uncertain where to lend their aid, or where 
 such could avail ; whilst the captain, whose presence 
 of mind had nearly forsaken him, seemed immove- 
 able, and riveted to the deck on which he stood. 
 " What's the matter," we eagerly inquired " what's 
 the matter?" "Look! Look!" replied the cap- 
 tain, with a tremulous anxiety, as he pointed to the 
 ship's lee bow, where amidst the haze we now clearly 
 distinguished a large island of ice, towering almost 
 perpendicular above our reckless vessel, from which 
 there appeared no hope or prospect of escape, with 
 several small icebergs to windward and around. 
 There was certainly no time for deliberation ; our 
 first object was to apprise our unconscious fellow- 
 travellers of the extreme danger of their situation : 
 having done so, and secured whatever papers were 
 of any value, we again immediately reached the deck, 
 to assist wherever our services could avail, or to 
 await whatever other fate might now betide us. 
 
 But the squall, which was unusually severe, and 
 accompanied by a shower of cold sleety rain, had 
 now in part blown over ; and in its progress had 
 given a sudden and very unexpected change to the
 
 32 PROVIDENTIAL ESCAPE. 
 
 wind, by means of which alone, under Divine Pro- 
 vidence, we fortunately escaped the most imminent 
 danger, and very probably a fate, that has overtaken 
 many as gay and well trimmed a vessel, as the one 
 in which it was our fortune on this occasion to cross 
 the Atlantic. Having thus altered our course, and 
 miraculously escaped this large iceberg, with nume- 
 rous others in its vicinity, all hands were employed 
 in setting the ship to rights ; while, favoured by a 
 further slant of wind, we had nearly cleared the 
 several islands by sunset, and on the following day 
 found ourselves considerably to the westward of the 
 Newfoundland bank, with its usually disagreeable 
 and murky fog. 
 
 The storms we had passed, were as usual succeeded 
 by a calm, with occasional light breezes from the 
 north-west. We had now been one month together 
 on board; sufficient time, in all good reason, to 
 become acquainted with each other our good and 
 amiable qualities for of foibles, or imperfections, 
 we, of course, had none : yet were we weary of each 
 other, and almost of ourselves. In proportion as we 
 lessened our distance, and neared the American shore, 
 our anxiety, and I might almost add our discontent 
 increased. In truth we were heartily tired of our 
 confinement, and sighed for a release. At length, 
 about noon, on the thirty-fourth day of our depar- 
 ture from Liverpool, we made soundings, for the 
 first time, in thirty-six fathoms, on the south-east 
 point of Saint George's bank, 41 19' north latitude, 
 67 45' west longitude ; and on the third day sue-
 
 LAND DESCRIED. 33 
 
 ceeding, descried the land, Long Island, bearing by 
 compass N. w. by N. sixteen miles. On the following 
 morning the high lands of Nave-Sink, or as they are 
 more commonly called " Never -Sink" greeted our 
 arrival and bid us welcome. The wind was fair, 
 blowing dead upon the land ; the ship going near 
 ten knots through the water : but yet no pilot boat 
 to point the way, or to assist us to our long expected 
 and eagerly looked-for port. We passed in quick 
 succession, two or three other homeward-bound ves- 
 sels, lying- to afraid to venture in without assist- 
 ance, and very soon after opened the entrance of the 
 harbour, the navigable part of which is exceedingly 
 narrow. Still no pilot at hand, or within view, to 
 help or guide us to our anchorage, which made it a 
 matter of some uncertainty with the captain, whether 
 to run the chance of being again driven out to sea, 
 or upon the coast, or attempt upon his own respon- 
 sibility the dangerous passage across the bar ; the 
 risk, it appears, was great the occasion no doubt 
 imminent. It was blowing hard upon the shore, and 
 threatening every moment to increase to a gale of 
 wind from the south-east. We at length approached 
 the barrier ; still no pilot, or hope of meeting one ! 
 There was now but little time for deliberation, and 
 our captain, having calmly surveyed the different 
 land marks, and attentively examined his charts, 
 determined, coute qui coute, to risk his own, and the 
 vessel's fate, and try the passage. He deserved 
 better; for we had scarcely run on for twenty 
 minutes longer, when the vessel struck with very 
 
 VOL. I. D
 
 34 PERMISSION TO LAND. 
 
 considerable force upon the north bank, where she 
 continued until one of the news-boats, connected with 
 one or two establishments of the New York daily 
 press, and who are generally in the offing to meet 
 foreign vessels, or from foreign ports, on arrival, 
 came to our assistance, and through whose timely 
 aid we fortunately soon after succeeded in getting 
 off, without sustaining any very great apparent injury. 
 We anchored on the same day at the quarantine 
 ground, Staten Island, having thus completed the 
 passage from Liverpool in thirty-eight days. 
 
 The scenery in nearing the inner bay and har- 
 bour of New York, particularly after a long and 
 wearisome voyage, is truly beautiful, and of the 
 most grateful and fascinating kind ; the bright and 
 vivid colouring of all around, at this particular 
 season, imparted a vigour and freshness to the 
 scene, that gave new buoyancy and life to all on 
 board. The approach to the inner harbour is 
 strongly fortified and well protected, by several for- 
 midable and newly erected works. 
 
 We had now let go our anchor, furled sails, and 
 were setting all to rights, when a boat from the 
 shore brought on board the officer of customs, with 
 the medical officer of the station. Being fortunate in 
 escaping all kinds of epidemic sickness since our 
 departure from the Mersey, our cabin passengers 
 were permitted to land, with dressing apparatus and 
 change of linen only ; the general luggage not being 
 allowed to go on shore without undergoing a very 
 particular search, and written permit from the
 
 ARRIVAL AT NEW YORK. 35 
 
 Custom House, for which a sum of fifty cents, or 
 about two shillings and twopence is demanded. 
 This first exaction, though of trifling amount, did 
 not serve to give us any favourable impress of the 
 American system of remunerating their public 
 officers, which makes any part of their salary de- 
 pend upon the chance fees, they are thus able to 
 secure from the casual traveller, or more needy 
 emigrant landing upon their shores. As we were 
 naturally anxious to see New York, we secured an 
 early passage in the steamer from Staten Island, 
 from which it is distant about seven miles across the 
 inner bay and harbour, and reached this first and most 
 important of all American cities, about four o'clock. 
 All our cabin passengers being strangers, proposed 
 keeping together, and were soon well accommodated 
 at an excellent hotel, the " Mansion House," out of 
 the noise and tumult of business, though in the 
 immediate vicinage of Wall Street, the Bowling 
 Green, and Battery. 
 
 D 2
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Emigration The necessity of approaching its inquiry with 
 caution Public writers on Emigration to the States Their 
 habitual exaggeration, and fallacy of many of their statements 
 corrected The industrious and prudent only that succeed 
 Of European Emigrants in general The proportionate number 
 of German, Scotch, and Irish, who are successful Of the 
 number of passengers who annually arrive in the United 
 States Individual feeling of dislike in the United States to 
 European Emigrants Native American party Their objects 
 and organization Their late manifesto The published de- 
 claration of their leaders State laws affecting Emigration 
 Tax levied on Emigrants Its un constitutionality The spirit 
 of hostility directed against the European Emigrant in the 
 United States The busy interference of the Irish Emigrant 
 in the politics and local affairs of the country Their strong 
 partisanship, and the prejudice it occasions. 
 
 OF all the means held forth to man for the im- 
 provement, and bettering his fortunes and condition 
 in the world> there is certainly none that requires 
 more serious and calm reflection; none that we 
 should approach with more patient and deliberate 
 inquiry, or regard with more apprehension of its 
 advantages, or ultimate success, than emigration. 
 Whether we consider it with relation to ourselves 
 merely, or those mayhap who may be influenced by 
 our decision and example, or whether with reference 
 to the advantages we are about to surrender for the 
 uncertain, and perhaps the mere imaginary ones we
 
 ON EMIGRATION. 37 
 
 hope to secure by an abandonment of country, and 
 change of home. 
 
 It were indeed an easy matter with those in whom 
 an inherent restlessness of disposition may nurture 
 discontent under every auspices, or to whom for- 
 tune in its capricious mood may have been chary of 
 her favours, to arrive at a conclusion, and promise 
 themselves by the change an immediate improve- 
 ment in their means and worldly circumstances, a 
 sudden realization of the fanciful dreams, created 
 perhaps by the difficulties of embarrassed situation, 
 and who see nothing in the prospective to mar or 
 cloud those anticipations, beyond the impediments 
 in their way to an immediate accomplishment of 
 their purpose. But the path to wealth and inde- 
 pendence in America, is by no means of that easy 
 discovery, that all who seek it may ascertain its 
 course ; or of that generally diffused kind, that all 
 who may reach the shores of the New World, are 
 sure to partake of its advantages. The emigrant, 
 whose indolence of disposition, or whose unhappy 
 and unsettled temper, unfits him in his own country 
 for the successful prosecution of a profitable employ- 
 ment, will very soon find, that the same drawbacks 
 will impede his advancement in the United States, 
 the same difficulties obstruct his progress to inde- 
 pendence, and interrupt his way to wherever he 
 may direct his footsteps. He will find assistance 
 withheld, or only extended to him according to the 
 measure of his own exertions, or general usefulness 
 in the community he is amongst, and his increased
 
 38 ON EMIGRATION. 
 
 wants supplied in proportion only to the efforts he 
 himself may make for their procurement. " 'Tis 
 not every emigrant (says the eminent Franklin) 
 who succeeds ; no, it is only the sober, the honest, 
 and industrious. Happy those whom the transi- 
 tion has proved a powerful spur to prosperity, and 
 to the good establishment of children, born in the 
 days of their poverty, and who had no other por- 
 tion to expect than the rags of their parents, had it 
 not been for their happy emigration. Others, again, 
 have been led astray by this enchanting scene ; their 
 new pride, instead of leading them to the field, has 
 kept them in idleness ; the idea of possessing land 
 is all that satisfies them ; though surrounded by 
 fertility, they have mouldered away their time in 
 inactivity, misinformed husbandry, and ineffectual 
 endeavours." 
 
 It has heretofore been the practice of most writers 
 on Emigration to the United States, to present, 
 beyond the reasonable gain secured to honest indus- 
 try and perseverance (and which will be sure of a 
 reward in every country) further and unreasonable 
 inducements to the settler an assurance of other im- 
 mediate and extended advantages, representing them 
 also of easy acquisition where none are really to be 
 found ; or if that they possess a more than ideal 
 existence, are so placed beyond the emigrant's reach, 
 as to render them at all times of questionable value 
 to him. They present to his imagination, the day- 
 dream of immediate independence and wealth, as 
 already within his grasp, which sustains his hopes,
 
 ON EMIGRATION. 39 
 
 fires his ambition, and leads him on to acts of re- 
 peated indiscretion, until the realities of his situation 
 points out the unexpected difficulties with which he 
 is beset, when there is then no receding from the 
 course he has taken, no mode of retracing the 
 ground he has passed over, or opportunity given to 
 atone to himself, and retrieve the errors he has 
 committed through their means. He is told : "So 
 high are the wages of labour, averaging at least 
 double the rate of England, and quadruple that of 
 France ; so comparatively scanty the population ; 
 so great the demand for all kinds of work ; so vast 
 the quantity, and so low the price of land ; so light 
 the taxes, and so little burdensome the public expen- 
 diture and debt," that " every man in the country is 
 a landowner, and has competence within his grasp." 
 He is also assured by the same authority, re-echoed 
 in every successive period to the present day, 
 " That a small sum of money, the savings of two or 
 three years of an industrious prudent man, will enable 
 him to purchase one or two hundred acres of land ;" 
 and that, " from this cause labourers turn farmers 
 as soon as they have acquired a little property." 
 This is not fair it is not just to the people of other 
 nations. It is not fair, by this and such like extrava- 
 gant and undue colouring this deliberate perversion 
 of simple fact, to excite expectations in the breasts or 
 minds of men, that no reality can approach or hope 
 to come near. Neither is it just for any sinister, or 
 apparently laudable end, to persuade the confiding, 
 and frequently the unfortunate of other countries,
 
 40 ON EMIGRATION. 
 
 to break through the ties of every former association 
 forget the friendship of early or matured years 
 to quit the comforts, if fortunately they have any, of 
 their former homestead, for perhaps the dissonant, 
 uncongenial, and it may be to them, uncomfortable 
 habits of a foreign land, in the vague pursuit of objects, 
 they are told are within their immediate grasp, 
 though in fact far removed beyond the means of their 
 actual attainment. True it is, that there is land in 
 abundance in America ; but surrounded and overrun 
 with those difficulties to its speedy and early recla- 
 mation those natural barriers of a young and un- 
 explored country, that to a poor man is almost 
 insurmountable in his efforts at cultivation. Labour 
 too, is well provided at those particular periods of the 
 year, limited as they are to a few months in the 
 spring and summer season, for which there is any 
 demand, at least in the more laborious out-door 
 occupations, which are those exclusively set apart for 
 the negro, the emigrant, and stranger ; and appro- 
 priated to him, for the sole reason, that no native 
 white American could be found, even at consider- 
 ably advanced wages, to assume their duties ; at the 
 same time that the demands upon the pecuniary 
 resources of the emigrant are multiplied in a ratio 
 fully equal to any increased means he may acquire, 
 which are absorbed by the additional expenditure to 
 which he is exposed in the purchase of those essen- 
 tials that he would heretofore have considered as 
 mere superfluities in his mode of living, but which a 
 change of climate, and the inroad it frequently
 
 ON EMIGRATION. 41 
 
 makes upon European constitutions, has established 
 as of the first necessaries of life ; leaving him at the 
 end of a laborious struggle, with scarcely any better 
 prospects than when he first started ; and certainly 
 without making any very rapid advance in that in- 
 dependence, and increased wealth, which he was so 
 confidently promised as a corollary to his labours at 
 the outset. 
 
 But we must not be supposed from this, to set 
 our face against emigration under every imaginary 
 circumstance, or to close our eyes to the manifest 
 advantages that we have known to result on many 
 occasions from, its adoption. We condemn the 
 deliberate promulgation of opinions for which there 
 is no just foundation ; the confident assurance of fact, 
 with the deductions to be taken from them, that 
 never had existence, as an unworthy device a 
 discreditable mode of influencing the thousands who 
 are induced by such means to give up the certainty 
 of a maintenance, however scanty and parsimonious 
 in its kind in their own country, to trust their 
 fortunes in the precarious and difficult procurement 
 of a mere subsistence in a stranger land, in the 
 confident anticipation of securing by no other than 
 the contracted, the ordinary and adventitious means, 
 the labour to which they were wont in their early 
 years both riches and independence. We condemn 
 that indiscriminate approval, that would hold forth 
 to all classes, the same measure of advantage, the 
 restless and abandoned, as the good and moral 
 citizen the wasteful and extravagant, as the in-
 
 42 COMPARATIVE SUCCESS OF EMIGRANTS 
 
 dustrious and prudent the man of idle and un- 
 certain habits, as the hard-working and persevering 
 artizan, who may confidently expect to find in 
 America, as in any other portion of the world, the 
 full reward of his assiduity and exertions. 
 
 It has been*remarked by a late intelligent writer, 
 whose opportunities of observing has given con- 
 siderable weight to his opinions, " that of the emi- 
 grants from the various countries in Europe, how 
 much wiser the German, than almost all other 
 Europeans. They hire themselves out to some 
 wealthy landsman, and in that apprenticeship, learn 
 every thing that is necessary. They attentively 
 consider the prosperous industry of others, which 
 strongly impresses them with a desire of possessing 
 the same advantages; by dint of sobriety, rigid 
 parsimony, and the most persevering industry, they 
 speedily succeed. The Scotch and Irish do not 
 commonly succeed so well ; for it has been remarked, 
 out of twelve families of each nation who have emi- 
 grated, generally seven Scotch, nine German, and 
 only four Irish will succeed. The Scotch are frugal 
 and industrious, but their wives cannot work so 
 hard as the German women, who share with their 
 husbands the severest toil and labour of the field, 
 which they understand better. The Irish do not 
 succeed so well ; they love to drink and quarrel ; 
 they are litigious, and soon take to the gun, which 
 is the ruin of all industry and saving." 
 
 This we really believe to form a more favourable 
 estimate of the comparative success attending emi-
 
 TO THE UNITED STATES. 43 
 
 gration to the United States, than even that which 
 the facts themselves will warrant. Yet what a tale 
 does it reveal, what a lamentable disclosure does it 
 bring before us the disappointment and wretched- 
 ness entailed on thousands who seeking emigration 
 as a panacea for the many probable and perplexing 
 difficulties of their situation in the world, have with 
 an earnest confidence of success 
 
 " Set their all upon the cast," 
 
 and embarked their fortunes in the chance attain- 
 ment of a mere and precarious subsistence. 
 
 From the last report of the Secretary of State 
 made to Congress in 1837, it will appear that the 
 number of passengers who arrived in the United 
 States from foreign countries during the preceding 
 year amounted to 80,952. 
 
 Of which were Males . . . 51,942 
 
 Females . . . 29,01080,952 
 
 Of these were born in the United States 4,013 
 
 Foreigners . . . . 76,939 
 Of this number there were natives of 
 
 Great Britain and Ireland . 41,792 
 
 British American Colonies . 2,681 
 
 Germany 20,142 
 
 France 4,443 
 
 Prussia ..... 568 
 
 Switzerland .... 445 
 
 Denmark . . 414 
 
 Holland ..... 297 
 
 Mexico . . . . 797 
 
 Texas 698 
 
 Cuba 516 
 
 All other countries . . . 4,146 
 
 Total 76,939
 
 44 PREJUDICE AGAINST EMIGRANTS. 
 
 Of the above were landed at 
 
 New York 
 
 Baltimore ..... 
 
 New Orleans ..... 
 
 Boston ...... 
 
 Philadelphia ..... 
 
 Portland 
 
 Passamaquoddy .... 
 
 All other parts .... 
 
 Total . . 76,939 
 
 The foregoing may be taken as a fair average of 
 other years, from which we deduce that of the 
 whole number of European emigrants from the 
 United States, Great Britain sends out about 
 45,000 annually, or very nearly two-thirds of the 
 entire. Supposing, then, instead of seven in every 
 twelve of Scotch, and four in every twelve of Irish, 
 who constitute at least four-fifths of the whole 
 number of British Emigrants, that half of the entire 
 who emigrate actually succeed, we have the lament- 
 able fact presented to us, of twenty thousand luck- 
 less and disappointed beings annually expatriated 
 from their early homes, and thrown helpless upon 
 the surface of American society, to eke out a 
 wretched and miserable life, and to contend in their 
 humble efforts, as we have often known them to do, 
 against the most malignant prejudices, the most 
 unreasonable hostility of the great mass of the 
 American people. 
 
 To such an extent has this ignoble and ungene- 
 rous feeling against the European stranger been of 
 late carried, that associations have been organized in
 
 " NATIVE AMERICAN" PARTY. 45 
 
 many parts of the republic to give it increased 
 energy and direction, under the name or title of the 
 " Native American" or republican party, and whose 
 acknowledged purpose is, to check emigration, by 
 enforcing a change in the general and municipal 
 laws of the country, as affects strangers, withholding 
 from them many of the political privileges they now 
 exercise, at the same time, controlling, by an almost 
 prohibitory enactment, their arrival in the country. 
 
 This party, which dates its existence as a separate 
 political body from the year 1836 only, is daily 
 acquiring new strength from its increased numbers, 
 and more perfect organization, and is commended 
 to the popular feeling by the jealous apprehension 
 in the minds of most Americans, of an undue 
 rivalry of European emigrants upon their own soil, 
 as from other causes, equally as unreasonable and 
 selfish. It has already extended its ramifications 
 throughout various intersections of the country, 
 especially within the eastern, or Atlantic States, 
 where a dearth of population, or paucity of labour 
 seldom exists, to point out the frequent impolicy, or 
 inexpediency of its proceedings ; and within the 
 last and present year, has been able to control 
 many of the municipal elections, especially in the 
 empire city of New York, at all times remarkable in 
 its antipathies, and ill-concealed dislike to the emi- 
 grant stranger. 
 
 Whatever of doubt may have existed as to the 
 purpose of the early formation or designs of this 
 party, they have taken care to dissipate all appre-
 
 46 " NATIVE AMERICAN" MANIFESTO. 
 
 hension on this account from the public mind, in 
 the published manifesto, in which they very clearly 
 set forth the objects of their institution to be as 
 follows : 
 
 1st, " The entire repeal of the present naturali- 
 zation laws, and the prescribing twenty -one years 
 residence as the future limit to which any Foreigner 
 shall be admitted to the rights of citizenship." 
 
 2ndly, " The withholding from all Foreigners at 
 all times, and under all and every circumstances, 
 the right to be appointed to office to legislate 
 administer or execute the laws of the country." 
 
 3rdly, "The repeal of the present common 
 school law, and the re-enactment of the public 
 school law in its stead ; thereby enforcing the intro- 
 duction of the Bible, without ' note or comment,' 
 as an universal school-book throughout the various 
 public schools of the country." 
 
 This latter, though directed against the Roman 
 Catholic population generally, is especially intended 
 to operate against the Irish emigrants and their 
 descendants, and to debar them from the advantages 
 of gratuitous, or public instruction. We cannot 
 forget, that this has been one of the ingredients 
 included in the catalogue of ills of which the Irish 
 Catholic has had to complain in his own country, 
 which heretofore occasioned so much of sectarian 
 and embittered animosity, and which has produced 
 so many dire and lasting consequences in its train, 
 that it is somewhat startling to find the principle 
 attempted to be introduced as a component in
 
 MESSAGE OF THE MAYOR. 47 
 
 American legislation, especially at this period of 
 progressive advancement and civilization, and at the 
 very time that the councils of the British Govern- 
 ment have yielded to the necessity of a more 
 enlarged and liberal observance, in its efforts to 
 dispense universal instruction amidst this portion of 
 her population. 
 
 The public declarations of the avowed leaders of 
 this party breathe the same spirit of malevolence 
 and dislike to the foreign emigrant, and which we 
 even find embodied in many of the public records 
 of the country. We may instance, amongst others 
 of a minor note, the official message of the late 
 Mayor of New York (Aaron Clark) to the Common 
 Council of that city, recommending to their adop- 
 tion some more effectual municipal means of abating 
 foreign emigration to this port ; and though we do 
 not recognize in this public declaration a deliberative 
 act of any representative, or public officer of the 
 Federal Administration, to which any other, or 
 foreign Government, may offer exceptions ; we are, 
 nevertheless, constrained to attach very considerable 
 importance to its promulgation, not only as ema- 
 nating from the chief magistrate of the most im- 
 portant commercial, and politically influential city 
 of the republic ; and re-echoing, as it certainly does, 
 the voice of a large majority of the people of these 
 States, but also from the equally important delinea- 
 tion it affords, of the privation and suffering, to 
 which so very many of our confiding fellow country- 
 men have been exposed, in their zealous and simple
 
 48 PUBLIC DECLARATION 
 
 efforts, to realize among strangers in the New World, 
 those anticipations of worldly independence and 
 future gain, which they have failed to secure among 
 their friends in the Old. 
 
 " Hundreds of thousands of the population of por- 
 tions of Europe" (remarks this public functionary), 
 " are in a state of poverty, excitement and wretched- 
 ness the prospect before them very discouraging. 
 The old country has more people than it is conve- 
 nient to support ; and though many of them feel 
 no anxiety to leave their native land, they see others 
 depart ; they read the mixture of truth and fiction 
 by those employed to obtain passengers ; they are 
 assured they can easily return if not suited with the 
 country ; that certain employment, enormously high 
 wages, and almost sure wealth await them. The 
 times being more unpromising in other countries 
 than in our own, they imagine they cannot change 
 for the worse, and hither they come," with the re- 
 sult at which his honour arrives, that, " they cannot 
 fail to be an intolerable burden to them." While 
 he continues : 
 
 " Our streets are filled with the wandering crowds 
 of these passengers, clustering in our city, unac- 
 customed to our climate, without money, without 
 employment, without friends many not speaking 
 our language, and without any dependence for food 
 and raiment, or fireside certain of nothing but 
 hardship and a grave ; and to be received, of course, 
 by no very ardent sympathy by those native citi- 
 zens, whose immediate ancestors were the saviours
 
 AGAINST EMIGRANTS. 49" 
 
 of the country in its greatest peril. Besides, these 
 seem not to hold opinions in harmony with the true 
 spirit of our government. They drive our native 
 workmen into exile, where they must war again with 
 the savage and the wilderness, encounter again the 
 tomahawk and scalping knife, and meet death be- 
 yond the region of civilization and of home. 
 
 " Petitions, signed by hundreds asking for work, 
 are presented in vain. Private associations for re- 
 lief are almost wholly without funds. Thousands 
 must therefore wander to and fro on the face of the 
 earth, filling every part of our once happy land, 
 with squalid poverty, and with profligacy ;" and 
 this effort of native sensitiveness concludes, by the 
 following affectation of sympathy in their assumed 
 wretchedness. 
 
 " It is a mercy to them to keep them where they 
 are, at their own fire-side be it ever so humble, 
 where they will be amongst their relations, and under 
 a government that is bound to take care of them at 
 all hazards." " Labourers are not sought after ; 
 and while we pity the griefs and sorrows of all our 
 fellow-creatures, we cannot deny that a preference 
 in the distribution of charities, as well as place and 
 employment, is due to the descendants of the soldiers 
 of the Revolution, and the heroes and sufferers of 
 the second war for Independence. It was asked by 
 the Father of American liberty ; it has been pro- 
 mised to their sons. It cannot be conceded to aliens, 
 without great indignity to our native and adopted 
 citizens." 
 
 VOL. i. E
 
 50 DELUSION OF EMIGRANTS. 
 
 It is with extreme concern that we are compelled 
 to record these sentiments the admissions delibe- 
 rately made, and put forth under the sanction, not 
 merely of the individual who has vouchsafed the 
 information, but of a large proportion of the Ame- 
 rican public, with whose opinion the sentiments put 
 forward by his honour the Mayor on this occasion 
 are in direct unison. 
 
 There are many no doubt who arrive in the United 
 States, under the unfortunate delusion which this 
 public functionary so justly depicts, expecting to find 
 in this land of promise a solace for every ill, or at 
 least some reasonable encouragement for their industry 
 and individual efforts ; who leave their homes in the 
 belief of an immediate change of circumstances ; and 
 though not of surpassing riches on arrival in the 
 country, take with them willing hearts, ready and 
 anxious to work out their future subsistence ; and 
 reluctant, as we have frequently known them, either 
 to draw upon the benevolent kindness of their trans- 
 atlantic friends, to become burdens on public charity, 
 or applicants for state or municipal favour. If from 
 any casual or unforeseen difficulties they are com- 
 pelled to seek public aid for awhile, or before that 
 they can individually overcome the dislike of the 
 American citizen to give them employment, they 
 have well provided from amongst themselves, and 
 from their own scanty and prescribed means, for the 
 liquidation of whatever of misnamed charitable assist- 
 ance is at any time extended to them ; besides con- 
 tributing a considerable surplus fund to the corporate
 
 TAX ON EMIGRANTS. 51 
 
 revenues of this city, in the tax levied upon each 
 emigrant upon his first landing. It is then impru- 
 dent, and the while ungenerous 'tis even worse than 
 this it is unjust to the individual, as it is injurious 
 to themselves, by an unkindly treatment by means 
 of a petty and discreditable warfare, still carried on 
 against the emigrant, to scare and drive away from 
 their shores a confiding, generous, and hard-working 
 people, that, under a more enlightened and just 
 policy, and freed from the inconvenience of all unrea- 
 sonable interference, might be constituted an acquisi- 
 tion to their national wealth and resources. 'Tis impo- 
 litic in the extreme, apart from other considerations, 
 by means of any narrow or selfish course, to excite 
 and inflame the passions, and sow the germ of early 
 discontent in the minds and breasts of men, who, 
 though of foreign growth, are one day to class as of 
 their fellow-citizens ; and who, from their first landing 
 in the country, are singled out and kept apart, from 
 the mere circumstance of their birth, as a distinct 
 and inferior caste denounced in the degrading voca- 
 bulary of every native American, as unworthy of a 
 more intimate fellowship with him, and in no wise 
 fitted for the enjoyment of that rational freedom and 
 independence, which at another time he claims as of 
 man's inheritance the inborn right of every human 
 being. 
 
 The laws of the State of New York require, " that 
 the captain of every ship or vessel, conveying pas- 
 sengers to the port or city of New York, from any 
 foreign country, or from another State, shall report 
 E 2
 
 52 COMMUTATION. 
 
 the name, last legal settlement, place of birth, age 
 and occupation of such passenger, to the mayor of 
 the city, within twenty-four hours after arrival, under 
 a penalty of seventy -jive dollars for each passenger 
 so neglected to be reported. And that every person, 
 not being a citizen of the United States, arriving in 
 this city with intent to reside, shall report himself 
 to the Mayor, under a penalty of one hundred dollars 
 for neglect in doing so." 
 
 By a further statutory regulation of this State, 
 all shipowners are compelled to give bonds to the 
 corporation, that every passenger brought by 
 them from foreign countries, shall be provided for 
 by them for two years from the time of their first 
 landing, or the captain or owners may compound 
 with the almshouse commissioners by agreement ; 
 this last arrangement is called " Commutation," and 
 is the prevailing practice of late years. 
 
 This sum is not regulated by any fixed rule, but 
 varies indefinitely, according to the caprice, or will 
 of the corporation. It has been ascertained by easy 
 calculation, and the experience of past years, that 
 the positive amount of risk in no year exceeded 
 thirty-three per cent, and then the commutation 
 money did not exceed one dollar per head ; at which 
 sum it continued up to the year 1837, when various 
 exactions, varying from one dollar to six dollars per 
 head, have been unscrupulously exacted from each 
 passenger. 
 
 Besides this tax, there is also another, and equally 
 onerous one, of one dollar per head, that each emi-
 
 HOSPITAL MONEY. 53 
 
 grant is required to pay under the pretext or de- 
 mand of " hospital money." This charge, which is 
 levied on steerage passengers, is doubled in the case 
 of cabin passengers. By reference to the official 
 returns, noticed in a preceding part of this chapter, 
 the reader will perceive that 56,578 emigrants landed 
 in the year to which it refers, at the port of New York, 
 contributing a sum little short of one hundred and 
 twenty-five thousand dollars, at the minimum amount 
 charged, for the support and maintenance, hospital 
 charges, &c. of every chance applicant from amongst 
 them for relief. This sum, which may be considered 
 far under the average of other years, is paid in the 
 above proportion, and in this instance by the emi- 
 grant as a part of his passage money, and exacted 
 from him before that he is permitted to go on board. 
 
 Assuming the ascertained risk at thirty-three per 
 cent, or a sum of about forty-one thousand dollars, 
 there will remain under this modified calculation a 
 surplus sum or revenue of eighty-four thousand 
 dollars that annually finds its way into the city 
 coffers contributed by these " pauper emigrants,'* 
 as they are called, and it is probable, appropriated 
 to pay the salaries of many of the public corporate 
 officers and retainers of this body, who very pos- 
 sibly owe their situations to the virulence of their 
 opposition, and the unsparing, and uncalled-for abuse 
 with which they assail the emigrant, especially of 
 the old country, on every occasion that is presented 
 to them. 
 
 Doubts have frequently arisen as to the constitu-
 
 54 LEGALITY OF THE TAX 
 
 tionality of enforcing these exactions, apart from 
 every other consideration : the positive right of any 
 individual State of the republic to enact and enforce 
 laws, delegating a discretionary power of this kind, 
 so liable to be abused, and that in its practice might 
 be made to operate as a direct and positive interdict 
 of all communication between the seaboard, and 
 other inland portions of the United States, and the 
 free subjects of other nations, in peace and amity 
 with its government. It certainly appears to our 
 thinking, an arrogant assumption of legislative 
 power, on the part of any segment or separate por- 
 tion of the confederacy a right that we contend 
 belongs only, and under its responsibility, to the 
 nation at large a direct and hostile interference with 
 the interests and acknowledged privileges of other 
 States, of which it thus assumes to be the arbiter ; 
 whilst we conceive it to be opposed in its first prin- 
 ciples to the spirit, if not the precise letter of the 
 American constitution, such as we have read it, re- 
 quiring only to be properly and legally tested before 
 the federal tribunals of the country, to be denounced 
 in terms of unqualified condemnation. 
 
 We will not blend with this question the right 
 that every State has to frame laws for its own 
 internal, or municipal government. These are 
 beyond even the claim or just right of remon- 
 strance ; and belong to the people to whom the 
 maintenance and protection of their own rights, so 
 long as they do not infringe on the established 
 rights of others, is in everyway conceded. But the
 
 ON EMIGRANTS. 55 
 
 laws of which the emigrant complains, in this in- 
 stance, are not limited to this extent. They reach, 
 in their more positive control, above the mere do- 
 mestic government of this, or any other State of the 
 republic, and may be extended ad libitum to operate 
 as a positive interdict of all intercourse between the 
 people of other, and European countries, and those of 
 the several States of the New World, beyond the 
 western limit of New York. 
 
 By the 9th section, article 1st, of the Federal Con- 
 stitution, a power is vested in the General Congress, 
 solely to control emigration to the United States, 
 by the imposition of a tax at their discretion, not to 
 exceed ten dollars each person ; but no such autho- 
 rity, we opine, is directly given to any of the 
 individual States, who are bound under the 2nd 
 section, 3rd article, of the same Constitution, to sub- 
 mit in all matters of controversy " between two or 
 more States, between a State and citizens of another 
 State, and between a State and citizens thereof, and 
 foreign States, citizens, and subjects," to the juris- 
 diction of the Federal Government, to be determined 
 by the laws in force under the Constitution. 
 
 Had a severe and onerous tax of this kind been 
 confined to those emigrants who intended to continue 
 residents of the State of New York, there might per- 
 haps be some colour of excuse for the demand ; but 
 there can be no apology for the exaction, when borne 
 in mind, how very few of European emigrants, who 
 annually arrive in this port, remain within the city, 
 or continue subject to its municipal authority, but 
 immediately find their way to the newly settled
 
 56 
 
 RIGHTS OF OTHER STATES. 
 
 western country, and are thus far removed from 
 every remote chance of becoming a burden, either 
 on the bounty, or taxes, of its goodly citizens. 
 
 A two-fold question arises from these demands : 
 the one as immediately relates to the emigrant ; the 
 other, with reference to the generally admitted 
 rights of neighbouring inland States, who are to a 
 considerable extent affected by the imposition. The 
 first, involving the constitutional privileges of any 
 one of the Federal States to interpose by local or 
 municipal laws, and of its mere will in checking 
 emigration to the United States ; or of interfering 
 with the assumed rights, that are at least impliedly 
 and mutually conceded by friendly States, to the 
 citizens or subjects of each respectively, of landing on 
 their soil, and of peaceably sojourning or passing 
 through the territory of the other, to any other ter- 
 minus, or to where perchance their objects, or in- 
 terests, may eventually betake them. The second, 
 the constitutionality of any such interference, by, or 
 on the part of any one State of the Republic, to the 
 admitted prejudice of remote and newly settled States, 
 interposing between the manifest interest of such 
 State, and the influx of an emigrant population into 
 its territory. These are matters, though scarcely 
 within our province, of which we hope to see an 
 early and amicable adjustment ; at present they 
 operate as a grievous imposition, a severe hardship 
 on the emigrant stranger, in the pecuniary and un- 
 reasonable exactions they compel him to undergo. 
 
 Should the emigrant hope to profit by the ad- 
 vantages that are, nevertheless, offered to him in
 
 ADVICE TO EMIGRANTS. 57 
 
 the change he has made of country, and of home, 
 he will find it necessary to remodel himself with 
 more becoming care, to the practice, and national 
 peculiarities of the people he is amongst, than to 
 which he has generally been accustomed ; to aban- 
 don, or at least to modify, many of his peculiar 
 notions, and to identify himself more in spirit, as in 
 his conduct, with the habits, and national feeling, 
 than the generality of those of his countrymen who 
 have preceded him, have deemed it of importance to 
 attend to. By this means only will he avoid the 
 jealousies, the vexed and angry feelings that are 
 every day springing up against him in the country ; 
 the antipathies, and deep dislike, which these feel- 
 ings necessarily produce, and that have so fearfully 
 of late displayed themselves in overt acts of lawless 
 violence and crime, that surmise is defeated in an- 
 ticipating their further result, or the injurious 
 consequences that may arise from the determined 
 hostility which a repetition of these scenes are so 
 likely to occasion. 
 
 Twice within the present year has Philadelphia, 
 the second of American cities, become a prey to 
 the wild disorders of an unrestrained licentiousness ; 
 originating in the party strifes, for such has been 
 their character, of the " Native American Party," 
 including amongst them the reckless and discon- 
 tented outpourings of American society within its 
 limit, and the Catholic or Irish emigrant popula- 
 tion of that devoted city ; against whom the tide of 
 popular fury was for several successive days directed.
 
 58 RIOTS IN PHILADELPHIA. 
 
 Numerous lives fell the sacrifice, whilst upwards of 
 one hundred houses were burnt to the ground : 
 including also several of the Catholic churches 
 or houses of public worship; the convent of the 
 Sisters of Charity ; the residences and libraries of 
 the Catholic priesthood, as well as the schools of the 
 Catholic emigrant population. Yet, will every 
 American, in the full recollection of these proceed- 
 ings, tell you, of the happy condition of this favoured 
 land of universal benevolence and freedom this 
 home of the exile this refuge of the politically 
 oppressed, and persecuted, of other nations, to whom 
 its thousand welcomes are addressed on reaching 
 their shores. He will speak to you in the milder 
 accents of confiding truth, of this retreat and sanc- 
 tuary from all religious strife and persecution ; and 
 endeavour to impress upon your belief, the happy 
 and universal toleration that is extended at all times, 
 and throughout every part of his vast country, to 
 every variety of sect and religionist. 
 
 But the spirit of hostility that called forth these 
 excesses was not of the day or of the hour. It pos- 
 sessed none of the characteristics of the suddenly 
 excited feeling of an intolerant and unrestrained 
 population; but had been of gradual and stealthy 
 progress of fixed and certain aim ; to which the 
 emigrant has himself, in too many instances, given 
 encouragement. For we have no wish to extenuate 
 the conduct of our fellow-countrymen, who con- 
 stitute the great bulk of the British emigrants to 
 the United States, in this respect their too frequent
 
 POSITION OF THE IRISH EMIGRANTS. 59 
 
 and busy interference in all matters of internal or 
 domestic government, in which the circumstance of 
 their early naturalization has permitted them to take 
 part the violent partisanship of their general pro- 
 ceedings in all municipal and other contests ; and 
 to which we have often and painfully borne witness ; 
 which they attempt to justify, not from its necessity, 
 not from any real advantage or positive good it may 
 secure to them in their new position, but from the 
 terms of their assumed compact the recent allegiance 
 to which they had sworn the newly discovered 
 sacrifices they had made, in their severance from 
 friends and early home, to identify themselves in all 
 its reality with this, the country of their adoption. 
 They carry with them, in too many instances, to the 
 New World, the prejudices and dislikes, engendered 
 by early associations in the Old. The sectarian ani- 
 mosity ; the unsettled and peculiar notions, which 
 the absence of all liberal and enlightened instruction, 
 together with the sickly influence of a morbid poli- 
 tical excitement, to which they are ever subject in 
 their own country, cannot fail to produce. While 
 acting under their varied influences, they become 
 obnoxious to the native citizen ; who cannot forget, 
 that the emigrant is the product of another soil ; 
 has been reared and schooled in the principles of 
 European monarchies, and that the laws, constitu- 
 tion, and machinery of American government, are 
 unknown to his experience, and very probably to 
 his comprehension ; in which he can reasonably feel 
 but very little interest, or anxiety, either as to its
 
 60 IRISH EMIGRANT POPULATION 
 
 welfare or future preservation. That neither is it 
 in one short-lived day that he can forget his own or 
 father-land dissever every natural tie of kindred 
 and former home obliterate the recollection of every 
 early association, and become identified in spirit 
 and feeling with this, his newly-adopted country. 
 Nevertheless, he is generally found amongst the most 
 busy, and, we regret to add, the most uproarious in 
 his interference at every election ; classing himself 
 as of the ultra-democracy of the country, and fre- 
 quently carrying his notions of liberty, in the exer- 
 cise of his newly acquired right, to the verge of 
 licentiousness. 
 
 These excesses were also much increased by the 
 religious feeling and embittered acrimony evolved 
 in them ; for the distinctiveness of the Irish emi- 
 grant population ; their unity and combination has 
 unwisely formed them into a diverse and separate 
 community, apparently of separate interests and 
 feelings from the native citizen, of which one or 
 other of the great political parties that divide the 
 country are always ready to take advantage ; and 
 by the means to which they invariably resort, to 
 incite, and indirectly encourage a state of things, 
 that they are generally themselves the first and 
 loudest to condemn ; and for which it would be un- 
 reasonable, indeed unjust, to charge the emigrant as 
 the sole, and undivided cause. Whenever the 
 balanced state of parties, in any intersection of the 
 republic, may have heretofore rendered the ascen- 
 dancy of either in the least doubtful, the co-operation
 
 DISLIKED BY THE NATIVE AMERICANS. 61 
 
 of the Irish Catholic has always been eagerly sought 
 for ; their religious and national prejudices for the 
 while encouraged ; their very faults lauded as the 
 explication of every known virtue, by the party who 
 may hope to profit by their support, that seldom 
 fails to draw forth, as a countervailing medium, the 
 virulent and intemperate denunciations of their 
 opponents, by whom every fault is bared, and in 
 intelligible form laid before the world. Their na- 
 tional peculiarities, their most trifling digressions, 
 under an exaggerated interpretation, are amplified 
 into crimes of the most repulsive and dangerous 
 kind, destructive of all social order and peace, and 
 totally subversive of that rational liberty which they 
 are permitted to enjoy in common with every citizen. 
 Their religious creed is assailed with the ascerbity 
 and bitterness of individual and sectarian dislike, 
 and represented in its principle, and general influ- 
 ence as antagonistic of the political freedom ; the 
 republicanism of which every American is alike 
 jealous, and ready to defend with his life. Preju- 
 dices and animosities are thus engendered, and 
 crowd around the emigrant on every side; even 
 those, who, for sordid or party purposes, make use 
 of him for the while as a political weapon in their 
 hands, become tainted with the national dislike ; 
 and only wait the opportunity, as in the late instance 
 in Philadelphia, to make common cause with every 
 native citizen, under the common banner of Ame- 
 rican nationality, to curtail him in his privileges,
 
 62 AMERICAN PREJUDICE. 
 
 or to uproot him from the soil, the expatriated 
 home of his recent adoption. 
 
 A strong prejudice is also very unfortunately 
 created against the emigrant, from a supposition 
 in the minds of the industrial, or working classes of 
 American citizens, who erroneously attribute the 
 occasional dearness of provisions, and of all other 
 necessaries of life, in the Eastern or Atlantic States, 
 to the great annual influx of a foreign population. 
 This fallacy is nevertheless very general, contrary to 
 the evidence of their other senses and the numerous 
 and manifest truths within their experience ; pro- 
 claiming to them the fact, that to the emigrant's 
 exertions, their labour and industry, is the nation 
 in great part indebted for its extended national im- 
 provements, its public works that bear daily and 
 irrefragable evidence of their usefulness, with very 
 many other advantages derivable from their sojourn 
 in the country.
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Constitution of the United States Origin of its system Legis- 
 lative power Local or State governments Anomalous state 
 of American legislation States rights and resolutions South 
 Carolina in 1832 and 1833 -Governor McDuffie Tendency of 
 the General Government to usurp the power of the individual 
 States Late President Harrison His theory of government 
 Difficulty in negotiating with foreign nations The necessity 
 of some better defined power resting in the Federal Government 
 for this purpose President of the United States His mode 
 of appointment The term for which he should hold office 
 No person but a natural born citizen eligible to the situation 
 Provision in the law in case of death, removal, &c.~His im- 
 mense patronage and power His irresponsibility President 
 Jackson His dangerous usurpations in the government 
 Commercial crisis of 1837 induced thereby Senate of the 
 United States How constituted The materials of which it is 
 composed Its general character The character and general 
 state of demoralization of the Lower House Charge of habitual 
 intoxication of its members publicly made by Hon. Henry 
 Wise, representative from Maryland, 
 
 THE Constitution and Government of the United 
 States is of a federal republic. The origin of its 
 system had its rise from a General Congress, which 
 first assembled in the city of Philadelphia, in the 
 year 1774, composed of delegates chosen by the 
 House of Representatives of each of the thirteen old 
 colonies, except Georgia. This State, having after-
 
 64 CONSTITUTION OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 wards acceded, increased the number to fifty-four 
 and a president. 
 
 The unjust and oppressive conduct of the British 
 Parliament against these colonies aroused the indig- 
 nation of the entire population, who, impatient of 
 control, and the restrictions to which they were 
 made subject, by a solemn act of Congress, July 4th, 
 1776,* renounced all allegiance to the crown of Great 
 Britain, and declared the American colonies free 
 and independent states, and at the same time pub- 
 lished articles of confederation and perpetual union 
 between the States, in which they assume the style 
 of the " United States of America," and decreed 
 that each State should retain its sovereignty and 
 independence, and every other power not delegated 
 to Congress. 
 
 These articles of confederation, after eleven years 
 experience, being found inadequate for the purposes 
 they were intended, delegates were chosen in each 
 of the United States, to meet and fix on other 
 necessary amendments. They accordingly assem- 
 bled in convention in Philadelphia, in the summer 
 of 1787, when a new constitution, more suited to 
 the general exigencies, was adopted, f 
 
 Under this constitution, which formed a compact 
 between the thirteen original States, the legislative 
 power remained separate and divided in part be- 
 
 * See Appendix (letter C), for the American Declaration of 
 Independence. 
 
 f See Appendix (letter D), for the Constitution of the United 
 States and amendments thereto.
 
 STATE GOVERNMENTS. 65 
 
 tween the Federal or General government, and each 
 State within its immediate territory. To the Fe- 
 deral Government, belongs the power of making 
 peace, or war with foreign nations ; raising and 
 supporting an army and navy ; fixing the organiza- 
 tion of the militia ; imposing taxes for the common 
 defence and benefit of the Union ; borrowing and 
 coining money, and fixing the standard of weights 
 and measures ; establishing post offices and post 
 roads ; granting patents for inventions, and exclusive 
 copyrights to authors ; regulating commerce with 
 foreign nations ; establishing an uniform bankrupt 
 law ; also, an uniform law of naturalization ; and 
 lastly, the federal tribunals judge of felonies and 
 piracies committed on the high seas ; of offences 
 against the laws of nations, and questions between 
 the citizens of different States. 
 
 To the State Governments is committed the branch 
 which directs and controls the internal concerns of 
 each State ; its local laws, as far as relates to 
 property and private rights ; regulates the police ; 
 appoints the judges and all civil officers ; imposes 
 taxes for all State purposes ; and exercises all other 
 rights not vested in the Federal Government by 
 direct enactment. 
 
 In examining the principles on which the Federal 
 Constitution is based, we shall, perhaps, find much 
 to commend ; its laws are framed with a liberal and 
 enlightened policy, though of partial and limited 
 influence in securing and otherwise protecting the 
 rights of the American citizen, who is more imme- 
 
 VOL I. F
 
 66 ANOMALOUS STATE OF GOVERNMENT. 
 
 diately placed under the control of the State laws, of 
 some one or other of the numerous sections into 
 which the country is divided. 
 
 These States may be said (except in their foreign 
 or external relations, and in the other instances we 
 have enumerated,) to be placed beyond the influence 
 of any other controlling power ; and whilst enjoying 
 a perfect, at least an imaginary sovereignty, frame 
 such laws for their internal government as they 
 may think proper ; and provided that they do not 
 overstep the leading principles of the Constitution of 
 1787, such as abrogating the writ of habeas corpus, 
 or the trial by jury, secured to every American, 
 may adopt such measures, as in their caprice or 
 wisdom may seem meet. They have certainly taken 
 advantage of these reserved rights, and, in their efforts 
 at legislation, have presented to the world as neat a 
 piece of legal patchwork as is to be found extended 
 over any other, or equal, portion of the habitable globe. 
 
 The wrongs and inconveniences arising from this 
 intricate and anomalous state of Government, are of 
 admitted and daily occurrence. To the foreigner, 
 this novelty is for a while inexplicable. Hereto- 
 fore, accustomed to look upon America as one great 
 family, regulated by one general and fixed system 
 of mild and wholesome laws, he is strangely per- 
 plexed to find instead, that each State, or division 
 of the country, is in a great measure controlled by a 
 distinct code peculiar to itself, and only operative 
 within the limit of its immediate territory, or juris- 
 diction. He finds the laws of Massachusetts of a
 
 NUMBER OF STATES. 
 
 67 
 
 somewhat different complexion from those of New 
 York ; New York equally distinct from those of 
 Pennsylvania ; Pennsylvania to vary from those of 
 New Jersey and Maryland ; Maryland from those 
 of Kentucky ; in short, no two States of the Union, 
 however according in their general principles, 
 governed by the same precise rule, but each dis- 
 tinct, and as unconnected with the other, as if 
 directed by opposite interests, or forming parts of 
 two separate hemispheres. Americans of intelli- 
 gence, those who can see their country, otherwise 
 than through the distorted medium of their national 
 prejudices, are generally prepared to admit the 
 evils that grow out of this system. But it would be 
 idle to propose any change, or reformation. The 
 national, or rather the sectional prejudices of every 
 citizen, would rise in arms to discourage the attempt, 
 as threatening their individual or state sovereignty, 
 and interfering with their assumed, or asserted, right 
 of self-government, by which is reserved to them the 
 privilege of living under as ill denned and per- 
 plexing code of laws, as any people were ever cursed 
 with. 
 
 The recent admission of Arkansas, and Michigan, 
 into the Union, has increased the present number of 
 these States to twenty-six. The thirteen united 
 colonies which first abjured their allegiance to the 
 Crown of England, and that adopted and issued their 
 memorable Declaration of Independence in 1776, 
 were, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, 
 Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, 
 F 2
 
 68 ADMISSION OF NEW STATES. 
 
 Delaware, Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina, 
 South Carolina, and Georgia. All the other States, 
 that are now members of the Union, have been since 
 admitted in the following order, viz. : 
 
 Vermont which was separated from New York, 
 was admitted into the Union, 1794. 
 
 Tennessee which was separated from North Ca- 
 rolina, was admitted, 1796. 
 
 Kentucky originally a part of the territory of 
 Virginia, was admitted, 1796. 
 
 Ohio which was formed from lands north-west of 
 the Ohio River, that have been ceded to the General 
 Government by the States to which they belonged, 
 was admitted, 1802. 
 
 Louisiana formed from the Louisiana purchase, 
 admitted, 1812. 
 
 Indiana from a portion of what is called the 
 North-west territory, in 1816. 
 
 Mississippi from part of the territory of Georgia, 
 admitted, 1817. 
 
 Illinois from the North-west territory, admitted, 
 1818. 
 
 Alabama from part of Georgia, admitted, 1819. 
 
 Maine which was separated from Massachusetts, 
 was admitted, 1820. 
 
 Missouri formed a part of the Louisiana pur- 
 chase, was admitted, 1820. 
 
 Arkansas from a portion of the Louisiana pur- 
 chase, was admitted, 1836. 
 
 Michigan which was constituted a territory in 
 1805, was admitted, 1837.
 
 ORIGIN OF THEIR NAMES. 69 
 
 The several origin of the names of these States 
 are as follows, viz. : Maine was so called as early 
 as 1688, from Maine in France, of which Henrietta 
 Maria, Queen of England, was at that time pro- 
 prietor. New Hampshire was the name given to 
 the territory conveyed by the Plymouth Company 
 to Captain John Mason, by patent, Nov. 7, 1639, 
 with reference to the patentee, who was governor of 
 Portsmouth, in Hampshire, England. Vermont was 
 so called by the inhabitants, in their Declaration of 
 Independence, January 16, 1777, from the French 
 verd, green, and mo?it, mountain. Massachusetts 
 from a tribe of Indians in the neighbourhood of 
 Boston. The tribe is thought to have derived its 
 name from the Blue Hills of Milton : " I have 
 learned (says Roger Williams) that Massachusetts 
 was so called from the Blue Hills." Rhode Island 
 was named in 1644, in reference to the Island of 
 Rhodes in the Mediterranean. Connecticut was so 
 called from the Indian name of its principal river; 
 New York, in reference to the Duke of York and 
 Albany, to whom this territory was granted. Penn- 
 sylvania was named, in 1681, after William Penn. 
 Delaware, in 1703, from Delaware Bay, on which 
 it lies, and which received its name from Lord De 
 La War, who died in this bay. Maryland, in honour 
 of Henrietta Maria, Queen of Charles I., in his 
 patent to Lord Baltimore, June 30, 1632. Virginia 
 was named, in 1584, after Elizabeth, the virgin 
 Queen of England. Carolina, by the French in 
 1564, in honour of King Charles IX., of France.
 
 70 NAMES OF STATES. 
 
 Georgia, in 1772, in honour of King George Third. 
 Alabama, in 1817, from its principal river. Missis- 
 sippi, in 1800, from its western boundary. Missis- 
 sippi is said to denote Kie, whole river, that is, the 
 river formed by the union of many. Louisiana, so 
 called in honour of Louis XVI. of France. Tennessee, 
 in 1736, from its principal river: the word Ten- 
 nessee is said to signify a curved spoon. Kentucky, 
 in 1782, from its principal river. Illinois, 1809, 
 from its principal river. The word is said to sig- 
 nify the river of men. Indiana, in 1802, from the 
 American Indians. Ohio, in 1802, from its south- 
 ern boundary. Missouri, in 1821, from its prin- 
 cipal river. Michigan, named, in 1805, from the 
 lake on its borders. Arkansas, in 1819, from its 
 principal river. Florida was so called by Juan 
 Ponse Le Leon, in 1572, because it was discovered 
 on Easter Sunday ; in Spanish, Pascus Florida. 
 
 The co-existence of these several independent 
 sovereignties, resting in the full and uncontrolled 
 enjoyment of their individual rights and privileges, 
 altogether independent of the Federal Government, 
 to which they have delegated but a partial and 
 defined power, presents to the world an unusually 
 strange and complex state of legislation ; especially 
 to the foreigner, who finds it difficult to reconcile 
 with his preconceived notions of a firm, united, and 
 settled government, the many disjointed fragments, 
 the partial and unequal laws, the uncertain and 
 piece-meal legislation, by which the country is 
 governed ; and which carries with it in its compli-
 
 CONFLICTING INTERESTS. 
 
 71 
 
 cated machinery, its dissonant and incongruous 
 materials, in the conflicting interests of the various 
 intersections into which it is divided, the germ of 
 a probably early dissolution, that ever and anon 
 threatens to shake the Republic to its centre, and 
 expose the fallacy on which it is based. It was only 
 in the years 1832, and 1833, that South Carolina, 
 relying upon her state reservations, asserted her 
 right (and in her instance, the rights of the other 
 States) of seceding from the Union, whenever be- 
 lieving her individual interests compromised by any 
 interference or general law, though made applicable 
 to the entire States ; and declared her determination 
 to resist with open force, certain imposed restric- 
 tions of the general government, by which a 
 protecting duty was extended to the manufacturing 
 States of the north, to the assumed prejudice of the 
 exports of the south. This question of mere in- 
 ternal regulation was near being determined by a 
 direct appeal to arms, in which most of the southern 
 States would have united against the Federal Go- 
 vernment, and scattered the confederacy to the 
 winds, had not the timely interference of Congress, 
 directed by Mr. Clay, to whom his country is much 
 indebted, arrested for a while, the impending crisis, 
 by sanctioning a compromise between the refractory 
 State and its nominal head, based upon the most 
 liberal concessions to South Carolina, and, which 
 thus, for a time, succeeded in saving the Republic 
 from a convulsion that threatened its dissolution. 
 " A crisis is approaching," declared Governor
 
 72 PRETENSIONS OF SOUTH CAROLINA. 
 
 McDuffie in his inaugural address to the Legislature 
 of his State, and directed to the south generally, 
 " which the people must prepare to correct by force ; 
 by it alone will they be able to maintain those 
 rights, which cannot much longer be secured by 
 that miserable mockery of blurred, obliterated, and 
 tattered parchment, the Constitution of the United 
 States." 
 
 Nor was the public voice in the north raised 
 against the dangerous principle asserted by these 
 proceedings, where the pretensions of South Caro- 
 lina were also vehemently insisted on by many, as 
 of the common rights of every State within the 
 Union. To the timely concessions of the Federal 
 Government, however, is the Republic indebted for 
 its preservation on this occasion ; its temporary re- 
 lease from the very serious embarrassments with 
 which it was menaced, and restoration to tran- 
 quillity and order ; though not without germinat- 
 ing future difficulties for itself, in the constructive 
 admission of State pretensions, even to the extent 
 insisted on by South Carolina.* 
 
 * " In the interpretation of the anti-federalists, the subsisting 
 connection between the several States of the Union is insisted on, 
 as a mere compact a treaty, under which, though still retaining 
 an entire and undisputed sovereignty, they entrust certain re- 
 stricted powers to the general government, still preserving the 
 right of withdrawing them at pleasure. This principle is as- 
 serted by Rawle, who insists that it is perfectly competent for 
 any State to secede from the Confederacy, on its electing to do 
 so. This position is, nevertheless, denied by other eminent 
 Jurists, both by Webster and Story, who maintain, that the pre-
 
 PRESIDENT HARRISON. 73 
 
 The tendency of the general government for 
 years past has nevertheless been to concentrate, as 
 much as possible within itself, the reserved power 
 of the individual States ; to strengthen and conso- 
 lidate such power, by the appliances, and means it 
 possesses in the control and distribution of the 
 patronage at its disposal. The revolution in 
 public opinion, with the induction of the Whigs 
 or Federal party into office, in 1841, as of its 
 consequence, has had a tendency to check this 
 anti-democratic learning, and to guarantee the inde- 
 pendence and irresponsibilities of the several States 
 within their respective jurisdictions. The late Pre- 
 sident Harrison, in accordance with whose princi- 
 ples the last administration had been formed, has 
 perhaps, gone further than any of his predecessors 
 in this respect, and in the first public exposition of 
 his policy, has laid down a theory of government, at 
 variance, in some respects, with all former or general 
 practice, in which is not only recognised the entire 
 and perfect irresponsibility, and exemption from all 
 
 sent connection of these States was established, not by the States, 
 but by the whole people of the Union in their corporate capa- 
 city, assembled in conventions, and thus only could it ever be 
 abrogated. Till then, the States are bound to bear the mandates 
 of the Supreme Government, when issued in execution of its ap- 
 pointed powers ; and any act inconsistent with these orders is in 
 its very nature null and void. The only plea that could be urged 
 would be one of such extreme necessity as to be extra and ultra 
 the constitution, when all the bands of law are broken, and revo- 
 lution succeeds." Story's Commentaries, vol. i. pp. 302, 308, 
 330332.
 
 '4 THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT. 
 
 control of the several States within their respective 
 limits, but in \vhich he earnestly condemns all in- 
 terference of the general government, " as leaving 
 to the States only the shadow of that independent 
 action, for which they so zealously contended, and 
 on the preservation of which they relied, as the last 
 hope of liberty." 
 
 But the principles that are thus inculcated are in 
 direct controversy with the experience of all former 
 usage. The tendency of all power is to extend its 
 limitation, and augment its influence, frequently, by 
 the most unjustifiable usurpations ; such, the direc- 
 tion and aim of all authority the very natural bias 
 of both federal and state governments ; whose suc- 
 cessful encroachments, are so many unwarranted 
 invasions of the rights and privileges of one upon the 
 other. The conduct of the Federal Government has 
 scarcely been a whit more extravagant than the 
 usurpations of the different States ; and who have, 
 in more instances than one, arrogantly assumed 
 the rights appertaining to the supreme govern- 
 ment of the country, especially in its connection 
 and direct intercourse with foreign nations ; and 
 have so pertinaciously adhered to these recently 
 asserted principles in their constitution, that foreign 
 governments are sometimes at a loss in what form 
 to direct their negotiations, or to know, with what 
 particular intersection of these States, they con- 
 tinue to hold amicable, or friendly relations. 
 The difficulties that must necessarily arise from 
 this unsettled and undefined position, have been
 
 THE PRESIDENT. 75 
 
 instanced in the embarrassing progress of many 
 of the negotiations, undertaken even by our own 
 government with the United States, in which have 
 been included the local or sectional interests of indivi- 
 dual States ; at the same time, involving questions of 
 great international concern, and that it were of the 
 utmost consequence to the future good understand- 
 ing between both countries, to bring to some 
 definite and satisfactory conclusion ; such as the 
 lately undefined state of our north-west boundary, 
 that has only been brought to a close, under a con- 
 ventional arrangement with the State of Maine, and 
 supreme government the embarrassments arising 
 from the incidents connected with the late troubles 
 along our Canadian frontier, and that have been the 
 frequent and near occasion of open and direct hosti- 
 lities between both countries. It would certainly 
 appear to be the interest of the American people, as 
 no doubt it is of European States, with whom they 
 are in daily intercourse, that these difficulties should 
 be speedily removed by some better and general un- 
 derstanding, by a further limit to the unreasonable 
 exactions of individual States by some clearer defi- 
 nition of the administrative power of the Republic 
 some responsible representative authority, invested 
 with a more unrestricted, or better defined control, in 
 all, or every matter of controversy between the United 
 States generally, or any individual State and foreign 
 nations ; that would disencumber its negotiations of 
 the many difficulties and embarrassments, with 
 which they are liable to be surrounded, and tend to
 
 76 
 
 MODE OF ELECTION. 
 
 ensure that peace and good understanding, that 
 should subsist between individual members of the 
 one great family of civilized nations. 
 
 Article 2nd, section 1st, of the Constitution of 
 1787, and article 12th of the amendments thereto, 
 points out the mode in which the President is to be 
 elected, and declares, that he shall hold his office for 
 the term of four years, from the date of his appoint- 
 ment: this does not prevent his election for a second 
 term, which may enlarge the period of his service to 
 eight years.* 
 
 Under this provision of the law, each State ap- 
 points in such manner as the legislature thereof 
 may direct, a number of electors, equal to the whole 
 number of senators and representatives that such 
 State sends to Congress ; but no senator, or represen- 
 tative, or person holding any office of trust or profit 
 under the United States can be an elector. The 
 electors meet in their respective States, and vote by 
 ballot for President and Vice-President; one of whom 
 at least shall not be an inhabitant of the same State 
 with themselves. The lists of the votes are then 
 sent to the seat of government, directed to the Presi- 
 
 * The first Administration under Washington continued 8 years. 
 '* Second do. do. John Adams do 4 do. 
 
 tt 
 
 Third 
 
 do. 
 
 do. 
 
 Thomas Jefferson 
 
 do. 
 
 8 
 
 do. 
 
 (i 
 
 Fourth 
 
 do. 
 
 do. 
 
 James Madison 
 
 do. 
 
 8 
 
 do. 
 
 tt 
 
 Fifth 
 
 do. 
 
 do. 
 
 James Munro 
 
 do. 
 
 8 
 
 do. 
 
 (t 
 it 
 
 Sixth 
 Seventh 
 
 do. 
 do. 
 
 do. 
 do. 
 
 J. Quincy Adams 
 Andrew Jackson 
 
 do. 
 do. 
 
 4 
 
 8 
 
 do. 
 do. 
 
 
 
 <i 
 
 Eighth 
 Ninth 
 
 do. 
 do. 
 
 do. 
 do. 
 
 Martin Van Burendo. 
 Harrison & Tyler do. 
 
 4 
 4 
 
 do. 
 do.
 
 CHOICE OF ELECTORS. 77 
 
 dent of the Senate ; who, in presence of the Senate 
 and House of Representatives, opens the certificates, 
 and the votes are counted ; the person having the 
 greatest number of votes for President is declared to 
 be elected to that office, provided he has the votes of 
 a majority of all the electors appointed. If not, then 
 the House of Representatives selects the President by 
 ballot from the persons, not exceeding three, having 
 the greatest number of votes.* 
 
 No person, except a natural born citizen, or a citi- 
 zen of the United States at the time of the adoption 
 of the Constitution, is eligible to the office of Pre- 
 sident. In case of the removal of the President from 
 office, or of his death, resignation, or inability, the 
 appointment devolves upon the Vice-President ; and 
 Congress may, by law, provide for the case of re- 
 
 * The following, shews the number of Electors to which each 
 State was entitled, at the general election in 1841, amount- 
 ing, in the aggregate, to 294 ; viz. Maine, 10 New Hampshire, 
 7 Massachusetts, 14 Rhode Island, 4 Connecticut, 8 Ver- 
 mont, 7 New York, 42 New Jersey, 8 Pennsylvania, 30 
 Delaware, 3 Maryland, 10 Virginia, 23 North Carolina, 15 
 South Carolina, 11 Georgia, 11 Kentucky, 15 Tennessee, 
 15 Ohio, 21 Indiana, 9 Mississippi, 4 Illinois, 5 Ala- 
 bama, 7 Missouri, 4 Louisiana, 5 Michigan, 3 Arkansas, 3 : 
 Grand total, 294. 
 
 The present Congress is chosen according to the Act of Con- 
 gress of 1842, the ratio being one representative for every 70,680 
 persons in each State, and of one additional Representative for 
 each State, having a fraction greater than one moiety of the said 
 ratio, computed according to the rules prescribed by the Consti- 
 tution of the United States. Present number of Representatives 
 223.
 
 78 ELECTION OF PRESIDENT. 
 
 moval, death, or inability, both of the President and 
 Vice- President, declaring what officer shall act as 
 President, until the disability be removed, or Pre- 
 sident elected. The Constitution also requires that 
 the President must be thirty-five years of age, and 
 have resided fourteen years within the United States. 
 Many objections have been raised, from time to 
 time, to this mode of electing the President and 
 Vice- President of the Republic, as adverse to the 
 spirit of the constitution, and the true principles of an 
 entire representative system, on which it is supposed 
 to be based. To our thinking, it savours somewhat 
 of an absurdity ; nor can the people, who are declared 
 to be the immediate source of all power and autho- 
 rity, in these States, be deemed to exercise any certain 
 positive voice, or veto in the matter. What are the 
 facts? Two hundred and ninety-four citizens are 
 chosen by, and from the bulk of the population. 
 These two hundred and ninety-four are then to 
 elect amongst themselves, by ballot, the individual, 
 who, according to their suffrages, and not by the 
 concurrent voice of a majority of the entire people, 
 is to preside over the nation its destinies and welfare. 
 These citizens are men like unto themselves, with 
 passions and frailties incidental to our common 
 nature, exposed to unusual temptation ; and though 
 supposed to speak the wishes of the immediate con- 
 stituency by whom they are elected, are still within 
 the reach of any extraneous, or undue interference 
 that may be resorted to, to restrain, or influence 
 their vote. Once chosen, they are beyond further
 
 HIS SALARY AND PATRONAGE. 79 
 
 control ; and though elected to express the views 
 and opinions of other parties, may, nevertheless, 
 vote as they themselves think proper, and appoint 
 whom they please, without being held accountable 
 in their conduct, or proceedings to any party what- 
 soever. Public opinion in America, may have re- 
 strained, on all former occasions, the abuse of this 
 trust, and may still do so ; until the stake to be 
 played for is of increased value, or that it involves 
 something more than the mere peaceful government 
 of an industrious and busy population. Yet, how 
 apparently senseless, how perfectly useless this mode 
 of election, if that the constitution really intends 
 that the people are to be the governing power, and 
 to appoint those whom they choose shall be their 
 rulers. The men that they thus select to nominate 
 a President, and Vice- President, for the Republic, 
 are in no wise charged as being necessary parties in 
 determining the popular will in this respect, which 
 is previously ascertained through the ballot-box, at 
 the time of their appointment ; but which may be 
 neutralized or set at nought by their subsequent 
 action. In what possible way, then, do their ser- 
 vices, or intermediate interference avail ? Certainly 
 in none that we can discover, except where they may 
 be rendered purely mischievous, and instrumental 
 to the entire subversion of this essential privilege, 
 which is declared as of the constitutional rights of 
 the sovereign people. 
 
 The income which the President derives from his 
 office is small ; rather limited, we conceive, to admit
 
 80 IRRESPONSIBILITY OF PRESIDENT. 
 
 of the expenditure to which, as the head of the 
 nation, he is generally required to submit; restricted 
 as it is, to a sum of twenty-five thousand dollars, 
 or about five thousand guineas annually, which can 
 scarcely be supposed to meet his necessary disburse- 
 ments : but his patronage is of an extensive, as of 
 a dangerous kind ; and in the hands of an ambitious 
 and selfish man, might easily be used with disas- 
 trous consequences to the peace and well being of 
 his country. 'Tis true, that he is nominally re- 
 stricted in its application, by the Senate, which is 
 privileged to exercise a veto in many of his appoint- 
 ments ; but even this, when considering the mode in 
 which such a control may be avoided, or rendered 
 nugatory, together with the other, and many 
 weapons within his reach, and which he may wield 
 at pleasure ; the absolute authority which he exer- 
 cises over the various departments of the govern- 
 ment, that are in fact responsible to him only, for 
 their acts, unless that they are so glaringly incon- 
 sistent, or illegal, as to merit impeachment ; with 
 the sword of the country in the one hand, and its 
 treasures in the other, it is impossible to consider him 
 in the light merely, in which he is represented to the 
 world, as the chief magistrate of a free people, 
 under their immediate restraint, and incapable of, 
 at any time, gainsaying, or disputing their will, or 
 high behests. Should he act corruptly, or from 
 design, it is also true, that he is liable to be arraigned 
 before the general Senate ; though this provision in 
 the law may be considered a mere waste of words,
 
 CHANGE OF PUBLIC OFFICERS. 
 
 81 
 
 or of the parchment on which it is written, from the 
 exceeding difficulty of its accomplishment, under 
 almost any circumstances, and the unexampled pa- 
 tience with which every American would submit to 
 the most oppressive wrong, rather than expose to 
 the world any of the excrescences that grow out of 
 their peculiar system. 
 
 The President is also irresponsible to any party 
 during the term for which he is elected, for the 
 course of policy, either in the foreign, or domestic 
 relations of his country, he may choose to pursue : 
 he is neither called upon, nor required, as of right, 
 to enter into a vindication of his views, an explana- 
 tion of his conduct, or, to excuse himself from the 
 errors of his government, however at war its mea- 
 sures may be, with the best interests of his country ; 
 which is compelled to bear with the infliction of 
 the many blunders, the frequently admitted evils of 
 his misgovernment, whatever may be their conse- 
 quence, until the residue of the four years of his 
 incumbency may expire. His power to do good is 
 circumscribed by legal restrictions; his means of 
 effecting evil, numerous and, in a great measure, 
 beyond control. 
 
 The now practice of changing, on every successive 
 administration, the public officers the retainers of 
 the government, from the first Secretary of State, 
 to the porter in charge of the door, or entrance to 
 the Capitol, without reference to former, or past 
 services, or the reward that a nation owes to its 
 
 VOL. I. G
 
 82 CHANGE OF PUBLIC OFFICERS. 
 
 public servants, has grown upon the country, with- 
 out exciting the apprehensions, or jealousies of the 
 people ; who become reconciled to the practice, when 
 told, that it is one of the necessary ingredients to 
 their republican form of government, that the 
 favours and patronage of the executive should be 
 divided amongst its citizens, and that each in his 
 own person, however unfitted for the duties, should 
 share in turn in the emoluments of office. The 
 hope of individual gain at the public cost, even at 
 some distant day, reconciles the many who are 
 expectants for situations, to any abuse in the distri- 
 bution of government patronage; and closes their 
 eyes to the alarming influence of the man, whose 
 uncontrolled will may at any time wield a power at 
 present unknown even to European monarchies, and 
 destructive to the independence whatever of real 
 liberty that America possesses. In the first year of the 
 administration of Andrew Jackson, (late President 
 of the United States) he is said to have removed, or 
 otherwise appointed, no less than two thousand one 
 hundred, of all grades, to situations under the 
 Federal Government. 
 
 The character of the men who heretofore filled 
 this high and honourable trust, was an assurance a 
 sufficient guarantee to every American, that the 
 power with which they were invested by the consti- 
 tution would never be abused, or sullied in their 
 hands : a time, however, may arrive when the bright 
 example of their career may no longer serve to guide
 
 DANGER OF UNRESTRAINED POWER. 83 
 
 their successors in the "path of honour, and the way 
 to greatness," or check the ambitious, selfish design 
 of some bold and daring innovator, who, reckless 
 of all ties of country and of ulterior consequence, may 
 avail himself of the uncontrolled authority invested 
 in the chief magistrate of the Republic, and under 
 the guise of a laudable patriotism, wield it with un- 
 erring and destructive aim, to the attainment of some 
 sinister and dangerous purpose : but these are of the 
 natural consequences to be apprehended in confiding 
 an unrestrained power of this kind to the hands of 
 any one individual an absolutism, uncontrolled by 
 public opinion, or otherwise restrained by any of 
 the guards, by which public liberty should ever be 
 protected in its due and wholesome exercise.* 
 
 Accustomed as we are at this side, to the full and 
 
 * We feel assured that we shall be fully sustained in these 
 opinions, by every American of intelligence, or who can soar 
 above the prejudices of an early and narrowed education, to view 
 these things in their proper light. We might recite instances 
 where the same apprehensions, the same sentiments, have been 
 acknowledged by men of all parties in the United States, even 
 the most moderate in politics, who admit the evils we have 
 pointed out, as inherent in the character or peculiar structure of 
 their form of government, for which, however, they are seldom 
 prepared to suggest or offer any remedy. We quote the follow- 
 ing testimony in support of our views, from the published letter 
 of General Winfield Scott, Commander-in-Chief of the United 
 States Army (and who is now among the candidates for the next 
 Presidency of the Republic), of date 25th Oct., 1841, to the 
 people of the United States, explanatory of his opinions, on this, 
 as well as on various other important questions, connected with 
 the Government and well-being of his country : 
 
 G 2
 
 84 EXECUTIVE PATRONAGE. 
 
 peaceful enjoyment of a rational freedom the entire 
 protection of life and property, under the mild and 
 
 " The President is, under the checks of the constitution and 
 law, rightfully invested with the power of the sword, and he has 
 again and again had that of the purse also. The House of 
 Congress, it is true, lays taxes for imports, and regulates the sale 
 of the public domain ; but it is he (through his agents) who 
 handles the proceeds. From 1833 to 1836, (to say nothing of 
 the present) he alone nominated and dismissed all the agents 
 who kept, as well as those who collected, distributed and 
 disbursed the public revenue. The apophthegm make us your 
 executor, we care not who are your legislators has a frightful 
 application to such small agents, and the immense treasure that 
 annually passes through their hands. 
 
 " The rapid increase and spread of population ; the growth of 
 national wealth ; the amount of revenue collected and disbursed; 
 the new relations (by the extension of commerce) with foreign 
 countries ; the additional appointments at home and abroad ; the 
 number and value of contracts all constantly and necessarily 
 on the increase ; a general decay in morals, perhaps as great in 
 Congress as elsewhere ; the habit that we have seen prevail during 
 the several Presidential terms of filling public offices with but 
 little or no regard to moral standing have, taken together, 
 already opened to government, elements of power and corruption, 
 which it was impossible for the framers and adopters of the 
 Constitution to foresee or to conceive. Who at that distant day, 
 for example, ever dreamt of the spectacles which have recently 
 disgusted every honest citizen: of post-masters, mail-contractors, 
 mail-agents, and census- takers, covering the land with govern- 
 ment pamphlets, handbills, and extra-gazettes, sufficient (if read) 
 to sap the morals, public and private, of an entire generation ? 
 of Custom-house mercenaries in the large cities, living on the 
 public, neglecting every duty for party meetings and the polls, 
 and rendering to power the most bribe-worthy services ? of 
 district attorneys and collectors, rambling missionaries, defending 
 every abuse of office their own the most indecent or in order 
 to maintain power in the hands of their patron ? All who have
 
 GENERAL JACKSON AND THE BANK. 85 
 
 salutary influence of just and wholesome laws, we 
 can conceive nothing more threatening to peace and 
 social order nothing more alarming to the general 
 well-being of society, or more destructive to a 
 nation's welfare, its prosperity and advancement, 
 than the excesses, with which the United States 
 has been within late years familiarised, the daring 
 usurpation, the uncontrolled abuse of all autho- 
 rity, of which the recent government of General 
 Jackson has given such fearful example : the put- 
 ting aside of all legal " responsibility," as he termed 
 it, unknown to, and unsanctioned by the consti- 
 tution of his country ; trusting to the forbearance 
 the quiescent temper of his fellow citizens the 
 apathy and indifference of the intelligent, perhaps 
 from their incapacity to restrain his acts, and the 
 shouts and plaudits of the multitude, in part made 
 up of the ignorant of all classes, for a sanction to the 
 most reprehensible conduct, in the pursuit and 
 gratification of a mere personal hostility to the late 
 Bank of the United States, the only remaining check 
 to his morbid and sickly ambition : as also the 
 unrelenting and party war waged by him, against 
 the credit and entire monetary system of the 
 country, which carried heart-burning and desola- 
 tion in its train, ruining millions of industrious and 
 enterprising citizens, and reducing to the utmost 
 
 reflected on the foregoing facts must be ready to affirm that 
 Executive patronage ' has increased, is increasing, and ought to 
 be diminished.'"
 
 86 GENERAL JACKSON AND THE BANK. 
 
 penury, many of the most wealthy, and previously 
 independent of the community. For this even 
 this, there was no remedy at hand to stay his pro- 
 gress ; no means to which the country might resort, 
 but patience patience which the people were called 
 upon to practise ; though in testing the " experiment" 
 of this obstinate old man, no less than seven- tenths 
 of the mercantile community were reduced to a 
 state of absolute bankruptcy and ruin ! The Senate 
 raised some feeble remonstrance against his mon- 
 strous usurpation, and after much noise and angry 
 discussion, contented themselves by merely passing 
 a resolution, carried by a majority of twenty-six to 
 twenty, declaring that " the President in the late exe- 
 cutive proceedings, in relation to the public revenue, 
 has assumed upon himself an authority and power, 
 not conferred by the constitution and laws, but in 
 derogation of both." 
 
 If ever there was an act that deserved reprehension, 
 and merited the united censure of an abused and 
 outraged people, it surely was the unconstitutional 
 and overhand measure of President Jackson. Yet, 
 were there no further steps than these taken in vin- 
 dication of the laws that had been abused the 
 constitution that had been thus trampled upon, to 
 carry out the views and expositions of this modern 
 political empiric, or to protect the country against 
 its most wanton repetition. Even the Senate, which 
 can seldom charge itself with any similar act of 
 independence, neutralized this almost only effort on 
 behalf of individual and popular rights, by expunging
 
 THE SENATE. 87 
 
 from their records the condemnatory resolution, by 
 which they had, only in the preceding session, re- 
 corded their opinion of the executive innovations of 
 which it so justly complained ; to administer to the 
 vanity, and appease the wounded pride of the " old 
 Roman," as President Jackson was familiarly termed, 
 and to whom this august body, as if conscious of its 
 worthlessness, bowed down in lowly and humble 
 submission. But such is modern republicanism ! 
 such, it would appear, a necessary and conjoined part 
 of the structure raised with so much cost by our 
 transatlantic friends, and commended to our choice 
 as the noblest effort of man's genius in human legis- 
 lation. Still, the consequence, as the primeval cause 
 of all this, belongs to themselves, to which they will 
 have to look in time ; or else be prepared to see their 
 country visited by some periodical scourge of this 
 kind, levelling all classes, and sweeping all before it 
 with the destructive violence of a tornado. 
 
 Article 1st, sec. 2 and 3 of the Constitution, 
 states, the legislative power to be vested in a Con- 
 gress of the United States, consisting of a Senate 
 and House of Representatives, and prescribes the 
 duties devolving on both. 
 
 Of the Senate chamber, it may, with some degree 
 of propriety be alleged, that they constitute the only 
 deliberative assembly, apart from their late subser- 
 viency, that is really entitled to assume the name 
 that can be deemed to possess a reasonable share of 
 talent in their body, or preserve the least decency, 
 or decorum in their proceedings. Chosen, or ap-
 
 88 THE CONGRESS. 
 
 pointed by the legislatures of the individual States, 
 each of which sends two members, (apart from the 
 consideration of their relative population,) they form 
 in their aggregate, a representation of the several com- 
 monwealths comprised in the Republic, and are sup- 
 posed to act as a counterpoise, or. check between the 
 federal executive, and the general representatives of 
 the people in the other, or Lower House of Congress. 
 They are generally men of talent, as of influence in 
 their respective States, and number amongst them 
 several of the most prominent public characters of 
 the country. 
 
 A somewhat different description attaches to the 
 Lower House, composed of members chosen from 
 the great bulk of the population, in the ratio of 
 one representative for every 70,680 persons in 
 each State. To the majority a seat in Congress is 
 purely a matter of trade of mere mercantile specu- 
 lation, in which the pecuniary advantages, as well 
 as disadvantages are weighed, and carefully set one 
 against the other ; and in the end shares the fate of 
 every saleable commodity in the hands of an Ameri- 
 can, being used for the purpose of increasing his 
 temporal means of ensuring his personal or indi- 
 vidual advancement. 
 
 When taking into account the vast patronage of 
 the executive, its power to remunerate the services 
 and individual sacrifices of its supporters, it is, per- 
 haps, only reasonable to expect, that the majority of 
 this House, as the fact really is, are generally found 
 the pliant creatures of his will, the ready instruments
 
 SALARY OF MEMBERS. 89 
 
 of his power, or of any usurpation lie may have the 
 hardihood to attempt. Their legislative proceedings 
 generally shew a lamentable deficiency of talent, of 
 public virtue, as of gentlemanly decorum in their 
 conduct to each other, as also in their order, or mode 
 of transacting the public business ; five-sixths of their 
 time being consumed in personal and unworthy 
 altercations, in violent strife, that frequently even- 
 tuates in the most unseemly abuse, or in direct per- 
 sonal conflict with each other ; or is otherwise wasted 
 in idle, frivolous, and interminable debates, which a 
 stranger would feel some difficulty to understand, 
 until assured that each of these modern lawgivers 
 receives a sum of eight dollars per diem for their 
 services, paid from the public purse for every day that 
 the sessions may so continue its existence, and which 
 he is the more apprehensive of bringing to a close 
 by expediting its legislative business to its termi- 
 nation ; for after all, eight dollars per day to an 
 American, is a matter of some moment, particularly 
 as the amount in settling up his account might very 
 justly be classed under the heading of " nett profits," 
 for which he seldom gives any fair, or adequate con- 
 sideration. 
 
 Their proceedings are rarely published in the 
 periodical, or daily press, except in an abridged and 
 unusually condensed form ; and are generally looked 
 upon with a most stoical indifference by nine-tenths 
 of the American people, who are seldom influenced 
 in their habits, or local customs by the laws that may 
 emanate from this source. Uncontrolled by public
 
 90 THEIR INCONSISTENCY. 
 
 opinion uninfluenced in their conduct by any high 
 or elevated purpose seldom directed by what is 
 called the public good, or the interests of their con- 
 stituents, they mostly act without concert, without 
 any previous arrangement; and preserving their 
 individuality to the end, are generally unincumbered 
 by an adhesion to the avowed or admitted policy, or 
 measures of this, or any other party; whilst they are 
 at all times enabled, by retaining the control and 
 exercise of their own vote, to continue it in the market 
 for the competition and further service of the highest 
 bidder. Consistency, except in promoting their 
 individual ends, is seldom an ingredient in their 
 public conduct ; and it is no uncommon exhibition 
 to find an " Honourable" representative (for all 
 members of Congress are entitled to this anti-repub- 
 lican adjunct to their names,) of either House, 
 opposing on to-day some general act of the Govern- 
 ment, and on to-morrow, approving of the same 
 measure in all its various and complicated details. 
 There is no organized "constitutional" opposition, 
 as in England, to watch the policy, and scrutinize 
 every successive act of the administration ; no 
 marshalling of parties, supporting opposite and con- 
 flicting opinions ; and eliciting in their collision 
 that truth and sound judgment, that under such 
 circumstances might be expected from their deliber- 
 ations ; and also forming from their divisional and 
 comparative numbers, some criterion from which to 
 judge of the political feelings and sentiments of the 
 country. Here every man acts for himself, and by
 
 MEMBERS OF THE ADMINISTRATION. 91 
 
 himself, upon his own individual responsibility ; and 
 it is not unfrequently the case, that the promoter, or 
 mover of any public measure in the House, meets 
 with his most determined opposition from the one, 
 or other of the two representatives, seated immedi- 
 ately on either side of him. 
 
 All members of the administration, and those 
 holding office under the Government, are ineligible 
 to sit in Congress; lest, that they might be supposed 
 to control the debates, or that the presumed bias in 
 their opinions should interfere with the impartiality 
 the strict propriety of the vote they would be 
 called upon as representatives of the people, to give 
 on all occasions. This morbid sensitiveness this 
 " straining at a gnat," possesses many countervailing 
 disadvantages, occasioned by the absence at all times, 
 of some acknowledged organ, or representative of 
 the administration to guide, or take charge of all 
 public measures originating with, or immediately 
 supported by the Government ; with the further 
 inconvenience, caused by the frequent necessity of 
 some responsible party to explain the views and in- 
 tentions of the administration, which is thus brought 
 to act more in concert with the people, to answer 
 the numerous inquiries that grow out of almost 
 every question, and that are incidental to almost 
 every debate. It is surely no excuse, the difficulty 
 or exposure that might result to the Government 
 from this intelligent exposition of its views ; instead of 
 the refined special pleading, the ingenious sophistry 
 with which they are now generally wrapped up, in
 
 92 MEMBERS OF THE ADMINISTRATION. 
 
 some unnecessary, diffuse, and verbose message of the 
 President, or in the written explanations of some 
 Government subordinate, as sometimes called for 
 under the formulas of a vote of either House. It is 
 surely the people's right to possess this privilege with 
 their rulers ; for each representative to be informed in 
 his place, and without the necessity of this special 
 legislative interference on every occasion, of those 
 measures of a public kind, the public disclosure of 
 which might not militate to the public disadvantage. 
 Such a course would remove the studied secrecy 
 which now encompasses every projected measure of 
 the administration, and put them to a test, that would 
 disengage the valuable and good, from the dross 
 and spurious admixture with which they are some- 
 times alloyed. 
 
 But this is a procedure, that we will be told by 
 our American friends, is inimical to the spirit and 
 principles of all modern republicanism ; and detri- 
 mental to the full enjoyment of all rational liberty : 
 dividing with the people the essential power of self- 
 government, which should always remain vested 
 with them alone, and which forbids any necessary 
 measure of legislation originating with the Execu- 
 tive ; it being, as they conceive, a usurpation of the 
 inherent rights belonging solely to either House of 
 Congress. Such, we recollect to have been in 
 accordance with the theory of Government of ultra- 
 democracy propounded by the late President Har- 
 risson in 1841; so fully explained in his inaugural 
 address to the nation, under an apprehension of the
 
 PARTY FEUDS. 93 
 
 extremes of usurpation to which his predecessors 
 had gone in the administration of the Government. 
 This power he suggested should be altered, by 
 diminishing both the patronage and influence of the 
 Executive, making it the " agent," not the " prin- 
 cipal," the " servant," not the " master ;" and above 
 all, by abating its dangerous interference with the 
 course of legislation in Congress, which he asserts, 
 should be always left free and uncontrolled by Exe- 
 cutive interference. 
 
 The quarrels the disgraceful bickerings and 
 party feuds in which honourable members so often 
 indulge, has grown upon the nation, until it now 
 forms an almost daily part of its legislative proceed- 
 ings. Scarcely a debate can close without some 
 exhibition of this kind, often terminating in indi- 
 vidual conflict, and not unfrequently in loss of life. 
 It is to very little purpose that the organization of 
 both Houses of Congress, subjects the conduct of 
 each member to the control of a Speaker, whose 
 authority on many recent occasions, especially in 
 the House of Representatives, has been set at 
 nought, as imposing inconvenient and unjust re- 
 strictions on the republican freedom which each 
 citizen claims as his right, when not infringing any 
 positive, or statute law of the land. Still the 
 national character is injured by these excesses ; the 
 prosperity of the country no doubt retarded, and the 
 legislative counsels of the nation brought into dis- 
 credit by their frequent exhibition. 
 
 To the stranger these details may appear exagge- 
 rated ; they are nevertheless true borne out by our
 
 94 SCENES IN CONGRESS. 
 
 own experience while in the country admitted to 
 exist by every intelligent and candid citizen who 
 has paid attention to the matter, and sustained by 
 the concurrent voice of such portion of the public 
 press as may possess sufficient honesty and inde- 
 pendence to proclaim the humiliating truth. 
 " Never in the annals of our country," writes the 
 talented editor of a New York paper,* " or in any 
 other that professes to be enlightened and civilized, 
 have such improprieties of conduct, such shameless 
 proceedings, such a total disregard of order and 
 decorum, and such a flagrant irreverence for rules 
 been exhibited and permitted, as during the last 
 Session of Congress (1837). There the sacredness 
 that ought ever to characterise a legislative hall, 
 the solemnity that ought ever to reign in the temple 
 of the laws, the deliberations that ought ever to 
 govern parliamentary proceedings, were literally 
 trampled upon, desecrated, and contemned. 
 
 " Disagreeable and disgusting quarrels and dis- 
 putes, unseemly acts of contention and strife, unhal- 
 lowed words of provocation and abuse, and bitterness, 
 anger, malice, and wrath strode conspicuously over 
 order and decorum, civilization and respect. Rant 
 assumed the prerogative of reason, and the speeches 
 of many were more like the incoherent ravings of 
 maniacs, than like the calmness of debate, or the 
 ratiocination of enlightened minds. And so many, 
 and so fierce were the strifes that were waged, that 
 the House might be compared to an insurrectionary 
 
 * New York Transcript.
 
 SCENES IN CONGRESS. 95 
 
 camp, the members of which were about to rush 
 into the arena of civil war. The feudal barons of long 
 bygone days were far more peaceable, and less anta- 
 gonizing than a portion of our Congress. All respect 
 for the place, for the occasion, for character, for 
 country, appeared to be lost, and passion and rage 
 held the reins. Where almost all were clamorous 
 talkers, few hearers were to be obtained, and long 
 and angry debates, procrastinated and defeated 
 business, neglected duties, discomfited hopes, and 
 dishonoured names were the unpropitious and hap- 
 less results. 
 
 " It would not be fair, however, to suppose, that 
 every man who has a seat in the National Legisla- 
 ture is included in this category. There are many, 
 no doubt, who may claim an exemption, and to 
 whom these strictures are in every way inapplicable ; 
 who are untiring in their exertions, and at all times 
 eager to assume the duties, and fulfil the objects for 
 which they are sent to Congress." 
 
 It were, perhaps, difficult to trace this state of 
 things to any one defined cause, or beyond the yet 
 crude and unsettled state of American society, 
 particularly in the more inland or remote sections 
 of the country, from whence a considerable proportion 
 of its members are chosen ; together with the few 
 restraints that exist under their peculiar organiza- 
 tion, to control the passions repress the expression 
 of easily aroused feelings, or soften down the 
 violence or asperities of men, who though drawn 
 together under the sanction of the same law, and
 
 96 SCENES IN CONGRESS. 
 
 for one common purpose, are generally strangers to 
 each other to the peculiarities of their dispositions, 
 who, though selected to promote one common 
 interest, and watch over the destinies of the same 
 nation, encourage those personal, anti-national and 
 sectional feelings, that acknowledge the existence of 
 a separate interest in the different States that too 
 frequently interrupts the harmony of the public 
 counsels, and are at all times at variance with the 
 admitted prosperity and welfare of the country. We 
 have, indeed, heard of other causes advanced as 
 explanatory of this state of social and legislative 
 disorganization; the disgraceful exhibitions with 
 which the Halls of Congress are familiarised ; whilst 
 amongst the most general, and in which we profess 
 our entire incompetency to determine, is the too 
 frequent indulgence of honourable members in 
 habits of intemperance, induced, perhaps, by the 
 idle, the uncertain and listless occupations the mode 
 in which they spend their time, away from their 
 usual business pursuits, while in attendance at the 
 capital. The Honourable Henry Wise, Member of 
 Congress from the State of Virginia, who is certainly 
 one of the most influential and leading men in the 
 House of Representatives, in writing to Judge Hop- 
 per, of the State of Maryland, in answer to a public 
 invitation to attend a meeting of the Maryland 
 State Temperance Society, in 1837, observes: 
 
 " I state the fact, then, to the nation, that some 
 of the higher Executive Officers at Washington, 
 are, and have been, notorious drunkards ~- drunkards
 
 SCENES IN CONGRESS. 97 
 
 in my sense of the term, habitually affected by 
 ardent spirits once a week impaired in constitu- 
 tion by the use of strong drink ; and I further state, 
 that I have often heard the reason assigned, and 
 believe it was a valid one, for the House of Repre- 
 sentatives of the Congress of the United States not 
 sitting in the evening after dinner, when the public 
 business required it, that many of the members 
 were so much in the habit of intoxication, that they 
 were not only unfit themselves for public duty after 
 a certain hour in the day, but were likely to prevent 
 others discharging their duty, by interrupting the 
 order of proceeding. During the late part of the 
 Sessions of Congress, when the two Houses were 
 compelled to sit late, members, too drunk for the 
 decencies of a tavern bar-room, were not uncommon 
 sights in the Senate Chambers, and in the hall of 
 the House of Representatives of a Republic, whose 
 fathers handed down to it, the hallowed and 
 immutable truth, that no free government, or the 
 blessings of liberty, can be preserved to any people 
 but by firm adherence to justice, moderation, 
 temperance, frugality, and virtue. These arejfacfc, 
 Sir, which, in my name, if you choose, you may 
 bring to the attention of the Convention, as worthy 
 of the notice of the people of the United States." 
 
 Thus saith the Honourable Mr. Wise, whose past 
 life has in great part been devoted to the public 
 service, whose patriotism and ardent love of country 
 none dare impugn ; whose sincerity and high 
 honour are unimpeachable; and whose means of 
 
 VOL. i. H
 
 98 SCENES IN CONGRESS. 
 
 forming a correct judgment on the subject to which 
 he directs the especial notice of his countrymen, 
 none will venture to deny. Yet, do we hope, for the 
 sake of poor humanity, its frailties and sufferings, 
 that he may have been deceived ; and that from 
 his own exceedingly temperate habits, and natural 
 distaste of every excess of this kind, that he may 
 have been unwittingly led into error as to his coad- 
 jutors in either House, with whom we shall now 
 leave the honourable member to discuss the subject, 
 whilst undertaking a brief consideration of the Local 
 or States Governments.
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 State Governments Executive power in each State State legis- 
 lative bodies Their constitution Their component materials 
 Qualification of Electors General character of the elected 
 Their venality The late William Cobbett His letter to 
 President Jackson, describingthe character of thePennsylvanian 
 legislature The United States judicatory Judicial power 
 divided between Federal and States Governments Judges of 
 the United States Their general incapacity and unfitness for 
 their situation Salary unequal to their expenses Want of 
 encouragement to the proficiency or attainment of legal in- 
 formation in the United States Judges Sutherland and 
 Cheevers Mode of appointing Judges in the several States 
 The term for which they hold office Their salaries Mode 
 of removal from office The demoralizing influence on Ameri- 
 can Society of the American Judicatory Foreigners, especially 
 Englishmen, placed beyond the pale or sympathies of American 
 Judges Foreigners counselled to avoid litigation If forced 
 to have recourse to legal proceedings in the United States 
 advised how to act Precautions necessary to adopt Judge 
 Betts and Judge Edwards Strange and opposite versions of 
 the same law The abuse of judicial trust tending to encourage 
 a Lynch law system The little interest that Americans take 
 in the daily proceedings of their several law courts. 
 
 THE Local, or State Governments of the separate 
 commonwealths are nearly similar in their compo- 
 sition, or constitutional formation to the Federal 
 Government of the country ; the executive power 
 of each State being vested in a Governor with the 
 title ex-qfficio of " His Excellency," their republican 
 simplicity, and natural abhorrence of titles of all 
 
 H 2
 
 100 STATE GOVERNMENTS. 
 
 kinds to the contrary, nevertheless.* Their legisla- 
 tive bodies consist of two branches, both of which 
 are returned by the same electors, who may be said 
 to compose the entire adult white population of the 
 country : the usual qualification being citizenship, 
 with one, or two years residence, and payment of 
 taxes. The only exceptions are the following : 
 
 In Vermont. The legislature consists of a house 
 of representatives only. 
 
 In North Carolina. Representatives are chosen 
 by the whole resident free citizens who pay taxes. 
 But senators only by freeholders. 
 
 In New Jersey and Virginia. The right of suf- 
 frage for both houses is limited to persons holding 
 a small amount of landed property. 
 
 In Maryland. The senators are chosen by dele- 
 gates named for the purpose by the people. 
 
 In all the other States, the period for which the 
 representatives serve is for one, or two years. The 
 elections are biennial in Delaware, South Carolina, 
 Tennessee, Louisiana, Illinois, and Missouri ; and 
 annual in the other States. 
 
 The shortest period for which senators serve in 
 any State is one year, and the longest five. In the 
 States of Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, 
 Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Jersey, North 
 
 * The rights of citizenship or naturalization are denied to all 
 foreigners possessing European titles, until such time as they 
 publicly renounce these" degrading marks of monarchical 
 government," and sign a declaration to this effect, which is 
 immediately placed on record.
 
 SELFISHNESS OF SENATORS. 101 
 
 Carolina, Georgia, the senators hold their office for 
 one year only. In Ohio, and Tennessee for two years; 
 Mississippi, Indiana, Alabama, for three years. In 
 New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Virginia, South 
 Carolina, Kentucky, Louisiana, Illinois, Missouri, 
 for four years. And in Maryland, for five years. 
 When the senate of any State serves for more than 
 one year, it is'renewed by parts, or divisions, one- 
 third of the number going out annually when they 
 serve for three years ; and one-fourth when they 
 serve for four years. The removal is by halves 
 every two years. 
 
 It is no very easy matter to speak of these several 
 legislative bodies with composure, or in befitting lan- 
 guage. To say that they are bad very bad, will 
 convey a very indistinct notion of their character 
 and general usefulness, and afford the reader a 
 slender estimate of their real value. Instituted for 
 the declared purpose of preserving the rights and 
 liberties of their fellow citizens, and guarding with 
 jealous care the interests and property of the people 
 whom they represent, they merge these and every 
 other purpose, in the one absorbing consideration of 
 self self to which their whole mind is turned, 
 their every thought, their individual exertions made 
 to subserve. Their political position is only valued, 
 as it contributes to their worldly gain, and the ad- 
 vancement of their personal and worldly advantages. 
 Chosen from all grades and classes of the people, 
 they present a strange diversity of the most dis- 
 sonant and heterogeneous materials a gathering of 
 the mere odds and ends of society, without reference
 
 102 ANALYSIS OF THE LEGISLATURE. 
 
 to peculiar fitness, or capacity for the efficient exer- 
 cise of the important trusts which they assume. All 
 matters of local legislation are nevertheless, within 
 their province ; the property of every individual in 
 their respective States, within their jurisdiction ; his 
 life and liberty within their control ; regulated by 
 the laws they may choose to enact for this pur- 
 pose. 
 
 The following presents a tolerably accurate ana- 
 lysis of the late House of Representatives, of the 
 State of Massachusetts, as also of Pennsylvania; 
 which affords a fair sample of the legislatures of the 
 twenty-four remaining States : that of Massachusetts 
 consisting of 241 farmers ; 127 merchants or traders, 
 including grocers, iron and lumber dealers ; 44 
 lawyers and attorneys ; 22 shipmasters ; 22 manu- 
 facturers ; 10 physicians; 12 clergymen; 8 gen- 
 tlemen ; 5 freeholders ; 5 educators ; 4 editors ; 4 
 surveyors ; 3 agents of manufacturing companies ; 
 1 clerk of ditto ; 3 shoremen ; 2 underwriters ; 1 
 civil engineer ; 1 wood dealer ; 1 deputy sheriff, or 
 bailiff; 1 surveyor of lumber ; 1 druggist ; 1 dro- 
 ver ; 1 oysterman ; 1 saddler ; 3 taylors ; 1 silver- 
 smith ; 1 1 carpenters and housewrights ; 2 bakers ; 
 3 printers and booksellers ; 3 blacksmiths ; 2 pump 
 and block makers; 10 tanners; 2 soap boilers; 
 3 wheelwrights ; 1 thatcher ; 5 coopers ; 4 shoe- 
 makers ; 2 butchers ; 1 chair and harness maker ; 
 3 card makers ; 1 paper maker ; 1 tinman ; 5 masons ; 
 1 maker of playing cards ; 1 looking glass maker ; 
 1 paper stainer ; 3 machinists ; and 6 others, occu- 
 pation not known
 
 REPRESENTATIVES OF PENNSYLVANIA. 103 
 
 The same august body, in the year 1837, consisted 
 of 239 farmers; 117 mechanics and handicrafts- 
 men ; 110 merchants and retail dealers of different 
 callings ; 36 lawyers and attorneys ; 16 clergymen 
 of various persuasions ; 10 physicians and apothe- 
 caries ; 30 manufacturers ; 22 mariners or sea- 
 faring persons ; 17 gentlemen of various characters ; 
 and 35 of other occupations. 
 
 Of these " other occupations," there are 6 sur- 
 veyors ; 4 inn and tavern keepers ; 3 post-masters ; 
 3 schoolmasters, or teachers ; 3 newspaper editors ; 
 2 deputy sheriffs, or bailiffs ; 2 butchers ; 1 broker. 
 
 Of the mechanics, the greater number of any one 
 kind is, 8 tanners ; next greatest, 6 painters, &c. 
 
 The House of Representatives of Pennsylvania is 
 somewhat more select. It consists of 55 farmers ; 
 15 lawyers and attorneys ; 28 merchants and retail 
 dealers of various callings ; and 2 set down in Ame- 
 rican phraseology as gentlemen. 
 
 These details will convey to the reader some idea 
 of the strange variety of character, and of persons, of 
 which the local legislative assemblies in the United 
 States are usually composed ; the diversified mate- 
 rials of which they are framed and put together. 
 What a strange medley do they present ! what a 
 hotch-potch miscellany of all casts and grades of 
 American society ; from the anvil, as well the con- 
 venticle and pulpit from the boiling house, as from 
 the judicial bench the shambles and slaughter 
 house, as from the merchant's desk the tailor's 
 board, as from the plough all all abandoning
 
 104 THEIR CHARACTER. 
 
 their natural and legitimate occupations, quitting 
 the pursuits of a more quiet and rational industry 
 to legislate and give Jaws to a nation, v hose varied, 
 uncertain, and ill digested form of government, 
 we are asked to consider, as the perfection and 
 acme of human legislation : at the same time that 
 every species of unmeasured abuse is unsparingly 
 heaped upon the Institutions of the parent country, 
 from whence in point of fact they derive all that 
 is of the least value, or in any manner worth pre- 
 serving among themselves. 
 
 The character of many of these tribunals, we be- 
 lieve, to scarcely admit of any very strict inquiry. 
 They however accord with all that their fellow- 
 citizens usually require, or even expect from them ; 
 who are generally prepared to extend to them im- 
 munity for any dereliction of their duties, except of 
 a very flagrant kind, which they sometimes take 
 care to visit at the next ballot-box. The following 
 description of the Pennsylvanian Legislature affords, 
 we verily believe, a tolerably correct portraiture of 
 most of the others. The statement is taken from 
 a letter of the late William Cobbett, written a short 
 time before his death, and addressed by him to 
 General Jackson, at that time President of the 
 United States. It was extensively circulated in 
 the several States of the Union, including the State 
 of Pennsylvania, where we happened to be on the 
 occasion, without one word of contradiction being 
 uttered or published in reply : we may then reason- 
 ably presume its entire correctness :
 
 COBBETT'S LETTER. 105 
 
 " Names do but amuse me, I lived for eight years 
 under the Republican government of Pennsylvania, 
 and I declare that, I believe that to be the most 
 corrupt and tyrannical government the world ever 
 knew. I was several weeks at Harrisburgh during 
 the sessions of the legislature, and upon my honour 
 I believe that there was more personal corruption, 
 more bribery, in the persons, in the legislature, and 
 in office, more of this during the one session of the 
 Legislature, than has ever taken place in Whitehall 
 and Saint Stephens during the ten or twenty years 
 that I have ever known them ; added to which, were 
 the lowness, the dirtiness of the villany ; the vul- 
 garity ; the disregard of all sense of morality and 
 of honour, making the whole thing so disgusting as 
 to drive an Englishman half mad at the thought 
 of ever seeing his country subject to such rulers. 
 Oh Sir ! I must forget the votes of the legislature 
 bought by losing a game at cards at the tavern I 
 must forget the great game which the Bank of Phi- 
 ladelphia lost in that room of borrowed light, in 
 the centre of the tavern, when the card-playing was 
 going on, both day and night, Sundays not ex- 
 cepted, during the whole of the Sessions for the pur- 
 poses of bribery I must forget the betting-banks 
 of Pennsylvania I must forget the court-house at 
 Harrisburgh, &c." 
 
 But Harrisburgh, where the annual sessions of 
 the Pennsylvanian Legislature is held, forms no 
 exception in this particular. The same mal-prac- 
 tices the same recklessness and disregard of pub-
 
 106 GENERAL CORRUPTION. 
 
 lie decency may be found to exist at the capitals of 
 many of the other States, which generally consti- 
 tutes the head-quarters of the numerous band of 
 jobbers, speculators, political quacks, and gamblers 
 idlers, and watchers the parasites and hangers-on 
 of those in power the men of every kind of chance- 
 work, with the retainers, and long list of needy de- 
 pendants, who, with unerring instinct, crowd around 
 the public offices, seeking each favourable moment 
 to improve their fortunes at the public expense. 
 But this is a perfectly legitimate pursuit, if not a 
 laudable and praiseworthy occupation in America ; 
 assumed by a large proportion of the population, 
 and sustained by the concurrent sanction of the 
 entire, who insist on the principle of continued 
 change, as an essential and commendatory part of 
 their republican system. 
 
 It will scarcely be considered within our province, 
 in endeavouring to afford some just estimate of 
 American society and guard the emigrant from the 
 numerous shoals and quicksands that everywhere 
 surround him on his arrival in the country, to enter 
 upon an analysis of the many and admitted evils 
 that grow out of this state of internal legislation, 
 though it were impossible to remain for three months 
 in any part of the United States to mix in the 
 daily business intercourse of the country without 
 feeling them on every side, in the insecurity that 
 is every where given to property, as well as to per- 
 sonal liberty, and the general inefficiency of the 
 laws for any useful, or beneficial purpose. For our
 
 AMERICAN JUDICATORY. 107 
 
 own part, we candidly state from our personal ex- 
 perience, that we should as soon live under the most 
 intolerant of European despotisms, where we might 
 at least hope to be freed from the venality, the cor- 
 ruption, and inherent vice, that marks the daily 
 and hourly progress of American legislation, and 
 the uncertain dispensation of its laws believing as 
 we do, that the despotism of one man, is at all 
 times more supportable, more easily bearable, than 
 the uncontrolled tyranny and oppression of the 
 many. 
 
 Of an equal importance with the enactment of 
 just and wholesome laws, is their due and proper 
 administration. It were of little moment how far 
 the legislature may have avoided, or fulfilled its 
 obligations to the nation, if the laws that are 
 passed for the protection of every man's home, his 
 fireside the liberty which is his inherent right, are 
 set at nought, either by the incompetency of the 
 judges to whose exposition these laws are confided 
 the partizan feelings that are known to exist amongst 
 all grades of American society, or the venality, or 
 moral turpitude with which the American judicatory 
 has been so often and deliberately charged. To 
 the hands of the judges is confided the highest 
 trust a nation can confer ; whilst no adequate means 
 have been taken to ensure their stability and inde- 
 pendence, or removal from those every day tempta- 
 tions to which their needy and restricted means has 
 so unwisely exposed them. 
 
 The judicial power in the United States, unlike
 
 108 DIVISION OF JUDICIAL POWER. 
 
 to almost any other country, is divided under two 
 distinct and separate responsibilities, between the 
 Federal, and the States' Governments, each possess- 
 ing separate and distinct authority within the same 
 jurisdiction. 
 
 Under 3rd article, 1st section, of the Federal 
 constitution, such power is vested in one Supreme 
 Court, and such other inferior courts as the Con- 
 gress may from time to time, order and establish. 
 The judges both of the supreme and inferior courts, 
 hold their office during good behaviour, and at 
 stated times, receive for their services a compensa- 
 tion, which shall not be diminished during their 
 continuance in office. 
 
 The judicial power of the several States, comprises 
 whatever of authority that is not expressly delegated 
 by the constitution to the Federal Government; and 
 extends its entire and absolute controul over the 
 property and persons of the citizens of each State 
 respectively ; as well, as of all other parties being, or 
 residing within their limit : to subjects of other 
 governments, as also to citizens of neighbouring 
 States, who are equally amenable to their municipal 
 and statutory laws, who may sue and be sued in 
 their local courts, as in the courts of the United 
 States, for debt, or the fulfilment of any contract 
 made, or entered into without their territory, as 
 within the strict limit of their jurisdiction. 
 
 The judges of the United States, as well as those 
 of the several states, or commonwealths, maybe said 
 to form a co-ordinate part of the government of the
 
 INCAPACITY OF THE JUDGES. 109 
 
 country, and to exercise an unlimited influence over 
 its destinies and welfare : their decisions when not 
 appealed from, constituting the laws of their respec- 
 tive States, until altered by some subsequent legis- 
 lative enactment. Their mode of appointment and 
 term of office is as varied and uncertain, as is the 
 popular will, under which their several constitutions 
 are framed, and in many instances quite as excep- 
 tionable. 
 
 There can indeed be but one prevailing opinion, 
 even in America, as to the general incapacity and 
 unsoundness of its judicatory the glaring incom 
 petency of the men to whose legal exposition and 
 presiding care, is confided the property the liber- 
 ties, even unto life, of every citizen. Elevated to 
 the high and responsible situation which they 
 occupy, either from their known political bias 
 their recorded prejudices their partisan feelings on 
 some leading question of local, or domestic policy, 
 with their general subserviency to those in power, 
 without reference to peculiar fitness or talent, they, 
 in nine cases out of ten, owe their elevation to their 
 eminently possessing the very opposite of those 
 qualities, that of all others should recommend them 
 to the judicial seat. No man of any character in 
 the United States will accept the appointment ; no 
 awyer of eminence, or acknowledged abilities, un- 
 dertake the office for the limited pecuniary prospects 
 it affords. There is here but slender inducement 
 for talent to exert itself nothing to stimulate 
 ambition, or excite an emulation to the attainment 
 of that proficiency, so necessary to the due and pro-
 
 110 CASES OF RESIGNATION. 
 
 per explaining of the laws, which they are called 
 upon to administer. A lawyer of any note or 
 in good practice, may reasonably hope to realise 
 some six or eight thousand dollars per annum, and 
 which presents much stronger motives to his exer- 
 tion, than he could possibly ever feel in the prospect, 
 or possession of a seat on the judicial bench. As it 
 is the judges of the land are frequently compelled 
 to receive instructions from the bar, and to content 
 themselves with the law as propounded to them by 
 counsel, according to the interpretation that the 
 interests of his client may, for the while, require 
 him to attach to its ordinance. 
 
 We are fully borne out in these observations, by 
 a strict analysis of the present state of the American 
 bar ; the general character and inefficiency of the 
 men who occupy the judicial seat ; the slender 
 means at their disposal ; the very few amongst them 
 of any eminence or talent, and those few, annually 
 decreasing by desertion from their ranks. During 
 our sojourn in the State of New York, we were 
 witness to two such cases : one, in the instance of 
 Judge Sutherland of the Supreme Court ; the other, 
 of Judge Cheevers, Chief Judge of the Common 
 Pleas ; each of this State, and both retiring from 
 the bench, for the purpose of accepting subordinate 
 situations in their own courts. 
 
 The Albany Evening Journal, published at the 
 seat of government, announced the retirement of 
 Judge Sutherland in the following notice, with re- 
 marks : 
 
 " Judge Sutherland resigned his seat upon the
 
 JUDGE SUTHERLAND. Ill 
 
 Bench of the Supreme Court this morning, and was 
 immediately appointed by the Court, its Clerk at 
 Geneva, in the place of Nathan Williams, deceased. 
 
 " Judge Sutherland, in announcing his resigna- 
 tion to the Court, stated, that he was compelled to 
 do so, in consequence of the insufficiency of the 
 salary. He had not, he said, by the studied, 
 strictest economy, during any of the twelve years 
 that he had held the office, been able from the 
 salary to support his family. By devoting, as he 
 had done, the whole of his time to the duties of the 
 bench, his private affairs, by long neglect, had 
 become necessarily deranged, and, in short, that 
 after nine years hard service, he was now as many 
 thousand dollars poorer than when he took office." 
 
 But there are other and equally strong objections 
 to the frequency, as to the manner of these appoint- 
 ments, and the inadequacy of their remuneration; 
 fraught as they are with mischief, and charged with 
 difficulties that scarcely need specification. A "door 
 is here opened," to adopt the language of an eminent 
 modern writer, " to party intrigue, and for the more 
 dangerous purposes of private hostility and cabal, 
 which it will ever require the strong reaction of po- 
 pular virtue and steady habits to keep shut. How 
 often will eminent lawyers, who would adorn these 
 tribunals, refuse to accept a seat on the bench, when 
 the terms of office are so precarious ; and from 
 those who do accept, what firmness and integrity are 
 required, to overcome the temptations which the 
 varying chances of re-elections will create ! Among
 
 112 ANNUAL CHANGE OF JUDGES. 
 
 such shifting succession of judges what is the prospect 
 of sound constitutional decisions ! Every new incum- 
 bent will pronounce, it may be, a new set of princi- 
 ples ; and the law of the land will take its form and 
 colour from every fresh election, and be a mottled 
 patch work, instead of an uniform robe without a seam. 
 Still more glaring becomes the policy of the prin- 
 ciple when the appointments are annual. To dis- 
 place the judges from the Supreme tribunal every 
 year, to give place to successors, who in another 
 year are to share the same fate, and thus to make 
 the temple of Justice the scene of a pageant, which 
 enters on the stage, and then withdraws, like the 
 shadowy kings of Banquo's line, is more a solemn 
 trifling with the great ends of justice, than the 
 policy of a wise and prosperous government." 
 
 " The duties of the judges are to expound the 
 laws of the land, to pronounce those rules, and de- 
 fine those rights, which affect the character, the 
 property and person of every individual in the 
 community : upon the secure enjoyment of those 
 rights, political, civil, and religious, depends the 
 welfare of every citizen, and whatever interferes 
 with their protection by the judicatory, whatever 
 diminishes in the least degree, the certainty that im- 
 partial and just decisions will be pronounced from 
 these tribunals, impairs the stability of those rights, 
 and undermines the pillars of national prosperity. 
 Every thing, of course, that tends to make the judge 
 dependent on any extraneous power, whither po- 
 pular caprice, party spirit, or executive, or legisla -
 
 APPOINTMENT OF JUDGES. 113 
 
 tive patronage, or displeasure, is an essential defect 
 in the constitution of these tribunals, and threatens 
 danger to the public at large." 
 
 The following are the modes of appointment, the 
 time for holding office, &c. &c. in the several States 
 composing the Republic in 1836. 
 
 The Judges those of the Supreme Court of 
 each government. 
 
 In Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Maryland 
 and Maine, the mode of appointment is by the 
 Governor with the consent of the Council, a dis- 
 tinct body from the General Assembly. 
 
 In New Jersey, by the Council and General As- 
 sembly. 
 
 In New York, Kentucky, Indiana, Louisiana, 
 and Missouri, by the Governor, with the consent 
 of the Senate, the smaller branch of the General 
 Assembly. 
 
 In Pennsylvania and Delaware, by the Gover- 
 nor. South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, Ohio, 
 Mississippi, Alabama, and Illinois, by the Legis- 
 lature. 
 
 Term for holding office. 
 
 In Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania, 
 Delaware, Tennessee, Louisiana, Illinois, no limit is 
 prescribed. 
 
 In Connecticut, Alabama, and Maine, the limit 
 is seventy years of age ; in Missouri and Mississippi 
 it is sixty-five. 
 
 In New York it is sixty years. 
 
 VOL. I. I
 
 114 MODE OF REMOVAL, AND 
 
 In New Jersey, Ohio, Indiana, the judges are 
 appointed for seven years. 
 
 In Georgia, for three years, and in Rhode Island 
 and Vermont, for one year only. 
 
 The causes of removal are generally the same 
 throughout the different states. 
 
 The mode of removal. 
 
 In all the states except Rhode Island, Maryland, 
 and North Carolina, the judges may be removed 
 after conviction upon impeachment. In Rhode 
 Island no provision is found in the Constitution for 
 removal in any manner. In Maryland removal 
 follows conviction on a presentment of a grand jury 
 of the Supreme Court. 
 
 In Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, Penn- 
 sylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Georgia, Kentucky, 
 Louisiana, Illinois, Alabama, Mississippi, and Mis- 
 souri, the judges may be removed by the Govern- 
 ment upon the address of both houses of the legis- 
 lature. In others two-thirds in others three- 
 fourths must unite in this address. 
 
 Salaries. 
 
 In Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Vir- 
 ginia, Ohio, Indiana, Mississippi, Illinois, Alabama, 
 Maine, and Missouri, the salaries of the judges may 
 be increased but cannot be diminished. 
 
 In New Hampshire, South Carolina, Georgia, 
 and Louisiana, the salaries can neither be increased 
 nor diminished.
 
 SALARIES OF THE JUDGES. 115 
 
 Iii North Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee, the 
 constitution requires that an adequate salary shall 
 be attached to the office ; a provision apparently au- 
 thorizing an increase and decrease. 
 
 In Rhode Island, New York, Connecticut, New 
 Jersey, Maryland, and Vermont, no provision is 
 made by the constitution. 
 
 The salaries, except those of the chief and six 
 associate judges of the Federal or United States 
 court, vary from two thousand, to two hundred dol- 
 lars, or from about four hundred to forty-five pounds 
 sterling, annually. In some few instances they 
 amount to about three thousand dollars, and in one 
 only, (State of Louisiana) to five thousand dollars. 
 On the other hand there are several the five judges 
 of the court of Common Pleas of Rhode Island, for 
 example who receive no salary whatsoever, but are 
 paid by entry or fees paid in their respective 
 courts. 
 
 The pernicious and demoralizing influence of this 
 state of things, with the abject and entire depend- 
 ence of the judicatory upon the extraneous power 
 which controls its action, the free and indepen- 
 dent exercise of its duties, is pregnant of evil conse- 
 quences to the entire community. It extends its 
 influence to the remotest part of the republic, and 
 finds its way to the domicile of every individual ; 
 interfering to a certain extent, with the social and 
 moral duties of every citizen. It has succeeded in 
 introducing a set of men to the judicial bench in no 
 wise competent to assume its duties ; at the same time 
 
 i 2
 
 116 UNIVERSAL MALVERSATION. 
 
 that it has made " American justice" a bye- word 
 of doubtful, if not of sinister and ominous signifi- 
 cation, throughout all parts of the world. 
 
 We need scarcely refer to the daily and published 
 records of the country, or other authentic sources 
 of information, to bear testimony to the malversa- 
 tion, and abuse that every where abounds ; where- 
 ever the cupidity or weakness of the judge has 
 become interested, or the passions or prejudices of 
 the court been called into exercise : being well 
 convinced from our own experience in the country, 
 not only of the lamentable want of ability, but 
 also of integrity and moral fitness of the generality 
 of those called upon to administer the laws, to whose 
 tender mercies the lives and fortunes of every indi- 
 vidual are necessarily committed : and from whom, 
 under their present organization, we might as rea- 
 sonably hope for a fair and impartial administra- 
 tion of justice, as from the veriest and most corrupt 
 tribunal of the least tolerant of European despo- 
 tisms. 
 
 To the native citizen this void in the internal 
 government of his country is perhaps the more 
 easily reconcileable ; it being in part the work 
 of his own hands, the result of his own happy 
 choice. He can blame only himself; whilst the 
 remedy, were he to unite with a majority of his 
 fellow-citizens to bring about a change, is easily 
 within his means of realization. But not so the 
 foreigner, especially the Englishman, who has 
 arrived in the United States with very different
 
 ADVICE TO FOREIGNERS. 117 
 
 anticipations, and who generally, placed beyond the 
 pale or sympathies of this or any other party in 
 the country who might control justice in its fair 
 exposition as regards him, has more to fear in this 
 respect, more to apprehend for whatever of re- 
 stricted freedom or protection he may enjoy, while 
 assailed by the continued jealousies, the unreason- 
 able dislike, and narrowed prejudice of a large 
 proportion of the American people ; who are uncon- 
 trolled in this respect, by the natural and common 
 influence of education, or softened down in the vi- 
 rulence of these antipathies, by any generous, or more 
 general intercourse with the rest of mankind. It 
 certainly becomes the duty of the foreigner under 
 such circumstances, to place the strictest guard upon 
 his actions to avoid every species of litigation as a 
 game in which the odds are at all times against him ; 
 in which defeat (however justice, and equity may 
 preponderate at his side,) is sure to overtake, and 
 in the end, to mark him out as its victim. 
 
 Occasions, it may be urged, will nevertheless arise, 
 when with the most peaceable intentions, and an 
 earnest endeavour to avoid all species of legal con- 
 troversy, a foreigner an Englishman, may find it 
 impossible to escape the snares and covert designs 
 of others. If compelled, under such circumstances 
 to enter the lists of legal warfare and risk his for- 
 tunes to its uncertain influence, he should endeavour 
 to imitate the example of his American friends, and 
 practise a well -understood lesson of American pru- 
 dence and foresight, by carefully selecting such
 
 118 NECESSARY PRECAUTIONS. 
 
 person only, to act as his professional or conducting 
 agent, his attorney and lawyer, (for here both pro- 
 fessions are held conjointly by the same individual,) 
 as he may have reason to know possesses not only 
 what is termed " the ear of the court," but whom, 
 he may also ascertain, professes the same politics, 
 belongs to the same clique, or party in the state, 
 and is otherwise on those intimate and familiar 
 terms with the presiding judge, in the court where 
 his suit is to be tried : of which many lawyers avail 
 themselves to secure admission to his confidential 
 intercourse, or private interviews, even on matters 
 of a purely judicial nature, in which they may be 
 professionally interested, and at the time passing 
 under his observation as a judge. These favoured 
 parties are generally well known in every city and 
 town in the United States ; as are those lawyers 
 professing opposite views, and in whose hands, 
 however well versed in the every day practice the 
 more profound or other legal quiddities and sub- 
 tleties of their profession, the best and most righteous 
 cause stands a fair chance of being lost. We can 
 ourselves bear witness to the working of this system. 
 We have seen it in its nauseating and most disgust- 
 ing form ; where the political bias, the anti-national 
 prejudice and dislike of the judge of the Supreme 
 Court of Judicature, (and we more than suspect his 
 avaricious predilections,) have marred and shame- 
 fully perverted the ends of public justice, in the 
 face of the most astounding facts, and contrary 
 to the strongest possible evidence laid before him ;
 
 JUDGE BETTS. 119 
 
 perfectly heedless of the injury and wrong done to 
 suffering and unoffending parties, whom an im- 
 perfect and vitiated legislation had unfortunately 
 placed at his mercy. 
 
 Neither do we believe this malversation and abuse 
 of a high judicial trust to confine itself to the 
 numerous body of selfish, ignorant, and incompetent 
 men, numbering some three or four hundred, scatter- 
 ed over the wide surface of the republic, to whom 
 is entrusted the dispensation of public justice ; but 
 that the taint reaches to the higher class of Ame- 
 rican judges, to whom the public have a right to 
 look for some better example, and a surer protection 
 in the enjoyment of their properties and civil rights. 
 We can ourselves recollect being present in the Fede- 
 ral, or United States district court of the southern 
 district of New York, and hearing the present 
 Judge Betts, filling one of the highest judicial 
 situations in the country, in an important action 
 tried before him on questions with which we were 
 familiar, and where the damages to the plaintiff were 
 laid at ten thousand dollars, and a public functionary 
 of some consequence the defendant, so deport him- 
 self throughout the trial, and in his further ex- 
 position of the law, in charging the jury, who 
 before had determined to award exemplary damages, 
 that the plaintiff was thereby, and contrary to every 
 legal and equitable principle, deprived of all ade- 
 quate compensation for the notorious wrong he 
 had sustained. We have known the same plaintiff 
 but a very short while afterwards, made a defendant
 
 120 JUDGE EDWARDS. 
 
 in just such another suit, with which we were equally 
 conversant, in the supreme court of the same State, 
 (New York) and tried before the Honourable Judge 
 Edwards, in which the same legal questions were 
 involved, the same doctrine of " probable cause," the 
 pivot on which the case rested ; when this profound 
 and erudite judge, propounded dogmas asserted 
 legal principles, the very obverse, the very extreme, 
 and antipodes of those which a few weeks before 
 we had heard declared in solemn seriousness, and 
 almost within his hearing by Judge Betts, as the 
 settled and firmly established law of the land. We 
 have indeed, heard and seen this the same indivi- 
 dual in the one suit, either robbed of a fair, or just 
 equivalent for the injury, or loss he had most wan- 
 tonly sustained ; and when immediately after, as a 
 defendant in another court, almost within the same 
 building, and by means of a directly opposite version 
 of the same law, mulct in a sum of fifteen hundred 
 dollars and costs; and both, or either of these learned 
 functionaries, influenced by motives we could well 
 define, standing erect in this shameless prostitution 
 of justice this scandalous abuse of laws they were 
 called upon to faithfully and impartially administer. 
 It were a difficult matter, we confess, to recognise 
 the law under these strange curvetings to antici- 
 pate whatever course it may take in its dispensation, 
 or to know what precise rule an innocent and op- 
 pressed man should pursue in the usual or daily 
 concerns of life ; the experience of the past being 
 but seldom a guide to the future ; the laws of
 
 NON-INTERFERENCE OF THE PRESS. 121 
 
 yesterday as seldom the laws that are to direct 
 and govern us on to-day ; and both essentially diffe- 
 rent from those that are intended to control our 
 actions on to-morrow. The public press, that in 
 England is generally a fair echo of the public voice 
 and the best protector of its rights and liberties, in- 
 dependent of the moral, the high- toned and consti- 
 tutional formation of our own legal tribunals, is the 
 best corrector of these, or any such like abuses, that 
 might perchance creep into our system. But not 
 so in America, where public opinion is scarcely de- 
 fined, or at least of very uncertain influence in the 
 correction of these or similar excesses where the 
 private or individual affairs of most men absorb 
 every thought, and engross every mental effort in 
 the advancement of their more immediate concerns, 
 destroying in a great measure every noble and ele- 
 vated feeling, all kind of friendly sympathy for each 
 other ; while they take but little interest in watching 
 the course of any judicial proceedings in which 
 they themselves are not immediate parties, or in 
 some way directly concerned ; and rarely trouble 
 themselves with the correction of public delinquen- 
 cies of this kind, so long as the consequences 
 appear removed from their own threshold. The 
 press of the country seldom interferes in such mat- 
 ters ; but would rather sanction the continuance of 
 these, and far greater evils, than by using a correc- 
 tive, admit the existence of any abuse, however dan- 
 gerous to their peace and liberties, and that may not 
 be directly chargeable to any of the opposing poli-
 
 122 CONDUCT OF THE JUDGES 
 
 tical parties in the state, or to allow any defect in the 
 formation or working of their system of self-go- 
 vernment to appear in its true and natural colouring 
 before the world. 
 
 It will perhaps be said, that when an injury such 
 as we have stated, is thus visited upon an innocent 
 party, through the wantonness, the depravation, or 
 misconduct of the judge, the law of America, being 
 to a great extent assimilated in principle to the law 
 of England in this respect, provides a remedy, in an 
 appeal to some other or higher tribunal. But such 
 is not the case in every instance. The appeal from 
 Judge Betts sitting in Nisi Prius, was by the rules 
 of this court permitted only to Judge Betts as sole 
 presiding judge in his own court of appeal : and 
 when that the party complainant did so appeal from 
 " Philip drunk to Philip sober," and that a case 
 had come before this just and discriminating ex- 
 pounder of American jurisprudence, for correction, 
 according to the practice of the District Court, pre- 
 vious to its being again brought before him on 
 argument, he disavowed every word he had so 
 uttered in his elaborate disquisition to the jury on 
 the trial disclaimed having proclaimed the novel 
 and heterodox opinions he had publicly asserted, 
 and that had coerced them in finding their ver- 
 dict ; and directed a new and opposite version of his 
 charge, such as he had never spoken perhaps until 
 then, had not reasonably thought of, but now con- 
 cocted and arranged in his private study " to be 
 substituted instead;" as one which he could feel 110
 
 IN CASES OF APPEAL. 123 
 
 apprehension in placing on record before the world. 
 An effort was made by the appellant in this suit, 
 who had already expended large sums of money in 
 its prosecution, to induce " his honour" to revise 
 and alter this proceeding, and afford him some rea- 
 sonable chance, at least, of maintaining his rights. 
 But the tenacity with which men cling to error, 
 the perversity with which they adhere to wrong 
 once perpetrated, was not to be overcome in the in- 
 stance of this public functionary ; and the further 
 prosecution of this suit was consequently aban- 
 doned.* The appeal from the decision of the 
 
 * It may be necessary to explain to our legal readers, as to others, 
 the difference between the practice, and law of England, and of 
 America, in matters of this kind. We believe it to be the case, 
 according to the usage of the British law courts, that when a 
 plaintiff or a defendant in a suit already tried, intends to appeal 
 from the decision or verdict had against him, an application 
 is generally made within the four first days of the next ensuing 
 term to the judges of the court in which such suit was origin- 
 ally instituted, for a "rule nisi," praying liberty to set aside 
 such verdict by entering up a nonsuit or verdict instead, for the 
 party so appealing; or to grant a new trial founded on exceptions, 
 or points of law raised on the trial, or on certain alleged facts 
 set forth in an affidavit already on file : these facts generally, 
 being some newly discovered evidence or, of being taken by 
 surprise ; or what is sometimes the case, the misdirection in the 
 charge of the learned judge to the jury, under which their ver- 
 dict was rendered. A day is thereupon appointed, or comes on 
 in course for the hearing; when the points raised, on which the 
 rule is endeavoured to be made absolute, are fully argued before 
 the court; and are overruled or admitted, as the case may justify: 
 all action, or proceedings on the original verdict being stayed 
 in the mean time. But in the American law courts, the prac-
 
 124 MODE OF PROCEEDING 
 
 Honourable Judge Edwards was in like manner 
 given up, the learned judge in the full plenitude of 
 
 tice in such cases is very dissimilar. The attorneys of both 
 parties, plaintiff and defendant, are there supposed to take a full 
 and accurate report of the proceedings as they actually occurred 
 on the trial, including the judge's charge, &c. Should either 
 intend moving to set aside the verdict delivered by the jury, 
 notice thereof is given within a certain prescribed time by the 
 party so appealing, to the opposing attorney, and a copy of the 
 report of the trial so taken, transmitted therewith, for his assent 
 or correction, should it vary from the report that he has him- 
 self made out. This is called " a Case" which is thus 
 returned to the appellant's attorney, with any alterations or 
 amendments there may be ; and thereupon submitted to the 
 judge who may have tried the cause, to correct or reconcile the 
 discrepancies in the report, should any exist between the said 
 parties : after which the question of setting aside the verdict 
 comes up for argument before the court. In the cause referred 
 to, which was tried before the Honourable Judge Belts of the 
 Supreme Court of the United States, the ground of appeal on 
 which it was thought to supersede the verdict, was the extraor- 
 dinary, perverse and wrongful interpretation of facts, and the 
 plainest law, by the learned judge in charging the jury (to which 
 exceptions had been taken on the part of the plaintiff on its 
 delivery) by which they were coerced in their decision, and the 
 plaintiff thus deprived of any reasonable equivalent for the loss he 
 had sustained. Yet, whatever this charge may have been, whe- 
 ther delivered under the influence of corrupt or unworthy mo- 
 tives whether or not the doctrine laid down by the court was, 
 or was not, the law of the land whether contrary to every former 
 precedent, and opposed to every established principle of Ame- 
 rican jurisprudence the public, but more especially the plaintiff 
 or injured party in the suit, became invested with an absolute 
 property in its existence, and had a right to claim any advan- 
 tage from its correct and faithful report being included in his
 
 IN CASES OF APPEAL. 125 
 
 an arbitrary and unconstitutional discretion, and in 
 perfect understanding with the plaintiff's attorney, 
 who was of those entitled to his private and friendly 
 interview, refusing to stay proceedings in the cause, 
 until an application could be made, and argument 
 had in legal course at the next sitting of the court, 
 on the reserved points made by counsel at the trial ; 
 and by which means the plaintiff, favoured by a most 
 iniquitous verdict, was enabled to enter up judg- 
 ment, issue execution, and satisfy his demand before 
 that a time even could arrive to the defendant to 
 bring his case on appeal, before any competent 
 legal tribunal for further hearing and adjudication. 
 
 Case, in his further efforts to set aside the verdict on the grounds 
 we have stated. 
 
 The suppression of this charge and substitution of another 
 instead, declaring a very opposite version of the same law, hy 
 Judge Betts (when the case subsequently came before him for 
 revision previous to its being argued) which this learned func- 
 tionary never uttered, and perhaps never thought of on the trial, 
 was a grievous wrong a severe and deliberate injustice done to 
 the plaintiff or appealing party an outrage upon decency, and 
 as it must appear to be, an outrage of no ordinary kind, against 
 the due and impartial administration of justice even in 
 America. 
 
 We have dwelt upon this subject from its extreme importance 
 in faithfully characterising the law of this country the door 
 which is thus open to the most iniquitous wrong, with the evil 
 which it inflicts upon society in America; where it virtually abro- 
 gates the trial by jury in all cases of civil controversy, and 
 leaves every suitor at the mercy and disposition of every venal 
 and corrupt judge, before whom any cause may be called up for 
 trial and adjudication.
 
 126 LYNCH LAW. 
 
 But such is American law. Such indeed a fair sam- 
 ple of American justice in its every day practice ; 
 so little calculated to secure our respect or ensure the 
 least measure of our confidence. When such things 
 can come to pass, and find a response in nearly 
 every state of the republic, are we to feel surprised 
 at the distrust, the little reliance that is placed, even 
 by Americans, in the honesty and uprightness of 
 their rulers, in the efficiency of their legal institu- 
 tions, or the integrity and good faith of those en- 
 trusted with the protection of their character, life, 
 and property ; that exhausting human patience, 
 seeks a requital in the wild and fierce revenge, of 
 which in America, we have had so many and fearful 
 examples. The Lynch law code, the reenactments 
 of the unrestrained violence of savage life, is partly 
 of its generating ; and which is even attempted to 
 be sustained in it principles, by the asserted necessity 
 of its influence, in checking the growing licentious- 
 ness of the people, who are otherwise uncontrolled 
 by the equitable administration of any milder law, 
 in which reliance can be placed for the protection of 
 the innocent, or punishment of the guilty. 
 
 Some estimate may be formed of the little inte- 
 rest that Americans attach to the proceedings in 
 their law courts, and the little time they bestow in 
 the consideration of all such matters, from the fact, 
 that these courts are often held with an auditory of 
 some two or three attorneys or lawyers, and of 
 scarcely half a dozen other persons, the parties per- 
 haps immediately concerned, as listeners to the
 
 AMERICAN APATHY. 127 
 
 proceedings. It is not unfrequently that we have 
 gone into the United States District court of the 
 south district of New York, and besides the presid- 
 ing judge, finding only his register or clerk, two 
 or three lawyers, one representing the plaintiff, the 
 other the defendant, and engaged in the midst of a 
 legal argument of some importance to the luckless 
 suitors, besides whom, the crier, and door-keeper, 
 there was scarcely another present. We could no 
 longer feel surprise, at the conduct we have already 
 noticed in the presiding functionary of this court ; in 
 part attributing to this general exemption of all law 
 proceedings from public observation or notice, with 
 the near certainty, that whatever might transpire 
 within these courts, the report would seldom travel 
 beyond their precincts, the lax and very culpable 
 conduct with which we have already charged these 
 institutions. 
 
 We have endeavoured to impress upon the emi- 
 grant who may have the misfortune to be involved 
 in legal warfare in America, the expediency, we 
 might have added the necessity, with a view to an 
 impartial adjudication, or of the ultimate success 
 of his suit, of employing only such counsel or con- 
 ducting agent in any such he may undertake, as 
 may at least be on some friendly or amicable footing 
 with the presiding judge. We have known in- 
 stances where undue means have been resorted to 
 from the facility of access to the judge's private 
 study, or his personal dislike to the opposing party, 
 and where the litigant, contrary to every just expec-
 
 128 JUDICIAL VENALITY. 
 
 tation, has in consequence, wrongfully succeeded in 
 the attainment of an unjust, and unworthy object. 
 At the same time that we have known lawyers, and 
 of some eminence, refuse to be engaged in a suit, 
 unwilling to risk their reputations from a certainty 
 of defeat, in acting in conjunction with others of 
 their profession to whom the presiding judges of 
 the court were known to be hostile. Nay, to such 
 an extent does the influence of a friendly feeling or 
 otherwise, existing in the court extend itself, that we 
 were ourselves individually concerned, on behalf of 
 another, or third party, in a chancery suit in one of 
 the most influential States of the Union, when 
 the course, or proceedings to be adopted were 
 suggested and definitively arranged, the bill altered 
 and amended in private chamber by the very judge 
 who was afterwards to adjudicate and pass upon 
 its merits, when before him in open court. We 
 inquired of our solicitor, how such could come 
 to pass, or for an hour to be tolerated amongst 
 any thinking or well-regulated community ? arid 
 received as our answer, that " His Honour," was 
 in fact indebted to a memorial that had been 
 signed by this individual, as by some others, 
 in placing him in the high official situation which 
 he then occupied, and could not well refuse any 
 return service of this kind, that my informant 
 might at any time choose to exact from him.
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Alderman or assistant Justices' courts Easy mode of reco- 
 vering small debts Characteristic scene in an Alderman's 
 court in Philadelphia Of American Lawyers and Attorneys 
 Both professions conjoined and held by the same individual 
 The great inconvenience occasioned thereby to suitors Litiga- 
 tion in America Average number of cases usually for trial on 
 the calendar of the principal state courts Unusual procrasti- 
 nation of suits Qualification necessary in adopting the legal 
 profession The character of American lawyers generally 
 Their want of all honest principle, with the danger and risk of 
 any man entrusting his affairs to their hands The late Henry 
 Storrs of New York David B. Ogden Hon. G. W. Dallas, 
 with other practitioners at the American bar The existence 
 of a dangerous legal society in the United States, directed by a 
 Tetrarch or head Their rules and organization Their spe- 
 cial objects and power Honourable W. Livingstone, late 
 Minister to France, supposed at their head Their dangerous 
 influence on American society Laws for the settlement and 
 regulation of property in the United States Rights and pri- 
 vileges secured to married females Laws relating to debtor 
 and creditor American bankrupt law English bankrupt law 
 possessing no efficacy in the United States Facilities given 
 in the United States to sue on behalf of British or Foreign cre- 
 ditors Mode of proceeding in such cases Insolvent law of the 
 several states The law of one state inoperative in any other 
 The efficacy of a judgment recovered in any of the states 
 Foreign judgments received only as evidence, as indebtedness 
 to be otherwise established by due legal process before that 
 execution can issue Insolvent law in Philadelphia Its mode 
 of dispensation exemplified in a remarkable case tried before 
 the Honourable Judge King. 
 
 IF that the higher legal tribunals of the country 
 are distinguished, as well for their profligacy, as for 
 
 VOL. I. K
 
 130 ASSISTANT JUSTICES' COURT. 
 
 their general incapacity and unfitness, they are cer- 
 tainly equalled, in this repect, by the inferior, the 
 Alderman or assistant Justices' court of each state; 
 amounting to several hundreds, and instituted for 
 the purpose of securing to the creditor, a cheap and 
 speedy mode of recovering small debts ; varying in 
 amount from the smallest sum, to fifty dollars, and 
 in some instances to one hundred. They are gene- 
 rally, in the larger populous cities, in daily session ; 
 and were, no doubt, originally intended to answer 
 the same purposes as our municipal, quarter sessions, 
 or civil bill courts ; though generally exempt from 
 the control and inconvenient restraint of jury trial. 
 The presiding officers are usually taken from the 
 humbler walks of the legal profession, and are 
 humble in talent and all useful information 
 frequently in morals, and always in the extent of 
 their legal acquirements. It matters very little in 
 any of these tribunals, on whose side, plaintiff or 
 defendant, the weight of evidence, justice, or truth 
 preponderates; judgment being awarded in nine- 
 teen cases out of twenty, in favour of the plaintiff; 
 who in the language of a late talented writer 
 " retires with the consciousness of having gained 
 profits and advantages by his superior cunning, 
 and the vanquished, with the disgusting and demo- 
 ralising conviction, that a tribunal of his country 
 has allowed injustice to be done him." 
 
 The following characteristic scene is said to have 
 actually taken place in the office or court-room of 
 Alderman B s, of the staid City of Philadelphia,
 
 CHARACTERISTIC SCENE. 131 
 
 and in a case then before him, wherein the plaintiff 
 claimed a considerable sum for goods sold and 
 delivered; but produced no vouchers, nor examined 
 any witnesses in support of his demand. We will 
 not undertake to vouch its absolute authenticity, 
 whilst we readily give the statement as affording 
 a fair specimen of " Justice of the Peace law" in 
 America. 
 
 After the cause of action had been stated, the 
 following dialogue is reported to have taken place 
 between the Justice and Counsellor N s, of the 
 Philadelphia bar, who represented the defendant. 
 
 Justice B s. " Well, Mr. N s, what has your 
 client to say in this matter ?" 
 
 Counsel. " Certainly nothing, Sir; it can hardly 
 be deemed incumbent on him to resist a claim 
 wholly unsupported by testimony." 
 
 Justice B s. " What, Sir do you imagine 
 that a man would have the boldness to sue another 
 before me, without some ground of complaint ? 
 the thing is impossible. It behoves the defendant, 
 therefore, to prove that the plaintiff was in the 
 wrong, and in the absence of such proof, the con- 
 clusion of law is against him." 
 
 Counsel. " But may it please your worship, it 
 is both illogical, and illegal, to call upon me to estab- 
 lish a negative." 
 
 Justice B s. " I call upon you to do no such 
 thing. It is a clear affirmative, viz. that the debt 
 is paid. Every plaintiff has a prima facias case,
 
 132 
 
 LAWYERS AND ATTORNEYS. 
 
 which must stand good, until something is shewn 
 from the other side to destroy it. I have so decided 
 one hundred times, without exception or appeal. 
 Mr. N s, judgment must go against you." 
 And judgment went accordingly. 
 
 From this, we shall now turn to another branch of 
 the legal profession the lawyers and attorneys, who, 
 though altogether separate in the nature and cha- 
 racter of their respective duties, are nevertheless held 
 conjointly by the same individual. This practice, 
 so opposite to English custom, is generally attended 
 with inconvenience to a suitor in the American law 
 courts ; and apart from the increased profits it may 
 bring with it, cannot prove otherwise to the lawyer 
 whom he may select as his professional agent. 
 It is impossible, that in the clashing of the sepa- 
 rate duties of counsel and attorney, that require 
 the former to truly and faithfully expound the law 
 according to his judgment, and the facts submitted 
 to him, on the one hand, and the interests and pecu- 
 niary inducements of the attorney, to increase and 
 add to the number and amount of his bill of costs, 
 on the other to which his duty as an advocate is 
 often made to give way the interest of the client 
 can possibly be preserved, or at least properly 
 attended to; but that a plaintiff is frequently 
 compelled, against his interest and better sense, to 
 go into court, either as a complainant, or other ,\ ise, 
 to defend some unprofitable law-suit, merely to pro- 
 mote some sinister views of some corrupt or dishonest
 
 AMERICAN LITIGATION. 133 
 
 agent, without merits, or the slightest legal justifi- 
 cation to sustain his proceedings. Should he on 
 the contrary, fall into hands disposed to deal fairly 
 by him, he will also meet with difficulties from 
 this conjunctive and complex arrangement of the 
 two professions. The lawyer, in order to do him 
 justice, is often obliged to neglect his most essential 
 duties as an attorney, to afford him opportunities 
 to search out precedents, if, indeed, that they are of 
 any value in an American law court, and to make 
 himself thoroughly instructed in the technicalities 
 and legal bearing of every new feature of the case 
 he has undertaken : whilst as the attorney, on the 
 other hand, seeking to perform this equally essen- 
 tial part of his duty, he is oftentimes compelled 
 to lose sight of the necessary share of a lawyer's 
 profession, for the purpose of looking after, and 
 instructing witnesses copying records preparing 
 and serving notices, and otherwise arranging with 
 proper care, such necessary evidence as will sustain 
 his declaration, or plea, when called upon to prove, 
 or defend his case, before a court or jury. The 
 result of his exertions are consequently at all times 
 uncertain, and generally unsatisfactory ; whilst a 
 cause is seldom set down for trial, that either party 
 are prepared to go into evidence. 
 
 There are generally from two to five hundred 
 cases on the calendar for trial, at the opening or 
 commencement of each term, of the principal state 
 courts of Boston, New York, Philadelphia, and other 
 populous cities of the Republic ; one-fourth of the
 
 134 QUALIFICATIONS FOR THE BAR. 
 
 number being seldom called up for hearing; while 
 the remaining three-fourths are allowed to descend to 
 the next ensuing term then to the next, and so on 
 ad infinitum, so long as the attorney or lawyer, may 
 assent to the postponement ; the client being seldom 
 admitted as a party in any negotiation of the kind, 
 which is generally continued to the period, that no 
 further costs are to be made by the delay.* 
 
 The restrictions usually imposed upon every 
 citizen in qualifying for the profession of a lawyer, 
 are so trifling, seldom exceeding three or four 
 years' apprenticeship in an attorney's office the 
 probationary course of study to which he is sup- 
 posed to submit, so very circumscribed the induce- 
 ments to enter the profession, from the inordinate 
 litigation so prevalent in every part of the United 
 States, so great that it can scarcely be a subject for 
 wonder, that but few of those evidences of respecta- 
 bility and talent, so remarkable in this influential 
 body in England, are discernible in the American 
 bar. In no part of the civilized world is so much 
 dross, and base material, intermixed with so little 
 
 * The average, we apprehend, is nearer to six hundred ! 
 The " Bangor Courier," of the State of Maine, one of the 
 least populous states in the Republic, in giving an account of 
 the litigation encouraged amongst its citizens, says ; "At the 
 Court of Common Pleas lately held in that town (1836), there 
 were twenty-five hundred cases on the docket ; and on the docket 
 of the Supreme Court, which was expected to be held in the 
 same town in the ensuing week, there were sixteen hundred 
 cases /"
 
 CHARACTER OF AMERICAN LAWYERS. 135 
 
 of what is valuable and good -so little to be found of 
 honour so little of probity, or worth so little of 
 good faith, or indeed of honesty in its more simpli- 
 fied meaning, that it were really a risk for any 
 person to entrust an American lawyer, or attorney 
 with an insight to his affairs, or to consult him on 
 any difficulty or embarrassment in which he may 
 be placed. Traders, in the fullest sense, they readily 
 barter the interests committed to them, for the merest 
 prospect of personal or individual gain, and deride 
 with a cold and unmixed selfishness, the misfor- 
 tunes the tenfold misery and want, of which they 
 are often the fruitful source. We speak advisedly on 
 this subject, as well from a considerable experience, 
 as from the assurances and repeated statements of 
 others, on whose truth and discernment we could 
 rely. Our own business in various parts of the 
 Republic, as well as the business of others especially 
 confided to our charge, rendered it necessary at dif- 
 ferent periods, that we continued in the country, to 
 employ some twelve or thirteen different professional 
 agents, (lawyers and attorneys,) many of them sus- 
 taining a high and even an honourable reputation 
 amongst their compeers; such men as the late Hon. 
 Henry R. Storrs,* William Betts of New York, 
 J. Duer of New York, David B. Ogden,f Hon. J. K. 
 
 * A man of extraordinary and brilliant talents, and for some 
 years a member of the legislature he is since dead. 
 
 f Who is of very considerable eminence, and one of the lead- 
 ing members of the New York bar. His practice is generally
 
 136 CHARACTER OF AMERICAN LAWYERS. 
 
 Kane,* Hon. J. M. Dallas,! with others whom we 
 forbear to name, and can truly aver, that of the 
 twelve or thirteen it was necessary we should con- 
 fide to, nine of the number, either shamefully and 
 deliberately betrayed the trust we had reposed in 
 them became accessaries with the parties opposed, 
 to do us mischief, or otherwise compelled us to pur- 
 chase their fidelity and questionable services, by the 
 tender and payment of an unusual and extravagant 
 bribe ; which the tender consciences of these indivi- 
 duals no doubt set down as the legitimate perquisites 
 of an honourable profession. 
 
 It is no very unusual practice in the United States, 
 that when a suitor is compelled to employ one of 
 these gentry, he also retains another of the profession, 
 to attend and watch his movements ; and to apprize 
 him of any irregularity he may detect in his pro- 
 ceedings. This may be a good, though we suspect 
 it a hazardous device, with the untutored in legal 
 matters ; especially, if these parties should chance 
 to be on any good understanding with each other. 
 
 confined to the United States Courts (the Court of Errors, the 
 Senate,) or in appeal cases at Washington. 
 
 * A near friend of the late President Jackson, and connected 
 with his Government as one of three Commissioners for arranging 
 the late French Indemnity to the United States. 
 
 f At the time of our employing him, Attorney- General of the 
 State of Pennsylvania ; since then, the United States Minister 
 at the court of Russia, and now Vice President of the United 
 States.
 
 DANGEROUS LEGAL SOCIETY. 137 
 
 We have frequently been assured in the United 
 States, of the existence, in connection with the legal 
 profession, of a wide spread and dangerous legal 
 society, which has extended its influence to every part 
 of the Republic, and by its secret workings becoming 
 a prolific and poisoned source of litigation ; blighting 
 the prospects of many a fair and industrious family, 
 and everywhere carrying trouble and misfortune in 
 its train. So secretly arranged are its measures so 
 well contrived all the plans of this dangerous and 
 irresponsible body so perfectly veiled from public 
 scrutiny, and observation, that its acts pass unno- 
 ticed before the world, and are unknown to the very 
 parties who are the sufferers, or who are most 
 served by their proceedings. This latter class it 
 may be presumed, form a limited proportion of 
 those, who are drawn into the meshes of this dan- 
 gerous coalition ; whose labours are incessant, and 
 directed rather to promote and serve their own im- 
 mediate ends, than to advance the interests and 
 views of parties, whom perhaps, they have never 
 seen, and with whom there exists no possible sym- 
 pathy, or any two ideas in common. We subjoin 
 the following hasty sketch of this society ; for though 
 the emigrant may at first be removed beyond its 
 influence, occasions may possibly afterwards arise to 
 bring him into more immediate collision with its 
 proceedings. 
 
 This society differs in design and organization 
 from any we have ever heard of. It is composed 
 of thirty-three members, all of whom are lawyers
 
 138 RULES AND ORGANIZATION. 
 
 of the most efficient character ; constituting an 
 invisible chain of intelligence, extending from New 
 Orleans to Boston. The ruler of this select corps, 
 called the Tetrarch, is invested with the most 
 absolute and irresponsible power. 
 
 The whole of the United States is divided into 
 eight districts ; four members compose a council in 
 each of them, and when they divide, the ruler de- 
 cides. It was in the first instance, a self-consti- 
 tuted society, and likely so to continue, as each 
 member before he dies, or resigns, nominates his 
 successor. " Few die and none resign." No females 
 are admitted, and the nominated man is stript for 
 examination. If his person be found perfect, and 
 without blemish, then the mental examination com- 
 mences. He is examined by each of the eight 
 councils in rotation. If they all report favourably 
 of his legal qualifications, and temperate habits, 
 the Tetrarch admits him to full membership ; after 
 administering to him in presence of one of the 
 councils, a solemn oath of unconditional submis- 
 sion, in all matters relating to his duties in society. 
 This examination is said to be of the most rigid 
 kind ; and any one to pass it must be versed in the 
 principles, both of the common law and civil law, 
 in the rights of persons and property, in constitu- 
 tional principles, and particularly in the original 
 structure of the feudal system and its connection 
 with modern tenures ; comprehending in its pur- 
 view, an interminable horizon of learning, that 
 seems to recede for ever as the mind advances.
 
 SPECIAL OBJECTS AND POWER. 139 
 
 No one is admitted until he is thirty years of 
 age, and has been seven years a practitioner of law. 
 Ten members remain unmarried to be ready at the 
 shortest notice to obey the Tetrarch, who can com- 
 mand them to remove to any part of the United 
 States, and remain there, under the pretext of prac- 
 tising law during pleasure. 
 
 All the proceedings are secret ; and the council 
 seldom meet twice in the same place, and never 
 communicate with each other by writing, or keep a 
 record of their proceedings. The Tetrarch visits 
 each of the councils as often as practicable, to be 
 apprized of every important measure that is adopted, 
 or discovery that is made. 
 
 The object of the society is to collect information 
 about doubtful titles to property, and make up cor- 
 rect legal opinions about them. When a defect is 
 discovered in any man's title, if the property in- 
 volved is valuable, (they do not meddle with trifling 
 matters), the Tetrarch orders one of the members to 
 make terms with one side, or the other interested, 
 for the conduct of a suit-at-law ; which is done at 
 the expense of the club, and generally for a certain 
 portion of the amount received. The immense pro- 
 perty thus acquired is thrown into a general fund, 
 after each member takes a certain portion, which is 
 appropriated to his own use. 
 
 The operations of the club, though seen no where, 
 are felt in every part of the Union. A knowledge of 
 facts, titles, and doubtful questions of law, are fer- 
 reted out, and carried by the ruler along the whole
 
 140 SECRET AND DANGEROUS 
 
 line of councils, undergoing an analysis in each of 
 them, that defies both mistakes and defects. All 
 acts of Congress, all State acts, all municipal regu- 
 lations, all public and private corporations, all 
 public and private donations, and in fact, the title of 
 every man who has a large fortune, are secretly 
 overhauled, reported on, and shaped by the councils 
 in the most imposing forms, to pass through the 
 Courts. 
 
 Individuals in different parts of the United States, 
 have been informed by persons to whom they were 
 utter strangers, and who reside in some distant 
 state, of titles and claims which they themselves 
 never thought of recovering. The parties in whose 
 name the writs are brought, are never informed of 
 the existence of the club, they know none in the busi- 
 ness, but the lawyers appointed to conduct their 
 causes, who are generally introduced by some one 
 who is not a member. This secrecy is observed to 
 avoid prejudice that would arise against the society 
 if it was known. 
 
 They make it a rule to offer their services in the 
 first instance to the parties who stand on the just 
 side of the question ; if their terms are not agreed 
 to, then they negotiate with the other side. The 
 unmarried men are compelled to peril life and limb 
 in the service of the club, and cannot marry unless 
 the wife of one of the members dies, in which event 
 he can never marry again. The unmarried men are 
 allowed liberal salaries, to live in the fashion most 
 agreeable to them : but they have summary laws
 
 INFLUENCE ON AMERICAN SOCIETY. 141 
 
 prohibiting all appearance of extravagance, and are 
 enjoined to avoid all ostentation of learning, always 
 pretending to know less than they do. 
 
 We have given this detail as we have received it. 
 Yet this is pretty well, and presents a most unen- 
 viable prospect to the nation, and but a slender gua- 
 rantee of the future domestic peace and harmony of 
 its citizens. Guided in their conduct by the most 
 selfish motives uncontrolled by none of the kind- 
 lier feelings of man's nature, to restrain the wan- 
 tonness of an undue interference in the affairs of 
 others ; they become the scourge of civilized life 
 the cause of dissension and the bitterest animosity 
 wherever they tread, to wherever their labours are 
 directed : setting kinsman against kinsman ; child 
 against his parent ; uprooting all the most sacred 
 and social ties, that bind mankind together, 
 and disseminating their poison, with the sure and 
 stealthy pace of the midnight assassin, through every 
 vein and artery of the Republic. It surely becomes 
 the nation to uproot this wicked and unhallowed 
 institution; to restore peace and harmony amongst 
 its population, instead of the dissension, the domes- 
 tic strife and rancour, which the schemes and con- 
 tinued efforts of this dangerous, and irresponsible 
 body is sure to generate. 
 
 The Honourable Edward Livingstone, up to the 
 period of his late embassy in 1835, to the Court of 
 France, is stated to have been the Tetrarch of this 
 nest of domestic conspirators ; and to have been for 
 several months, a few years back, at Harrisburgh, the 

 
 142 LAWS FOR THE REGULATION OF PROPERTY. 
 
 capital of the state of Pennsylvania, making search 
 amongst the public records, to discover flaws in the 
 title to a large tract of country called " Nicholson's 
 lands," comprising more than one hundred thousand 
 acres ; the greater part of which, had of late years 
 been improved and built upon, by their present 
 owners. Several suits were subsequently com- 
 menced in the United States courts for a portion of 
 this property, and we believe are yet pending. 
 
 The laws for the regulation and settlement of 
 property in the United States of America, are with 
 some slight variations, the same throughout the 
 several states of the union ; and with perhaps the 
 exception of the law of entail, or primogeniture, 
 and some one or two others, are generally modelled 
 after the British law in this respect. Of the most 
 remarkable, if not the most important of the excep- 
 tions, is the law which secures to the wife, or mar- 
 ried female, a present separate estate in personal or 
 chattel property, altogether distinct, and beyond the 
 control of her husband, without the intervention 
 of a trustee or any third party. Instances are fre- 
 quent, when the dwelling-house, including the 
 shop or store, the entire of a valuable stock in trade, 
 and all else on the premises, together with all pro- 
 fits arising from a lucrative business, are the indi- 
 vidual, the recognised and bond fide property of 
 the wife ; the husband merely performing the secon- 
 dary duties of a clerk, or bookkeeper, in the esta- 
 blishment, for which he receives a regular or sti- 
 pulated salary. All females are very properly
 
 AMERICAN BANKRUPT LAW. 143 
 
 exempted in the United States from imprisonment 
 for debt. 
 
 The bankrupt laws of England, enforced against 
 English bankrupts, at the time either temporarily or 
 otherwise resident in the United States, lose all their 
 efficacy on crossing the Atlantic : no one of the 
 states recognise them as affecting the person or pro- 
 perty of such bankrupt, within their respective 
 limits. In this case, the claim of his English 
 assignee would receive no possible countenance. 
 But this would not debar his English or foreign 
 creditor suing for their debts in any part of Ame- 
 rica, where such debtor may reside, provided the 
 actual indebtedness of such bankrupt was properly 
 authenticated by affidavit, sworn to before some 
 judge of a court of record, in any part of the United 
 Kingdom, using a seal, and attested in the usual 
 form by the proper officer of such court, and the 
 American Consul of the port or district, where the 
 affidavit may be sworn. Such document, with a 
 letter or power of attorney to any party, agent, or 
 otherwise, in the United States, would insure the 
 same facilities for instituting and ultimately pro- 
 ceeding in a suit at law, in the name of a foreign 
 or English creditor in America, for the recovery 
 of debts contracted out of its jurisdiction, as would 
 be afforded to him in any of the law courts of 
 Westminster; though the same proofs would also be 
 required to insure a verdict; which if followed up by 
 judgment, would entitle the plaintiff to satisfaction 
 according to its priority, over all other claimants.
 
 144 INSOLVENT LAWS OF THE SEVERAL STATES. 
 
 But an English or foreign creditor, if residing at the 
 time beyond the jurisdiction of any court in which 
 such suit might be brought, would be compelled 
 on application of the defendant, to enter into secu- 
 rity for the payment of the costs of any such pro- 
 ceedings so taken in his name, conditional to his 
 being permitted to continue any such suit. 
 
 There are also laws for the relief of insolvent 
 debtors throughout every part of America ; but to 
 a certain extent inoperative beyond the particular 
 state or territory, to which they belong ; no state 
 recognising the laws of any other, as far as they 
 relate to debtors seeking to avail themselves, or take 
 advantage of them, as to debts contracted in other 
 parts of the Union, or beyond the immediate limit 
 of their jurisdiction. For example, a citizen incurs 
 debt in the city or State of New York, where, if a 
 resident, he is always exempt from arrest. He pro- 
 ceeds to Philadelphia, or elsewhere in the State of 
 Pennsylvania, on business or otherwise. His creditor 
 apprized of his departure, takes care to anticipate his 
 arrival at his destination ; when he is immediately 
 arrested on a writ, issued upon the mere application 
 of such creditor from any of the local courts, and held 
 to bail. But here a six months' residence, if at large, 
 or a three months residence if confined in prison, is 
 necessary, to entitle him to the rights of citizenship ; 
 to enable him to apply for, and become entitled to 
 a discharge under the insolvent law of this State. 
 He passes through the ordeal and patiently awaits 
 the period of his enlargement ; when he immediately
 
 INSOLVENT LAWS. 145 
 
 sets out upon his return to New York. But he has 
 to pass through the state of New Jersey, of which 
 his wary creditor takes advantage : and as this state 
 adopts the same maxim, of not recognizing any of 
 the local, or state laws of its neighbours, he is again 
 arrested, and for want of hail, committed, or sent to 
 prison, to undergo another preparatory course of 
 confinement, before that he can be allowed to take 
 advantage of the insolvent laws of this state, discharg- 
 ing him from the responsibilities of the several debts, 
 from which he had been just released in the adjoining 
 state of Pennsylvania, and before that he will be 
 permitted to return to his family, or home. The 
 same unfriendly treatment will await him in what- 
 ever of the states he may chance to make his appear- 
 ance, until such time as he may secure his person 
 from molestation, by availing himself of the benefit 
 of the insolvent law of the state, in which his debt 
 was originally contracted. 
 
 Though none of the States acknowledge the 
 insolvent law of another, or neighbouring common- 
 wealth, as extending an exemption to insolvents 
 from arrest, or further legal proceedings for the 
 recovery of debts contracted beyond their immediate 
 limit, they nevertheless admit the efficacy of a judg- 
 ment, (if recovered in any one, and properly authen- 
 ticated,) throughout the entire : and such may be 
 removed, for the purpose of being recorded in 
 whatever part of the United States the debtor may 
 reside, or possess property. But not so in the 
 case of a foreign judgment, which would only be 
 
 VOL. I. L
 
 146 INSOLVENT COURT. 
 
 received as an evidence of indebtedness, to be further 
 established by other legal proof, before that a plain- 
 tiff could proceed to execution. 
 
 The number who annually avail themselves of 
 the regenerating influence of the insolvent laws, in 
 those States of the Union, where the laws of im- 
 prisonment for debt are yet in force, will scarcely 
 admit of any just computation. 
 
 In the city and county of Philadelphia, compris- 
 ing a population of from one hundred and fifty, to 
 one hundred and eighty thousand persons, nearly 
 eighteen hundred annually pass through this ordeal 
 of redemption. The sessions of this court, are held 
 in this city at stated quarterly periods, in each year, 
 under the presiding care of the Honourable Judge 
 King, who is also president, or chief judge of the 
 court of Common Pleas, and whose forbearance and 
 very commendable patience, as well as very extra- 
 ordinary despatch in discharging some hundreds 
 of these applicants at a session, we can ourselves 
 readily bear witness. They are certainly brought 
 before him in appalling numbers sworn to their 
 schedules, by platoons of some ten, or twelve at a 
 time, or as many as can conveniently place their 
 hand upon the Sacred Volume at the same moment ; 
 which they no sooner take from their lips, than they 
 are dismissed with the most flippant levity, by this 
 moral and arch expounder of American law, with 
 the simple admonition to " go and sin no more." 
 The sameness of this burlesque is sometimes broken 
 in upon, by a chance opposition made to some less
 
 FASHIONABLE DEBTOR. 14? 
 
 fortunate wight, who is thereby doomed to pass 
 through a further ordeal ; though that the judge 
 has no discretionary power to award punishment, 
 for any well sustained charge of fraud, or otherwise, 
 made against him ; or ought, except to direct bills 
 of indictment, to be preferred at the next sitting of 
 the city grand jury. But this course is so very 
 unusual, that we query if half a dozen cases have 
 occurred where this procedure has been resorted to, 
 within the same number of years, for almost any 
 pretext will suffice ; without indeed that the appli- 
 cant is a stranger, and possesses no local interest 
 to give sanction to his past proceedings. We were 
 pointed out in the fashionable promenade of Chesnut- 
 street in this city, a well-attired, and in appearance 
 a rather consequential personage, who was repre- 
 sented to us as a petitioner at every succeeding term 
 of this court. His father, who was some while dead, 
 had been an eminent physician, in extensive prac- 
 tice in Philadelphia ; his mother, who was still living, 
 allowed him sixty dollars per month for his indivi- 
 dual expenses ; yet with this, he still contrived to 
 run into debt ; and notwithstanding that he usually 
 discharged his engagements every three months by 
 aid of the insolvent court, still found persons ready 
 to give him credit. He once more, perhaps for the 
 tenth time, appeared before* Judge King ; who, a 
 little surprised at again seeing him, at once ad- 
 
 dresssed him ; and between whom and Mr. , 
 
 the following dialogue is said to have taken place. 
 
 L 2
 
 148 JUDGE KING 
 
 JUDGE K. " What, Mr. , again here ! 
 
 How is this ? and three thousand dollars owing by 
 your schedule!" v.hich had been handed to the 
 learned judge. 
 
 Mr. . "Why ye yes, your honour; I 
 
 have certainly been unfortunate but 'twas impos- 
 sible to avoid it utterly impossible, under my late 
 very peculiar circumstances." 
 
 JUDGE K. " It must be some very peculiar 
 circumstances, indeed, that could run you into debt 
 three thousand dollars beyond your means, and 
 within the short space of a few months pray how 
 do you account for this ?" 
 
 MR. . " Your Honour I had a race- 
 horse that " 
 
 JUDGE K. " Very bad - very bad ; race-horses 
 I know from experience are very expensive ; but 
 three thousand dollars within so short a time ! 
 Have you no other way you can account for this 
 unusually large expenditure ?" 
 
 MR. . Somewhat hesitatingly. " Why, 
 
 your Honour I I kept" 
 
 JUDGE K. " Not another race-horse, I hope." 
 
 MR. . " Oh no, your Honour I kept a 
 
 woman." 
 
 JUDGE K. Whose ears appeared to be some- 
 what tickled at the disclosure. " What ! a woman ! 
 a woman !" 
 
 MR. . " Yes, your Honour two women." 
 
 JUDGE K. " Two women ! keeping two women,
 
 AND AN INSOLVENT. 149 
 
 Mr. ! humph ! enough to destroy and ruin 
 
 any man living the loss is easily accounted for 
 very easily give him his discharge." 
 
 And Mr. , who was accordingly again re- 
 leased from his debts, or at least all further trouble, 
 or inconvenience on their account, soon disappeared, 
 nothing loth, amidst the crowd. 
 
 Yet such is American law, at least its mode of 
 distribution in Philadelphia, amidst the sober, the 
 sedate, and quiet descendants of the immortal Penn. 
 What a lesson, nevertheless, in modern ethicks ! 
 what a precept of morality to impress upon the 
 young mind of the coming generation, receiving 
 their instructions in profligacy and vice even from 
 the legal tribunals the judges of the country.
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Criminal Law of the United States Its mode of distribution 
 Trial by Jury Grand Juries in the United States Their 
 component materials Their being subject to undue influence 
 in the discharge of their duties New York Grand Jury 
 Instances of its moral unfitness and profligacy Essential 
 difference between an English and American Grand Jury 
 Official Charge of the Honourable the Recorder of New York 
 to the Grand Jury of that city, explaining the duties 
 within their observanc Uncertainty of redress on com- 
 plaint in criminal cases Sworn informations unnecessary as 
 a preliminary in the arrest of a party complained against 
 No protection afforded to the citizen against vexatious or 
 illegal arrests Justices of the Peace in the United States 
 Their general incapacity, their venality and worthlessness 
 Extreme latitude given to the Magistracy American Police 
 Their general efficiency and organization The late " Ash- 
 burton Treaty" with Great Britain, with reference to the sur- 
 render of fugitives from justice arriving in either country 
 Political Refugees in the United States The general indiffe- 
 rence and cold-heartedness of their reception The expa- 
 triated Pole Emmett Sampson McNevin and others, 
 victims of the late Irish Insurrection Fugitive Debtors in 
 the United States Affidavit of indebtedness sworn to in 
 England, sufficient to hold a defendant party to bail in the 
 United States Juries in the United States, selected by ballot 
 This precaution frequently insufficient to insure impar- 
 tiality, or guard against the perversion of justice on the part 
 of the prosecution Modes by which Juries are frequently 
 packed in the United States, their selection by ballot notwith- 
 standing. 
 
 THE distribution of the criminal law is equally 
 entitled to consideration. On it depends our best 
 security for liberty and life and the enjoyment of 
 those advantages secured by the exertion, the in- 
 dustry, and perseverance of every citizen. It is 
 manifestly the interest of all, the Peasant as the
 
 CRIMINAL LAW. 151 
 
 Peer the low-born and unpretending, as the weal- 
 thiest and most exalted in the land, to preserve it 
 undefiled, and beyond the control of every external, 
 or undue influence to watch with diligent and 
 anxious care, its daily and even progress, and to 
 mark with loud and universal reprehension, every 
 deviation from strict rectitude and principle, in its 
 dispensation. Always bearing in mind the impor- 
 tant law maxim, that " it is the duty of a judge to 
 declare and expound the law, as he may find it, not 
 to make, or alter it." 
 
 Every citizen of the United States is supposed to 
 be secured, under the constitution, in the full and 
 free enjoyment of the right to a fair and impartial 
 trial by a jury of his peers to be confronted with 
 the witnesses against him, and to have the assistance 
 of counsel in his defence.* He is also supposed to 
 derive from the prompt and equitable administration 
 of the law under which he lives, security and pro- 
 tection for his person, and the peaceable enjoyment 
 of his property and civil rights : though from the 
 continued change in the law in this respect, at least 
 in its practice, making it a somewhat difficult mat- 
 ter to at all times rightly understand it, the trial by 
 jury may be considered, in many of the States, if 
 not altogether abrogated, yet so altered in its general 
 features, as to present it under a very different aspect 
 from that in which we recognise it in our English 
 jurisprudence. These observations will apply to 
 the eastern, as to the middle states ; as well to the 
 
 * Article 6th of the amendments to the United States' Consti- 
 tution.
 
 152 TRIAL BY JURY. 
 
 state of New York, certainly in advance of all other 
 parts of the Union, in the fixedness and understood 
 principles of its judicatory, as to the more lately 
 settled parts of the republic. 
 
 The English law, in this particular, that which 
 Americans affect to adopt as their rule, has wisely and 
 mercifully placed, the two-fold barrier of a present- 
 ment and trial by jury, between the liberties of the 
 subject, and the prerogative of the crown. " It has 
 with excellent forecast," observes Sir William 
 Blackstone, " contrived, that no man shall be called 
 to answer for any capital crime, unless on the prepa- 
 ratory accusation of tw r elve or more of his fellow 
 subjects, and that the truth of every accusation 
 should be afterwards confirmed by the unanimous 
 suffrage of twelve of his equals and neighbours, 
 indifferently chosen, and superior to all suspicion." 
 
 Notwithstanding the eulogium of this able and 
 erudite commentator on the institution of the grand 
 jury, its utility at the present day, is frequently and 
 not inaptly questioned. A late distinguished writer 
 on modern jurisprudence, speaking on this head, 
 observes, " It must be acknowledged, that it (the 
 British grand jury systemj is one of the many relics 
 of antiquity, which Englishmen worship out of mere 
 superstition. The use of finding an indictment, 
 before a man suspected of a capital offence can be 
 submitted to trial was, that no one suspected merely 
 of guilt, should be subject to the hardship of im- 
 prisonment, and the expense and delay of a public 
 trial, at the discretion of an individual, at a period 
 when trials only came round once in seven years, and
 
 GRAND JURIES. 153 
 
 when the powers of the law were wielded by fierce, 
 impatient, and arbitrary barons, or the ministers of 
 an arbitrary king ; a security like this, against the 
 dreadful hardship of imprisonment of any length up 
 to seven years, ^ as of no light importance. Since 
 the 2nd and 3rd of Philip and Mary, which conferred 
 upon justices of the peace the power of imprison- 
 ment before trial, the grand jury, which now only 
 sits at the time the court sits, at which the alleged 
 offence may be tried, has evidently lost all power 
 to save any man from the hardship of undue im- 
 prisonment, and seems really to serve no purpose 
 whatever, but that of furnishing to the actual delin- 
 quent an additional chance of escape. The court 
 appointed to try the man in the best mode, is ready 
 to try him then why try him twice? first, in a 
 bad and insufficient way, and only after that, in a 
 good and final way. 
 
 "A grand jury must do one of tw T O things. It 
 must send a man to trial, or discharge him. It 
 must find the bill a true bill, or the contrary. In 
 all cases where it sends a man to trial, it neither 
 does good, nor evil, for the man is tried, and sustains 
 the consequence of his trial, exactly as if no such 
 thing as a grand jury had been in existence. In 
 the case in which the grand jury discharge, the 
 man must be either innocent or guilty. If innocent, 
 the grand jury is useless again, for immediately, or 
 in a short space, the man would have received the 
 same discharge, from the court that would have 
 tried him. The only case, therefore, in which a 
 grand jury could do anything, which would riot 
 be done without it, is, the case in which it dis-
 
 154 GRAND JURIES. 
 
 charges a man really guilty, whose guilt would have 
 been ascertained by the court. There is only one 
 case then in which it can be anything but useless, 
 and that is, in a case in which it is purely mis- 
 chievous." 
 
 We should almost have supposed that when the 
 writer had penned the foregoing observations, he 
 had been well instructed by previous intimacy with 
 the system as practised in the United States ; the 
 abuse and disregard of every principle of justice 
 and impartiality, the private injury and wrong, 
 assured and protected by these tribunals, that may 
 in very truth be considered, as " multiplying the 
 chances of escape" from justice, and rendering the 
 lives and properties of almost every individual, 
 more or less insecure. However inefficient, or 
 otherwise useless, grand juries in England may be 
 considered, in the furtherance and aid of public 
 justice, they at least possess the negative attribute 
 of doing no intentional, or deliberate mischief, or of 
 unjustly interfering between the due administration 
 of the laws, and the parties that may come before 
 them. To a grand jury, made up of the materials 
 that generally constitute such bodies in England, 
 composed of men, not only of very considerable 
 wealth in their respective counties, which presumes 
 them to possess some stake, in its orderly and peace- 
 able deportment, but of men, whose honesty and sin- 
 gleness of purpose, liberal and extended education, 
 would make them in every way competent to assume 
 its duties ; whose characters are without stain, and be- 
 yond reproach, and whose rank and high standing in 
 society renders them impervious to every attempt at
 
 AMERICAN GRAND JURORS. 155 
 
 the exercise of an undue influence, in controlling or 
 Massing their opinions ; to such men, we submit, 
 an extensive, discretionary, or it may be, an arbitrary 
 power of this kind, for we will not quarrel with the 
 word, can well be confided, without any great 
 apprehension of its abuse. But not so in America, 
 where the republican equality of each citizen, 
 renders him equally eligible, and competent with 
 his neighbour, frequently chequering this very 
 respectable body with an incongruous admixture of 
 all classes and grades of society the mechanic, as 
 the merchant the tradesman, as well as the man of 
 independent wealth the illiterate with the better 
 educated ; all mixed up in one hurly-burly, each 
 adopting some incoherent notion or opinion of his 
 own, to which he adheres with a pertinacity, propor- 
 tionate only to his incompetency to form a correct 
 one, on any subject removed beyond the limit of 
 his own contracted sphere of action.* 
 
 * We take the last Grand Jury of the County and City of New 
 York, that has come within our notice, (Sept. Terra, 1843), as 
 being the most favourable specimen we have as yet met with, of 
 the respectability of these bodies in the United States. 
 
 On the Panel being called over, the following answered to their 
 names, and were sworn, viz. : 
 
 G. Blunt, Foreman, Mechanic. 
 John C. Brown, Builder. 
 Wm. Everdell, Engraver. 
 Wm. Gale, Silversmith 
 Edw. Flanigan, Merchant. 
 W. A. Howell, Cabinet-maker. 
 James Peach, Painter. 
 Jer. Skidmore, Coal retailer. 
 John Jackson, Stone Mason. 
 Benj. Bayley, Apothecary and 
 Physician. 
 
 Thomas Kelly, Brewer. 
 Henry A. Halsey, Merchant. 
 Aaron Kline, do. 
 Jas. J. Rogers, do. 
 Edwin Townsend, Clothier. 
 Sheppard Knapp, 
 John L. Brown, and 
 Lemuel Pitman, set down in 
 
 American phraseology as 
 
 " Gentlemen."
 
 156 CORRUPTION OF JUSTICE. 
 
 That such men are open to the influence of the 
 many interested parties that are called before them, 
 either as prosecutors, witnesses, defendants, or 
 accused, on whose conduct they are to adjudicate, 
 with their numerous friends and partisans behind 
 the scenes, there can be no doubt. Repeated in- 
 stances have come within our own short experience, 
 where the most corrupt, though successful efforts, 
 have been made to divert the current of public 
 justice, from its pure and wholesome source, into the 
 most poisoned and perverted channels. Nor are 
 these practices confined to any particular state, or 
 peculiar to the lately settled parts of the republic, 
 but extend to the more advanced, influential, and 
 civilised districts. Nay, we have known, even in 
 the" empire city" of New York, where a large pro- 
 portion of its grand jury have been previously 
 tutored in the interest of the accused party, with 
 manuscript memorandums, or written briefs of 
 instructions, secretly prepared by the accused, or his 
 counsel, in their pockets ; interspersed with the 
 foulest abuse, and slander of the character and 
 motives of the prosecutor, and witnesses, who were 
 to appear before them to give evidence, with their 
 minds in part made up, and prepared for an 
 acquittal before any inquiry had been gone into 
 in short, the entire case was prejudged before the 
 prosecutor, or complainant had appeared to give his 
 evidence. We have witnessed this much, and 
 subsequently heard the accused, who stood charged 
 with a heinous crime, exult in the efficiency of the 
 means planned for his escape ; which had thus
 
 THE RECORDER'S CHARGE. 157 
 
 enabled him to successfully evade the constituted law 
 of the land, and soar above its influence 
 
 But where the industry and adroitness of the agent 
 the interference, and personal exertions of friends, 
 have been but partially exerted, and are insufficient to 
 quash an embryo criminal proceeding, an investiga- 
 tion is sometimes gone through ; the practice of these 
 tribunals in America admitting the hearing of wit- 
 nesses on both sides, for the defendant, or accused, as of 
 the prosecutor, with evidence to rebut, as well as to 
 sustain, whatever charge or accusation may be 
 made, or brought before them. We confess to have 
 been somewhat surprised on first ascertaining these 
 additional labours, as of the duties of an American 
 grand jury ; and on hearing explained to them, as of 
 the obligations of the trust committed to their keep- 
 ing, in the charge of the Honourable the Recorder 
 of New York, assumed to be the general practice 
 throughout all parts of the republic; wherein his 
 Honour directed them, " by no means to limit their 
 inquiry to merely ascertaining the sufficiency of 
 evidence to support an indictment, but to sedulously 
 investigate each case, as it might come before them ; 
 to hear and examine witnesses, not only in sustain- 
 ment, but also in refutation of each accusation, and 
 to pass their verdict, by finding or ignoring the 
 bills, as if empanelled in the petty jury box to try 
 the case." 
 
 This examination of witnesses on both sides, 
 is often gone through, in the spirit, or disposition 
 we have before observed ; while pretexts are at 
 all times, and by such means, easily furnished to 
 warrant the acquittal of the accused, however his
 
 158 PERVERSION OF JUSTICE 
 
 guilt, should such reconcile with the secret wish, or 
 personal inkling of a majority of the jurors present. 
 Still the principle is open to other objections, and 
 may be charged in positive violation of one of the 
 most essential provisions of the constitution ; which 
 declares each citizen entitled as of right to a fair 
 and impartial trial by a jury of his peers, to be 
 confronted with the witnesses against him, and to 
 have the assistance of counsel on his defence. Yet 
 here is constituted an irresponsible tribunal, dark 
 and secret in its proceedings often, and as we have 
 known it, dishonest in its purpose, and " purely 
 mischievous" in its results ; assuming with its own, 
 the other, and defined duties of a special or petty 
 jury proceeding to hear the case, and determine 
 its merits, in the absence both of prosecutor and the 
 accused, and of counsel to represent either, as also 
 of a judge, or other competent legal person, to 
 declare and explain the law; while removed from the 
 protection and wholesome surveillance of public 
 observation, so generally and so usefully exercised 
 on all other such occasions. 
 
 We must not be told of the advantages that can 
 possibly counterbalance this evil this gross perver- 
 sion of the first principles of common justice; nor 
 can we join in an admission of the protection that 
 such is said to afford to the innocent, the unob- 
 trusive, and well-meaning citizen ; who, it is con- 
 tended, would be often dragged before some other 
 less considerate public body, to meet charges pre- 
 ferred in the guise, and assumed confidence of 
 truth, but with the covert and dishonest purpose, 
 to invade the character and reputation of innocent
 
 BY GRAND JURIES. 159 
 
 parties; who are, on the other hand, afforded by this 
 system, an opportunity to relieve themselves from 
 every injurious imputation, without being com- 
 pelled to do so in open court, and in the gaze of 
 thousands, as witnesses to so humiliating a necessity. 
 Such indeed are the arguments in the mouth of 
 every American, with whom we have conversed on 
 the subject, and who, admitting this perversion in 
 their criminal code, are anxious to excuse this innova- 
 tion ; perhaps forgetting the while, that if the party 
 accused is really innocent, he has no certain oppor- 
 tunity by this means of establishing such fact, or 
 so long as he is partially ignorant of the precise 
 nature of the charge, or accusation made against 
 him ; as also the evidence adduced, and perhaps sub- 
 orned to sustain it ; and that should he be subse- 
 quently compelled to appear before a petty jury, by 
 reason of this per version, he is consequently prejudiced 
 in their opinion of his guilt, if only from the circum- 
 stance of judgment having already been pronounced 
 against him, by an assumed impartial tribunal, in 
 every way competent to investigate both sides of 
 the question the truth, as well as the falsehood, of 
 the accusation ; with the presumption, however ill- 
 founded, of their decision being based on strict 
 impartiality, and the merits of the case, sustained by 
 the evidence before them. It is unreasonable to 
 expect that men, however personally disinterested, 
 and prepared to do justice between their fellow men, 
 can divest themselves, when in the petty jury box, 
 of this bias, on any second investigation of a case, 
 without being influenced by a strong presumption
 
 160 DIFFICULTIES OF STRANGERS. 
 
 a reasonable prejudice, as to the probable guilt of 
 the accused.* 
 
 A stranger in any part of the United States, has 
 few inducements to complain of wrong done him, 
 with at least any reasonable hope, or prospect of 
 redress ; for independent of the strong tide of pre- 
 judice with which he is beset, he has also to meet the 
 certain opposition of some local interest, or cabal, 
 to silence every just, or reasonable remonstrance. 
 Should he nevertheless insist upon his complaint 
 being received, he is surrounded with difficulties, 
 that at every step remind him of his imprudence, 
 and inflict more suffering more real punishment, 
 than what perhaps he is so impatient to redress. 
 His own security in the form of bonds to the " so- 
 vereign people,"t are deemed insufficient to insure 
 his attendance to prosecute at the next sessions, or 
 sitting of the court. As a stranger, he is possibly 
 without friends, that would join with him in the 
 required recognizance for this purpose ; and in de- 
 fault, he is not unfrequently sent to prison, to reflect 
 
 * In the charge of the Honourable the Recorder of New York 
 (Judge Tallmadge) to the September (1843) Grand Jury of that 
 city, he earnestly exhorted them to " make full and complete 
 investigation in all cases presented to them, before true bills of 
 indictment were rendered, as the effect of an indictment, in case 
 of clear acquittal before a petty jury, was nearly as injurious to 
 the reputation of the accused, as if convicted." 
 
 f All processes, bonds, recognisances, and other official docu- 
 ments that in England are made in the name of the Crown, are, 
 in America, generally drawn up " In the name of the People of 
 Ike United States, Free and Independent ;" or, " The People 
 of the State of New York, Free and In dependent" or of such 
 other state as it may be.
 
 CASE OF JAMES. 161 
 
 upon his folly, and learn some discretion in his 
 future conduct. 
 
 The instance of a young man named * James, 
 that came under our immediate notice in Phila- 
 delphia, will explain the practice, and severe opera- 
 tion of the law in this respect. 
 
 James was of sober, quiet, and indus- 
 trious habits, and supported an aged mother, who 
 resided at Lebanon in the state of Pennsylvania, 
 distant about eighty miles from Philadelphia, by 
 towing boats on the Schuylkill canal. On one oc- 
 casion, when nearing Philadelphia, he was waylaid, 
 assaulted, and robbed of all the money on his per- 
 son, amounting to some two or three dollars. His 
 first care on reaching this city, was to apply to a 
 magistrate, when a warrant was issued for the appre- 
 hension of the delinquent, who was soon after taken ; 
 and who admitted on his examination, the charge 
 made against him, but made no effort to excuse or 
 extenuate his crime : yet was he set at large, on 
 procuring the required bail to appear at the next 
 
 criminal court to be held in said district. James, 
 
 on the other hand, was a stranger in the city of 
 " brotherly love," as Philadelphia is sometimes 
 quaintly called, and had no friend to join with him 
 in the required recognizance to ensure his prose- 
 cuting. He tendered his own bail in any required 
 amount ; but the law exacted more than this, and 
 much more than poor James could satisfy. It was 
 to no purpose that he appealed to the sympathies 
 
 VOL. i. M
 
 162 CASE OF JAMES. 
 
 and benevolent feelings of the magistrate, and urged 
 the helplessness of his widowed mother in his prayer 
 for mercy. The majesty of American law, that 
 allows every partisan, and wholesale scoundrel, to 
 go " unwhipt of justice," was in the instance of this 
 unoffending and innocent young man to be vindi- 
 cated ; and without any other crime, or the semblance 
 of a charge made against him, was unfortunate James 
 hurried off to prison, where he was confined for be- 
 tween two and three months in a miserable cell, com- 
 pelled to associate witli many of the most abandoned 
 and reckless of American society. He appeared and 
 prosecuted in due season to conviction, the party who 
 had so assaulted and robbed him, who underwent 
 some trifling punishment for the offence ; but 
 James lost his money, and what was of far more value, 
 his time, and his situation his widowed mother, her 
 sole support ; for which the state, in its liberality, 
 made him compensation about two dollars, or eight 
 shillings and fourpence, sterling. He was then turned 
 adrift, with his mind and habits somewhat altered, 
 to wend his way, in the best manner he could, to- 
 wards his desolate home ; with ample time to rumi- 
 nate as he went along, on the many and perplexing 
 difficulties of his situation in this world, not withstand- 
 ing the blessings he was always taught to anticipate 
 from the happy form of government under which it 
 was his fortune to live, and the equitable and con- 
 scientious distribution of justice, which it shared 
 amongst his fellow citizens ; dealing the same mea-
 
 JUSTICES OF /THE PEACE. J 63 
 
 sure to all, the accusing with the accused the guilty 
 and the criminal, with the innocent peaceable and 
 well conducted. 
 
 Sworn informations, in criminal cases, are by no 
 means a necessary preliminary to a Justice of Peace- 
 issuing a warrant for the apprehension of a sus- 
 pected or accused party ; which places the liberty, 
 and personal freedom of every citizen at the mercy 
 of a generally corrupt, illiterate, and partisan magis- 
 tracy. But such a restraint upon the authoritative 
 violence of a body of men, whose recorded delin- 
 quencies outnumber every reasonable calculation, 
 and who have scarcely aught to control them in the 
 most despotic exercise of their authority, beyond the 
 scanty measure of discretion for which they are at 
 any time remarkable, is seldom thought of. Chosen 
 by the people, and from the people, they are the 
 mere creatures, as well for evil, as for any substan- 
 tive good, of the declared will of any assembled 
 number of their fellow citizens ; and at all times the 
 pliant and ready instruments of every influential 
 political leader of the dominant party, whom they 
 are bound to please, at the expense of every other 
 and proper consideration. Whenever their services 
 can really be made useful, they are generally found 
 wanting, in the exertion, firmness, and efficiency, 
 that should begird their appointment. In the riots 
 the shameful excesses that of late years have marked 
 the character of the republican citizens of these 
 states, they have been found deficient in every 
 essential of faithful public servants ; and in some 
 
 M 2
 
 164 JUSTICES OF THE PEACE. 
 
 instances have given an implied sanction, if not a 
 more direct and positive encouragement to the open 
 infraction of the laws the wholesale plunder and 
 destruction of private property that has taken place, 
 frequently, within their immediate observation. A 
 friend of ours asked one of these worthies at a late 
 incendiary fire in Philadelphia, which menaced 
 destruction to a large portion of the city, why he did 
 not interfere, to stay the frightful excesses passing 
 within his view ? When he calmly replied, giving at 
 the same time a significant shrug to his shoulders 
 that " indeed he should long before have done so, but 
 that he did not think the people" (alias, the congre- 
 gated assembly of licensed burglars, and other lawless 
 incendiaries, then sporting their tricks before him) 
 " would be pleased, or satisfied at his interference." 
 The thing went on ; disorder, anarchy, and crime 
 ruled the ascendant ; several houses were burnt to the 
 ground, after the most approved republican fashion, 
 and as many families thrown destitute on the world's 
 waste ; for the justice and liberality of American law, 
 makes no provision provides no atonement for 
 these, or similar excesses of the "sovereign people," 
 but leaves the victim of mob violence and vengeance, 
 to whatever remedy, if any, he may possess.* 
 
 * This, until very lately, has been the universal practice 
 throughout the United States. A modification of the principle 
 has however been recently admitted, in some few instances, in 
 Baltimore, and Philadelphia, where some trifling or inadequate 
 compensation has been recovered against the public authorities, 
 especially of this latter city, for loss and injury done by mob
 
 JUSTICES OF THE PEACE. 165 
 
 In New York, a more fearful latitude is given to 
 the magistracy, altogether inconsistent with the 
 spirit and character of free institutions : a stranger 
 in this city can scarcely consider that he is at large, 
 except by the permission, or sufferance of Justice 
 A , B , or C , who, under its municipal laws, 
 may issue his mandate, upon any, or no pretext, 
 for the summary appearance before him of any 
 individual, resident, or stranger, within the limit of 
 his jurisdiction, and call upon him to account, to the 
 " satisfaction of the saidJustice" in what manner he 
 supports himself, or procures a livelihood : and in 
 default of the summoned party yielding such satis- 
 factory information, as the magistrate in his capri- 
 cious will may choose to exact, to commit him, or 
 her, to prison, for any period not exceeding six 
 months. It is by no means necessary, that evidence 
 of the least impropriety in the conduct of such indi- 
 vidual should be adduced, or even a charge of the 
 indirect infraction of any state, municipal, or city 
 ordinance brought against him, to legally warrant 
 the magistrate in his committal : the mere isolated 
 circumstance of the magistrate conceiving him, and 
 from what this functionary will allege, " his own 
 showing on his examination when brought before 
 him" and though he may not have replied to a 
 single interrogatory addressed to him, to be an im- 
 proper person to go at large ; or his having failed 
 
 violence ; though not until the injured parties had been forced to 
 the necessity of expensive legal proceedings, to assert their indi- 
 vidual and respective claims.
 
 166 OPPRESSIVE LAW. 
 
 to satisfy this official of the propriety of his mode of 
 life and nothing more is necessary no other pre- 
 text is required as a justification ; he is sent to prison, 
 to work out the term of his sentence, without bail, 
 or mainprize without appeal to any other tribunal, 
 or even being allowed to avail himself of the writ of 
 habeas corpus, the boast and safeguard of every Eng- 
 lishman's liberty, which, in this instance,i& altogether 
 suspended as regards him. We have often heard 
 members of the American bar, repudiate these mon- 
 strous and inquisitorial proceedings, founded, it is 
 said, upon a law, or grant, embodied in some old and 
 antiquated English charter to this city, and when the 
 disjointed state of its society in its early colonization 
 made it necessary ; and since confirmed to its citizens, 
 with all other corporate rights and privileges, under 
 the act of confederacy of the several states.* At- 
 tempts have been made to test its constitutionality ; 
 but the abuse is surrounded by so many guards, 
 entrenched behind so many legal barriers, that the 
 means of doing so, are found too far removed beyond 
 the compass of individual effort. It is the legisla- 
 ture that can alone effect a change in this most op- 
 pressive law, whilst the sticklers for municipal exac- 
 tion and arbitrary will, insist upon its positive neces- 
 sity, especially in such a city as New York, even at 
 
 * The Charter, by which this city is secured in its rights and 
 privileges, is one granted by King James II. of England, con- 
 firmed by George II. 1/30, and by the Governor, Council, 
 and General Assembly, October 14, 1732 : Present amended 
 Charter, passed by the legislature, April 7th, 1830.
 
 AMERICAN POLICE. 167 
 
 the present day, to protect its citizens, as they allege, 
 from the inroads, and innumerable ill consequences 
 of the continued influx of strangers from Europe, as 
 elsewhere : some of them, no doubt, of uncertain 
 means, and very questionable habits, who generally 
 make this city their first landing, and abiding 
 place, on arrival in America. But they seldom, 
 good easy people, condescend to notice, and never 
 to explain, why it is, that London, always containing 
 so large a number of resident and transient foreigners 
 within its corporate limits, frequently amounting to 
 the entire numerical population of New York or that 
 Liverpool, with its far increased intercourse with 
 other nations, should not also require some penal and 
 iniquitous law of this kind, to restrain the excesses of 
 their equally chequered population ? The question 
 perhaps, after all, is of easy solution, and may receive 
 its reply in the simple fact, that the laws of England, 
 receiving their support from the assent, and concur- 
 rent sanction, of an orderly and contented people, 
 are at all times adequate to the curbing licentious- 
 ness, and the punishment of crime, without attempt- 
 ing these, or similar encroachments on the well- 
 secured liberty of the subject : whilst in America, 
 under an avowedly corrupt and profligate system, 
 the laws are seldom recognised as protecting the 
 peaceable and well-conducted, and are found, rather 
 to depend for their due enforcement, on party 
 caprice, or on the chance assent of an unsteady a 
 frequently turbulent, and uncontrolled population. 
 The organization of the police, in the Eastern or
 
 168 AMERICAN POLICE. 
 
 Atlantic cities, and to whom an unusual and very 
 extended latitude is given, is generally good ; 
 composed of a set of men of keen sharp-sighted 
 intelligence, from whom it were no easy matter to 
 escape, to thwart, or disappoint in the pursuit of their 
 daily business. The head offices of New York, 
 Boston, Philadelphia, &c. are in frequent communi- 
 cation with those of London, Liverpool, Paris, &c. 
 and it is no unusual occurrence, that a delinquent, 
 frequently a debtor, or bankrupt trader from the 
 old world, has scarcely time to set his foot upon the 
 new, than he is arrested upon some charge that has 
 preceded him on his voyage. The law is generally 
 overstepped in these arrests, which are mostly of an 
 experimental kind, and done with the secret object 
 of extorting money, rather than to promote the ends 
 of individual, or public justice. 
 
 The police regulations in the interior, are, how- 
 ever, very defective, without any proper organized 
 means of detecting crime, or bringing criminals to 
 justice ; society depending on its individual or own 
 resources in the enforcement of the laws. According 
 to M. de Tocqueville, " the lesser details of police, 
 which renders life easy and comfortable, are neg- 
 lected," while " disgraceful blemishes are seen in 
 complete contrast with the surrounding civiliza- 
 tion." 
 
 Committees are often formed for the detection of 
 criminals, but are seldom efficient for such purpose, 
 except where the delinquent is considered personally 
 obnoxious to the community, and possesses no local
 
 THE ASHBURTON TREATY. 169 
 
 or partisan interest, by which he is otherwise pro- 
 tected. 
 
 The late treaty, concluded between Great Britain 
 and the United States, generally designated the 
 " Ashburton Treaty" has somewhat altered the 
 relations between both countries, and placed them, 
 in matters of this kind, (assuming its validity,) on a 
 surer and better understood footing; the laws of 
 each, no longer affording immunity for offences of 
 a heinous kind committed in the other, by protecting 
 the public offender the murderer, or public rob- 
 ber, from the consequences of his crime on reaching 
 its shores. By the 10th article of this treaty, it is 
 agreed, "that the United States and her Britannic 
 Majesty shall, upon mutual requisitions by them, 
 their ministers, officers, or authorities, respectively 
 made, deliver up to justice all persons, who being 
 charged with the crime of murder, or assault with 
 the intent to commit murder, or piracy, or arson, or 
 robbery, or forgery, or the utterance of forged papers, 
 committed within the jurisdiction of either, who shall 
 seek an asylum, or shall be found within the terri- 
 tories of the other:" and provides "that this shall 
 only be done upon such evidence of criminality as, 
 according to the law of the place where the fugitive 
 or person so charged, shall be found, would justify 
 his apprehension, and commitment for trial, if the 
 crime or offence had there been committed ; and the 
 respective judges, and other magistrates of the two 
 governments, shall have power, jurisdiction and 
 authority, upon complaint made under oath, to issue
 
 170 TREATIES WITH FOREIGN POWERS. 
 
 a warrant for the apprehension of the fugitive or 
 person so charged, that he may be brought before 
 such judges or other magistrates respectively, to the 
 end that the evidence of criminality maybe heard and 
 considered ; and if, on such hearing, the evidence be 
 deemed sufficient to sustain the charge, it shall be 
 the duty of the examining judge or magistrate, to 
 certify the same to the proper executive authority, 
 that a warrant may issue for the surrender of such 
 fugitive. The expense of such apprehension and 
 delivery, shall be borne and defrayed by the party who 
 makes the requisition and receives the fugitive." 
 
 We still doubt the efficacy of this part of the 
 treaty the power actually vested in the United 
 States government, to enforce, or carry out its provi- 
 sions, without the delegated, or concurrent sanction 
 of the individual states. Unlike to Great Britain, 
 the constitution of the United States is a written 
 constitution, under which the authority conceded 
 to the Federal Government and Congress is strictly 
 defined, and beyond which it cannot travel. 
 
 The 10th article of the amendments to this con- 
 stitution distinctly declares: * 
 
 " The powers not delegated to the United States 
 by the constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States 
 are reserved to the States respectively, or to the 
 people." While that part of the Constitution which 
 has reference to the treaty making power of the United 
 States, article 2nd, sec. 2nd, merely says " He" 
 
 * See Appendix, letter D.
 
 TREATIES WITH FOREIGN POWERS. 171 
 
 (the President) " shall have power, by and with the 
 advice and consent of the senate, to make treaties, 
 provided two-thirds of the senators present concur." 
 Now, we contend, that this authority is re- 
 stricted to the making such treaties merely, as are 
 of an inferential, or consecutive kind. Such as may 
 be found necessary to carry out the expressly dele- 
 gated power vested in the Federal Government 
 under the constitution and to none others : were it 
 otherwise, and that the power to surrender up fugi- 
 tives from justice, under any possible limitation, was 
 inherent in the Federal Government, or belonged 
 to it per se without any express delegated authority 
 from the individual states, there would have been 
 no necessity to have introduced the following as a 
 part of the 2nd section of the 4th article of the 
 Constitution, which says : 
 
 "A person charged in any state, with treason, 
 felony, or other crime, who shall flee from justice, and 
 be found in another state, shall, on demand of the 
 executive authority of the state from which he fled, be 
 delivered up, to be removed to the state having juris- 
 diction of the crime," which would clearly de- 
 monstrate that without this provision being ex- 
 pressly made a part of the original compact, limiting 
 or defining this especial power, there existed no 
 authoritative jurisdiction within the republic none 
 certainly that the Federal Government possessed, 
 enabling it to surrender up fugitives from justice, 
 even those escaping from the local controul of one 
 State, into any other, or neighbouring common- 
 wealth. Still this provision in the law makes no
 
 172 TREATIES WITH FOREIGN POWERS. 
 
 mention whatsoever of fugitives from other foreign, 
 or European States, or of individuals, being other' 
 wise than citizens of some one of the numerous states 
 of the republic. 
 
 From all which, our strong conviction is, that the 
 act of the United States Government in entering 
 into any treaty of this kind with Great Britain, was 
 an overstrain of her authority an interference far 
 beyond her jurisdiction ; and that the validity of the 
 treaty in this particular, rests upon a very question- 
 able and insecure basis. It may be, that so long as 
 it is acquiesced in, it will never be called up for 
 investigation ; though we entertain but very little 
 doubt, that upon the first appeal that may at any 
 time hereafter be made to the supreme court of any 
 of the states of the republic, in which this part of 
 the treaty is attempted to be enforced, or on subse- 
 quent appeal to the Supreme Federal Courts testing 
 its validity, that its entire and perfect nullity, its 
 manifest incapacity to carry out any one of the 
 purposes in this respect, for which it was intended, 
 will be fully demonstrated. 
 
 It will probably be said, that this question, so es- 
 sential to the continuance of that good understanding 
 that should subsist between Great Britain and the 
 United States, has already been determined in the 
 case of Christina Cochran, otherwise Gilmour, a 
 British subject, who being suspected or charged 
 with the murder of her husband in the year 1843, 
 fled from Glasgow in Scotland to the United States ; 
 arid for whose surrender an application was subse- 
 quently made on behalf of the British Government.
 
 CASE OF CHRISTINA GILMOUR. 173 
 
 Yet, \ve assume, that the decision of the United 
 States court in this instance, (the first arising out of 
 the treaty,) or rather of the judge who volunteered 
 his unsought-for opinion on the question, is by no 
 means conclusive of the constitutional interpretation 
 to be attached to this lately imposed provision in 
 the American law, and that remains to the present 
 day undecided, by any overruling or determinate 
 adjudication of the competent legal authorities of 
 the country. 
 
 The government of the United States having de- 
 cided on delivering up the said Christina Gilmour, 
 a warrant was issued by the Secretary of State, for 
 this purpose, of which the following is a copy : 
 
 " Department of State, Washington, 
 9th August, 1843. 
 
 " To all to whom these presents shall come, 
 
 " WHEREAS, Henry S. Fox, Esquire, the 
 " Envoy-extraordinary and Minister-plenipotentiary 
 " of her Britannic Majesty, hath made requisition in 
 " conformity with the provisions of the tenth article 
 " of the treaty concluded at Washington, the 9th day. 
 "of August, 1842, for the delivering up to justice, 
 " of Christina Cochran, alias Gilmour, charged 
 " with the crime of murder, alleged to have been 
 " committed within the jurisdiction of Great Bri- 
 " tain; and whereas the said Christina Cochran, alias 
 " Gilmour, hath been found in the state of New 
 " York, within the jurisdiction of the United States, 
 " and hath, by proper affidavit, and in due form of
 
 174 TREATIES WITH FOREIGN POWERS. 
 
 " law, been brought before Sylvanus Rapalje, 
 " United States Commissioner for the southern 
 " district of New York upon the said charge of 
 " murder. And, whereas, the said Sylvanus Ra- 
 " palje hath deemed the evidence sufficient to autho- 
 " rise and require her commitment, and hath ac- 
 " cordingly committed her to the jail of New York, 
 " all which appears by a certified copy of the pro- 
 " ceedings transmitted to this department. 
 
 " Now these presents are to require the Marshal 
 " of the United States for the southern district of 
 " New York, the District-attorney of the United 
 " States for the said district, and any other public 
 " officer, having the charge or custody of the said 
 " Christina Cochran, alias Gilmour, to surrender and 
 " deliver her up to George McKay, an officer of 
 " the government of her Britannic Majesty, or any 
 " other officer of said government, duly authorised 
 " by her Britannic Majesty's said Envoy-extraordi- 
 " nary and Minister-plenipotentiary to receive her 
 " into custody. 
 
 " Given under my hand and seal, at the office of 
 " the Secretary of the United States, on the day 
 " and year herein aforesaid. 
 
 " A. P. UPSHUR." 
 
 The counsel of this ill-fated woman, whom it 
 does not appear exerted himself with any great or 
 becoming zeal in her behalf, or with any very ear- 
 nest desire to test the constitutionality of these pro- 
 ceedings, contented himself with an application to
 
 CASE OF CHRISTINA GILMOUR. 175 
 
 Judge Betts of the United States district court, of the 
 southern district of New York, for a writ of Habeas 
 Corpus to bring up the body of the said Christina 
 Gilmour (then in custody,) with a view to quash 
 the proceedings that had been taken against her, 
 but upon grounds that have not appeared. 
 
 This application was immediately refused by the 
 learned judge, of whom we have had occasion to 
 speak in a preceding chapter, and on the following 
 declared pretexts, that we reasonably pronounce most 
 inconclusive and unsatisfactory under the circum- 
 stances. But hear his own words. 
 
 " In the matter of Christina Cochran, otherwise 
 " Gilmour, on application for the allowance of a writ 
 " of Habeas Corpus. 
 
 " I am of opinion that the tenth article of the 
 " treaty of Washington, concluded August 9th, 
 " 1842, is, under the second subdivision of the sixth 
 " article of the constitution of the United States in 
 " force as a subsisting law of the land, and is 
 " accordingly to be observed and executed, by the 
 " judicial authorities of the country. 
 
 " I am of opinion that a Commissioner ap- 
 " pointed by a circuit court of the United States, 
 " pursuant to the acts of Congress in that behalf, is 
 " by force of the act of Congress of August 23rd, 
 " 1842, empowered to perform the functions pointed 
 " out by the tenth article of the said treaty. 
 
 " I am of opinion that it is not competent for 
 " a judge of the United States, in vacation, to 
 " revise, on Habeas Corpus, the adjudication of such
 
 176 TREATIES WITH FOREIGN POWERS. 
 
 " commissioners, as to the insufficiency of the 
 " proof of criminality of a party charged before 
 " him. 
 
 " I am of opinion that a writ of Habeas Corpus 
 " cannot be rightfully allowed for the purpose of 
 " inquiring into the legality of a warrant emanating 
 " from the Executive branch of the Government, 
 " intended to surrender a person duly committed 
 " to a Marshal of the United States, to the autho- 
 " rities of Great Britain under the provisions of the 
 " tenth article of the said treaty, before the party 
 " shall be thereby actually transferred and detained 
 " in such British custody within the United States. 
 
 " I accordingly refuse to allow the Habeas Corpus 
 " prayed for in this case. 
 
 " SAMUEL R. BETTS, 
 
 " United States Judge, &c. 
 " New York, August 12th, 1843." 
 
 We conceive the learned Judge in this instance 
 to have evaded to have shrunk back from the 
 real question at issue, or the responsibility of pro- 
 nouncing on the constitutionality, or otherwise, of 
 the proceedings now had for the first time, under 
 the provisions of this treaty. He satisfied himself 
 of the existence (until then,) of an uncontroverted 
 and undisputed law appearing upon the statute 
 book of the country, and assuming its entire legality, 
 he acted upon this presumption, as his most con- 
 venient course, on a question of mere preliminary 
 observance, in bringing the matter up for investiga-
 
 CASE OF CHRISTINA GILMOUR. 177 
 
 tion before a competent legal jurisdiction : forbad 
 his Honour in the exercise of a sounder discretion, 
 allowed the writ of Habeas Corpus, the party on 
 whose behalf it was sought for, being then under 
 restraint, and actually in prison under the provi- 
 sions of the law made for the purpose of carrying 
 out the stipulations of this treaty, and decided on 
 the objections raised against its constitutionality, 
 when brought before him on argument, the entire 
 question, in the event of an adverse decision, would 
 have been carried by appeal, before the Chief Jus- 
 tice and Supreme Court of the United States at 
 Washington, and the law of the treaty power of the 
 United States determined, without being controlled 
 by any past legislative proceedings on the subject, 
 under the prescribed and written constitution of the 
 country; and to which Congress is equally amen- 
 able with every other, the constituted tribunals of 
 the Republic ; which none can overstep, or in any 
 wise alter or amend, except in the mode prescribed 
 under its provisions. 
 
 In this, the American constitution essentially 
 differs from our mode of government. In England, 
 the jurisdiction of Parliament with the assent 
 of the Crown is omnipotent, and against which the 
 Law Courts cannot decide. But not so in the United 
 States, where the supreme legal tribunal possesses 
 the right to set aside the laws passed by the united 
 legislature, if contrary to, or inconsistent with, the 
 written constitution under which the nation is 
 governed. This deed, according to Story, being 
 
 VOL. i. N '
 
 178 TREATIES WITH FOREIGN POWERS. 
 
 the supreme law of the land, its infraction comes 
 naturally before a legal tribunal. 
 
 We conceive the reasons put forward by Judge 
 Betts of the District Court, for refusing the writ of 
 Habeas Corpus in this instance, to have been a 
 mere evasion of the law which he had sworn to 
 faithfully and impartially administer an unworthy 
 and discreditable subterfuge a shrinking from 
 the high and responsible duties imposed on him 
 under the obligations of his office, evidencing, as 
 we submit it does, the very slender protection se- 
 cured to Americans, or the emigrant stranger, under 
 the dispensation of these most corrupt tribunals. 
 Christina Cochran had committed no offence against 
 the United States, or the majesty of its laws not 
 even against those of Great Britain, for on her sub- 
 sequent trial, when brought back to Scotland, she 
 was acquitted. She had gone to America and was 
 entitled to the protection of her person, as of her 
 property, so long as she deported herself as a good 
 and peaceable citizen. Yet was she arrested and 
 committed to prison, under, or by virtue of an au- 
 thority or asserted jurisdiction, the legality or con- 
 stitutional propriety of which, it was quite reason- 
 able and just to doubt, and call in question. 
 
 The constitution of the United States concedes 
 the privilege of the writ of Habeas Corpus as of 
 right to every citizen, and other free person residing 
 within its territory ; and declares, that " it shall 
 not be suspended, unless when in cases of rebellion 
 or invasion, the public safety may require it."
 
 CASE OF CHRISTINA GILMOUR. 179 
 
 Yet, here is a judge of the supreme government 
 of the United States, in the face and front of these 
 salutary and well defined provisions of the estab- 
 lished law of the land its implied protection against 
 arbitrary rule and individual oppression, ceded to 
 every citizen without any further restriction or other 
 qualification, refusing to allow the writ of Habeas 
 Corpus prayed for in this instance, and only denied 
 as far as recorded facts will sustain the belief, be- 
 cause that the wrong against which the unfortunate 
 applicant complained the severe injustice intended 
 to her, was not complete in its ramifications, or 
 carried out to the fullest extent of its contemplated 
 injury. 
 
 Was ever decision more monstrous or the inca- 
 pacity of a judge the malversation of a high offi- 
 cial trust more fully apparent. Had the writ of 
 Habeas Corpus been allowed in the first instance, 
 and an investigation gone into in consequence, it 
 would have mattered very little the interpretation 
 that Judge Betts might have felt disposed to attach 
 to this law, for if adverse, the Supreme Court of the 
 United States would have been fully empowered to 
 revise such decision, and in doing so, to determine 
 the competency of the United Congress to pass any 
 such enactment. As it is, and notwithstanding that 
 the case of Christina Gilmour may hereafter be put 
 forward as a precedent, this question, we still be- 
 lieve, remains undetermined, with every reasonable 
 probability, should the constitutionality of the law 
 be ever hereafter tested, of its being found insuffi- 
 
 N 2
 
 180 TREATIES WITH FOREIGN POWERS. 
 
 cient to secure or carry out any one of the purposes 
 contemplated by this section of the treaty. 
 
 The second subdivision of the sixth article of the 
 constitution, referred to by Judge Betts, and under 
 which he attempts to justify his recorded opinion, 
 that " the tenth article of this treaty is in force as 
 a subsisting law of the United States," will not we 
 conceive at all warrant such inference. The follow- 
 ing is the provision in the law to which he refers. 
 
 " This constitution, and the laws of the United 
 States made in pursuance thereof, and all treaties 
 made, or which shall be made under the authority 
 of the United States, shall be the supreme law of 
 the land ; and the judges in every state shall be 
 bound thereby ; anything in the constitution or laws 
 of any state to the contrary notwithstanding." 
 
 The " treaties made, or which shall be made un- 
 der the authority of the United States," here referred 
 to, can only be considered as those which the United 
 Congress are legally competent or empowered to 
 make, or enter upon, under or by virtue of the 
 restricted authority expressly limited to it under 
 the constitution. It would, we conceive, be a wild 
 and extravagant absurdity to suppose it otherwise, 
 or that the combined legislative and executive power 
 with which it is entrusted, instead of being delegated 
 as it has been, for strictly defined purposes, beyond 
 which, in reality, it cannot travel, has been per- 
 mitted to it, with an extended discretionary autho- 
 rity, to abrogate any fixed rule, or established law 
 of the land, or of creating and enforcing others
 
 TREATIES WITH FOREIGN POWERS. 181 
 
 unprovided for by the constitution, or the direct or 
 legally* recorded sanction of the sovereign people. 
 
 If the law of America, anterior to the treaty of 
 Washington, perhaps better understood as the Ash- 
 burton treaty, was by any void or oversight, insuffi- 
 cient to authorise the United States Government, 
 to conclude a treaty of this beneficial and salutary 
 consequence, the same law points out the alterna- 
 tive to be adopted, to arm the executive and legis- 
 lative authority v, ith sufficient means for this, or 
 any other essential purpose ; for it declares, that 
 
 " The Congress, whenever two-thirds of both 
 houses shall deem it necessary, shall propose amend- 
 ments to this constitution ; or, on the application 
 of the legislatures of two-thirds of the several 
 states, shall call a convention for proposing amend- 
 ments, which, in either case, shall be valid to all 
 intents and purposes, as part of this constitution, 
 when ratified by the legislatures of three-fourths 
 of the several states, or by conventions in three- 
 fourths thereof, as the one or the other mode of 
 ratification may be proposed by the Congress." 
 
 This clause, we apprehend, (article fifth of the 
 United States Constitution), and without further 
 amplification, would lead to the negative conclusion, 
 that without these means should first be resorted to, 
 where the laws were otherwise insufficient, for any 
 further or necessary purpose of legislation, that 
 Congress, possessing no inherent power, enjoyed 
 none, that was not strictly defined marked out
 
 182 SYMPATHY WITH 
 
 for its observance, and beyond which it could not 
 transgress. 
 
 It is not presumed that this provision in the treaty 
 is intended to extend, or in any manner apply 
 to political offences, though frequently classed as of 
 the crime of murder, or assault, with the intent to 
 commit murder ; any interference of this kind being 
 in direct violation of the vaunted protection that 
 America extends to the stranger of every clime, for 
 crimes of this character, committed against the 
 government of their own country. Such at least, is 
 the boast of her citizens, re-echoed through every 
 interminable change of the public press, and which 
 the national self-love has in many instances con- 
 nected with personal and local advantages to the 
 unfortunate refugee, of which he is seldom, if in any 
 instance, allowed to participate. For our own part, we 
 could never discover, during our residence or sojourn 
 in the country, any trace of the vaunted liberality of 
 our transatlantic friends in this particular ; or the 
 enthusiasm with which they are said to receive with 
 outstretched arms, the friendless and unhappy exile, 
 of this, or any other nation, who may have wandered 
 to their shores seeking a refuge a last asylum or 
 resting place from government persecution, and the 
 consequent of past political indiscretion : even the 
 luckless and chivalrous Pole, whose fortunes have 
 been dimmed for a season, and whom their dissimu- 
 lation encouraged amongst them whom they, for a 
 while buoyed up with promises of grants of land in
 
 POLITICAL REFUGEES. 183 
 
 the uncleared, or remote districts of the western 
 territory, and afterwards made pay, for every rood 
 they were fool enough to occupy or of such men in 
 by-gone times as Emmett, Sampson, McNevin, and 
 others, the victims of the late Irish Insurrection, who 
 rather owed their successes in the United States, and 
 their being able to procure the mere necessaries of 
 life, to their own talents their extraordinary perse- 
 vering efforts, than to the benevolent sympathies, or 
 extended kindness of their quondam American friends. 
 It is enough, every American thinks, that they allow 
 such men the expatriated of another soil, to exist, 
 and live amongst them unmolested, and without 
 complaint ; to breathe the air, and use the light the 
 Almighty has distributed in common amongst his 
 creatures, without expecting further concessions, to 
 enable them to provide for their wants, and urgent 
 necessities. Oh no ! the general cold-heartedness of 
 their reception, even of those we have ourselves wit- 
 nessed, the ill-starred neglect the indifference of 
 every American when amongst them the stoical 
 unconcern with which they look upon their severest 
 afflictions their wants and bodily sufferings, and of 
 those too, whom they have encouraged to expect 
 sympathy and kindness at their hands, who were 
 led by their loud and hypocritical cant to seek them 
 in their hour of trouble and misfortune, should be 
 chronicled throughout the world, and sent back to 
 shame them into some degree of consistency, and 
 good feeling. Had those, or the many ill-fated men,
 
 184 AMERICAN SYMPATHY. 
 
 whom a false estimate of the American character, had 
 led to their shores, arrived amongst them in less de- 
 pendant circumstances did they possess the means, 
 that could scarcely fail to excite their native cupidity, 
 and early spirit of calculation, they would no doubt 
 have been received with a warm and eager welcome : 
 but they came amongst them, deprived of the 
 auxiliary of wealth, even of a limited support ; the 
 expatriated children of a more generous, and chivalric 
 people, to identify their interests with theirs to 
 work in peaceful and honest efforts for their future 
 subsistence; and are all but told upon the threshold 
 of their arrival, the theme of endless gratitude they 
 should pour forth in loud and unceasing benedic- 
 tion, because that they are even permitted for a 
 day to unite themselves with their people to live 
 amongst, or near them to work out their inheritance 
 by undisturbed toil, and ceaseless industry, and share 
 with them, what they are pleased to call, the many 
 blessings secured by their " enviable, and glorious 
 constitution," rather than they should be bound neck 
 and heels together, and delivered over to the tender 
 mercies of their former task-masters. 
 
 Such, we assert, is the consideration, and general 
 treatment that America extends to the unfortunate 
 and mistaken refugee who may have arrived within 
 her territory ; that we quere, if many of the proud 
 and daring spirits, that now wander friendless, and 
 nearly destitute upon her soil, could be induced to 
 outlive the second year of their expatriation, except
 
 FUGITIVE DEBTORS. 185 
 
 to escape the other, and greater ills, that confine them 
 to a land, which necessity alone, has ever compelled 
 them to adopt, as of their country. 
 
 Facilities, as we have already observed, are at 
 all times given to British creditors, to recover from 
 fugitive debtors, the claims with which they have 
 been frequently met on their arrival in the country. 
 Strict legal practice, on such occasions, is often put 
 aside, and a rule of expediency substituted instead. 
 The assumed debtor is of course, though often with- 
 out strict legal warrant, arrested and sent to prison ; 
 his entire paraphernalia, or personal property his 
 money, if it can be got at, are seized in like manner, 
 very often at the instance of some over zealous, or 
 indiscreet agent ; and before that he has well had time 
 to draw breath, is assailed in many other modes, 
 with the hope, that by taking advantage of his alarm 
 his possible ignorance, as also of the people 
 amongst whom he has just arrived, to exact terms 
 from his apprehension, and strongly excited fears, 
 frequently inconsistent with any indebtedness to which 
 he may be liable, and that in his more collected 
 moments he would possibly be disinclined to listen to. 
 This species of kidnapping is immediately followed 
 up, and before that the alarmed or assumed 
 debtor, can avail himself of any legal advice, a pro- 
 posal is submitted to him for the " amicable settle- 
 ment," of perhaps a very questionable debt, or some 
 disputed claim, with which he is oftentimes unjustly 
 charged. If a timid man, he will fall into the 
 snare, and pay any price to regain his freedom. If,
 
 186 FUGITIVE DEBTORS. 
 
 on the contrary, he possesses sufficient hardihood to 
 resist the imposition, he will await the season of his 
 liberation, and trust to the justice and equity of his 
 case for atonement. 
 
 If that the money often procured by these exer- 
 tions, were generally appropriated to the discharge 
 of fair and just debts, which the party might have 
 wrongfully left unsatisfied, there might be some 
 apology for the course taken ; the means under 
 such circumstances might possibly be said to justify 
 the end : but the practice is more frequently other- 
 wise, and the amount so recovered, considerably 
 lessened by local exactions, before any part of it is 
 permitted to leave the country, or reach the hands 
 of those, who may be supposed entitled to receive it. 
 
 It must not be presumed from all this, that we 
 would extend for an hour, an unjust protection to 
 the fugitive debtor who may visit America, to avoid 
 the penalty of his past indiscretion, or that the frau- 
 dulent or absconding trader should receive, in the 
 United States, a secure and safe retreat, where to 
 revel on the spoils secured by his dishonesty and mal- 
 practices. By no means. The ends of justice the 
 aim of all equitable legislation, is more than partially 
 attained by his expatriation ; the society he has out- 
 raged, relieved from the immoral and dangerous 
 influence of his presence, and released from the ex- 
 ample and further influence of his misdeeds ; whilst 
 on the other hand, for the recovery of debts con- 
 tracted in Europe, or out of the United States, the 
 law of America extends to the foreigner, as already
 
 FORGED AFFIDAVITS. 187 
 
 noticed, the same opportunities the same facilities 
 that it secures to the native citizen, to assert his 
 claim, without recurring to the aid of any unusual, 
 or illegal means for this purpose. It extends privi- 
 leges, far beyond what are allowed to foreign credi- 
 tors, under any similar circumstances in England ; 
 admitting the affidavit, true or false, as it may be, of 
 an English claimant sworn to, and attested out of 
 the legal jurisdiction of the United States courts, as 
 a sufficient evidence and warrant in their proceed- 
 ings, to deprive an accused, though sometimes an 
 innocent party, of his personal liberty, and to hold 
 him to bail during the protracted pendency of a suit 
 instituted in their courts against him. 
 
 This boon to English creditors has often been 
 abused, and made ancillary to repeated, and severe 
 acts of manifold injustice. We have known in- 
 stances, now on record in the American courts, where 
 perjury in its bleak deformity has been stamped 
 upon the face and front of many such affidavits ; on 
 one in particular, transmitted by an eminent London 
 banking house sworn to by one of the partners, and 
 forwarded to agents in America, who were nothing 
 loath to act under a commission from these indivi- 
 duals, for the purpose of suing a party on an alleged 
 claim of debt, as then due and owing to the 
 firm the person so charged, placed in confine- 
 ment, on the proceedings founded thereon, for an 
 extended period of several months, and when subse- 
 quently enlarged, without any remedy secured to 
 him in expiation of the injury. He certainly
 
 188 SELECTION OF JURIES BY BALLOT. 
 
 possessed none in America, for the perjury being 
 committed in England, could not be criminally 
 proceeded against in the United States ; neither was 
 he able to institute proceedings in an English court 
 of law, for the American rule would not admit of 
 the affidavit, once on the file of the court, to be 
 taken from the records for the purpose of being sent 
 to England, to sustain an indictment against the 
 party, or otherwise. The laws of England deal more 
 considerately, and certainly more in the spirit of 
 impartiality and justice; for they reject all such 
 affidavits made beyond British jurisdiction, in cases 
 where the freedom, or personal liberty of the subject 
 would otherwise be involved, and in any instance, 
 where a remedy by indictment for perjury cannot 
 easily be had, on the party swearing falsely. But 
 Americans are not quite so chary, or punctilious on 
 these points. 
 
 There is still one good feature in American law, 
 the selection of juries by ballot ; but made of little 
 or secondary value, when associated with the abuses 
 that oftentimes exist to neutralise its inherent advan- 
 tages. Notwithstanding this safeguard, there are 
 still repeated instances, where by the most shameful 
 perversion of justice, and the aiding of the worst 
 crimes by means of the jury-box, the most hardened 
 criminals, after having passed through the stale 
 mockery of a trial, have been again let loose upon the 
 surface of American society. We certainly cannot 
 forget the atrocities so recently enacted in the south, 
 sufficient to appal the most hardened mind, and yet
 
 MOCKERY OF TRIAL BY JURY. 189 
 
 remaining unatoned for ; the frequent burning and 
 destruction of property throughout the country ; 
 the repeated burlesque of jury trial, as in the case 
 of the Charleston incendiaries in the following year 
 in the north ; or the still later distortion of the law 
 within our own view in New York, in the very 
 unexpected and unjustified acquittal of the miscreant 
 Robinson, the murderer of the ill-fated Ellen 
 Jewett; explaining most fully, and of itself, the 
 modus operand^ so well, and successfully put in 
 practice on all such occasions in the United States- 
 
 We feel no particular wish to recur to this atro- 
 cious and unexpiated crime, beyond what is merely 
 necessary to acquaint the reader with its general 
 features, in explanation of the exceptionable and 
 guilty course, so successfully resorted to by the 
 public prosecutor, in the execution of an important 
 and solemn trust on this occasion j sustained, if not 
 directly assisted, by the equally corrupt and excep- 
 tionable conduct of the judge, by whose joint effort, 
 in this instance, and we make no doubt on many 
 other similar occasions of daily practice throughout 
 the United States, the trial by jury in America, in 
 criminal cases, and in despite of every protection, or 
 safeguard, may be considered a nullity a wretched 
 and miserable mockery. 
 
 The dark and silent hour of midnight, when 
 reflection, undisturbed by human tread, might rea- 
 sonably have pointed out the deep atrocity of his 
 design, and appalled his guilty purpose, was the 
 time chosen by Robinson to deprive of life the
 
 190 MURDER OF ELLEN JEWETT. 
 
 unfortunate being, whom of all others he was in 
 honour, and in common charity, the most bound to 
 protect. Having waited with the deliberate resolve 
 of riper years, until his confiding and unsuspecting 
 victim lay buried in unconscious sleep, he seized 
 that moment to deprive her of a life he could not 
 give, by inhumanly beating out her brains with a 
 hatchet, provided by him for this purpose ; and 
 unsummoned uncalled for, he sent her before her 
 God, to account for her past sins and indiscretions, 
 in many of which he had been the guilty participator. 
 Whatever may have been the errors of this 
 young female, then scarcely nineteen, beguiled from 
 the care, and tender solicitude of an anxious and 
 afflicted parent, we are bound in charity to draw a 
 veil over the evidences of her past frailty, and to 
 hope her crimes fully expiated before a merciful and 
 forgiving God, in the blood so freely shed by her 
 guilty paramour. The atrocity of the murder, 
 attended with so many appalling and aggravated 
 circumstances, created an universal feeling of indig- 
 nation and horror. The evidence against Robinson, 
 though altogether circumstantial, was of that 
 conclusive kind, that could not leave a shadow of. 
 doubt on the minds, even of his friends ; who from 
 his extreme youth, for twenty summers had not left 
 their traces on his cheek, were anxious to believe 
 him innocent. The public voice with one accord, 
 demanded an immediate atonement of his crime : 
 but justice, " lame as well as blind," in his especial 
 instance, gave him a lengthened season to prepare a
 
 TRIAL OF THE MURDERER. 191 
 
 defence, if defence he could have made. The 
 excitement in the public mind was intense, for there 
 was no second opinion of Robinson's guilt there 
 could be none ; for the facts revealed, would have 
 convicted a legion ; yet five or six days were spent 
 in a laboured investigation. The laws, intended for 
 the protection of the innocent, and punishment of 
 the guilty, were perverted basely prostituted to the 
 cupidity of his prosecutor, and judge. Justice was 
 veiled and this inhuman monster, reeking with the 
 blood of his slaughtered victim, walked forth in the 
 face of the noon-day sun unharmed unscathed ! 
 Such the denouement for Robinson was wealthy; at 
 least his friends, whose fortunes were freely offered 
 to rescue him from an ignominious death, and save 
 the wretched life he had so justly forfeited to the 
 outraged and abused laws of his country. 
 
 It may be asked how all this could come to pass, 
 in such a city as New York, with a jury of rational 
 and enlightened men, indiscriminately selected by 
 ballot, and consequently far removed beyond the 
 control of any extraneous, or ruling power. We 
 will reply, by supposing the judge to have received 
 the full and admitted value of any honesty to which 
 he might lay claim the estimated worth of his 
 very questionable, and acknowledged principles; 
 and also to have received the aid and active co- 
 operation of the District, or Prosecuting Attorney, 
 secured by the same comprehensive means : the 
 ballot box under the control of this public officer, 
 either filled for the occasion with the names of
 
 192 SELECTION OF THE Jl^RY. 
 
 citizens, who, it was well understood, would not 
 attend if called upon as jurors, or with the names 
 of others, who though usually punctual in the 
 observance of this essential part of a citizen's duty, 
 had received no notice to be in court, or in atten- 
 dance for this purpose : all this, coupled with the 
 usage of peremptory challenge, would ensure the 
 difficulty sought for, of procuring from the ballot- 
 box any sufficient number of qualified citizens, to 
 constitute a jury on the occasion. The needy and 
 accommodating judge had already received his 
 cue conned over his lesson, and in order, seemingly, 
 to remove every unreasonable difficulty to the 
 progressing of the trial, orders a tales, or jury to be 
 taken and sworn from the nearest number of quali- 
 fied citizens within reach. Were the selection even 
 in this instance indiscriminately made, there would 
 perhaps, be but little to apprehend, or find fault 
 with ; but on this occasion, where the ingenuity of 
 the public prosecutor was strained to its very utmost, 
 rather to acquit, than to convict the wretched indi- 
 vidual on his trial, every temporary expedient of 
 this kind, tending to promote the ends of public 
 justice, was fully, and well prepared against. 
 
 The access to the Court-house, before that the hour 
 had arrived for opening the doors to the public at 
 large, was partly under the control of the same 
 public officer ; and who no doubt could well explain, 
 how it was, that at an early hour, and before the 
 public were admitted, every chink and corner of the 
 court was filled with " good men and true" the
 
 ACQUITTAL OF THE MURDERER. 193 
 
 immediate and personal friends of the prisoner, or his 
 relations, or those brought together for the purpose ; 
 and who being the nearest on the occasion, were as 
 of course, the first from amongst whom the Sheriff 
 made his selection of the memorable jury, that 
 tried and subsequently acquitted this young man, 
 and pronounced between him and his country, the 
 astounding verdict of " not guilty "! 
 
 But a jury of the especial character of which 
 this was composed, required but few apologies to 
 contrive their verdict in accordance with their 
 wishes. Abundant pretexts were prepared for them 
 on the occasion ; the suppression of evidence, which 
 there was good reason to believe, was in the pos- 
 session of the district or prosecuting attorney, before 
 at least the termination of the trial ; that if brought 
 forward, would have coerced the jury into some 
 respect for public decency, and dissipated every 
 possible pretence on which to hang a doubt of the 
 positive guilt of this wretched young man ; who also 
 owed much to the tortuous the disgraceful and 
 highly unbecoming charge of the learned judge, in 
 keeping with a most exceptionable demeanour 
 throughout the entire proceedings. To the exertions 
 of this legal functionary, probably in the fulfilment 
 of his contract, may in part be attributed the scan- 
 dalous termination of this most scandalous, and 
 melancholy exhibition; disgraceful to the present 
 state of American society and morals, and pregnant 
 of a most instructive lesson ; convincing the 
 most sceptical of the perfect inutility of relying 
 
 VOL. i. o
 
 194 SELDEN AND BACON 
 
 upon any human institution, or positive law, 
 however good and unexceptionable it may be, for 
 the proper regulation, and efficient government of 
 society, so long as its distribution is intrusted to 
 those in every way unworthy of our confidence, 
 and unfitted by their innate degeneracy to the due 
 fulfilment of any high or honourable trust: to 
 whom probity is but a name ; with whom the first 
 principle of honesty and uprightness is considered 
 a vague and senseless attribute. 
 
 *3 
 
 It was remarked by Selden ' That there could 
 be no mischief done in a Commonwealth without a 
 judge, for where the laws are administered with 
 justice, promptness, and impartiality, the remedy 
 for the evils produced by the vices, passions, and 
 irregularities of men is always at hand, and the 
 knowledge of this tends to keep those causes of 
 moral evil in check. On the contrary, where the 
 judges are indolent, of small learning, and want 
 courage and honesty, the law becomes the very 
 reverse of what it ought to be a shelter to those who 
 offend, a terror to those only who require its aid.' 
 
 Bacon in his advice to Sir George Villiers, says 
 ' Because the life of the laws, lies in the due execution 
 and administration of them, let your eye be in the 
 first place upon the choice of good judges. These 
 properties had they need to be furnished with ; to 
 be learned in their profession ; patient in hearing ; 
 prudent in governing; powerful in their elocution; 
 to persuade and satisfy both the parties and hearers ; 
 just in their judgments ; and, to sum up all, they
 
 ON THE CHOICE OF JUDGES. 195 
 
 must have these three attributes ; they must be men 
 of courage, fearing God, and hating covetousness ; 
 
 AN IGNORANT MAN CANNOT, A COWARD DARES NOT 
 
 BE A GOOD JUDGE.' 
 
 And again : ' If any man sue to be made a 
 judge, for my own part I should suspect him ; but 
 if either directly, or indirectly, he should BARGAIN 
 for a place of judicature, let him be rejected with 
 shame.' 
 
 These are principles it were well that every 
 American would calmly and patiently reflect upon 
 acknowledge their propriety, and become aroused 
 thereby, to the necessity of a speedy and early 
 reclamation of the many and fearful abuses of their 
 present judicial system, that presents so many 
 appalling evidences of abandonment and all former 
 neglect. 
 
 o 2
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 The increase of crime in the United States proportionate to the 
 increase of population and wealth Mob law The doctrine of 
 the real orpretendedopinions of a majority of the people, though 
 opposed to established law, the governing principle which is 
 to direct their conduct The frequent outrages on property 
 and human life committed within the last few years in the 
 United States Essential difference between the character of 
 the riots in the old and new world Late President Jackson 
 His maxim, " that every man had a right to interpret the laws 
 as he understood them" His assumption of " responsibility" 
 and frequent outrage of the laws of his country while 
 President of the United States American citizens being them- 
 selves " the source and foundation of all law," they claim a 
 right to over-rule its authority at discretion Lynch Law in 
 the United States Its name Derivation and origin of its 
 practice Equally directed to the destruction of private pro- 
 perty, as of human life Plunder and burning of the Charles- 
 ton convent, with particulars relating thereto The carrying 
 concealed weapons, a general practice in the United States 
 The Stiletto The Bowie knife Appalling murders at Vicks- 
 burgh, under the Lynch law system Particulars thereof 
 Conduct of the public press in relation thereto Concluding 
 remarks. 
 
 As the Republic advances in population and 
 wealth, so also does it increase in crime, and the 
 impatient and turbulent disposition of its citizens. 
 The established laws of the land, that in by-gone 
 times principally owed their influence, to the sup- 
 port they received from public opinion, rather
 
 MOB LAW. 197 
 
 perhaps, than from any inherent, or admitted power 
 in the executive to suppress disorder and outrage, 
 have in many instances ceased to afford security, or 
 protection, to property or to life, and are forced to 
 yield to the domineering influence the insulting 
 dictation of a species of Mob law, for which apologies 
 are even found ruling with most destructive influ- 
 ence, the destinies of this many favoured land, under 
 the dangerous, and no less generally adopted notion, 
 that the real, or even pretended opinions of a majority 
 of the People though it be in opposition to their own 
 law, is the governing principle that should at all 
 times control, and direct their conduct. Yet, this 
 doctrine, so extravagant in its assertion, and equally 
 dangerous in its practice, so utterly subversive of 
 every thing like order, or the just influence of a 
 properly constituted government of laws, is even 
 insisted upon by those very Americans who are 
 loudest in extolling the superior excellence of their 
 institutions, and the unerring fitness with which every 
 part of the very complex machinery of their govern- 
 ment, is framed and put together "'Tis true," they 
 state, " that the laws should maintain their supre- 
 macy, but at all hazards, that the voice of an 
 undoubted majority of the people should at all 
 times exercise its legitimate rights." Aye ! truly 
 and so indeed do we say, with many others as 
 loud in reprobating their conduct, whenever these 
 rights are fairly and properly insisted on, through 
 their appointed organs their chosen and legitimate 
 representatives ; but not in the extended exposition
 
 198 FREQUENT OUTRAGES 
 
 of these modern sticklers of this worst species of 
 tyranny, and with whom the exercise of these 
 asserted rights, more aptly means, the privilege to the 
 very populace to enforce the most illegal and ex- 
 travagant pretensions, by the worst means of violence 
 and crime by tarring and feathering by burning 
 and conflagration by open, heartless, and cold- 
 blooded butcheries, perpetrated almost within view, 
 and in the very hearing of the judicial authorities of 
 the country by daily and continued assassinations 
 in the public ways, for which redress is never had, 
 and indeed but seldom sought for ; by these, and all 
 such like means, is the omnipotent will of the 
 majority of the " sovereign people" to be determined, 
 and which when thus expressed, is to sanction of 
 itself, the numerous and appalling crimes the 
 otherwise unheard-of atrocities, committed in this 
 land of promise and equal laws, under the oft 
 abused names of " liberty and justice." 
 
 It were, we confess, a wearisome task to wade 
 through the detail of outrage and crime of the few 
 last preceding years, committed under the sanction 
 of the popular will, and now identified with the 
 domestic or internal history of the country the 
 numerous lives that have been sacrificed to appease 
 the morbid appetites, and infuriated passions of a 
 heartless and fluctuating Mobocracy or the reckless 
 destruction of private property in pursuance of its 
 behest ; proclaiming to the world, an entire social 
 disorganization, a fearful disregard of the usual 
 restraints imposed by law, order and good govern-
 
 ON PROPERTY AND LIFE. 199 
 
 ment, and of which the excesses committed at 
 Charleston, New York, Baltimore, Washington, 
 Vicksburgh, St. Louis, Cincinnati, Philadelphia, 
 with many other places, throughout the Union, are 
 fearful examples. It is by such means, if permitted to 
 exist, that the fixed and established rules of American 
 society, must from henceforth be regulated nay ! 
 the lives of individuals be determined the course 
 of every man's conduct, even towards himself, or to 
 his family, especially defined, and marked out for 
 his adoption, under the dread of incurring the dis- 
 pleasure, and becoming subject to the anathemas of 
 this irresponsible and tyrannic inquisition, that fully 
 conscious of its power, will suffer no interference 
 with its most capricions will, or the uncontrolled 
 exercise of its insatiate despotism. 
 
 " There is," to adopt the language of a modern 
 writer, " a marked and very essential difference 
 between the mobs and riots of the old country, and 
 those that disgrace the new world ; that whilst the 
 outbreaks of popular violence in America, which 
 traces its being to as varied causes as the wild 
 caprice and unrestrained passion of man could 
 make them, are frequently the offspring of some 
 private or local grievance, sought to be redressed, 
 some individual wrong unatoned for, some 
 revengeful spirit unsatiated, and are generally 
 levelled at the party, who possesses neither the 
 influence of power, or of wealth to sustain him ; 
 popular tumult with us, on the other hand, is 
 seldom excited, except for the attainment of some
 
 200 FACTIOUS SPIRIT OF THE PEOPLE. 
 
 concession, some real or imaginary right, or to 
 assert some principle deemed indispensable to liberty 
 and justice." 
 
 It is not our province, if even within the compass 
 of our abilities, to seek or point out a remedy for 
 these evils ; they are deep-seated, and inherent in 
 the American system of internal government, weak 
 and impotent as it confessedly is, in exacting an 
 obedience to the laws, framed for the protection, 
 and proper control of its citizens administered as 
 they are known to be, with a laxity that directly 
 encourages their violation, and extends immunity 
 to the offender, proportioned only to the daring 
 and deep atrocity of his crime. A turbulent and 
 factious spirit has preserved itself of late years, in 
 every intersection of the country, that scoffs at all 
 order, tramples under foot the supremacy of all 
 law, and only limits its licentiousness to the standard 
 of its uncertain, and vacillating will. A la lan- 
 terne ! A la lanterne ! was the cry of the French 
 revolution. " Down with the Senate," " down 
 with the judiciary," " down with aristocracy," 
 "down with the banks, and all monopoly," the 
 war-whoop of the more modern revolutionists of the 
 new world, proclaimed from the house-tops, the 
 high-ways and corners of every street, and made 
 the subject the grateful theme, of every late 
 public disquisition. 
 
 It was a convenient maxim of the late President 
 Jackson, for whom, good intentions are claimed by 
 every party, distinctly and openly avowed by him,
 
 PRESIDENT JACKSON'S MAXIM. 201 
 
 that " every man had a right to interpret the laws 
 as he understood them." This fallacy, no doubt, 
 formed the governing principle of his own conduct 
 and administration, and led him into excesses in the 
 government of the country, irreconcilable with the 
 letter, as well as the spirit of the constitution. 
 Whether the laws were supervened for the substi- 
 tution of any new experiment, or set aside as 
 unsuited to his purpose, he assumed the measure of 
 every change upon his own " responsibility," and 
 without any other excuse to sanction the exception. 
 But the seeds of angry discord, of turbulence and 
 crime, were deep-seated and early sown in the social 
 and political system of his country, and scarcely 
 needed the radiated influence of his example to 
 nurture them into vitality and existence ; they 
 have since grown to a fearful exuberance, matured 
 with the blood and tears of many a victim, and 
 almost without parallel in the history of the 
 most barbarous ages, to furnish details of similar 
 atrocity. 
 
 The country is familiarised with these excesses ; 
 men now regard them as of every day occurrence ; 
 they are spoken of without surprise, and even 
 endeavoured to be sustained by many of the educated 
 the more intelligent, and better instructed of 
 American citizens, who assume their necessity, in 
 cleansing the social and political body from the 
 foul excrescences, that in despite of human legisla- 
 lation and foresight, they insist, in support of their 
 position, may sometimes exist amongst them ; and
 
 202 LYNCH LAW. 
 
 where, they equally assert, no other legislative or 
 human interference can possibly avail. Being 
 themselves the " source and foundation of all law" 
 they conceive they have a right to adopt these, or 
 other means, to any change, or sudden emergency 
 that may arise, needing the influence and example 
 of summary punishment, and where the laws of the 
 country, from their tardiness, cease to have effect, or 
 possibly cannot reach. 
 
 But this system is not of late invention ; it has 
 been the rule for many past years in the southern 
 states, known under the dark and comprehensive 
 appellation of " Lynch law ;" it has of late only, 
 extended its influence or practice to the Eastern, or 
 Atlantic cities, and at the rate that it has advanced, 
 assuming new daring in its hourly progress, bids 
 fair to become at no very distant day, the generally 
 adopted code of the United States ; without indeed, 
 that it is at once and speedily checked in its career, 
 by some more decided and better regulated mode 
 of internal government, comprehending an entire 
 remodelling of the present existing laws, or at least 
 their manner of distribution, and substituting others 
 more suited to the wants, the necessities, and 
 peculiar situation of the country. It is weakness, 
 and of an erring kind to disguise the truth the in- 
 disputable and notorious fact, that under the present 
 constitution, the executive power of the government 
 is a cypher, a mere nonentity its efforts, a positive 
 burlesque in legislation, perfectly incompetent and 
 useless, for any beneficial, or essentially good
 
 JUDGE LYNCH. 203 
 
 purpose, and unable of itself to check disorder, or 
 extend protection against this lawless and iniquitous 
 system, to the humblest and veriest citizen of the 
 republic. It is to the forbearance alone, of an 
 inflammable a vicious and easily excited population, 
 that the country is at any time indebted for the 
 temporary peace and quiet it may enjoy. How long 
 it shall remain undisturbed in this unenviable 
 repose, is an enigma, that " time which casts its 
 shadows before," can alone unravel.. 
 
 The derivation of the term " Lynch law," from 
 the notoriety of the proceedings enacted under its 
 sanction, has become a matter of some curiosity : 
 we have endeavoured to trace its source, but find 
 some difficulty in determining its origin, from the 
 varied statements each being insisted on, as the 
 correct version of its early parentage : the follow- 
 ing account, which is generally credited, appears to 
 us the most consistent. 
 
 John Lynch, the terrible judge, was a native of 
 South Carolina, who emigrated to Kentucky shortly 
 after the pioneer, Daniel Boone, had established 
 himself there. The settlers on the " dark and bloody 
 ground," as Kentucky was then called, were far 
 from any seat of justice; the nearest court-house 
 being at a distance of 450 miles. The appointment 
 of Lynch as a judge, and the first exercise of his juris- 
 diction, took place in the case of an Indian, who stole 
 a horse from Daniel Boone. The Indian was caught, 
 almost in the act, and Boone immediately instituted 
 a court, and twelve jurors, to try the offence.
 
 204 ORIGIN OF LYNCH LAW. 
 
 John Lynch was elected chief justice. The Indian 
 was tried, convicted, and sentenced to receive thirty- 
 nine stripes, which were forthwith given. The 
 authority thus given to Lynch was retained by him, 
 and trials under " Lynch law" were had, whenever 
 an outrage was committed. Lynch was a daring 
 dissolute fellow, addicted to every species of vice. 
 It has not been alleged, however, that his decisions 
 were partial or unjust. He out-lived Boone, and 
 resided, during the later part of his life, on an island 
 in the Mississippi. The author of the geography 
 of the Mississippi, speaks of him as one of those 
 remarkable men of the " buccaneers of the west."* 
 
 * The biography of Boone is entitled to a passing notice, as 
 of one of the most extraordinary, and the most remarkable of the 
 early pioneers of the " Far West," whose privations and extreme 
 difficulties whose hair-breadth escapes by " flood and field," 
 bid fair to perpetuate his well-earned fame to the latest period, 
 and identify his early history with that of his country. The 
 following particulars of his life, lately published in the United 
 States, are not without interest. 
 
 Daniel Boone was born in Virginia, and was from infancy 
 addicted to hunting in the woods. In May, 1/69, he set out 
 on an expedition with five companions, to explore the then 
 unknown territory bordering on the river Ohio, and now known 
 as the populous and wealthy states of Ohio, Kentucky, and 
 Tennessee. After a number of escapes from conflicts with bears 
 and wild animals, encounters with Indians, and escapes from 
 storms and floods, the party dwindled down to two persons, 
 Daniel and his brother, who were left in the interior of Ken- 
 tucky, the only white men in the wilderness. They built a 
 cabin, and spent the winter of 1769-70, alone in the woods, in 
 a secluded jungle, out of the reach of the Indians. They had a
 
 ITS DEMORALISING TENDENCY. 205 
 
 There may be some excuse, we admit, for the early 
 settlers, the pioneers of the far west, in the absence of 
 the law of the land, or of all law, to protect and 
 
 small supply of ammunition, and each a good rifle, that ever 
 faithful friend and companion of the western pioneer. 
 
 Their rifles furnished them with an abundant supply of food, 
 the country abounding with wild duck, geese, turkeys, deer, 
 hares, rabbits, partridge, woodcock, snipe, &c., and for which 
 it is yet celebrated. In the spring of 1 770 they set out on a 
 tour, and explored the valley of the Cumberland river, after 
 which the two brothers returned to Virginia, and organized an 
 emigrating party for the first settlement in Kentucky. In Sep- 
 tember, 1 773, Daniel Boone removed his family to Kentucky, 
 accompanied by five other families, who were soon followed by 
 forty men, who joined the settlement and appointed Daniel as 
 their Captain- General or Governor ; but being attacked by 
 Indians, the settlers were compelled to retreat nearer the white 
 population, and finally settled down among the colony at Church 
 river. In 1774 a company of English capitalists employed 
 him to buy lands from the Indians on their account, which he 
 accomplished to the satisfaction of his employers and with great 
 honour to himself. In April, 1775, he built a fort at the Salt 
 Springs, where the city of Boonesborough now stands. Here 
 he sustained several sieges from the Indians, and was once taken 
 prisoner by them while hunting with his men. In 1782 the 
 savages increased their depredations to an alarming extent, when 
 Boone gathered a force of 1 76 men, and chastised them severely. 
 
 During the war with England, Boone's services were alternately 
 given to the colonies on the Atlantic sea-board, and on the 
 western frontier. Whither the enemy consisted of the King's 
 troops, or the forces of the red men, Boone feared them not. 
 Each in turn felt the unerring aim of his rifle, and hundreds fell 
 before him. 
 
 In 1798 the Spanish authorities induced him to settle in 
 upper Louisiana, giving him two thousand acres of fertile land,
 
 206 MODERN LYNCH LAW. 
 
 govern them, in adopting some rule for their own 
 preservation. Severe and cruel as those laws may 
 have been, they were yet preferable to none at all ; 
 
 and thither he removed that year with his children and followers, 
 to each of whom the Spanish Government granted 600 acres of 
 land. He settled down for life on this grant, surrounded by a 
 numerous family, and a large company of admiring followers. 
 He continued his favourite sport of hunting, and trapping bears, 
 until the year 1824, when in the month of September, as he 
 was taking aim at a bear, he fell over and expired, being then in 
 the eighty- fifth year of his age. 
 
 He died near the old Charette village, in what is now Warren 
 county, Missouri, and was buried about a mile from the town 
 of Matthasville. His wife, the first white woman who entered 
 Kentucky, is buried by his side. Several of the old settlers of 
 Missouri are buried at the same spot, and the grave-yard has 
 grown over with a thicket of briars several feet high, and almost 
 impenetrable. The traveller passes by the spot, and never knows 
 that there lies buried one of the most wonderful men that has 
 existed in the United States. For many years there was not 
 even a tombstone to mark the grave ; but a few years ago a very 
 aged settler of St. Clark's county, named Jonathan Bryan, with 
 his own hands cut out a rough tombstone, about two feet high, 
 and placed it at the head of the grave of Daniel Boone, and that 
 is the only monument that has ever been erected to his memory. 
 Happily for the reputation of the country, a better spirit prevails, 
 and the people of Missouri are now about to raise a suitable 
 monument over the grave of Daniel Boone and his wife. 
 
 The memory of Boone is otherwise preserved, by a sculptured 
 piece as large as life, in the rotunda of the United States Capitol, 
 at Washington, being one of four, designed to commemorate 
 the aboriginal character, and some of the prominent events in 
 the early history of the country. The scene of the device is 
 laid in 1773, and is made to represent a fearful contest between 
 Daniel Boone, and an Indian Chief.
 
 ITS SANGUINARY CHARACTER. 207 
 
 and perhaps necessary in the turbulent and chaotic 
 state in which society was placed in those remote 
 districts, where might alone gave right, and the weak 
 became the early victims of the powerful, and the 
 many. But our modern Lynch law code is of a very 
 different cast ; called into use for very opposite 
 purposes, and generally enforced in those parts of the 
 republic, where the constituted laws of the country, 
 until these repeated evidences of their utter insuffi- 
 ciency, were held to be supreme : even the mockery 
 of a trial is now dispensed with, and what was once 
 perhaps assumed to be a precautionary, though severe 
 measure of self-defence, has of late years been 
 distinguished as the sanguinary, and penal retribu- 
 tion of mob vengeance the sudden and unrestrained 
 outbreak of violence, and crime, disturbing the 
 foundations of all social order disgracing the age 
 in which we live, and stamping reproach upon the 
 nation, where such excesses are for a moment tole- 
 rated, or permitted to exist. 
 
 The fiend -like character of these ebullitions the 
 sudden vents of popular violence, is the same in the 
 north as in the south, in the eastern as in the western 
 districts ; its aim equally confined to the destruction 
 of private property and human life, attendant with 
 a degree of savage barbarity, scarcely reconcilable 
 with the darker ages from which we have escaped. 
 The mind sickens at the contemplation, and turns 
 with loathing from the dark and fearful catalogue, 
 which even the few last years present. 
 
 It is far beyond the limit of our inquiry, to
 
 208 BURNING OF THE 
 
 wander into these details, or dwell upon the incidents 
 that daily occur, under the direction of these self- 
 constituted tribunals, beyond what is necessary to 
 afford the reader a correct illustration of their half 
 savage and demoralizing character, and latent 
 influence on American society. Even in the New 
 England states, generally proverbial in the conduct 
 of their citizens, their love of order, and quiet obser- 
 vance of the decencies of life mixed up, it is true, 
 with a certain portion of illiberality and religious 
 fanaticism, these excesses have of late years shewn 
 themselves; demonstrative of a yet crude and unsettled 
 state of society, even in these parts, characterised by 
 a cool and deliberate resolve, that bodes no imme- 
 diate return to the observances of peace and social 
 order, or that obedience to the established laws, so 
 necessary to their due and proper enforcement. 
 
 The recent plunder and burning of the Catholic 
 Ursuline convent at Charleston, within about a mile 
 of the city of Boston, in the State of Massachusetts, 
 was precisely of this cast distinguished by features 
 of the deepest enormity. It had pleased several of 
 the modern peace-preservers of this district to insist, 
 in opposition to asserted facts, that a religious of this 
 convent had been continued an inmate of the estab- 
 lishment against her will, and notwithstanding her 
 own repeated and positive assurance to the contrary. 
 After due deliberation, these men determined, under 
 this assumed pretext, to sack and burn the establish- 
 ment to the ground. The public authorities of the 
 town, as also of the city of Boston adjoining, were
 
 URSULINE CONVENT. 
 
 fully apprized of the intention, for at least a week 
 before the movement took place ; but, unwilling we 
 suppose, to place themselves in opposition to the 
 popular will when expressed after this fashion, took 
 no precautionary steps to prevent the outrage. On 
 the appointed day several hundred of these incen- 
 diary ruffians calling themselves, par excellence, the 
 " People" " free and independent too"! proceeded 
 to the convent, and in the broad glare of day, and 
 in the actual presence, and with the connivance of 
 several of the public authorities, who as usual dared 
 not offend the " Sovereign Will" by any judicious, 
 or timely interference, and having ransacked and 
 pillaged the establishment of much of its valuable 
 property, and driven near fifty innocent, unprotected 
 and unobtrusive females, whose acts were those of 
 benevolent kindness and Christian charity, destitute 
 and houseless wanderers upon the world's broad 
 waste, as well the numerous little children they 
 had in charge, with sacrilegious hands, and the 
 sacred name of liberty on their lips, fired the building 
 in several places, and remained witnesses of the foul 
 and blasted deed, until the entire lay buried in one 
 confused pile of smoking ruins. 
 
 The unfortunate and unoffending inmates, for 
 whose protection no arm was raised, for whom no 
 sympathy was excited, and by whom mercy and for- 
 bearance was so needlessly evoked, sought temporary 
 refuge with the little children under their care, in the 
 recesses of the garden, and burying ground attached 
 to the building ; from whence they were again driven 
 
 VOL. i. p
 
 210 FATE OF THE CONSPIRATORS. 
 
 by these base and cowardly assailants, who rioting 
 undisturbed in the work of destruction they had 
 commenced, completed the iniquitous villainy of their 
 conduct, by breaking open the tombs and cemeteries 
 of the unoffending dead, and with polluted hands, 
 scattering the mouldering remnants of weak and 
 decayed mortality inhumed therein, to the four winds 
 of heaven. 
 
 The public press it is true, with some few excep- 
 tions condemned the atrocity. The authorities 
 abashed at the consequence of this culpable and tame 
 acquiescence, drew up some whining silly statement, 
 which they sent forth as an apology : several of the 
 more prominent of the ringleaders were arrested, and 
 as if to add insult to outrage, were put through the 
 stale mockery of a judicial trial ; but as a well under- 
 stood consequence, were all all acquitted, except 
 indeed, one young lad about fifteen or sixteen years 
 of age, (named Marcy,) who was found guilty, and 
 sentenced to some short term of confinement, still les- 
 sened in its duration, by the merciful interposition of 
 the Governor, who in humble submission to the 
 sovereign will, so well and forcibly expressed on the 
 occasion, released young Marcy, after a few weeks 
 only of his confinement had been gone through. 
 Those of the conspirators who had been acquitted, 
 became the objects of popular favour, as having suf- 
 fered persecution in a just and righteous cause. 
 They were carried in triumph to their respective 
 homes, and subscriptions set on foot to reward their 
 patriotism the firmness and daring of what was
 
 PROPOSED INDEMNITY. 211 
 
 called, their " true American principles." Some of 
 these worthies have been since called to their long 
 account, before a more just and exacting tribunal : 
 but before their death left a valuable and instructive 
 lesson to the State the record of its disgrace, in the 
 public declarations of their crime, for which they had 
 been tried and legally acquitted, detailing the active 
 and persevering efforts they had made, in the 
 plunder and destruction of the convent. 
 
 The property destroyed on this occasion, or other- 
 wise lost to this religious community could scarcely 
 be less than from eighty, to one hundred thousand 
 dollars. Efforts were afterwards made by the goodly 
 citizens of this fair portion of the republic to remove 
 the stain, by moving in the house of representatives 
 for a grant of ten thousand dollars, as a part indem- 
 nity for the loss : the question underwent a long and 
 animated discussion, while the feeling and proper 
 sense of the community were best tested by the 
 proposition being ultimately lost by a majority of 
 four hundred and twelve to sixty- seven.* 
 
 * There is no law at present in force in the United States, if we 
 except the city of Baltimore, where such a law has only very lately 
 been promulgated, securing any compensation to the party 
 injured by mob violence, for the loss or destruction of his property. 
 This provision in the law of England, while consistent with the 
 principles of common justice, gives at the same time to every 
 individual a direct interest in the preservation of the public 
 peace, as well as the property of his neighbour, from wanton or 
 unnecessary outrage. The city of Baltimore is stated to have 
 paid for losses occasioned by mob outrage in the first year (1836") 
 of an introduction of an act of this kind going into operation, a 
 sum of about one hundred and three thousand dollars. 
 
 p 2
 
 212 VENGEANCE RESTRAINED. 
 
 The desperate wickedness of the act, as may well 
 be imagined, created a deep and sensible impression 
 on the minds of the Catholic population of the 
 country ; it was, to say the least, a wanton and 
 cruel outrage, a villainous and dastardly outbreak 
 of popular vengeance ; and as might very justly be 
 anticipated, aroused every latent feeling of sectarian 
 animosity and bitterness, amidst a large and influ- 
 ential class of the community, that threatened to 
 eventuate in other and most fearful consequences. 
 The town of Charleston had well nigh paid the 
 forfeit of the temerity of its citizens ; even the fair 
 city of Boston was threatened with the retaliatory 
 vengeance of a large Catholic population, amongst 
 whom were several thousand Irish emigrants, many of 
 them at the time employed on the canals, and public 
 works of the neighbourhood, and who, ready for an 
 onslaught, were only restrained by the extraordinary, 
 the patient and Christian perseverance of their Bishop, 
 the Right Rev. Doctor Kenwick, and his numerous 
 clergy, from securing, what they conceived, a full 
 and ample atonement. 
 
 The better feelings of every citizen revolted at 
 these excesses, whilst the language of the Boston 
 press, with few exceptions, was loud in its condem- 
 nation. 
 
 "The burning of the convent at Charleston," 
 remarked the Alexandria Gazette, " would have been 
 a crime of the deepest magnitude, and of the worst 
 example, had it been done for real, and well authen- 
 ticated offences against the purities of morals, and
 
 ATROCITIES IN THE SOUTH. 213 
 
 decencies of life. But destroyed as it was for 
 imputed misdeeds, which rumour had circulated with 
 malevolent exaggeration, and with unsparing zeal, 
 and which were subsequently proved to have been 
 without the slightest foundation in truth, the crime 
 will ever remain a blot upon the country which not 
 all the rioters can wash out. And here, too, the game 
 of plunder was actively carried on. Things sacred 
 from their very purpose and use, sacrilegiously 
 hunted up and borne away by the defenders of 
 morals, and champions of chastity ! And all this 
 perpetrated in the face of the law, amongst a people 
 renowned for their intelligence and love of order, and 
 no effort made to arrest the incendiaries, or prevent 
 the spoliations of their adjuncts. In this case, as in 
 the case of New Orleans, the arm of civil authority 
 was conniving ly withheld, or only stretched forth when 
 the work of destruction was complete." 
 
 But these iniquities, with a long list of others we 
 could name, are thrown far into the shade, by the 
 atrocities to which the south has been familiarised ; 
 where the worst passion of man's nature, is the sole 
 controlling guide of the actions of every citizen, and 
 the immolation of human life the sacrifice made to 
 the dastardly and sickly revenge of an outlawed 
 population. Almost every individual in America, 
 more particularly in the Southern States, carries 
 some deadly instrument, or weapon about his 
 person. The stiletto, the dirk, or the bowie knife ;* 
 
 * This formidable weapon is said to have been invented by a 
 reckless drunkard, Razin Bowie, after whom it is called, who
 
 214 THE BOWIE KNIFE. 
 
 some, perhaps, for the murderous and secret purpose 
 of assassination ; whilst many no doubt are compelled 
 
 squandered his property, and was subsequently obliged to fly 
 from his native country, the United States, to Texas, for slaying 
 a man in a duel. The fact is well known in Texas, and is thus 
 related by a friend of Bowie's, who was present when Razin 
 Bowie fought a duel with knives across a table, at the Alame, a 
 few days before Santa Anna took it: His first duel was fought 
 at Natchez, on the Mississippi, in the fall of 1834. A dispute 
 arose at a card table, in the middle of the day, between Bowie 
 and a man named Black. The lie was given by Bowie to his 
 opponent, and at the same moment, drawing his knife, (which 
 was a case one, with a blade about four inches long, such as the 
 Americans always carry in their pockets,) he challenged the man 
 to fight, which was accepted without any hesitation, and Black 
 having taken his seat opposite Bowie, at a small square table, the 
 conflict began. It lasted about twenty minutes, during which 
 time both parties were severely cut, when Bowie rose from the 
 table, and, with a desperate oath, rushed upon his antagonist, 
 who immediately fell dead at his feet. The inconvenience felt by 
 Bowie on this occasion, from the smallness of the knife, having 
 called forth the exercise of his debauched and sanguinary mind, 
 he invented a weapon which would enable him, to use his own 
 words, " to rip a man up right away." This task he accom- 
 plished during his exile in Texas, and which was the only legacy 
 he could leave his young and adopted republic; indeed it is 
 all she can shew of her citizen, his body having been burned 
 by the Mexicans, and his ashes swept from the face of the 
 earth by the passing winds. The real Bowie knife has a two- 
 edged blade, about nine inches long, slightly curved towards the 
 point, and sufficiently thick in the back to serve as a chopper, in 
 which way it is very formidable, but not so much so as in thrust- 
 ing. The blade is covered with a sheath, and, when neatly got 
 up, as some of them are, it forms a pretty ornament enough, 
 when coming from under the corner of the waistcoat, or over the
 
 THE BOWIE KNIFE. 215 
 
 to adopt this usage, so repugnant to every noble, and 
 chivalrous mind, from the necessity which obliges 
 them to assume a precautionary course of this de- 
 scription, as their best and almost only defence from 
 personal injury and violation. The mere knowledge 
 of the fact, that a man carries concealed weapons 
 about his person, to defend him from attack, and 
 with which to retaliate, if assaulted, often secures his 
 person, perhaps his life, when none of the restraints 
 of order or moral propriety are acknowledged, or the 
 defined laws of the land put in force. Though much 
 we condemn the practice in the abstract, though much 
 we repudiate the notion, amongst a peaceable and 
 orderly community, of the treacherous, and cowardly 
 habit of going abroad secretly armed, more suited to 
 the timid bully the blackleg the craven and mid- 
 night assassin, than to the good, the peaceable and 
 upright, we nevertheless can make excuses for such 
 of the latter class of citizens, residing in any of the 
 western or southern parts of the republic, with the 
 many and dread examples before their eyes, of the 
 
 waistband of a pair of Texian trousers. They are generally of 
 the best Sheffield manufacture, where they are now prepared ex- 
 clusively for the American market ; and of late years constitute 
 an extensive and important article of British hardware export. 
 
 The habit of carrying these, and such-like weapons concealed 
 about the person, became so very general, and withal so alarming 
 in its consequence, that the government of Maryland, in 1836, 
 with a view to put some check to so dangerous a practice, caused 
 a prohibitory bill to be introduced into the house of delegates for 
 this purpose ; which, strange as the fact is, was rejected on a 
 division by a majority of 5 1 to 17.
 
 216 LYNCH LAW. 
 
 most heartless of cold-blooded butcheries, of peaceable 
 and unoffending citizens, in the open day, and in the 
 public streets, of their towns and cities, with scarcely 
 a voice being raised to censure, or condemn the 
 deed, or an effort made to bring the offenders to the 
 bar of public justice. 
 
 We shall pass by the repetition of many such 
 scenes within our own knowledge, contenting our- 
 selves with a detail of the more recent outrages at 
 Vicksburgh ; affording as it does a tolerable sample of 
 the mode, and fashion, in which such deeds are 
 usually perpetrated, and the Lynch law code put in 
 force in this best of all republics. We take the follow- 
 ing from the Louisiana Advertiser*, which is fully 
 corroborated by every other account we have heard 
 or read upon the subject. 
 
 " Authentic Particulars. The statement in our 
 paper of Saturday, of the horrible excesses committed 
 at Vicksburgh on Monday last, being in some 
 respects incorrect, we hasten to lay before the public 
 authentic accounts, which have been communicated 
 to us by two gentlemen just arrived from that 
 troubled city, and eye-witnesses to most of the trans- 
 actions. They state that the excitement is so great 
 in that hitherto tranquil place, that almost all the 
 women have left it, to avoid any future commotion. 
 We have further to state that the additional para- 
 graph in our account, stating that Dr. Bodley had 
 had some quarrel in the gaming house, after having 
 won a considerable sum of money, is altogether 
 erroneous; as we have been assured that Dr. B.
 
 MURDERS AT VICKSBURGH. 217 
 
 never was known to frequent such places, but on the 
 contrary was strongly opposed to them. 
 
 " Some difficulty arose at the public dinner, 
 in celebration of the 4th of July, as too often hap- 
 pens on similar occasions, between Mr. Fisher, 
 who belongs to the volunteer company, and Mr. 
 Francis Cobler. From words they proceeded to 
 blows. Mr. C having drawn a knife upon his 
 opponent, the company, taking the part of their 
 comrade, seized him, bound him to a tree, and 
 inflicted thirty-two lashes on his person ! 
 
 " Not considering this sufficient, they tarred and 
 feathered him, alleging that he was a gambler. 
 He entreated them to shoot him, rather than dis- 
 grace him in that manner, and begged of them not 
 to let the tar fall into his eyes, as they poured it 
 over his head ; but the person he addressed, instead 
 of complying with his request, struck him violently 
 with a stick across the eyes ! He was then released, 
 and ordered to quit the city within twenty -four 
 hours. 
 
 " The next day, in order to appear consistent, 
 and continue their work of civilization, (as they 
 called it,) they went forth in military array, to pull 
 down, tear out, and demolish everything appertain- 
 ing to gambling ; and to tar and feather any that 
 should oppose them ! law or no law, notwithstand- 
 ing ! Some wished to protect their property, but 
 their hearts failed them, when they saw the state of 
 excitement of the volunteers. One at length 
 determined to stay in Mr. North's house, to protect
 
 218 LYNCH LAW. 
 
 himself from being tarred, and to secure the house 
 and grocery from destruction. He had fastened 
 the doors, but upon Doctor Bodley kicking one of 
 them open, some shots were exchanged ; the con- 
 sequence of which was, that the Doctor was killed 
 upon the spot, and one of the inmates of the house, 
 a person named Cullum, or as we have heard since 
 Helmes, was so wounded, as to have been totally 
 insensible to the subsequent punishment inflicted on 
 his body, whilst suspended with the rest upon the 
 gallows. He was hauled upon a dray, and thrown 
 upon the scaffold, disfigured as he was and covered 
 with blood ! 
 
 " Three more individuals were taken in the house, 
 the bar-keeper, called Dutch Bill, Mr. Samuel 
 Smith, and Mr. McCall. North, who had pre- 
 viously quitted it, and was endeavouring to make 
 his escape by water, was arrested about a mile 
 from the city and brought back ; his hands were 
 tied behind him, and he was obliged to walk with 
 the rest, who had been similarly bound ; each 
 having a rope round his neck, which was frequently 
 jerked so violently as nearly to choke them ! In 
 this manner they were conducted to the scaffold, 
 which is a permanent building, and executed without 
 further interruption ! No cap, or other covering 
 was used, and the unfortunate sufferers presented 
 such a horrible appearance, that the passers by were 
 moved even to tears ! Some of them endeavoured 
 to interfere, but were threatened with similar 
 punishment, and obliged to desist !
 
 MURDERS AT V1CK9BURGH. 219 
 
 " The unfortunate men claimed to the last, the 
 privilege of AMERICAN CITIZENS, the trial by Jury, 
 and professed themselves willing to submit to any- 
 thing their country would legally inflict upon them, 
 but we are sorry to say their petition was in vain ! 
 The black musicians were ordered to strike up, and 
 the voices of the suppliants were drowned by the 
 fife and drum. Mr. Riddell, the cashier of the 
 Planter's Bank, ordered them to play Yankee 
 Doodle ! a tune which, we believe, has never been 
 so prostituted before, and we trust will never be 
 again.*" The unhappy sufferers frequently implored 
 a drink of water, they were refused ! Mr. North 
 seems to have had some presentiment of the violence 
 to which they would proceed, as he requested a 
 friend of his, Mr. Mitchell, to protect his family if 
 anything should happen to him." 
 
 " Doctor Bodley's brother, or Mr. Hest, his 
 brother-in-law, is stated to have cut the rope, by 
 
 * Martin, in his history of North Carolina, says that the well 
 known national tune of Yankee Doodle was composed by a Dr. 
 Shackbury, who belonged to the staff of the British army in 
 America, out of a frolic and ridicule of the Falstaffian ragamuffin 
 American puritans who volunteered to join the English troops ; 
 and he presented it to the officers 'as a most martial air, calcu- 
 lated to inspire the vilest coward with courage. The joke took, 
 to the no small amusement of the British. Brother Jonathan 
 exclaimed that it was " nation fine," and in a few days nothing 
 was to be heard in the provincial camp but Yankee Doodle. 
 Little did the author then suppose that a tune made for the pur- 
 pose of levity and ridicule should be marked with such high 
 destinies.
 
 220 LYNCH LAW. 
 
 which four of these unfortunate men were launched 
 into eternity. Mr. Wingfield threw the nearly life- 
 less body of Helmes (or Cullum) from the scaffold, 
 which presented a sight shocking to humanity. 
 
 " The volunteer company, consisted of thirty-nine 
 or forty persons, commanded by Captain Baumgard, 
 and armed by the United States for a very different 
 purpose, that of protecting their fellow citizens, and 
 maintaining the supremacy of the laws. Such 
 conduct would disgrace Algiers, and could hardly 
 have occurred in a barbarous state. 
 
 " The wife of one of the sufferers, half distracted, 
 at the cruel treatment and murder of her husband, 
 trembling for her own safety, in tears begged 
 permission to inter her husband's body it was 
 refused ! She was afterwards compelled to fly with 
 her orphan child, in an open skiff, for her personal 
 security. 
 
 " The same fate was threatened to any person 
 who should dare to cut down the bodies before the 
 expiration of the twenty -four hours. At eleven 
 o'clock the next day they were cut down, and thrown 
 together into a hole, which had been dug near the 
 gallows, without coffins, or any other preparation, 
 except a box, into which one of them was put. 
 
 " Thus ended this disgusting and horrible occur- 
 rence. We understand that the magistrates 
 attempted to interfere, but were cautioned, at their 
 peril, not to intermeddle in the affair." 
 
 It is even stated, that while these scenes were 
 enacting, one of the law courts of this State, or of
 
 LYNCH LAW. 221 
 
 the United States, was in session in this city, and 
 in the actual hearing of the shouts and plaudits of 
 these ruthless murderers. 
 
 Who is there, so hardened in iniquity, so callous 
 to every feeling of our nature, that can read this 
 detail without his blood curdling in his veins, at 
 the mere recital of this atrocious and fiend -like 
 atrocity, which no force, or strength of language 
 can fairly depict, or loud condemnation sufficiently 
 reprobate, perpetrated in the heart of a country, 
 that insists upon its perfect state of civilization, 
 and nauseates mankind with the everlasting theme 
 of the excellence the matchless beauty and per- 
 fection of its social system the perfect organization 
 and efficiency of its laws ? In what other country 
 under Heaven, could deeds of such appalling 
 wickedness, and unatoned for crime find a parallel 
 receive a sanction from any portion of the community 
 or come recommended or in part extenuated by long 
 usage, and the frequency of their repetition ? for 
 there are men, who still endeavour to palliate these 
 abominations, who speak of them as coeval with the 
 existence of the country, and who insist upon the 
 fearful necessity of their continuance, as a necessary 
 means of example, in preventing and eradicating 
 crime, when the fickleness of the law would otherwise 
 encourage its perpetration ; who connive at these 
 excesses, as essential to the due enforcement of order, 
 and the better regulation of American society, as 
 placed beyond all other control. 
 
 This advocacy is not altogether confined to the
 
 222 LYNCH LAW. 
 
 South, for the system finds abettors even in the 
 north and west. The New York Sun, the leading 
 democratic organ of that city, with a daily circulation 
 of twenty -six thousand, re-echoes the opinion of a 
 large and influential class of its readers, in the 
 following, which is presented as a fair specimen of 
 the reasoning, by which these fiend-like atrocities 
 are endeavoured to be upheld. 
 
 " The code Lynch. The comments and animad- 
 versions with which most of our city editors, and 
 indeed those of other places, have accompanied their 
 accounts of the recent remarkable administration of 
 justice, according to the criminal code of Judge 
 Lynch, in Vicksburgh, and other parts of Mississippi, 
 and the South, are calculated to give to the people 
 of the North, a very incorrect and unjust opinion 
 of that renowned system of jurisprudence, and to 
 identify it in point of character, with the reckless 
 and indiscriminating operations of northern mob 
 law, or rather of mobs without law or judgment. The 
 true character of that code, so high in favour at the 
 south, is however, far from being so licentious and 
 uncivilized, as the current opinion of the north has 
 set it down. The mobs at the north are composed, 
 at least nine parts in every ten, of the lowest, most 
 ignorant, and most abandoned portion of the popu- 
 lation ; the executive authority of the code Lynch, 
 on the contrary, are invariably those citizens, who 
 constitute the most wealthy, educated and influential 
 portion of the community such as would be selected 
 by their fellow citizens, as suitable men to be intrusted
 
 LYNCH LAW. 223 
 
 with their best interests. Neither do the successors 
 of Judge Lynch rush blindly and without judgment 
 upon scenes of violence and bloodshed ; and though 
 the progress of retribution from the arraignment to 
 the punishment of the offender, is oft-times none 
 of the slowest, still we doubt much, whether the 
 united judgments of a Lynch tribunal, are not quite 
 as apt to hit on the right side of justice, to decide 
 correctly between guilt and innocence, and to mete 
 out to the convicted a righteous measure of punish- 
 ment, as are some other justice seats in favour 
 amongst us at the north and least of all as much so 
 as a certain semi -weekly criminal tribunal of this city, 
 ("the Recorder's Court, or Court of Sessions") where 
 testimony is never known, save on the side of the 
 prosecution, where a jury never sits, and where the 
 ipse dixit of one man, constitutes the law, the 
 judgment, and as we have before now seen, even 
 the testimony. 
 
 " The Lynch laws are of no modern adoption, but, 
 on the contrary, claim priority to the constitution 
 of several of our States. They were the result of a 
 looseness of legislation, that left the lives, property 
 and rights of the people without sufficient guards, 
 and the extreme laxity of the officers of the law, in 
 enforcing its few and incompetent provisions, either 
 through fear of their popularity, which is not unfre- 
 quently the case further north, or some other cause 
 equally cogent. That this remissness, both on the 
 part of the lawmakers and its ministers, should have 
 driven the people to take the guardianship of society
 
 224 LYNCH LAW. 
 
 into their own hands, cannot be wondered at 
 especially if it be remembered, that even in this city it 
 is no small restraint that prevents our citizens from 
 frequently purifying with their own hands, the moral 
 atmosphere from those deep rooted vices, which have 
 been winked at and tacitly encouraged, till their 
 enormities exceed the bounds of forbearance, and have 
 gained strength and influence, which renders the 
 present superficial administration, of our more super- 
 ficial laws, a bye-word and a reproach" 
 
 But these principles, we still believe, find but a 
 faint response amongst the enlightened, the educated, 
 or more sober thinking of the community, who 
 nevertheless form but a small a very small mino- 
 rity, amongst the large bulk of the present population 
 of these states. The public press, wherever removed 
 from an apprehension of the consequence of a free 
 expression of any adverse opinion to the public senti- 
 ment, generally united in reprobating these atrocities, 
 and with the energy, and in the language befitting 
 the occasion. " We cannot even at this distant day," 
 writes the Alexandria Gazette, from which we have 
 before quoted, " look back upon the tarring, and 
 feathering, and hanging of the gamblers at Vicks- 
 burgh, without asking if the perpetrators of these 
 dark deeds, were really and truly men of flesh and 
 blood like ourselves. The bare idea of seeing some 
 half dozen men cruelly and inhumanly tortured 
 with scalding pitch, and afterwards strung up to the 
 gibbet, without trial, or even the mockery of trial, 
 in a civilized country, and in a land of laws, strikes
 
 OUTRAGES AT VICKSBURGH. 225 
 
 the mind with terror, and the feelings quail at the 
 thought. But to see men tortured, and thus put to 
 death, for an offence so venial, and so universal as 
 that of gambling ; and to hear their heart touching 
 and wrath subduing entreaties for mercy, made the 
 sport of ruthless murderers, is enough to call down 
 the vengeance of Heaven. Time may roll over in its 
 course, the fertile valley of the Mississippi relapse 
 again into a wilderness, the Father of waters itself go 
 dry ; but this transaction will stand forth through 
 all time to come, and challenge a parallel for its 
 enormity. The offence of the victims lies buried 
 with their bones the matchless cruelty of their fate 
 will remain a bye-word and reproach." 
 
 " It is believed that one hundred instances might 
 be adduced, of individuals being shot down in the 
 streets, in this country, and no punishment inflicted 
 on them who have done it. We boast of having no 
 exclusive privileged class ; but it is a violation of 
 truth to utter it, so long as your gentleman mur- 
 derer is permitted to go at large un whipped of justice, 
 and the poor thief confined in the dungeon." 
 
 From these and many other recorded instances, 
 now forming a part of the domestic history of the 
 United States, it were no longer possible to disguise 
 the truth the plain intelligible fact demonstrated 
 by every succeeding day's experience, of the entire 
 supremacy of the people, or rather of the very populace 
 over all law, order, or properly defined government ; 
 originating as we verily believe it does, in the 
 extreme feebleness of their republican institutions 
 
 VOL. I. Q
 
 226 LYNCH LAW. 
 
 their manifest incapacity to control the masses, or 
 limit the excesses of an otherwise licentious, corrupt, 
 and unrestrained population, but more especially, in 
 the essential nature of the elective principle intro- 
 duced into every department of the internal govern- 
 ment of the country, which places the entire executive 
 authority at the mere will and beck of an oscillating 
 and heartless mobocracy. It were impossible, we 
 assume, that these excesses could ever take place, or 
 continue for a season, were the laws but properly 
 and efficiently administered if punishment was the 
 certain consequent of crime, and the mere will of the 
 many to cease legitimizing .the most daring acts of 
 wickedness and insubordination. The extreme weak- 
 ness and incapacity of the executive in this respect its 
 utter inability to protect the peaceable and honest 
 citizen, or to punish the guilty, has heretofore lent 
 an undue sanction to these enormities ; and though 
 Americans in their foolish pride, and affected notions 
 of superiority, are loath to attribute these every day 
 scenes of iniquity and brutal outrage to this self- 
 evident and very palpable cause, that extends immu- 
 nity to crime, in proportion to its atrocity and daring, 
 will in the end, find their only hope in a return to 
 any permanent state of social order and of peace, 
 in a total reconstruction of their present form of 
 government, and an entire remodelling of the insti- 
 tutions under which they live.
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 The late Rebellion in the Canadas Fixed hatred of Americans to 
 British name and British influence Papineau and McKenzie 
 parties The Hunters' Association Proclamation of President 
 Tyler directed against them Their organization and extended 
 ramifications The late Canadian border troubles The burning 
 of the steam boat Caroline The character and undefined nature 
 of American international law The Federal Government and 
 State of New York at issue on important legal questions arising 
 out of these proceedings The Act of the late Session of Con- 
 gress 184 1 and 1842, entitled " An Act to promote further reme- 
 dial Justice in the United States Court," intended to supersede 
 the jurisdiction of the several States in matters of this concern 
 and invest same in the Federal Government The unconstitu 
 tionality of this Act demonstrated, rendering it inoperative and 
 void Jurisdiction belonging to individual States to take 
 cognisance of offences committed against their soil and terri- 
 tory, in no wise affected by this Act The great international 
 importance of the principles involved in the case of the Caro- 
 line The yet probability of future difficulties arising there- 
 out between England and United States Trial of M'Leod 
 His want of firmness and moral courage Views of President 
 Tyler declared in his annual message to Congress in 1841 
 Dissent of the Governor of New York from the principles 
 advanced by President Tyler The yet embarrassing and 
 unexplained condition of American international law in this 
 respect. 
 
 WERE the consequences of this anomalous condi- 
 tion of domestic government, confined in its imme- 
 diate influence to the citizens of these States, who 
 
 Q 2
 
 228 THE REBELLION 
 
 must be supposed to hold the remedy in their own 
 hands, and from whom any change in their domestic 
 legislation can alone emanate, it could scarcely come 
 within the province of any other people to except to 
 whatever they may choose shall regulate their social 
 system, or otherwise interfere with whatever munici- 
 pal rule, they may think proper to adopt for their 
 especial government, that more immediately belongs 
 to their own supervision, and with which no other 
 people can reasonably interfere. But their position 
 is rendered somewhat different, when the peace and 
 harmony of other nations become affected by their 
 social disorganization when the safety and well- 
 being of bordering states become menaced by the 
 lawless incendiarism the continued and unrestrained 
 violence of their citizens, over whom their municipal 
 laws possess no immediate influence, or are neutra- 
 lized, in the impotency or utter incapacity of the 
 general government to enforce them. 
 
 These "salutary demonstrations of public opinion," 
 as they are generally called in the United States, if 
 confined to the American soil, might very well be 
 left to the American citizen for ultimate correction. 
 But the zeal of our transatlantic neighbours finds 
 some difficulty in restricting its sympathies to their 
 own citizens, or confining their exertions within 
 the reasonable limit of their own territory. The 
 settled forms of a monarchical government, in close 
 proximity to their northern shore, are too restricted 
 in their notion far too circumscribed, for the enjoy- 
 ment of that universal freedom of thought and
 
 IN THE CANADAS. 229 
 
 action, which rests in the exemption of all control, 
 beyond the paramount authority of the mere tran- 
 sient opinion of a turbulent and unsettled population, 
 and which the abettors of this system inculcate, 
 as the supreme authority in all matters of civil 
 government. Hence, many of the lamentable 
 and sanguinary conflicts, that characterized the 
 late unfortunate outbreak in our Canadian pos- 
 sessions in 183 7, which humanity must ever deplore, 
 and which if not altogether owing to the promulga- 
 tion of these, and such like extravagant opinions, 
 are mainly indebted to American sympathy and 
 exertion, in nurturing into some kind of vitality 
 and form, as well for their further, though short- 
 lived existence. 
 
 To the energetic measures adopted by the British 
 Canadian Government in 1837, is in great part to 
 be attributed the very sudden and unexpected 
 development of those plans of insurrection, though 
 scarcely then matured, and that involved these pro- 
 vinces in open rebellion with the mother country. 
 The friends of anarchy and disorder throughout 
 the United States, the numerous citizens in every 
 part of the republic, whose fixed hatred to 
 British name needed no other stimulant, to take 
 part in any popular commotion directed against 
 British supremacy in these colonies, were equally 
 taken by surprise, and were found in every way 
 unprepared for this sudden emergency. There 
 existed no previous sympathy, or concert between 
 them and their Canadian neighbours, that might
 
 230 REBELLION IN CANADA. 
 
 otherwise have induced the latter to seek support 
 from the United States, or come prepared to this 
 struggle for their independence, with whatever of 
 assistance the deep-rooted jealousy of their American 
 friends, might have brought to their aid. The 
 outbreak was sudden and unexpected, without 
 sufficient of organization, or matured judgment 
 to render its success even problematical ; for there 
 existed between the disaffected French Canadians 
 of the lower province, headed by Papineau, their 
 declared leader, no possible identity of feeling, of 
 principle, or motive with their American neighbours, 
 at least, infinitely less so, than with the loyal British 
 of these provinces, who were altogether opposed 
 and arrayed in direct hostility to their pretensions. 
 Neither was there any fellowship, or intimate com- 
 munion subsisting between them, and the Mc- 
 Kenzie party in the upper province, who were 
 excited by other motives, and urged on by very 
 different anticipations. 
 
 The public mind in the neighbouring States, 
 had scarcely recovered from the surprise that 
 these sudden and unexpected events had excited, 
 when advances were made, by the entire American 
 border population. Money, arms, ammunition, and 
 warlike stores, were offered in the promotion of 
 this newly projected scheme of Canadian Indepen- 
 dence, that suggested to the American, a wide 
 and productive field for his cupidity, and the 
 improvement of his fortunes, by the chance means 
 that an insurrectionary movement of this kind
 
 SYMPATHY WITH REBELS. 231 
 
 was so likely to bring with it. It was in vain that the 
 American executive counselled its citizens to abstain 
 from all interference between the subjects, and 
 government of a neighbouring and friendly State ; 
 or, that its ministers, or other officers, were directed 
 to suppress and bring to punishment those of its 
 citizens offending in this respect. Their efforts 
 were controlled by the force of public opinion, 
 which soared above all law and public order, and 
 limited its excesses to the extent only, of its means 
 to do mischief. The public stores, and United 
 States' arsenals along the frontier, were broken open 
 and plundered of their contents ; whilst, in despite 
 of proclamations, and every other precautionary 
 measure of the Federal Government, artillery, 
 ammunition, and warlike stores of every kind, of the 
 national property of the United States, were carried 
 off to the insurgent forces, that were speedily joined by 
 numerous volunteers from all parts of the American 
 continent. 
 
 The signal failure of McKenzie at Toronto, 
 had somewhat dispirited his followers, who soon 
 after took up a position, which they fortified, at Navy 
 Island, in the Niagara river, from where they 
 were subsequently dislodged by the British forces ; 
 being reduced to nearly one half of their original 
 number, by desertion, or the abandonment of their 
 friends, on ascertaining the hopelessness of further 
 exertion. The entire soon after dispersed, wending 
 their way to the United States, dispirited and 
 disappointed, to concoct new schemes, and devise
 
 232 THE " HUNTERS' ASSOCIATION." 
 
 means for some future and better arranged effort in 
 securing the future independence of these provinces ; 
 and which soon after gave birth to a society, or 
 organization of American citizens, along the entire 
 northern frontier, under the name of the " Hunters' 
 Association ;" -with branches in the several States, 
 bound together by a solemn oath, not only to 
 assist in the formation of Republican institutions in 
 all parts of the world, but never to relax in exertion, 
 until such time as they should succeed in wresting 
 from the power of England, every possession or foot- 
 hold belonging to her on the North American con- 
 tinent. It was this strong feeling of a most malevo- 
 lent disposition of uncompromising and rancorous 
 hostility to British pretensions, which pervades so 
 large a proportion of the American public, that 
 gave unity and direction to the proceedings of 
 this body, and enabled it in a short while to extend 
 its ramifications, not merely along the entire 
 northern division of the American confederacy, but 
 into every other intersection of the country, and to 
 class amongst the most active and resolute of its 
 members, many of the most influential and leading 
 men of the United States. 
 
 The general misapprehension that existed, and 
 still continues to exist, amidst the bulk of the British 
 population, and from which our rulers are scarcely 
 exempt, as to the extent and acerbity of American 
 dislike, the extreme jealousy with which nearly 
 every citizen has always regarded our interests, or 
 national pretensions, had considerably underrated the
 
 PRESIDENT TYLER'S PROCLAMATION. 233 
 
 formidable tendency and power of this association, 
 until their plans became so far matured their objects 
 so easily discernible, as to call forth the interference 
 of the Federal executive, in a Proclamation addressed 
 to the nation, and directed against their further con- 
 tinuance ; offered no doubt as a concession, consi- 
 dered to have been due to the remonstrance of the 
 British Government, made through its representative; 
 though its efficacy will scarcely be insisted on by 
 those best conversant with the United States, in the 
 suppression of this formidable coalition, or in any 
 reasonable diminution of its members. Still, this 
 manifesto of the American President has not been 
 without some beneficial consequences, if only in its 
 tendency to enlighten those, who before would not see 
 in convincing the incredulous in such matters, and 
 guaranteeing to the world, and to the British public 
 in particular, the undisputed reality, of the existence 
 of a wide spread and formidable organization ; 
 certainly, far beyond the power, and it mayhap be 
 considered, equally beyond the actual desire of its 
 own Government to suppress ; directing its entire 
 struggle and measures of hostility against British 
 interests in secret, and with that firm and decided 
 purpose that will never rest, until made sensible of 
 its incapacity its utter weakness, when opposed to 
 British rule to the force and efficacy of British 
 bayonets. 
 
 The Proclamation of President Tyler is of value 
 on this account ; as such we submit it for the 
 reader's consideration.
 
 234 PRESIDENT TYLER'S 
 
 " By the President of the United States 
 of America" 
 
 "A PROCLAMATION. 
 
 " WHEREAS it has come to the knowledge of the 
 Government of the United States, that sundry 
 secret Lodges, clubs, or associations, exist on the 
 northern frontier ; that the members of these 
 Lodges are bound together by secret oaths ; that 
 they have collected fire-arms and other military 
 materials, and secreted them in sundry places ; and 
 that it is their purpose to violate the laws of their 
 country, by making military and lawless incursions, 
 when opportunity shall offer, into the territory of a 
 Power, with which the United States are at peace, 
 and whereas it is known, that travelling agitators 
 from both sides of the line, visit these Lodges, and 
 harangue the members in secret meetings, stimula- 
 ting them to illegal acts; and whereas, the same 
 persons are known to levy contributions on the 
 ignorant, and credulous, for their own benefit, thus 
 supporting and enriching themselves by the basest 
 means ; and whereas, the unlawful intentions of the 
 members of these Lodges, have already been 
 manifested in an attempt to destroy the lives and 
 properties of the inhabitants of Chippewa in Canada, 
 and the public property of the British Government 
 there being. Now, therefore, I, JOHN TYLER, 
 President of the United States, do issue this my 
 Proclamation, admonishing all such evil-minded 
 persons of the condign punishment which is certain
 
 PROCLAMATION. 235 
 
 to overtake them ; assuring them that the laws of 
 the United States, will be rigorously executed 
 against their illegal acts ; and that if in any lawless 
 incursions into Canada, they fall into the hands of 
 the British authorities, they will not be reclaimed 
 as American Citizens, nor any interference made by 
 this Government in their behalf. 
 
 " And I exhort all well-meaning, but deluded 
 persons, who may have joined these lodges, imme- 
 diately to abandon them, and to have nothing more 
 to do with their secret meetings, or unlawful oaths, 
 as they would avoid serious consequences to them- 
 selves. And I expect the intelligent aud well- 
 disposed members of the community to frown on 
 all these unlawful combinations and illegal proceed- 
 ings ; and to assist the Government in maintaining 
 the peace of the country, against the mischievous 
 consequences of the acts of these violators of the 
 law. 
 
 " Given under my hand, at the city of Washington, 
 the twenty-fifth day of September, A. p. 1841, and 
 of the independence of the United States the sixty- 
 sixth. 
 
 " JOHN TYLER. 
 
 " By the President, 
 
 " Daniel Webster, Secretary of State." 
 
 When a nation puts forth a manifesto of this kind, 
 enjoining its citizens to peace, and the obser- 
 vance of amicable relations with neighbouring 
 States, we are bound to give it credit for good
 
 236 PRESIDENT TYLER'S PROCLAMATION. 
 
 intentions and to believe in the sincerity in which 
 such sentiments are expressed. But beyond this, 
 we attach very little importance to any American 
 state document of this kind; knowing as we do from 
 the experience of past history, its utter and acknow- 
 ledged incapacity to control the action, or conduct 
 of any of its citizens, or afford the slightest guarantee 
 to foreign States, of any ultimate suppression of the 
 disorders of which it may complain, or against which 
 it may be more immediately directed. To the 
 American, it is always rather a matter for irony or 
 jest ; or perhaps of approval, according as he may 
 believe his schemes the better concealed, by a supposi- 
 tion in the efficacy of any such protestation, to be 
 enforced by the threats, or influenced by the counsel 
 which it may inculcate ; or perchance, otherwise looked 
 upon by him as a piece of state jugglery, to which 
 nations are sometimes wont to resort, the better to 
 conceal their own secret inklings, and divert man- 
 kind from the real objects which they themselves 
 desire or contemplate. Certain it is, that this pro- 
 clamation of President Tyler had but little influence 
 in repressing the disorders against which it was 
 ostensibly directed, of checking the rancorous and 
 malignant spirit that had given them birth, and 
 which awaits only its opportunity to display itself in 
 a more perfect organization, on the first occasion 
 that may promise it success. 
 
 In May, 1 838, the first lodges were formed ; and 
 rapidly extended their various ramifications, into 
 every intersection of the United States. Their
 
 THE HUNTERS' LODGES. 237 
 
 object will be best understood from the form of oath 
 administered to their members. It is as follows : 
 
 " I do swear to do my utmost to promote 
 
 republican institutions and ideas throughout the 
 world ; to cherish them, to defend them, and 
 especially to devote myself to the propagation, pro- 
 tection and defence of these institutions in North 
 America. I pledge my life, my property, and my 
 honour to the Association. I bind myself to its 
 interests ; and I promise, until death, that I will 
 attack, combat, and help to destroy, by all means 
 that my superior may think proper, every power or 
 authority of royal origin upon this Continent ; and 
 especially never to rest till the British tyrants cease 
 to have any possession or footing whatever in North 
 
 America. 
 
 " So help me God." 
 
 The organization of the Association is said to be 
 divided into three principal branches the political, 
 military, and financial ; which three branches are 
 again subdivided into many sections. The classifi- 
 cation of the members is as follows : 1. A Grand 
 Sasanen, or Grand Master (Chief President). 
 
 2. Grand Eagles (Presidents of the different States.) 
 
 3. Eagles (Chiefs of Counties). 4. Grand Leaders 
 (Chiefs of Districts). 5. Grand Hunters (Chiefs of 
 Townships). 6. Chief Hunters (Chiefs of Lodges). 
 7. Hunters. 
 
 The Supreme Lodge may be called the Executive, 
 and consultative council of the Sasanen ; but in 
 order to give a correct idea of the organization of
 
 238 THE HUNTERS' LODGES. 
 
 the whole, it may be necessary to state the different 
 ranks and classifications. An inferior lodge is 
 formed of twenty to thirty common hunters, having 
 for a head, a chief hunter; twenty to thirty of these 
 chief hunters, form the lodge of a grand hunter; 
 twenty grand hunters, form the lodge of a grand 
 leader. The grand leaders are members of the 
 council of the eagle, whilst two or more eagles have 
 consultative votes in the direction of the society 
 under the grand eagle in each State. 
 
 By the rule of the society, every member of what- 
 ever rank is obliged to provide himself with a rifle, or 
 musquet, a sword or dagger, and have always in his 
 habitation forty charges of powder ; he is obliged to 
 pay the following contributions : common hunter, 
 two cents per week, or a dollar per year ; a chief 
 hunter, six and a quarter cents per week, or three 
 dollars per year ; a grand hunter, twelve and a half 
 cents per week, or six dollars per year ; a grand 
 leader, twenty- five cents per week, or twelve dollars 
 per year ; an eagle, thirty-seven and three-quarter 
 cents per week, or sixteen dollars per year ; grand 
 eagle, fifty cents per week, or twenty dollars per 
 year ; Sasanen, one dollar per week, or fifty dollars 
 per year: besides a dollar is paid as entrance money, 
 and a dollar, on the election of any rank. 
 
 The whole of this sum is kept at the disposal of 
 the Supreme Council, and is generally used, partly 
 to provide arms and ammunition for the poorer 
 members, who cannot afford to buy them themselves ; 
 to support newspapers and publications, edited in the
 
 NUMBER OF LODGES. 239 
 
 interest of the Association ; in paying emissaries 
 lecturers, postages, and accumulating deposits of 
 arms, cannon, and so forth. 
 
 The number of lodges in the last year were as 
 follows : Maine, 99 ; Vermont, 107 ; New York, 
 283 ; Michigan, 54 ; Wisconsin, 7 ; Illinois, 2 1 ; 
 Indiana, 14 ; Ohio, 86 ; Pennsylvania, 49 ; Ken- 
 tucky, 11; Virginia, 21; Maryland, 16; Dela- 
 ware, 2 ; New Jersey, 17 ; Missouri, 39 ; Iowa, 3 ; 
 Louisiana, 1 1 ; New Hampshire, 78 ; Massachu- 
 setts, 89 ; Rhode Island, 15 ; Connecticut, 68 ; 
 Lower Canada, nearly the whole of the French po- 
 pulation are organized in lodges ; Upper Canada, 
 84. There are a few lodges in New Brunswick, and 
 a few scattered in other parts. The numbers of 
 lodges in the States not mentioned may amount to 
 from 50 to 100. The number of members taken at 
 the mininum may be fairly calculated at eighty 
 thousand able bodied men, and there are not fewer 
 than twelve thousand voters in the Association. 
 The funds, donations, extra contributions, and a 
 rigid economy in 1839, 40, and part of 41, had so 
 much increased as to save above three hundred 
 thousand dollars as a reserve.* 
 
 * An American correspondent of the London Morning Chro- 
 nicle, who appears to be well acquainted on the subject, has 
 presented, through its columns, much useful and very interesting 
 information, from which we have already quoted, and now sub- 
 join the following remarks connected with these Societies, that 
 will amply repay the reader's perusal : 
 
 " After the evacuation of Navy Island, and the several
 
 240 HUNTERS' LODGES. 
 
 We cannot refer even thus lightly to the border 
 troubles of the late Canadian insurrection, without 
 more particularly alluding to the most important 
 
 attempts upon Lake Erie, the patriots of both parties appeared 
 to have been entirely discouraged. On the arrival of Lord 
 Durham in Canada, by his conciliating policy, and his general 
 and nearly universal amnesty, the rancours began entirely to 
 disappear. But some secret influence, some power that could be 
 felt, but not seen, counteracted the best exertions, the most phi- 
 lanthropic acts, and the soundest policy of his Lordship. As we 
 do not propose to write its history, it may be sufficient to state, 
 that it was about this time that we can trace the beginning of 
 what afterwards was called the Hunters' Association ; whether it 
 originated in New York, or Vermont ; whether the McKenzies, 
 the Nelsons, the Coats, were its principal founders ; whether 
 the Baron Frattelin, or the Chevalier de Lorimer, at whose sug- 
 gestion it was formed, we cannot say. Neither can we say 
 whether it originated in the spontaneous will, and wish of its 
 founders, or whether, at the very outset, it owes its origin to 
 foreign influence. 
 
 " Sir George Arthur, the late Lieutenant-Governor of Upper 
 Canada, was the first who succeeded in discovering the existence 
 of this band ; and it was to bis judicious measures, that the very 
 formidable plan that was to have been carried into effect in the 
 fall of 1838, was defeated But disunion amongst the union- 
 ists, more than British bravery or foresight, was the real cause 
 of its proving abortive. The reader must know, that the only 
 point on which all the branches of this association agree, is 
 hatred to Great Britain. Apart from this, no strong bond 
 exists amongst them. The great proportion of the Canadian 
 Hunters, agree only with the Americans, as far as hostility to 
 England is concerned. They wish to throw off English supre- 
 macy, without having any desire to become Americans. 
 
 " Papineau, Morin, Vigor, are the leaders of this party ; and 
 it includes nearly the whole of the Lower Canada sections, with
 
 HUNTERS' LODGES. 241 
 
 features in the sequel of these disturbances, as between 
 Great Britain and the United States. The seizure, de- 
 tention and subsequent trial in the state of New York 
 
 the exception of the Coats and Nelson parties, which are for a 
 union with the United States, and have the most partisans in the 
 districts of Montreal, and on the border of the river Richelieu. 
 Again, amongst the Americans there exists a difference of opi- 
 nion as far as union is concerned. They all want the free navi- 
 gation of the Saint Lawrence, and of the Saint John, the North- 
 west territory, and the whole of the country to the west of the 
 Rocky Mountains ; but they are not prepared to say, that a 
 northern set off for Texas will not be necessary. Why then not 
 take Texas into the Union ? say the Southern Lodges. 
 
 " At the elections, the watchword is given from the chief, and 
 it is here that this Association threatens to become most mischie- 
 vous and dangerous ; and it is most likely that they will suc- 
 ceed in getting the ascendancy in all the eastern and middle 
 States. Regarding this body only in a military point of view, 
 one is struck at the first moment by their large numbers ; but 
 yet, it would be a very bad calculation, to suppose that their 
 physical strength corresponds with their numbers. The writer 
 is of opinion, that, with the utmost exertion, the Association could 
 not at any single point, concentrate two thousand men ; and 
 that it can be only imposing, as auxiliary to some well pronounced 
 movement. Its other weakness consisted in a great want of 
 military leaders, or rather, of military talents ; this want was 
 felt at the beginning ; and consequently one of the first 
 thoughts of the leaders, was to engage foreigners, officers of 
 experience. A Colonel St. Martin, was the first that made his 
 appearance upon the frontier ; he was a man somewhat advanced 
 in life, and was reported to have been a Colonel in the French 
 guard ; but he quarrelled soon with Doctor Nelson the younger, 
 and disappeared as he came. He never took any remuneration, 
 but on the contrary advanced something to the military funds of 
 the patriots. Some Poles of an inferior rank were rJso engaged, 
 VOL. I. R
 
 242 CASE OF M'LEOD. 
 
 of a British subject, Alexander M'Leod, on a charge 
 of murder, and arson, alleged to have been com- 
 mitted by him, in concert with others, acting under 
 
 but they were only birds of passage ; till, in the middle of the 
 summer 1838, the plan -was formed to make a determined and 
 unanimous effort on the whole frontier. Rendezvous for officers 
 were opened in New York, Philadelphia, Boston, &c. The 
 Polish Colonel, Von Sultz (a Finlander by birth, the son of 
 
 Colonel R .) was to direct as chief of the staff, the operations 
 
 in Upper Canada, whilst for Lower Canada the French Canadians 
 insisted on having only French officers, and at last they ap- 
 pointed Monsieur Charles Hindenlang, a French officer, one of 
 their brigadiers. The Commander-in- Chief of all the forces, 
 patriots, and hunters, was to be assumed by Doctor Nelson no- 
 minally, but in reality by a Polish or Hungarian officer of some 
 talent and ability. Jealousy, disunion, and treason, or rather 
 embezzlement by some leading members, rendered the whole 
 proceeding farcical. Von Sultz after having, lion-like, fought 
 for three days against a force ten times his superior, with a 
 heroism worthy of a nobler cause, was taken and hanged with 
 all his officers. Hindenlang surrendered, exposed in a most 
 forcible manner the infamous conduct of Coat and Nelson ; and 
 in spite of a most noble defence, and a thrilling appeal from the 
 pen of General Bradish, was hanged haranguing the people in 
 the most enthusiastic manner, the people ending with a shout of 
 " Vive la liberte Vive 1'independance Canadien !" The writer 
 of this knew that both Sultz and Hindenlang were only enthu- 
 siastic dupes, and that persons infinitely more guilty, who fell 
 into the hands of the British authorities, escaped scot free. The 
 escape of the political prisoners from the citadel at Quebec, one 
 of the strongest places in the world, shews how extensive and 
 how general the adhesion to the hunters' interests was. The 
 three principal prisoners were thirty- four days in the upper town 
 of Quebec, while the whole garrison was visiting every corner of 
 every room, house, cellar, and even every coffin. Many a time
 
 CASE OF M'LEOD. 243 
 
 the orders and immediate instructions of the British 
 Canadian Authorities, in the capture and burning of 
 the American steamer " Caroline." 
 
 they were obliged to change their quarters seven or eight times 
 a day, and in spite of the tremendous reward they were not 
 betrayed. Since the failure of the movement in 1838 the 
 Council of the Hunters came to the decision of waiting for 
 occasions, and of making as many as they could, in order to 
 acquire a better organization, and be prepared for any event. 
 They resolved to extend and increase the number of lodges, and 
 to organize intercourse and political connexions in Europe. 
 Papineau and Leveque being in Paris, it was proposed to appoint 
 them plenipotentiaries, and in fact Papineau was even received 
 by Marshal Soult in private audience ; but Mr. Papineau spoiled 
 the whole by speaking to the old sword of liberty, constitution, 
 democracy, &c. instead of appealing only to " French feelings," 
 " French interests," " French connexions," and submission to 
 " French will," and " loyalty to Louis Philippe." He was very 
 much blamed for being such a bad diplomatist. Whether he 
 was cashiered, or yet keeps his place, we are not in a position to 
 ascertain. To England an Irishman and Scotchman were sent, 
 
 Mr. E and S g, to see what could be done with the 
 
 Chartists. We have heard a great deal about the report of these 
 two gentlemen, which we cannot repeat, as we have no proof in 
 our hands, and to reveal only some part of the truth would 
 commit some persons very deeply. It was at their suggestions 
 that subscriptions to the Irish Repeal fund were begun in Ame- 
 rica, which of course will increase considerably if the Council of 
 the Hunters should approve of that peaceable mode of sympa- 
 thising agitation. The question is very often asked, is it true 
 that Russia, or any other power, encouraged the Canadian rebels 
 and American sympathisers ? To give a positive answer would be 
 a difficult task, but one thing we know, that 50,000 dollars, 
 .0,000 rifles, some cannons, and a large amount of ammunition 
 and provisions were offered, through a foreign agent, by two 
 
 R 2
 
 244 CASE OF M'LEOD 
 
 This affair, so nearly implicating both countries in 
 open hostilities, and notwithstanding its importance, 
 has ceased to possess any very great interest in the 
 
 foreign mercantile houses in New York or Philadelphia : this we 
 know to be a fact. We could tell something more on this point, 
 but as her Majesty's Government did not think fit to divulge any 
 facts, so it is our duty not to do so. 
 
 " This last year (1842) the lodges were uncommonly active ; 
 two plenipotentiaries of the highest rank in the class were sent 
 to Europe, particularly to engage professional military men, and 
 officers of talent and experience. One entered on his mission in 
 Bremen, in Germany; but after making several arrangements, 
 even packing up things and freighting a ship, his funds failed 
 that is say, the person to whom they were intrusted, converted 
 them to his own use ; and as the thing was so cautiously ar- 
 ranged that no evidence could be procured by the "bloody Eng- 
 lish," the treasurer could of course laugh in the face of his 
 Excellency, the plenipotentiary. However, the Bremen autho- 
 rities began to suspect something wrong, and requested his 
 Excellency to leave the territory of the republic ; he remained 
 some time in Munster, in Westphalia, but, as we hear, he obtained 
 but few recruits and fewer friends. The last place we heard of 
 him was at Antwerp and Rotterdam, where he was scheming on 
 paper the freight of a ship, for emigrants, to be carried to the 
 State of Maine, on credit of course. 
 
 " We are often asked who is the grand Sasanen, who are the 
 grand Eagles ? It is really impossible to state this positively, 
 but we may hazard an opinion that the actual chairman of the 
 Committee of Foreign Affairs of Congress (Caleb Gushing) 
 knows something about the matter. In one of his last lectures 
 at Springfield, Massachusetts, he states, that it is the duty of 
 every American to co-operate for the expulsion of British influ- 
 ence and authority from that continent. Governor Fairfield, of 
 Maine; Governor Mason, of Michigan; General Bradish ; Co- 
 lonel Thomas; the Hon. Senator Williams; Lieut. -Governor
 
 CASE OF M'LEOD. 245 
 
 public mind, from a belief, (an erroneous one we con- 
 tend,) that the law of the United States having under- 
 gone a revision on questions of this doubtful tendency, 
 a security is thus given to the British Government 
 against every possibility of their recurrence. 
 
 It is very true, that the United States Government, 
 aware of the extreme difficulty of its position the 
 void that exists in the Federal constitution, preclud- 
 ing every reasonable control of the Federal Govern- 
 ment in cases arising out of border collisions, such 
 as the burning of the Caroline, with the extreme 
 difficulty of preserving future amicable relations with 
 Great Britain, without some better defined and easily 
 understood legal principle, releasing the separate 
 states of the Republic from judicial interference in 
 all such matters, and that yielding to the necessity 
 of effecting some change, passed an act in the last 
 congressional session, entitled " An Act to promote 
 further remedial Justice in the United States courts," 
 which was intended to supersede all power or 
 authority, hitherto exercised by the local or State 
 tribunals, in cases similar to that of the Caroline, and 
 to place all future, and such like transactions under 
 the exclusive control of the Federal government, 
 and law-courts of the United States. 
 
 It was quite time, we admit, that some better 
 
 Bradish, of the State of New York ; General Clark ; Wolfred 
 Nelson ; L. J. Papineau ; Charles Pierre Bonaparte ; W. L. 
 McKenzie, and others, are the gentlemen who perhaps could 
 hest inform us what are their respective connexions with this 
 association."
 
 246 CASE OF M'LEOD. 
 
 understanding in cases of this kind should have sub- 
 sisted between the American Government and 
 foreign nations ; especially with Great Britain, whose 
 peculiar position on her northern frontier, had made 
 her a party more immediately concerned ; and that 
 no intricacy, or difficulty should again arise from 
 the anomalous character, or undefined nature of 
 American law, that permitted the authorities of 
 New York, a mere intersection of the Republic 
 unknown to foreign States, to arraign a British 
 subject on a capital charge, for acts committed 
 under the immediate sanction and authority of his 
 Government, and which had directly assumed their 
 entire responsibility. 
 
 It would appear, that as far as an Act of Congress 
 could effect a remedy, that such has already been ac- 
 complished ; and that a law, as we have observed, has 
 passed both houses, and received the sanction of the 
 President, removing all authority, or apprehended 
 jurisdiction in such cases, from the local or state 
 tribunals of the country, to the supreme court of the 
 United States. We say, as far as an Act of Congress 
 can effect such change; which appears to our judgment 
 (assuming the law as laid down by the supreme 
 court of New York in the particular case of M'Leod, 
 and to which we shall hereafter refer, to have 
 been the correct constitutional law of this State 
 fully recognized at the time by the Federal Govern- 
 ment, and which secured to her, certain rights and 
 immunities, equally, and individually belonging to 
 every other State of the Republic) as removed far
 
 CASE OF M'LEOD. 247 
 
 beyond all Federal interference ; and which we would 
 feel some anxiety to hear explained, how any mere 
 Act of Congress can possibly amend, or alter. With 
 us, such questions are of a very different caste ; the 
 more especially, as our lower house of Parliament is 
 supposed to represent the people of these realms, 
 where every individual is declared to be present, to 
 approve, or dissent from any alteration in the laws of 
 the country, as he may consider of public advantage ; 
 and which, with the House of Lords, and sanction of 
 the Crown, are omnipotent in all such matters. But 
 we are led to think very differently of the extent of 
 authority vested in the United States Congress, 
 under the Federal Constitution, as also of the rights 
 and privileges appertaining to the separate and 
 individual States ; which are supposed to have con- 
 tinued to them in their first and original extent, 
 all that belongs to distinct and separate sove- 
 reignties, except where a jurisdiction is expressly 
 delegated to the general Government, under the 
 original compact that has bound these States together 
 as members of the same republic. 
 
 The charge of Judge Gridley* the further 
 decision pronounced by the supreme court of the 
 State of New York in the case of M'Leod, would 
 bespeak, that the right which this State then exercised, 
 however improperly, as against foreign nations, in 
 arraigning the subject of another government, as in 
 
 * The judge before whom M'Leod was arraigned and tried at 
 Utica, in the State of New York.
 
 248 "CASE OF 
 
 this instance, before its legal tribunals, if ever belong- 
 ing to its jurisdiction, or recognized as such by the 
 laws of the United States, does not appear to have been 
 abandoned or transferred to the supreme Govern- 
 ment ; that by a direct acquiescence, had in the fullest 
 manner recognized the existence of such right, as 
 exclusively appertaining to the individual States, 
 though urged by the protest and repeated remon- 
 strance of the British Minister, to an opposite, and 
 more decided interference. 
 
 It is perfectly inconsistent, and irreconcilable with 
 the principles, as well as the letter of the American 
 constitution, that the Federal Government of the 
 country, or Congress, which is a part of its organiza- 
 tion, can of its free will, and by a mere act of its own, 
 assume to itself rights and immunities, detracting 
 from the privileges of the separate States, and hereto- 
 fore exercised, or enjoyed by them respectively, how- 
 ever advantageous to the general good : whilst it is 
 equally clear, that any such assumption, is of itself 
 legally inoperative and void, if adopted without the 
 direct and concurrent sanction of these States, Vhose 
 rights are thus intended to be transferred to another 
 and separate jurisdiction. 
 
 Should such be the case, and the laws of the 
 United States, we apprehend, are perfectly clear and 
 intelligible on this head, it requires no very great 
 sagacity, or any very intimate acquaintance with 
 American jurisprudence, to perceive the result of the 
 late arrangements concluded between Lord Ashburton 
 on behalf of Great Britain, and the United States ;
 
 CASE OF M'LEOD. 249 
 
 or rather, as to what becomes of the late Act of 
 Congress, which assumes to provide for, and invest 
 the sole control of all, or any case of a similar cha- 
 racter, with that of Alexander M'Leod, growing 
 out of the " Caroline affair," that may perchance 
 again take place at some future day, and that under 
 this revision of the United States law, would ap- 
 pear to remain as yet unsettled between the two 
 countries, without even an earnest of effecting any 
 future change in their organization as respects such 
 matters. 
 
 Under these peculiar circumstances, the affair of 
 M'Leod though of recent date, is still one of un- 
 usual interest and importance to the British public ; 
 as indeed to the people of the United States 
 involving questions of international law of the 
 highest consideration to both countries, that re- 
 main yet unsettled, and that it is possible will be 
 made to act as a precedent on any future similar 
 occasion, should such occur, or where the same 
 principle may be called in question. 
 
 Also -"With regard to the power assumed by an 
 individual State (the State of New York) known 
 only to the Government of England as an integral 
 part of the American Republic, to redress of her- 
 self, and independent of her Federal connection 
 with the other United States, any real or supposed 
 injury committed against her soil or territory, or 
 for any infraction of her local or municipal laws by 
 A foreign power. 
 
 And further With reference to the enforcement
 
 250 CASE OF M'LEOD. 
 
 by such State of such assumed right, with the ac- 
 quiescence of the United States Government, and 
 with whom only, foreign nations acknowledge any 
 subsisting political relations. 
 
 It may be well to premise, in recurring to this 
 subject, that the actual rebellion in Canada in 1837, 
 as already shewn, was speedily suppressed by the 
 valour and energy of the troops, line and militia, 
 employed on the occasion. Not a single rebel was 
 in arms in this province, when an organized 
 band, under McKenzie and Van Reausellar, of one 
 of the oldest and most respectable families in the 
 State of New York, composed of Canadian refu- 
 gees, and partly of American citizens, and armed 
 from the United States arsenals, and within the 
 United States frontier, took possession in the open 
 day of an island lying in the Niagara river, belong- 
 ing to the British Crown, and where they also 
 transported artillery, arms, and ammunition, also of 
 the United States property ; receiving continued 
 reinforcements, and from which position, with these 
 means, they continued to play upon the inhabitants 
 of the Canadian frontier at a distance of scarcely 
 six hundred yards. Also on boats passing up and 
 down the river. A steamboat the " Caroline' was 
 employed, chartered from some citizens in Buffalo 
 for the express purpose of conveying reinforce- 
 ments, arms, ammunition, and provisions to this 
 band, and was so employed throughout the day of 
 20th December, taking shelter near the American 
 shore soon after night-fall. It was considered
 
 CASE OF M'LEOD. 251 
 
 necessary by the officer in chief command of the 
 militia force of the Upper province, Colonel Allan 
 McNab, to capture or destroy this steamer, for the 
 purpose of preventing all further supplies to the 
 insurgent party on the island. A body of men 
 under his immediate instructions, and commanded 
 by Captain Drew of the British Navy, soon after 
 night, attacked and captured the vessel, lying moored 
 on the American shore ; but being unable from the 
 extreme rapidity of 'the river, to bring her across 
 to the Canada side, they were compelled to set fire 
 to her, and allow her to drop down with the cur- 
 rent. It appears that in this struggle an American 
 citizen (Durfee), was killed. 
 
 The entire affair soon became a subject for 
 diplomatic communication between the two Go- 
 vernments; the United States demanding an ade- 
 quate compensation for the destruction and loss 
 of the Caroline, as also some atonement for this 
 abuse and invasion of its territory, as an inde- 
 pendent nation. But before the British minister 
 could enter on the consideration of the various in- 
 ternational questions comprised in the demand, a 
 circumstance occurred in their further development 
 that had well nigh involved both countries in a 
 calamitous and sanguinary war, in the seizure and 
 imprisonment of a British subject, (Alexander 
 M'Leod) within the territory, and by the authorities 
 of the State of New York, on charges of arson, and 
 murder, made against him on behalf of the " Sove- 
 reign people" of this commonwealth, as being ac-
 
 252 CASE OF M'LEOD. 
 
 cessary to the burning of the steamer Caroline and 
 death of Durfee, (he being pronounced as one of 
 the party in the expedition under the orders of 
 Captain Drew), and of which this State assumed a 
 right of judicial interference ; such acts being de- 
 clared by her as an infraction of her municipal laws, 
 in which she claimed to exercise a sole and undis- 
 puted jurisdiction, independent of all, or any 
 other interference whatsoever. This determination 
 of New York was immediately followed by a dis- 
 tinct avowal of the aggression by the British Go- 
 vernment, assuming all the responsibilities of the 
 act, and accompanied by a demand made upon the 
 Federal executive, for the instant liberation of 
 M'Leod " It is well known," declared Mr. Fox the 
 British minister at Washington, in his official note 
 to Mr. Forsyth, American Secretary of State, 
 " that the destruction of the steamboat Caroline 
 was a public act of persons in Her Majesty's service, 
 obeying the orders of their superior authorities. 
 That act therefore, according to the usages of na- 
 tions, can only be the subject of discussion between 
 the two national Governments. It cannot justly 
 be made the ground of legal proceedings in the 
 United States, against the individuals concerned, 
 who were bound to obey the authorities appointed 
 by their own Government." 
 
 Mr. Forsyth, in his reply, after stating the 
 anxious desire of his Government to maintain ami- 
 cable relations between the United States and Eng- 
 land, said " It is, then, with unfeigned regret
 
 CASE OF M'LEOD. 253 
 
 that the President finds himself unable to recognize 
 the validity of a demand, a compliance with which 
 you deem so material to the good understanding 
 which has hitherto been manifested between the two 
 countries. 
 
 " The jurisdiction of the several States which 
 constitute the Union is, within its appropriate 
 sphere, perfectly independent of the Federal Govern- 
 ment. The offence with which M'Leod is charged, 
 was committed within the territory, and against the 
 laws and citizens of the State of New York, and is 
 one that comes clearly within the competency of her 
 tribunals. It does not, therefore, present an occasion 
 when, under the constitution and laws of the Union, 
 the interposition called for would be proper, for 
 which a warrant can be found in the powers with 
 which the Federal Executive is invested. Nor would 
 the circumstances to which you have referred, or 
 the reasons you have urged, justify the execution 
 of such a power, if it existed." 
 
 Such were for a time the declared opinions, the 
 expressed determination of the American Govern- 
 ment under the Presidency of Martin van Buren, 
 unsustained by any former usage or law of nations, 
 or even the principles that have frequently governed 
 the conduct of the United States on similar occa- 
 sions.* 
 
 * It is with our American neighbours, one thing to preach, 
 and another thing to practise. We best point out the incon- 
 sistency and disingenuous conduct of the American Government,
 
 254 CASE OF M'LEOD. 
 
 The Report of the Committee on Foreign Re- 
 lations, to the American House of Representatives 
 then in session, fully supported the views of the 
 American President, and taking it in all its parts, 
 might well have been considered a war report ; and 
 had it expressed the sentiments or opinions of the 
 American people, would have led to a conclusion of 
 their desire, indeed their determination to force on a 
 rupture with Great Britain at all hazards. But such 
 was not the case America was wholly unprepared 
 at this moment for any such emergency ; stricken 
 in her means bankrupt in all her resources, she was 
 too enfeebled for such an effort. Even Mr. Pickens, 
 Member of Congress for South Carolina, and chair- 
 man of this committee, knew well the dangerous 
 ground on which he ventured, and the dissent with 
 which such a proposition would be received by the 
 Senate, and more sober thinking of his fellow citizens. 
 But the coalition to which Mr. Pickens and the ma- 
 jority of his committee belonged, (the ultra-demo- 
 cratic party of the then administration), was on theeve 
 of being replaced in power by General Harrison and 
 the Whigs or Federalists ; while the opportunity was 
 too favourable to let pass of creating unusual diffi- 
 culties and embarrassments for their successors, 
 not to seize upon it as a God-send, and as one thafr 
 
 by submitting for the reader's perusal a memorandum of in- 
 stances in which the United States have pursued enemies or 
 alleged criminals on neutral territory. See particulars in Ap- 
 pendix (marked E )
 
 CASE OF M'LEOD. 255 
 
 could not fail of adding to their many other per- 
 plexities. Such we believe to be the general cha- 
 racter of American patriotism such the love of 
 country that flickers in the breast of the generality 
 of American Statesmen, who are prepared to make 
 these, or any other such sacrifices, for the promotion, 
 or mere temporary advancement of whatever politi- 
 cal party they may chance to be allied to ; or for 
 the disquieting those, who may for the while be 
 opposed to them in the government of the country. 
 Such conduct strangely contrasts with the proceedings 
 of the British Parliament whenever the well-being 
 of the nation is in anywise concerned. Even on 
 this occasion, when receiving notice of the refusal 
 of the American Government to surrender M'Leod, 
 a British subject, who had been thus illegally seized, 
 and held individually responsible for the formally 
 avowed acts of his own Government, all party feel- 
 ing was at once forgotten, and merged in the one 
 universal desire, to sustain to the very uttermost, 
 and by all means within the grasp of British power, 
 the menaced honour and interests of their one com- 
 mon country. 
 
 Further instructions were at once sent out to the 
 British Minister at Washington, who had pre- 
 viously addressed a communication to Mr. Forsyth, 
 American Secretary of State, (in reply to his letter 
 of 26th December, and in which the former appli- 
 cation for the release of M'Leod was refused), which 
 regretted this refusal, and intimated that the ill- 
 treatment of M'Leod would lead to the most grave
 
 256 CASE OF M'LEOD. 
 
 .and serious consequences. He reiterated to the 
 American minister that the attack on the Caroline 
 was made in pursuance of orders from the colonial 
 authorities, approved of by the British Government : 
 that the Caroline was a piratical vessel, and was 
 but nominally within the jurisdiction of the United 
 States: that the authorities of New York had 
 been unable to maintain their jurisdiction, at the 
 place where the Caroline was attacked, or even to 
 prevent the pirates from carrying off from that 
 place, the cannon belonging to the State. 
 
 The formal announcement of the British Minister 
 was not without its proper effect upon the conduct 
 and decision of the Federal Government, which 
 soon after admitted the principle contended for by 
 Great Britain, and intimated this altered view of the 
 American cabinet to the Government of the State 
 of New York. But " state rights" state jealousies, 
 and the insulted sovereignty of this confederated 
 portion of the Republic, rebelled against the notion ; 
 and insisting upon its reserved power under the 
 Constitution, to try all cases of aggression within its 
 own limits, denied the interference of the Supreme 
 Government in the premises. M'Leod, who had 
 been removed for better security to Utica, protested 
 against the jurisdiction which was thus about to try 
 him on a charge of a capital felony. He was brought 
 up on habeas corpus before the judges of the Su- 
 preme Court of the State of New York, when 
 having challenged the competency of this tribunal, 
 or of this State, on the grounds assumed by the
 
 CASE OF M'LEOD. 257 
 
 British Government, and now sanctioned by the 
 United States Executive, his plea or challenge was 
 unanimously overruled, and M'Leod thereupon 
 remanded to stand his trial. 
 
 It is a matter on which public opinion has been 
 much divided, how far Great Britain has been 
 justified to herself in submitting with such exem- 
 plary patience to this trifling with her dignity, her 
 honour, and that position she is bound to maintain 
 amongst the nations of the world, in abstaining to 
 inflict a summary and well-deserved chastisement, 
 on this self- inflated and petty State, unknown to 
 this country, in any recognized official or diplomatic 
 character whatever ; and which a respect only for 
 the Federal authority, that had condemned and re- 
 pudiated her interference to the British Govern- 
 ment, guaranteeing the entire personal safety of 
 M'Leod, whatever should be the issue of these 
 proceedings, has, we believe, saved from a conse- 
 quence, which her conduct had thus so wantonly 
 provoked. M'Leod was soon after brought to 
 trial, and having proved an alibi, was acquitted. 
 
 The result occasioned but little surprise in 
 America, much less in England, where such an 
 event was anticipated, from the virtual guarantee of 
 the American Government ensuring M 'Leod's safety 
 at all hazards. 
 
 With this issue we should not perhaps find fault, 
 but rather hail the occurrence, as removing a cause 
 of near hostilities between the two countries. Yet, 
 it is impossible to feel satisfied at the result, to fore- 
 
 VOL. i. s
 
 CHARGE OF JUDGE GRIDLEY. 
 
 see what may eventually be the consequence of 
 these proceedings, or the future difficulties that may 
 arise from this very complex state of American 
 legislation, against which no remedy has as yet been 
 applied, or guarantee presented to the world against 
 its further unseemly interference. A blow has been 
 struck that cannot end with this trial. A principle 
 of right subversive of all international law insisted 
 on by this isolated intersection of the Republic, and 
 carried out with a calm and settled purpose to its 
 fullest limit in these proceedings that is pregnant of 
 strife, and must at no distant day, under any similar 
 emergency, become instrumental in forcing on a 
 collision between the two countries. 
 
 We cannot put out of sight, from its very im- 
 portant bearing on the question, the charge of the 
 presiding Judge (Gridley) to the jury on this 
 trial, the suppression or designedly blinking the 
 most important matter at issue in these proceedings, 
 wherein the prominent grounds or plea of defence 
 put forward by M'Leod, (the judgment of the su- 
 preme court having already affirmed the murder of 
 Durfee,) " excusing in the individuals the act charged 
 against them first, because done in self-defence, 
 and again because the entire transaction had already 
 become the subject of recognition between the two 
 Governments, so as to deprive this court (the Su- 
 preme Court of the State of New York) of jurisdic- 
 tion over the offence" were overruled. The killing 
 of Durfee, even under the circumstances in which his 
 life was forfeited, having been declared " murder" 
 by the unanimous decision of the Supreme Court ;
 
 CASE OF M'LEOD. 259 
 
 the only question that the learned judge directed 
 should be considered on the trial of M'Leod was, 
 " whether the prisoner was one of those embarked 
 in the enterprise in which such life was taken ; for 
 it followed that all engaged in it were guilty of the 
 same offence." It were not necessary that M'Leod's 
 arm should have dealt the blow ; it was sufficient, 
 according to the learned judge's exposition, that he 
 was present aiding and abetting the proceedings. 
 With this explanation his Honour continued : 
 " Then comes the question the important question 
 on which you are to pronounce. Is Alexander 
 M'Leod guilty of that murder ?" And to this did 
 the jury turn their minds, regardless of every other 
 consideration, or whatever consequences might re- 
 sult from their decision, should the evidence before 
 them by possibility admit of a verdict in the affirm- 
 ative. 
 
 But this, beside the question of the rights of a fo- 
 reign and independent state, opposed to rebels in arms 
 against its legitimate authority, aided and assisted 
 by the citizens of a friendly power, who, as in this 
 instance, were removed beyond the control of their own 
 government, and in which, a proceeding that, under 
 other or ordinary circumstances, might be classed as 
 of a criminal tendency, became legitimized and per- 
 fectly defensible, from the several and concurrent cir- 
 cumstances by which it was surrounded, relieving 
 the actors or parties concerned from all individual or 
 legal responsibility whatsoever. The very act of 
 the Caroline her connection with the rebels op- 
 
 s 2
 
 260 HIS WANT OF MORAL COURAGE. 
 
 posed as belligerents to British authority in British 
 waters, piratically trading with them, and assisting 
 in the transport of munitions of war, and other 
 stores, took from the parties implicated therein, the 
 protection and rights which otherwise belonged to 
 them as citizens of an independent and friendly 
 State. 
 
 Of Alexander M'Leod we may perhaps be per- 
 mitted to speak ; for after all he was but a man 
 a mere man and may be excused for whatever 
 pains he may have taken to save a very worthless 
 life. Such perhaps is human nature the instinctive 
 feelings belonging to man's weakness, to which 
 it may be unreasonable to charge M'Leod for 
 not forming an exception. Yet what a noble 
 and distinguished position was his. His cause 
 was his country's cause her interposition in his 
 behalf, proceeding on an utter disregard as to 
 his guilt or innocence. The entire responsibility of 
 his acts, whether in the burning of the Caroline, 
 or slaying of her crew assumed unreservedly as- 
 sumed by Great Britain, who stood prepared, armed 
 with a nation's might, to avenge the first overt act, 
 that menaced either his freedom or his life, in pur- 
 suance of any decree pronounced against him. It 
 is a subject for regret, that he did not feel more im- 
 pressed with the national importance of his high 
 and ennobling position, or that he lacked upon such 
 an emergency, the firmness and moral courage to 
 protest when brought up for trial, against the 
 usurped authority, which had the temerity to ar-
 
 CASE OF M'LEOD. 261 
 
 raign him, and on public grounds to refuse to plead 
 to the indictment under which he was charged 
 resting his defence in the hands of his country, that 
 watched with eager and jealous eye every proceed- 
 ing taken against him. But the entire was a cheat 
 upon the world a wretched piece of American 
 State jugglery, to which M'Leod under an appre- 
 hension of his personal safety the possible sacri- 
 fice of his life, had ingloriously lent himself ; as the 
 means to more easily extricate his accusers from the 
 dilemma, into which their inordinate vanity and 
 self-love had betrayed them the difficulties which 
 their hardihood and folly had well nigh brought 
 upon the country. 
 
 Still, does this end the prospect of future con- 
 troversy with the United States, or determine the 
 principles of international law for which Great 
 Britain contends ? By no means, it rather adds to the 
 mutual embarrassment of our position and the diffi- 
 culties that the near proximity of the Canadas, the 
 turbulent and unrestrained character of the Ame- 
 rican population, with their known efforts to grow 
 up dissensions between our Canadian fellow subjects 
 and the authority of the law under which they are 
 governed, will no doubt at some near day occasion; 
 while the farce played off at Utica will be made to 
 serve as a precedent in all such matters, requiring the 
 same legal interposition, and very possibly in cases, 
 where the difficulties of a mere identification of an 
 individual, or a misapprehension as to his conduct, 
 may not present the same facilities of escape.
 
 262 CASE OF M'LEOD. 
 
 It is certainly true, that no power exists in the 
 executive administration of the United States, or of 
 the other States, as with the Crown of England, to 
 cause to be entered a noli prosequi for the purpose 
 of staying proceedings in criminal prosecutions, and 
 that whatever may be the desire of the executive in 
 this respect, it is restrained in its ability to adopt 
 this practice by the restrictions to which it is sub- 
 ject under the constitution. But an appeal from 
 the final decision or judgment of a State Court, in 
 a case as that of M'Leod's, is impliedly de- 
 clared to exist by President Tyler, who succeeded 
 General Harrison in the administration,* and who, 
 in his annual message in opening the Congressional 
 Session of 1841, states 
 
 " Yet there (in Great Britain) no more than in 
 America can the chief executive power rescue a pri- 
 soner from custody, without an order from the proper 
 tribunal directing his discharge the precise stage of 
 the proceedings at which such orders may be made, 
 is a matter of municipal regulation exclusively, and 
 not to be complained of by any other government. In 
 cases of this kind, a Government becomes politi- 
 
 * This venerable man was raised to the Presidential chair, 
 by the suffrages of the Whig or Federal party, on the 4th of 
 March, 1841, and on the 4th of April following departed this 
 life, at the seat of Government in the City of Washington, being 
 but one short month in office. He was succeeded by the Vice- 
 president, John Tyler of Virginia, who, according to the provi- 
 sions of the Constitution, became, iu consequence, President of 
 the United States.
 
 CASE OF M'LEOD. 
 
 cally responsible only when its tribunals of last re- 
 sort, are shewn to have rendered unjust and inju- 
 rious judgments in matters not doubtful. To the 
 establishment and elucidation of this principle, no 
 nation has lent its authority more efficiently than 
 Great Britain. Alexander M'Leod having his op- 
 tion either to prosecute a writ of error from the 
 decision of the Supreme Court of New York, which 
 had been rendered upon an application for his dis- 
 charge, to the Supreme Court of the United States, 
 or to submit his case for the decision of a jury, 
 preferred the latter, deeming it the readiest mode 
 of obtaining his liberation, and the result has fully 
 sustained the wisdom of his choice." 
 
 Still do we firmly and conscientiously believe 
 that no such appeal in point of fact exists ; nor 
 would such interference of the Federal Govern- 
 ment be tolerated for an hour by New York, or any 
 one of the other twenty-five States forming this con- 
 federacy, notwithstanding the language of Presi- 
 dent Tyler, in the ambiguous phraseology in which 
 this part of his message is set out. The reply of 
 Governor Seward of the State of New York, to an 
 application from the Federal Government touching 
 this matter is sufficiently clear and comprehensive, 
 of the feeling with which it may be supposed any 
 attempted innovation of this kind would be received 
 by the majority of the people throughout the Re- 
 public. The following, taken from his annual mes- 
 sage to the Senate and House of Assembly of his 
 State, Jan. 1841, speaks his own version of the affair
 
 264 CASE OF M'LEOD. 
 
 " The Government of Great Britain, soon after 
 formally avowed the aggression, and reiterated the 
 demand for the discharge of the accused. The late 
 executive of the United States on this new and more 
 formal presentation of the case, conceded that, ac- 
 cording to the laws of nations, the prisoner could 
 not be held responsible for his supposed participa- 
 tion in the aggression. 
 
 " The President further declared that he would 
 direct the prosecution to be discontinued if it were 
 pending in a Federal Court, and intimated to me, 
 that if, for want of power or other cause, I should 
 decline to enter a noli prosequi, the general Govern- 
 ment would provide counsel for the accused, and 
 suggest a removal into the Supreme Court at Wash- 
 ington, if a conviction should occur. These views 
 were also adopted by the present chief magistrate 
 of the United States. After due consideration, I 
 informed the President that now as before the ob- 
 ject seemed to me to belong to the judicial tribunals 
 of this State, and submitted that their proceedings 
 ought not to be embarrassed by any interposition, 
 either of the Federal or State authorities." 
 
 The controlling influence of the Federal Govern- 
 ment, including the authority exercised under the 
 jurisdiction of its several Law Courts, is extremely 
 circumscribed, and limited in its interference to 
 those cases, to which it is immediately restricted, 
 under the delegated powers expressly marked out 
 by the United States' constitution ; all others being 
 reserved to the several States : the 1 Oth article of the
 
 CASE OF M'LEOD. 265 
 
 amendments thereto providing " That the powers 
 not expressly delegated to the United States by the 
 constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are 
 reserved to the States respectively, or to the people." 
 
 The appellate jurisdiction of the United States' 
 courts, from proceedings taken in the law courts of 
 any of the several States is strictly defined by the 
 Act, 24th Dec. 1798, being an Act " to establish the 
 judicial courts of the United States," and in which 
 no authority can be found to justify, or in the re- 
 motest degree warrant an appeal from a judgment, 
 or final decision of a State Court, in cases similar to 
 M' Lead's, though the contrary might be inferred 
 from that part of the message of President Tyler, 
 that we have quoted in relation to this subject. In- 
 deed, so perfectly satisfied did this functionary ap- 
 pear to be of the entire inadequacy of the law in 
 this particular, its incompetency to carry out, under 
 its provisions, the measure of M'Leod's ultimate 
 liberation, in the event of his being found guilty on 
 the trial, that he deemed it necessary to bring the 
 subject in official form before the consideration of 
 the country, with a view to amend the law of the 
 United States in this respect, in the following ap- 
 peal to his fellow citizens: 
 
 " I cannot fail, however, to suggest to Congress 
 the propriety, and in some degree the necessity in 
 making such provision by law, so far as they may 
 constitutionally do so, for the removal at the com- 
 mencement, and at the option of the party, of all 
 such cases as may hereafter arise, and which may
 
 266 CASE OF M'LEOD. 
 
 involve the faithful observance and execution of our 
 international obligations, from the State, to the Fe- 
 deral Judiciary. This Government by our institu- 
 tions is charged with the maintenance of peace, and 
 the preservation of amicable relations with the na- 
 tions of the earth, and ought to possess without 
 question, all the reasonable and proper means of 
 maintaining the one, and preserving the other. 
 Whilst just confidence is felt in the judiciary of 
 the States, yet this Government ought to be com- 
 petent in itself for the fulfilment of the high duties 
 which have been devolved upon it under the organic 
 law by the States themselves." 
 
 That some such law is necessary to enable the United 
 States to maintain its position among the nations of 
 the world, free from the contingent the dangerous 
 and alarming results, that any sudden incident, or bor- 
 der difficulty of this kind, may unexpectedly create to 
 disturb its relations with foreign powers, must appear 
 obvious to every American citizen, as it certainly does 
 to the dispassionate and peaceable of all classes at this 
 side of the Atlantic. That no such law at present 
 exists, notwithstanding the late Act of Congress, 
 to which we have referred in an early part of this 
 chapter, we deem equally clear ; or even such a one, 
 as can be appealed to, as an expedient of " last re- 
 sort" to stay the consequence that we have so lately 
 seen, it were even possible may result, from the pre- 
 tensions claimed, and exercised, as far as it were 
 practicable, in the late instance, by New York. 
 
 That M'Leod's life was perfectly safe, from the
 
 CASE OF M'LEOD. 267 
 
 moment that the British Government made known 
 its resolve to determine their future relations with 
 the United States, by the issue of the proceedings 
 taken against him, we firmly believe; though we 
 feel but little interest in determining the means by 
 which this consummation was brought about. The 
 same causes, however, may not again so easily operate 
 to the same end, or become available on any future 
 or similar emergency, whilst both nations, so long as 
 the laws of the United States continue in their pre- 
 sent uncertain position, remain exposed to the same 
 chances the same uncertainties, and the same risk 
 of being wantonly forced, on some future occasion, 
 into some sudden hostile collision with each other.
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Religious toleration in the United States No connection in 
 America between Church and State Each individual contri- 
 butes to the support of the church to which he may belong 
 Infidelity general in the United States Immorality of the 
 American people The parent the frequent instructor of the 
 child in wickedness and crime Dissimulation and an entire 
 disregard of truth characteristic of the entire population 
 General apathy in religious matters Mode generally adopted 
 of paying the clergy The existing laws for the due enforce- 
 ment of contracts between the clergy and their respective con- 
 gregationsFrequent litigation as to church property Church 
 building a good money-making speculation Unusual number 
 of religious sects in the United States Numbers of churches, 
 ministers, &c. Shakers' Society Their tenets, and extra- 
 ordinary religious observances Author's visit to a Shaker 
 settlement Particulars, including an account of their church 
 service Immorality very generally prevalent in the United 
 States The exceptional conduct of the females of the middle 
 and subordinate classes Their early education Habit and 
 pursuits Marriage its exemption from all restraint by statute 
 Regarded purely as a civil contract Frequency of Divorce 
 in the United States Mode in which Divorces are usually 
 effected Facilities of obtaining a Divorce under almost any 
 circumstances A remarkable scene between a friend of the 
 author's, and a native citizen Drunkenness in the United 
 States Forgery The adroitness and tact with which it is 
 committed Gambling Its general practice. 
 
 ALL religions are tolerated by the laws of the 
 United States, and recognised without favour or 
 distinction of party the new world presenting an 
 example to the old, in the capabilities of a nation,
 
 STATE OF RELIGION IN THE UNITED STATES. 269 
 
 though of the usually unsettled and variable ma- 
 terials of which the United States is composed, con- 
 tinuing itself without any subsisting connection 
 between church and state. Here every man is 
 allowed to worship his Creator, according to the 
 dictates of an approving conscience, in whatever 
 form most suited to his early instructed notions, 
 and without being held accountable to his fellow 
 men in his belief. Each individual contributes to 
 the support of the church to which he may belong, 
 without entrenching upon the pockets of his neigh- 
 bour, or filching from his hard earnings, to sustain 
 in worldly and anti-apostolic affluence, the idle and 
 intolerant the frequently persecuting ministers of 
 an opposing and dominant creed. Sectarian ani- 
 mosities are nevertheless found to exist in America, 
 as elsewhere. It is not because transplanted to 
 another soil, that the Presbyterian is the less selfish 
 and illiberal in his notions the Episcopalian, the 
 less insolent and domineering in the assumed supe- 
 riority of his recent faith or the unlucky Catholic, 
 the less persecuted, because no longer subject to the 
 legal proscription that marked his inferiority in the 
 old country. The same passions and prejudices the 
 same injustice and illiberality the same intolerant 
 and anti- Christian spirit, that has so often betrayed 
 itself set man against his fellow man, and embittered 
 all social intercourse in the old world, are often found 
 to exist in the same prurient state in the same fresh- 
 ness and energy, among our descendants in the new. 
 Yet, notwithstanding all this strife this seeming
 
 270 STATE OF RELIGION IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 earnestness of religion, and the strict observance of 
 its outward forms, there is no country where infi- 
 delity is more generally diffused amidst the bulk of 
 the population, stalking through the land, accom- 
 panied, on the other hand, by a revolting and unbe- 
 coming fanaticism, of which, without much of 
 hypothesis, it may be called the twin sister. It is 
 from this poisoned and vitiated source that a large 
 proportion of the American youth are nurtured, 
 and taught to estimate the rewards and chances of a 
 future life who learn from these instructions to 
 deride at revealed religion in its most simple form, 
 or to use it only as a means to the attainment of 
 some "worldly or secondary purpose. Profligacy 
 and crime are of its early adjuncts ; and whatever 
 may be said to the contrary whatever may have 
 been declared or written upon the subject, immo- 
 rality and vice have, and still find a congenial and 
 grateful soil throughout every part of the American 
 Union. It is, perhaps, only here that we can 
 recognize the parent as the tutor of his own off- 
 spring, instructing him in a war upon mankind 
 teaching him by precept, as by example, that honour 
 is a word of senseless meaning that should be chased 
 from his vocabulary probity, an exploded dogma 
 in his business transactions with the world, and that 
 faith with his fellow men, the mere folly of childish 
 inexperience, is only to be respected where the 
 advantages are manifest, or otherwise, where no 
 opportunity is found to force its limits. It is only 
 here, indeed, that artifice and cunning are of the
 
 AMERICAN DISSIMULATION. 271 
 
 admitted ingredients in every man's business inter- 
 course, and the proficiency of the son, extolled and 
 rewarded by the parent, in proportion as he may be 
 able to trick and over-reach him. This it is, that, 
 in the modern and perverted language of every 
 American, is considered a fitness to deal with man- 
 kind an earnest of capability to make one's way 
 amidst the mazes and difficulties of American inter- 
 course, and necessary in the peculiar, or "go-a-head" 
 system, as it is called, which is the life and being 
 of every trader or man of business to indulge in. 
 To this, in fact, we can trace the dissimulation the 
 notorious and abominable disregard of truth that 
 distinguishes the generality of the people of these 
 States in their dealing with the world, whenever 
 they can in the least promote or serve their object 
 by its means. It is almost incredible, the noncha- 
 lance with which an American will draw upon your 
 credulity, even in the most trifling affairs of life, 
 and the effrontery with which he will hazard the 
 most impudent and barefaced falsehood to serve 
 his purpose, even for the short-lived term of a single 
 day. For our own part, we have learned by our 
 experience in the country, to discredit almost any 
 statement made to us by our transatlantic friends, 
 where we conceive the parties to have any the 
 remotest interest to deceive, and where the declara- 
 tions made to us may not happen to be sustained by 
 concurrent facts, within our own positive know- 
 ledge and experience, or the corroborative evidence 
 of those on whom we could otherwise rely.
 
 272 PAYMENT OF THE CLERGY. 
 
 There is, withal, a certain apathy or indifference 
 in religion in America that perhaps exists nowhere 
 else ; each citizen following pretty much his own 
 inclination in this respect : and it is no uncommon 
 occurrence to find several individuals of the same 
 family, even to the father, mother, and their off- 
 spring, sustaining opposite principles, as members 
 of separate and opposing creeds ; each attending, 
 without interruption from the other, to their several 
 modes of worship, and without this diversity of 
 opinion and pursuit producing any unpleasantness 
 or discord between them in other matters. 
 
 As in the United States every one follows his 
 own religious inclinations, and with unrestricted 
 care his temporal concerns, without legal proscrip- 
 tion or hindrance from the state, there is conse- 
 quently neither lay patronage, tithes, or church 
 rates to interrupt the harmony and peace that 
 should subsist between the people and their spiritual 
 teachers, who are supported rather on the voluntary 
 principle, by contributions from their respective 
 congregations from the rent and taxes of the 
 several pews in their houses of worship, and in some 
 instances from the revenues derivable from the 
 property belonging to some few of their churches, 
 than by any state or government provision. The 
 law, however, takes care to enforce the performance 
 of any contract made between the pastor and his 
 flock ; and compels the payment to him, as to any 
 other servant, of any stipulated salary, so long as 
 he may continue to exercise the functions, and
 
 LITIGATED CHURCH PROPERTY. 273 
 
 perform the parochial duties of his situation, under 
 any arrangement concluded between him and his 
 congregation. At the same time, that the statutary 
 regulations of most of the states, enables the several 
 religious denominations to appoint trustees, who are 
 thereby constituted bodies corporate, for the purpose 
 of taking care of the temporalities of their respective 
 congregations, and for other objects thereby de- 
 clared. Were it otherwise, the property that is 
 possessed by the numerous sects and religionists in 
 the United States, would very soon become jeopar- 
 dised originating an endless source of contention 
 of claim and counter- claim, between the various 
 offshoots or occasional dissentients, and the orthodox, 
 or steadfast members of each creed. Even as it is, 
 and though restrained by this salutary provision in 
 the law, we have witnessed several severe and 
 protracted struggles of the kind, especially in the 
 States of New York, and New Jersey, where a large 
 amount of church property was in litigation, (prin- 
 cipally in the latter state,) and made the more 
 remarkable, as between two rival denominations 
 of the Friends, the " Hicksites," and orthodox 
 Quakers, into whose ranks an extensive schism had 
 made its way. 
 
 Church building is often found to be a good 
 money-making speculation in the United States. 
 It frequently happens, that when a capitalist has no 
 other profitable means of turning his spare cash to 
 account, he either sets about erecting a shambles, 
 or building a church : the one in aid of the temporal 
 
 VOL. I. T
 
 274 CHURCH BUILDING SPECULATIONS. 
 
 advantage, the other in uphold of the spiritual 
 welfare of his friends and contributors. In the 
 latter case, he has only to throw his wits around 
 ascertain where there may happen to reside the 
 greater number of fashionable and pretty women, 
 for church-going in America is regulated as much 
 by fashion as any other everyday amusement, and 
 having chosen a good location, erect something 
 neat and unique in its kind engage the services of 
 some clergyman, no matter of what particular reli- 
 gious persuasion, provided he is both young and 
 good-looking submit the seats, or pews for compe- 
 tition to the highest bidder, as he would the 
 butchers' stalls in the market, and the chances are 
 two to one, that he will immediately double the 
 amount of his first outlay. The pews in the new 
 Presbyterian church in Mercer Street, New York, 
 were thus put up for sale, while we were in that 
 city, and realised 47,100 dollars, with thirty per 
 cent advance for choice ; thus yielding ninety per 
 cent over the original cost, which scarcely exceeded 
 33,000 dollars in the entire. 
 
 It is reasonable to suppose, that where, in a spirit 
 of toleration, all religions are alike permitted 
 where infidelity finds its openly avowed supporters 
 among the masses, and blasphemy stalks unreproved 
 through the land, exempt from official notice 
 from private, or judicial interruption, that society 
 should be divided in its moral and social elements, 
 and separated into a variety of distinct and opposing 
 creeds ; that assume an outward and visible form,
 
 NUMBER OF RELIGIOUS SECTS. 275 
 
 according to the crude and unsettled notions of every 
 wild enthusiast, that with mistaken zeal, and an 
 overstrained measure of self-confidence, assumes to 
 be the chosen of some sudden inspiration through 
 whose instrumentality mankind is to awake from the 
 sleep of all former unrighteousness by whom we 
 are to be released from the darkness of preceding ages, 
 and through whose spiritual care and guidance we 
 are promised to reach Heaven by some shorter, more 
 congenial and expeditious route, than has hitherto 
 been revealed to our weak mortality. 
 
 We will not undertake to record a particular or 
 special notice of the hundred and one different sects 
 into which these goodly people are divided : many 
 of them are of to-day, and change their hue with 
 every returning sun ; but content ourselves with 
 the following exposition, comprising a summary of 
 the principal religious denominations throughout 
 the Republic. 
 
 The Protestant Episcopal Church comprehends 
 24 dioceses, including the eastern diocese of Maine, 
 New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island 
 23 bishops; 1199 ministers; about 56,000 com- 
 municants, with a population of nearly 700,000, 
 
 Methodist Episcopal Church has six bishops, 
 who have no particular provinces or districts ; but 
 each one, is bishop of the church throughout the 
 whole of the United States, and they spend most of 
 their time in visiting the different parts of the 
 country : Conferences, 32 ; travelling preachers, 
 4,147: local preachers, 8,298 ; members of society, 
 J,157,249. T 2
 
 276 EPISCOPALIANS. 
 
 The Roman Catholic Church includes 21 dio- 
 ceses; 1 archbishop ; 17 bishops; 8 bishops elect; 
 611 churches and chapels; 461 stations; 634 cler- 
 gymen; 19 ecclesiastical seminaries; and 261 
 clerical students. The first Catholic bishop in the 
 United States (John Carroll, DD. of Baltimore,) 
 was consecrated in 1790. The Catholics increase 
 rapidly, mostly by emigration from Europe : they 
 number about 1,500,000. 
 
 Episcopacy prevails mostly in New York, Pensyl- 
 vania, Maryland, Virginia, and South Carolina ; 
 and is supposed to be gaining ground in the New 
 England States. Pure Episcopacy in the United 
 States is of the character of a perfect ecclesiastical 
 monarchy the bishop being the head or executive 
 chief over all the clergy of his diocese. It is, in the 
 language of a late American authority,* far more 
 adapted to the genius of republican institutions 
 than it ever was in England, even before the Houses 
 of Convocation were abolished ; for in the United 
 States, the annual state conventions consist of lay 
 delegates, as well as clergy, the bishop presiding ; 
 and the general convention, which meets once in 
 three years, is composed of all the bishops in the 
 Union, who form the upper House, and of the lay 
 delegates and clergy from all the different dioceses, 
 who constitute the lower House. Yet, notwith- 
 standing, the bishops exercise great authority over 
 
 * " America and her Resources," by J. Bristed, pages 412-13.
 
 PRESBYTERIANS. 277 
 
 the diocesan clergy, and possess very considerable 
 power in regulating and governing the Church. 
 
 Presbyterianism, by the same authority, is in its 
 government a purely representative republic in the 
 United States ; its ecclesiastical tribunals through- 
 out all their gradations of church sessions presby- 
 teries synods, and general assemblies, are composed 
 of an equal number of clergy and lay elders, whose 
 votes have all equal efficacy, and who transact their 
 business on the deliberative floor, much in the same 
 manner as the United States' congress, and States' 
 legislatures. In the " Independent congregational 
 churches'" all is carried by universal suffrage, in 
 each separate congregation, there being no ecclesi- 
 astical tribunal to which may be referred the graver 
 matters of doctrine and discipline, but all being 
 submitted finally, and without appeal to the votes, 
 male and female, of each single audience. In such 
 a system it is almost impossible to prevent the 
 departure from old, and the introduction of new 
 doctrines; and accordingly many of the Indepen- 
 dent churches have passed gradually from Calvinism 
 through the intermediate stages of Arminianism 
 Arianianism and semi-Arianism, into Socinianism 
 or Unitarianism, or, as Doctor Priestley calls it, 
 Humanitarianism, because it denies the divinity of 
 Jesus Christ, and considers him merely " as a 
 frail, peccable, erring man." 
 
 Old School Presbyterians include, 2,156 
 churches; 1523 ministers; and 166,487 communi- 
 cants.
 
 278 BAPTISTS, ETC. 
 
 New School Presbyterians. Churches, 1494 ; 
 ministers, 1,263 ; communicants, 120,645. 
 
 Cumberland Presbyterians. Churches, 570 ; 
 preachers, 300; and 60,000 communicants. The 
 Presbyterians principally occupy the middle and 
 southern States. 
 
 Baptists. Churches, 8,383; ministers, 5,398; 
 and 611,527 communicants. They abound through- 
 out the western States. 
 
 Six Principle Baptists. Churches, 17 ; elders, 
 22 total numbers, 3>055. These Baptists are 
 chiefly in Rhode Island. 
 
 Seventh-Day Baptists. These differ from the 
 regular Baptists in no material feature, except in 
 the strict observance of the seventh day, as we 
 reckon time, instead of the first, or Lord's day. 
 They are to be found chiefly in Rhode Island, New 
 York, New Jersey, and a few churches in PennsyU 
 vania, Virginia, and Ohio. They include churches, 
 59 ; ministers, 46 ; licentiates, 23 total, 6,077. 
 
 Free-will Baptists. Churches, 1,165; ministers, 
 ,776; licentiates, 150 total, 61,327. 
 
 Church of God. (Baptists) Churches, 125 
 ordained or licensed ministers, 83 total, 10,000 ; 
 chiefly to be found in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and 
 Ohio. 
 
 Reformers. (Campbellite Baptists.) This class 
 are estimated at 2000 congregations ; Bishops, or 
 Elders, and Evangelists, 1500; and communicants, 
 175,000. Their baptisms in one year are supposed 
 to equal 20,000.
 
 METHODISTS, ETC. 279 
 
 Christian Connection. (Unitarian Baptists) Con- 
 ferences, 42; churches, 650 ; preachers, 782 total 
 numbers, 35,000. 
 
 Orthodox Congregationalists. Principally in New 
 England, New York, and north-western States, 
 include, churches, 1,420; ministers, 1,275 ; and 
 communicants, 202,250. 
 
 Associate Reformed. Churches, 530 ; ministers, 
 293 ; communicants, 45,000. 
 
 Dutch Reformed. Churches, 279 ; ministers, 
 271 total numbers, 31,241. 
 
 German Reformed. Churches, 750 ; ministers, 
 191 total numbers, 75,000. 
 
 Evangelical Lutherans. Churches, 1,232; mi- 
 nisters, 501 ; communicants, 146,300. 
 
 Moravians. Churches, 22 ; ministers, 24 ; mem- 
 bers, 6,600. 
 
 Methodist Protestant Church. Includes 22 con- 
 ferences ; 1,300 travelling and local preachers, and 
 60,000 members. 
 
 Reformed Methodist Church. Conferences, 5 ; 
 preachers, 75 total, 3,000. 
 
 Wesley an Methodist Church. Conferences, 6; 
 300 travelling, and 300 local preachers, and 20,000 
 members. 
 
 United Brethren, (German Methodists). Confe- 
 rences, 9; bishops, 3; circuits, 120; churches, 
 1,800; preachers, 500; members, 15,000. The 
 methodists are principally confined to the interior o f 
 the Southern States, though more or less scattered 
 over the Republic.
 
 280 QUAKERS, ETC. 
 
 Evangelical Association. (Germans called All- 
 brights). Preachers, 250; congregations, 600; 
 and 15,000 members. 
 
 Mormonites. Ministers, 250 ; congregations, 
 400 ; and 58,000 members. 
 
 Reformed Mormonites. They have a number of 
 churches in Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio, and 
 Indiana, all of which have pastors and deacons. 
 
 Unitarian Congreqationalists. Churches, 300 ; 
 minister, 250 ; members, 30,000. 
 
 Universalists. One general convention; state 
 conventions, 13 ; district associations, 62 ; societies, 
 918 ; meeting-houses, 576, and about 500 preachers. 
 
 New Jerusalem Church. (Swedenborgians) 
 Churches, 42; ministers, 30; and about 500 members. 
 
 Quakers or Friends. 500 churches, and about 
 100,000 members, mostly in the middle States, 
 where they are as remarkable as in all other parts 
 of the world, for their frugality, and a mild benevo- 
 lent conduct. They have always taken a particular 
 interest in the abolition of negro slavery. 
 
 Shakers. Churches, 15 ; ministers, 45 ; and 
 6000 members. 
 
 Funkers. Churches, 40 ; ministers, 40 ; and 3000 
 members. 
 
 Jews. Are thinly scattered over most parts of 
 the republic, except indeed in the New England 
 States, where the most adroit, persevering and im- 
 perturbable Israelite would find it no easy matter to 
 procure a decent livelihood. 
 
 But a great many of the religious sects and de-
 
 THE SHAKERS. 281 
 
 nominations that we have noticed in the foregoing, 
 are also with many others to be found in England ; 
 where the imaginative, and unrestrained notions of 
 its church going population, have ever and anon, 
 and with the same facility, by some other, or recent 
 divination, discovered some new and less perplexing 
 route to Heaven some other improved and easy 
 mode of working out their spiritual salvation. The 
 sect or society of Shakers may be classed as among 
 the exceptions ; for though of pure English origin, it 
 is at present only known to the world as a religious 
 community in the United States. From the strange 
 peculiarity of their religious tenets their obser- 
 vances and very unusual mode of worship, they 
 perhaps claim on this occasion, more than a mere 
 cursory notice. 
 
 In the lately published statements of the rise and 
 progress of this very singular society their prin- 
 ciples and religious practices, they are represented 
 to explain their origin, of which they say, That 
 after the ministry of Jesus Christ and his apostles, 
 on earth, a delusion from the true spirit of 
 Christianity took place ; the spirit of Antichrist 
 gained the ascendancy, and commenced his dark 
 reign, which continued for the space of 1260 years. 
 The churches became the churches of Antichrist, 
 and assumed the authority of persecuting the true 
 witnesses of God, wherever they could be found ; 
 and thus " the power of the holy people was scat- 
 tered ;" that by what is called the Reformation, 
 his kingdom was divided, and the way opened for
 
 282 SHAKERS' SOCIETY. 
 
 men to enjoy their long lost civil and religious 
 liberty. About this time " a remarkable revival" of 
 religion took place in France, which excited great 
 attention, and the subjects of it were wrought upon 
 hi a very remarkable manner, both in body and 
 mind. Persons of both sexes, and all ages were 
 subjects of this excitement, and they uttered the 
 most solemn warnings against those false systems of 
 religion, and that Antichristian power which has 
 exercised dominion over the minds of men, and pre- 
 dicated their certain downfal and destruction. 
 
 About the year 1706, a few of those persons who 
 were known by the appellation of French Prophets, 
 went over to England, and preached with such zeal 
 and effect, that in a short while they became very 
 numerous. They however founded no regular so- 
 cieties, nor established any churches ; consequently 
 they were not known as a distinct, or visible sect. 
 
 In the year 1747, a number of persons endowed 
 with the same spirit, united themselves into a small 
 society in the neighbourhood of Manchester, in 
 England, under the ministry of James and Jane 
 Wardley. This society practised no form of wor- 
 ship and adopted no creed, or rule of faith, but gave 
 themselves to be guided, as they believed, entirely 
 by the Spirit of God. " Sometimes after sitting 
 awhile in silent meditation, they were seized with 
 a mighty trembling, with violent agitations of the 
 body ; they received the appellation of Shakers, 
 which has been their common name of distinction 
 ever since. Although this name was originally
 
 THEIR ORIGIN. 283 
 
 given by their enemies in derision, yet they consider 
 it as descriptive of their doctrine and practice, and 
 also in conformity with several passages of Scrip- 
 ture which speak of a shaking of the heavens and 
 earth." 
 
 This small society continued to increase in num- 
 bers until about the year 1770, " when by a special 
 manifestation of divine light, the present testimony 
 of salvation, and eternal life was fully revealed to 
 Ann Lee, and by her to the society. As this ex- 
 traordinary woman is more immediately considered 
 the founder of this sect, she is called by way of emi- 
 nence, when speaking of her, Mother Ann. Her 
 biography is carefully preserved, which states her 
 to have been the daughter of John Lee, born in 
 Manchester, England, in the year 1736. Her pa- 
 rents being poor, she had no education, and conse- 
 quently could neither read nor write. In the year 
 1758 she became acquainted with James and Jane 
 Wardley. 
 
 Ann Lee, having, as she believed, " received a 
 spiritual revelation directing her to repair to Ame- 
 rica," communicated it to the Society, and those 
 who were able and willing accompanied her. They 
 embarked at Liverpool 19th May, 1774, and arrived 
 in New York on the sixth of August following. 
 In September 1776, Ann Lee with her few faithful 
 friends, took up her residence in the woods of 
 Watervliet, near Niskeymann, about seven miles 
 north-west from Albany. The place was then a 
 wilderness, but by indefatigable industry they pre- 
 pared an independent and comfortable settlement^
 
 284 SHAKERS' SOCIETY. 
 
 where they could enjoy their faith in peace, amidst 
 the tumult of war in which the country was then 
 involved.* 
 
 It was to this peaceable and secluded spot that 
 our curiosity led us in the summer of 1837. We 
 were also anxious to judge from personal notice, 
 rather than from vague and coloured statements 
 made to us, of a people whose sincerity extended 
 benevolence and charity, all must acknowledge 
 whose unobtrusive and peaceable conduct, all must 
 admire, however wild and repulsive their religious 
 notions, or absurd their form and mode of worship 
 may appear to those, instructed in the observance of 
 another belief. 
 
 Our visit was made on a Sunday, within a few 
 moments of the church hour, and after passing 
 through a street, or way, separating some ten or a 
 dozen detached wooden dwellings, running parallel 
 and facing to each other, that formed the village, 
 reached the church or meeting house, that was easily 
 distinguished from the rest, by its white painted 
 exterior, the others being of a dark sombre brown 
 colour, perhaps, the better in keeping with the grave 
 and moody cast of the quaint and sedate people 
 who inhabited them. There were two portals to 
 the church, one intended for males to enter by, the 
 other, set apart exclusively for females. We passed 
 onward through the former, and were immediately 
 shewn by one of the Brotherhood in attendance, to 
 
 * Peculiarities of the Shakers, New York, 1832 pages 9, 10, 
 11, and 17.
 
 VISIT TO THEIR SETTLEMENT. 
 
 a vacant seat on one of the forms set apart for the 
 accommodation of the " worldly people," many of 
 whom, attracted very possibly by the same curiosity 
 as ourselves, had come from a considerable distance 
 to be present at these ceremonies. 
 
 The church, or meeting house, consisted of one 
 neat oblong room, somewhat about seventy- five or 
 eighty feet long, and perhaps about fifty feet in 
 breadth. Seats were carefully arranged on one 
 side for the visitors, and at each end for the mem- 
 bers of the society, who soon after entered in 
 parties of some three or four at a time, assuming their 
 respective places, each in his turn as he came in ; 
 while the sisterhood, saddened and dejected, glided 
 softly onward to the seats allotted to them at the 
 opposite end of the building. The dress and con- 
 tour of the entire was of the most primitive cast, 
 bearing some resemblance to the more precise of 
 the orthodox quakers of the old country ; especially 
 the females, who wore upon their heads small snow- 
 white muslin caps, made after the same mode, and 
 aprons of a similar texture, that in keeping with an 
 equally unpretending dark coloured stuff dress, 
 made up of the scantiest materials, gave a perfect 
 uniformity of appearance to the entire. At length, 
 the last of the party arrived and took their seats in 
 silent congregation with the others, the men at the 
 one end, the sisters at the other, with demure and 
 downcast eyes their hands piously clasped and 
 resting on their knees, where they had spread a 
 neat white handkerchief, that each had carried with
 
 286 SHAKERS' SOCIETY. 
 
 her to the meeting, folded and crossed over the left 
 arm, as they silently passed along. 
 
 The solemnity of an austere silence was at length 
 broken in upon by a simultaneous move of the 
 entire body, without any apparent notice, though 
 with such sudden and one accord, as must have 
 proceeded from some well understood signal 
 apprehensive to themselves. Each took the place 
 previously assigned to him, forming two compact 
 bodies of different sexes, of about seventy in either, 
 drawn up, with regular military precision in rows 
 of about ten each ; the males facing the others in 
 opposite lines, enlarging the centre or neutral ground 
 between both, in nearing the part of the church, 
 where nearly two hundred strangers were sitting as 
 lookers-on. 
 
 The contrast in the outward appearance of each 
 party was immeasurably great. The men, the very 
 prototype of good health ruddy and well cased, 
 some of them young and even good-looking, and 
 all apparently happy. The females, on the other 
 hand, emaciated, dispirited and melancholy appa- 
 rently struggling with their inclinations in the 
 strange mode of life they had chosen for themselves, 
 They were certainly not handsome ; their general 
 features, with the exception of a few old matrons, 
 in whom the traces of former good looks had not 
 been altogether effaced, of a most repulsive cha- 
 racter, increased in their ugliness by the formal set 
 covering of their heads, enjoined upon each, without 
 reference in its aptitude to their peculiar features,
 
 THEIR RELIGIOUS OBSERVANCES. 287 
 
 The entire had now taken their places, with hands 
 devoutly clasped thumbs crossed, their eyes rest- 
 ing upon the ground the sisters, each with their 
 white handkerchief again folded in oblong form, 
 and crossed upon their left arm as when they had first 
 entered. A profound silence had spread over the 
 entire assembly. Our apprehension became excited, 
 while with a painful, half reluctant curiosity we 
 watched the first series of the proceedings. At 
 length one of the elders stepped forth from the 
 front rank, facing the strangers who were lookers-on, 
 and commenced in a staid puritanical tone, to ad- 
 dress the meeting, " Brethren and sisters, I feel 
 moved to speak to thee a few words. This is the 
 Lord's day a holy and sanctified day, set apart 
 for religious purposes. It becometh us to observe 
 it with due decorum, and use it for that end. We 
 have received blessings from the Lord, and have 
 found favour in his sight, and should therefore 
 praise him with thanksgiving." The last word had 
 scarcely sounded upon the ears of the congregation, 
 when immediately, a loud shout was raised, that 
 almost shook the very ceiling of the building. Each 
 seemed to vie with those around, and to perform his 
 own part to admiration screaming, rather than 
 singing to the fullest amplitude of their voices, that 
 which was probably intended as the first, or intro- 
 ductory hymn of their service. Anon, and all was 
 again silent ; when another of the elders stepped 
 forth from the front rank, and in the fulness of 
 excited zeal began to address the " Brethren and
 
 288 SHAKERS' SOCIETY. 
 
 sisters assembled," and endeavoured to impress upon 
 their minds, the extreme good fortune that had mul- 
 tiplied and showered blessings around them. They 
 had sought the Redeemer in their solitude, and 
 found him. They alone had fulfilled the divine 
 precept of the gospel, in their self-denial and aban- 
 donment of the world the world's lusts its de- 
 pravity and sinfulness, and they were now in a state 
 of grace; and by the renunciation and self-atone- 
 ment they had practised, had attained an holy state 
 of perfection. " It is thus," continued the speaker, 
 " that our salvation is ensured beyond all reason- 
 able doubt, and death despoiled of its many terrors." 
 They cared not when they should be summoned to 
 their last dread account, as they were always ready 
 to meet their GOD, to receive their reward in the 
 happiness that is secured to them in the next life ; 
 for theirs was the religion of Christianity " Aye, 
 the very essence of true Christianity." Thus he 
 went on, in a pharisaical and self-approving strain, 
 the brethren and sisters listening with devout and 
 fervid attention. The assembly was again silent. 
 After a few moments' pause, the entire broke forth 
 in another hymn of loud and boisterous music. 
 At its conclusion, a third speaker came forth from 
 the same rank as the other two, and stepping for- 
 ward a few paces towards that part of the meeting- 
 house occupied by the visitors, who were eagerly 
 watching every strange evolution of these strange 
 proceedings, commenced to address them as follows, 
 " Brethren and sisters, I feel moved to speak to thee
 
 THEIR RELIGIOUS OBSERVANCES. 28Q 
 
 a few words ; but it shall be a few words, as I do 
 not intend to address thee long. There are many 
 amongst you this day, who have come here from 
 various remote districts of the country, excited 
 by curiosity, to see and witness our religious ob- 
 servances. We wish to treat you with courtesy ; 
 but in return we think we are undeserving your 
 scoffs and ridicule. We observe many of you 
 laughing and whispering, and forgetting that de- 
 corum that should be observed in a house of reli- 
 gious worship. Our form of prayer may appear 
 strange to you ; no doubt it does, for it differs 
 materially from that of the worldly people of this 
 life. But we think we are right we conscientiously 
 believe that we are following the strict precept of 
 the gospel, and consider that we are at least en- 
 titled to your forbearance." 
 
 Having administered this gentle reproof, by the 
 bye, somewhat deserved, yet, as we rather thought 
 for the purpose of restraining the risible propensi- 
 ties of the children of Baal, who were about to wit- 
 ness the strange exhibition which so soon after 
 followed, this pious brother resumed, by calling on 
 the fraternity to join him in loud hallelujahs and 
 praises to the Lord, for the manifold blessings, and 
 spiritual advantages they enjoyed. To praise 
 him with music, and in the dance ; for the Scrip- 
 ture saith, " Oh ! clap your hands all ye people ;" 
 " Shout unto God with a voice of triumph ;" " Sing 
 unto the Lord a new song ;" " Sing his praise in the 
 congregation of the saints ;" " Let the children of 
 
 VOL. i. u
 
 290 SHAKERS' SOCIETY. 
 
 Zion be joyful in their King, let them praise his 
 name in the dance" The return of the prodigal 
 son to his Father's house, which was celebrated with 
 music and dancing, was adduced as a proof, that 
 under the gospel dispensation it is to be observed ; 
 all are invited in on equal terms to share the fatted 
 calf and lamb ; " Be stripped of your old garments of 
 sin, and be clad with the robes of righteousness ; 
 come in with your repentant prodigal brother, and 
 worship GOD in the dance." 
 
 After a short pause, the order of their standing 
 was broken up. The men took off their coats, 
 fat, lean, young, and old, which they hung in 
 proper place around the church ; and thus disen- 
 cumbered, in their shirt sleeves, and short jerkin 
 covering, after the fashion of the times of our King 
 Charles of blessed memory, prepared for some 
 mighty effort of the Spirit ; they again resumed 
 their places, and immediately after broke forth in 
 one loud and simultaneous movement in the dance, 
 their backs all turned to the auditory, (the strangers 
 present,) whilst about a dozen of the sisters, who 
 were placed on one side, performed in the most dis- 
 cordant sounds, the duties or purposes of an 
 orchestra, to whose shrill, yet lively music, the 
 entire party danced most merrily ; joining chorus in 
 the song advancing turning and dancing back 
 again ; all with the same step, and witii a remarka- 
 ble precision, so much so, that the right and left 
 feet of the entire were alternately on the ground, 
 and raised in the dance at the same moment ; while
 
 THEIR RELIGIOUS OBSERVANCES. 291 
 
 they beat time to the song, both with their feet in 
 the step, and by loud clapping of their hands. 
 Suddenly, the figure changed into one large ex- 
 tended circle, within which about a dozen of the 
 sisterhood were placed, who led the song, to which 
 all moved round simultaneously in a swinging half 
 dance half march ; their hands and arms raised in 
 horizontal line with their elbows, flapping up and 
 down before them, or beating time, as they became 
 more and more excited to the wild piercing music 
 of the orchestra. 
 
 A loathing and unpleasant feeling seizes upon the 
 mind ; we could have wished the proceedings at an 
 end, or that we had remained away, and gratified our 
 curiosity in some other seeming : but there was no 
 time for serious thought, none that would allow us to 
 reason upon the absurdity or wickedness of the ex- 
 hibition. Round and round they still moved in the 
 same fixed pace, with the same constrained and 
 laborious effort, slapping and beating their hands 
 with violent gesticulations, until the very build- 
 ing shook to its ceiling. At length a pause 
 a calm dead silence ensued ; whilst each, on bended 
 knee, supplicated for the forgiveness of mankind, 
 and the extension of divine mercy to the other chil- 
 dren of this world. But the last act at length drew 
 near ; by a sleek, sober, fat-sided -jolly-looking per- 
 sonage, one of the elders, coming forward a few 
 paces from the ranks, that had been again formed, 
 to address, as he termed them, " some of the worldly 
 children of Adam" who were present, and to whom 
 
 u 2
 
 292 SHAKERS' SOCIETY. 
 
 he felt inwardly moved to speak a few words. 
 Advancing towards the strangers, he continued : 
 " You have witnessed my friends this day, our re- 
 ligious ceremonies you have come from distant 
 parts to see them ; but I dare say, there is not one 
 out of the many who are present, who does not turn 
 them into ridicule in his own mind, and laugh at 
 them in secret. But in this manner has the doc- 
 trine of faith and Christianity, the doctrine of CHRIST 
 been received. When our Redeemer came on earth 
 there were but very few to believe in him, com- 
 pared with those who considered him an impostor. 
 The Jews refused to admit him as the Messiah. 
 When the Apostles preached Christianity, those who 
 believed in the Christian Revelation, were few 
 in comparison to those who discredited the gospel. 
 We are not then surprised you should think so of 
 us; but such are mere words to which you have 
 listened. We tell you, in the assurance and full 
 confidence of truth, that we have found GOD ; we 
 have secured to ourselves the means of grace and 
 eternal salvation ; we are cut off from all sin, and 
 ensured in our redemption. The world gives, I 
 repeat, mere words for your belief ; I give you more 
 I give you myself as evidence of what I say ; 
 we all come forward to attest the truth in our own 
 persons. If you touch the world you are defiled ; 
 and the gospel teaches, if denied, you cannot see 
 God, or enter heaven. We have quit the world, its 
 lusts and temptations, and now enjoy that happy and 
 perfect state of grace that secures us our salvation.
 
 THEIR RELIGIOUS OBSERVANCES. 293 
 
 The Scripture tells us that we should renounce the 
 world, take up our cross, and follow Christ. We 
 have done so, and behold the result ! (and here the 
 speaker wiped away with his shirt sleeve, a sea of 
 perspiration from his fat and ruddy face) ; and 
 though you say that man falls involuntarily into sin 
 seven times a day, we tell you that such is not the 
 case, and that we have shielded and protected our- 
 selves against such a calamity, by the course of life, 
 and the religion we have adopted. If you come, we 
 shall receive you, and admit you to a share of those 
 spiritual blessings which God has preserved to us, 
 his children." The speaker continued for some time 
 longer in this strain of self-gratulation and entreaty ; 
 and after expressing his fears, that all the rhetoric 
 he could make use of, would fall listlessly on his 
 hearers, the strangers to whom they were more im- 
 mediately addressed, concluded in the same solemn 
 tone, by announcing to the congregation, that " the 
 meeting is now dismissed." The brethren and 
 sisters slowly retired. Wearied from all that we 
 had witnessed, we were glad to escape from the 
 scene, to recover our consciousness of a more 
 rational existence, and breathing the pure air of 
 heaven, to find ourselves once more in the world, 
 amidst the forms and associations to which we were 
 accustomed. 
 
 These people are of a peaceable and most indus- 
 trious turn. By patient industry alone, they have 
 succeeded in changing the features of a dark and 
 unproductive wilderness, into a rich pasturage, and
 
 294 OCCUPATION OF THE SHAKERS. 
 
 thriving farms. They live in common, each with 
 his particular duties assigned to him, and without 
 individual property being recognized in the com- 
 munity. The entire labour in some useful calling, 
 and in the pursuit best adapted to the peculiar 
 talent of each, for the general good ; while the profits 
 derivable from their joint exertions, are carried to 
 the credit of their general account. Celibacy is 
 strictly enjoined ; though some digressions in this 
 respect, and to the great scandal of the community, 
 have sometimes occurred within the sanctuary of 
 their simple retreat. The study of medicine, and of 
 the diseases and complaints incidental to the human 
 system, forms a considerable part of their leisure 
 occupation the culture of medicinal herbs and 
 simples of all kinds occupying a large portion of 
 their time. A laboratory is attached to each esta- 
 blishment, while their prescriptions for almost every 
 ailment incidental to our weak mortality, are put up 
 in neatly assorted packages, and sold by agents of 
 " Shaker medicines" in almost every town and city 
 of the republic. They are, to take them " all in 
 all," and apart from their religious observances, as 
 industrious, orderly, and peaceable a body of citi- 
 zens, as are to be found within the limits of the 
 United States. 
 
 There is seldom any very great restraint imposed 
 upon the youth of America, whose precocious intel- 
 lect, brought forth and exercised at an early, and 
 somewhat premature age, and otherwise encouraged 
 under the republican institutions of the country.
 
 IMMORALITY IN AMERICA. 295 
 
 has generally made them impatient of parental 
 authority or control. They launch forth into 
 excesses at an unusually early period in life, and 
 indulging in dissipation to an extent almost un- 
 known in the old country, induce numerous and 
 complicated ailments, that in such a climate as that 
 of America, readily impair and sink the constitution, 
 laying the foundation of premature old age. 
 
 The frequency of consumption in the United 
 States may partly be traced to these causes. The 
 bills of mortality of the City of New York, for the 
 five years, preceding the year 1836, states the en tire 
 number of deaths, within that period, at 36,632 ; of 
 which 6587, something more than one, of every six 
 of the entire, died of consumption ; whilst one half 
 of the gross number of deaths in 1835, over twenty 
 years of age, were of this fatal disease. 
 
 We wish that we could speak of the general con- 
 duct and habits of the other, and certainly the more 
 amiable sex, in the tone, and with that kindly for- 
 bearance that we would most desire, as being alto- 
 gether free from reprehension. The strict, moral, 
 and exemplary deportment of the higher classes of 
 American females, is at all times most commen- 
 dable ; and if without its due and proper influence 
 on the temper, morals, and general conduct of 
 American society, such will probably be attributed 
 to the very restricted social intercourse that usually 
 subsists between the sexes the reserve the 
 stand off* manner, and distaste that characterises 
 the native American, who will seldom spare
 
 296 CONDUCT OF THE FEMALES. 
 
 time to admit of any relaxation from the more 
 serious business reflections with which his mind is 
 always preoccupied, to indulge in the rational, the 
 often instructive, and pleasing remission of female 
 society. 
 
 Incontinence in the marriage state among this 
 class, is of rare occurrence. But married females 
 in the United States, very soon change their out- 
 ward person, and scarcely assume the cares and 
 anxieties of wedded life, than the years of a fre- 
 quently laborious and monotonous existence, mul- 
 tiply with fearful rapidity, leaving their traces to 
 mark with something more than a mere fanciful 
 precision, their severe and rugged footsteps. 
 
 Marriages take place much earlier than in Eng- 
 land, being exempt from all constraint by statute ; the 
 offspring seldom so numerous. Providence, no 
 doubt, has wisely ordained this indulgence, and ex- 
 empted the American female from a consequent, 
 to which her constitution is generally unequal. 
 Female beauty in the United States is short lived ; 
 it blooms at a very early age, pleases for a while, 
 and captivates, but soon becomes evanescent ; leav- 
 ing but a wreck behind, and the mere traditionary 
 tales of its former possession. 
 
 But there is another class entitled to our com- 
 miseration and utmost sympathy ; the young female, 
 the daughter of the shopkeeper and mechanic ; a 
 class that is far beyond the same order of society in 
 England ; who, but partly educated, and reared 
 under the same imperfect limit of restraint as the
 
 THEIR EARLY EDUCATION. 297 
 
 males, are at a tender age exposed to the con- 
 tagion of bad example in their unusually early and 
 constrained intercourse with the world, frequently 
 occasioned by the efforts they are compelled to 
 make for their support and necessary sustenance. 
 The moment they are enabled to work, and can 
 exert their faculties to any useful purpose, they are 
 sent abroad to seek employment, in some one of the 
 numerous trades to which American females are 
 usually accustomed ; and are from thenceforth only 
 entitled to a place within the domestic circle, as 
 they are able to contribute to a proportionate share 
 of its expenses. So perfect an understanding exists 
 on this head, that when the female arrives at an age 
 that enables her to exert herself after this mode, she 
 ceases to be an object of parental anxiety, or con- 
 sideration, is no longer considered entitled as of 
 course to any indulgence, or those other advantages she 
 might reasonably expect to derive from her parents, 
 circumstances, or position in the world. When with 
 this is considered, the difficulty of realizing by 
 female industry and labour, the merest necessaries of 
 life, the thoughtlessness and love of dress, which is 
 almost inherent in every young person, with the 
 infectious and demoralizing influence of bad ex- 
 ample the many temptations to spend money, with 
 the few guards and restraints to which females are 
 subject in the United States, it is scarcely sur- 
 prising that morality should be at a very low ebb, 
 and female impropriety (to speak in milder phra-
 
 298 
 
 MARRIAGE. 
 
 seology) amongst this class, unfortunately of fre- 
 quent and very general occurrence. 
 
 Marriage is regarded throughout the union as a 
 purely civil compact. There is no mystical rite, 
 no set form of words, or staid observance necessary, 
 to constitute its validity ; no particular class of 
 persons appointed to preside at its ordinance ; and 
 requires the assent merely of the contracting parties, 
 who may have the ability to contract, and nothing 
 further ; but when once the obligation is fairly un- 
 dertaken, cannot be dissolved, except by legal inter- 
 vention. 
 
 Though marriages are less frequent, according 
 to the number of the population, than in the 
 old country, divorces on the other hand, are far 
 more numerous ; and from the legal facilities that 
 are every where given to dissolve the marriage tie, 
 even on the merest pretext, are supposed to exceed 
 two thousand annually throughout the republic. 
 The same disabilities that control and make void 
 the marriage obligation in England, are generally 
 recognized, and admitted by the State laws ; such 
 as a prior marriage, want of age, want of reason, 
 and the absence of consent of parents, or guardians. 
 The other usual causes of divorce, are impotency, 
 previous marriage, adultery, wilful and malicious 
 desertion, and absence by one, from the habitation 
 of the other, without any reasonable or justifiable 
 cause for the space of two years ; or, where any 
 husband shall have, by cruel or barbarous treat-
 
 FREQUENCY OF DIVORCE. 299 
 
 ment, endangered his wife's life, or offered such in- 
 dignities to her person as to render her condition 
 intolerable, or life burdensome, and, therefore, to 
 have forced her to withdraw from his house and 
 family. 
 
 Jurisdiction in such cases is always confined to 
 some one or other of the local courts : in New 
 York, to the Court of Chancery ; in Pennsylvania, 
 the Court of Common Pleas in each county ; from 
 which an appeal lies to the Supreme Court of the 
 State, within one year from the date of its final adju- 
 dication ; and according to some such practice in the 
 other States. Upon application by petition of any 
 citizen, setting forth the grounds upon which the 
 interference of the court is prayed for, a libel imme- 
 diately issues. An intimation is given to the oppo- 
 site party by subpoena, if within the legal jurisdic- 
 tion ; or, if not, by notice, published in some of the 
 local papers of the district. An investigation 
 follows, and the parties, should sufficient cause be 
 shewn by the libellant, or in default of appearing 
 by the accused party, judgment is pronounced, re- 
 lieving both from all future matrimonial restraint 
 and obligation. 
 
 But the local laws of many of the states require, 
 that the petitioner, as a preliminary to his, or her 
 application for relief, should be a citizen of the 
 State in which such petition is presented. This 
 provision is however very easily met, by the party 
 assuming some temporary domicile within its local 
 jurisdiction, and peaceably residing therein, for
 
 300 DIVORCE. 
 
 some short while, not exceeding twelve months in 
 any instance ; and which will secure to him the 
 immunities and local rights of citizenship. In some 
 few of the States, particularly in those of the south- 
 western, lately added to the confederacy, a some- 
 what different course is pointed out to the party 
 seeking a divorce by petition to the local legis- 
 lative body, which will thereupon scarcely fail 
 to pass an act declaring the petitioner divorced, a 
 vinculo matrimonii, in case the wife should not 
 appear within three months to put in a caveat, or on 
 her appearing, does not shew sufficient cause 
 against the order. And as the unconscious wife 
 may possibly be some thousand miles off at the 
 time, perhaps anxiously waiting the return of her 
 truant husband, he is compelled, as one of the 
 necessary formulae to be gone through, deemed a 
 sufficient restriction in all such cases, to publish a 
 notice of this his application in some local print for 
 three months, which paper, it is very possible, 
 never passes the boundary of the State, or if it does, 
 never at least passes within the most distant pro- 
 bability of her ever seeing it. At the expiration 
 of this dread and anxious period of suspense, of 
 hopes and distant fears, the former married, but 
 now freed man, may come forth like a bridegroom 
 from his chamber, in that delight, and sweet ecstacy 
 of joy, that occurrences of this kind are too often 
 wont to impart, to improve upon the experience he 
 has acquired, and where we must be permitted to 
 leave him, until, by some better instruction, he may
 
 DIVORCE. 301 
 
 arrive at a somewhat nearer, and more intimate 
 understanding with the world, and with himself. 
 
 This ready mode of legislating in such matters, 
 is not altogether confined to the south, and western 
 states, but is also the practice in some of the oldest 
 settled portions of the Republic, increasing the num- 
 ber of similar examples in every succeeding year ; 
 and by this means creating incentives to matrimonial 
 infidelity from the ease the exceeding facility with 
 which the onerous and serious obligations of 
 married life, are thrown aside, and got rid of. Even 
 in the Catholic State of Maryland, these excesses 
 have doubled in their number within the last few 
 years. In the year 1836, every petition to the 
 legislature of that commonwealth is reported to have 
 been complied with, until the Senate, with the hope 
 of checking these examples, and to relieve the State 
 from the grievous scandal of this demoralizing 
 system, proposed a law, making it compulsory, in 
 the future passing of any Bill of divorce, that two- 
 thirds, at least, of each branch of the legislature, 
 should concur in the prayer of the petition : but the 
 House of Delegates, refusing their assent to these re- 
 strictions, the former mode of disposal is still persisted 
 in. This includes cases, where no real, or proper 
 cause for divorce in fact exists where advantage is 
 taken of a lax and imperfect mode of legislation, to 
 sever by a revulsion of this kind, the most sacred obli- 
 gation to which we can be bound in this life, regard- 
 less of the difficulties, the misfortune entailed upon 
 the numberless innocent parties who are constrained
 
 302 DIVORCE. 
 
 to abide the merciless decree, that deprives them, in 
 some sudden fit of petulant and angry quarrel, 
 otherwise of immaterial consequence, of perhaps a 
 parent, or a protector, and sends them forth house- 
 less and destitute upon the world ; a state of mere 
 temporary disagreement, that without this addi- 
 tional incentive this new encouragement thrown in 
 upon the frequently excited passions of domestic 
 strife, would very possibly in many cases subside 
 into a happy and peaceful reconciliation, of 
 patient sufferance, if not of quiet and reasonable 
 contentment. 
 
 Neither are we such determined advocates for 
 this fixed organization, that immutable and de- 
 cided state of domestic and social arrangement, 
 that would debar the many who are aggrieved 
 in the marriage state, from some just legal protec- 
 tion, or redress. Where the temper, habits, and 
 disposition, are so entirely dissonant, so determi- 
 nately opposed to every hope of any permanent 
 reconciliation, or mutual endurance, we can see but 
 little reason to expect any ultimate peace or hap- 
 piness ; indeed it is far safer, as to consequence, to 
 sever the tie in the very outset, by some decided 
 measure of this kind (taking care to preserve the 
 interests of any children there may be), than to drag- 
 through an existence, witli not only the wearisome 
 and concomitant evils this state usually produces, 
 and with those strong and irreclaimable feelings of 
 personal dislike, altogether irreconcileable, and 
 equally destructive to our future individual peace
 
 DIVORCE. 303 
 
 and welfare. We would neither make a jest of the 
 marriage vow the very many obligations it im- 
 poses, by adopting the American code of divorce 
 on the one hand, or having ventured in the leap, 
 be constrained to live in the consciousness of an 
 undeserved, an unredeemed and misplaced con- 
 fidence, with a nature, temper, and disposition, so 
 totally irreconcileable with our own, as to preclude 
 every, the most distant hope of peace, or future 
 happiness on the other. There are bounds to hu- 
 man endurance, while the end and aim of married 
 life is for ever lost sight of, and the objects that it 
 contemplates, rendered no longer attainable by such 
 means. 
 
 The British Parliament has perhaps acted wisely 
 in restricting its legislation in such matters ; as it 
 generally requires the verdict of a jury establishing 
 the guilt of the party against whom a divorce is 
 prayed, as some warranty for their interposition. 
 The States legislatures, or other local tribunals in 
 America, are not quite so fastidious in this respect, 
 though they generally expect that some grounds 
 will be shewn, at least some prima facie evidence of 
 criminality advanced, as a pretext for their inter- 
 ference. When a divorce is sought for, and desired 
 by both parties, excuses of this kind are easily 
 attainable. If no real cause exists, the parties are 
 not always over nice or fastidious in the means they 
 may resort to for this purpose. We state the fol- 
 lowing as an instance, recorded to us by an especial
 
 304 DIVORCE. 
 
 friend, whose strict veracity we have never had 
 occasion to doubt under any circumstances. 
 
 Calling in one day, in the summer of 1837, 
 
 on this gentleman, a Mr. D , we found him 
 
 pacing up and down in the inner office of a whole- 
 sale establishment, in Pearl Street, New York, 
 venting his displeasure in strange incoherent mut- 
 terings, at what he termed, the effrontery and un- 
 pardonable insolence of a well dressed, and tolerably 
 fashionable looking American, of about five and 
 thirty years of age, whom we met leaving the store 
 as we were about to enter. We felt some concern 
 for our friend ; but perceiving his anger to subside, 
 and eventually to give way in an immoderate fit of 
 loud laughter, we ventured our inquiry as to the 
 cause of these strangely opposite feelings that 
 appeared to have so unusually excited him. Our 
 friend assented to our entreaty, and recalling our 
 attention to the individual we had met quitting the 
 establishment as we entered, went on to state, that 
 this person had called upon him, as he said, " in a 
 matter of pressing and grave importance." Mr. 
 
 D conducted him into his private office, where 
 
 the following rather odd scene took place; the 
 stranger assuring our friend, that he was exceed- 
 ingly happy to have this opportunity of speaking 
 with him in private to ask his kind and friendly 
 aid in an affair of some delicacy and moment to 
 him. Mr. D , who was all suavity and polite- 
 ness, begged to know in what particular way he
 
 DIVORCE. 305 
 
 could be of the least service. The stranger, who 
 had assumed a confidence in his mission, assured 
 him with much of seriousness, that of all men, he 
 (Mr. D ) had the most in his power his future 
 happiness his life his all was in his hands ; at 
 the same time taking a tolerably accurate survey of 
 our friend's dimensions, who was a tall man, some- 
 what near six feet of good proportions, and reason- 
 ably handsome in his person; his healthy florid 
 look bespeaking him a native of the old country ; 
 and proceeded to say in something louder than a 
 half whisper-tone, whilst ever and anon he looked 
 around to assure himself that no other party were 
 likely to disturb their privacy, that he had called 
 and here he paused for a moment, until the atten- 
 tive ear, and manner of Mr. D again encouraged 
 him to proceed ; that in short he had called at the 
 desire and particular request of his wife, who was 
 young, and as the world would probably admit 
 well looking, if not handsome. He again paused, 
 while Mr. D again assured him, in his usual kind 
 and bland manner, that he would indeed be ex- 
 ceedingly happy to do ought that might lay within 
 his power that could either serve him, or his wife. 
 Just so just so, responded his friendly visitant ; so 
 indeed Mrs. (mentioning his wife's name) assured 
 me, and that she was very certain you would be 
 most happy to assist us in our present difficulty : 
 for I will tell you, added he in an under, or more 
 subdued tone, she has often seen you, Mr. D , 
 particularly on Sundays, when passing our house on 
 VOL. i. x
 
 306 DIVORCE. 
 
 going to church ; and as I have allowed her to 
 make her own choice to consult her own taste and 
 fancies altogether in the matter, she has requested 
 I would arrange the affair with you with as little 
 delay as possible. 
 
 Our friend, who was rather uninstructed in the 
 ways and mysteries of fashionable life, or the incidents 
 or secrets of American society, was rather dull to 
 comprehend, and who, good easy man, never for a 
 moment contemplated, that immorality, or impro- 
 prieties of any kind, were intended to grow out of 
 this arrangement, betrayed some anxiety that his 
 American visitant, should come more immediately 
 to the point, by a full disclosure of his object ; and 
 who encouraged by the earnestness with which the 
 request was made, at once explained that unfor- 
 tunately, Mrs. (his wife) and he, did not live 
 
 quite as harmoniously or contented in their situa- 
 tion, as married folks were generally wont to do ; 
 their intimacy was irksome their temper and tastes 
 dissimilar their society disagreeable to each other, 
 and in short, that they had both determined upon 
 an immediate and final separation. A divorce, Sir 
 a divorce, (raising his voice to a higher pitch), 
 nothing else, Mr. D , can ever satisfy us. 
 
 Mr. D looked, as he felt, unusually serious : 
 his general good sense the portion of worldly 
 prudence for which he was remarkable, at once 
 pointed out the impropriety of an interference in 
 the most thorny and intricate of all questions 
 the quarrels of married life : yet, he thought as he
 
 DIVORCE. 307 
 
 was thus appealed to, he might venture a few words 
 of friendly admonition ; and pointing out the evil 
 consequences of disunion, urged his friend to return 
 immediately to his wife ; to endeavour by a kind 
 and generous forgiveness, and the practice of a 
 mutual forbearance for the future, to end, or at 
 least to mitigate the evils of which he complained, 
 and thereby supersede the necessity of any legal 
 interposition in the settlement of their disputes. 
 His visitor, however, was not quite so easily put 
 aside. It required something more of philosophy, 
 and a more convincing argument than our friend 
 could call to his assistance, to dissuade him from a 
 purpose so near to his heart. His mind, he said, as 
 also his wife's, were fully made up upon the subject 
 their entire future course already marked out, 
 and nothing nothing short of a divorce an ab- 
 solute separation would ever satisfy either. Mr. 
 D had nothing further to add, beyond his 
 extreme regret, that there had been any cause he 
 had conceived, sufficient to justify any such pro- 
 ceeding as he now contemplated. Cause any 
 cause to justify ! rejoined the American. No, no ; 
 there's the difficulty the perplexing position in 
 which we are both placed. There is as yet no 
 cause at least, no legal cause, to warrant an appli- 
 cation of the kind. I saw the difficulty my wife 
 saw the vexatious and perplexing dilemma in which 
 we were both placed, and for that reason am I 
 now here on a special mission to you, Mr. D , 
 hoping you may obviate it. It is now in your 
 
 x 2
 
 308 DIVORCE. 
 
 power to make us both supremely happy ; and con- 
 cluded this strange recital of his woes and suffering, 
 by a pressing invitation to Mr. D , to pay both 
 him and his wife an early visit. 
 
 The mist that at the outset had clouded our 
 friend's perception, gave way to a more intelligible 
 solution of his very unexpected position, and who 
 having at length suspected the project, in which it 
 was intended he should assume a principal part, 
 rose from his seat, indignant at the insult offered to 
 his character and virtue ; and inquired from this 
 consistent and considerate husband, if it were really 
 possible he could be aware of the nature of the 
 proposition he had thus addressed to him or of 
 the fact, that should have exempted him from 
 insult that he was himself a married man, with a 
 wife and several children. Certainly most cer- 
 tainly, explained his new acquaintance. I am 
 aware of all this so is my wife. Nay ! it was 
 on this very account, above all others, that she first 
 mentioned you to me, being sure of your discretion, 
 in not taking any advantage of this proposition, 
 beyond what is now offered to you. Our friend 
 could restrain himself no longer, but advancing a 
 few paces, beckoned his visitant to the door, through 
 where he was making his exit, muttering to himself 
 and complaining of the unreasonable and unneigh- 
 bourly conduct of Mr. D ,as we were about to enter. 
 It is needless to say that our friend's vanity was 
 neither flattered, nor his self-respect in any manner 
 increased by this very extraordinary interview.
 
 DRUNKENNESS. 309 
 
 Marriages, contracted in England by parties who 
 afterwards emigrate to the United States, are some- 
 times made subject to inconvenience, if disavowed 
 by either on their landing ; the laws generally in 
 force throughout the Republic, requiring under such 
 circumstances a legal attestation of such marriage, 
 under the seal of the Archdiocese of Canterbury, 
 before that they will enforce its obligations. Of this, 
 many heartless and unprincipled individuals take 
 advantage, and who cannot, without such evidence, 
 be charged with the crime of bigamy, in the event 
 of fraudulently contracting any other, or second 
 marriage 
 
 Drunkenness is a vice with which the American 
 can scarcely be charged, though generally speaking, 
 a much larger quantity of spirits of all kinds, in 
 proportion to the population, is used, than in the 
 United Kingdom, or perhaps by any other people 
 in the world. The child scarcely quits his mother's 
 breast in the United States, than he finds a congenial 
 substitute, either in the raw material, or in some of 
 the nauseating compounds of " mint julaps"- 
 " brandy, or gin sling" ' eggnog," and the 
 variety of " cocktails," of which ardent spirits 
 form the principal ingredient. The great variation 
 in the climate the excessive and debilitating heat 
 of summer, with the extreme severity of the winter 
 months, in the middle and northern States, no 
 doubt encourages this general inclination of the 
 American to continue tippling, which he usually 
 commences at his first rising, and to which he recurs
 
 310 
 
 DRUNKENNESS. 
 
 at frequent intervals of the day, until the hour of 
 his retiring to rest. Every inn every hotel, or 
 public house every grocer's store, which are 
 generally located at the corner of every street 
 every place of public resort, whether for business, 
 or amusement, has a bar-room in some way at- 
 tached, and well supplied with foreign and domestic 
 spirits of every description, wines, &c., for which 
 there is at all times, and at all hours of the day, 
 a demand. Notwithstanding, but few drunken men 
 are ever met with in the streets, or public ways, 
 while seldom any irregularity or breach of the 
 public peace owes its origin to this abasing and 
 demoralising indulgence. The fact is, that the 
 American is of all others the most selfish in his 
 potations, and has not even the pretext, or apology 
 of a social tendency or nature, to palliate or excuse 
 him. His vice in this respect, is a lonely a 
 solitary and debasing one, indulged in secret, and 
 very often by stealth. 
 
 Wines are not in such general request as the 
 nature of the climate, and the necessity of a 
 generous mode of living would possibly imply. 
 There are comparatively but few convivial parties 
 to incite or encourage its use, except perhaps 
 amongst foreigners, who may be unwilling to aban- 
 don or throw aside all former habits in this respect. 
 
 The estimated value of foreign spirits, which is 
 usually of a very low priced kind, imported into 
 the United States, averaged for each of the three 
 years ending 1840, 1,769,968 dollars. But besides
 
 FORGERY GAMBLING. 311 
 
 this supply, there are also large quantities of rum, 
 principally distilled from molasses and also whiskey 
 distilled from rye, manufactured in the country, 
 and in general consumption ; in which capital to 
 the amount of 9,147,000 dollars is invested, giving 
 employment to 12,233 of the population. The 
 best whiskey is made in the State of Pennsylvania, 
 in the district watered by the Monongehela, from 
 which it takes its name, and is in general consump- 
 tion throughout all parts of the Union. The better 
 description is sold wholesale, at from 37 to 40 
 cents, or from Is. 6d. to Is. Sd. per gallon. 
 
 Forgery is also of very frequent occurrence in 
 every part of the United States ; contrived with 
 that sagacity and shrewdness so characteristic of 
 the people and with an ingenuity and daring in 
 which they surpass in crimes of this character, all 
 other nations of the world. 
 
 Gaming, especially in the south, is also a habit 
 very general amongst the population is frequently 
 carried to an extreme and adopted by many, espe- 
 cially in the southern States, as an acknowledged 
 means of support. Several there are, now consi- 
 dered respectable in American society, who have 
 acquired their wealth by this means, that for years 
 past has been a fruitful source of crime among the 
 population.
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Education in the United States Its universal encouragement 
 Elementary knowledge secured at the public expense Remark- 
 able deficiency in the higher branches of Education Number 
 of incorporated Colleges and Academies in the United States 
 No distinction made as to Religion Want in the American 
 system of Education Literature of the United States 
 American Copyright Law Present state of the Fine Arts 
 Periodical and Daily Press Its recklessness and extreme 
 debasement Aggregate number of Newspapers published 
 from the year 1775 to the present date. 
 
 NOTWITHSTANDING the present debased state of 
 morality and religion in the United States, of which 
 we have endeavoured to present a somewhat faithful 
 portraiture in the preceding chapter, there is still, 
 perhaps, no other part of the civilized world, if that 
 we except the Prussian and German States of the 
 European continent, where universal education is 
 more encouraged, or has made more rapid advances 
 amidst the bulk of the population disseminating 
 its influence throughout every, even the remotest 
 part of the Republic. Elementary schools are 
 everywhere established, supported at the expense, 
 and under the careful supervision of each State, 
 where gratuitous instruction in all the useful 
 branches of education is separately afforded to the 
 youth of both sexes, and which is sought after with 
 a strong and increasing avidity by every descrip- 
 tion and class of persons. That " knowledge is
 
 EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES. 313 
 
 power," is an axiom that seems to be well under- 
 stood by every American, as necessary to fit him 
 for the enjoyment of whatever of rational liberty he 
 may possess, and in securing to him the other tem- 
 poral advantages he may hope to derive, from his 
 assiduity and exertions in the world. 
 
 It is unusual to find any native-born, however 
 humble and unpretending in his sphere of life, who 
 cannot both read and write. To these advantages, 
 are we to in part attribute their extraordinary 
 intelligence in all business affairs their aptitude in 
 accommodating themselves to every change of cir- 
 cumstances to every unexpected or new position in 
 which they may be placed, that distinguishes the 
 American people above every other nation in the 
 world ; with that remarkable perception that saga- 
 city arid quickness, with which they adapt them- 
 selves in acquiring an intimate acquaintance, or 
 knowledge of any business, to which they may 
 apply their energies : their inventive and extraor- 
 dinary mechanical turn, unsurpassed by any other 
 people, and that promoted by this auxiliary, is 
 called into hourly requisition by the restricted 
 means of supplying the wants, created by the in- 
 adequacy of manual labour in every part of the 
 Republic. 
 
 While elementary instruction is so generally and 
 liberally diffused among the humbler classes, there 
 is still a lamentable deficiency in all the higher 
 branches of polite literature of sciential and sound 
 classical information, remarkable even in the more
 
 314 EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 respectable of American citizens, apart from those 
 intended for the professions; and which divests 
 American social intercourse of that high intellectual 
 character that ease and refined polish, for which 
 the higher grades of European society are so 
 remarkable. The time appropriated to study in 
 England the years of boyhood, almost of early 
 manhood, set apart for the progress and completion 
 of a course of collegiate studies, are generally 
 estimated as otherwise of too much value to the 
 American, who, by the time that he might expect to 
 pass through this ordeal, has possibly arrived at the 
 meridian of his experience with the world, and 
 tasted of the ills and difficulties with which his 
 progress is oftentimes beset. He seldom finds leisure 
 from the same unremitting and ceaseless effort that 
 distinguishes his whole life, in adding to his worldly 
 store by the acquisition of new wealth, to devote 
 either to study, or the encouragement of any mere 
 literary pursuit ; and rather considers the season set 
 apart for the acquirement of a classical and en- 
 lightened education, beyond the purposes to which 
 it may be made anciliary in promoting his onward 
 progress in the world, as taken from his resources, 
 and the time that he considers, might be by far more 
 profitably spent in other occupations. On this 
 account, we seldom find the American spending much 
 of his youth in literary cultivation, or his mind 
 improved by instruction, beyond whatever he may 
 possibly derive from that which is generally termed 
 in this country, a good commercial education, and
 
 ITS UNIVERSAL ENCOURAGEMENT. 315 
 
 that after all, perhaps, better accords with the nature 
 and general character of his intended pursuits, and 
 the position, in which he very probably may after- 
 wards find himself placed in the world. Females 
 in the main are better instructed, and frequently 
 make Greek and Latin a part of their studies ; while 
 they generally have more time at their disposal to 
 appropriate for this purpose. 
 
 The Eastern, or New England States, are remark- 
 able for the encouragement they afford to literature, 
 and the comparative number of well-educated men 
 they produce beyond all other parts of the Republic. 
 They still preserve the tone and literary taste of the 
 original colonists, who were men of intelligence and 
 information, and who acted on the just and compre- 
 hensive principle, that has been adopted in those 
 States where they had first settled, as also in the 
 States successively planted by them, and since added 
 to the Union, that the education of the community 
 should be carried on at the public expense, and 
 under its direct supervision. 
 
 The University of Harvard, in Massachusetts, 
 stands preeminent, and at the head of every collegiate 
 institution in the United States was founded so far 
 back as the year 1638, and with Yale College in 
 Connecticut, founded in 1700, sustains the highest 
 literary reputation of any of the Universities. 
 
 There are ninety-two incorporated colleges in 
 America, including seventeen universities ; twenty- 
 eight medical schools ; thirty-seven theological 
 schools, 'and eight law schools. These latter are
 
 316 EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 much less frequented than schools for the study 
 of the professions. The earliest institution of this 
 kind of any note in the United States, was Lichfield 
 in Connecticut, which had in the period from 1798 
 to 1837, 730 students. It is now discontinued. 
 
 Of colleges in the United States there are seven 
 under the immediate direction of the Baptists ; five 
 under the Episcopalians ; eight under the Metho- 
 dists ; and eight under the Catholics ; while the 
 prevailing religious influences of the remainder are 
 said to be, of those that are in the New England 
 States, Congregationalists ; of most of the others, 
 Presbyterians. Norwich University, Vermont, is an 
 institution recently established by the Universalists, 
 
 There is no distinction on account of religion 
 recognised in any of these colleges or universities 
 no proscription on account of faith ; every citizen 
 is admitted to an equal participation in their advan- 
 tages, no matter his belief. The toleration that is 
 uniformly extended to all, has made them very 
 unwilling to quarrel among themselves as to any 
 particular creed; and we consequently find the 
 Baptist and Presbyterian the Catholic and Univer- 
 salist the Protestant and Socinian, each seeking 
 literary information at the same fount, and for the 
 while forgetting the religious distinctions that subsist 
 between them ; uniting in one kindly interchange of 
 feeling, and striving with each other in the cultiva- 
 tion of their minds and improvement of their edu- 
 cation. 
 
 Theorists may perhaps complain of this mode
 
 NO DISTINCTION AS TO RELIGION. 317 
 
 of imparting instruction to youth, and exclaim 
 against the principle as of dangerous consequence- 
 calculated to engender a very culpable remissness in 
 all religious observances, and to interfere with that 
 fixedness of belief, regulating those essentially Chris- 
 tian principles, that should form the ground work 
 on which, hereafter, all our actions with mankind 
 should be based : for it is often the case, that the 
 indifference to which this liberalism has given rise> 
 has followed the student into the world, and made 
 it from thenceforth a mere matter of convenience of 
 secondary consideration to him, as to what creed he 
 should pin his faith, or in what church or conven- 
 ticle, on any, or each alternate occasion he should 
 select, in which to offer up his prayer and thanks- 
 giving to the Most High. 
 
 We do not profess ourselves a sufficient casuist to 
 determine the advantages, or on the other hand, 
 the disadvantages, that may be said to result from 
 this mode of intermixed education ; though strongly 
 impressed with the opinion, that in whatever form 
 literary instruction may extend its influence upon 
 society, it ceases to impart the benefits the good 
 we hope to derive from it in our improved social 
 condition, or more intimate relation with the world, 
 when not based upon a sufficient moral and religious 
 foundation. In no other country under heaven do 
 we hear of the same extent of crime of a character 
 such as forgery, and the aggravated cases of fraud 
 and over-reaching, that depend at least upon a 
 partial and otherwise imperfect education for this
 
 318 EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 successful accomplishment, as in the United States ; 
 assuming a degree of boldness an excess of daring 
 to which education, unapproved by religious instruc- 
 tion, lends its powerful and most essential aid. Nay, 
 we need scarcely travel beyond the limit of our 
 own country, to procure evidence of this influence 
 upon the actions of mankind, and the insecurity 
 which it presents, in our varied and daily inter- 
 course with the world. An analysis of the descrip- 
 tion or class of crime, and character of the arraigned 
 parties at any of our assizes, or gaol deliveries, will 
 readily satisfy the correctness of this position, and 
 point out the necessity of extreme caution, in what- 
 ever instruction is proposed for the guidance and 
 improvement of our own population. 
 
 How often may we find nearer home a result we 
 have always considered most deplorable, originating 
 in what we believe to have been an ill regulated 
 system of education amongst the lower classes of the 
 people, unassisted by any good or sufficient moral 
 instruction, which has neither made the recipients 
 the more happy or contented in their station, urged 
 them to increased energy in the improvement of their 
 condition, or in anywise constituted them more 
 useful members of society. On the contrary, whilst 
 it has generated a deep seated and lasting discontent, 
 it has inspired an entire distaste for all exertion in 
 many of the subordinate situations of life in which a 
 wise and all-seeing Providence has placed so many 
 of his creatures, without in the least inspiring their 
 emulation, or exciting any increased effort in im-
 
 DEFECT IN THE AMERICAN SYSTEM. 319 
 
 proving their means or position in the world : and 
 it is too often the case, that, taken from a sphere in 
 which they might otherwise become eminently useful 
 to themselves and to society, they are reduced to a 
 more circumscribed and abject state, and in the end 
 let loose upon the community to practise every species 
 of fraud, every variety of crime, within the range 
 of their improved capabilities, or to depend upon 
 the charity of friends, or any other chance means 
 for an uncertain and precarious subsistence. 
 
 The defect that appears in the American system 
 is this want, this neglect, to combine with a sound 
 and useful scholastic education, such proper religious 
 instruction as would constitute it of real advantage 
 to the possessor, improve his capacity and means of 
 rational enjoyment, his capabilities of availing him- 
 self of its aid in promoting his fortunes and advance- 
 ment in the world, besides otherwise amending his 
 condition as an useful member of the great family to 
 which he in common belongs. The late Lord Chief 
 Baron, (Lord Abinger,) in his charge to the Leicester 
 Grand Jury in the spring assizes, 1838, complain- 
 ing that education, as at present conducted in Eng- 
 land, had increased instead of diminished crime, 
 made the following pertinent remarks, to which every 
 reasonable and thinking man must assent. His 
 Lordship observed, " That in looking over the 
 calendar he perceived the proper description of edu- 
 cation of the prisoners, those who could read and 
 write well, those who could read and write imper-
 
 320 EDUCATION IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 fectly, and those who could not write at all. In the 
 list there were only three persons who could not read 
 and write out of a calendar of twenty persons ; and 
 the doctrine which was lately promulgated was, 
 give the poor education and you destroy crime. 
 This had not turned out to be the case with the 
 calendar before the court, for we had found that 
 most of the desperate robberies and burglaries were 
 committed by persons who could read and write 
 well. Now, though he could never discourage edu- 
 cating the lower classes of society, he would still 
 boldly affirm, that education, if not founded on 
 religious and moral principle, instead of becoming 
 a blessing to the poor would in the end turn out a 
 curse. To give a sound education to the poor, 
 moral and religious instruction must accompany it. 
 The receiver must be well made to know, not only 
 the moral duties he has to perform, but the religious 
 ones. Education without religious instruction, would 
 not control the strong passions of the human race, 
 and he had only again to repeat, that the various 
 calendars throughout the circuit, had plainly con- 
 vinced him that it would be far better to leave the 
 poorer classes of the community in ignorance, than 
 to give them an education, which had not for its 
 ground- work our revealed and blessed religion." 
 
 The following table of the present state of educa- 
 tion in the United States, is taken from the census 
 recently completed by the general government, and 
 exhibits a comparative view of the number of white
 
 ITS PRESENT STATE. 
 
 321 
 
 persons over twenty years of age in the different 
 States who cannot read and write. 
 
 State of Connecticut 
 Vermont 
 
 one to every five hundred & sixty-eight; 
 one to four hundred & seventy-three ; 
 
 New Hampshire one to 
 
 Massachusetts one to 
 
 Maine 
 
 Michigan 
 
 Rhode Island 
 
 New Jersey 
 
 New York 
 
 Pennsylvania 
 
 Ohio 
 
 Louisiana 
 
 Maryland 
 
 Mississippi 
 
 Delaware 
 
 Indiana 
 
 South Carolina 
 
 Illinois 
 
 Missouri 
 
 Alabama 
 
 Kentucky 
 
 Georgia 
 
 Virginia 
 
 Arkansas 
 
 Tennes see 
 North Carolina 
 
 one to 
 one to 
 one to 
 one to 
 one to 
 one to 
 one to 
 one to 
 one to 
 one to 
 one to 
 one to 
 one to 
 one to 
 one to 
 one to 
 one to 
 one to 
 one to 
 one to 
 one to 
 one to 
 
 three hundred and ten; 
 
 one hundred and sixty-six; 
 
 one hundred and eight ; 
 
 ninety seven; 
 
 sixty-seven; 
 
 fifty-eight; 
 
 fifty-six ; 
 
 fifty; 
 
 forty-three; 
 
 thirty-eight and a-half ; 
 
 twenty-seven ; 
 
 twenty ; 
 
 eighteen ; 
 
 eighteen ; 
 
 seventeen ; 
 
 seventeen ; 
 
 sixteen ; 
 
 fifteen ; 
 
 thirty-three and a-half ; 
 
 thirteen ; 
 
 twelve and a-half; 
 
 eleven and a-half ; 
 
 eleven ; 
 
 seven. 
 
 We believe we are quite justified in stating, 
 that the literature of the United States that which 
 may be considered purely American is, with some 
 few exceptions, of rather a mediocre, or second- 
 rate character, and by no means in keeping with the 
 general intelligence and talent of the population. 
 It has considerably improved within late years, in 
 
 VOL. I. Y
 
 322 LITERATURE OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 the number of new books published in the country, 
 though still indebted to the reprint of many English 
 standard publications, to supply the deficiency in 
 the home production. 
 
 The aggregate number of published works, is 
 very considerable, amounting to about twelve hun- 
 dred -annually ; comprising about sixteen hundred 
 volumes, the cost of which may be estimated at near 
 one million seven hundred thousand dollars. Bos- 
 ton, New York, Philadelphia, and Harford, furnishes 
 nineteen-twentieths of the total number. 
 
 In most cases, the edition of one, and the same 
 work, is larger and more frequent in the United 
 States, than in any other country. Many reprinted 
 English publications have passed through three or 
 four editions, while the publishers of the original in 
 England, have but one. In one instance, the sale 
 of a book in America amounted to 100,000 copies, 
 whereas in England, only four editions of 1,000 
 copies each, were disposed of. 
 
 It appears from recent calculation, that in the 
 relative proportion of native and imported literary 
 productions published in the United States, that in 
 American literature, the scientific and practically 
 useful predominate, and that works of imagination 
 are chiefly derived from foreign sources. The school 
 books are most all written or composed in the United 
 States ; and some idea of the extensive business 
 done in them may be formed from the circumstance, 
 that of some of the most popular compilations in 
 geography, from 100,000 to 300,000 copies have
 
 AMERICAN COPYRIGHT LAW. 323 
 
 been sold in ten years ; so that in many instances, 
 works of this kind produce a permanent income, as 
 well to the author as the publisher. During the 
 last five years, the number of American original 
 works in proportion to reprints, has more than 
 doubled. 
 
 A copyright given to authors of any map, chart, 
 book or books, he or they being a citizen or citizens 
 of the United States, or residing within the same, 
 secures to such author, the sale, or exclusive right 
 and liberty of printing, reprinting, publishing and 
 vending such map, chart, book or books, for the 
 term of fourteen years, from the recording the title 
 thereof, under the Act of Congress, May 31, 1790. 
 But this privilege does not extend to foreigners 
 being residents, or living beyond the legal jurisdic- 
 tion of the United States at the time of publishing- 
 such map or work. The right conceded by this Act, 
 may be renewed for fourteen years longer. 
 
 The third section of the same Act, precludes the 
 introduction of the same work, &c. or any part or 
 copies thereof into the United States, if printed or 
 published beyond the limits thereof, and declares 
 such work, &c., if imported, forfeited to the author ; 
 and further imposes a penalty of fifty cents, or two 
 shillings and one penny sterling, for every sheet or 
 copy so imported, one moiety thereof to go to the 
 author, the other moiety to the United States, pro- 
 vided that the action to recover same is commenced 
 within one year from the time of committal of the 
 
 offence. 
 
 Y 2
 
 324 AMERICAN COPYRIGHT LAW. 
 
 And a supplementary Act of 1802, April 29th, 
 entitled, an Act for the Encouragement of Learning, 
 extends the same advantages that are given to 
 authors, to those who " shall invent, and design, 
 engrave, etch, or work, or from his own work and 
 inventions, shall cause to be designed, engraved, 
 etched, or worked, any historical, or other print or 
 prints ;" and who " shall have the sole right and 
 liberty of printing, reprinting, publishing and vend- 
 ing such print or prints, for the term of fourteen 
 years, from the recording the title thereof in the 
 clerk's office, as prescribed by law, for maps, charts, 
 book, or books, &c. And on performing all the 
 requisites in relation to such print or prints, as are 
 directed in relation to map, chart, book, or books, in 
 the 3rd and 4th section of the Act to which this is a 
 supplement, and shall moreover cause the same 
 entry to be truly engraved on such plate with the 
 name of the proprietor and printer, on every such 
 print or prints as is hereinbefore required to be made 
 on maps or charts." 
 
 This law has been most oppressive in its conse- 
 quences to foreign, particularly to English authors, 
 who are placed at the entire mercy of the American 
 publisher in the reprint and circulation of their 
 works throughout the Republic. Many of the 
 popular productions of English literature scarcely 
 issue from the press, when they are republished and 
 extensively circulated throughout the Union, and 
 being freed from the restrictions that are imposed on 
 all English publications, are sold at a very consi-
 
 AMERICAN COPYRIGHT LAW. 325 
 
 derable reduction on the price at which they are 
 originally produced in England. It is frequently 
 the case, that the packet that takes out any lately 
 issued work from England, brings back the reprint 
 on her return voyage ; and we are even assured, that 
 on one occasion, of the first appearance of one of the 
 late Sir Walter Scott's very popular novels, an 
 American edition was published in New York, and 
 in actual circulation, within little short of eight and 
 forty hours, after the proof sheets had first arrived 
 in the country. Were arrangements made with an 
 English and American publisher, that the first 
 edition of any forthcoming work should appear 
 simultaneously in New York and London, the 
 interests of both publishers would be equally pre- 
 served by the arrangement ; while the author, by 
 securing to any one publishing house in the United 
 States the first supply of the entire American trade, 
 might be thus able to dispose of this short lived 
 monopoly in the sale, of at least the first American 
 edition of his work. 
 
 The exertions of Mr. Sergeant Talfourd, the dis- 
 tinguished author of Ion, and of other literary pro- 
 ductions of modern date, have been lately directed 
 both in his place, and out of Parliament, to effect 
 some improvement, and to secure for authors the safe 
 protection of an international copyright law, and 
 that whilst American works should be preserved from 
 piracy in England, that the same measure of advan- 
 tage should extend to the works of English authors 
 in the United States ; a class of men who are espe-
 
 326 AMERICAN COPYRIGHT LAW. 
 
 cially aggrieved by the operation of the present sys- 
 tem, and whose complaints have already found their 
 way across the Atlantic. In the hope of inducing 
 the American Congress to take into consideration, 
 the especial grievances complained of, an address 
 was presented by the Hon. Henry Clay to the 
 United States Senate in the session of 1837, signed 
 by fifty -six distinguished authors of Great Britain, 
 in which they state, that they have been long ex- 
 posed to injury in their reputation and property, for 
 the want of a law, by which the exclusive right to 
 their respective writings may be secured to them in 
 the United States ; that for the want of such a 
 law, deep and extensive injuries have of late been 
 inflicted on their reputation and property, and on 
 the interests of literature and science, which ought 
 to constitute a bond of union and friendship between 
 the United States and Great Britain ; and that 
 deeply impressed with the conviction, that the only 
 firm ground between nations, is a strict regard to 
 simple justice, they earnestly request the Senate of 
 the United States, in Congress assembled, speedily 
 to use in behalf of the authors of Great Britain, 
 their power of securing to the authors, the exclusive 
 right of their respective writings. 
 
 They state that their property is injured by the 
 fact, that the profit arising from a sale of their 
 works, which are reprinted in the United States, 
 are wholly appropriated by American booksellers, 
 not only without the consent of the authors, but 
 even contrary to their express desire; and that their
 
 PERIODICAL LITERATURE. 327 
 
 reputation is liable to be injured by/ the mutilation 
 or alteration of their works, while their names are 
 retained, and they are made responsible for works 
 which they no longer recognize as their own, 
 grievances under which they at present possess no 
 redress. 
 
 They maintain, that the want of such protection 
 as they ask, is injurious to American authors, by 
 preventing their obtaining a fair remuneration for 
 their labours ; and also to the American public, by 
 being furnished with mutilated or imperfect editions, 
 instead of the complete productions of the several 
 authors. 
 
 The memorial was referred to a committee, con- 
 sisting of Messrs. Clay, Preston, Buchanan, Webster, 
 and Ewing, of Ohio. An address from American 
 authors, recommending the passing of such a law, 
 has also been presented, from which it is to be 
 hoped that some beneficial legislative consequence 
 may result, in the future protection to be afforded 
 to this exceedingly oppressed and ill-requited class 
 of men, and that may preserve to them, in common 
 with every other citizen, the well earned reward of 
 their industry and labour. 
 
 Principally connected with education, the mo- 
 rality and social improvement of the general people, 
 is the periodical literature the public and daily 
 press of the country ; which gives a mind and cha- 
 racter, a tone of interest, to all that is passing around 
 us, and that, in despite of the abstraction from the 
 busy scenes of this life, the seclusion to which we
 
 328 PERIODICAL LITERATURE. 
 
 may have retired, still continues us in the world, 
 associated with its forms and ideas, its advancement 
 and increased civilization. It is the mirror in which 
 the passions and prejudices of mankind are reflected 
 and brought within our every day observation ; 
 the medium through which we become familiarised 
 to occurrences otherwise beyond our travel and 
 inquiry ; and when conducted with ability and a 
 proper share of literary talent, unshackled by un- 
 necessary restrictions, and in the observances of a 
 due decorum in its intercourse and outward rela- 
 tions with the world, may be considered as a safe 
 and sure index of a nation's happiness and welfare. 
 
 Yet, do we strongly incline, from all that we have 
 read and witnessed in the country, to the opinion so 
 often expressed by contemporary writers, that there 
 scarcely exists any such thing in reality in America, 
 as a " free and independent press ;" and to divest 
 what is so called of its tinselly and extraneous 
 covering, the mere imaginary good with which it is 
 sometimes adorned, it will be found, at the present 
 day, as lean in every honest pretension, as restricted 
 in its influence or capabilities of sound useful in- 
 struction, as at any past period of its history ; 
 having diverged to a state of miserable and degrad- 
 ing vassalage, of mean and pitiable subserviency to 
 the caprice or political purpose of some one or 
 other of the rival parties in the State, or else 
 acknowledging its existence as a mere trading, 
 marketable, money -making concern, for the end 
 and purpose of contributing to the pecuniary re-
 
 PUBLIC AND DAILY PRESS. 329 
 
 sources of its immediate owners. In neither case 
 is it possible to recognize it, as the strong arm and 
 bulwark of a nation's liberty, the safeguard of its 
 rights, though guaranteed in its perfect freedom by 
 the law of the land. The public, or commonweal, is 
 seldom thought of, amidst the many other considera- 
 tions that control its proceedings ; neither is public 
 morality or virtue promoted by its example. Self- 
 interest, outweighs in its estimate, every approved 
 or just consideration, and is the shrine at which its 
 orisons are made, to which the national good is 
 sacrificed with a most unbecoming recklessness, 
 whenever clashing with the private objects or po- 
 litical designs of its immediate patrons, the parties 
 who control its conduct, and prescribe its rule as 
 conditional to their support. Its opinions carry 
 but little weight, without its motive, or rather want 
 of motive, or personal bias in the sustainment or 
 advocacy of any principle it may choose to assert, 
 is well ascertained and understood ; and for any real 
 or imaginary purpose of substantive good, may be 
 said to be restricted to the mere record of the 
 various merchandise offered for sale in its adver- 
 tising columns, in each market where a newspaper 
 may happen to be published. Its licentiousness is 
 proverbial, and perhaps, is carried to a greater excess 
 than in any other country on the face of the globe. 
 Crimination and recrimination are in the strict order 
 of its daily proceedings, and generally continued in 
 that abusive, intemperate, and vituperate language,
 
 330 RECKLESSNESS AND DEBASEMENT 
 
 that has lowered the press of America beneath the 
 level of any other. 
 
 It is only necessary for any man of character or 
 reputation, whose former acts have been of benefi- 
 cence and kindness, to start into public life, and 
 avow the conscientious opinions that constitute his 
 political creed, than he is assailed with a loud and 
 universal shout, abused in every unmeasured form 
 by a debased and hireling press, sustained by what- 
 ever party is opposed to him in politics ; a press 
 that will give no credit for any good motive or 
 honest purpose, or permit for one short-lived hour 
 the free exercise of an opinion adverse to its own. 
 War, interminable war, is its watchword extermi- 
 nation, its war-whoop : all is deadly hate, the most 
 implacable hostility ; and for the gratification of 
 this, and a malevolent party bias, every engine, both 
 foul and fair, is set in motion ; calumny and mis- 
 representation assail him at every turn ; his private 
 affairs, the domestic arrangements of his fireside, 
 even of years gone by, are dragged before the public 
 with a most unbecoming and unreasonable acerbity, 
 and the bitterest wrongs heaped with unsparing 
 hands upon his head. 
 
 Nationality, js a principle unknown to its mo- 
 rality, that seldom concerns its outward practice, 
 on which its public conduct is seldom based : not- 
 withstanding, its most exceptionable acts are usually 
 heralded before the world under the names of 
 "liberty and justice." The most daring and dan-
 
 OF THE AMERICAN PRESS. 331 
 
 gerous of executive innovations are not merely 
 passed by or tacitly acquiesced in, but even lauded 
 as the exposition of high-wrought patriotism and 
 public virtue. The legislative and judicial pro- 
 ceedings of every-day practice, the overstrained 
 abuse of official authority, in utter derision of any 
 thing like public opinion or the established law, 
 is tamely assented to, and the assumed purity of 
 these tribunals, reasserted with a plausibility and 
 affectation of truth, it were treason to the " sovereign 
 people" to gainsay, or under any circumstances to 
 bring in question. The uncleanly and cankerous 
 sores, the unseemly excrescences that have grown 
 upon the national system, are represented as of the 
 effulgence of its beauty, the indisputable evidence 
 of the superior excellence of the superstructure that 
 Americans have raised with so much care, that are 
 commended to public approval with a most ob- 
 sequious and disgusting submission, provided the 
 evil-doers to whom they may trace their origin, are 
 of the party with whose interests or measures they 
 are in any manner identified. 
 
 The reports of all public proceedings are cur- 
 tailed, altered, or so transfigured in their publication 
 to suit the ends and uses of party so utterly 
 unlike all that they are supposed to represent, as to 
 afford no indication no certain opportunity by this 
 means, of ascertaining public opinion, if that such 
 can be said to exist in the country : even the legis- 
 lative debates, including those of the general Con-
 
 332 NEWSPAPERS. 
 
 gress, that from their very nature should be exempt 
 from mutilation, are forced through the same un- 
 seemly process worked up in the same crucible, 
 and from the same cause, made to undergo a similar 
 emasculation. To at all understand their proceed- 
 ings it will be necessary to refer to the published 
 reports of some two or three journals of opposing 
 politics, as each paper seldom undertakes to do more 
 than to publish in a condensed form, the speeches 
 of its own party, almost without reference, or allu- 
 sion to those of their opponents. 
 
 It is easy to surmise, the pernicious and demora- 
 lising tendency of a press of this character, over the 
 mind and general conduct of a people, such as we 
 recognize in the United States ; who are seldom 
 controlled by any well-defined or fixed principle 
 directed by any just or ennobling feeling, or ought, 
 save the promptings of their own free and unre- 
 strained will, in their deportment and general obser- 
 vances throughout life. 
 
 There is no country in the world where news- 
 papers so much abound as in the United States. 
 Scarcely a town, or village, that has not its diurnal, 
 or weekly publication. But many of these, are 
 sorry concerns conducted with less than mediocre 
 talent, and are, in fact, either mere vehicles for 
 advertising and puffing off the latest arrival of new 
 goods in the market, a talent in which Americans 
 surpass every other people, or else, with the latent 
 purpose of aiding some political party, when they
 
 NEWSPAPERS. 333 
 
 very soon become the disseminating vehicles of the 
 most embittered feelings of animosity within the 
 circle of their immediate influence. 
 
 As an advertising medium, they are found neces- 
 sary in the conducting of almost every branch of 
 business throughout the country, and in which their 
 principal usefulness is developed. There are some 
 few, that form exceptions in the talent and industry 
 with which they are conducted ; but they are the 
 few green spots in the vast desolation that every 
 where else surrounds them, to which the mind can 
 seldom revert, without being impressed with the 
 most painful contrast. There is no stamp duty 
 no advertising tax no legal interference of any 
 kind to control, or limit speculation in this species 
 of property, which is usually carried to the extreme, 
 that precludes every reasonable and fair remunera- 
 tion to the publishers, as would enable them to meet 
 the necessary cost of conducting a mere political 
 paper, with any fair prospect of success. 
 
 Newspapers are of cheap purchase in the United 
 States ; the cost of a daily paper averaging from 
 eight to ten dollars a weekly paper, from one to 
 three dollars per annum. Encroachments have 
 been made on these prices, within the last few years, 
 in the larger cities, in the establishment of a cheap 
 daily press, the cost of each paper being about one 
 half-penny scarcely sufficient, we should imagine, 
 to pay for the paper on which it is printed ; and 
 that restricts the profits to whatever is derivable 
 from the advertisements, of which they always 
 command a fair share, in consequence of their en-
 
 334 
 
 NEWSPAPERS. 
 
 larged circulation. The New York Sun, which was 
 the first of the kind started in the United States, has 
 frequently declared its circulation, at from twenty- 
 two, to twenty-six thousand copies daily. 
 
 There were published in 1775, in the British 
 Colonies, now the United States, but 37 news- 
 papers ; in 1810, 359; in 1828, including other 
 periodicals, 851 ; and in 1834, 1265. 
 
 The number of daily newspapers in 1810 was 27 ; 
 in 1834, 90; in 1839, 116. Journals in 1810,26; 
 in 1834, 130. 
 
 The following table is formed from returns made 
 to the Post Office Department, and which sets out 
 the number of newspapers, magazines, and other 
 periodicals, published in the United States, July 1st, 
 1839. 
 
 Maine . . .41 
 
 New Hampshire . . 26 
 Vermont . . .31 
 Massachusetts (at Boston, 
 
 65) ... 124 
 
 Rhode Island . . 14 
 Connecticut . . .31 
 New York (at New York 
 
 City, 71) . .274 
 
 New Jersey ... 39 
 Pennsylvania (at Philadel- 
 phia, 71) . . .253 
 Delaware ... 3 
 Maryland (at Baltimore, 
 
 20) . . . .48 
 District of Columbia, (at 
 
 Washington, 11) . 16 
 Virginia (at Richmond, 10) 52 
 North Carolina 30 
 
 South Carolina . . 20 
 
 Georgia ... 33 
 
 Florida . . 9 
 
 Alabama ... 34 
 
 Mississippi ... 36 
 Louisiana (at New Orleans, 
 
 10) ... 26 
 
 Arkansas ... 4 
 
 Tennessee ... 50 
 
 Kentucky . . . 31 
 
 Ohio (at Cincinnati, 27) 164 
 
 Michigan . - I' . 31 
 
 Indiana ... 69 
 
 Illinois ... 33 
 
 Wisconsin ... 5 
 
 Iowa .... 3 
 
 Missouri 25 
 
 Total 
 
 1555
 
 FINE ARTS. 335 
 
 Of the above, 116 are published daily, 14 tri- 
 weekly, 39 semi- weekly, and 999 once a week. 
 The remainder are issued semi-monthly, monthly, 
 and quarterly, principally magazines and reviews. 
 Many of the daily papers also issue tri-weeklies, 
 semi-weeklies, and weeklies. Thirty-eight are in the 
 German language, four in the French, and one in 
 the Spanish. Several of the New Orleans papers 
 are printed in French and English. 
 
 The fine arts have not yet discovered any very 
 congenial soil in the United States, where painting 
 and sculpture receive no very encouraging or ade- 
 quate support, and are seldom valued in competition 
 with the more substantial things of this life. Ame- 
 rican genius is, however, as exuberant and abound- 
 ing, and quite equal to that of Europe, and would 
 bloom with the same effulgence, and shew forth with 
 the same lucidity and talent, were it encouraged by 
 the same means, or nurtured into vigorous and active 
 existence by the same liberal patronage it receives 
 with us. But American taste is not yet sufficiently 
 advanced, refined, or intellectual, to appreciate the 
 finer works of art, or to attach any sufficient value 
 to their possession ; and is quite content to receive 
 instead the prremial and early academical efforts of 
 the young student of the French and German 
 school, which are purchased up by continental 
 speculators, and shipped in large consignments to 
 the United States, where they generally meet a 
 ready market at moderate or reduced prices. 
 
 We shall now close these remarks by submitting
 
 336 AMERICAN LAWS FOR 
 
 the following abstract of the laws in force through- 
 out the several States of the Union for the en- 
 couragement and support of education within their 
 separate limits.* 
 
 In the State of Maine. Every town is required by law to raise 
 annually for the support of common schools a sum equal at least 
 to forty cents, or about one shilling and eightpence sterling, for 
 each person in the town, and to distribute this sum among the 
 several school districts, according to the number of scholars in 
 each. 
 
 New Hampshire. Common schools are established through- 
 out the State, and for their support a sum amounting each year 
 since 1818 to $90,000. is annually raised by a separate tax. 
 The State has a literary fund amounting to $64,000. formed by 
 a tax of one-half per cent, on the capital of the several banks 
 chartered by the State. The proceeds of this fund, as also an 
 annual income of $9,000. derived from a tax on banks, are 
 appropriated to aid the support of schools. 
 
 Vermont. Common schools are supported throughout this 
 State. The money raised by the general law for the support of 
 schools at three per cent, on the grand list, (the valuation for 
 taxes,) would be about $5 1,1 19-00, and about as much more is 
 supposed to be raised by school district taxes. The State has a 
 literary fund, derived principally from a tax of six per cent, on 
 the annual profits of the banks. 
 
 Massachusetts. Common schools are well supported through- 
 out this State. The laws require that every town or district 
 containing fifty families, shall be provided with a school or 
 schools, equivalent in time, to six months for one school in a 
 year; containing 100 families, twelve months; 150 families, 
 eighteen months ; and the several towns in the State are 
 authorised and directed to raise such sums of money as are 
 necessary for the support of the schools, and to assess and 
 
 * Principally taken from the compilation of Bishop Daven- 
 port, American Almanack, &c. &c.
 
 ENCOURAGING EDUCATION. 337 
 
 collect the money in the same manner as other town taxes. Each 
 town is required to choose annually a school committee of three, 
 five, or seven persons, to take the general charge and superinten- 
 dence of the public schools. 
 
 Rhode Island. Encreasing attention has of late been paid to 
 education, and the State now pays annually for the support of 
 free schools the sum of $10,000. which is divided amongst the 
 several towns according to population. 
 
 Connecticut. This State possesses an important school fund, 
 which was derived from the sale of lands, reserved by Connec- 
 ticut, in the State of Ohio, and which amounted on 1st April, 
 1829, to $1,882,261. The income of this fund, which has since 
 then very considerably increased, is appropriated to the support 
 of primary schools. Thisfundiu 1844, amounted to $2,044,354. 
 
 New York. On the 2nd of April, 1805, an act was passed, 
 appropriating 500,000 acres of the public lands, the proceeds of 
 which should go towards the establishment of a permanent fund 
 for the support of common schools, the interest of which to be 
 added to the principal until the annual income exceeds $50,000, 
 when it was to be apportioned amongst the schools. This was 
 the commencement of the common school fund. From 1810 to 
 1821, the fees received by the clerks of the supreme court beyond 
 their salaries and expences, were also added to the school fund ; 
 and the whole sum derived from this source amounted to 
 $77,474. The common school system of New York was esta- 
 blished by an Act of the Legislature of June 19th, 1812, and 
 the first distribution of the income was made in 1814. 
 
 From the annual report of the Superintendent of Common 
 Schools, January 15th, 1844, it will appear : 
 
 That the 59 counties of which the State consists, are divided 
 into 897 towns and wards, and these again are subdivided into 
 school districts. Of the 59 counties, all, with the single excep- 
 tion of Lewis, have appointed county superintendents. The 
 total number of children between the ages of five, and sixteen, 
 residing in the several school districts, exclusive of the City of 
 New York, is returned at 607,996 ; while the aggregate number 
 of children of all ages who have attended school for a longer 
 VOL. I. Z
 
 838 AMERICAN LAWS FOR 
 
 or shorter period, during the period ending January 1st, 1843, 
 is reported at 610,354. In the City of New York it is esti- 
 mated, that there are 75,000 children between the ages of five 
 and sixteen ; and of these. 47,428 have attended school for a 
 longer or shorter period during the last year. This swells the 
 aggregate number of children under instruction in the schools of 
 this State, for the year reported, to 657,782; an increase of 
 50,000 over the number returned the preceding year. 
 
 The number of male teachers in the winter schools is stated 
 at 5,170; of female teachers, at 6'35. In the summer schools 
 there were 1,024 male, and 5,699 female teachers During the 
 winter, the average monthly compensation of male teachers, 
 exclusive of board, has been $14,28 ; tllat of the females $7. 
 In the summer, the male teachers received, on an average, $15. 
 per month, the females $6. 
 
 There are 9,368 school houses in the State; 969 of brick or 
 stone, the remainder of logs, or framed wood. Of these 3,160 
 were in good repair ; 2,870 in comfortable condition ; and the 
 remaining 3,319 " unfit for the reception of man or beast." 
 
 The common school fund on 30th September amounted to 
 $1,975,093. and there belong to it also 357,824 acres of land, 
 valued at $178,4 12. The amount of public money expended 
 in all the school districts in the State, during the year reported, 
 was $660,727, and the amount contributed by the people in 
 these districts was $509,376. making in all nearly $1,100,000. 
 expended in the payment of teacher's wages, and the purchase 
 of books for school libraries. 
 
 New Jersey. This State has a school fund, which in 1842 
 amounted to $344,495.63. which is all in productive stocks, 
 yielding an interest on an average of about 5 per cent, A tax 
 of half of one per cent, on the amount of the capital stock of 
 the several banks, subscribed and paid in, is also appropriated in 
 this fund. 
 
 Pennsylvania. The ordinary appropriation of school money 
 is $200,000. payable to the districts in the ratio of their taxable 
 inhabitants. In addition to this, the legislature, in 1837, made 
 a school house appropriation of $500,000. to be distributed in 
 1838.
 
 ENCOURAGING EDUCATION. 339 
 
 The condition on which the districts receive their portion of 
 the State appropriation, are, that they accept the school system, 
 and assess a tax at least equal to their proportion of the appro- 
 priation. The whole number of school districts on the 1st of 
 June, 1842, exclusive of the city and county of Philadelphia, 
 was 1,113; the number of accepting districts paid during the 
 year, 905; the number that reported, 861. The whole number 
 of schools in reporting districts, is 6,116. The total amount of 
 expenditure in 1842 was $255,852.92. 
 
 By an Act of 1838, there is an annual appropriation of 
 $1,000. made to each incorporated university and college, which 
 maintains four professors, and instructs at least one hundred 
 students ; also to each academy, and each incorporated female 
 seminary, if fifteen pupils are constantly taught in either, or all 
 of the following branches, viz. Greek and Roman Classics, Ma- 
 thematics, and English, or English and German Literature, an 
 annual appropriation of $300. ; if twenty-five pupils, $400. ; 
 if forty pupils by at least two teachers, $500. 
 
 Delaware. This State has a school fund of $183,000. the 
 income of which, with taxes on tavern licences, &c. is divided 
 among the free schools About $20,000. are thus obtained, 
 and the districts raise an equal or greater sum by tax or 
 voluntary contributions. There are 182 public schools now in 
 operation (1843), in which 6,148 scholars are taught. Pro- 
 vision is made by law for a free school within every three mile 
 square of territory. The number of white children in the state, 
 between five and fifteen years of age, according to the census of 
 1840, is 14,801. 
 
 Maryland. The Maryland school fund is composed of the 
 free schools' fund, derived principally from the tax levied on 
 bank stock, and in this State's share of the surplus revenue 
 received from the United States. The free schools' fund is 
 equally divided among the several counties and the city of Bal- 
 timore ; and the portion which fell due to each in the year 1838, 
 was $1,341.36, a greater amount than in any previous year. 
 The interest on the surplus revenue for the year 1838, was 
 $36,118.76, of which the sum of $1000. is appropriated to the 
 
 z 2
 
 340 AMERICAN LAWS FOR 
 
 indigent blind of the State ; and the remainder is distributed, 
 one-half equally among the several counties and the city of 
 Baltimore, and the other half among the same according to 
 population. 
 
 Firginia. Education in this State is much neglected, especially 
 amongst the lower classes; academies and common schools are 
 nevertheless established in several towns. This State has a literary 
 fund, created in 1809, which amounted in 1840, to $1,413,555.6; 
 income, $102,590.46; appropriation, $98,296.64. All escheats, 
 confiscations, and derelict property ; also, all lands forfeited for 
 the non-payment of taxes, and all sums refunded by the National 
 Government for the expences of the late war, have been appro- 
 priated to the encouragement of learning. The sum of $ 1 5,000. 
 per annum is settled on the university of Virginia ; the sum of 
 $45,000. is appropriated to the support of primary schools ; 
 and the residue forms a surplus, held in reserve by the legisla- 
 ture, and distributed occasionally at its discretion among the 
 colleges and academies. Number of primary or common schools, 
 3,068; poor children, 46,069 ; number sent to school, 25,963. 
 The price paid for instruction for each pupil is from two and a 
 half to four cents a day. 
 
 The primary or common schools are for the poor only. The 
 sum of $45,000. is apportioned among the counties in the ratio 
 of their state taxes, and managed by commissioners appointed 
 by the county courts. The commissioners are required to seek 
 out, in their respective counties, those children whose parents 
 cannot pay a teacher, and enter them in some cheap neighbour- 
 ing school. But not much more than half of such children are 
 actually sent to school, and these not more than seventy days in 
 a year. Great reluctance to avail themselves of this fund is 
 found in both parents and children ; their pride revolting at the 
 receipt of a mere charity. The system must, therefore, be re- 
 garded as very inefficient. 
 
 In 1829, a law was made empowering (not requiring) the 
 commissioners of any county to lay it out in school districts, and 
 pay out of the public funds tmo-jifths of the cost of a school 
 house, and half a teacher's salary, whenever the inhabitants
 
 ENCOURAGING EDUCATION. 341 
 
 should raise, by voluntary subscription, the residue. The schools 
 established are to be open, gratuitously, alike to the rich and poor. 
 But the permissive form of this law has made it virtually a dead 
 letter ; and it has been acted upon in only three or four counties. 
 Of the sum of $45,000. annually appropriated to primary schools, 
 thousands remain in the hands of the commissioners ; and yet 
 there are supposed to be hardly fewer than 30,000 adult white 
 persons in Virginia who cannot read and write ! 
 
 North Carolina. The funds set apart by the State for the 
 support of common schools, consist of 1,000,000 acres of swamp 
 lands of uncertain value ; the tax imposed on retailers of spiri- 
 tuous liquors, and on auctioneers ; monies paid into the treasury 
 on entries of vacant lands (except Cherokee lands) ; all profits 
 accruing to the State for subscription to works of internal im- 
 provement, and from loans made from the internal improvement 
 fund ; together with the following : 
 
 10,207 shares of Bank stock, at $100. per share . $1,020,700 
 
 500 shares of Roanoke Navigation, $100. per share 50,000 
 
 600 shares of Cape Fear Navigation, ditto 32,500 
 
 Cash in the Treasury . . . 27,285 
 
 $1,330,485 
 600 shares of Wilmington and Raleigh Railroad 
 
 Company, $100. per share . . 600,000 
 
 Total . . . $1,930,485 
 
 South Carolina. A free school fund exists in this State, but 
 it has done little good, and Governor Hammond recommends 
 that it should be applied to the support of academies in the 
 several districts ; he remarks, (1844) " The free school system 
 has failed. This fact has been announced by several of my prede- 
 cessors, and there is scarcely an intelligent person in the State 
 who doubts that its benefits are perfectly insignificant, in com- 
 parison with the expenditure. Its failing is owing to the fact, 
 that it does not suit our people or our government, and it can 
 never be remedied. The paupers, for whose children it is in- 
 tended, but slightly appreciate the advantages of education ; 
 their pride revolts at the idea of sending their children to school
 
 342 AMERICAN LAWS FOR 
 
 as "poor scholars ;" and, besides, they need them at home to 
 work. In other countries, where similar systems exist, force is 
 liberally applied. It is contrary to the principles of our institu- 
 tions to apply it here, and the free school system is a failure." 
 
 Georgia. There are several important academies in this State, 
 and about five common schools in each county. The State pos- 
 sesses ' ' academy and poor school funds" to a considerable 
 amount. By an act of the legislature of 1792, each academy 
 was allowed to purchase the value of 1,000. of confiscated pro- 
 perty ; one thousand acres of land in each county were granted 
 for the support of schools, and also a fund of $250,000. to be 
 vested in stocks for the same purpose. 
 
 Alabama. By an Act of Congress, March 1819, one section 
 of land, containing 640 acres, was granted to the inhabitants of 
 each township for the use of schools, and seventy-two sections, 
 or two townships, for the support of a seminary of learning. 
 The funds of the university consist of the proceeds of these lands. 
 
 Mississippi. Public education is neglected in this State, which 
 has, nevertheless, a literary fund derived from the donation of 
 the general Government, rent of lands, three per cent, on all 
 sales of public lands, fines, forfeitures, &c. There were in the 
 year 1844 in this State, 382 primary or common schools, with 
 8,236 scholars. 
 
 Louisiana. In 1827, the legislature of this State made a grant 
 to each parish in the State of $2.62! to every voter, to be applied 
 to the education of the indigent ; the amount for one parish not 
 to exceed $1,350. nor to fall short of $800. In consequence 
 of this act, nearly $40,000. are annually appropriated to the 
 education of the poor. 
 
 Tennessee. Very little can be said for public education in this 
 State. 
 
 Kentucky. Is much in the same position. There are, how- 
 ever, several colleges and an university in this State, (the Tran- 
 sylvania University, in Lexington,) which is the oldest and most 
 celebrated institution in the Western States, and has medical and 
 law schools connected with it. 
 
 Ohio. In March, 1838, an important act relating to common
 
 ENCOURAGING EDUCATION. 343 
 
 schools was passed by the legislature of this State, the third sec- 
 tion of which is as follows : "There shall be a State Common 
 School Fund established, consisting of the interest on the surplus 
 revenue, at five per cent., the interest on the proceeds of salt 
 lands, the revenue from banks, insurance and bridge companies, 
 and other funds to be annually provided for by the State, to the 
 amount of $200,000. per annum ; and that said sum of $200,000. 
 shall be annually distributed among the several counties in this 
 State, in the month of December, according to the number of 
 white youth (unmarried) between the ages of four and twenty 
 years, resident in each county." 
 
 Indiana. One thirty-sixth part of the public lands in this 
 state, has been appropriated to the support of public schools. 
 
 Illinois. The same attention has been directed to public edu- 
 cation in this State, where land to the amount of 998,374 acres 
 has been given for the support of public schools. 
 
 Missouri, Arkansas, Michigan. In like manner have these 
 States, as yet only in their infancy, and lately added to the 
 Union, made every effort in the advancement of education and 
 the support of common schools throughout their respective 
 limits.
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 Commerce of the United States American embargo, 1807 
 War with Great Britain in 1812, and subsequent peace of 1815 
 Exports and Imports from the year 1/91, to 1815 Aptitude 
 of American citizens in contracting debts, without pos- 
 sessing any adequate means for their liquidation Rapid in- 
 crease and extent of internal improvements in the United 
 States, promoted by foreign capital Imports of Bullion 
 from the year 1832 to 1838 American Stocks, Securities, &c. 
 Amount of American debt owing to British Capitalists "Re- 
 pudiation" Entire prostration of American credit Particu- 
 lars of Stock issued by the several States from 1820, to 1838 
 The repudiating States of Michigan, Mississippi, and others 
 Commercial intercourse between Great Britain and the 
 United States American trade with France American Cot- 
 ton, Tobacco, and other Exports Steam Navigation and 
 Tonnage of the United States Canals of the United States 
 Standing Steam Engines. 
 
 AMONG the strange fallacies the heterodox no- 
 tions, to which nations will sometimes incline, as 
 well as individuals, there are none more extrava- 
 gant, or irreconcileable with the light and instruc- 
 tion of all past experience, than the theories to 
 which the United States had given her assent, 
 whilst acting on the principle, that to secure the 
 happiness and prosperity of her population, it were 
 necessary to restrict her intercourse, and put an 
 end to the foreign commerce of the country. Such, 
 nevertheless, has been the declared opinion of her
 
 COMMERCE OF THE UNITED STATES. 345 
 
 statesmen of former times, that called forth during 
 the Presidency ofThos. Jefferson, in the year 1807, 
 an embargo on all American trade with other nations, 
 and that subsequently continued under various regu- 
 lations, until the spring of 1809. 
 
 This measure of doubtful, if not of very repre- 
 hensible policy, was also urged upon the country 
 submitted for its approval as a retaliatory measure 
 of necessary consequence against the Berlin and 
 Milan decrees of France, and the no less injurious 
 influence of the memorable " orders in council" of 
 Great Britain, and was sustained by the concurrent 
 sanction of a large proportion of the inland and 
 agricultural states, against the loud and earnest 
 
 O 7 O 
 
 remonstrances of the mercantile, or eastern parts of 
 the Republic, that could scarcely become reconciled 
 to the proceeding, though assured of its necessity, 
 as well as its positive advantage, as a great political 
 and commercial expedient in preserving their pro- 
 perty and ships from capture and confiscation. 
 
 These " restricted energies," to use the metaphor 
 of Mr. Jefferson, were of most disastrous influence 
 upon the generative power and capabilities of the 
 country ; depriving the nation of a remunerative 
 market for the sale of the indigenous products of 
 her own soil, and the productive industry of her 
 population. The injury and wide spread difficulty 
 the embarrassment to which this mistaken policy 
 gave birth, in the end worked out its own correction, 
 and convinced America of the impolicy, as well as
 
 346 AMERICAN EMBARGO. 
 
 the extreme absurdity of the principle on which she 
 had thus relied. 
 
 The repeal of this obnoxious measure was soon 
 after followed by a restoration to all former pros- 
 perity a resuscitation of every branch of domestic 
 and foreign commerce, that continued to multiply 
 in its resources, and the numerous advantages it 
 occasioned, until the year 1812, when the war with 
 England, put a check to, and nearly repressed every 
 species of mercantile intercourse. 
 
 The following exhibit will convey some idea of 
 the extreme commercial difficulties that these two 
 measures occasioned, in the increase and sudden 
 restriction of the imports and exports of the Re- 
 public, for this, and the preceding period : 
 
 Total Exports. 
 
 Dollars. Dollars. Dollars. 
 
 1791 . 19,012,041 -- -- 
 1795 . 47,989,4/2 - 
 1800 . 70,971,780 - 
 
 1803 . 55,800,033 42,205,961 13,594,072 
 
 1807 . 108,343,050 48,699,592 59,643,558 
 
 1808 I.E. embargo year 22,430,960 9,433,546 12,997,414 
 1810 Embargo off, 66,757,970 42,366,675 24,391,295 
 
 1814 War with Great 
 
 Britain, 6,927,441 6,782,272 145,169 
 
 1815 Peace restored, 52,557,753 45,974,403 6,583,350 
 
 1816 . 81,920,452 64,718,869 17,138,555 
 
 The general peace of 1815, though adding to the 
 commerce of all other countries, restricted the trade 
 of England, but more especially of the United
 
 EXPORTS AND IMPORTS. 347 
 
 States, that no longer continued to be the general 
 carriers of the world, having also had to compete 
 with the industry and commercial enterprise of the 
 nations of Europe, in whatever market she had 
 chosen for the sale and interchange of her various 
 merchandize. Distress and embarrassment through- 
 out the States, followed as a consequent ; succeeded 
 by partial seasons of prosperity, which in its turn 
 occasioned the most improvident speculations, and 
 familiarised the country, more especially within 
 recent years, to a species of gambling and over- 
 trading, of which the history of European nations 
 seldom furnishes any near example. 
 
 The return of the imports and exports of the 
 United States, which we subjoin, in the Appendix 
 (letter F), will uphold this assertion. It bespeaks 
 the disregard of all consequence, as well as the ex- 
 traordinary aptitude of American citizens to take 
 advantage of the misapprehension of foreigners, as 
 to their capabilities of discharging the obligations to 
 which they may be pledged, or their neglect to 
 provide by any reasonable forecast, for any future 
 embarrassment that the incertitude and frequent 
 mutations in trade, may sometimes occasion and 
 their recklessness in availing themselves of every 
 facility presented to them, uncontrolled by any 
 prudential consideration, or restricted by the means 
 of discharging the obligations they may thus incur, 
 to invest themselves with the property of others, 
 without possessing any adequate resources for its 
 subsequent payment ; and which is evidenced by
 
 348 APTITUDE OF AMERICANS 
 
 the fact, that in the seven years ending 1839, the 
 nation imported of foreign merchandize, beyond the 
 aggregate of its own exports, to the amount of 
 $199,536,702. the greater part of which remains to 
 the present day unsatisfied principally owing to 
 British merchants and capitalists ; whilst it appears, 
 that $61,316,995. of this vast sum, was incurred in 
 the year 1836, immediately preceding their general 
 bankruptcy, though that the debt contracted, in the 
 excess of imports beyond their amount of exports, 
 in the antecedent year of 1835, scarcely exceeded 
 $28,000,000. The total value of imports of foreign 
 produce, over exports, for the twelve years, ending 
 1842, amounted to $221,899,106. 
 
 Facts such as these, speak without dissimulation, 
 and with a spirit of prophecy for the future, that ill 
 accords with the extravagantly coloured statements, 
 with which we have been of late familiarised of 
 the vast monied resources and commercial condition 
 of these States ; concealing nevertheless, that if the 
 general aspect of the Republic has been improved 
 if that the wilds and inland wastes of the western 
 country have been brought into a state of progres- 
 sive cultivation, with a rapid internal communica- 
 tion, intersecting the remotest district, and inducing 
 a general interchange of the various necessaries of 
 life as a consequent if towns and cities have grown 
 up, as if by magic, where all before was void and 
 desolation if the hum of busy industry has su- 
 pervened the cry of indigence and want, and com- 
 parative comfort been assured to the bulk of the
 
 IN CONTRACTING DEBTS. 349 
 
 population in its stead, it is to foreign capital the 
 money and resources of another people, to which 
 they are indebted, that has called these exertions 
 into life given a zest to labour, and every useful 
 employment, and furnished the means, by which 
 this consummation this mighty revolution has been 
 accomplished. 
 
 It is a generally understood axiom in political 
 science, that when the imports of a country exceed 
 the annual amount of its exports, the deficit or dis- 
 parity between each, is necessarily paid in money, or 
 specie, if paid at all. On this account, we referred 
 to the annual returns of the import and export of 
 coin and bullion of the United States, hoping to 
 meet with some explanation of the mode, by which 
 it would appear, that any part of this vast accumu- 
 lating debt, contracted in the preceding years, had 
 been discharged. But the statements, instead of 
 according with any reasonable anticipation we might 
 have encouraged in this respect, betrayed the same 
 unconcern on the part of our American friends, 
 the same indifference to incurring responsibilities, 
 or of ultimately discharging the obligations which 
 they had previously contracted ; and that, instead 
 of a surplus export of specie to in part relieve them- 
 selves from this onerous and heavy responsibility, 
 we actually find an excess in the importation of coin 
 and bullion into the country, beyond the amount of 
 its exports, for the seven years preceding 1839, of 
 a sum of $57,095,818 ; $9,076,545 of which sur- 
 plus, was brought into the United States in the year
 
 350 RESOURCES OF AMERICA. 
 
 1836, in which year, it will be remembered, the 
 American people had otherwise contracted debts 
 with the foreign merchant beyond their actual pay- 
 ments, of $61,316,995, and at a time, it is now 
 notorious, that two-thirds of the population were 
 in a state, verging on general and positive bank- 
 ruptcy. 
 
 We record these facts with regret, as supplying 
 materials for earnest and painful consideration ; to 
 the American in the first instance, yet also to the 
 British merchant and capitalist, as indeed to the fair 
 and honest trader of every other country, who may 
 be drawn into a commercial intercourse or dealing 
 with a people, so proverbially reckless of every ob- 
 ligation, as well their readiness to incur liabilities 
 so utterly beyond their means, or at least their dis- 
 position, to discharge or liquidate them. 
 
 While these statements are to a considerable ex- 
 tent explanatory of the difficulties that have so 
 severely pressed upon the resources of every indi- 
 vidual connected for years past with the trade and 
 commerce of these States, they also serve to qualify 
 the assertions, so often made, and commended to 
 public approval, of the positive wealth and pros- 
 perity of the Republic. 
 
 The resources of America are no doubt great, 
 prolific, as she certainly is, in mineral and produc- 
 tive capabilities, now in progress of development, 
 and in the industry and enterprise of her popula- 
 tion. The condition of the country, its outward 
 aspect, within late years, has rapidly improved ;
 
 INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS. 351 
 
 while the assiduity and efforts of her citizens are 
 beyond all praise. But these exertions, however 
 commendable, would be insufficient to secure their 
 full measure of reward, without being sustained by 
 other pecuniary means, or capital to give an impetus 
 an energy, and direction to both. The internal 
 improvements of America, we are bound to admit, 
 have within the same restricted period, far exceeded 
 those of every other nation, with infinitely greater 
 difficulties to contend with; while the untiring 
 energy of her population has succeeded, in conjunc- 
 tion with other social, organic, and permanent advan- 
 tages, in establishing an internal communication of 
 vast undertaking, throughout the several intersections 
 of the country, including railroads to an extent of 
 about 4,000 miles, in addition to a canal navigation 
 of upwards of 3,000 miles, finished, and in progress. 
 But for these improvements, do we also contend, 
 is America in great part indebted to British capital, 
 which has aided their steady progression, and the 
 development of many of the most important re- 
 sources of the country. No sooner is any projected 
 measure of any great national advantage set on 
 foot, especially to which any of the individual 
 States may have become parties, by the advance or 
 loan of any certain portion of State stock in its pro- 
 motion, than these securities, almost as soon as 
 issued, find their way to the English Stock Exchange, 
 where funds are in most cases provided to commence 
 with, and carry on these improvements to their ulti- 
 mate or final completion. The consequence is, that
 
 352 AMOUNT OF DEBT. 
 
 the British market of late years has been flooded 
 with this species of property, made worthless in some 
 instances by the subsequent disreputable repudia- 
 tion of some of these States, in whose name and by 
 whose authority these securities had been issued, 
 and though that such State may have reaped the 
 full and anticipated value of such issue, in the 
 general permanent improvement of their locality, 
 and its reclamation from a state of semi-barbarism 
 to one of comparative culture and civilisation. The 
 money borrowed from English capitalists and mer- 
 chants by several of these States for public improve- 
 ments, by banks, railroad, canal, and other com- 
 panies, the greater part of which will never be paid, 
 is estimated at upwards, of one hundred and fifty 
 millions of dollars. 
 
 But this has been the practice from immemorial 
 time, sustained, as we are in this assertion, by the 
 concurrent testimony of contemporary writers on 
 the same subject. ' 'America," declares Mr. Bristed, 
 (who was himself an American,) in his work on the 
 resources of the United States, " has profited in 
 more ways than one by British capital ; that is to 
 say, she has grown rich, not merely by the amount 
 and length of credit which the merchants of Britain 
 gave her, but also, by her own numberless insolvents 
 having made it a point of conscience, never to pay a 
 single stiver to a British creditor. From the peace 
 of 1783 to 1789, the British manufacturers did not 
 receive more than one-third of the value of all the 
 goods which they sold to their American customers ;
 
 REPUDIATION. 353 
 
 and since the peace of 1815, up to the present hour, 
 they have not received one-fourth" 
 
 It is by no means surprising, that the credit of the 
 United States should in consequence diverge to the 
 lowest possible standard, or that her national Go- 
 vernment, though nearly freed from debt, should 
 have been unable, even so recently as the year 1842, 
 to procure for its own use, a loan in the compara- 
 tively restricted sum of two millions sterling. The 
 principle of" repudiation" to which the country had 
 been accustomed in the preceding year, 1841, by 
 which novel, though now familiar process, the States 
 of Mississippi, Michigan, Illinois, Pennsylvania, and 
 Maryland, had relieved themselves from a large por- 
 tion of their respective debts, and to which discredit- 
 able course the United States had given an implied 
 or negative sanction, by withholding the expression 
 of its decided reprehension, or further exertion in 
 influencing these States to return to a more equitable 
 and honest way of thinking and of acting, has to some 
 extent identified her with these proceedings, excited 
 the apprehensions of foreign capitalists, and occa- 
 sioned an unwillingness to enter into any negotia- 
 tion or arrangement with her Government ; appre- 
 hensive, that the loan she needed in this late 
 instance, and had endeavoured to obtain without 
 success amongst her own capitalists, and subsequently 
 in the British and other European markets, if con- 
 ceded to her, might be made the nucleus of a 
 national debt, that in the unsettled and disor- 
 ganised state of American finances, might there- 
 
 VOL. i. 2 A
 
 354 REPUDIATION. 
 
 after be augmented to a still larger amount, accord- 
 ing to the increased demands and necessities of the 
 country ; and that should the revenue at any 
 future period, (as in 1838 and subsequent years,) 
 fall short of the necessary expenditure of the 
 Government, they could see nothing to prevent the 
 Federal power from adopting the principle and 
 following the practice of these States, in a more 
 general disclaimer of its liabilities, whenever, under 
 its present or any future subsisting tariff law, its 
 resources might be unable to pay the interest, or 
 meet the other requisite expenses of the country. 
 
 The injury to the nation in the prostration of its 
 credit, the disgrace which overwhelmed the entire 
 people, by reason of the nefarious and fraudulent 
 system to which so many of the States have resorted, 
 has inflicted upon the Republic the most humiliating 
 consequences. It has forced the Government to 
 seek, in an unbecoming and almost supplicatory 
 tone, for sufficient means to carry on the necessary 
 general business of the country, amidst the monied 
 capitalists of Europe, and to proclaim to the world 
 the disparaging rejection of every succeeding appli- 
 cation. 
 
 " After a failure to raise a loan in the Ameri- 
 can market," declares President Tyler in his an- 
 nual message in opening the Congressional session 
 of 1842-43, " a citizen of high character and talent 
 was sent to Europe with no better success ; and 
 thus the mortifying spectacle has been presented 
 of the inability of this Government to obtain a loan
 
 REPUDIATION. 355 
 
 so small, as not in the whole to amount to one- 
 fourth of its ordinary annual income, at a time 
 when the Governments of Europe, although in- 
 volved in debt and with their subjects heavily bur- 
 dened with taxation, readily obtained loans of any 
 amount at a greatly reduced rate of interest. It 
 would be unprofitable to look further into this state 
 of things, but I cannot conclude without adding, 
 that for a Government that has paid off its debts of 
 two wars with the largest maritime power of Europe, 
 and now owing a debt which is next to nothing 
 when compared to its boundless resources, a 
 Government, the strongest in the world, because 
 emanating from the popular will, and firmly rooted 
 in the affections of a great and free people ; whose 
 fidelity to its engagements has never been ques- 
 tioned ; for such a Government to have tendered to 
 the capitalists of other countries an opportunity for 
 a small investment of its stock, and yet to have 
 failed, implies either the most unfounded mistrust 
 in its good faith, or a purpose, to obtain which the 
 course pursued is the most fatal which could have 
 been adopted." 
 
 This is, in very (ruth, a lamentable portraiture of a 
 country such as the United States ; a saddened 
 instance of the consequences resulting from the dis- 
 honesty and bad faith of her own citizens, which 
 has clouded her prosperity assailed her reputa- 
 tion, and overshadowed all her former efforts to 
 sustain herself in the position and on the level of 
 the nations of the world : for it is impossible to dis- 
 
 2 A 2
 
 356 REPUDIATION. 
 
 connect the general Government, or the people of 
 these States in their collective or representative 
 capacity, with the dishonest and censurable conduct 
 that has been pursued by the numerous intersec- 
 tions of the Republic, against whom neither public 
 opinion, nor the expression of public dissent, nor 
 censure, has been directed to their just reprobation. 
 Other Governments, it is true, have become bank- 
 rupt in their means, and unable to pay either interest 
 or principal ; but it has been permitted to the 
 republican States of America to record instances of 
 moral turpitude and faithlessness unequalled in the 
 history of nations, and while possessing the means, 
 by adequate taxation or from other sources, to dis- 
 charge their obligations, to disavow the entire, 
 notifying the unfortunate dupes, whom they had 
 cajoled and stript of their property, to get their 
 money in the best way they could. 
 
 There is no apology made for these excesses 
 there can be none. Were the capabilities and re- 
 sources of these States exhausted to their utmost 
 limit, the energies of their population prostrated 
 beneath an unequal pressure of taxation, in dis- 
 charge of liabilities previously incurred, wholly 
 irrespective of any subsequent difficulty that might 
 arise, these States might then plead a necessity in 
 part extenuation. But when we are told instead 
 proclaimed in every variety, until wearied by the 
 repetition of the inexhaustible wealth of the Re- 
 public, its mineral treasures already developed, 
 its rich and productive lands already under cultiva-
 
 STATE OF MICHIGAN. 
 
 357 
 
 tion, or to be appropriated, its forests, yielding to 
 the persevering energy of its hardy population, 
 made available to its vast monied resources, pro- 
 priety and all moral sense is outraged by the men- 
 dacity of these proceedings the utter want of 
 principle in which they have been conceived and 
 carried out to their recent consummation. 
 
 Until the principle of repudiation was first intro- 
 duced and received countenance in America, the 
 stocks and public securities of these several com- 
 monwealths sustained some fair character in the 
 English and other European money markets ; when, 
 from the belief that the faith and public credit of 
 these States were pledged to the due fulfilment of 
 the contract made by them with the public creditor, 
 every expectation was entertained that they would 
 continue to pay the interest of these engagements 
 with punctuality and honour. The assurance of 
 Mr. Webster, American Secretary of State, when 
 in London in 1839, in answer to the inquiry of the 
 commercial house of Baring, Brothers, and Co., 
 added strength and renewed confidence to these 
 anticipations. Yet, scarcely two years were allowed 
 to pass before they were falsified, and the illusion 
 into which so many were betrayed, exposed in its 
 simplicity and folly before the world. 
 
 To the State of Michigan belongs the credit 
 the distinguished honour of being the first in this 
 work of spoliation and plunder ; of having thrown 
 off the mask and proclaimed this new principle, 
 divesting itself of every responsibility under the
 
 358 REPUDIATION. 
 
 very bonds, the public securities it had issued 
 under the legislative sanction of its Govern- 
 ment and people; that subsequently found their 
 way to the possession of other parties, and who, 
 upon the faith of the State guarantee attached to 
 each, had purchased these securities at their highest 
 marketable value, perfectly unconscious, that there 
 could by possibility exist any pretext for their sub- 
 sequent disavowal. 
 
 The State of Mississippi followed this discreditable 
 example, and even made the " repudiation" of her 
 debts the public disclaimer of her solemn obliga- 
 tions, a question of grave political consideration, on 
 which her citizens were called upon to pronounce 
 at the fall elections of 1841. The principal pro- 
 portion of these securities consisted of Jive millions 
 of dollars of State bonds, issued and delivered by 
 the State to the Mississippi Union Bank in 1839, 
 being the amount of its subscription for fifteen 
 thousand shares hypothecated to its use, and which 
 were immediately thereupon brought into the public 
 market, principally in England, and purchased at 
 their highest recognised value at the time. 
 
 It is somewhat remarkable, that the first notice 
 given to the public of the intention of this State to 
 disclaim her liabilities and repudiate her debts, was 
 the promulgation of Governor McNutt on the 2nd 
 of March, 1840, " warning all persons and incor- 
 porations, not to advance money upon the hypothe- 
 cation of the said bonds, or purchase them for a less 
 sum than their par value;" it being alleged that this
 
 STATE OF MISSISSIPPI. 359 
 
 was the provision of the law under which they were 
 issued. 
 
 This notice, if honestly intended, was of too late 
 a date to. answer any equitable purpose by its pro- 
 mulgation, or beyond further depreciating the value 
 of these securities, that had already been disposed 
 of, to other and innocent parties, who were not 
 aware at the time, and could know nothing what- 
 ever, of any understood or secret arrangement 
 between the state, on whose account and under 
 whose responsibility they were first issued, and its 
 agent, or officers, in whose hands they were sup- 
 posed to have been placed for this purpose ; for it 
 is quite foreign to the question between this state, 
 and the public creditor, the understanding on which 
 these bonds were originally appropriated whether 
 the debt was contracted through the knavery of her 
 own agents, or otherwise. They may have acted in 
 bad faith they may have cheated her and deceived 
 the foreign creditor ; all this may have been true ; 
 still, it is not denied, the money advances that have 
 actually been paid by such creditors, the holders of 
 these bonds, upon the guarantee and faith of the 
 state, pledged by her regularly appointed agent, 
 and to whom she had confided, to bring them into 
 the public market, with a view to their sale and 
 further disposition. 
 
 This effort of Mississippi to release herself from 
 every pecuniary responsibility from every solemn 
 obligation in the non-payment of this large portion
 
 360 REPUDIATION. 
 
 of her debt, was not the mere act of her rulers, or 
 the result of any primary decision of her legislative 
 body ; it was the calm and deliberate resolve of her 
 citizens, made through the ballot box, and which 
 invests this question with an abiding interest and 
 importance, not merely to Mississippi, but also, to 
 every other state of this confederacy ; whose credit 
 and character are extensively implicated by the 
 extreme dishonesty of the act. Still, it is to be 
 hoped that some salutary and beneficial results may 
 grow out of this severe injustice, and that it will 
 serve from henceforth as an admonitory lesson, espe- 
 cially to the foreign capitalist and merchant, who 
 have been somewhat rudely dealt with in these 
 transactions for whom our sympathies are never- 
 theless in some degree lessened, from the blind and 
 headlong manner in which they have committed 
 themselves with a people, whose reputation for 
 honesty and good faith has seldom been lauded 
 before the world, and who have given this last proof 
 of an utter debasement, by their patient endurance 
 of the obloquy and disgrace, which these foul deeds 
 have affixed to the national character. 
 
 Neither can we find a pretext amongst the other 
 repudiating States of the Republic, for the extreme 
 conduct adopted by Pennsylvania, from whom a 
 very opposite course was anticipated ; and that 
 should have furnished some more laudable and 
 honest example, than to withhold the payment, or 
 neglect to provide in discharge of the liabilities she
 
 STATE OF PENNSYLVANIA. 361 
 
 had contracted with the public creditor, amounting 
 in June, 1842, to 36,336.044 dollars, and now 
 increased to little short of forty millions. 
 
 With resources of no ordinary kind on which to 
 depend for their liquidation, with her annual pro- 
 ductions, agricultural, manufacturing, and mineral, 
 estimated at 200,000,000 dollars her real estate 
 valued at 1,300,000,000 dollars, and personal pro- 
 perty at 700,000,000 dollars, it is impossible to 
 extenuate, much less to justify the discreditable 
 course that this old and early settled State has pur- 
 sued in this instance. A tax of one per cent, on 
 the productive industry of her population would 
 pay beyond the annual interest of her debt, or two 
 per cent, on her real, or personal property, if fairly 
 assessed, would pay her entire debt and discharge 
 any liability to which she is now subject. Yet, do 
 we here find a people, in the possession of these, or 
 of nearly equal resources, so totally unmindful of 
 all honest reputation, and of future consequence, 
 and so contrary to all that Pennsylvania has ever 
 been represented to our belief, that would rather 
 suffer every humiliation invite the reproaches of 
 every honest and well-meaning man, and subject 
 themselves to every embarrassing result, than by a 
 simple effort of self-denial, sustain the character and 
 credit of their State, by providing for the due and 
 equitable payment of their liabilities in the imposi- 
 tion of some general tax, of the least onerous that 
 it were possible to project, in order to supply the 
 necessary means for this purpose.
 
 362 PROSTRATION OF CREDIT. 
 
 It were by no means difficult to foresee the con- 
 sequences that must result to the United States, 
 from this state of political and social degradation, 
 that has already prostrated the national and state 
 credit of the Republic, and interposed an universal 
 check to every improvement, based upon the intro- 
 duction of foreign capital into the country. It has 
 engendered a very general feeling of mistrust, that 
 can scarcely fail to mix itself up in all business 
 relations, in which the citizens of these States are in 
 the least concerned, besides creating a very natural 
 apprehension of the institutions of a country, and 
 stability of its form of government, under which, a 
 a lax morality of this kind, could possibly have 
 grown up to such vigorous and fearful luxuriance. 
 
 Though that the present actual debt of the United 
 States is comparative trifling, amounting on 1st of 
 December, 1843, to about 26,742,949 dollars, still 
 are the several states heavily encumbered, owing in 
 the year 1842, considerably upwards of 200,000,000 
 dollars, of which sum, it is a remarkable fact, that 
 150,000,000 was borrowed in the intervening 
 period, between the year 1830 and close of the 
 year 1836, while the nation was engaged in its 
 attempt to carry out the wild and quixotic scheme 
 of President Jackson, in his effort to restrict the 
 country to an entire specie circulation. Six-sevenths 
 of the total amount of this debt, was contracted 
 within ten years, ending 1839. 
 
 The aggregate amount of State stocks issued and 
 authorised by law to be issued, within the period
 
 AMOUNT OF STATE STOCK. 
 
 363 
 
 from the year 1820 to 1825, was but $12,727,728 ; 
 from 1825 to 1830, $13,679,689 ; from 1830 
 to 1835, $40,002,769; and in the " experimental" 
 period, from 1835 to 1838, $108,432,808; making 
 a total, ending 1838, of $174,382,869. 
 
 The state liabilities in 1842, according to the 
 returns made by the Secretary of the Treasury of 
 the United States, and by him submitted to Con- 
 gress, 25th June in this year, amounted to a sum of 
 $198,818,736 and 35 cents, and was apportioned 
 as follows ; 
 
 
 Amount outstanding 
 and unredeemed, 
 Sept. 2nd, 1842. 
 
 Amount at 
 5 per cent. 
 Interest. 
 
 Amount at 
 per cent. 
 Interest. 
 
 Amount of other rates 01 
 Interest. 
 
 Maine 
 
 1,734,861.47 
 
 140,492.44 
 
 1 ,528,369.03 
 
 H 
 
 66,000.00 
 
 Massachusetts 
 
 5,424,137.00 (a) 
 
 5,424,137.00 
 
 
 
 
 Pennsylvania 
 
 36,336,004.00 (b) 
 
 33,303,313.00 
 
 1,071,842.00 
 
 4 4 & 1 1,961,689.00 
 
 New York 
 
 21,797,267.91(c) 
 
 17,128,197.37 
 
 1,540,434.11 
 
 4 & 5 
 
 3,128,636.43 
 
 Maryland 
 
 15,214,761.49 (<Tj 
 
 10,859,062.03 
 
 3,755,699.46 
 
 4i &3 
 
 600,000.00 
 
 Virginia 
 
 6,994,307.54 (e) 
 
 1,365,300.00 
 
 5,284,707.54 
 
 5 & 7 
 
 344,300.00 
 
 South Carolina 
 
 5,691,234.41 (/) 
 
 1,923,259.61 
 
 1 ,574,444.45 
 
 3 
 
 193,530.36 
 
 Georgia 
 
 1, 309,750.00 (g) 
 
 888,000.00 
 
 421.750.00 
 
 
 
 Alabama 
 
 15,400,000 .00 (h) 
 
 10,300,000.00 
 
 5,100,000.00 
 
 
 
 Louisiana 
 
 23,985,000.00 (i) 
 
 23,375,000.00 
 
 600,000.00 
 
 
 
 Mississippi 
 
 7,000,000.00 (j) 
 
 5,000,000.00 
 
 2,600,000.00 
 
 
 
 Arkansas 
 
 2,676,000.00 (k) 
 
 146,000.00 
 
 2,530,000.00 
 
 
 
 Florida 
 
 4,000,000.00 (I) 
 
 400,000.00 
 
 3,500,000.00 
 
 8 
 
 1 ,000,000.00 
 
 Tennessee 
 
 3,198,000.00(m) 
 
 1,935,000.00 
 
 1 ,000,000.00 
 
 5J 
 
 263,161.00 
 
 Kentucky 
 
 3,085,500.00 (n) 
 
 350,000.00 
 
 2,735,500.00 
 
 
 
 Michigan 
 
 5, 6 11, 500.00 (o) 
 
 
 5,560,000.00 
 
 7 
 
 51,000.00 
 
 Ohio 
 
 10,924,123.00 (p) 
 
 550,000.00 
 
 10,374,123.00 
 
 
 
 Indiana 
 
 12,751,000.00 (q) 
 
 12,327,000.00 
 
 394,000.00 
 
 7 
 
 30,000.00 
 
 Illinois 
 
 13,527,292.00 (r) 
 
 
 13,527,292,00 
 
 
 
 Missouri 
 
 842,261.00 (s) 
 
 514,000.00 
 
 
 5i 7 & 10 
 
 328,261.00 
 
 >(_){ Alexandria 
 
 382,100.00 (<) 
 
 12,500.00 
 
 369,600.00 
 
 
 
 * ' < Georgetown 
 
 1 16,010.00 (M) 
 
 24,000.00 
 
 92,010.00 
 
 
 
 3 -i -.(^ Washington 
 
 817,920.00 () 
 
 195,550.00 
 
 622,370.00 
 
 
 
 Total . . 
 
 198,818,736.35 
 
 
 
 
 
 (a) ,$5,105,000. for loans to railroads, all which are complete 
 and in operation. 
 
 (b) $33,364,355. for Penn Canal and Railway ; $1,280,000. 
 for other roads and canals.
 
 364 STATE LIABILITIES. 
 
 (c) $17,561,567.91. for s *ate canals and general funds; 
 $4,235,700. loans to companies. 
 
 00 $3,697,000. for Baltimore and Ohio railroad; $7,197,000. 
 for Chesapeake and Ohio canal; $223,731.65. for Baltimore 
 and Susquehanna railroad. 
 
 (e) $1,365,398.14. held by the State itself ; $3,991,500.63. 
 for internal improvements. 
 
 (f) $2,600,000. subscription, loan, and guarantee to Charles- 
 ton and Louisville railroad; $1,035,555.55. for rebuilding 
 Charleston. 
 
 (#) For the State railway. 
 
 (h) For the banks ; uncertain how much is negotiated of the 
 $5,000,000. in short bonds. 
 
 (z) $22,000,000. for the banks, of which $4,811,111.10. 
 is not negotiated, and remains in the banks. 
 
 (y) For the banks. The State denies its responsibility for 
 $5,000,000. of this debt. 
 
 (/e) For banking purposes. 
 
 (0 $3,900,000. for banking purposes. 
 
 (m) $1,500,000. for the banks; the remainder for internal 
 improvements ; $722,000. for works now incomplete and aban- 
 doned. 
 
 (ft) For internal improvements. 
 
 (o) $5,320,000. for internal improvements; $160,000. for 
 a penitentiary and university. 
 
 (p) For internal improvements ; $4,500,000. for the Ohio 
 and Miami canals. 
 
 (?) $2,300,000. for the State banks; $1,069,000. to pay 
 interest ; the remainder for internal improvements. 
 
 (') $3,034,998. for the banks ; $854,000. to pay interest ; 
 remainder for internal improvements. 
 
 (s) 362,000. for the banks of Missouri; $232,000. for build- 
 ing the capitol. 
 
 (0 $287,500. for the Alexandria canal. 
 
 (u) For internal improvements. 
 
 (t>) $421,950. for Washington canal, and subscription to 
 Chesapeake and Ohio canal. 
 
 The States of Vermont, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, New
 
 AMERICAN CITY DEBTS. 365 
 
 Jersey, Delaware, North Carolina, and Iowa, have no public 
 debt. 
 
 Several of the larger cities have contracted debts, issued 
 stocks, &c. amounting to $22,3/2,441. apportioned as fol- 
 lows, to the city of 
 
 New York . . $9,663,269 Troy . . . $361,000 
 Boston . . 1,698,232 Cincinatti . . 860,000 
 Philadelphia . 1,000,000 New Orleans . 1,758,180 
 Baltimore . . 4,680,000 Mobile . . 513,000 
 Albany . . 695,532 Charleston . . 1,142,358 
 
 $22,372,44T 
 
 To which, if we add a sum of $28,101,644. to 
 the debts of the several States, for the United States 
 surplus money deposited with them, as part of the 
 revenue derived from the sale of the public lands, 
 we shall find the total of state and city debts, in the 
 year 1843, to amount to 249,292,821 dollars. 
 
 This large sum, though perhaps within the re- 
 sources of these States to eventually discharge and 
 satisfy, but ill accords with the statements so often 
 put forth of the national prosperity and unbounded 
 wealth of the country. It betrays a state of facts, as 
 to its present financial embarrassment, in which 
 the foreign capatalist is immediately concerned, 
 more especially of Great Britain, with whom so 
 large a proportion of the American trade is carried 
 on, as to nearly equal in its extent, the entire com- 
 mercial intercourse, at present subsisting between 
 the United States, and all other parts of the world. 
 
 Within the five years ending 1840, of which 
 returns have been made, and in which the exports 
 from the United Kingdom to America had consi-
 
 366 
 
 IMPORTS AND EXPORTS. 
 
 derably lessened, we find, that of $607,169,398. 
 which constituted the total value of American ex- 
 ports for this period, produce of the value of 
 $319,859,485. of this sum, being more than one- 
 half of the entire, found a market in Great Britain 
 and her colonies ; and that of the total of Ame- 
 rican imports for the same period, amounting to 
 $711,575,639. $298,272,827. in value of the 
 amount, exceeding two-fifths of the entire, had been 
 imported from Great Britain and her dependencies. 
 So in like manner, of the imports of the United 
 States for the 1842, to the value of $100,162,087., 
 more than one-third, or of $38,613,043. were from 
 Great Britain and her possessions ; and of the ex- 
 ports of the United States for the same period, 
 amountingto$104,691,534. in value, $42,306,650 
 thereof, found a market in Great Britain and her 
 numerous colonies. 
 
 The following table exhibits the value of United 
 States imports from, and exports to, each foreign 
 country, during the fiscal year ending September 
 30th, 1842: 
 
 
 COUNTRIES. 
 
 Value of 
 Imports. 
 
 VALUE OP EXPORTS. 
 
 Domestic 
 Produce. 
 
 Foreign 
 Produce. 
 
 Total. 
 
 
 
 DOLLARS. 
 
 DOLLARS. 
 
 DOLLARS. 
 
 DOLLARS. 
 
 1 
 
 Russia 
 
 1,30,006 
 
 316,020 
 
 520,567 
 
 836,593 
 
 2 
 
 Prussia 
 
 18,192 
 
 149,141 
 
 7,547 
 
 156,688 
 
 3 
 
 Sweden 
 
 890,934 
 
 238,948 
 
 105,970 
 
 344,918 
 
 4 
 
 Swedish West Indies 
 
 23,242 
 
 129,727 
 
 3,320 
 
 133,047 
 
 5 
 
 Denmark 
 
 
 70,766 
 
 27,819 
 
 98,585 
 
 6 
 
 Danish West Indies 
 
 584,321 
 
 791,825 
 
 157,260 
 
 949,088 
 
 7 
 
 Holland 
 
 1,007,438 
 
 3,236,338 
 
 386,988 
 
 3,623,326 
 
 8 
 
 Dutch East Indies 
 
 741,048 
 
 85,578 
 
 193,580 
 
 279,158 
 
 9 
 
 Dutch West Indies 
 
 331,270 
 
 251,650 
 
 15,581 
 
 267,231 
 
 10 
 
 Dutch Guiana 
 
 74,764 
 
 101,055 
 
 
 101,055 
 
 11 
 
 Belgium 
 
 019,588 
 
 1 ,434,038 
 
 176,646 
 
 1,610,684 
 
 12 
 
 Hanse Towns . 
 
 2,274,019 
 
 3,814,994 
 
 749,519 
 
 4,564,513
 
 IMPORTS AND EXPORTS. 
 
 367 
 
 
 
 
 VALUE OP EXPORTS continued. 
 
 
 COUNTRIES cotitinucd. 
 
 Imports. 
 
 Domestic 
 
 Foreign 
 
 TV*+nl 
 
 
 
 
 Produce. 
 
 Produce. 
 
 XwHU. 
 
 
 
 DOLLARS. 
 
 DOLLARS. 
 
 DOLLARS. 
 
 DOI. LA 1(8. 
 
 13 
 
 England . 
 
 33,446,499 
 
 36,681,808 
 
 2,932,140 
 
 39,613,948 
 
 14 
 
 Scotland 
 
 655,050 
 
 1,522,735 
 
 80,279 
 
 1,603,014 
 
 15 
 
 Ireland ... 
 
 102,700 
 
 49,968 
 
 
 49,968 
 
 16 
 
 Gibraltar . . . 
 
 12,268 
 
 466,937 
 
 115,961 
 
 582,898 
 
 17 
 
 Malta .... 
 
 7,300 
 
 11,614 
 
 8,261 
 
 19,905 
 
 18 
 
 British East Indies 
 
 1,530,364 
 
 399,979 
 
 283,825 
 
 683,804 
 
 19 
 
 Australia . . . 
 
 28,693 
 
 5.. ',651 
 
 
 52,651 
 
 20 
 
 Cape of Good Hope . . 
 
 23,815 
 
 
 
 
 21 
 
 British West Indies . 
 
 826,481 
 
 3,204,346 
 
 23,367 
 
 3,227,713 
 
 22 
 
 British Guiana . 
 
 15,004 
 
 115,991 
 
 2,462 
 
 118,453 
 
 23 
 
 Honduras 
 
 202,868 
 
 127,339 
 
 36,648 
 
 163,987 
 
 24 
 
 British American Colonies 
 
 1.762,001 
 
 5,950,143 
 
 240,166 
 
 6,190,309 
 
 25 
 
 France on the Atlantic 
 
 16,015,380 
 
 15,340,728 
 
 1,076,684 
 
 16,417,412 
 
 26 
 
 France on the Mediterranean 
 
 958,678 
 
 1,674,570 
 
 73,868 
 
 1,748,438 
 
 27 
 
 French African Ports 
 
 
 3,899 
 
 80 
 
 3,979 
 
 28 
 
 French West Indies . . 
 
 199,160 
 
 495,397 
 
 23,609 
 
 519,006 
 
 29 
 
 French Guiana 
 
 50,172 
 
 44,063 
 
 1,030 
 
 45,093 
 
 30 
 
 Miquelon and French Fisheries 
 
 
 4,932 
 
 
 4,932 
 
 31 
 
 Hayti .... 
 
 1,266,997 
 
 844,452 
 
 65,514 
 
 899,960 
 
 32 
 
 Spain on the Atlantic 
 
 79,735 
 
 333,222 
 
 1,200 
 
 334,422 
 
 33 
 
 Spain on the Mediterranean . 
 
 1,065,640 
 
 221,896 
 
 16,578 
 
 238,476 
 
 34 
 
 Teneriffe and other Canaries . 
 
 91,411 
 
 72,723 
 
 518 
 
 13,241 
 
 35 
 
 Manilla and Philippine Islands 
 
 772,372 
 
 235,732 
 
 100,444 
 
 336,176 
 
 36 
 
 Cuba . . . 
 
 7,650,429 
 
 4,197,468 
 
 572,981 
 
 4,770,449 
 
 37 
 
 Other Spanish Weet Indies . 
 
 2,517,001 
 
 610,813 
 
 19,718 
 
 630,531 
 
 38 
 
 Portugal 
 
 142,587 
 
 72,723 
 
 1,388 
 
 74,111 
 
 39 
 
 Madeira 
 
 146,182 
 
 43,054 
 
 1,930 
 
 44,984 
 
 40 
 
 Fayal and the Azores . 
 
 41,049 
 
 49,183 
 
 19,600 
 
 68,783 
 
 41 
 
 Cape De Verd Islands 
 
 17,866 
 
 103,557 
 
 1 1 ,529 
 
 115,086 
 
 42 
 
 Italy .... 
 
 987,528 
 
 515,577 
 
 304,940 
 
 820,517 
 
 43 
 
 Sicily .... 
 
 539,419 
 
 237,861 
 
 195,797 
 
 433,658 
 
 44 
 
 Mediterranean Islands 
 
 14,294 
 
 40,208 
 
 
 40,208 
 
 45 
 
 Trieste . . 
 
 413,210 
 
 748, F79 
 
 136,526 
 
 884,705 
 
 4fi 
 
 Turkey 
 
 370,248 
 
 125,521 
 
 76,515 
 
 202,036 
 
 47 
 
 Morocco 
 
 4,779 
 
 
 
 
 48 
 
 Texas .... 
 
 480,892 
 
 278,978 
 
 127,951 
 
 406,929 
 
 49 
 
 Mexico . . 
 
 1,995,696 
 
 909,37 1 
 
 564,862 
 
 1,534,233 
 
 50 
 
 Venezuela 
 
 1 ,544,342 
 
 499,380 
 
 16,832 
 
 666,212 
 
 51 
 
 New Grenada --.- 
 
 176,216 
 
 57,363 
 
 46,361 
 
 103,724 
 
 52 
 
 Central America 
 
 124,994 
 
 46,642 
 
 22,817 
 
 69,466 
 
 53 
 
 Brazil .... 
 
 5,948,814 
 
 2,225,571 
 
 375,931 
 
 2,601,502 
 
 54 
 
 Argentine Republic . 
 
 1,835,623 
 
 265,356 
 
 145,905 
 
 411,261 
 
 55 
 
 Cisplatine Republic . 
 
 581,918 
 
 202,999 
 
 67,968 
 
 269,967 
 
 56 
 
 Chili .... 
 
 831,039 
 
 1,270,941 
 
 368,735 
 
 1,639,676 
 
 57 
 
 Peru .... 
 
 204,768 
 
 
 
 
 58 
 
 South America generally 
 
 
 147,222 
 
 1,200 
 
 148.422 
 
 59 
 
 China .... 
 
 4,934,645 
 
 737.509 
 
 706,888 
 
 144',397 
 
 60 
 
 Asia generally . 
 
 979,6H9 
 
 283,367 
 
 224,914 
 
 478,281 
 
 61 
 
 Africa generally . 
 
 539,458 
 
 472,841 
 
 51,135 
 
 523,976 
 
 62 
 
 West Indies generally 
 
 
 205,913 
 
 1,790 
 
 207,703 
 
 63 
 
 South Seas 
 
 41,747 
 
 128,853 
 
 17,524 
 
 146,380 
 
 64 
 
 North-west Coast of America 
 
 
 
 2,370 
 
 2,370 
 
 65 
 
 Uncertain places . 
 
 10,144 
 
 19,290 
 
 
 19,290 
 
 
 Total . 
 
 100,162,087 
 
 92,969,996 
 
 11,721,538 
 
 104,691,534
 
 368 
 
 STATE IMPORTS AND EXPORTS. 
 
 As in part explanatory of the foregoing, we sub- 
 mit the following equally interesting table, of the 
 Imports and Exports of each State and territory of 
 the Republic for the same period, ending on 30th 
 September, 1842. 
 
 
 Value of Imports. 
 
 Value of Export!. 
 
 St&tes and 
 
 
 
 Territories. 
 
 In American 
 
 In Foreign 
 
 Total . 
 
 Domestic 
 
 Foreign 
 
 Total. 
 
 
 Vessels. 
 
 Vessels. 
 
 
 Produce. 
 
 Produce. 
 
 
 
 Dollars. 
 
 Dollars. 
 
 Dollars. 
 
 Dollars. 
 
 Dollars. 
 
 Dollars 
 
 Maine 
 
 547,956 
 
 58,908 
 
 606,864 
 
 1,043,172 
 
 7,351 
 
 1,050,523 
 
 New Hampshire 
 
 55/256 
 
 5,225 60,481 
 
 28,419 
 
 128 
 
 28,547 
 
 Vermont 
 
 209,868 
 
 
 209,868 
 
 550,293 
 
 7,216 
 
 557,509 
 
 Massachusetts 
 
 16,495,973 
 
 1,490,460 
 
 17,986,433 
 
 6,719,115 
 
 3,087,995 
 
 9,8;t7,110 
 
 Rhode Island 
 
 320,36i 3,3-24 323,60-2 
 
 323,437 
 
 25,259 
 
 348,696 
 
 Connecticut 
 
 329,583 6,127 
 
 335,707 
 
 532,392 
 
 
 532,392 
 
 New York 
 
 51,523,0,>o 
 
 6,352,549 
 
 57,875,60420,739,28(5 
 
 6 837,492 
 
 27,576,778 
 
 New Jersey 
 
 145 
 
 
 145 64,932 
 
 5,976 
 
 70,907 
 
 Pennsylvania 
 
 6,757,228 
 
 628,630 
 
 7,385,858 3,293,814 
 
 476,913 
 
 3,770,727 
 
 Delaware 
 
 1,612 
 
 1,945 
 
 3,557 
 
 55,665 
 
 
 55,665 
 
 Maryland 
 
 3,988,365 
 
 418,713 
 
 4,417,078 
 
 4,635,507 269,259 
 
 4,904,766 
 
 Disk ofColumbia 
 
 23,934 
 
 5,122 
 
 29,056 
 
 498,820 
 
 2,855 
 
 501,675 
 
 Virginia 
 
 278,536 
 
 38,169 
 
 316,705 
 
 3,745,227 
 
 5,159 
 
 3,750,386 
 
 North Carolina 
 
 181,655 
 
 5,849 
 
 187,404 344,650 
 
 
 344,650 
 
 South Carolina 
 
 1,042,424 
 
 317,041 
 
 1,359,465 7,508,399 
 
 17,324 
 
 7,525,723 
 
 Georgia 
 
 230,525 
 
 1 1 1 ,239 
 
 341,764 4,299,151 
 
 1,106 
 
 4,300,257 
 
 Alabama 
 
 238,170 
 
 125,701 
 
 363,871 
 
 9,965,675 
 
 
 9,965,675 
 
 Mississipi 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Louisiana 
 
 6,179,027 
 
 1,854,563 
 
 8,033,59027,427,422 
 
 976,727 
 
 28,404,149 
 
 Ohio 
 
 12,179 
 
 872 
 
 13,051 
 
 899,786 
 
 
 899,786 
 
 Kentucky 
 
 17,306 
 
 
 17,30f 
 
 
 
 
 Tennessee 
 
 5,687 
 
 
 5,687 
 
 
 
 
 Michigan 
 
 79982 
 
 802 
 
 80,784 
 
 262,229 
 
 
 262,229 
 
 Missouri 
 
 31,137 
 
 
 31,137 
 
 
 
 
 Florida 
 
 164,412 
 
 12,568 
 
 176,680 
 
 52,606 
 
 778 
 
 33,384 
 
 Total . . 
 
 88,7-24,280! 11,437,807 100,16-2,087:92,969,906 11,721,538 
 
 104,691 ,534 
 
 With a trade of the magnitude and importance 
 to Great Britain, as to America, that the foregoing 
 returns bespeak, it becomes a matter of some consi- 
 deration, that it should be conducted on some whole- 
 some and well-understood basis directed by some 
 better principle, than has hitherto been the case, and 
 not left subject to the mutations, the hazard and
 
 TRADE WITH FRANCE. 369 
 
 disquiets the positive losses, to which British mer- 
 chants have been exposed, not merely for one or two, 
 but for many successive years. Experience, from 
 which even in the eleventh hour they should take 
 counsel, has unfortunately been slow to convince 
 them of the difficulties and extreme risks they 
 have to encounter the odds with which they have 
 to contend, from the absence of a sufficient moral 
 restraint of all honest meaning among the gene- 
 rality of American traders, encouraged by the nume- 
 rous facilities that an uncertain and diversified code of 
 laws presents to his cupidity in the promotion or 
 advancement of his fortunes in the world, without 
 being over fastidious in the means he may employ, 
 or put in requisition for this purpose. Nevertheless, 
 they hold the remedy the future in their own 
 hands ; and from the examples already before them, 
 must be considered the arbiters of every conse- 
 quence, or evil result, by which they may be 
 assailed. 
 
 Next in importance to the trade of England, is that 
 of France, which has lately grown to a very consider- 
 able extent. In 1833, the imports from France 
 and her colonial possessions into the United States, 
 amounted in value to only 13,962,913 dollars ; 
 while the three years ending 1840, averaged some- 
 what upwards of 23,300,000. In 1829, there were 
 240,446 bales of cotton imported from the United 
 States into France; in 1838, 321,486 ditto. In 
 1840, the aggregate amounted to 447,000 bale's. 
 
 The United States of North America being essen- 
 
 VOL. i. 2 B
 
 370 IMPORTS AND EXPORTS. 
 
 tially agricultural, the principal bases of her 
 foreign trade must always rest upon the pro- 
 ducts of her own soil. Of these the most impor- 
 tant is her cotton, which Dr. Channing justly 
 observes, is " the great staple on which all the 
 commercial dealings of the country turn" large 
 quantities of which are annually produced in the 
 States of Mississippi, Georgia, Louisiana, Alabama, 
 South Carolina, and North Carolina, that in their 
 order, are the great cotton growing states of the 
 Republic. In 1783, eight bales of cotton are said 
 to have been seized on board of an American vessel 
 at the Liverpool Custom House, because it was not 
 thought possible, that at this period, the United 
 States could have shipped so large a quantity toge- 
 ther ; since then, the production of this staple has 
 increased to an almost unlimited extent. In 1790, 
 the value of cotton exported was 48,285 dollars ; 
 in 1800, five millions; in 1810, fifteen millions; 
 and in 1840, sixty-four millions (above fourteen mil- 
 lions sterling); in 1842, the entire produce was 
 783,221,800 Ibs. 
 
 The next most important staple of United States 
 export, is her tobacco ; of which the largest portion 
 in like manner is imported into England, and where 
 the consumption, notwithstanding the enormous 
 duties to which it is subject, constituting a material 
 source of British custom's revenue, is considerably 
 greater than in any other European country. It 
 appears that the tax paid in Great Britain in the year 
 1840, as duty, on manufactured tobacco, amounted 
 to 3,525,956. against 3,431,908. paid in the pre-
 
 COTTON AND TOBACCO. 371 
 
 ceding year, 1839. The quantities imported in 1840, 
 35,637,826 pounds weight, against 35,605,223 
 pounds in 1839. Hazard's " Commercial and 
 Statistical Register," a work of very considerable 
 authority, published in the United States, asserts the 
 number of hogsheads of tobacco, exported in 1840, 
 to amount to 119,484, of which 26,255 hogsheads 
 were imported into England. 
 
 It will appear from the same authority, that 
 from the year 1821 to 1840, there were exported 
 from ports in the United States 1,792,000 hogs- 
 heads, valued by the Treasury Department at 
 131,346,514 dollars, being an annual average of 
 89,600 hogsheads, or 6,567,325 dols. 
 
 During the years 1821, to 1839, there were ex- 
 ported 788,477 pounds of snuff, and 57,196,254 
 pounds of manufactured tobacco ; valued together, 
 at 5,556,581 dols. 
 
 For the first ten years of the series, from 1 82 1 to 
 1830, there were exported 824,245 hogsheads of 
 tobacco, valued at 56,889,291 dollars; and during 
 the last ten years, 1830 to 1840, 967,755 hogs- 
 heads, valued at 74,457,223 dols., being an excess in 
 the last ten years, over the first ten, of hogsheads 
 143,510, valued at 17,567,932 dols. 
 
 The average annual export in the first ten years 
 was 82,424 hogsheads, or 5,688,929 dollars ; and 
 during the second ten years 96,775 hogsheads, or 
 7,445,722 dols. 
 
 The average price daring the whole twenty years, 
 was 73 dollars 31 cents per hogshead. For the first 
 
 2 B 2
 
 372 IMPORTS AND EXPORTS. 
 
 ten years 69 dollars and 1 1 cents ; and for the second 
 ten years, 67 dollars 83 cents ; or if 1,200 be taken as 
 the average weight of the hogshead, the price during 
 the twenty years will be, 6 T l <jo cents per pound- 
 first ten years, 5J cents ; and second ten years, 
 6 T 4 <nr cents per pound. 
 
 The whole amount shipped from the United 
 States in the twenty years was 
 
 To England . 524,640 hhds. valued at $50,194,466 
 France . 146,834 . 16,361,346 
 
 Holland . 423,707 . 21,907,465 
 
 Germany . 373,918 . 18,734,186 
 
 All other countries 322,021 . 24,149,051 
 
 Total . 1,792,000 hhds. $131,346,514 
 
 In the first ten years there were shipped 
 
 to England . . 241,919 hhds. 
 
 In the second ten years ditto 282,721 
 
 Being an increase in the last period, of . 40,082 hhds. 
 
 The average annual export to England during the twenty 
 years, was 26,232 hogsheads, valued at $2,509,723. 
 To France in the ten years 1821 to 1830 were 
 
 exported . . . 65,322 hhds. 
 
 To France in the ten years 1830 to 1840, were 
 
 exported . . . 81,012 
 
 Being an increase in ten years, of . 15,190 
 
 The annual average to France is 7,341 hhds. or $818,067. 
 To Holland there were exported, from 1821 to 
 
 1830 .... 218,679 hhds. 
 
 1830 to 1840 205,028 , 
 
 Being a decrease in the last ten years, of . . 13,651 
 The average annual export 21,185 hogsheads, $1,095,373.
 
 TOBACCO, ETC. 373 
 
 To Germany from 1821 to 1830 were exported 139,515 hhds. 
 183Q to 1840 . 234,403 ,, 
 
 Being an increase of . . 94,888 hhds. 
 
 The annual average export 18,695 hogsheads, or $936,709. 
 To all other countries the exports were from 
 
 1821 to 1830 . . . 158,310 hhds. 
 
 1830 to 1840 . 164,591 
 
 Being an increase of . . 6,218 
 
 Of other countries, Gibraltar receives on an average of the 
 
 last three years, ending 1840, 5,130 hogsheads annually. 
 
 Sweden and Norway, 1,564 ; Belgium, 1,255; Italy, 1,660 ; 
 
 Cuba, 769 ; Africa, 1,108; Spain, 1067; and Scotland, 854 
 
 hogsheads. 
 
 The value of the tobacco shipped from the United States to all 
 
 parts of the world, in the year 1842, amounted to 9,540,755. dols. 
 
 The exports of the United States in other articles 
 of domestic produce is also very considerable, espe- 
 cially in rice, wheat, flour ; particularly the latter, 
 which averaged in the three preceding years 6,890,694 
 dollars; in 1842 it amounted to 7,375,366 dollars. 
 The value of the other items of general export, of 
 the growth, produce, and manufacture of the United 
 States, for the three years ending September 30th, 
 1842, is included in the following statement: 
 
 Product of the Sea, including dried 
 fish, sperm oil, whalebone, &c. &c. 
 for the three years ending 1842 . $8,868,231 
 
 Averaging in each year . $2,956,077 
 
 Product of the Forest, including 
 skins, furs, spars, shingles, and 
 timber of every kind . 17,106,191 
 
 Averaging in each year . 5,702,030 
 
 Agriculture, including cattle, beef, 
 
 tallow, butter, pork, &c. . 11,945,986 
 Averaging in each year . 3,981,995
 
 374 MANUFACTURING STATES. 
 
 Vegetable Food (exclusive of tobacco 
 and cotton), including flour and 
 all kinds of grain . $39,868,591 
 
 Averaging in each year . ; $13,289,530 
 
 All other agricultural products, in- 
 cluding hemp, flax-seed, hops, &c. 362,295 
 
 Averaging in each year . 120,798 
 
 Manufactures of every kind . 21,979,684 
 
 Averaging in each year . 7,326,561 
 
 Articles not enumerated . 4,462,363 
 
 Averaging in each year . 1,487,454 
 
 The southern States of America, may very pro- 
 perly be classed as the producing states of the 
 Republic, where cotton, sugar, rice, tobacco, are of 
 its most valuable and abundant products that add 
 so materially to the national wealth, and give em- 
 ployment to its numerous shipping. The northern 
 and eastern States on the other hand, are more 
 immediately confined to commerce and manufac- 
 tures, with the exception of New York, Ohio, and 
 Pennsylvania, that combine with their manufactur- 
 ing pursuits, a large proportion of agricultural 
 industry. They are the principal grain states of 
 the Republic, and annually ship large quantities of 
 flour to other markets, besides providing for the 
 general home consumption. 
 
 The principal manufacturing states are Massachu- 
 setts, Connecticut, New York, and Pennsylvania, 
 where a considerable amount of capital is invested 
 in these speculations labour being more abundant 
 than in other parts of the country, and where the 
 activity and enterprise of the population, immedi-
 
 AGRICULTURAL CAPABILITIES. 375 
 
 ately fit them for these pursuits. Nevertheless, the 
 comparatively high prices that labour always com- 
 mands, and that will continue to exist, so long 
 as the unpeopled districts of the western country, 
 as well the irreclaimed lands of many of the At- 
 lantic states may create a demand for whatever 
 supply the wants and necessities of the population 
 may occasion, has retarded to some extent, the more 
 general progress of manufactures, and that can 
 seldom compete, especially in the production of the 
 finer fabrics, with British skill, except aided by the 
 protective duties that continue to be imposed, 
 though ostensibly as a necessary source of revenue, 
 under the present existing tariff laws of the country. 
 The discernment and prudence of America has 
 often been questioned in this respect, and her policy 
 in directing so much of her attention to her manu- 
 facturing capabilities, which for many years to come 
 must contend with these disadvantages, rather than 
 depend upon her immense agricultural resources, very 
 generally condemned. The richness of her soil, which 
 amply rewards the husbandman's industry and 
 exertion, and repays him far beyond his first neces- 
 sary outlay in its reclamation the immense extent of 
 territory within the Republic, and comparative cheap- 
 ness of land, which must always encourage emigra- 
 tion from the most distant parts of the old world, 
 points out agriculture as the most natural, as well 
 the most important interest in America. The re- 
 sources derived from it, though perhaps restricted 
 in amount, are more certain, and in the end more
 
 376 PRESIDENT JEFFERSON ON 
 
 remunerative, from being removed beyond the ca- 
 sualties and restraints of an unsettled commercial 
 system, and that with the ever-varying interests of 
 opposite intersections of the people to contend with, 
 must generally be the case independent of its 
 healthfulness, in the promotion of an independent, 
 sturdy, and as far as it is possible to expect in 
 America, a vigorous and robust population. 
 
 In speaking on this subject, the late President 
 Jefferson, in his " Notes on Virginia," observes 
 
 " The political economists of Europe have esta- 
 blished as a principle that every nation should 
 endeavour to manufacture for itself, and this prin- 
 ciple, like many others, is applied to America, 
 without calculating the difference of circumstances 
 that should often produce a different result. In 
 Europe, the lands are either cultivated, or locked up 
 against the cultivator. Manufactures must, there- 
 fore, be resorted to, from necessity, not from choice, 
 to support the supplies of their people. But we 
 have an immensity of land courting the industry of 
 the husbandman. Is it best then, that all our 
 citizens should be employed in its improvement, or 
 that one-half should be called off from that to 
 exercise manufactures and handicraft arts for the 
 other ? Those that Labour in the earth are the 
 chosen people of God, if ever he had a chosen 
 people whose breasts he had made his peculiar 
 deposit for substantial and generous virtue. It is 
 the focus in which he keeps alive that sacred fire 
 which otherwise might escape from the earth.
 
 AMERICAN AGRICULTURE. . 377 
 
 Corruption of morals in the mass of the cultivators 
 is a phenomenon of which no age or nation has 
 furnished an example. It is the mark set on those 
 who not looking up to heaven, to their own soil and 
 industry (as does the husbandman), for their sub- 
 sistence, depend upon the casualties and caprice of 
 customers. Dependence begets subservience and 
 venality ; suffocates the germ of virtue, and pre- 
 pares fit tools for the designs of ambition. This, 
 the natural consequence and progress of the arts, 
 has sometimes been retarded by accidental circum- 
 stances ; but generally speaking, the proportion 
 which the whole of the other classes of citizens 
 bears in any country, to that of its husbandmen, is 
 the proportion of its unsound to, its healthy parts, 
 and is a good enough barometer, whereby to mea- 
 sure its degree of corruption. 
 
 " While we have land to labour on, never let us 
 wish to see our citizens occupied at a work bench, or 
 twirling a distaff. Carpenters, masons, and smiths, 
 are wanted in husbandry ; but for the general ope- 
 rations of manufacture, let our workshops remain 
 in Europe. It is better to carry provisions and 
 materials to workmen there, than to bring them to 
 the provisions and materials, and with them 
 their measures and principles. The loss by trans- 
 portation of commodities across the Atlantic, will be 
 made up in happiness and permanence of Govern- 
 ment. The mobs of great cities, add just so much 
 to the support of pure government as sores do to 
 the strength of the human body. It is the man-
 
 378 TONNAGE OF THE 
 
 ners, and spirit of a people, which preserve a re- 
 public in vigour ; a degeneracy in these, soon cuts 
 to the heart of its laws and constitution." 
 
 The commerce of the United States absorbs a 
 large amount of capital, and gives employment to 
 a numerous shipping, that are to be met with 
 in every sea traversing every remote section of 
 the navigable world. Its extension has been un- 
 exampled, as well occasioned by the increased 
 quantity of bulky materials, which constitute a 
 material part of American exports, as from the 
 great annual augmentation in the population of 
 the country, and extent of its carrying trade. The 
 registered tonnage, or tonnage employed in foreign 
 trade, from 1793 to 1801, was 358,815 tons, having 
 nearly doubled in eight years. From 1793 to 1810 
 the increase was 616,535 tons. The tonnage em- 
 ployed in the fisheries, also increased from 1793, to 
 1807, about 40,000 tons. 
 
 The whole tonnage of the United States in 1810, 
 was 1,424,780 tons, of which the different States 
 owned the following proportions : 
 
 
 TONS. 
 
 
 TONS. 
 
 New Hampshire 
 
 . 28,817 
 
 Maryland . 
 
 . 143,785 
 
 Massachusetts . 
 
 . 495,203 
 
 Virginia . , , . 
 
 . 84,923 
 
 Rhode Island . 
 
 . 36,155 
 
 North Carolina 
 
 . 39,594 
 
 Connecticut 
 
 . 45,108 
 
 South Carolina 
 
 . 53,926 
 
 New York 
 
 . 2/6,557 
 
 Georgia . . 
 
 . 15,619 
 
 New Jersey 
 
 . 43,803 
 
 Ohio . : : . 
 
 . None. 
 
 Pennsylvania . 
 
 . 125,430 
 
 New Orleans 
 
 . 13,240 
 
 Delaware 
 
 . 8,190 
 
 
 
 The State of Massachusetts possesses many hun-
 
 UNITED STATES. 
 
 379 
 
 dred miles of sea-coast, with numerous inlets and 
 harbours; her amount of tonnage is considerably 
 greater than any other State in the Union. The ton- 
 nage of the principal sea-ports in 1810, was, of 
 
 Boston . . . 149,121 tons. 
 
 New York . . . 268,548 
 
 Philadelphia . . 125,258 
 
 Baltimore . . . 103,444 
 
 Charleston . . . 52,888 
 
 The total United States tonnage in 1815 was 
 1,368,127 tons, being 56,643 tons less than in 
 1810, so much had peace all over the world les- 
 sened the external commerce of the United States. 
 In 1820 it was 1,280,166.24; in 1825, 1,432,110.77; 
 in 1830, 1,191,776.43; in 1835, 1,824,940; in 1839, 
 2,096,478.81 ; and in 1843, in which we have the 
 last published returns, 2,158,602 tons. 
 
 Of the amount of United States tonnage for the 
 year 1839, the following States and territories 
 owned, viz. : 
 
 TONS 
 
 AND 95THS. 
 
 TONS 
 
 AND 95THS. 
 
 Maine 
 
 282,285.37 
 
 North Carolina . 
 
 40,814.45 
 
 New Hampshire . 
 
 29,224.07 
 
 South Carolina 
 
 33,414.21 
 
 Vermont 
 
 4,232.37 
 
 Georgia . ".' 
 
 20,942.83 
 
 Massachusetts 
 
 526,364.21 
 
 Alabama . ". 
 
 21,742.00 
 
 Rhode Island 
 
 44,572.16 
 
 Louisiana . 
 
 109,076.36 
 
 Connecticut . 
 
 83,014.34 
 
 Tennessee . 
 
 4,240.94 
 
 New York . 
 
 468,593.58 
 
 Kentucky . 
 
 8,125.87 
 
 New Jersey . 
 
 62,540.87 
 
 Ohio . 
 
 23,925.55 
 
 Pennsylvania 
 
 112,359.17 
 
 Michigan 
 
 10,999.59 
 
 Delaware 
 
 19,203.19 
 
 Mo . 
 
 9,735.00 
 
 Maryland 
 
 116,203.87 
 
 Dist. of Columbia 
 
 23,142.26 
 
 Virginia 
 
 51,808.39 
 
 Florida 
 
 8,672.68 

 
 380 STEAM FIRST APPLIED TO 
 
 Tonnage of the six largest districts in this year : 
 
 TONS AND 95THS. TONS AND 95THS. 
 
 New York . . 430,300.88 Philadelphia . 96,862.09 
 Boston . . 203,615.82 New Bedford . 86,524.75 
 New Orleans . 109,076.36 Baltimore . . 71,533.14 
 
 Included in this estimate is a large amount of 
 steam shipping, that traverse the inland seas and 
 rivers of the Republic, developing its resources, and 
 uniting its population in one large and universal 
 family, facilitating trade, in the speedy and certain 
 conveyance of the products of the soil, the in- 
 dustry and labour of the inland settler, and afford- 
 ing a ready interchange of the luxuries, as well 
 the necessaries, of life. To no nation has steam 
 power extended the same measure of good, of im- 
 portant and signal benefits, as to the United States ; 
 and certainly none have taken more ready advan- 
 tage of its beneficial and weighty aid, in the steady 
 promotion of every improvement, and the rapid 
 advance which the nation has made, since the period 
 of its first introduction, in comparative wealth, in 
 intelligence and civilization. 
 
 To whatever country the honour of the first and 
 earliest discovery of steam power is due, its first 
 practical application to the use of steam navigation, 
 we apprehend, must be conceded to the United 
 States. The idea of applying steam to boats had 
 been suggested in England as early as 1736, by one 
 Jonathan Hulls. Rumsey is said to have made 
 experiments on a small scale, as to steamboats, iii 
 Virginia, in 1787, but they were not reduced to any
 
 NAVIGATION IN AMERCIA. 381 
 
 practical use. Both he and Fitch, a poor and illi- 
 terate watchmaker of Philadelphia, are declared by 
 American writers to have commenced trials in that 
 country as early as 1783 and 1784,* and Oliver 
 
 * The biography of Fitch, lately published in the United 
 States, represents him as an American citizen, whose name, 
 though at present but little known to his countrymen, is destined 
 at no distant day to assume a high rank among the benefactors 
 of the age, and goes on to state of this remarkable man, that 
 He " was born in Connecticut, was a watchmaker in Trenton, a 
 soldier of the revolutionary war, a surveyor of public lands in 
 the West, a poor, hard-working, ingenious man, whom all con- 
 sidered, as men of genius are considered, visionary. In 1785 
 he made a model of a steamboat with perfect steam machinery. 
 He tried wheels at first, but they were badly constructed, and he 
 substituted paddles, which worked rather better, and then he 
 regarded his model, examined his empty pockets, and saw before 
 him, in visions of hope, the great results which hereafter would 
 grow out of steam navigation. He petitioned the Continental 
 Congress for aid. They had no money to give to such experi- 
 ments. He begged the legislature of Pennsylvania to assist him, 
 without effect. He talked to the Western members of Congress 
 of the great waters of the Mississippi and the lakes covered by 
 steamboats, and conveying the produce of that section of the 
 Union to the ocean, but they considered it chimerical and wild. 
 He wrote to Dr. Franklin, and boldly contended that the sea 
 would be navigated by steam hereafter, and earnestly implored 
 co-operation and aid ; but when a man strikes at something bold 
 and high, promising new and extraordinary results, talked of 
 immense revolutions in trade, immense expedition in travelling 
 by a new process, the old and long standing impression of weak 
 and visionary projects met him at every turn, and finally his 
 condition was hopeless. At length he drew and engraved a map 
 of the North-western territory of the United States, and struck 
 off the sheets on a cider press, and by this he made $800. and
 
 382 EXPERIMENTS OF 
 
 Evans in 1785 and 86. Similar experiments were 
 made in France in 1781 and 86. But we believe it 
 
 in 1787 formed a company of forty shares, and commenced a 
 boat of sixty tons, which, after immense difficulties and delays, 
 rough machinery, and small cylinders, was found only to go 
 against wind and tide at the rate of three miles an hour. 
 This was no failure, it was a triumph ; and Fitch doubled his 
 shares, constructed a new engine, built a new boat called the 
 Perseverance, and on the 12th of October, 1788, the boat 
 ascended the Delaware to Burlington, with thirty passengers, 
 and made the passage in three hours and twenty minutes, and 
 afterwards made eighty miles in one day. There is near us, as 
 we write, a gentleman who stood on the wharf, and saw the boat 
 ascend the Delaware. This rvas tkejirst successful application 
 of steam to the propelling of vessels. Fitch, therefore, was the 
 original inventor, and to whom all honour was due. 
 
 " In 1/88, after great exertions, he completed a larger boat, but 
 it took fire, and burned to the water's edge. In 1791 he ob- 
 tained a patent ; and a committee of the New York Legislature, 
 in 1817, said that Livingston and Fulton's boat was substantially 
 the invention of Fitch. He went to Europe, obtained no en- 
 couragement, worked his passage back as a common sailor, and, 
 pennyless and hopeless, he poisoned himself in Kentucky in an 
 obscure tavern, and was buried in a corner of the yard, without 
 a stone to mark where the remains lay of the first discoverer of 
 the application of steam to propelling vessels. He desired to be 
 buried on the banks of the Ohio, and exclaimed in apparent dis- 
 tress of mind, when deliberating on his hard fate : ' Why these 
 earnest solicitations and excruciating anxieties ! Why not leave 
 them, and retire to rest under the shady elms on the fair banks 
 of the Ohio, and there eat my coarse but sweet bread of industry 
 and content, and when I have done, to have my body laid in the 
 soft, warm, and loamy soil of the banks of the Ohio, my name 
 inscribed on a neighbouring poplar, that future generations, 
 when traversing the mighty waters of the West, may find my
 
 FITCH AND FULTON. 383 
 
 must be conceded to America, to the sagacity and 
 persevering efforts of the speculative and enterprising 
 Fulton, that the earliest steamboat for any practical 
 purposes throughout the world was first used in 
 1807, on the Hudson river, in the state of New 
 York. She was called the " North River," with an 
 engine of only eighteen horse power, and made the 
 passage from Albany to New York, distance 156 
 miles, in thirty-three hours, which before that time 
 was generally a five-days' journey, namely, three 
 days by water, and two by land conveyance. We 
 have since frequently made the same travel, in the 
 splendid vessels of the Hudson river, in eleven and 
 twelve hours, and on one occasion in nine hours. 
 The engines of the " North River" were not, how- 
 ever, made in America, but were manufactured by 
 Bolton and Watt, of Liverpool. 
 
 Since the first use or employment of steamboats 
 
 grassy turf.' And still later he breaks forth in the same poetical 
 strain, referring to the position of his grave, and hoping that it 
 may be made on the shores of some of the waters of the West, 
 in order that the ' song of the boatman may enliven the stillness 
 of his resting-place, and the music of the steam engine sooth his 
 troubled spirit.' Fulton has the eulogy, the fame, the money, 
 Fitch, the real inventor, is only now to receive the honour of a 
 monument over his grave, which is proposed to be done in Ken- 
 tucky. We see in this the instability of human affairs, the little 
 security which genius can afford, the doubtful reward which 
 merit claims ; and the lesson it teaches is this, always distrust 
 your own judgment on the possibility of success of any inven- 
 tion, and never pronounce that man visionary, who rests his 
 plans on reasonable grounds of success."
 
 384 STEAM NAVIGATION OF 
 
 in the United States, it is computed that thirteen 
 hundred have been built in the country. Of these, 
 about two hundred and sixty have been lost, by 
 various accidents, as many as two hundred and forty 
 worn out, and the remaining eight hundred, of all 
 sizes, including ferry and market boats, were running 
 in 1839, of which we have the latest returns. 
 
 A considerable proportion of these steamers are 
 employed upon the gigantic Mississippi, and its 
 numerous tributaries, the Ohio, and other large 
 western rivers, hitherto almost unnavigable, except 
 in the direction of their currents. The painful and 
 laborious effort of ascending these rivers made it 
 always a task of much difficulty and delay fre- 
 quently of danger. From twelve to sixteen days 
 were usually consumed in the passage from New 
 Orleans to Natchez, distant 322 miles, while the 
 same distance is now travelled against the stream in 
 somewhat less than three days. The export and 
 surplus produce of the great valley of the Missis- 
 sippi and entire western territory of America, is 
 usually forwarded by this route. Before the intro- 
 duction of steam, large rafts, or boats of a rude and 
 hasty construction, were put together for this pur- 
 pose, which were carried onward with the current, 
 merely requiring the direction of a few experienced 
 hands to avoid the shoals, the snags, and other risks, 
 to which this navigation is always exposed, to reach 
 their destination ; when, from the difficulties of re- 
 ascending the river, these boats were broken up, 
 sold either as lumber, or for firewood, while the
 
 THE UNITED STATES. 385 
 
 farmer or western settler, who usually accompanied 
 his venture, had to wend his way homewards, fre- 
 quently a distance of some sixteen or eighteen hun- 
 dred miles, in the best way he could. All these 
 difficulties, with the trouble and delay which they 
 occasioned, have been overcome by the powerful 
 aid of modern steam navigation ; whilst it is by no 
 means improbable, that at an early day, we shall 
 witness an entire revolution in all the former staid 
 and accustomed modes of commercial dealing, by 
 which the wants of the people of these vast regions 
 are wont to be supplied, by a more immediate and 
 direct maritime and commercial intercourse between 
 the nations of the old world and those important 
 though remote inland sections of the new. 
 
 Yet, is America far, very far behind Great Britain 
 in the serviceable build or construction of steam 
 vessels intended for sea service, but more espe- 
 cially in the manufacture of marine steam machi- 
 nery ; which is demonstrated in the rude, unfinished 
 make, and cumbersome materials, of which her 
 engines are generally constructed and put together; 
 still further evidenced in the many and repeated 
 accidents that have occurred in every river in which 
 they are employed, and amongst the very few that 
 have ventured on a coasting trip along her shores. 
 It was only in 1837, that the " Home," built and 
 constructed in the city of New York as a model 
 vessel, in her first voyage to a southern port, actually 
 opened, fell to pieces, and foundered off the coast of 
 Carolina, sending one hundred luckless individuals 
 VOL. i. 2 c
 
 386 STEAM NAVIGATION OF 
 
 on board, many unprepared unprovided for to a 
 sudden and premature grave. 
 
 It appears by authentic returns of material acci- 
 dents and loss of life by explosions and other dis- 
 asters, which have occurred in the United States, 
 ending 1838, that the whole number has been 228 ; 
 that of these, 99 appear to have been by explosion 
 and collapses; 28 by fire; 25 by shipwreck, by 
 gales, collisions &c. ; 52 from snags and sawyers ; 
 and 24 from different unknown causes. Of these, 
 only 9 occurred in 1835, which number was fear- 
 fully increased to 24 in the following year. Still 
 augmented in 1837 to 30, and in 1838 to 39, with 
 a sacrifice of life beyond all proportion ; which at 
 length compelled Congress to adopt measures for 
 the purpose of giving some better security to steam 
 navigation, and offering some reasonable guarantee 
 for the safety and preservation of human life. An 
 act was accordingly passed by both houses for this 
 purpose, and approved of by the President, July 7th, 
 1838. 
 
 This act contains many salutary provisions, and 
 enjoins, that competent persons shall be appointed 
 under its authority by the district judges of the 
 United States, to inspect steam vessels, &c., their 
 boilers and machinery ; and that the hull of every 
 steam-vessel of the United States, or of the citizens 
 thereof, shall undergo such inspection, once at least 
 within every twelve months, and of the boilers and 
 machinery once in every six months ; and provides, 
 that the person or persons appointed and called
 
 THE UNITED STATES. 387 
 
 upon to inspect the hull of any steam-boat or ves- 
 sel, shall after thorough examination of the same, 
 give to the owner or master a certificate, in which 
 shall be stated the age of the said boat or vessel, 
 when and where originally built, and the length of 
 time that such has been running, and shall state 
 also, whether in his or their opinion the said boat 
 or vessel is sound, and in all respects sea- worthy 
 and fit to be used for the transportation of freight 
 or passengers. 
 
 And that the person or persons, who shall be 
 called upon to inspect the boiler and machinery of 
 steam-vessels, shall after a thorough examination of 
 the same, make a certificate, in which he or they 
 shall state his or their opinion, whether said boilers 
 are sound and fit for use, together with the age of the 
 boilers ; it also provides 
 
 That every captain, engineer, pilot, or other per- 
 son employed on board of any steam. boat or vessel 
 propelled in whole or in part by steam, by whose 
 misconduct, negligence, or inattention to his or 
 their respective duties, the life or lives of any per- 
 son or persons on board said vessels may be de- 
 stroyed, shall be deemed guilty of manslaughter, 
 and upon conviction thereof before any circuit court 
 of the United States, shall be sentenced to confine- 
 ment and hard labour, for a period of not more 
 than ten years ; and declares, 
 
 That in all suits and actions against proprietors 
 of steam-boats, for injuries arising to persons or 
 property, from the bursting of the boiler of any 
 
 2 c 2
 
 388 STEAM NAVIGATION OF 
 
 steam-boat, or the collapse of a flue, or other in- 
 jurious escape of steam, such shall be taken as full 
 primd facie evidence, sufficient to charge the defend- 
 ant or those in his employment with negligence, 
 until he shall shew that no negligence has been 
 committed by him or those in his employment. 
 
 These humane provisions in the law of America 
 are rendered in great part inoperative the federal 
 power possessing but little local influence or means 
 of enforcing its authority against a determined 
 resistance of any number of its citizens. Steam- 
 boat accidents are quite as numerous and appalling 
 in their consequences, since the passing of this 
 act, as at any period since their first introduction. 
 
 Of the whole number of steam-boats, respecting 
 which returns have been made, 351 are in use on 
 the waters adjoining, or flowing into the Atlantic 
 and Gulf of Mexico ; 64 on the great north-wes- 
 tern lakes, and 285 on the waters of the Mississippi 
 valley, viz : 
 
 High pressure. Low pressure. Not known. 
 Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico 92 222 37 
 
 North-Western Lakes .32 31 1 
 
 Mississippi Valley . . 284 1 
 
 Total . . 408 254 38 
 
 TONNAGE SO FAR AS ASCERTAINED. 
 
 High pressure. Low pressure. Total. 
 
 Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico 10,477 55,469 65,946 
 
 North-Western Lakes 7,986 9,301 17,332 
 
 Mississippi Valley 43,440 43,440 
 
 Tons 61,903 64,770 126,673
 
 THE UNITED STATES. 389 
 
 No returns have been made of the tonnage of 45 
 boats on the waters of the Atlantic, nor of 9 boats 
 on the Mississippi and Ohio. The character of the 
 engine of one small boat on the North-western 
 Lakes, is also omitted in the returns ; this would 
 require an addition to the tonnage of 54 ascertained 
 boats, estimated at 200 tons each, of . 10,800 
 
 Making a probable aggregate in all the ascertained 
 
 boats, equal to . . . Tons, 137,473 
 
 HORSE POWER SO FAR AS ASCERTAINED. 
 
 High pressure. Low pressure. Total. 
 Atlantic rvrs. & Gf. of Mexico 2,927 10,391 13,318 
 
 North-western Lakes 2,910 2,947 5,857 
 
 Mississippi Valley 15,934 15,934 
 
 Total 21,771 13,338 35,109 
 
 Estimated for 213 boats, viz 139 boats on the waters 
 of the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico ; 1, on the 
 Western lakes, and 73 on the valley of the Mis- 
 sissippi, of which no returns have been made, at 70 
 for each boat, and which is pretty near the 
 average . . . . . . 14,910 
 
 Making an aggregate of horse power in the 700 boats 
 
 returned equal to . . . 50,019 
 
 Add for 1 00 boats considered not to be returned, but 
 
 whose horse power is estimated at 70 each 7,000 
 
 Ascertained and estimated total of horse power in 
 Steam-boats in the United States, supposed to num- 
 ber 800 .... 57,019 
 
 The whole number of Steam -boats built for the 
 western waters of the United States, up to the 20th 
 of April 1839, is stated to be 378. Of these, there 
 were built at Pittsburg, and immediate vicinity,
 
 390 STANDING STEAM ENGINES. 
 
 which is 2000 miles by water from New Orleans, 
 its nearest port or sea outlet, 130 ; at Wheeling, 
 22 ; at Cincinnati, 83 ; the residue at different points 
 along the Ohio. 
 
 The general deficiency in the supply of manual 
 labour in America, has made it necessary to pro- 
 vide other auxiliaries in its stead ; by water power, 
 where such means are attainable, and otherwise, by 
 steam power, especially in the larger towns and 
 cities. Scarcely any of the mechanic arts, that are 
 not assisted in their progress by this latter means ; 
 while seldom a store or workshop is now built, 
 either for any certain use, or for the speculative 
 purpose of leasing out to others, that has not its 
 engine-room and engine, as of course, attached to 
 the premises ; the number has in consequence ma- 
 terially increased within late years. 
 
 The total number of standing steam-engines, 
 those of which a return has been obtained, as well 
 the estimated number in those states from where no 
 return has been had, up to the period, 1838, amounted 
 of all sizes, to 1860, and of 36,319 horse power ; of 
 which, 383, with 7,448 horse power, being the 
 greatest number in any one state, were belonging 
 to Pennsylvania ; 274, with 7,796 horse power, to 
 the state of Louisiana ; 165 to Maryland ; 124 to 
 Virginia, and the residue, apportioned between the 
 remaining states.
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Progress of Internal Improvements Resolute determination of 
 the American settler Railroads, canals, &c. Currency of 
 the United States The experimental freaks of General 
 Jackson in relation thereto Undue value attached by Act 
 of Congress to foreign coin in the United States Importa- 
 tions of Specie into the United States, in 1835 and 36 
 General bankruptcy, in 1837 Speculating and overtrading 
 mania in the United States American "shin plasters" 
 Suspension by the United States and other banks, in 1837 
 General bankruptcy law Its passage through Congress and 
 subsequent repeal Opinions in relation thereunto The 
 present relations of debtor and creditor in the United States 
 Interest paid on discounts Penalties of usury General bad 
 faith of Americans in money dealings Remarkable instance, 
 in which the Author was concerned Domestic exchanges 
 National bank Opinion of Judge Story as to its constitu- 
 tionality Damages on protested bills. 
 
 THE progress of internal improvement in the 
 United States, has of late years exceeded that of 
 every other country. To this end, is every man's 
 energy in some way or other found to contribute, 
 either in the discovery of some new and untried 
 means some greater facility in its further promo- 
 tion, or in exhausting the opportunities already 
 within his disposal for its ultimate accomplishment. 
 The extraordinary activity and enterprise of its 
 population, continually urging them to renewed
 
 392 PROGRESS OF INTERNAL IMPROVEMENTS. 
 
 efforts, and to seek in yet unsettled and remote 
 parts of this vast country, some other real, or 
 imaginary expedient in improving their fortunes, 
 has changed the features of many portions of the 
 inland territory introduced civilization, and es- 
 tablished man's authority, where all was previous 
 void and desolation, and given a fresh and vigorous 
 impulse to the whole form and advance of American 
 society. There is no difficulty sufficient to arrest 
 the onward and steady progress of the American 
 settler no privation no suffering capable to deter 
 him from the most arduous undertaking. Distance 
 is of nought, and the prospect of an eventual return 
 to his former homestead and friends the familiar 
 scenes of his early boyhood, far removed beyond his 
 usual calculation : he pushes forward with an irre- 
 sistible determination to surmount every obstacle 
 in his way, and by a cool and steady perseverance 
 an indomitable energy and patient endurance of 
 the many ills and privations he is sure to encounter, 
 generally overcomes every resistance to the ultimate 
 attainment of his purpose. Towns and cities have 
 thus emerged from amidst the forest, and interspersed 
 themselves on the banks, or near vicinity of rivers, 
 that assist their population in the more ready 
 deportation of their various products to some 
 profitable market, or the supply of their necessary 
 merchandize. These remote districts have now 
 been brought into a close and advantageous proxi- 
 mity to each other, by the recent introduction of 
 steam power, whilst railroads are already intersecting
 
 RAILROADS. 393 
 
 very many parts of the country, several of them, 
 directly leading from the larger cities on the eastern 
 seaboard to the interior. 
 
 To this period, no official or authentic account 
 has ever been published, of the actual extent and 
 progress of railroads in the United States ; the 
 public being in a great measure shut out from such 
 inquiry, or indebted for whatever of general infor- 
 mation that has been obtained on the subject, to 
 the report of the Chevalier de Gernstner, an intelli- 
 gent Austrian engineer, who made a tour of inspec- 
 tion and survey throughout the United States in 
 1838 and 39, and whose account comprises a great 
 many interesting and material facts in connection 
 with this subject. According to the Chevalier's 
 statement, there were over three thousand miles of 
 railroad completed, and in operation within the 
 republic, in the years 1838 and 39 ; 425 locomo- 
 tives, of which the greater number were built in 
 America ; while he computes the length of finished 
 railroads in this latter year, (1839) to about four 
 thousand one hundred miles. The capital expended 
 on railroads now in operation, is about 60,000,000 
 dollars, or, at an average cost of 20,000 dollars per 
 mile ; for which sum, the railroad with the buildings 
 have generally been constructed, and the necessary 
 locomotives and cars supplied. 
 
 Several railroads have been undertaken with 
 insufficient means, and the shareholders in conse- 
 quence reduced to the necessity of employing the 
 income of the first years in improving the railroad,
 
 394 RAILROADS. 
 
 in building engine houses, &c. &c., and purchasing 
 locomotives and cars. They received during that 
 time no dividends, but the railroad still yielded a 
 good income. Other railroads, when finished, paid 
 from five to ten per cent, interest to the stockholders ; 
 others have not yet paid any dividends, for want 
 of a sufficient number of passengers and freight. 
 The average result of the railroads now in operation 
 in the United States, is, that they give a yearly inter- 
 est of 5|- per cent, on the capital invested. This result 
 may be regarded as satisfactory, as the greater part of 
 the lines have been but a few years in operation. 
 
 On all the lines, there is, according to this autho- 
 rity, an increase of at least 15 to 20 per cent, in the 
 gross income, so that even those lines which do not 
 pay now, will give in a few years a handsome divi- 
 dend. 
 
 Passengers pay on an average, five cents per mile ; 
 and travel with a speed, of from twelve, to fifteen 
 miles per hour, including stoppages: the charge 
 for freights is seven and one half-cent per mile, 
 while the average number of passengers through, 
 in each passenger line, scarcely exceeds forty. 
 
 There are on an average, 35,000 passengers 
 through, and 15,000 tons of goods carried annually 
 over the American roads, which gives on an average 
 per mile and per year : 
 
 From 35,000 passengers, at 5 cents . 
 
 From 15,000 tons of goods, at 1\ cents 
 From mail, and contingencies . 
 
 Total . $3,075
 
 RAILROADS. 395 
 
 The annual current expenses in America for 
 working railroads are, per mile, 
 
 For transportation of 35,000 passengers, at 
 
 2 cents . . $875 
 
 For transportation of 15,000 tons of goods 975 
 
 For transportation of mail, and other 
 
 expenses . . 100 
 
 Total . $1,950 
 
 Or sixty-three dollars and forty-one cents, of every 
 one hundred dollars of gross income. The annual 
 average gross income, per mile of road, as shewn 
 above, amounts to 3,075 dollars, the annual current 
 expenses, to 1,950; leaving 1125 dollars, which, 
 compared with the cost of a mile of road, (20,000 
 dollars,) gives 5| per cent, interest. 
 
 The first locomotive used in the United States is 
 said to have been in the State of Delaware, on the 
 Newcastle railroad ; the second in Maryland, on the 
 Baltimore and Ohio railroad ; and the third, between 
 New Orleans and Lake Pontchartrain, in the State 
 of Louisiana. They are stated, on American au- 
 thority, to have been tried in the United States by 
 Oliver Evans, as early as 1804, about the time 
 that they were first brought forward in England, 
 but where they were not reduced to any useful 
 practice till 1811, for freights, and 1830, for 
 passengers and speed. 
 
 There is a marked difference between the railroads 
 of this country and those of the United States in 
 their construction, their convenience and comfort,
 
 396 RAILROADS. 
 
 their expeditious travelling, and general safety ; and 
 consequently, a great disparity in their original cost 
 and outlay. There is seldom more than one track 
 of iron rail, on any road in the United States, ex- 
 cept at certain intervals, and for the short distance of 
 half a mile, or so, where the trains are expected to 
 meet. If an accident should occur, and which is by 
 no means uncommon, or that any other unavoidable 
 detention should prevent one train moving onward 
 on its route, the other, in like manner, is impeded 
 in its journey until its arrival. Such stoppages are 
 frequent, even where no accidents occur, detaining 
 the entire of one or other train, oftentimes at some 
 miserable homestead on the roadside, out of its usual 
 course, sometimes for an hour, and considerably 
 longer. 
 
 The public buildings, and others, appertaining to 
 these roads, or belonging to the company, are in 
 keeping; are generally constructed of wood, with- 
 out much of design, of taste, or architectural beauty, 
 and in most instances, appear to have been rudely 
 and hastily put together, to answer a mere tempo- 
 rary convenience. Accidents are frequent; and it 
 is only surprising that they are not of hourly 
 occurrence, from the wild unprotected state of 
 many of the roads, several of them, without any 
 fence for a continuous distance on either side, and 
 without any further security to the passengers, than 
 the uninhabited and desolate loneliness of many of 
 the districts through which they are made to pass. 
 There is usually a " pilot," made of stout frame
 
 RAILROADS. 397 
 
 work, placed in front of the leading engine, to which 
 it is attached, and that partly resting on two small 
 wheels, is thus thrown out in advance, descending 
 from the frame work of the engine, to the rail or 
 road, takes up, and receives upon its surface, any 
 obstruction, or body, that would otherwise pass 
 under the wheels of the train, and threaten to dis- 
 place it from its track. 
 
 Nevertheless, railroads in America are of incalcu- 
 lable benefit ; of great practical advantage to the 
 country, not only in the facility of transport which 
 they secure, but in the rapid interchange of thought 
 which they occasion, by furnishing a ready and 
 expeditious means of disseminating information 
 throughout every part of the republic. Still, the 
 benefit has not been without its drawback, in 
 encouraging an unsettled and roving propensity 
 amongst an over speculative and adventurous people, 
 who rather turn to the remote, and unexplored dis- 
 tricts of the " farthest west," to realise their day 
 dreams of wealth and independence, than to bestow 
 the same energies, the same measure of laudable 
 exertion, on the numerous wastes, the various tracts 
 of generative land nearer home, and that are over- 
 looked, for the prospect which a more distant settle- 
 ment affords, or because, requiring some further of 
 man's effort to bring them into a state of general 
 and productive usefulness. The consequence is, 
 that instead of clinging near to each other for mu- 
 tual assistance for moral and intellectual support, 
 and promoting a more efficient and progressive
 
 398 CANALS. 
 
 settlement of the country, enlarging its boundary 
 only, according to the usual necessities of its popu- 
 lation, and as their gradual increase may demand, 
 its people will become scattered and divided, and 
 in subverting this order of nature, rude and dis- 
 jointed cynical and selfish ; each man, except the 
 few residing in towns and villages, compelled to 
 rely, to an injudicious extent, on his own energies 
 and resources, and to adopt new principles in govern- 
 ing his conduct, as well to himself, as to the world, 
 and by an opposite rule to all his former habits, to 
 regulate the actions of his future life. 
 
 Superadded to the advantages of railroad trans- 
 port, which is nevertheless of admitted and coun- 
 tervailing benefit, the United States possesses a 
 tide water and inland navigation, unsurpassed and 
 unknown to any other country in the world ; secure 
 from storms, and outward enemies, and reaching 
 from Massachusetts to the southern extremity of 
 Georgia, with upwards of 3000 miles of canals, 
 finished, and in progress. Of these great inland 
 arteries, the principal ones are the Erie Canal, from 
 the city of Albany, State of New York, to Lake 
 Erie, 363 miles ; Chesapeake and Ohio Canal, from 
 the city of Washington, district of Columbia, to 
 Pittsburg, 341 miles; Grand Pennsylvania Canal, 
 from Columbia on the Susquehannah River, to 
 Hollidaysburgh, 172 miles ; thence to Johnstown, 
 by a railroad, thirty-seven miles, over the Alleghany 
 mountains, and from thence by canal to Pittsburg, 
 104 miles ; total 313 miles ; Ohio state Canal, from
 
 CANALS. 399 
 
 Portsmouth on the Ohio River, to Cleveland, on 
 Lake Erie, 306 miles ; Miami Canal, from Cincin- 
 nati, to Miami, lake Erie, 265 miles ; middle division, 
 Pennsylvania Canal, from the mouth of the Junitta 
 River, along the north branch of the Susquehannah 
 River, to the southern boundary of New York, 
 204 miles. 
 
 It would be needless to expatiate on the many 
 signal advantages secured to the nation by this ex- 
 tensive range of internal improvement the vast 
 benefit to trade and commerce of every kind the 
 ready means which it affords, of concentrating on 
 any part of the United States frontier, the physical re- 
 sources and power of the nation, in the event of any 
 real or threatened aggression from an invading and 
 hostile force ; the facilities of intercommunication 
 between the citizens of distant, or neighbouring 
 states, who, in America, are too apt to regard each 
 other with an unreasonable and unworthy appre- 
 hension a jealousy, or indifference, that seldom 
 belongs to the adherents of the same government, 
 or the kindred inhabitants of the same soil but 
 which time, with these advantages, inducing a more 
 frequent intercourse, a more intimate association and 
 knowledge of each other, with a near identity of 
 interests and ideas, may hope to gradually obliterate. 
 
 The currency of the United States, which is so 
 nearly connected with its trade and general com- 
 merce, is extremely simple. The dollar is estimated 
 at the money unit, proceeding downwards by the 
 decimal ratio of tens, to dimes, cents, and mills;
 
 400 CURRENCY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 and upwards to eagles, of ten dollars value, which 
 is the largest gold coin. The value of the dollar in 
 British money, is four shillings and sixpence ; but 
 in consequence of the vast issue of bills of credit, 
 previous to the revolutionary war, a difference was 
 introduced between the English sterling money, 
 and the currencies of the different colonies, which 
 continues to this day. The price of a dollar in 
 New England currency is six shillings ; in New 
 York, eight shillings ; in New Jersey, Pennsyl- 
 vania, and Maryland, seven shillings and six pence ; 
 in Virginia, six shillings ; in North Carolina, eight 
 shillings ; and in South Carolina and Georgia, four 
 shillings and eight pence. 
 
 In 1792, Congress passed a law to establish a 
 mint, and at which the following coins were struck : 
 of GOLD eagles, half eagles, and quarter eagles. Of 
 SILVER dollars, halfdollars, quarter dollars, dimes, 
 and half dimes. Of COPPER cents, and half cents. 
 In money transactions, the terms dollars, and cents 
 only, are used ; and these comprehend all the others, 
 except the lowest, which is seldom used at all. 
 For example, 42 eagles, 3 dollars, 5 dimes, and 7 
 cents, are expressed thus, dols. 423.57 cents; that is, 
 four hundred and twenty-three dollars, and fifty- 
 seven cents. 
 
 For the better regulating the gold and silver coin 
 of the country, a bill was passed through Congress, 
 June, 1834, in which it was provided, that each 
 eagle should from thenceforth contain 232 grains 
 of fine gold, and 258 grains of standard gold ; each
 
 GENERAL JACKSON'S EXPERIMENTS. 401 
 
 half eagle, 116 grains of fine gold, and 129 grains 
 of standard gold; each quarter^ eagle to contain 58 
 grains of fine gold, and 64^ grains of standard gold ; 
 every such eagle to be of the value of ten dollars ; 
 every such half eagle of the value of five dollars ; 
 and every such quarter eagle of the value of two 
 dollars, and fifty cents ; and the said gold coins to 
 be receivable in all payments, when of such weight, 
 according to their said respective values, and when 
 less than such weight, at less value, proportioned to 
 their respective actual weights. 
 
 And it was further provided, that, all gold coins 
 of the United States, minted anterior to the 31st 
 July, then next coming, should be receivable in all 
 payments, at the rate of ninety-four and eight- 
 tenths of a cent per pennyweight. 
 
 It was at this particular season, that the extra- 
 vagant and visionary schemes of General Jackson, 
 then President of the Republic, began to develope 
 themselves. He had already embarked in a war of 
 extermination against the Bank of the United States, 
 which in the ebullition of an overwrought demo- 
 cratic tendency, he denounced as unconstitutional, 
 and as a dangerous institution in the heart of a free 
 country calculated to subvert its most valued privi- 
 leges, and control by its influence the government 
 and entire monied system of the nation. It was a 
 " Monster" (to use the General's phraseology) of no 
 ordinary kind ; hideous and deformed in its outward 
 aspect, and in its inward working, of vicious and 
 appalling iniquity. A thousand ills were conjured 
 
 VOL. i. 2 D
 
 402 CURRENCY OF THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 up in the fretful and pertinacious mind of Presi- 
 dent Jackson, by its peaceable and useful efforts, 
 to guide and improve the monetary system of 
 the Republic: but its fate had been decreed, the 
 expiry of its charter was near at hand ; and it was 
 compelled to yield to the inflexible and stubborn 
 bent of a perverse, and head-strong old man, placed 
 for a while on a dangerons pre-eminence, and who, 
 availing himself of his position, had enlisted in this 
 crusade, the unthinking the wild passions of the 
 " fierce democracy" of the country, by which he 
 was surrounded, not only against the United States 
 Bank, which was the declared object of his hostility, 
 but against every other monied institution, and 
 perhaps, it might with truth be added, against pro- 
 perty in general. The Bank, soon after, ceased to 
 exist as a public national establishment, but was 
 re-chartered, as a mere private joint-stock institution, 
 by the State of Pennsylvania. It never finally 
 recovered from the blow, but moved onward for a 
 while, in a morbid and sickly course, until at length 
 becoming insolvent, it eventually terminated its 
 career in 1840, or 1841. 
 
 It was simultaneous with these proceedings, and in 
 the whirlwind of passion and excited prejudice 
 which they evoked, that General Jackson hoped to 
 realize the halcyon vision of his early days, and to 
 secure to his country, the advantages and blessings 
 of an entire and efficient metallic currency, in lieu 
 of the worthless paper, the mere "promises to pay," 
 with which it was inundated. All future payments
 
 VALUE ATTACHED TO FOREIGN COIN. 403 
 
 to be made to the general government, on the score 
 of custom dues, or otherwise, were from thenceforth, 
 by a special edict of the Executive, required to be 
 paid in specie ; and that there might be no lack of the 
 precious metals, for all public purposes, a Bill was 
 passed through Congress, June 1834, contempora- 
 neous with the one last mentioned, " relating to 
 gold and silver coin in the United States," providing 
 " that from, and after the 31st of July, then next 
 coming, the following gold coins should pass 
 current, as money within the United States, and be 
 receivable for all payments by weight, for the pay- 
 ment of all debts and demands, at the rate follow- 
 ing, that is to say, 
 
 " The gold coins of Great Britain, Portugal, and 
 Brazils, of not less than twenty-two carats fine, at 
 the rate of ninety -four cents, and -fo of a cent per 
 pennyweight ; the gold coin of France -iv fine at the 
 rate of ninety-three cents, and ^ of a cent per 
 pennyweight ; and the gold coin of Spain, Mexico, 
 and Columbia, of the fineness of twenty carats three 
 grains and -& of a grain, at the rate of eighty cents, 
 and T% of a cent per pennyweight." 
 
 And by a further act of Congress of the same 
 date, it was provided, that from and after the passing 
 thereof, the following silver coins should be of 
 the value, and should pass current as of the money 
 of the United States, by tale, for the payment of all 
 debts and demands, at the rate of one hundred cents 
 the dollar ; that is to say, the dollar of Mexico, 
 Chili, Peru, and Central America, of not less weight 
 
 2 D 2
 
 404 IMPORTATION OF SPECIE. 
 
 than four hundred and fifteen grains each, and those 
 re-stamped in Brazil, of the like weight, of not less 
 fineness than ten ounces, fifteen pennyweights of 
 pure silver in the troy pound of twelve ounces of 
 standard silver, and the five franc piece of France, 
 when of not less fineness than ten ounces and sixteen 
 pennyweights in twelve ounces troy weight of stan- 
 dard silver, and weighing not less than three hun- 
 dred and eighty-four grains each, at the rate of 93 
 cents each. 
 
 And it was further provided, that it should from 
 thenceforth, be the duty of the Secretary of the 
 Treasury, to cause assays of the aforesaid gold and 
 silver coins, made current by this and the foregoing 
 act, to be had at the mint of the United States, at 
 least once in every year to Congress. 
 
 The very natural consequence of these several 
 enactments, with the increased value which was thus 
 attached by act of Congress, to the gold and silver 
 coin of all foreign countries, in the United States, 
 was, the immediate introduction into the Republic of 
 a large amount of every description of foreign 
 money, and which from thenceforth, constituted a 
 part of the circulating medium of the country. To 
 such an extreme were these schemes carried out, 
 that the imports of specie, that in the preceding 
 year, (1833,) amounted only to 7,070,368, and in 
 the year 1832, to 5,907,504 dollars, with an export 
 of 5,656,540, leaving an excess of imports of only 
 250,964, increased in the year 1834, and on the 
 foregoing acts going into operation, to a sum of
 
 EFFECT ON THE UNITED STATES. 405 
 
 17,911,632 dollars, with an export of only 1,676,258, 
 creating an excess of imports into the United States, 
 in this one year, over exports, of no less a sum than 
 16,235,374 dollars. 
 
 From the official returns of the Treasury depart- 
 ment it will also appear, that a sum of Thirty Mil- 
 lions more of specie had been imported into the 
 United States, in the four years ending 1837, than 
 exported within this period. 
 
 But this was the realisation of the cherished hopes 
 and aspirations of General Jackson the evidence to 
 his mind of the greatness and prosperity of his coun- 
 try, and which he held forth to the gaze and admira- 
 tion of the remaining world, perfectly heedless, or at 
 least unconscious of the extreme monetary embar- 
 rassment and suffering, which this " great financial 
 experiment," (to use the language of his immediate 
 friends and political supporters,) upon the currency, 
 as also upon the prosperity and welfare the very 
 life and being of his country, was sure to entail 
 upon the Republic; and that while playing off 
 these extravagancies, the nation, with the reckless- 
 ness of an uncontrolled spendthrift, was plunging 
 headlong and deeper still into debt, and every other 
 commercial distress and difficulty. 
 
 The sudden introduction of this unusual quantity 
 of specie into the United States, had the very oppo- 
 site tendency, to that which General Jackson had so 
 earnestly anticipated. No sooner did it reach 
 America, than the greater part found its way to the 
 coffers of the State Banks, that instead of contract-
 
 406 INCREASED CIRCULATION OF PAPER. 
 
 ing their issues, to work out the views and experi- 
 mental fancies of this modern financier, took advan- 
 tage, as also of the use of the government money, 
 which the Executive by a coup d'etat had trans- 
 ferred from the United States Bank to their keeping, 
 to increase their circulation, and by their sudden 
 expansion, to give encouragement and additional 
 facilities to the most extravagant and ruinous specu- 
 lations, that hurried on the country to the com- 
 mercial crisis, that followed in the early part of the 
 year 1837. It ill accords with the promised success 
 of General Jackson's " humble efforts," to restore 
 the " constitutional currency of the country," when 
 we state, that within the very period of his attempt- 
 ing this financial revolution, from the 1st of January 
 1834, to the 1st of January 1837, the paper circula- 
 tion of the United States, instead of being contracted 
 or lessened in its amount, had actually increased 
 ninety millions of dollars! The extension or increase 
 in the amount of bank loans and discounts within 
 this period, had also been, from 200,451,214 to 
 590,892,661 dollars, being an augmentation, of 
 upwards of three hundred and ninety millions ! 
 
 But, the result of this weak and criminal enter- 
 prise, was productive of other consequences the 
 very opposite of all that was promised in its realisa- 
 tion. Instead of lessening the number of banking 
 institutions with which the country was already 
 supplied to an excess, and over whose issues the 
 Federal Government possessed no possible control, 
 three hundred new institutions, with a capital of 145
 
 GENERAL BANKRUPTCY. 407 
 
 millions, were added to their number, between the 
 years 1830 and 1837, increasing the actual paper 
 circulation of the United States within this period, 
 from the already enlarged amount of 145 millions 
 of dollars, to 290 millions. 
 
 A great part of the specie imported by the 
 means we have stated, was received from Europe ; 
 a large proportion abstracted from the vaults of the 
 Bank of England, and as it might be expected, 
 produced an immediate effect upon the currency of 
 Great Britain, advancing the marketable rate of 
 interest on unexceptionable paper, from 2 j- to 5 per 
 cent, per annum. The pressure that it occasioned, 
 extended in its influence to the United States; 
 British merchants were now more cautious in accept- 
 ing Bills on the shipments of American produce, 
 and restricted their advances, on the security of 
 American stocks, thus cutting off the primary source 
 from whence supplies had heretofore been derived, 
 to carry on the various internal improvements, the 
 trading business of the country, and which with 
 other causes, assisted in expediting the monetary 
 difficulties, that eventuated in the general bank- 
 ruptcy that ensued in 1837. 
 
 The embarrassments occasioned by this event, 
 though inflicting incalculable injury upon thousands, 
 and while leaving the innumerable dupes at this side 
 to lament the excess of folly and imprudence with 
 which they relied for the payment of their large 
 advances, upon the imagined security of the com- 
 mercial stability the honour and good faith of the
 
 408 FRAUDULENT CONDUCT 
 
 American citizen, checked for a while the spirit of 
 over-trading of commercial gambling, with which 
 the United States had been familiarized, by curtailing 
 the opportunities of which most Americans are pre- 
 pared to take advantage, of investing themselves 
 with the property and resources of others, without 
 considering the means at their disposal, for its 
 discharge or subsequent repayment. 
 
 The public mind in America, nevertheless, very 
 soon became reconciled to these difficulties. The 
 fact that British merchants were to be the principal 
 losers on this occasion, that it was upon their 
 shoulders the burden of these recent failures would 
 necessarily fall, lessened to a very considerable 
 extent the mortification, the lament and disappoint- 
 ment of this disastrous and very general bank- 
 ruptcy. Some of the public prints, the assumed 
 organs of public opinion, on this occasion, instead 
 of deprecating this measure, as one of spoliation 
 of positive swindling called loudly for " more 
 failures" to the large numbers that had gone before, 
 urged every man to take advantage of the " crisis," 
 as the speediest means of bringing about a com- 
 mercial regeneration of the country ; and strange as 
 the accusation, and the deduction attempted to be 
 taken from it, may appear, charged the British 
 capitalist and merchant with extending their 
 monied accommodation to their citizens for the ex- 
 travagant and sinister purpose, of destroying at some 
 future day, the commercial credit and character of 
 these States. The few, who guided by a more
 
 OF THE BANKRUPTS. 409 
 
 commendable and honest principle, had ventured to 
 export specie in discharge or payment of their en- 
 gagements, contracted in England and other parts of 
 Europe, were denounced as inimical to the national 
 prosperity ; whilst a secret, though not to be mistaken 
 feeling of general satisfaction pervaded all classes, 
 that but a small proportion of the debt the 
 enormous foreign capital, and that the most ex- 
 travagant representations, the confidant assurance 
 of the most satisfactory and uexceptionable security 
 had decoyed to the United States, was ever destined 
 to return to its rightful, or legitimate owners. 
 
 The acquisition of wealth by these means, and in 
 the abandonment of every upright and honest 
 principle, and by speculation merely, is mischievous 
 in itself, in its ultimate consequences, and the de- 
 moralizing example it affords to others ; destroying 
 the barriers defacing every proper distinction that 
 should subsist between frugality and a laudable ex- 
 ertion on the one hand, and a wild, unrestrained 
 system of profligacy and gambling on the other. 
 Fictitious wealth, it is almost needless to observe, 
 is no wealth all ; yet, is it the base the principal 
 foundation on which a large proportion of American 
 trade and business is conducted ; upon which the 
 fortunes of the American people in great part 
 depend. We hold the principle, that every thing in- 
 creases, and is determined in its value, according to 
 the measure of its utility and general usefulness ; 
 and becomes depreciated in an adverse ratio ac- 
 cording to its incapacity to assist man's wants, or
 
 410 FICTITIOUS VALUE OF PROPERTY. 
 
 administer to his necessities ; such as land, without 
 man's labour to assure its productiveness, or even 
 money, locked up from his control. Against this, 
 we are told, that every article that is convertible into 
 money, is at least worth whatever it may bring in the 
 market. Land, cleared or uncleared ground lots, 
 and the variety of other similar and unproductive 
 sources, may to-day command a price that will in- 
 crease on to-morrow, and still multiply on the next. 
 Some sudden, wild, and speculative mania may still 
 attach a further value to their possession, to continue 
 perhaps for a season, of which to be deprived at 
 some future day, according to the inherent and ab- 
 stract measure of their usefulness. Of such we 
 assert are a large proportion of the securities of our 
 transatlantic friends the property the unreal 
 wealth, on which they have so often claimed ad- 
 vances from British capitalists, or sought monied 
 accommodation in their own country. 
 
 The fictitious value the undue appreciation at- 
 tached to every species of property within the United 
 States at this period, and which the speculative 
 mania of 1835 and 1836 (induced by the means to 
 which we have referred), had principally given rise, 
 was in no instance more remarkable than in the 
 extravagant competition which it occasioned in the 
 purchase and acquisition of land, which was seized on 
 with the eagerness of desperation, and as if the supply 
 of some two or three hundred millions of acres, at the 
 disposal of government, was near being exhausted. In 
 carrying out the principle of an entire specie circu-
 
 SPECULATING MANIA. 411 
 
 lation, to which General Jackson, in his " humble 
 efforts," stood pledged, an interdict was made to all 
 payments whatever on account of customs, or other 
 dues to the general government, otherwise than in 
 specie. Its agents, in like manner, were prohibited 
 from disposing of any portion of the public domain, 
 except on cash or specie payments. Notwithstand- 
 ing, in these two years, immediately preceding the 
 general distress of 1 837, the sales of public land 
 amounted to 32,639,348 acres, for which were paid 
 into the public treasury, upwards of 40 millions of 
 dollars in cash, being within ten millions of the 
 entire amount received from the same source within 
 the preceding forty years. The payments made 
 to the government for lands within the last three 
 years, ending September 30th, 1843, and for which 
 there are returns, average not more than 1,328,500 
 dollars, in each year. 
 
 In like manner, cotton, negroes (!) and all other 
 description of property in America, advanced 
 rapidly in price ; for the south became seized with 
 the same epidemic as the north and east. So despe- 
 rate the ardour for speculation amidst the entire 
 people so reckless of all consequence, that crops 
 were actually purchased, or large advances made on 
 them, especially of cotton, before even that it was 
 planted, or in the ground. The criminality and ex- 
 travagance of these proceedings, materially tended 
 to expedite the crisis that followed in 1837, and to 
 which we have referred. 
 
 Specie, that a short while before the period of this
 
 412 " SHIN -PLASTERS." 
 
 calamity seemed abundant, throughout every part 
 of the Republic, and, in its universal circulation, to 
 have reduced the financial theories of President 
 Jackson into stubborn realities, or matters of fact, 
 suddenly disappeared. Trade became paralysed 
 business of every kind suspended, except as to what- 
 ever interchange was found necessary to provide for 
 the necessities or common wants of life. Even the 
 lesser coin, including the smallest fractional parts of 
 a dollar, that constituted a necessary part of the 
 circulating medium in daily use, was swept away in 
 one common whirlwind, and its stead replaced by 
 what are so well known in every part of America 
 under the euphonious and distinctive name or title 
 of " shin-plasters." These were the neatly executed 
 promissory notes, or engagements of nearly every 
 retail dealer, with, or without character or responsi- 
 bility, and who made use of this description of paper 
 currency, some for 6J, for 12^, or 25 cents, being 
 equal to 3d, 6%d, and Is, British sterling, with the 
 other fractional parts of a dollar, and which they were 
 wont to give as change, whenever change was re- 
 quired in their common intercourse or dealing. 
 These notes, which were usually headed by a neatly 
 engraved vignette, and executed with becoming 
 taste, generally ran thus, 
 
 No. 12| Cents. 1837. 
 
 At sight, I promise to pay the Bearer, Twelve Cents and 
 a half, in trade or Bankable Bills. 
 
 N. N. 
 
 That is, engaging to give goods in exchange, or
 
 " SHIN-PLASTERS." 413 
 
 to pay the bearer five dollars in the notes of some 
 one of the Banks that had then lately suspended 
 specie payments, whenever a sufficient number of 
 these " shin-plasters," amounting in their aggregate 
 to a sum of five dollars, should be presented to the 
 party issuing the same for payment. It often oc- 
 curred that the holder of a large batch of this 
 paper would be unable to pass off a shilling of its 
 amount, though for the merest necessaries of life, 
 except at the particular store or shop of the party, 
 where they were domiciled, and where, in conse- 
 quence, he would frequently be called upon to 
 submit to the most unreasonable exactions. 
 
 To in part obviate this inconvenience, several of 
 the parties, who provided this species of accommoda- 
 tion, also made arrangements with each other, and 
 at whose separate establishments the issues of each 
 were received in payment, and made negociable for 
 goods, provisions, and other merchandize, according 
 to the endorsement engraved on the back of each 
 note, generally as follows : 
 
 Good for Groceries, at No. Washington Street 
 Good for Dry goods, at No. Bowery 
 Good for Boots, Shoes, &c. at No. Chatham-square 
 Good for Music, at No. Broadway 
 Good for Drugs, Medicines, &c. at No. William Street 
 Good for Hats, at No. Nassau Street 
 Good for Refreshments, at Delmonico's 
 
 Good for Butcher's-meat, at No. Stall, in Washington Market 
 Good for Amusements, wherever it will be taken, or at Nibloe's 
 Garden. 
 
 And a lesser, or greater variety of other places, set
 
 414 GENERAL SUSPENSION 
 
 out according to the previously made arrangements 
 of the parties issuing same. 
 
 This was the principal circulating medium of the 
 retail dealer and business-man of America, for a 
 great part of the years 1837 and 1838 ; the com- 
 pletion of the " grand experiment of President 
 Jackson," the straits and difficulties to which the 
 nation was reduced, from the empirical contrivance 
 of one man, over whom the laws, in their imperfect 
 organisation, had ceased to produce any influence, 
 or to control in his career of mischief and evil- 
 doing, until he had plunged his country into a state 
 of commercial and monetary embarrassment, of 
 of which it is to this day reaping the bitter fruits. 
 The entire, furnishes a practical illustration of the 
 benign and happy influence of Republican institu- 
 tions ; the beneficial consequences to the favoured 
 people of these states, as well, the insufficient guards 
 within the constitution, to restrain these and similar 
 excesses; the overmeasure of absolute power vested 
 in the President, enabling him of his free-will to 
 plunge the nation into all these extravagancies to 
 disorganise society, and in an attempt to carry out 
 some new theory, the mere fanciful creation of his 
 own mind, shake credit to its centre, and reduce to 
 want and indigence many thousands of his fellow- 
 citizens. 
 
 The several state banks that had suspended spe- 
 cie payments in 1837, partially resumed in the 
 latter part of the following year, or soon after : but 
 from the pressure which still continued, and the
 
 OF THE STATE BANKS. 415 
 
 drain which was made upon their resources, were 
 again compelled to withhold specie for their notes. 
 On the 9th of October, 1839, the United States' 
 Bank of Pennsylvania commenced a second sus- 
 pension ; in this it was soon followed by most of 
 the State institutions, south and west of the state 
 of New York, and also by those of Rhode Island. 
 
 The report of the secretary of the Treasury of 
 the United States, dated January 8th, 1840, fur- 
 nishes an account of the number of Banks in the 
 several states at the time of this latter movement ; 
 the number that suspended ; the number that had 
 not suspended, &c. So far as information had been 
 obtained, it appears, that the aggregate, or whole 
 number of Banks, including branches, at this time 
 in the United States, amounted to 959 ; that the 
 number of Banks which suspended wholly in 1839, 
 exclusive of those that stopped payment in 1837, 
 amounted to 343 ; of those which suspended in 
 part, 62 ; the number of Banks which did not sus- 
 pend, 498 ; number of Banks broken, or discon- 
 tinued, 56 ; number of Banks out of the aggregate 
 of 959, that have since resumed specie payments, 48. 
 
 A general mistrust, in consequence of this wide- 
 spread calamity and the numerous difficulties it 
 created, pervaded all classes of the American peo- 
 ple. No person could in fact determine, or even 
 surmise, his actual position in the world, or calculate 
 with any degree of certainty, as to the limit or ex- 
 tent of his resources ; for in the undefined state of 
 the laws, as they were then recognized, with reference
 
 416 GENERAL EMBARRASSMENT. 
 
 to contracts, and as governing the relations between 
 debtor and creditor in these States, no trader could 
 possibly assure himself of the responsibility, or sol- 
 vency of his neighbour, with whom he might be 
 called upon to enter on any trading or business 
 dealing. The most vicious and bare-faced frauds, 
 were hourly perpetrated under the full sanction and 
 colour of the law ; and conduct that would subject 
 the actors to the pillory, and to condign punishment 
 in any other country under Heaven, were not only 
 sanctioned by all former usage, and their frequent 
 repetition, but commended as a just and equitable 
 appropriation of the property that belonged to con- 
 fiding creditors. Yet, these extremes were not 
 without some beneficial consequences. Men at 
 length saw and felt, that these abuses could not 
 longer continue without detriment to the national 
 character, and injury to the trading community who 
 were principally affected by them ; that the indivi- 
 dual credit of the country had been shaken to its 
 base, and that sober and thinking men at this side 
 of the Atlantic, began to surmise the risk, if not the 
 actual danger, and more positive loss of continuing a 
 commercial intercourse with a people uncontrolled by 
 any just feeling of integrity or good faith in their 
 dealings with the world, and who lived unrestrained 
 by any of the ties that generally constrain man- 
 kind to a correct, virtuous, and proper course of 
 life. 
 
 On the other hand, there were many, whose cha- 
 racters were freed from every imputation of this kind,
 
 GENERAL BANKRUPT LAW. 417 
 
 who were oppressed by unexpected difficulties, and 
 unable by any just or laudable effort to meet their 
 engagements ; who had acted openly and in good 
 faith, and surrendered to their creditors all of 
 worldly store that they possessed. The law, that 
 would encourage less scrupulous of their fellow- 
 citizens in their iniquity and crime, was unequal to 
 their protection, when pursuing an upright and equit- 
 able course ; for though imprisonment for debt had 
 been abolished in many of the States, still the debtor 
 was at all times and everywhere made subject in his 
 goods and property to his creditor until paid, or in 
 some way settled with. 
 
 To an unprincipled and dishonest man, a law of this 
 kind had no possible terror, from the variety of ways 
 in which he might successfully evade its provisions. 
 It was the just and conscientious man only he, who 
 had surrendered all and concealed nothing, that had 
 most reason to apprehend its consequence ; who was 
 stricken in his energies by its controlling influence 
 cut short in his career, and incapacitated, from the 
 untiring persecution to which it gave encourage- 
 ment, from any further effort to resuscitate his for- 
 tunes, or reinstate himself in society. A general 
 bankrupt law fr amed on just and equitable princi- 
 ples, was demanded by the necessities and other 
 circumstances of the country, and loudly called for, 
 from every intersection of the Republic. 
 
 The stolid and hard-hearted creditor, of whom 
 there are numerous individual examples in every 
 country as in the United States, was loud and vehe- 
 
 VOL. i. 2 E
 
 418 PROGRESS THROUGH CONGRESS, 
 
 ment in reprobation of any law of this peculiar 
 tendency. It was a measure within the competency 
 of the General Congress on which to legislate, being 
 reserved to them, under an express provision in the 
 Federal constitution ;* but State jealousies were 
 heretofore too decidedly arraigned against every 
 interference affecting the settlement or disposition 
 of property by any general law of Congress, within 
 the limit of States jurisdiction, to permit its passing. 
 A crisis, however, had arrived, when the attempt at 
 least was to be made ; and if the acts of the ad- 
 ministration of President Tyler, who succeeded to 
 the Presidential chair by the demise of General 
 Harrison, had been in no otherwise remarkable in 
 the promotion of remedial or beneficial measures for 
 the country, it can lay claim to this one redeeming 
 act, of having secured the passing of a general 
 bankrupt law, founded on just and equitable prin- 
 ciples, and made applicable to all, and every one 
 of the States of the Republic ; which was carried 
 through both houses with much opposition received 
 the presidential assent, and became the law of the 
 land in the congressional session of 1841. 
 
 The change in the relative position of debtor and 
 creditor in the United States, which this alteration 
 in the law had intended, promised as of its results, 
 the most salutary and beneficial consequence to the 
 entire commercial community operating as a check 
 
 * Article 1st, sec. 8th of the Constitution declares " The 
 Congress shall have power to establish an uniform law on the 
 subject of bankruptcies throughout the United States."
 
 AND SUBSEQUENT REPEAL. 419 
 
 to the unprincipled dealer, and attaching to character 
 and fair name, their just weight and influence; 
 separating the upright and good, from the nume- 
 rous reckless adventurers and insolvent traders, that 
 were heretofore enabled to palm an unjust and im- 
 properly assumed character upon society, and by a 
 resort to the most reprehensible expedients, to 
 sustain themselves upon the public credulity their 
 transactions generally based upon whatever credit 
 they were enabled to secure by these means, and of 
 which they were at all times prepared to take 
 advantage. 
 
 But this salutary good was not long permitted to 
 continue unreproved, or the distinctive character 
 which it was so likely to reveal between the different 
 classes of American traders, allowed to continue as 
 an exponent of the generally approved, or very 
 opposite materials of which American society is 
 more usually composed. The opposition with which 
 the measure had to contend in the legislative 
 chambers on its passing, formed the nucleus of a 
 more general organization, and that at length 
 became so formidable and systematic in its hostility 
 to the further continuance of this law, that Con- 
 gress, yielding to what it conceived to have 
 been the popular will, negatived all their former 
 legislation on the subject, by unconditionally repeal- 
 ing the act, in the ensuing session of 1842, and thus 
 restoring the country to its former derangement, 
 leaving a large commercial community subject to 
 the incertitude and losses the frequent embarrass- 
 
 2 E 2
 
 420 ARGUMENTS OF MR. CALHOUN 
 
 ments to which the former imperfect legislation, 
 guaranteed an unnatural and safe continuance. 
 
 The principal opposition to this measure was 
 directed by Mr. Calhoun, late Secretary of State, 
 sustained by the ultra-democratic party, who ac- 
 knowledge him as one of their most distinguished 
 leaders ; yet, whose authority in such matters is 
 entitled to every respectful consideration. 
 
 He denied, as the basis of his hostility, that the 
 Constitution had given to Congress any power 
 whatever to pass such a bill, for though it per- 
 mitted the establishment of a general bankrupt law, 
 this, he insisted, though called a Bankrupt bill, had 
 reference to insolvency merely, miscalled " voluntary 
 bankruptcy." The other arguments advanced by 
 him, are of so novel a kind, as well as important, 
 having been in part adopted by Congress, that we 
 can scarcely be considered out of place in more par- 
 ticularly referring to them : we quote from an 
 intelligent commentary on this subject. 
 
 " Mr. Calhoun described the two systems of 
 bankruptcy and insolvency, known both in America 
 and England, at the time the Constitution was 
 framed, as originating in views entirely different 
 from each other. The system of insolvency he con- 
 sidered as " growing out of the debtor side of the 
 question," the object being to relieve a debtor from 
 the power of his creditors on a surrender of his pro- 
 perty for their benefit. The system of bankruptcy 
 on the other hand, " grew out of the creditor side," 
 the object being to invigorate credit. These two
 
 AGAINST THE BANKRUPT BILL. 421 
 
 systems being perfectly well known to the framers 
 of the Constitution, Mr. Calhoun insisted, that the 
 reason they mention bankruptcy alone, is, that they 
 intended the insolvent system to be adopted, and 
 that such being their intention, it was beyond the 
 power of Congress to cause such adoption. The 
 matter had been brought before Congress on ac- 
 count of the opinion, that the state legislatures could 
 do no more than discharge the person of the debtor, 
 and that any further power must lie in Con- 
 gress alone ; but Mr. Calhoun contended, that if the 
 States could not discharge the debt, neither had 
 Congress the power to do so. The release of a con- 
 tract, he declared to have been out of the power of 
 either Congress or the States, the obligation having 
 been imposed by a power, higher than human, and 
 protested, that if a discharged debtor had a release 
 from every government on earth, and did not pay 
 his debts when in his power, he would not be an 
 honourable man. 
 
 " Being thus opposed to the voluntary system 
 proposed by the bill, or to use Mr. Calhoun's 
 own words, the " system of insolvency," as uncon- 
 stitutional, he surveyed the compulsory system 
 which he considered to be constitutional, and indeed 
 the only system of bankruptcy contemplated by the 
 Constitution, but objectionable on the score of expe- 
 diency. He considered the genius of the nation, 
 as greatly adverse to harsh measures, and the sum- 
 mary power given to creditors by a bankrupt law, 
 by which, on a suspicion of insolvency, a creditor to
 
 422 ARGUMENTS OF MR CALHOUN 
 
 a small amount, can at once cause a debtor's whole 
 estate to be distributed, to be particularly harsh, 
 especially, when so many persons are exposed to 
 misfortune, from the sudden contractions and expan- 
 sions incident to the vicious system of paper cur- 
 rency. If it was unconstitutional, though humane 
 to interpose against the creditors on behalf of the 
 debtors, it was cruel though constitutional to give 
 additional arms to the creditor against the debtor 
 in such a state of things. Hence he (Mr. Calhoun) 
 was against the bill : although no friend to the 
 banks, Mr. Calhoun considered the operation on 
 them by the compulsory system, as likely to be 
 mischievous to the community, since a small creditor 
 may at once cause a distribution of property, and in 
 the panic which such a measure would at once create, 
 many of the non-suspended banks, would not be in 
 a condition to escape the penalties of the act. The 
 very measure of requiring the banks to wind up, 
 would, he considered, cause such a commotion, that 
 the creditor would be afraid to apply the powers 
 given him by the act, which would thus virtually be 
 swept from the statute book. Mr. Calhoun further 
 argued as a just ground of opposition to the measure, 
 that it had in fact created a connection between the 
 government and the banks, which he considered 
 should not exist. He emphatically denied that Con- 
 gress had the power of extending a Bankrupt Act 
 over the incorporations of the States, which was the 
 effect of the present bill, since the power of the 
 States and that of Congress, both emanating from the
 
 AGAINST THE BANKRUPT BILL. 423 
 
 constitution as a common source, cannot have a right 
 to destroy, what the other has a right to create." 
 
 We shall scarcely be required to adopt these 
 views, that in many parts appear inconsistent with 
 themselves, and in direct contravention to the Con- 
 stitution, in spirit, as in fact. The law to our 
 thinking, appears very specific, yet sufficiently com- 
 prehensive as to the rights appertaining to Congress 
 to legislate on this subject, while the expediency, 
 the more positive necessity of some such act, in con- 
 trolling the commercial trading of the country, 
 cannot for a moment be questioned. It is seldom 
 indeed, that we can find any wholesome provision ol 
 this tendency, regulating the monied dealings of 
 its people, on which any man can rely for protec- 
 tion to his industry, or as a security in his business 
 relations with the country ; and that while we hailed 
 the passing of this act, as some reasonable guarantee 
 in all future intercourse with these States, and as 
 promising so much of real good to its population, 
 our regret has been proportionally increased by its 
 unexpected, and what we are constrained to believe, 
 its very ill advised repeal ; restoring as it does, the 
 relations of debtor and creditor, in all their former 
 uncertain and complex difficulties, and where parties 
 had not availed themselves of the provisions of the 
 act during its short-lived continuance, to their pre- 
 cise condition as before its passage. Thus, it may 
 be said, is the property the commercial dealing and 
 well-being of an entire people, made secondary to 
 the ends of party, sustained by an unreasonable
 
 424 PRESENT RELATIONS OF 
 
 jealousy of interfering with " state rights," as also 
 by the apprehensions of a numerous class of neces- 
 sitous and unprincipled traders, who form so large 
 a proportion of the communities of these States ; and 
 who were naturally anxious to restore all trading 
 and business intercourse to the unsoundness of its 
 former condition, the better to take advantage of its 
 uncertainty, and to conceal from public notice, or 
 animadversion, their own criminal designs upon the 
 rights and properties of others. 
 
 The relation of debtor and creditor, at all times of 
 paramount importance to our social and commercial 
 system, is, by the repeal of this act, again controlled 
 throughout all parts of the union, by so many varied 
 and complex laws (each state adopting some peculiar 
 and ill-defined code of its own,) that it would occupy 
 an unreasonable portion of many years study and 
 inquiry, to acquire any general or correct knowledge 
 of their details. Whatever their provisions or pecu- 
 liar form, they certainly unite in one steady prin- 
 ciple, to render void by some easy and familiar 
 process, the most solemn engagements of their own 
 citizens, and to furnish a legal pretext for the 
 frequent and vicious frauds that are daily practised 
 on the confiding creditor, who if he possesses no 
 guarantee in the honour, the uprightness or integrity 
 of his debtor, has little else to assure him of any 
 j ust or equitable settlement of his claim. Nothing 
 indeed, can exceed the reckless and barefaced dis- 
 honesty of the distinctions, which are daily made 
 within the legal jurisdiction of most of the states,
 
 DEBTOR AND CREDITOR. 425 
 
 including even the great commercial state of New 
 York, that under the immediate sanction and pro- 
 tection of the law, enables every man in failing 
 circumstances, or on the eve of bankruptcy, to give 
 an undue preference in his payments to any one 
 creditor, to the exclusion it may be, of the remainder; 
 creating an unreasonable and knavish distinction 
 between what are called " confidential creditors," 
 who appear under the various characters of endorsers 
 immediate friends, fathers, and brothers-in-law, 
 and who are very possibly, aiders and abettors in 
 this scheme of practised imposition to whom accept- 
 ances or bonds, without any valuable consideration, 
 are usually passed, and to whom an assignment of a 
 large proportion of the bankrupt's estate, is often 
 made on the eve of his failure, to the prejudice of 
 the bonafide creditor, who had given his property 
 on the supposed faith and credit of the other. 
 
 The law invests a discretionary power in the 
 bankrupt, to extend this undue preference in his pay- 
 ments to any one person, even to the entire amount 
 of his assumed indebtedness to him, and though that 
 the party may have been an accomplice in his fraud 
 to whom no substantive debt is actually owing at 
 the time ; whilst the real, the unsuspecting, and 
 honest creditor, who has parted with his goods, or 
 given an equitable consideration for the debt, receives 
 not a dollar of what is fairly and justly due to him. 
 
 These assignments are made with secrecy, are 
 hid from public inquiry and observation, and 
 are confined t6 the individuals immediately con-
 
 426 PRESENT RELATIONS OF 
 
 cerned, including perhaps, his other creditors, on 
 whom the insolvent is thus generally enabled to 
 impose his own, or any terms he may think proper, 
 in any settlement with them.* 
 
 Commercial failures, with these incentives to the 
 cupidity of unprincipled and dishonest men, are of 
 very frequent occurrence. Indeed the art, if it may 
 be so called, of when, and how to fail to advantage, 
 is deemed a very necessary part of the early com- 
 mercial education of every American, whose tact and 
 general fitness, must at least be admitted, if not 
 commended in this respect. There are many, who 
 commence trading with this sole ulterior object, and 
 amass wealth according to their proficiency in this 
 legalised mode of plunder, and yet, are considered 
 in American society, as " honourable men." We 
 have often heard it asserted whilst in the country, 
 that at least one-sixth of the entire trading commu- 
 nity of these States, suspend their payments, or in 
 some way compound with their creditors, in every 
 year. The estimate may be a correct one; yet, no 
 
 * It may easily be surmised the nature of the oppositions 
 against the continuance of the recent bankrupt law, when we 
 find it containing the following salutary provision. " 18. By 
 the second section, it is provided that all future payments, &c. 
 in contemplation of bankruptcy, and for the purpose of giving 
 any creditor a preference; and all payments, &c., in contem- 
 plation of bankruptcy to any person, not being a bona fide 
 creditor, or purchaser for a valuable consideration, without 
 notice, shall be utterly void ; and the assignee may recover the 
 same as a part of the assets in bankruptcy, and the person 
 making such unlawful preferences, shall receive no discharge."
 
 DEBTOR AND CREDITOR. 437 
 
 publication follows an act of insolvency, and but 
 seldom any visible or outward change, to denote the 
 altered circumstances of the trader, who, without 
 satisfying a single bona fide creditor, but merely 
 adding " broker," or " agent" to his name, or by 
 some other expedient, may in despite of a long list 
 of unsatisfied creditors, carry on whatever business 
 he chooses, without let or molestation. 
 
 To fail in trade in the United States, seldom 
 carries with it the mortifying reminiscences 
 the disastrous and unpleasant consequences at- 
 tendant on this unfortunate casualty in England. 
 Besides, the thing appears to be so well understood, 
 is so quietly and " well managed," that almost every 
 second of your acquaintance may have disposed of 
 their engagements after this fashion, and you will 
 know nothing of the matter, without being called 
 upon as a creditor, deeply involved, to act as mourner 
 on the occasion, and to attend the obsequies of all 
 that remained of honour or honesty in the character 
 or composition of the man, in whom, of all others, 
 you perhaps had placed the most reliance. 
 
 We cannot avoid noticing, even at the risk of 
 extending these observations to an unusual length, 
 the remarks of an intelligent American writer of the 
 present day, well conversant with the subject, which 
 is confessedly of the first importance to all com- 
 mercial men, especially to every emigrant, to rightly 
 understand, and from whom we quote the following 
 pertinent remarks. 
 
 " It is thus left in the power and option of the
 
 428 PRESENT RRLATIONS OF 
 
 bankrupt to give a preference to one creditor, and 
 that perhaps a fictitious creditor an accomplice in 
 fraud, over all others ; he will thus be paid the whole 
 of his demand, fictitous or not, while others equally, 
 and nine times in ten, a thousand times better entitled 
 to be paid, get not a dollar. It must be obvious 
 that such a discretion on the part of the bankrupt, is 
 not only manifestly unjust, but that it opens a wide 
 door to partiality and downright fraud. By means 
 of this preference, the bankrupt may make a private 
 arrangement, either to share the spoils, or receive 
 back a portion of the fictitious debt ; and there is no 
 doubt such cases frequently occur. A system of 
 laws actually inviting to such frauds, by affording 
 every facility to their consummation, is calculated 
 not only to impair the rights of honest creditors, but 
 to demoralize the whole commercial community, by 
 holding up premiums to dishonest debtors. The 
 man who has suffered by this system will be very 
 apt to avail himself of its facilities when his turn 
 comes, and thus that high sense of integrity, which 
 is equally honourable and essential to the character, 
 as well as the property of a merchant, is lost sight 
 of, in doing to others as others have done to him. 
 
 " Another fruitful source of loss to the bona fide 
 creditor, is the practice of assigning property to 
 certain confidential friends, with a view to keeping 
 it out of the general distribution for the benefit of 
 all the creditors. We are told, indeed we know it 
 to be not an uncommon case, for the whole contents 
 of a store to be thus assigned to some one or other,
 
 DEBTOR AND CREDITOR. 429 
 
 while the ostensible owner continues to do business" 
 (and this in the city of New York) " as if it were 
 his own property, thus deceiving the public with a 
 show of wealth, when in reality he is worth nothing. 
 The whole belongs to one or more persons, who, 
 while this property is employed for their benefit, 
 throw all the responsibilities of failure on the ficti- 
 tious owner. These assignments, we believe, are 
 placed on record, but few ever think of referring to 
 them, and if they did, how is it possible to identify 
 a shifting succession of goods, as we do a house, or 
 a lot of land ? The fact is, that no one, in the ordinary 
 transactions of every day commerce, e'ver properly 
 thinks of taking the precaution of examining the 
 records. They go into a store, and seeing it full of 
 valuable commodities, trust the reputed owner on 
 the basis of what really belongs to others, who are not 
 responsible perhaps for one shilling of the obligations 
 of the ostensible proprietor. 
 
 " In the perverted vocabulary of the day people 
 may call these preferences and assignments by what 
 name they please. They are frauds, and as such 
 should be prohibited, regulated, or punished in a 
 manner at least to afford some little security or some 
 remedy to the honest creditor, who is induced to 
 trust a man on the score of his apparent property. 
 There are many other frauds and abuses sheltered 
 and protected under the exceedingly lax system, by 
 which the important relations between debtor and 
 creditor are now regulated, and that call for the 
 immediate, and careful, and sagacious action of the 
 government.
 
 430 VALUE OF GOLD AND SILVER COIN. 
 
 " As matters stand at present, it is notorious that 
 the creditor has no security whatever. He is en- 
 tirely in the power of his debtor, who can snap his 
 ringers at him with perfect security, and pay him 
 or not pay him, just as he pleases. By preferences 
 and assignments, and by a system of legerdemain, 
 which seems to have been designedly kept open by 
 the framers of the laws, the creditor is kept entirely 
 at the mercy of the debtor; thus reversing not 
 only the first principle of justice, but the entire 
 object and end of all wise legislation." 
 
 The value attached by act of Congress of June 
 28, 1834, to the gold and silver coin of Great 
 Britain, Portugal, &c. made current in the United 
 States, and in consequence of which so large a 
 quantity of the money of these countries had been 
 imported in this and subsequent years, having been 
 found by the more recent assays of the United 
 States' mint, to have been considerably overrated in 
 actual worth, an act was subsequently passed March 
 3rd, 1843, by which it was declared, that the gold 
 coins of Great Britain, of not less than 915 1-2- 
 thousandths fine, shall from thenceforth, only pass 
 current as money in the United States at 94 6.10 
 cents per penny weight; and the gold coins of 
 France, of not less than 899-thousandths fine, at 
 92 9-10 cents per penny- weight. Of silver coins, 
 the Spanish pillar dollars, and the dollars of Mexico, 
 Peru, and Bolivia, of not less than 897-thousandths 
 fine, and 415 grains in weight, shall pass current 
 at 100 cents each; and the five- franc pieces of
 
 PENALTIES OF USURY. 431 
 
 France, of not less than 900-thousandths fine, and 
 384 grains in weight, at 93 cents each. 
 
 The interest paid on discounts in America is 
 generally subject to legal control, by which it is 
 restricted to some reasonable sum, varying in 
 amount according to the laws in force regulating 
 such matters; notwithstanding, 2, 2^-, and 3 per 
 cent, per month, or from 24 to 26 per cent, per 
 annum is frequently asked, and often paid in Wall 
 Street, New York, as elsewhere, in negociating even 
 what is generally considered good commercial 
 paper. Usury is nevertheless proscribed by the 
 laws of the United States, and in most cases punish- 
 able by penalties and forfeiture of the debt. The 
 following is an abstract of the rates of interest in 
 the States and territories of the Union, together with 
 the penalties for usury. 
 
 Maine 6 per cent. ; forfeit of the debt or claim. 
 
 New Hampshire 6 per cent. ; forfeit of three 
 times the amount unlawfully taken. 
 
 Vermont 6 per cent. ; recovery in action with 
 costs. 
 
 Massachusetts 6 per cent. ; forfeit of threefold 
 the usury. 
 
 Rhode Island 6 per cent. ; forfeit of the money 
 and interest on the debt. 
 
 Connecticut 6 per cent. ; forfeit the whole debt. 
 
 New York 7 per cent. ; forfeit the whole debt. 
 
 New Jersey 6 per cent.; forfeit the whole debt. 
 
 Pennsylvania 6 per cent. ; forfeit of the whole 
 debt.
 
 432 PENALTIES OF USURY. 
 
 Delaware 6 per cent. ; forfeit of the whole debt. 
 
 Maryland 6 per cent. ; on tobacco contracts 8 
 per cent, usurious contracts void. 
 
 Virginia 6 per cent. ; forfeit double the usury 
 taken. 
 
 North Carolina 6 per cent. ; contracts for usury 
 void, forfeit double the usury. 
 
 South Carolina 7 per cent. ; forfeit of interest 
 and premium taken, with costs to debtor. 
 
 Georgia 8 per cent. ; forfeit three times the 
 usury, and contract void. 
 
 Alabama 8 per cent. ; forfeit of interest and 
 usury. 
 
 Mississippi 8 per cent.; by contract as high as 
 10; usury recoverable in action of debt. 
 
 Louisiana 5 per cent. ; back interest 6 ; con- 
 ventional as high as 10 ; beyond, contract void. 
 
 Tennessee 6 per cent. ; usurious contracts void. 
 
 Ohio 6 per cent. ; usurious contracts void. 
 
 Indiana 6 per cent. ; on written agreement may 
 go as high as 10 ; penalty of usury, a fine of double 
 the excess. 
 
 Illinois 6 per cent. ; threefold the amount of 
 the whole interest. 
 
 Missouri 6 per cent. ; by agreement as high as 
 10 ; if beyond, forfeit of the whole interest due and 
 of the usury taken. 
 
 Michigan 7 per cent. ; forfeit of the usury taken, 
 and one-fourth of the debt. 
 
 Arkansas 5 per cent. ; by agreement, any rate 
 not higher than 10, amount of usury recoverable, 
 contract but void.
 
 GENERAL BAD FAITH. 433 
 
 Florida 8 per cent. ; forfeit of interest and excess 
 in case of usury. 
 
 Wisconsin 7 per cent. ; by agreement not over 
 12 ; forfeit treble the excess. 
 
 On debts and judgments in favour of the United 
 States, interest computed at 6 per cent, per annum. 
 
 While money continues of such disproportionate 
 value in the Republic, that almost any amount 
 of interest may be obtained for its temporary loan 
 and accommodation, means will always be con- 
 trived to evade these laws, that have partly grown 
 into disuse, and become obsolete from their pecu- 
 liar stringency. Lending money, though great 
 the temptation, from the exorbitant interest de- 
 manded and usually exacted for it, and however 
 apparently well secured its repayment, is, never- 
 theless, a very hazardous affair, even where the 
 lender is well conversant with the customs and 
 habits of the country, and the reputation and cir- 
 cumstances of the borrower ; in part occasioned, by 
 the absence of a sufficient moral restraint in the 
 population, as well as the facilities which the law 
 in its peculiar organisation presents, of warding off 
 for any lengthened period the time of actual repay- 
 ment, even though legal proceedings should have 
 been taken for the recovery of the amount. 
 
 We can, perhaps, best explain the general con- 
 sequences of this unity, or combination of circum- 
 stances, by the following statement of an affair, in 
 which we were ourselves personally concerned ; for 
 though neither money borrowers, or generally 
 
 VOL. i. 2 F
 
 434 INCIDENT EXEMPLIFYING 
 
 speaking, money lenders, we were nevertheless 
 fooled into a transaction, that might, perhaps, with 
 some degree of correctness, be classed under the 
 latter category. 
 
 Chance, which is the frequent originator of many 
 a strange and unexpected incident, had made us 
 acquainted during a short sojourn at a very respect- 
 able boarding house in Barclay Street, New York, 
 where we had assumed a temporary domicile, with 
 
 an attorney or lawyer D , for both professions in 
 
 America, as we have pointed out in a preceding 
 chapter, are conjoined in the same individual, and 
 to whose care and management we were persuaded 
 to confide some legal business; in the course of 
 which, we had the good, or ill fortune, to be intro- 
 duced by this gentleman, to a Mr. Sp , whom 
 
 our legal friend represented as a most respectable 
 import merchant, and withal, a very worthy client 
 of his, with whose affairs, he, Mr. D , was in- 
 timately conversant, and who at this time was 
 carrying on a lucrative wholesale business in Water 
 
 Street, New York ; also insinuating that Mr. Sp , 
 
 who had been disappointed in receiving some cash 
 remittances, and yet having considerable payments 
 to make, was anxious to procure from us a loan of 
 some three hundred dollars, or as much more as we 
 might be disposed to leave with him for a short 
 term of thirty-one days, or thereabouts. Yielding 
 
 to the request of lawyer D , while placing the 
 
 utmost reliance on his assurances of the undoubted 
 solvency and good faith of his client, we, very im-
 
 FOREGOING REMARKS. 435 
 
 prudently we admit, handed over to Mr. Sp 
 
 the required sum, or securities in our possession for 
 the amount, receiving his check or order on the 
 Lafayette bank of the city of New York, for the 
 repayment, at thirty -one days, and without charging 
 him for this specific time, any interest whatever on 
 the accommodation. 
 
 Having subsequently, as we thought, some reason 
 to suspect the conduct and circumstances of our 
 lately made acquaintance, notwithstanding the en- 
 dorsement of his character by lawyer D , we 
 
 called at his store, or counting house, some days after- 
 wards, to make a request, that as we had two small 
 sums of one hundred and fifty dollars each to pay 
 
 away, that he, Mr. Sp , would divide his former 
 
 security for three hundred dollars, by exchanging 
 it for two other bills of this specific amount. Mr. 
 
 Sp , who was a man of quiet retiring habits, of 
 
 about forty years of age, of demure puritanical 
 exterior, and apparently well instructed in the ways 
 and intricacies of American commercial dealing, 
 having heard our application, commenced a calcu- 
 lation, in which he continued engaged, with a de- 
 gree of earnestness and abstraction, for some ten or 
 fifteen minutes, without uttering a word. At 
 length, shrugging up his shoulders, and distorting 
 hisf eatures into a half spasmodic contraction, he 
 responded to our inquiry by an assurance, that the 
 request we had made was chimerical altogether 
 inadmissible, and out of course ; adding with a pecu- 
 liar sang froid, that the times were very pressing, 
 
 2 F 2
 
 436 INCIDENT EXEMPLIFYING 
 
 and out of joint money at a ruinous premium, and 
 difficult to be had, and that were he to accede to our 
 solicitation, he would be compelled to the unrea- 
 sonable charge of two protests, one on each bill, or 
 note, on their reaching maturity, instead of upon 
 one merely, as he was at present prepared to expect. 
 Our apprehensions were in part realized by the 
 announcement ; we attempted to remonstrate on the 
 severe injustice and dishonesty of such conduct, 
 and threatened legal proceedings ; if compelled to 
 this alternative, with its consequent exposure and 
 expense. But our friend only laughed at our sur- 
 prise and importunity ; he had already determined 
 the cost of such suit its disagreeabilities, and the 
 extreme length of time it would take to bring it to a 
 termination ; the value of three hundred dollars its 
 use in the mean while ; and having set one against 
 the other, had resolved to allow his check or bill to 
 be protested, leaving us to our remedy at law, for 
 the recovery of the amount. 
 
 Excellent and upright man ! thought we, and 
 withal a neat specimen of American honesty and 
 dealing, as we hied onward in no very satisfied 
 
 mood to the office of lawyer D , in Beekman 
 
 Street, who listened with the most provoking gravity 
 and nonchalance to all that we had to say upon the 
 subject, without an expression of the least surprise 
 or sympathy escaping his lips, for which we were 
 altogether unprepared. It was in his explication, 
 one of the incidental vicissitudes of trade or business 
 of our necessary intercourse with the world, that it
 
 FOREGOING REMARKS. 437 
 
 were sometimes impossible to avoid or guard against ; 
 for which there was no specific no immediate, or 
 other remedy at hand no palliative but patience. 
 He was ready, however, to tender his professional 
 
 assistance, only that Mr. Sp was also his client ; 
 
 and it would appear somewhat invidious upon his 
 part, and unbecoming, to direct proceedings in any 
 intended suit against him. At this, the sensitive 
 
 mind of lawyer D absolutely recoiled ; he could 
 
 not do it ; it was out of the question, and quite be- 
 yond the practice of an high and honourable pro- 
 fession : but a lawyer S y, had lately been his 
 
 copartner, had only a short while before set up in 
 business on his own account, and at this time re- 
 sided in the city of Brooklyn, opposite to New 
 York, using the office of his former associate, in 
 Beekman Street, as his official whereabouts, or place 
 of reference for all law purposes ; and whom he, 
 (lawyer D ,) of all others, recommended should 
 be employed to conduct any hostile proceedings we 
 might deem it advisable to adopt. 
 
 Acting on the suggestion of the said D , 
 
 who, having been instrumental in occasioning the 
 difficulties in which we were involved, had engaged 
 to keep a careful watch upon the proceedings, we 
 
 commenced a suit against Sp in the Superior 
 
 Court of the city of New York, constituting S y 
 
 our attorney. One term of the court succeeded 
 another and still another, in continued succession, 
 until the proceedings in the suit were at length per- 
 fected, and the cause ready for a hearing. Another
 
 438 INCIDENT EXEMPLIFYING 
 
 term of the court still approached ; there were at least 
 two hundred and fifty causes on the list for trial, 
 whilst ours numbered somewhat beyond one hundred 
 and twenty. 
 
 It is a practice in this court, that when a suit is in 
 progress, and the defendant about to join issue, he is 
 required, in the event of his defending such action, 
 to file an affidavit in the proceedings, setting forth, 
 that he is advised, and believes the fact to be so, that 
 he has a good, sufficient, and valid defence to such 
 action against him. This is done to prevent, as far 
 as the solemnity and inviolability of an oath can 
 effect this purpose, any unnecessary delay being 
 caused, on ill-grounded, and frivolous pretexts by 
 the defendant, where an indefeasible right or cause 
 
 of action, as in this instance, exists. Mr. Sp 's 
 
 object, however, was procrastination indefinite 
 postponement. The means of attaining this end was 
 but an oath ; and that oath, however unwarranted by 
 the circumstances of the case however awful and 
 
 solemn the adjuration with which Mr. Sp 
 
 pleaded his justification, yet was such affirmation 
 placed on record sworn to by this very just and 
 upright merchant of New York, gravely asserting 
 under all the circumstances, a firm and conscientious 
 belief of a good, valid, and equitable defence to the 
 claim of restitution the demand for repayment 
 that we had set up against him. 
 
 The cause being thus likely to be postponed, ad 
 injinitum, or until some one hundred and odd suits, 
 then on the calendar, were disposed of, and being
 
 FOREGOING REMARKS. 439 
 
 about to leave New York, we advertised the security 
 
 of the said Sp to be sold. But an incident 
 
 occurred which changed the entire features of these 
 proceedings, and altered our intention in this respect. 
 The Superior Court had just commenced one of its 
 sittings under the direction of Judge Hoffman, who 
 was a man of exceedingly rude manner and exterior, 
 and whose conduct was generally so insulting and 
 unbecoming to the bar, practising in his court, that 
 but few of the legal profession could be found suf- 
 ficiently resolute to bring forward a case for judicial 
 hearing, under his auspices. Besides, his decisions 
 were ever vacillating and doubtful, very frequently 
 occasioned by the state of inebriety in which he was 
 in the habit of appearing on the bench, occasioning 
 an entire forgetfulness of the arduous and important 
 obligations which rested on him in the discharge of 
 his official duties as a judge. The consequence was, 
 in this instance, that several causes which were in- 
 tended to be tried at this term, were all set down by 
 consent of parties to the next, which unexpectedly 
 brought forward the suit in which we were engaged 
 among those to be heard at this sitting of the court. 
 
 Our conscientious friend, Mr. Sp , finding, 
 
 contrary to every former expectation, that the object 
 which he sought for was no longer attainable, and that 
 all effort at further procrastination was unavailing, 
 tendered a submission, and in the face of his recorded 
 oath his most solemn adjuration and formal denial 
 of all indebtedness, confessed a judgment for the full 
 debt and costs that we claimed against him ; stipu-
 
 440 INCIDENT EXEMPLIFYING 
 
 lating merely for a stay of execution for thirty-one 
 days, which we accordingly acceded to him. 
 
 But this was not the " end all" of this very 
 discreditable transaction. Other difficulties other 
 punishments awaited us, as a just retribution for our 
 past inexperience and very culpable remissness. The 
 thirty-one days' extension, which was allowed to 
 
 Mr. Sp had expired, when we received an 
 
 intimation from lawyer D , that our attorney in 
 
 this suit, Mr. S y, had left with him a " satis- 
 faction piece" as it is termed, being a release for the 
 amount of debt and costs in this action, and which 
 
 the said Sp would be prepared to pay on an 
 
 early day, on our executing this discharge to him, 
 to which we very readily assented. 
 
 Not hearing any further from Mr. S y on the 
 
 subject, though the time promised for the payment had 
 for several days gone by, we ventured to personally 
 wait upon him in Brooklyn ; when we learnt, with 
 some surprise, that the money had been already and 
 
 for sometime paid to him by Mr. Sp , that he 
 
 had sent us notice to this effect by lawyer D. , 
 
 who had carefully concealed the fact from our 
 knowledge ; yet, who had subsequently called upon 
 
 the said S y, and demanded the delivery or 
 
 payment to him, of the entire amount in our name ; 
 and had actually produced, as evidence from us, of 
 his authority to receive it, the very " satisfaction 
 piece" or release for the full sum and costs, which 
 we had signed a short time before. That on the 
 faith of such representations, and the production of
 
 FOREGOING REMARKS. 441 
 
 this release, by lawyer D , he, the said S y, 
 
 had handed over to him a sum of two hundred and 
 seventy-five dollars, retaining the remaining twenty- 
 five, the residue of the three hundred, as a " consulta- 
 tion fee," to which he claimed to be entitled, and 
 though his entire legal costs had been previously 
 
 paid to him by Mr. Sp . It was quite useless 
 
 our remonstrating against this further imposition 
 unsanctioned by the usages of the court, or any 
 former precedent. We had no alternative but to 
 submit to it with whatever grace we could, or else 
 institute a suit against the said S y for the re- 
 covery of the amount (twenty-five dollars), in which 
 we might be tolerably sure, from the odds we should 
 have to contend with, of being worsted in the at- 
 tempt. Neither had we any hope of redress for the 
 
 fraud committed against usby lawyer D . We 
 
 nevertheless threatened legal proceedings, and a 
 direct appeal, by petition, to the supreme court, 
 and by this means only, succeeded in recovering 
 from the hands of this honest and upright American 
 lawyer a balance of two hundred and fifteen dollars, he 
 having candidly admitted his having previously con- 
 verted sixty dollars, of the two hundred and seventy- 
 five, thus fraudulently obtained from S y, to his 
 
 his own and individual uses. Nor was this all ; a 
 suit was subsequently instituted against us by Mr. 
 
 Sp , to obtain damages for the injury which he 
 
 alleged to have suffered in his character and reputa- 
 tion as a merchant, by reason of our having adver- 
 tised his note or check for sale, in which we were 
 very unceremoniously proceeded against, and obliged
 
 442 INSTANCE EXEMPLIFYING 
 
 to tender special bail for our appearance, in which 
 proceeding we had to pay a further sum in costs, of 
 twenty-five dollars, besides other expenses in 
 compromising this suit, which a free knowledge 
 of American juries, their constitution and general 
 conduct, especially in any proceedings where a 
 foreigner and native citizen may hap to be the 
 parties litigant, had convinced us was the most 
 prudential course we could well have adopted on 
 the occasion. Altogether, we sustained a loss of 
 upwards of one hundred and thirty dollars, for which 
 we had no possible redress, besides experiencing much 
 annoyance and trouble by the transaction. 
 
 We may perhaps be told, that this was an extreme 
 case ; that the character of the individuals with 
 whom we had to deal would scarcely warrant any 
 other conclusion ; and that such a result should 
 rather be attributed to our imprudence our own 
 culpable remissness, and want of due precaution in 
 our intercourse with the world, to which, in this ex- 
 treme instance, we were made the victim, than from 
 any general innate depravity pertinent to American 
 society. Such, we aver, is not the case : our further 
 experience has fully satisfied us, that the conduct of 
 these parties seldom forms an exception in the 
 every day intercourse and dealings of the generality 
 of the people of these states, who look upon such 
 digressions as matters of trivial, or mere secondary 
 import, and rather take care to withhold all such 
 opportunities from each other, than to expect that 
 either will resist the temptation of converting them 
 to their own purposes, whenever thrown in their
 
 FOREGOING REMARKS. 443 
 
 way by any fortuitous or accidental circumstances. 
 These individuals were all, " all honourable men," 
 in the estimation of American society, and in 
 extensive, and continued intercourse with their fel- 
 low citizens ; two of them of a profession that has 
 at all times been distinguished in this country, for 
 the high moral worth, and superior attainments of 
 those belonging to it, which is supposed to regard 
 with peculiar jealousy, if not to visit with severe 
 reprehension, any conduct of its members irrecon- 
 cilable with the strictest propriety, and to which the 
 practice and declared rules of society may withhold 
 its sanction. The loss and difficulties in which we 
 were so unexpectedly involved in this instance, and 
 in others of a somewhat similar character we might 
 record, are those, which are pretty sure at one time 
 or the other, to meet every individual from this 
 country, who, educated in a different school in- 
 structed in other principles, expects to make them 
 applicable in his conduct on arrival in the United 
 States ; until experience, purchased at the expense 
 with which we have secured it, may teach him the 
 necessity of some better precaution, and to restrain 
 every liberal and generous impulse in his nature, if 
 desirous to pass unscathed through the meshes and 
 difficulties of American intercourse, or at least, until 
 such time as he is enabled to form a correct and 
 proper estimate of the character and morals of the 
 people, with whom it is his fate, for the while, to be, 
 and live amongst. 
 
 There is no part of the American monetary 
 system so uncertain, so altogether unregulated by
 
 444 DOMESTIC EXCHANGES. 
 
 any defined rule, or understood arrangement, as its 
 internal or domestic exchanges, that remain without 
 any presiding institution to control this necessary 
 part of the commercial intercourse of the republic. 
 All is left to chance, and its varying consequences, 
 or directed by the cupidity or caprice of individuals, 
 in carrying out the daily routine business of the 
 country. During the continuance of the late United 
 States bank, this uncertainty, and the great incon- 
 venience resulting from it, especially to a commu- 
 nity so altogether commercial as the United States, 
 was to a great extent obviated. The local and 
 branch banks of this institution, established in the 
 maritime and principal trading cities, as also of the 
 larger commercial cities and towns of the interior, 
 in part regulated these exchanges, and reduced them 
 to some definite and approved standard. Through 
 its means, the public were materially benefited ; since 
 its dissolution, all has been uncertainty and derange- 
 ment ; the interchange, and value of all commercial 
 paper, so oscillating, and difficult to determine, 
 that business men are frequently at a loss in the 
 direction and management of their local and general 
 affairs. 
 
 The rate of exchange at New York on Phila- 
 delphia, at sight, for the ten years ending 1835, 
 averaged from 5 to ^ per cent, discount ; in 1837, 
 it increased to 1 j per cent. ; and in 1838, or on the 
 final suppression of the United States bank, under its 
 first, or original charter, from 1J to 5 percent. ; and 
 though but a distance of ninety miles, or little more 
 than a six hours travel from either city to the other-
 
 DOMESTIC EXCHANGES. 445 
 
 The exchange on Charleston, in like manner, which 
 for the same ten years averaged from 1 to 2 per 
 cent, discount, increased in 1837, from 2^ to 5 per 
 cent. ; and in 1838, from 2 to 8 per cent, discount. 
 But New Orleans is the more remarkable still, which 
 for the same ten years averaged 1|- per cent. ; in 
 1836, it increased from 1^ to 4 per cent. ; in 1837, 
 from 3 to 10 per cent. ; and in 1838, from 2 to 12 
 per cent, discount. And yet these several commer- 
 cial cities, are not only integral parts of the same 
 republic their trade and commerce regulated by the 
 same laws their money circulation under the same 
 restraint, but are in extensive and daily trading 
 intercourse one with the other. 
 
 It is reasonable to infer, that where so much of 
 uncertainty exists, there must be something defec- 
 tive something radically wrong in a system, that 
 can generate an anomaly of this kind, and expose an 
 entire community to this inconvenience. The high 
 rate of discount to which bills on New York, on all 
 the inland towns and cities are subject, cannot be 
 .said to proceed from the actual state, or balance of 
 trade between these several intersections, inclining 
 to any one more than to another ; but to causes that 
 originate in the want of some sound directing head, 
 or general monied institution, to afford some better 
 facilities to commerce, by furnishing a means of 
 more ready interchange, apart from the interference 
 of brokers, Jews, and speculators, into whose hands 
 the control and management of the entire has prin- 
 cipally fallen. While this state of things has been 
 permitted to continue, the several political parties
 
 446 NATIONAL BANK. 
 
 in Congress, federal and democratic, have been 
 wasting their time in embittered and unseemly con- 
 tention among themselves as to the propriety of 
 establishing a national bank for the correction of 
 these and other abuses, affecting the general com- 
 merce of the country. Twice, has a bill passed both 
 Houses, after an unusually protracted and angry dis- 
 cussion, on the subject of appointing a "fiscal agency," 
 (for it were contrary to good taste a species of poli- 
 tical profanation, to discuss, or even touch upon the 
 subject of a National Bank, however lightly, within 
 the legislative chambers,) to aid the machinery of 
 Government in the collection and safe keeping of 
 the public revenue, and for the better regulating the 
 internal and domestic exchanges of the country 
 and though every pains had been taken to withhold 
 from such projected institution, the general banking 
 privileges possessed by the former United States 
 Bank, or any other, that could directly interfere 
 with the rights assumed by the individuals tates ; 
 still, has such bill been twice vetoed by President 
 Tyler, who has been persuaded to this utmost reach 
 of executive power, under an apprehension of over- 
 stepping the constitution, by instituting an autho- 
 rity of even this limited kind, in the midst of the 
 Republic. In the mean time, the utmost confusion 
 in the internal exchanges, and commercial system 
 of the country, is allowed to continue, to the ad- 
 mitted detriment of trade and business of every 
 kind, as also to interfere with the temporary safe 
 keeping of the public 'revenues, placed in notori- 
 ously improvident and improper hands, by whose
 
 JUDGE STORY'S OPINION THEREON. 447 
 
 frequent defalcations, from incapacity it may be, 
 but more frequently from design, the public are 
 often cheated to a large amount. The diminution 
 from these causes, in the last year of which returns 
 have been made, (1836,) amounted to 126,684 
 dollars. But the losses which the Government has 
 sustained since then, have, we believe, been proper- 
 tionably much greater. 
 
 It is quite foreign to our object to enter on an 
 inquiry as to the constitutionality, or otherwise, of 
 a national banking institution in the United States ; 
 which is a matter altogether for the consideration of 
 the American people, who have an undisputed right 
 to consult their own fancies and predilections in any 
 case of the kind, and who can themselves be the only 
 sufferers by any headstrong or self-willed determi- 
 nation, or of a constrained or wrongful interpreta- 
 tion of the wording of the constitution under which 
 they are pleased to be governed. We take the fol- 
 lowing extract from Mr. Justice Story's " Com- 
 mentaries on the Constitution of the United States," 
 which gives a brief summary of the principal argu- 
 ments for and against the constitutionality of a 
 national bank within the Union. 
 
 " One of the earliest and most important measures, 
 which gave rise to a question of constitutional 
 power, was the act chartering the bank of the 
 United States, in 1791. That question has often 
 since been discussed ; and though the measure has 
 been repeatedly sanctioned by Congress, by the 
 executive, and by the judiciary, and has obtained the
 
 448 JUDGE STORY 'ON THE CONSTITUTIONALITY 
 
 like favour in the great majority of the states, yet it 
 is, up to this very hour, still debated upon constitu- 
 tional grounds, as if it were still new and untried. 
 It is impossible, at this time, to treat it as an open 
 question, unless the constitution is for ever to remain 
 an unsettled text, possessing no permanent attributes, 
 and incapable of having any ascertained sense ; 
 varying with every change of doctrine and of party, 
 and delivered over to interminable doubts. 
 
 " The reasoning upon which the constitutionality 
 of a national bank is denied, turns upon the strict 
 interpretation of the clause giving auxiliary powers, 
 necessary and proper to execute the other enumerated 
 powers. It is to the following effect. The power to 
 incorporate a bank is not among those enumerated in 
 the constitution. It is urged that a bank will give 
 great facility or convenience to the collection of taxes. 
 If this were true, yet the constitution allows only the 
 means that are necessary, and not merely those which 
 are convenient for effecting the enumerated powers. 
 If such a latitude of construction were allowed, as to 
 consider convenience, as justifying the use of such 
 means, it would swallow up all the enumerated 
 powers. Therefore the constitution restrains Con- 
 gress to those means, without which the power would 
 be nugatory. 
 
 " The reasoning by which the constitutionality of 
 a national bank is sustained is (in part) contained in 
 the following summary. The powers confided to 
 the national government are unquestionably, so far 
 as they exist, sovereign and supreme. It is not, and
 
 OF A NATIONAL BANK. 449 
 
 cannot be disputed, that the power of creating a 
 corporation is one belonging to sovereignty. But 
 so are all legislative powers ; for the original power 
 of giving the law, on any subject whatever, is a 
 sovereign power. If the erecting of a corporation 
 be an incident to sovereignty, and it is not pro- 
 hibited, it must belong to the national government 
 in relation to the objects entrusted to it. The true 
 difference is this : where the authority of a govern- 
 ment is general, it can create corporations in all 
 cases ; where it is confined to certain branches of 
 legislation, it can create corporations only as to those 
 cases. It cannot be denied, that implied powers may 
 be delegated, as well as express. It follows that a 
 power to erect corporations may as well be implied 
 as any other thing, if it be an instrument, or means 
 of carrying into execution any specific power. 
 
 " It is true, that among the enumerated powers, 
 we do not find that of establishing a bank or creating 
 a corporation ; but we do find there the great powers 
 to lay and collect taxes, to borrow money, to regu- 
 late commerce, to declare and conduct war, and to 
 raise and support navies. Now, if a bank be a fit 
 means to execute any or all of these powers, it is just 
 as much implied as any other means. If it be 
 necessary and proper for any of them, how is it 
 possible to deny the authority to create it for such 
 purposes? There is no more propriety in giving 
 this power in express terms, than in giving any 
 other incidental power or means in express terms. 
 
 " That a national bank is an appropriate means to 
 carry into effect some of the enumerated powers of 
 
 VOL. i. 2 G
 
 450 UTILITY OF A NATIONAL BANK. 
 
 the government, and that this can be best done by 
 creating it into a corporation, may be established by 
 the most satisfactory reasoning. It has a relation, 
 more or less direct, to the power of collecting taxes, 
 to that of borrowing money, to that of regulating 
 trade between states, and to those of raising and 
 maintaining fleets and armies. And it may be added, 
 that it has a most important bearing upon the regu- 
 lation of currency between the states. It is an in- 
 strument, which has been applied by governments 
 in the administration of their fiscal and financial 
 operations ; and in the present times it can hardly 
 require argument to prove that it is a convenient, a 
 useful, and an essential instrument in the fiscal 
 operations of the United States." 
 
 Whatever diversity of opinion may exist as to the 
 constitutionality of an institution of this kind in 
 the United States, there can be none, we apprehend, 
 as to the measure of its usefulness, in aiding in 
 the collection of the public revenues, but more es- 
 pecially in regulating the commercial exchanges, 
 that since the expiry of the charter of the late United 
 States Bank, have been left to the chances of a vary- 
 ing and uncertain control, in their connection with 
 the trade and intercourse of the country. 
 
 The following table exhibits the highest and lowest 
 rate of exchange at New York, on London, at sixty 
 days after sight ; and on Boston, Philadelphia, 
 Charleston, and New Orleans at sight ; and of the 
 American gold of the old and new coinage, sove- 
 reigns, Spanish doubloons, Spanish dollars, and five 
 franc pieces in each year, from January 1825, to 1839.
 
 RATES OF EXCHANGE. 
 
 451 
 
 
 e,-d -d -a -d P.O P. P. P. 
 
 
 p. -o -a -a -a PI P. o P. 
 
 
 CO 
 
 
 ** 
 
 00 
 
 "022 ^*'-*' c o o ~ 3 3 
 
 * j t!i, ooo0 ? o 'uu 
 
 "^3 o3aS* J4J * J O aS OS 
 CD P. P,H-*i rn U5 P, p, 
 
 00 
 00 
 
 * U5 ~ 
 2 ** 1C O " 
 
 
 p. 73 73 73 CX P P. 
 
 
 P,*^ 73 *O 'O Pi Pi *C CH 
 -!(M 
 
 o 
 
 eo 
 
 00 
 
 CD 
 
 s 
 
 ** 0* 10 ^ 
 
 
 OS "'"Hots* rn * o O5 O 
 
 
 o2** o 1 - 1 o2* J o f ~ l 
 
 
 S22222,c2bb 
 
 >Q O3 03 
 CD H^Hf-H rH <M Tj( p, p. 
 
 
 ? P, P,ff CO CD P."* rn IN 
 
 
 P.-O -O^-d-oo p, p< P. 
 
 
 P.-O -e -o "O PI PI 
 
 OS 
 (M 
 CO 
 
 CO 
 
 rH HW-W o CO O "^ 2 2 
 OO H^H^i ' rH CO rn t> P\ C. 
 
 CO 
 CO 
 00 
 
 22 <N '*o ^l!2o 
 
 ^^t-OO-^t,^ . ** 
 -h efl oS w *" -l 3S . CO -KM 
 CD Pi P,-WHeiCO P. 1 * rH <N 
 
 
 p^^^^^^O p.p,p, 
 
 
 p. ^^3^3 p. p, 
 
 oo 
 oo 
 
 I-H 
 
 CO 
 
 HM 
 
 CO 
 00 
 
 ff* 
 
 oo ' ' 
 o "^2 
 
 c " ^ o *" o* "* 
 "^.ooo*- 1 ^^-;;) 
 
 -W C9 *" * ** -W 03 ^ CO *" 
 CO CU "^H 1 HCT He* CD PiTt* rH I-H 
 
 
 P, -0 -d -tf P, P. P. 
 
 
 P, TJT3'dPi PiPipi 
 
 
 CD 
 
 
 
 r- 
 oo 
 
 rH 
 
 s5r1|'2^s|1 
 
 O) HhrH P.TJI i-H 00 P.rH 
 
 CO 
 00 
 
 I-H 
 
 t> _ r^ CD OD O O 
 
 o ^^ -u ** 
 
 (M PiH^fi ' rH -;r< p,c^ P. Pi 
 
 
 OO 
 
 
 P, P.T) -O -O Pi P.O Pi 
 
 CO 
 00 
 
 ^ o-wfooi^o^ 3 
 
 tJT Ei-^rH rH cT2 CO Pi 
 
 i 
 
 00 
 rH 
 
 wf*"* 1 HeiieH) OO " H^ 
 COO-W I-H ^( 0.0"* 
 
 -a2 22 * J ""J 3 
 
 
 & -d -a , P. P. 
 
 
 Pil^ *O 73 *O Pi PiOO p4 
 
 
 CO 
 
 
 co 
 
 CO 
 rH 
 
 oSSCOGN^O Q** 
 * J - - t,OOo*'?* J O 
 
 8 
 
 rH 
 
 O ~H> 
 
 rH HCD OS ** MW 
 
 O **"*" ^ o O "3 ** 
 
 ^^ooo* 8 * Jt> ;o 
 
 a 
 
 
 a> 
 
 a 
 P 
 
 ~W 1 1 M to 
 
 OS C S. 3 r^O 
 
 a 
 
 o 
 
 01 C 
 
 ,2 01 "o .a 3 J g 
 
 S 
 
 llilllllls 
 
 
 
 Ilil.l54l.lls 
 
 2 G 2
 
 452 DAMAGES ON 
 
 The damages on protested bills of exchange vary, 
 according to the laws peculiar to each State determin- 
 ing such matters. In some cases, the regulations of 
 the separate States approximate to each other, while 
 in others they are widely different. In some instances, 
 the law or rule is unlike, but the result is nearly 
 similar ; while between other States, the result varies 
 from four and a half to fifteen per cent. We extract 
 the following from the 4th edition of " Chancellor 
 Kent's Commentaries," on this subject. 
 
 In Massachusetts the usage was, to recover the 
 amount of the protested bill at the par of exchange 
 and interest, as in England, from the time payment 
 of the dishonoured bill was demanded of the drawee, 
 and the charge of the protest, and ten per cent 
 damages in lieu of the price of exchange. But this 
 rule has been changed by statute in 1825, 1835, 
 and 1837 ; and bills drawn or endorsed in that 
 state, and payable without the limits of the United 
 States, and duly protested for non-acceptance or 
 non-payment, are now settled at the current rate of 
 exchange and interest, and five per cent damages ; 
 and if the bill be drawn upon any place beyond the 
 Cape of Good Hope, twenty per cent damages. 
 The rate of damages in Massachusetts, on inland 
 bills payable out of the state, and duly protested 
 for non-acceptance or non-payment, is two per cent 
 in addition to the contents of the bill, with interest 
 and costs, if payable in any other New England 
 State, or New York ; and three per cent if payable 
 in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Mary-
 
 PROTESTED BILLS. 453 
 
 land ; and four per cent if payable in Virginia, 
 district of Columbia, North Carolina, South Caro- 
 lina, or Georgia ; and five per cent, if payable in 
 any other of the United States, or the territories 
 thereof. 
 
 In Rhode Island, the rule formerly was, according 
 to the revised code in 1776, on bills returned from 
 beyond sea, protested for non-acceptance or non- 
 payment, ten per cent, and damages, besides interest 
 and costs. 
 
 The rule of damages in Connecticut, on bills re- 
 turned protested, and drawn on any person in New 
 York, is two per cent, upon the principal sum 
 specified in the bill ; in New Hampshire, Vermont, 
 Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New York 
 (city of New York excepted), New Jersey, Pennsylva- 
 nia, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, or territory of 
 Columbia, three per cent ; in North Carolina, 
 South Carolina, Ohio, or Georgia, five per cent; in 
 any other part of the United States, eight per cent, 
 upon such principal sum, to be in lieu of interest and 
 all other charges, and without any reference to the 
 rate of exchange. 
 
 The rate of damages on bills drawn and payable 
 within the United States, or other parts of North 
 America, was, in 1819, regulated in New York by 
 statute, and the damages fixed at five, or seven and 
 a half, or ten per cent, according to the distance or 
 situation of the place on which the bill was drawn. 
 But, by the new revised statutes, which went into 
 operation on the 1st of January, 1830, the damages
 
 454 DAMAGES ON 
 
 on bills, foreign and inland, were made the subject 
 of a more extensive regulation. They provide that, 
 upon bills drawn or negotiated within the state, upon 
 any person, at any place, within the six states east 
 of New York, or in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, 
 Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, or the district of 
 Columbia, the damages to be allowed and paid, upon 
 the usual protest for non-acceptance or non-payment, 
 to the holder of the bill, as purchaser thereof, or of 
 some interest therein, for a valuable consideration, 
 shall be three per cent upon the principal sum 
 specified in the bill ; and upon any person, at any 
 place, within the states of North Carolina, South 
 Carolina, Georgia, Kentucky, and Tennessee, five 
 per cent ; and upon any in any other state or 
 territory of the United States, or at any other place 
 on, or adjacent to this continent, and north of the 
 equator, or in any British or foreign possessions in 
 the West Indies, or elsewhere in the Western Atlantic 
 ocean, or in Europe, ten per cent. The damages 
 are to be in lieu of interest, charges of protest, and 
 all other charges incurred previous to, and at the 
 time of, giving notice of non-acceptance or non-pay- 
 ment. But the holder will be entitled to demand^and 
 recover interest upon the aggregate amount of the 
 principal sum specified in the bill, and the damages, 
 from the time of notice of the protest for non-ac- 
 ceptance, or notice of a demand and protest for non- 
 payment. If the contents of the bill be expressed in 
 the money of account of the United States, the 
 amount due thereon, and the damages allowed for
 
 PROTESTED BILLS. 455 
 
 non-payment, are to be ascertained and determined, 
 without reference to the rate of exchange existing be- 
 tween New York and the place on which the bill is 
 drawn. But, if the contents of the bill be expressed 
 in the money of account, or currency of any foreign 
 country, then the amount due, exclusive of the 
 damages, is to be ascertained and determined by the 
 rate of exchange, or the value of such foreign 
 currency, at the time of the demand for payment. 
 
 In Pennsylvania the rule, for a century past, was 
 twenty per cent damages, in lieu of re-exchange; 
 but by statute, in 1821, five per cent damages were 
 allowed upon bills, drawn upon any person in any 
 other of the United States, except Louisiana ; if on 
 Louisiana, or any other part of North America, ex- 
 cept the north-west coast and Mexico, ten per cent ; 
 if on Mexico, the Spanish Main, or the islands on 
 the coasts of Africa, fifteen per cent ; and twenty 
 per cent upon protested bills on Europe, and twenty- 
 five per cent upon other foreign bills, in lieu of all 
 charges, except the protest, and the amount of the 
 bill is to be ascertained and determined at the rate 
 of exchange. 
 
 In Maryland the rule, by statute, is fifteen per 
 cent damages, and the amount of the bill ascertained 
 at the current rate of exchange, or the rate requisite 
 to purchase a good bill of the same time of payment, 
 upon the same place. 
 
 In Virginia and South Carolina, the damages, by 
 statute, are fifteen per cent. 
 
 In North Carolina, by statute, in 1828, damages
 
 456 DAMAGES ON 
 
 on protested bills, drawn or endorsed in that state, 
 and payable in any other part of the United States, 
 except Louisiana, are six per cent ; payable in any 
 other part of North America, except the West Indian 
 Islands, ten per cent ; payable in South America, 
 the African Islands, or Europe, fifteen per cent ; 
 and payable elsewhere, twenty per cent. 
 
 The damages in Georgia, by statute, in 1827, on 
 bills drawn on a person in another state, and pro- 
 tested for non-payment,, are five percent; and on 
 foreign bills, protested for non-payment, are ten per 
 cent, together with the usual expenses and interest, 
 and the principal to be settled at the current rate of 
 exchange. 
 
 The damages on bills drawn in the state of Ala- 
 bama, on any person resident within the state, are 
 ten per cent ; and on any person out of it, and 
 within the United States, are fifteen per cent ; and 
 on persons out of the United States, twenty per cent 
 on the sum drawn for, together with incidental 
 charges and interest. 
 
 In Louisiana, in 1838, the rate of damages upon 
 the protest for non-acceptance, or non-payment of 
 bills of exchange, drawn on, and payable in foreign 
 countries, was declared by statute to be ten per cent ; 
 and in any other state in the United States, five per 
 cent ; together with interest on the aggregate amount 
 of principal and damages. On protested bills, drawn 
 and payable within the United States, the damages 
 include all charges, such as premium, and expenses, 
 and interest on those damages, but nothing for the 
 difference of exchange.
 
 PROTESTED BILLS. 457 
 
 In Mississippi, the damages on inland bills, pro- 
 tested for non-payment, are five per cent ; if drawn 
 on any person resident out of the United States, ten 
 per cent. 
 
 The damages in Tennessee, by statute, in 1830, on 
 protested bills, over and above the principal sum and 
 charges of protest and interest on the principal sum, 
 damages, and charge of protest from the time of 
 notice, are three per cent on the principal sum, if the 
 bill be drawn upon any person in the United States ; 
 and fifteeen per cent, if upon any person in any other 
 place or state in North America, bordering on the 
 Gulf of Mexico, or in the West Indies ; and twenty 
 per cent, if upon a person in any other part of the 
 world. These damages are in lieu of interest, and 
 all other charges, except the charges of protest, to 
 the time of notice of the protest, and demand of 
 payment. 
 
 In Kentucky, the damages on foreign bills, pro- 
 tested for non-acceptance or non-payment, are ten 
 per cent. 
 
 The damages in Indiana and Illinois, on foreign 
 bills, are ten per cent ; and on bills drawn on any 
 person out of the state, and within the United States, 
 are five per cent, in addition to the costs and 
 charges. 
 
 In Missouri, the damages on bills of exchange, 
 drawn or negotiated within the state, and protested 
 for non-acceptance, or non-payment, against the 
 drawer and indorser, are four per cent on the 
 principal sum, if drawn on any person out of the
 
 458 DAMAGES ON PROTESTED BILLS. 
 
 state, but within the United States, ten per cent ; if 
 out of the United States, twenty per cent ; the 
 same rate of damages as against the acceptor on 
 non-payment. 
 
 The inconvenience throughout all parts of the 
 Republic of a want of uniformity in the rule of 
 damages in the laws of the several states, is very great, 
 and has been severely felt. The mischiefs to com- 
 merce, and perplexity to merchants, resulting from 
 such discordant and shifting regulations, have been 
 ably, justly, and frequently urged upon the conside- 
 ration of the legislature ; and the right of Con- 
 gress to regulate, under some uniform practice, the 
 rate and rule of recovery of damages upon protested 
 foreign bills, or bills drawn in one state upon another, 
 under the power in the Constitution ' to regulate 
 commerce with foreign nations, and among the 
 several States,' and the expediency of the exercise of 
 that right, has been well and conclusively shewn, in 
 the official documents which have been prepared on 
 that subject.
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 Banking system of the United States Paper money or bank 
 notes the general circulating medium Counterfeit money in 
 general circulation Bank accommodation or discounts- 
 American money-brokers, or " shavers" American aristo- 
 cracy, its spurious and offensive character its jobbing and 
 speculating propensities " Shaving" establishments their 
 frequent and secret connection with Public Banks Purchase 
 and sale of uncurrent money The domestic exchanges their 
 uncertainty and injurious influence upon Commerce Foreign 
 exchanges of the United States Suggestions for an improved 
 system Specie in the United States United States Mint, 
 and quantity of bullion coined therein Post Office Depart- 
 ment Post Office and Post Roads Inefficiency of this 
 Department Number of Offices in the United States, Post- 
 masters, Agents and Contractors Report of the Postmaster- 
 general, July 1, 1843 Extent of mail routes throughout the 
 country Public discontent, and establishment of private 
 expresses for the transmission of letters Law of the United 
 States in reference thereto Postage reduction forced upon 
 the adoption of Government Concluding observations and 
 remarks thereon. 
 
 WE have endeavoured in the preceding chapter, 
 to point out the inconvenience that is found to exist 
 throughout the Republic, from the yet unsettled 
 state of the currency and exchanges, without any 
 positive effort being made to amend a system, noto- 
 riously defective, and that has so materially contri- 
 buted to the disarrangement and monetary difficul- 
 ties of the country.
 
 460 BANKING SYSTEM 
 
 The suppression of the United States Bank, that 
 during its continuance controlled to some extent 
 these excesses, instead of curtailing the paper circu- 
 lation of the country, was followed, as we have 
 already shewn, by a very opposite result. Nume- 
 rous other banks were immediately ushered into a 
 forced and unhealthy existence, to supply the stead 
 of its several branches throughout the Union, that 
 shared the fate of the parent establishment on its 
 dissolution. Some of these were short-lived ; those 
 that escaped through the incipient, or early stages 
 of a precarious existence, continued to augment the 
 enlarged or overgrown list of the many already esta- 
 blished within the Republic, and that needed the 
 strong arm of power, and a steady watchfulness to 
 control within reasonable limit, or to confine them 
 to the strict measure of their assumed, or acknow- 
 ledged usefulness. 
 
 The banking system in America is regulated on a 
 somewhat diverse principle, and directed by a very 
 different management, than in England ; and until 
 lately, when the State of New York set the example, 
 under certain regulations, of a free trade in banking, 
 was entirely conducted by chartered companies, 
 under grants from the several States' legislatures, 
 whenever any of these institutions happened to 
 originate. The laws that are supposed to govern 
 them, are of a very stringent kind ; and are made 
 to preserve to each local government, a controlling 
 power over the money circulation of the State, 
 within its separate jurisdiction.
 
 OF THE UNITED STATES. 461 
 
 There is, however, a material difference between 
 the American system of Joint Stock Banking, and 
 that which is recognised in England, under its 
 existing laws. In America, the liabilities of the 
 shareholders, to pay the debts of the firm, in case 
 of bankruptcy, or failure, is limited to the amount 
 of their paid-up capital, and the other general con- 
 ditions to which they are subject. In England, on 
 the other hand, the law of copartnership renders 
 every shareholder liable in the full extent of his 
 property, for the entire amount of the responsibili- 
 ties of such institution. The same provisions in 
 this respect, may, however, be made to extend to 
 banking associations in America, by a clause in- 
 serted in their articles of agreement, expressly de- 
 claring this intended and positive responsibility, and 
 that could scarcely fail to afford some better protec- 
 tion, against the numerous and contingent losses to 
 which the public are so often exposed, under the 
 present system. On the relaxation in the law in the 
 State of New York, and within six months subse- 
 quent to the permitting these joint-stock establish- 
 ments to take effect, thirty-four new banks, with a 
 capital of 12,319,000 dollars, capable of being in- 
 creased to 487,680,000, were added to the monied 
 institutions of this State. The number of failures 
 were in an equal proportion, and in two years and 
 a half, exceeded twenty, out of eighty, the entire 
 number of banks of this character. 
 
 There is seldom observed any great anxiety for 
 the public accommodation, or its general welfare, in
 
 462 BANKING SYSTEM. 
 
 the chartering of these institutions, that in many 
 instances owe their existence to the political influ- 
 ence and stock -jobbing propensities of their early 
 projectors. The practice, sufficiently frequent in 
 America, of connecting banking privileges, to mere 
 trading, or mercantile firms, such as railroad and 
 canal companies, mining associations, marble and 
 granite, trust and dock companies, and such like, is 
 a system that can scarcely be otherwise than pro- 
 ductive of evil consequences to the public at large, 
 in the frequent disastrous effects of their general 
 instability and frequent failure. The uniting the 
 business of banking, always a difficult and complex 
 science in itself requiring much of experience of 
 forecast, and somewhat more than ordinary prudence 
 in its efficient and beneficial management, with any 
 other calling, is an error, in our judgment, that will 
 scarcely admit of any countervailing advantage as a 
 reasonable excuse in adopting this practice : while 
 the banking transactions of all such institutions are 
 generally made subordinate to the trading concerns 
 of the company, either to sustain some monopoly, 
 or to secure some selfish, or individual end fre- 
 quently at the expense of the community, on whom 
 they are thus so unreasonably imposed. 
 
 There is scarcely a town or village in the United 
 States, unblest by one or more of these establish- 
 ments ; inundating the country with their " promises 
 to pay," issuing their notes, even in the restricted 
 amount of one and two -dollar bills, which consti- 
 tute the principal, we might almost say, the only
 
 FICTITIOUS PAPER. 463 
 
 circulating medium of the country. Specie of every 
 kind, notwithstanding the very strenuous efforts of 
 the late President Jackson, is of very limited circu- 
 lation, and mostly confined to the fractional parts 
 of a dollar, of foreign coinage, which are found 
 necessary in the general daily interchange of the 
 retail dealer ; whilst in no part of the world is so 
 large an extent of fictitious paper let loose upon the 
 commercial surface. New banks are almost daily 
 added to the overgrown bulk of those already in 
 existence ; though scarcely a week passes, without 
 some one or more of these establishments dying of 
 premature decay, and in their turn, being numbered 
 with the Capulets. The inconvenience, apart from 
 the distress and difficulty, the positive losses to the 
 many, in some way or other, dependent on these 
 institutions, is incalculable ; not to speak of the fre- 
 quent commercial embarrassments that must follow 
 as a consequent. 
 
 It is utterly impossible for a traveller to prosecute 
 his journey a merchant or trader to conclude the 
 most trifling negotiation, without apprehension of 
 ultimate consequences, or to embark in the most 
 trivial or unimportant business of the day, unless 
 aided in his progress by frequent reference to the 
 last published " Bank Detector," or record of all 
 lately " broken, fictitious, or doubtful banks," 
 which constitutes a necessary part of the counting- 
 house apanage of every merchant and man of 
 business, to assure him, that he is not for the 
 fiftieth time imposed upon by some well-executed
 
 464 CHANGE FOR DOLLAR NOTES. 
 
 forgery, or else, that the assumed representative of 
 the precious metals, so confidently offered to his 
 acceptance, is not of the issue of some broken, sus- 
 pended, or fraudulent institution, and now for the 
 first time presented to his acquaintance. 
 
 A stranger, in like manner, seeking the temporary 
 accommodation of small change for one of these 
 notes, of one or two dollars, and without being 
 recognised as a general customer, in any shop or 
 store he may present himself for this purpose, or his 
 identity being otherwise ascertained, is oftentimes 
 looked upon with suspicion, while submitting to an 
 unceremonious refusal in almost every instance of 
 such application. To exchange such bill or note, 
 without previous reference to the last printed cir- 
 cular of " fraudulent, broken, and doubtful banks," 
 and of those whose notes have been " forged and in 
 circulation," as a necessary and prudential measure 
 of antecedent observance, is altogether out of the 
 question ; while the time and trouble of submitting 
 to this routine, and without remuneration, is more 
 than an American can generally spare on the score 
 of mere civility. We have been sometimes sadly 
 inconvenienced on this account, and in one particular 
 instance, recollect having to submit to this annoy- 
 ance, in an unsuccessful application for the change 
 of a one-dollar bill, in eighteen of the most respect- 
 able shops or stores, in the very centre of the business 
 part of the city of New York, (Pearl Street,) and 
 at length, compelled to take the note (a four-and- 
 sixpenny affair) of the Franklin Bank of this city,
 
 BANK NOTE LIST. 
 
 465 
 
 actually to its counter, before procuring this trifling 
 accommodation. That there may have been need 
 of precaution we are ready to admit, from the 
 shoals of fraudulent and counterfeit money at all 
 times in circulation ; some idea of which may be 
 formed, from the following statement of the then 
 condition of the banks of the eight northern States, 
 with those "closed or broken," as also, "fraudulent" 
 banks, and those on which forgeries had been com- 
 mitted. 
 
 State of 
 
 No. 
 closed, 
 failed, or 
 broken. 
 
 Do. 
 fraudu- 
 lent. 
 
 Do. 
 
 no sale. 
 
 Do. with 
 notes in 
 circula- 
 tion. 
 
 Do. on which 
 notes have 
 been forged, 
 or in 
 circulation. 
 
 Maine . 
 
 11 
 
 
 
 30 
 
 3 
 
 Massachusetts 
 
 6 
 
 I 
 
 
 113 
 
 20 
 
 Rhode Island 
 
 3 
 
 2 
 
 , f 
 
 66 
 
 27 
 
 Connecticut . 
 
 2 
 
 1 
 
 u 
 
 34 
 
 12 
 
 New York 
 
 15 
 
 6 
 
 . , 
 
 95 
 
 39 
 
 New Jersey . 
 
 10 
 
 26 
 
 . . 
 
 26 
 
 13 
 
 Pennsylvania 
 
 8 
 
 1 
 
 . . 
 
 54 
 
 20 
 
 Maryland 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 
 24 
 
 13 
 
 No. of banks closed 
 
 61 
 
 
 
 
 
 Do. do. fraudulent . 
 
 37 
 
 
 
 
 Do. do. no sale . 
 
 11 
 
 
 
 Do. do. with notes in circulation 
 
 442 
 
 
 Do. do. on which forged notes are in general 
 
 
 circulation . . - . . . 147 
 
 The corrected bank note list, published in the 
 city of New York, for the week ending May 28th, 
 1845, which is the latest under our observation, 
 contains the names of 412 banks, then belonging to 
 five of the principal northern and eastern states, 
 
 VOL. i. 2 H
 
 466 BANK ACCOMMODATION. 
 
 comprising Massachusetts, Vermont, Rhode Island, 
 New York, arid New Jersey ; as also of 1 12 " closed, 
 fraudulent, and broken banks/' with notes in cir- 
 culation ; 64 of which were of the city and state of 
 New York. 
 
 With the extended bank circulation of the United 
 States, it may possibly be imagined, that discounts 
 are at all times readily obtained on the security of 
 good and unexceptionable paper, and that the evil 
 working of a portion of the American banking sys- 
 tem, is far outweighed, in the positive the more 
 immediate and substantive good secured through 
 its means to the mercantile community, especially 
 to the retail dealer and industrious citizen. The 
 obverse, however, is more generally the case ; for, if 
 there is any class beyond another, excluded from the 
 reasonable advantage of bank accommodation, it 
 most assuredly is the man, who, in the peaceful 
 exercise of a legitimate and honest calling, would 
 perhaps be the most benefited by pecuniary ad- 
 vances of this kind. It will be borne in mind, that 
 every individual in America, the exceptions being 
 extremely limited, is, in fact, a trader of some sort 
 or other. It matters very little, whether he is 
 removed in his pecuniary resources beyond this 
 necessity, or that his advanced and declining years 
 should reprove his continued restlessness in this 
 respect, and urge him to a quiet and undisturbed 
 repose for the residue of a fretful life, or that the 
 overgrown bulk of an already amassed fortune, 
 should present other objects of more grateful em-
 
 " MONEY SHAVERS." 467 
 
 ployment to his ambition : he ends his days as he 
 had begun, still onward to the latest moment, to 
 increase his worldly store, in the same rugged and 
 untiring path, and with the same zest and steady 
 perseverance that marked his first advance in 
 worldly independence. When no longer able to 
 attend to the more laborious duties of an active 
 mercantile life, he seeks employment in the 
 profitable investment of his capital speculates on 
 land purchases, city or town lots, that probably he 
 had never seen, with a view merely to their resale 
 at an enlarged profit, at some future day ; becomes 
 in his turn, a bank director, as also of some trust 
 and railroad company, and at length merges into 
 that honourable and distinctive class of money- 
 changers, or money-lenders, that in American 
 wording are called " money shavers," with which 
 he identifies himself in feeling, as in conduct and 
 general practice ; still clinging to existence with 
 an increased pertinacity, as each hour shortens its 
 duration, from a reluctance to forego the realization 
 of any of his past dreams of imaginary happiness, 
 in the usurious and tortuous profits derivable from 
 this last of his worldly occupations. He is of the 
 chosen, whose early exertions have been rewarded 
 with success, and can afford to hear unmoved, and 
 with a calm and settled stoicism, the tale of unto- 
 ward difficulty, and unredeemed misfortune, that 
 have overtaken so many of his early compeers. 
 His heart is steeled to every compassionate and 
 generous feeling; he has neither sympathy, nor 
 
 2 H 2
 
 468 AMERICAN ARISTOCRACY. 
 
 friendly solace to impart, having generally outlived 
 the kindlier sensibilities of our common nature, 
 perhaps, the recollection of his own former troubles 
 the bankruptcy or failure of his first efforts his 
 early hopes. 
 
 Men of this class abound in the United States, 
 and generally compose the elite, the aristocracy of 
 American society the incongruous conformation 
 of which it is usually shaped and put together ; 
 who, fully aware of the influence that increased or 
 augmented riches, (the more especially in the midst 
 of a purely commercial and trading community, 
 governed by republican institutions, in which pro- 
 perty is more equally divided, independent of its 
 means of acquisition), will generally command, 
 affect a superiority over the more intelligent, the 
 virtuous, and because, of their being of the less 
 affluent of their fellow citizens. Whenever the 
 persevering industry of the American trader of 
 restricted means, may lead him in the pursuit of 
 a reasonable independence, he will generally be met 
 on the threshhold of his speculation thrown back 
 from his exertions, by some one or other of these 
 monied harpies, prepared to outbid him in his 
 enterprise, and filch from him the reward of every 
 patient and profitable undertaking. 
 
 The property which these men amass in early 
 life, and that is usually appropriated after this 
 mode, is seldom of advantage to any other of the 
 community ; and unlike to, and uninfluenced by 
 the rule, or directed in its disposal by the motive,
 
 AMERICAN ARISTOCRACY. 469 
 
 that generally regulates the distribution of similarly 
 acquired wealth in England, seldom finds its way 
 in any very large proportions, through the same, or 
 other returning channels, to benefit the community, 
 or to encourage the general industry, by increasing 
 the laudable competition of others, struggling in the 
 pursuit of the same acquisition, by any other com- 
 mendable or assiduous means. Though consti- 
 tuting a large proportion of the higher grades of 
 American society, they, in truth, bear a very 
 invidious contrast with our English aristocracy of 
 birth, of education, or even of wealth, and beside 
 the narrowed selfishness of their general conduct, 
 are oftentimes, the most intolerant and overbearing 
 in their deportment to others, except, it may be, to 
 those whose title to respectability is determined by 
 the same test, and placed beyond surmise in their 
 estimation, from the extent of property the actual 
 number of dollars within their possession. 
 
 The banking institutions of almost every State, 
 are, to a great extent, within their controul and 
 management; and are so nearly identified with 
 their individual proceedings, as almost to appear as 
 if established for the purpose of advancing their 
 mere personal objects, than to aid commerce in its 
 legitimate efforts, or to encourage the industrious 
 and persevering trader of safe, though, perhaps, of 
 limited resources, with occasional or timely accom- 
 modation : for this, after all, is of most difficult 
 procurement in the United States, by any man of 
 restricted capital, no matter the success attending
 
 470 " SHAVING" ESTABLISHMENTS. 
 
 his exertions, or the high unimpeachable integrity 
 of his character, that may distinguish him among 
 his fellow citizens ; as well on account of the 
 many and continuous demands upon the general 
 funds of a large number of these institutions for 
 mere speculative purposes, that are generally per- 
 mitted to anticipate their resources, as also, perhaps, 
 from the general character of the population, 
 operating to his prejudice the extreme hazard and 
 apprehension of eventual loss to these institutions, 
 in conceding a pecuniary indulgence of this kind to 
 parties, of whose real circumstances, as in the 
 instance of four-fifths of the trading community of 
 the United States, there is no possible means of 
 ascertaining ; and who, in the case of any accidental 
 failure, or bankruptcy, are encouraged by so many 
 legal opportunities of defrauding creditors, and 
 alike these institutions, of whatever money ad 
 vances they might perchance have made to them. 
 
 It is, perhaps, to these circumstances combined, 
 that we may trace the necessity which has to some 
 extent called forth, as a principal auxiliary in the 
 internal trading of America, this numerous class of 
 money brokers, or " shavers," to whom the retail 
 or intermediate dealer is so often compelled to 
 resort, without that he has assumed the only other 
 course, to enable him to carry on his business, 
 assisted by occasional discounts, by ensuring the 
 indorsement on his notes, of some known capitalist, 
 or influential merchant connected with some one of 
 these banking concerns, for which he usually pays
 
 " SHAVING" ESTABLISHMENTS. 471 
 
 him a per centage on the amount, according to the 
 extent or nature of the collateral security he may 
 place in his hands. So often engrossed are the 
 funds the entire issueable means of these establish- 
 mentsbespoke in advance of their usual days of 
 discount, by secret negotiation, and for private and 
 selfish uses of this kind, apart from every legitimate 
 trading necessity, that the best and most unexcep- 
 tionable commercial paper is frequently uncertain 
 of being received by them, when offered in the 
 customary mode of business. We have known an 
 instance, and in the year 1836, (when there was 
 scarcely any limit placed to the wild and extra- 
 vagant increase of bank discounts,) and that we 
 believe to be descriptive of many others of daily repe- 
 tition that occur, where first-rate paper, and for a 
 limited amount, received in the ordinary course of 
 mercantile dealing, and bearing the indorsement of 
 the most unexceptionable wholesale houses, not 
 only of acknowledged solvency, but of large ad- 
 mitted capital, in short, of the first and most 
 respectable mercantile and shipping firms of the 
 city of New York, with scarcely two months to run 
 out their time, refused to be discounted at eighteen, 
 comprising at the time, nearly the entire of the 
 New York city banks, from the circumstances of 
 the party presenting the notes, being perhaps a 
 stranger, or from a neighbouring or adjoining 
 state, and because there was no other or secondary 
 object to secure, in conceding to him the accommo- 
 dation, or any other inducement, beyond his mere
 
 472 " SHAVING" ESTABLISHMENTS, 
 
 personal convenience, and the usual legal interest 
 of 7 per cent, to which the banks of this state were 
 restricted in their discounts. We have afterwards 
 known this party to take the same paper to Wall 
 Street, (the Lombard Street of New York, and 
 usual whereabouts of the money-changers of this 
 city), as his next alternative, and where, though no 
 breath could be raised, or the shadow of a suspicion 
 attach to the security, which was every way unex- 
 ceptionable and of the highest character, required 
 to pay two per cent per month on the entire sum, 
 for the residue of the time the notes had to run, 
 before reaching maturity, or else, to forego altogether 
 their being discounted. 
 
 Public rumour has very often, and we apprehend 
 with some degree of justice, connected many of these 
 " shaving" establishments, in near association with 
 certain of the New York, and other country banks 
 throughout the several states ; and where the 
 pressing necessities of the resident citizen, as of the 
 casual stranger, have been taken advantage of, and 
 oftentimes made to yield to the insatiate avarice of 
 the monied vampires, that are to be found in rea- 
 sonable abundance in this city, as throughout every 
 other intersection of the Republic. The legal pre- 
 mium of 7 per cent, is insufficient to satisfy the 
 craving for inordinate profits of some of these insti- 
 tutions ; while the notes of the establishment, the 
 re- issues of former dates are transferred from their 
 counter to some neighbouring money broker's 
 office, conducted in its various ramifications, in the
 
 CONNECTED WITH PUBLIC BANKS. 473 
 
 name of some apparently disconnected party, for the 
 better avoidance of public scrutiny, and of concealing 
 the very reprehensible conduct of the banking con- 
 cern, to which it is allied. 
 
 The mode of proceeding in these " shaving" con- 
 cerns, generally evinces a clear and extraordinary 
 aptitude a cunning and near calculation in the 
 manner of extorting inordinate gain, from the fre- 
 quent and unexpected exigencies of the many appli- 
 cants amidst a large commercial community, for 
 pecuniary accommodation ; and will perhaps explain 
 the suddenly accumulated wealth of those, who have 
 neither soul nor conscience to restrain their rapacity, 
 or their habitual oppression, under many exacting 
 and trying circumstances. 
 
 Very considerable profits are also amassed by 
 these brokers, in the purchase and sale of uncurrent 
 money, the issues of distant banks at a frequently 
 large discount. These notes are often carried by 
 travellers, or transient persons, to the Atlantic cities, 
 to meet their necessary expenses on the way, and on 
 which they are sometimes compelled to lose, from 
 jive, to twenty-five per cent, in afterwards exchanging 
 for local, or current money. But a large proportion 
 of this depreciated currency is actually imported 
 from the interior, or inland states introduced into 
 the large commercial cities of the seaboard, by the 
 brokers themselves, under a well understood arrange- 
 ment with the country bank, of whose issues this 
 paper belongs. A large amount of these notes, are 
 from time to time forced into circulation, by means
 
 474 SALE OF UNCURRENT MONEY. 
 
 of the parties who are constrained to seek discounts 
 at these offices, and who are generally required to 
 accept of a certain proportion of these securities, at 
 their nominal, or declared value in payment, as one 
 of the conditions under which they can receive any 
 accommodation whatsoever. After a lapse of some 
 days, and their passing to other hands, probably at 
 a discount, they are again tendered to the broker, 
 who again receives them at a further depreciation, 
 limited only to whatever he may consider to be 
 the necessities of the party, who may now present 
 them to him, to renew the work of plunder by 
 their re-issue, as opportunities may present of 
 doing so. 
 
 The loss and inconvenience, as well as the vexation 
 they occasion to the community, is incalculable. 
 But there appears no way of avoiding the difficulty. 
 Should the state of New York, for instance, prohibit 
 their introduction from other states, or proscribe their 
 circulation, these states as a consequent, would im- 
 mediately retaliate upon New York, and carry on 
 a war of non-intercourse, or of commercial reprisal, 
 that would probably retort with most severity upon 
 the latter state. 
 
 Though the law of New York has for several years 
 past interdicted the banks within its jurisdiction, 
 from issuing notes for any lesser amount, or deno- 
 mination than five dollars, still, are one, and two 
 dollar bills, of the banks of other, especially of the 
 eastern states, in extensive circulation ; supplying 
 the stead of a metallic currency, which they have
 
 THE DOMESTIC EXCHANGES. 475 
 
 partly displaced as a circulating medium, and of 
 which the banks of these states, and not of New York, 
 reap the advantage. 
 
 It will appear from all that we have stated, that 
 there is scarcely any part of the American system 
 so susceptible of improvement, as that which relates 
 to the domestic exchanges of the country, or rather, 
 which leaves this subject, independent of any 
 general or established rule, to be directed solely by 
 the fluctuations, the uncertain influence of a varying 
 trade between the inland districts and the Atlantic 
 cities. The omissions in the law, in part regulating 
 the many banking concerns that flood the country, 
 and that would otherwise confine them to some gene- 
 ral observance in their mode of management, we 
 deemtobe an error in legislation, from whatever cause 
 it may proceed, and from which no countervailing 
 advantage can possibly result : for, were these insti- 
 tutions compelled, as they should be, either to make 
 their notes payable in some principal commercial 
 city, of easy access, within their respective states, or 
 under a still better arrangement, at New York, the 
 great trading emporium of the new world, as well 
 as in the remote town, or isolated district where 
 they are first issued, such a condition in their 
 charter would secure many advantages to the trading 
 community and public generally, from which they 
 are at present altogether debarred ; compelling 
 every institution of real solvency, to organize some 
 general agency, wherever their notes should be thus 
 made payable, for the purpose of their more easy
 
 476 THE DOMESTIC EXCHANGES. 
 
 redemption relieving the public from the more 
 grievous exactions of paying an extreme discount, 
 as is often the case on a large proportion of these 
 issues, forced into circulation by the discreditable 
 agency we have pointed out. This arrangement, 
 if of general adoption, would speedily determine the 
 par of exchange between the great commercial cities 
 of the seaboard, and every part of the interior states, 
 and prevent the fluctuations that so often inter- 
 fere with the trading business of the country. It is 
 by some such mode of conducting the banking 
 system of the provincial towns in England, that the 
 commercial dealings of its people are so materially 
 assisted ; but which America, notwithstanding her 
 rapid advances in general improvement and civili- 
 zation, still stands in need of. Whenever a bank is 
 established in any of the provincial towns, or cities 
 of the old country, a London agency is immediately 
 appointed as a necessary part of its arrangement, 
 and the bank forthwith commences to issue its bills 
 on London in exchange for cash, payable at some 
 certain number of days after date, varying from ten 
 to twenty-one, according to its distance from the 
 metropolis. It also purchases bills on London, and 
 is not even confined to this, but discounts bills of 
 exchange on any other place in England, or Scot- 
 land, and is in every sense, what the Americans 
 would call " a dealer, or dealers in the domestic ex- 
 changes of the country." The difficulties the un- 
 certainties incidental to the transmission of money, 
 to any, even a limited distance in the United States,
 
 FOREIGN EXCHANGES. 477 
 
 would in a great measure be obviated by an arrange- 
 ment of this kind, while the extraordinary fluctua- 
 tions in the exchanges, so remarkable throughout 
 every part of the Republic, and often brought about by 
 undue means, would in great part be put an end to. 
 The Scotch banks manage these matters with even 
 more precision, and charge according to one general 
 table, which regulates the par of exchange between 
 every town and city throughout the country, and 
 the city of Edinburgh. 
 
 The present system of foreign exchanges is also 
 subject to very considerable uncertainty and incon- 
 venience. According to the present mode, when- 
 ever the exchanges are against America, the parties 
 requiring to make remittances to England, or to 
 any other part of Europe, independent of private 
 accommodation, are compelled to seek gold from the 
 banks in exchange for their notes, for the purpose 
 of transmission. This often creates embarrassment 
 with the banks, that in consequence, are frequently 
 compelled to restrict their issues, beyond what the 
 necessities of trade, under a better and more whole- 
 some organization would require. This difficulty 
 might, nevertheless, be as easily guarded against 
 by the banks in the larger commercial cities, for- 
 warding a portion of their funds to England, or 
 establishing a credit account in London, and against 
 which they could draw bills, in facilitating the 
 transmission of money, without the necessity of 
 transporting the precious metals on every sudden 
 emergency or depression of the exchanges. The
 
 478 UNITED STATES' MINT. 
 
 same fluctuations were incidental to the Irish ex- 
 changes, until so late a date as 1836, when the 
 Bank of Ireland first assumed the practice of giving 
 bills on London at twenty -one days after date for 
 cash. The only inconvenience to be apprehended 
 or provided against on the adoption of a similar 
 system in the United States, is that which might 
 arise from the encouraging field the facilities thus 
 opened to the gambling and jobbing propensities 
 of the American banks, of which it is to be appre- 
 hended they would, to the very uttermost, take 
 advantage. 
 
 The quantity of bullion annually converted into 
 United States money, is of comparatively trifling 
 amount, though, perhaps, sufficient to provide for 
 the necessities of the country, under its present 
 monetary arrangement. Besides the principal 
 United States mint at Philadelphia, there are three 
 other, or branch mints located in the southern 
 States ; one at Charlotte, in North Carolina, another 
 at Dahlonega, in Georgia, and the third at New 
 Orleans, in Louisiana ; all under the control and 
 supervision of the General Government ; their united 
 operations being scarcely more than would give 
 reasonable employment to any one of the four. 
 
 The whole coinage of the United States, including 
 the coinage of the branch mints, from the commence- 
 ment of their working in 1838, for the five years 
 ending 1842, averaged in each year, in value 
 3,528,143 dollars, which increased in 1843, to 
 11,967,830.
 
 POST OFFICE DEPARTMENT. 479 
 
 But there are no circumstances connected with the 
 domestic or internal arrangements of the country, 
 so immediately calculated to promote its advance- 
 ment or general prosperity, as the facilities given to 
 trade and commerce, in the several modes of inter- 
 communication already made and in progress, and 
 to which the Federal Government has given its 
 utmost aid, in the establishment of post offices and 
 direct mail routes throughout every intersection of 
 the Republic surmounting difficulties of the most 
 arduous kind, and that could only be found to exist 
 in a young and newly settled country, such as the 
 United States. It cannot be expected, that these 
 arrangements are carried out in the improvements 
 of our English post office establishment, or even in 
 those of the generality of European countries. 
 Still are they beyond the utmost that the most 
 ardent expectation could have realised, from the 
 known difficulties to be overcome, not merely in 
 the extent and unimproved nature of the country 
 to be traversed by mail conveyance, but from the 
 inadequate control possessed by this department 
 over its subordinates, who being scattered over a 
 large extent of country, are in part removed from 
 immediate official observance or interference ; as 
 also, from the general inexperience of those employed, 
 and their consequent inefficiency, occasioned by the 
 frequent changes made in this branch of the public 
 service, to suit the political complexion and designs 
 of each succeeding administration ; besides the
 
 480 POST OFFICES. 
 
 inanity and proverbial indolence pervading most of 
 the public departments under the present, or federal 
 organization, where the responsibilities are so much 
 divided so very uncertain and undefined, that they 
 can scarcely be said to concern any person, or any 
 where to exist. 
 
 The number of post offices in the United States 
 in 1790, was but' 75; the number in 1839, was 
 12,780; in 1840, 13,468; shewing an increase 
 during the year, of 688. There were established in 
 1840, 959 post offices, and 271 discontinued. The 
 number on the 5th of December was 13,638, while 
 during the year there have been 3,231 post masters 
 appointed, of whom 959 were for new offices, while 
 2,272 were to supply vacancies, occasioned by 
 deaths, dismissals, or removals from other causes. 
 The number of post offices in 1834, under the 
 administration of the late President Jackson, was 
 13,841. 
 
 The number of contractors in this branch of the 
 public service, during the year 1839, was about 
 2,100. Of those who were fined, or had deductions 
 made from their pay for delinquencies, or neglect 
 in the performance of their engagements, 628. The 
 fines and deductions during the year 1840, inclu- 
 sive of remissions, amounted to 60,685 dollars. 
 
 The revenue of this department has hitherto 
 failed to defray its expenses, and that have, in con- 
 sequence, to be provided for from other sources. 
 The average annual expenditure for the six years,
 
 EXTENT OF MAIL ROUTES. 481 
 
 ending 1843, amounted to 4,514,865 dollars ; the 
 revenue for the same period, to a sum of 4,412,237, 
 leaving a deficit in each year, of 102,628 dollars. 
 
 By a report of the mail service of the United 
 States, for the year ending the 1st of July, 1843, 
 as stated by the first assistant Post-master General, 
 it appears, that the length of routes travelled was 
 142,295 miles; that the annual transportation by 
 horse and sulky, (an appropriate name for a very 
 unsociable description of one-horse conveyance, of 
 exceedingly light construction, made to carry one 
 person only, and in very general use in the United 
 States) was 11,146,229 miles, at a cost of 602,064 
 dollars; by stage and coach conveyance, 18,414,174 
 miles, at a cost of 1,61 1,568 dollars ; and by railroad 
 and steam-boat 5,692,402 miles, at a cost of 733,687 
 dollars ; making a total annual transportation of 
 35,252,805 miles, at a cost, or outlay, of 2,947,319 
 dollars. 
 
 The whole number of free letters heretofore sent 
 through the post office, is estimated at 3,000,000 
 annually. 
 
 Notwithstanding the efforts made by the govern- 
 ment to establish a general system of post office 
 arrangement throughout the Republic, and which 
 the foregoing returns so fully bespeak, there is 
 no other department of the public administration 
 that has given so little of satisfaction, and against 
 which the popular feeling has been more gene- 
 rally excited ; not because of its acknowledged 
 subserviency, or the political and party uses to 
 
 VOL. i. 2 i
 
 482 PUBLIC DISCONTENT. 
 
 which it has been applied, but of its asserted in- 
 sufficiency in securing a more regular and efficient 
 transmission of the correspondence of the country, 
 than has hitherto been the case; without taking 
 into account, the varied difficulties that the depart- 
 ment has had to encounter in its ill-requited efforts 
 to this end. " A public service," remarks the hono- 
 rable the Post-master General, in his annual report 
 to Congress, December 3rd, 1842, " which requires 
 the agency of 13,733 post-masters, and their clerks, 
 2,343 contractors and their agents, covering during 
 the year 34,835,991 miles of transportation, and 
 extending almost to the door of every citizen, must 
 encounter difficulties, and be subject to occasional 
 irregularities, not only from the neglect of some of 
 its numerous agents, but from physical causes not 
 in the power of this department to overcome. 
 
 " When the vast machinery of the General Post 
 Office, the minuteness of its details, and the cha- 
 racter of the majority of the roads over which the 
 mail is transported, are contemplated, there should 
 be more astonishment at the general regularity of 
 the service, than of surprise and discontent at occa- 
 sional failures. Absolute certainty and unbroken 
 regularity in the arrival and departure of the mails 
 at all times, cannot, and ought not to be expected." 
 
 These considerations, however reasonable and 
 just they may have been, were insufficient to 
 satisfy the public mind, or to allay the discontent, 
 that frequent disappointment in the transmission of 
 the public correspondence occasioned. Private ex-
 
 ESTABLISHENT OF PRIVATE MAILS. 483 
 
 presses for the conveyance of letters, were established 
 in 1843, and '44, throughout all the principal cities 
 on the seaboard, and a direct postal communication, 
 carried on by private companies, that superseded 
 the accustomed duties of this department, and 
 which is generally exceeded in the despatch with 
 which its daily transmissions of letters were con- 
 ducted as well as outbid in the reduced postage for 
 which they were conveyed. The " American Letter 
 Mail Company," established by private undertaking 
 in New York, carried their letters by daily express at 
 the following rates, viz. : 
 
 To Boston 6| cents General Post Office 18f cents 
 
 ,, Philadelphia 6 12 
 
 Albany . 5 12 
 
 Troy . 5 18$ 
 
 These expresses, conducted with all the publicity 
 and exactness of the Post Office department, were 
 not only in opposition to the views of the general 
 Government, but directly aimed at its supremacy, 
 and would appear to have been established in direct 
 violation of the law, under the Federal compact 
 subsisting between these states, that if not infringed 
 in its positive legal interpretation, was certainly con- 
 travened in its intent and implied meaning, by these 
 proceedings. 
 
 The 8th section of the 1st Article of the Consti- 
 tution, in relation to this subject, declares, " Con- 
 gress shall have power to establish post offices and 
 post roads." 
 
 It will scarcely be supposed, that the authority 
 2 i 2
 
 484 LAW OF UNITED STATES 
 
 thus vested in the general Government, was intended 
 to restrict it to the mere constructing of post roads, 
 to be afterwards travelled by private companies, 
 employed in the conveyance of public mails, but 
 that it should assume to itself the duties and respon- 
 sibilities of this arduous and important trust, for the 
 general welfare, to the exclusion of every other, or 
 private authority whatsoever. 
 
 This very obvious intendment of the framers of 
 the Constitution, which has been so fully acquiesced 
 in by the entire people, up to a very recent period, 
 may possibly have occasioned their leaving a ques- 
 tion of this material consequence, subject to the 
 slightest legal misrepresentation, or the possibility 
 of any future advantage being taken of its insuffi- 
 ciency, to carry out by its actual, or specific wording, 
 the very ample and exclusive powers it was very 
 evidently intended to confer. But as the direct and 
 positive signification, and not its spirit or context, 
 is the controlling guide in directing the citizens of 
 these states in its due and proper observance, we 
 consequently find advantage being taken of a con- 
 strained interpretation of this clause in the Federal 
 Constitution, to supersede the functions of Govern- 
 ment in this very necessary part of their most im- 
 portant trusts, by the numerous parties who allied 
 themselves together for this purpose, to the great 
 detriment and loss of revenue to this department. 
 
 They contended, that though Congress may have 
 possessed, under the Federal compact, a direct power 
 to establish " post offices and post roads," and even
 
 REGARDING PRIVATE MAILS. 485 
 
 an implied authority to convey letters and parcels 
 throughout the Republic, that, nevertheless, there 
 existed no authoritative, or restrictive law pro- 
 hibiting individuals, or companies, from exercising 
 this right, more especially by steam-boat and rail- 
 road travel, modes of conveyance that were not 
 contemplated by the framers of the Constitution ; 
 and that the Federal law, even in its opposite and 
 forced construction, could never recognize the privi- 
 lege, as assured to the general Government in an 
 unequal and unjust monopoly, to the exclusion of 
 the general public, or citizens of these states. 
 
 This question, distinguished as it has been, riot 
 only by its great commercial importance, but from 
 its exceeding novelty in the internal legislation of 
 modern governments, was brought to an issue in the 
 latter part of the year 1843, by the institution of 
 legal proceedings in the Supreme Court of the United 
 States, for the southern district of New York, at the 
 suit of the United States, against the commercial 
 firm of Adams and Co., of that city, for an alleged 
 infraction of the Federal law, in assuming the public 
 conveyance of letters and parcels for hire, and which 
 it was contended, was restricted to the general 
 Government of the country, under the Constitution. 
 These proceedings, after a lengthened investigatfon, 
 resulted in a verdict for the defendants. 
 
 A further attempt to establish the exclusive right 
 contended for by the Government, was made at 
 Boston, in the month of June following, by the in-
 
 486 JUDGE STORY'S OPINION THEREON. 
 
 stitution of a suit on behalf of the United States, 
 against the agent of the " American letter Mail 
 Company," for a violation of the laws of the United 
 States, in carrying letters out of the mail, which 
 was tried before the Honourable Judge Story, one 
 of the most eminent of American j urists, and who is 
 reported to have declared on the trial, in inter- 
 preting that part of the Federal Constitution bearing 
 on this subject, " that there was some doubt whether 
 any mail route existed in the United States, which 
 would come under the legal term ' established by 
 law.' There were mail routes it was true, but 
 there was no law, making one road or another a 
 specific mail route. Mail carriers were not required 
 to carry the mail on particular roads; they were 
 only required to reach particular points, designated 
 as post offices, within given times. That a still more 
 important question lay behind all these, and that 
 was, whether the Government had by the Consti- 
 tution, any exclusive right to set up post offices and 
 post roads, or whether its jurisdiction extended any 
 further, than the right to make laws, regulating the 
 conduct of those actually employed in the service of 
 the United States mail. His own opinions were 
 opposed to any exclusive right on the part of the 
 Government." The consequence of which decision 
 was, the immediate withdrawal of the action, and 
 entire abandonment of the proceedings. 
 
 The report of the Post-master General, December 
 '2nd, 1843, submitted to Congress in relation to
 
 REPORT OF THE POST-MASTER GENERAL. 487 
 
 this subject, bears so materially on the question in 
 issue, that we extract the following, wherein he 
 states : 
 
 " It will appear by a reference to the statement of the gross 
 revenue of this department for the years 1841, 1842, and 1843, 
 that while the revenue of 1842 was greater than that of 1841, 
 that of 1843 is less by 250,320 dollars than the revenue of 1842. 
 
 " The causes of this declension in the revenue of 1 843, may 
 be various ; some referring them to the state of the business of 
 the country. I am, however, fully persuaded by facts and testi- 
 mony, which have been brought to my knowledge, that one 
 cause, if not the principal one, maybe ascribed to the operations 
 of the numerous private posts, under the name of expresses, 
 which have sprung into existence within the past few years, ex- 
 tending themselves over the mail roads between the principal 
 cities and towns, by which, and at which, the railroads pass and 
 terminate. That these private posts are engaged in the business 
 of transporting letters and mail matter, for pay, to a great ex- 
 tent, is a fact which will not be seriously controverted. That 
 the revenue of the department has been greatly reduced by 
 their operations, no one will question who will investigate the 
 facts. 
 
 " The laws for the punishment of offences for transporting 
 mail matter over post roads, were enacted when the transporta- 
 tion of the United States mail was confined to stages, steam- 
 boats, and horses. Railroads were not then in existence in the 
 United States, and the penal sanctions of the law are not 
 adequate to the suppression of the practice. 
 
 " Railroads, whilst they are the most extensive mode of trans- 
 porting the United States mail, furnish to those who choose, the 
 earliest and cheapest mode of violating the laws prohibiting the 
 establishment of private posts. Duty compels me to state it as 
 my opinion, that without further legislation upon this subject 
 by Congress, the revenue of the department will in time be so 
 far affected, by the inroads of private expresses, that the service 
 will either have to be reduced below the just wants of the public,
 
 488 THE POST-MASTER GENERAL ON THE 
 
 or appropriations from the General Treasury will be required to 
 meet the current expenditure of the department. 
 
 " In the course of the past year I have been called upon to 
 express my opinions upon the subject officially. These opinions 
 have been attacked, and controverted by many ; and the ques- 
 tion is distinctly presented whether the power granted to Con- 
 gress to establish post offices and post roads, is plenary and 
 exclusive. 
 
 " It is contended by some, that though this power is granted 
 to Congress, individuals and companies have a right to carry on 
 the business of transporting letters, &c. over the post roads of 
 the United States, and all laws which forbid them are void, and 
 usurpations on individual right. 
 
 " Others contend, that the Post Office system is an odious 
 monopoly, and ought to be abolished. These are the grave 
 questions urged by a portion of a powerful press, and sustained 
 by the influence of those whose interests are involved. They 
 are questions, which, if they have not been settled by the legis- 
 lative and judiciary departments of the Government, should now 
 be settled. 
 
 " The power to establish post offices, and post roads, was ex- 
 ercised by Congress under the Articles of Confederation. From 
 the moment Congress thus assumed the power by the sanction 
 of the states, no state, or citizen of a state, presumed to exercise 
 the right. If there be any one subject, concerning the internal 
 interests of the states and the people, which should be regarded 
 as purely national, it is the business of transporting by the 
 authority of law, and of right, letters from one state to, and 
 through another. A uniform, equal, and harmonious system, 
 can only be conducted by a power coextensive with that system. 
 It is absurd, therefore, to contend that the mail system can be 
 left with the states, or to individual enterprise. The members 
 of the convention who formed the Constitution, understood this 
 subject better. They knew that the control of this subject 
 must be confided to a power which pervaded pro hac vice, the 
 whole sphere of its operations : consequently, among the leading 
 prominent grants of power by the states to Congress, is the
 
 RIGHT OF ESTABLISHING PRIVATE MAILS. 489 
 
 grant over this subject in the following words : " Congress shall 
 have power to establish post offices and post-roads." 
 
 " This grant of power is found in the same clause, and is ex- 
 pressed in the same words and language of the grants of power 
 to coin money, to regulate commerce, to declare war, &c. It is a 
 grant which covers the whole ground ; it is ample, full, and 
 consequently, exclusive. If doubt could exist as to the exclu- 
 siveness of this grant, that doubt must vanish upon a reference 
 to the 10th Article of the Amendments to the Constitution, which 
 declares, " The powers not delegated to the United States by 
 the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the states, are reserved 
 to the states respectively, or to the people." The power to 
 establish post offices, and post roads, is plainly, and distinctly 
 delegated to the United States. It is, therefore, not a power 
 reserved to the states respectively, or to the people. 
 
 "I will not extend, or elaborate an argument upon a proposi- 
 tion so plain, and which, I conceive, has been settled and ad- 
 justed by all the departments of the Government and the people 
 themselves." 
 
 This controversy between the American people 
 and their Government, or we should, perhaps, with 
 more correctness say, between the people and their 
 own made laws, presents features of no usual or 
 ordinary character, exemplifying as it does, the 
 internal working of a system replete with diffi- 
 culties to its efficient direction and management 
 so opposite to the general principle on which Euro- 
 pean nations are accustomed to be governed, an^ 
 where the manifest and positive intent and spirit of 
 the laws, as well their actual wording, assist in 
 determining their proper legal import. The Fede- 
 ralism of America is, however, of a very different 
 complexion is regulated by a more limited or 
 circumscribed principle directed by the meaning
 
 490 
 
 applicable to the words in their restricted significa- 
 tion, in which its laws are made, under the appre- 
 hension, it may be, of overstepping the limits of a 
 compact, by which the machinery of their Govern- 
 ment and institutions are held together, or of 
 infringing the asserted rights, that each intersection 
 of this vast confederacy claims to exercise under 
 their peculiar organization. 
 
 The recent history of America has familiarised us 
 with the many difficulties proceeding from this 
 source; the want of harmony and general ineffi- 
 ciency of the laws their instability the uncertainty 
 that every varying interpretation of their more 
 positive meaning so necessarily create, and which 
 has reduced the supreme power of these states to 
 the decrepid state of imbecility and weakness, of 
 which this late instance furnishes us with another 
 and sufficient example. 
 
 The reductions made in the charge of letter 
 conveyance by the expresses of private companies, 
 occasioned a general anxiety for a further diminu- 
 tion of this very onerous tax. The example of Eng- 
 land, in her late Post-Office reform, and conversion 
 to the penny postage system, excited the people to 
 demand a similar boon from Congress, and to which 
 petitions were presented from all parts of the Re- 
 public, calling loudly for the alteration. The law, 
 as it then stood, was, by the result of the legal 
 decisions to which we have referred, no longer 
 able to secure to the general Government the ex- 
 clusive right of conveyance of the United States
 
 FORCED UPON THE GOVERNMENT. 491 
 
 mail, which private enterprise would have usurped 
 in every instance, without that the general postage 
 charges of the country should be reduced to a 
 standard, commensurate with the necessities and de- 
 mands of the population, and that would render 
 any undertaking of this kind no longer profitable 
 in the hands of private speculation. It was im- 
 pelled by these considerations, rather than conceding 
 to the expressed will of the people in their nume- 
 rous petitions, that a bill was passed through both 
 Houses of Congress, and received the presidential 
 assent, to take effect on the 1st of July in the present 
 year, 1846, by which an entire revision has been 
 effected in the post-office department, and a reduc- 
 tion made in the charge for letter conveyance and 
 parcels by the United States' Mail, if not to the 
 immediate standard of the British Post-Office regu- 
 lations in this respect, at least approximating very 
 nearly to it, in fact, as in principle. 
 
 The new, or present rate of postage is as follows 
 
 ON LETTERS. 
 
 Single letters, or any number of pieces not exceeding 
 
 half an ounce, 300 miles or less . . .5 cents. 
 
 If over 300 miles . . ' : - . . 10 
 
 Drop letters (not mailed) . . . 1 : 2 
 
 For each additional half ounce, or part thereof, add 
 single postage thereto. 
 
 ON NEWSPAPERS. 
 
 Newspapers of 1900 square inches, or less, sent by 
 editors or publishers from their office of publica- 
 tion, any distance not over 30 miles . . . Free.
 
 492 PRESENT RATE OF POSTAGE. 
 
 Over 30, and not exceeding 100 .... 1 cent. 
 Over 100 miles, and out of the State . . . lj ,, 
 All sizes over 1900 square inches, postage same as 
 pamphlets. 
 
 ON PAMPHLETS. 
 
 Pamphlets, magazines, and periodicals, any distance, 
 
 for one ounce or less, each copy . . . .2 cents. 
 Each additional ounce, or fractional part of an ounce 1 
 
 ON CIRCULARS. 
 
 Quarto post, single cap, or papers not larger than 
 single cap, folded, directed, and unsealed, for 
 every sheet, any distance .... 2 cents. 
 
 The franking privilege is considerably restricted, 
 being confined to the Executive, Presidents of the 
 United States, their widows, and on letters to and 
 from members of Congress. 
 
 The revenues of the United States' Post-Office, 
 as already observed, has seldom heretofore paid its 
 expenses, which generally required large deficiencies 
 to be provided for from other sources. Whatever 
 its conduct, and the public advantage secured 
 through its means, it must still be admitted, that 
 no other department of the public administration 
 has secured so much of the public obloquy, or so 
 fully justified its dislike. Created for the purpose 
 of assuring the public accommodation, and sustained 
 by a lavish expenditure of the public money, it has 
 become the dependent and pliant instrument of 
 every succeeding administration, being the mere 
 creature of the executive will, that can make and 
 unmake as it may think proper, from the Post-
 
 CONCLUDING OBSERVATIONS. 493 
 
 master General to the veriest subordinate belong- 
 ing to the establishment comprising, as we are 
 further assured in the report, from which we have 
 just quoted, "some 20,000 agents and officers 
 scattered over the vast extent of the United States' 
 territory ;" it is difficult to overrate the influence 
 that its joint or concurrent action must always 
 possess, in creating public opinion in the country, 
 and in giving it a direction and impetus, whilst its 
 services are generally conceded with the earnestness 
 and devotion that a consciousness of its utter de- 
 pendence must inspire, and a knowledge, that the 
 tenure of office of 19-20ths belonging to this de- 
 partment, rests upon the political party to which 
 it is allied continuing in the ascendant, and with 
 the perfect understanding, of being turned adrift, 
 unprovided for upon the world, whenever that 
 public opinion, operating as the means, may super- 
 sede it in the administration and government of 
 the country. It is necessary, we admit, that a 
 control throughout all branches of the public 
 service should exist somewhere, especially over a 
 department, on the proper organization of which, 
 and the due and efficient performance of its duties, 
 so large a portion of the public comfort the 
 exigencies of commerce, and trade of every kind 
 depends ; and that we conceive would be far better 
 promoted by removing its subordinates from the 
 vortex of politics of political wrangling and in- 
 terference, and confining them to the more becoming 
 and legitimate occupation of their official calling.
 
 494 CONCLUDING OBSERVATIONS. 
 
 But as these are matters that more properly apper- 
 tain to our transatlantic friends, than with which to 
 trouble the reader, we shall take leave, by recom- 
 mending them as fitting subjects for the dispassionate 
 consideration of every American, whilst we turn to 
 consider a more important element in the moral and 
 social condition of the country the present state 
 of domestic slavery within the United States. 
 
 END OF VOL. I. 
 
 0. NORMAN, PRINTER, MAIDEN LANE, COVENT GARDEN.
 

 
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