THE
AMERICAN S
THEIR MORAL, SOCIAL, AND POLITICAL RELATIONS.
BY
FRANCIS J. GRUND.
IN TWO VOLUMES.
VOL. II.
LONDON:
LONGMAN, REES, ORME, BROWN, GREEN, & LONGMAN.
MDCCGXXXVII,London :
Piinted by A.» Spottiswoode, New- Street- Square.CONTENTS
OF
THE SECOND VOLUME.
CHAPTER I.
American industry. — Quickness of motion. — Agriculture* — The west. — Character of western settlers. — Influence of the western settlements on the political prospects of America. — Foreign settlers. — Germans. — Irish. — Removal of the Indians. — American servants. — Relation of the rich to the poor. -	Page 1
CHAP. II.
Commerce of the United States. — System of credit.— American capitalists. — Banks. — Manufactures. — Mechanic arts. — Wages and hours of labour. — Ingenuity of Americans. — Navigation. — Sailors. — The fisheries. — Ship-building.	*	-72
CHAP. III.
Internal navigation of the United States. — Railroads. — Canals. — Facilities of travelling. — Their influence . on the political condition of the people. — Steam-boats. — Public and boarding houses. — Hospitality of Americans.
181IV
CONTENTS.
CHAP. IV.
The southern planters. — Their relation to the inhabitants of the north. — Slavery.	-	-	Page 241
CHAP. V.
National defence of the United States. — The army. — The navy. — The militia.	-	326
CHAP. VI.
Political prospects of America. — Universal suffrage. — State of parties. — Relative position of North and South America.— Of North America, with regard to England and the rest of the world. — Conclusion.	-	350THE AMERICANS
IN
THEIR SOCIAL, MORAL, AND POLITICAL RELATIONS.
CHAPTER I.
AMERICAN INDUSTRY.--QUICKNESS OF MOTION.---AGRICULTURE. ---------------------------------- THE WEST.-CHARACTER OF WESTERN
SETTLERS.- INFLUENCE OF THE WESTERN SETTLEMENTS ON THE POLITICAL PROSPECTS OF AMERICA.--
FOREIGN SETTLERS.---GERMANS.-- IRISH.-REMOVAL
OF THE INDIANS.--AMERICAN SERVANTS.---RELATION
OF THE RICH TO THE POOR.
There is probably no people on earth with whom business constitutes pleasure, and industry amusement, in an equal degree with the inhabitants of the United States of America-Active occupation is not only the principal source of their happiness, and the foundation of their natural greatness, but they are absolutely wretched without it, and instead of the “ dolce far niente,” know but the horrors of idleness. Business is the very soul of an American ; he
VOL. II.	B2
BUSINESS HABITS OF AMERICANS.
pursues it, not as a means of procuring for himself and his family the necessary comforts of life, but as the fountain of all human felicity; and shows as much enthusiastic ardour in his application to it as any crusader ever evinced for the conquest of the Holy Land, or the followers of Mohammed for the spreading of the Koran.
From the earliest hour in the morning till late at night the streets, offices, and warehouses of the large cities are thronged by men of all trades and professions, each following his vocation like a per-petuum mobile, as if he never dreamt of cessation from labour, or the possibility of becoming fatigued. If a lounger should happen to be parading the street he would be sure to be justled off the side-walk, or to be pushed in every direction until he keeps time with the rest. Should he meet a friend, he will only talk to him on business; on ’change they will only hear him on business; and if he retire to some house of entertainment he will again be entertained with business. Wherever he goes the hum and bustle of business will follow him ; and when he finally sits down to his dinner, hoping there, at least, to find an hour of rest, he will discover to his sorrow that the Americans treatBUSINESS HABITS OF AMERICANS.
3
that as a business too, and despatch it in less time than he is able to stretch his limbs under the mahogany. In a very few minutes the clang of steel and silver will cease, and he will again be left to his solitary reflections, while the rest are about their business. In the evenings, if he have no friends or acquaintances, none will intrude on his retirement; for the people are either at home with their families, or preparing for the business of the next day.
Whoever goes to the United States for the purpose of settling there must resolve in his mind to find pleasure in business, and business in pleasure; or he will be disappointed, and wish himself back to the sociable idleness of Europe. Nor can any one travel in the United States without making a business of it. In vain would he hope to proceed at his ease; he must prepare to go at the rate of fifteen or twenty miles an hour, or conclude to stay quietly at home. He must not expect to stop, except at the places fixed upon by the proprietors of the road or the steamboat ; and if he happen to take a friend by the hand an instant after the sign of departure is given, he is either left behind or carried on against his intention, and has to inquire after
b 24)	BUSINESS HABITS OF AMERICANS.
his luggage in another state or territory. The habit of posting being unknown, he is obliged to travel in company with the large caravans which are daily starting from, and arriving at, all the large cities, under convoy of a thousand puffing and clanking engines, where all thoughts of pleasure are speedily converted into sober reflections on the safety of property and persons. He must resign the gratification of his own individual tastes to the wishes of the majority who are travelling on business, and with whom speed is infinitely more important than all that contributes to pleasure ; he must eat, drink, sleep, and wake, when they do, and has no other remedy for the catalogue of his distresses but the hope of their speedy termination. Arrived at the period of his suiferings he must be cautious how he gives vent to his joy, for he must stop quickly if his busy conductor shall not hurl him on again on a new journey.
Neither is this hurry of business confined to the large cities, or the method of travelling; it communicates itself to every village and hamlet, and extends to and penetrates the western forests. Town and country rival with each other in the eagerness of industrious pursuits. MachinesBUSINESS HABITS OF AMERICANS.
5
are invented, new lines of communication established, and the depths of the sea explored to afford scope for the spirit of enterprise ; and it is as if all America were but one gigantic workshop, over the entrance of which there is the blazing inscription “ No admission here except on business”
The position of a man of leisure in the United States is far from being enviable ; for unless he take delight in literary and scientific pursuits, he is not only left without companions to enjoy his luxuriant ease, but, what is worse, he forfeits the respect of his fellow citizens, who, by precept and example, are determined to discountenance idleness. That the influence of such a system must be highly beneficial to the national standard of morality is, of itself, sufficiently evident, and another cause for the comparatively small number of crimes committed in the United States, and the general correctness of principle which pervades all classes of society. There is more philosophy and morality contained in the admonition of Dr. Panglos, “ ■ Travaillons noire jar din,” than Voltaire intended to put in his mouth ; and this philosophy the Americans possess by instinct.
b 36
SETTLING OF THE WEST.
Labour is as essential to their well-being as food and raiment to an European. This national characteristic of Americans, together with their love of independence, is a complete commentary on the history of all their settlements, and the progress of manufactures and commerce. Thousands of persons who, as servants, or in other inferior walks of life, might be able to provide for themselves in the large cities, emigrate to the western woods to procure for themselves a larger field of enterprise and useful occupation. There is no hardship or privation incident to the lives of new settlers which their robust and athletic constitutions would not willingly suffer to gratify their insatiable desire after active and independent labour; there is no pleasure within the range of all a city can afford equal to the proud satisfaction of beholding the daily results of their indefatigable exertions. These phenomena it would be in vain to explain by the mere spirit of adventure. There are no gold mines in the western states; no active commerce equal to that from which they emigrate; no accumulated wealth to allure their covetousness. The riches of the soil can only be explored by active labour and a series of harass-CHARACTER OF WESTERN SETTLERS. 7
ing details, connected with the sacrifice of every convenience of life ; the commerce of the explored region is to be created by new roads and lines of communication, which call for new and increased exertion on the part of the settlers ; and it is only after a period of many years their sturdy industry can hope for an adequate reward of ease and prosperity. Such prospects are not apt to allure the weak either in body or mind, and require a determination and steadiness of purpose totally incompatible with the vague and loose spirit of adventure. Neither is there any thing in the character of the western people which could give the least foundation to such a suspicion. They are a hardy persevering race, inured to every toil to which human nature can be subjected, and always ready to encounter danger and hardships with a degree of cheerfulness which it is easily perceived is the effect of moral courage and consciousness of power. They are distinguished from the rest of the Americans, and, perhaps, the rest of mankind, by huge athletic frames of body, a peculiar naïveté in their manners, and a certain grotesqueness of humour, which, as far as I am acquainted, is not to be found in any other part of the United States.
b 48
CHARACTER OF WESTERN SETTLERS.
Their amphibious nature—being obliged to make themselves, at an early period of their lives, familiar with the navigation of the western waters— together with the boldness of their disposition, has won for them the characteristic appellation of “ half horse and half alligator ” which, in the language of the western Americans, is full as honourable a term as the preux chevaliers, applied to the chivalry of the middle ages ; though they prefer the rifle and the somewhat barbarous amusement of “gouging” to the more knightly combat with spears and lances.
It appears, then, that the universal disposition of Americans to emigrate to the western wilderness, in order to enlarge their dominion over inanimate nature, is the actual result of an expansive power, which is inherent in them, and which, by continually agitating all classes of society, is constantly throwing a large portion of the whole population on the extreme confines of the state, in order to gain space for its development. Hardly is a new state or territory formed before the same principle manifests itself again, and gives rise to a further emigration •, and so is it destined to go on until a physical barrier must finally obstruct its progress.ACCUMULATION OF PROPERTY.
9
The Americans, who do not pretend to account for this principle at all*, are nevertheless aware of its existence, and act and legislate on all occasions as if they were to enjoy the benefits of the next century. Money and property is accumulated for no other visible purpose than being left to the next generation, which is brought up in the same industrious habits, in order to leave their children a still greater inheritance. The labouring classes of Europe, the merchants, and even the professional men, are striving to obtain a certain competency, with which they are always willing to retire : the Americans pursue business with unabated vigour till the very hour of death, with no other benefits for themselves than the satisfaction of having enriched their country and their children. Fortunes, which on the continent of Europe, and even in England, would be amply sufficient for an independent existence, are in America increased with an assiduity which is hardly equalled by the industrious zeal of a poor beginner, and the term of “ rentier ” is entirely unknown. The luxurious enjoyments which riches alone can procure are neither known nor
* Compare the Remarks on American Literature, voi. i.10 INFLUENCE OF THE WESTERN SETTLEMENTS
coveted in the United States ; and the possession of property, far from rendering them indolent, seems to be only an additional stimulus to unremitting exertion.
In this disposition of Americans the attentive peruser of history must evidently behold a wise dispensation of Providence, though it may for a time impede the progress of refinement and the arts. Without the spirit of enterprise and the taste for active labour, the immense resources of the country, and the facility with which riches are acquired, would become the means of individual and national corruption and the introduction of expensive habits, which would not only undermine the private morals of the people, but eventually subvert their republican government.
The sudden introduction of European refinements, if it were' possible to make them universal, would at this period be the ruin of the American constitution. The framers of that noble work, perhaps the proudest achievement of the human mind, did not contemplate a state of society as it exists in Europe, and could, therefore, with safety repose the highest power and trust in the virtue and integrity of theON THE GOVERNMENT.
11
people. America was then but thinly settled, and her population spread over a wide surface ; her inhabitants were distinguished for the simplicity of their manners and the high moral rectitude of their character ; they were a highly civilized people, though they could not have been called refined in the sense in which the term is applied in the fashionable circles of London and Paris. It was of the utmost importance for the safety of the government, which at that time was only an experiment, that the people should retain their simple habits, until age should have given strength to the constitution, and accustomed the people readily to submit to the newly-instituted authorities. It was necessary for the rulers, as well as the governed, to acquire a routine of business, and to establish that mutual confidence in one another, without which every free government must soon be converted into despotism. An habitual obedience to the law was to be created without the intercession of force, which at the beginning of a republic, where the rulers and the governed are yet too nearly on a level with one another, partakes always more or less of the character of usurpation, and threatens the dissolution of government. This was the12 INFLUENCE OF THE WESTERN SETTLEMENTS
case with the republic of France, and hence its speedy overthrow. The habits and morals of a people are the surest guarantee of the continuance of any government; they are the life and essence of its existence, without which the constitution is but a dead letter. The charter must live in the minds of the governed, or it will soon be carried to the grave. The thinly scattered population assisted the government prodigiously in cooling the passions of the discontented, or in rendering them harmless. Even the multiplicity of interests and parties proved an additional security, as it weakened the power of the opposition, and prevented them from uniting under any one principle, the carrying of which might have endangered the safety of the constitution. Every liberal government must, in the outset, depend more on the weakness of the opposition than on its own strength, which it is dangerous to increase before the rights of the governed have become the common law of the country. The history of France furnishes a complete index to this truth ; while a special providence seems to have presided over the destinies of America. It is with regard to this principle that the western settlers are of incalculable advantage to the government; forON THE GOVERNMENT.
13
not only is by their means the population of the Atlantic states relieved of its annual increase, hut new sources of wealth opened to the nation at large, which increase the occupation and prosperity of those who remain. Every new settlement requires labourers for the construction of roads, canals, &c., to facilitate its communication with the Atlantic states, and every new road and canal increases the commerce of the seaports. But it is not the general prosperity of the people—though of course this must be counted among its happiest results,—it is their useful occupation, and the creation of new and powerful interests, which are of the greatest advantage to the government. Every new colony of settlers contains within itself a nucleus of republican institutions, and revives in a measure the history of the first settlers. Its relation to the Atlantic states is similar to the situation of the early colonies with regard to the mother country, and contains the elements of freedom. Every society which is thus formed must weaken the fury of parties by diminishing the points of contact; while the growing power of the western states becomes a salutary check on the spreading of certain doctrines, which are continually importing14 INFLUENCE OF THE WESTERN SETTLEMENTS
from Europe, and to the evil influence of which the Atlantic states are more particularly exposed.
The western states, from their peculiar position, are supposed to develop all the resources and peculiarities of democratic governments, without being driven to excesses by the opposition of contrary principles. Their number, too, augments the intensity of republican life by increasing the number of rallying points, without which the principle of liberty would be too much weakened by expansion. It is a peculiarly happy feature of the constitution of the United States, that every state has itself an independent government, and becomes thus the repository of its own liberties.
The inhabitant of Arkansas, Illinois, or Indiana, living on the confines of the state and the very skirts of civilization, would, in all probability, be less of a patriot if his attachment to the country were only to be measured by his adherence to the general government. He would be too remote from the centre of action to feel its immediate influence, and not sufficiently affected by the political proceedings of the state to consider them paramount to the local interests of his neighbourhood. Political lifeON THE GOVERNMENT.
15
would grow fainter in proportion to its remoteness from the seat of legislation, and the energies of the people, instead of being roused by the necessity of action, would degenerate into a passive acknowledgment of the protection offered by the government. This is more or less the case in every country, except England and America, and perhaps the principal reason of their little progress in freedom. Hence the feverish excitement in their capitals and large towns, and the comparative inertness and palsy of the country. Every town and village in America has its peculiar republican government, based on the principle of election, and is, within its own sphere, as free and independent as a sovereign state. On this broad basis rests the whole edifice of American liberty. Freedom takes its root at home, in the native village or town of an American. The county, representing the aggregate of the towns and villages, is but an enlargement of the same principle ; the state itself represents the different counties ; and the congress of the United States represents the différent states. In every place, in every walk of life, an American finds some rallying point or centre of political attachment. His sympathies are, first,16	POLITICAL ADVANTAGES OF
enlisted by the government of his native village; then, by that of the county; then, by the state itself; and finally, by that of the Union. If he is ambitious, he is obliged to make an humble beginning at home, and figure in his native town or county ; thence he is promoted to the dignity of representative or senator of his state ; and it is only after he has held these preparatory stations that he can hope to enjoy the honour of representative or senator in the congress of the nation. Thus the county is the preparatory school for the politician of the state, and the state furnishes him with a proper introduction to national politics.
The advantages of this system are manifold. It creates political action where otherwise all would be passiveness and stupor ; it begets attachment to the institutions of the country by multiplying the objects of their political affection, and bringing them within the sphere of every individual; it cools the passions of political parties by offering them frequent opportunities of spending themselves on various sub-lects and in various directions; it establishes a stronghold of liberty in every village and town, and accustoms all classes of society to a republicanTHE AMERICAN GOVERNMENT.
17
government ; it enforces submission to laws and institutions which are the type of those of the nation ; and it furnishes numerous schools for young politicians, obliging them to remain sufficiently long in each not to enter the university of congress without age and proper experience. This system, while it lasts — and there are no symptoms of its being speedily abolished— will prevent novices in politics from entering the senate or house of representatives of the United States, and reserve the dignity of president for the wisdom of sexagenarians. In France, where no similar freedom and independence exist in the provinces, where the system of centralization is constantly forcing the whole political power into the capital and a few of the large towns, leaving the country without life, motion, or means of defence, all attempts to establish a rational system of liberty were confined to its superstructure, without enlarging its foundation. The most awful lessons of history have been taught to her people in vain 5 and it seems as if they were the only nation who never profit by experience.
The western states of America are each a nursery of freedom ; every new settlement is
VOL. 11.	c18 INFLUENCE OF THE WESTERN SETTLEMENTS
already a republic in embryo. They extend political life in every direction, and establish so many new fortified points, that the principle of liberty has nothing to dread from a partial invasion of its territory.
Every new state, therefore, is a fresh guarantee for the continuance of the American constitution, and directs the attention of the people to new sources of happiness and wealth. It increases the interest of all in upholding the general government, and makes individual success dependent on national prosperity. But every year which is added to its existence increases its strength and cohesion, by reducing obedience to a habit, and adding to the respect which is due to age. If it be true that the life of nations and political institutions resembles that of individuals, it is equally true, that the different periods of their development are exposed to the same dangers. One third of all that are bom die in childhood; the greater number of them are healthy during the period of their manhood, and all must eventually die of old age. Climate and soil breed particular diseases, which must be cured according to their peculiar constitutions ; but of these fevers andON THE AMERICAN CONSTITUTION. 19
consumptions are the most dreaded. Violent cures are apt to weaken the system, but are often rendered unavoidable by a criminal delay of the proper remedies ; and a total neglect of them is sure to produce an incurable distemper. A child is exposed to more diseases than a man ; and so is it with a young country. America is fast approaching her period of pupillarity, and the constitution of a century will be established on a firmer basis than that of a dozen years. The people will have experienced its blessings, and cherish it as the venerable inheritance of their fathers. Each succeeding generation will be born with an increased respect for it, and will be taught at school to consider it as the basis of their happiness. Age always commands reverence •, and the people are not so easily persuaded to lend their aid in the destruction of a government under which they have prospered for centuries, than of one within their own recollection and of their own making, which they may hope to rebuild on a new plan. We quit reluctantly an old mansion, though a new and better one should be offered to our habitation; and the force of habit and the endearment of time are stronger than the force of principles
c 220	FOREIGN SETTLERS.
or the power of argument. I think that the Americans have, spontaneously, found the right track ; and that no better admonition can be given to the young republic than the wise saying of Dr. Panglos, which can never be too often repeated, “ Que chacun travaille son jardin
But the western territory of America is not wholly peopled by emigrants from the Atlantic states ; a large number of the inhabitants being settlers from Switzerland and Germany. The Irish, though emigrating to the United States in large numbers, prefer generally a residence in a city, with such transient occupation as they may chance to find, to the quiet industry of the Germans, who are more particularly attached to the cultivation of the soil. The advantages of the German cultivators in the United States over all other competitors are, indeed, numerous j but most of them arise from the manner in which they emigrate, and settle in the various districts. Whoever has witnessed the parting of a caravan of Germans from their friends and relations, or their proceeding on the way until they reach the sea-port of their destination, will be convinced of their resolute deter-GERMAN SETTLERS.
21
mination to make America their home, and to assist each other in their new vocation of settlers. This I consider the principal reason of their success. Having no longer an alternative before them, they apply themselves to the cultivation of the soil, not as adventurers, for the sake of experiment, but as farmers who mean to keep possession of it. They prefer the western states for their settlements, and being, in this manner, at once cut off from an uninterrupted correspondence with the country which gave them birth, soon learn to make themselves a home in America. They direct their undivided energies towards improving their estates, instead of lingering in a state of indecision with their eyes half turned towards their native land. The habit of remaining together, and settling whole townships or villages, serves to render their exile less painful, and enables them, if the phrase be permitted, to transfer a part of their own country to the vast solitudes of the new world. They hardly feel that they are strangers in the land of their adoption, as long as each of them sees in his neighbour the friend of his youth, or the companion of his childhood. A man cannot be said to have left his home if he
c 3PECULIARITIES of
be not separated from his nearest relations, or from those who are most dear to his heart. In this manner the German emigrants in the United States preserve to a great degree the original simplicity of their manners ; and, being frugal by habit, and sociable by nature, are soon able to rear their little hamlets by mutual assistance, and to. give stability and permanency to their settlements. Being not much given to money speculations at home, their care is less to hoard riches than to improve and increase their estates, and, by that means, they hardly ever fail to become independent and opulent. They are less enterprising than the native Americans, especially the New Englanders, on which account they are often considered dull and inactive; but they yield to no part of the population of the United States in unremitting labour and persevering industry. There are few of them grow rich by sudden turns of good luck; but it is a comparatively rare case to see any of them behindhand in the management of their household; and preferring, from inclination, agriculture to commerce, they are less exposed to the caprices of fortune, and more certain of ultimate success. They are universally allowed to pos-GERMAN SETTLERS.
23
sess the finest farms in the United States j because it is their settled maxim not to hold more land than they are able to cultivate, and to keep it for their own use, and not for the purpose of speculation. The dwelling of a German farmer is generally humble; but his granary and stables are of huge dimensions, and exhibit the provident husbandman. The improvement of his farm is with him a more urgent consideration than his own individual comfort. His cattle are the object of much solicitude, and his labour is the more productive as it is seconded by every member of his family.
It is a fact no less curious than remarkable, that these characteristics of German farmers apply to all of them, in whatever part of the country they may have formed their settlements; and that there is, in this respect, no difference between a settler in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois, or the valley of the Mississippi. Neither the soil nor the climate seems to change their manners and customs. I have seen German settlers in Hungary and Transylvania resembling those of Pennsylvania as much as one New Englander resembles anotherj but wherever they dwell, and to whatever country they may emigrate, I
c 424
PECULIARITIES OP
have always known them to be sober, industrious, and living on good terms with each other and their neighbours. Nor does time change their habits materially. The Moravian settlers of Georgia, who went to America under the kind auspices of General Oglethorpe, were in this respect substantially the same as those who emigrated previously to Carolina and Pennsylvania -, and the description of the latter given by William Penn corresponds yet with those of the present inhabitants of that state.
Until recently, the emigrants from Germany were chiefly composed of agriculturists, with an occasional admixture of operatives ; but the late unfortunate struggle for liberty in Germany has, within the last five or six years, caused the expatriation of a more intellectual class ; and, accordingly, settlements have been made in the valley of the Mississippi and in the state of Illinois, by a body of Germans whose education fitted them rather for the drawing-room and the closet than for the hardships of cultivating the soil. Yet they have cheerfully embraced their new vocation ; and of physicians, lawyers, theological and other students, who arrived about three years ago in the United States, haveGERMAN SETTLERS.
25
become active husbandmen ; though they were obliged to resign the romantic idea of founding a “New Germany ” in the western territory of the United States. Immediately after their arrival they established a press and a paper, and have already published, in German, the history of their little settlement. Extracts from it, speaking in highly favourable terms of the climate and soil, appeared in nearly all the public prints of Germany ; and large numbers of their countrymen are preparing for the same destination.
I ought yet to observe in this place, that it is absurd to settle in America with the intention of hiring the labour of the poor. The price of it is high, and cannot always be commanded with money. The Germans especially prefer working on a farm in which they have an interest, or the hope of ultimately possessing a part of it; which is the surest means of making them eventually independent. Proud, in his “ History of Pennsylvania,” observed already the singular circumstance of most of the poor labouring classes becoming rich, while men of property, commencing with large fortunes and estates, were gradually becoming poor; and alluded to the singular habit of some Germans of property,26
PECULIARITIES OF
to hire themselves out as servants until they obtain a sufficient knowledge of the climate and soil to commence business on their own account.
The quiet temper of the Germans does not allow them to take a very active part in politics, though their number would be sufficient to form a most powerful party. In Pennsylvania they have, nevertheless, acquired great influence, and the governors of that state have for many years past been selected from amongst their countrymen. This is a matter so much settled by mutual consent, that even at the last election, when there were two democratic and one whig candidate for the office, all three were taken from the ranks of the Germans, and none other would have had the least chance of success. In the state of Ohio, though it was originally settled by emigrants from New England, there are, at present, not less than forty-five thousand German voters. The state of New York, though originally settled by the Dutch, contains nevertheless a large German population in several counties, especially in that of Columbia, which gave birth to Mr. Van Buren, the present vice-president, and in all probability the next president of theGERMAN SETTLERS.
27
United States. The state of Maryland contains twenty-five thousand German voters ; the population of Illinois is nearly one third German; and the valley of the Mississippi is being settled by thousands of new emigrants from Europe. I do not think it an exaggeration to state, that not less than four hundred thousand respectable votes are annually cast by Germans, and that in less than twenty years their number will have increased to one million. In the city of New York the Germans have already a great influence on the election of mayor and the other city officers ; the number of those who are entitled to vote amounting now to three thousand five hundred.
Under these circumstances, the German vote, as it is termed, becomes a matter of great solicitude with politicians of all ranks and persuasions ; and, accordingly, newspapers in their own language are established in all parts of the United States where they have settled. In Pennsylvania alone there are now more than thirty German (mostly weekly) papers, and in Ohio and Illinois as many more are published and circulated. A respectable number of them is also published in Maryland; and the “New York28
PECULIARITIES OF
Staatszeitung ” was entirely established by thé democratic Germans of that city. If these papers were ably directed by a standard publication in any of the large cities, whose editor should understand the peculiarities of the German mind, the local circumstances of their settlements, and their relation to the general government, they could be made a most powerful political engine, which would give strength and perpetuity to any party in whose favour it should once declare itself.
But the Germans in the United States have to this day no powerful political organ to express their opinions and sentiments ; and their policy, therefore, is but a reflection from the ruling doctrines of the other states : they are unconscious of their power, and more bent on increasing their numbers than on concentrating their efforts, and directing them to a certain point. The Germans in America are not so easily excited as their brethren to the south or north, and are consequently often indifferent on a variety of minor questions, the connection of which with the more important principles of government seems to escape their immediate notice- In this manner they are often defeatedGERMAN SETTLERS.
29
in their own ranks; and, contrary to their intentions and purposes, made the tool of insidious politicians. But no sooner is an important question of state agitated than they unite again ; and, despite of all efforts to disseminate discord by appealing to their prejudices and local interests,—an appeal which is hardly ever made in vain to the inhabitants of any other section of the country,—persevere in supporting the men and principles of their adoption.
They are not apt to speculate on politics; but rather act in accordance with general maxims, which are as liberal as possible, and of which they never question the utility, provided they agree with their ideas of moral and political justice. They seldom enter on details, but never desert a principle; and are, therefore, least actuated by motives of interest and selfishness. Their practical sense is republican ; and, as I have previously observed, they are democratic almost by instinct.* But the time may come when they will be conscious of their power; and they will then form a party, the strength and importance of which will, in all probability,
* I have given the reason of this in chapter in., vol. i.30
PREJUDICES OF
be beyond the computation of mere abstract politicians.
For the education of youth, the Germans in Pennsylvania and Ohio have as yet done little, when compared with the efforts of the New-England states for the general diffusion of learning. In 1833 there were yet a large number of children in both states who could neither read nor write, and, although improvements are gradually making in the system of instruction, it is not to be expected, that, in this respect, an equality will soon be effected with the other states.* The reminiscences of the Germans in the United States of their former situation in Europe are not calculated to inspire the humbler classes with a particular regard for the sciences. They were oppressed by men of literary pretensions at home; and the unusual number of feed clerks with whom the kingdom of Wurtem-berg (which furnishes the greatest number of emigrants) was yet, a few years ago, infested as with a plague, struck the peasantry of that
* What I have here said of the state of education in Ohio applies merely to its German population. The New England settlers have excellent schools and seminaries of learning.GERMAN SETTLERS.
31
country with horror for every thing which, in their provincial dialect, they called a “schreiberle” (little scribbler). I remember some years ago, when travelling in Pennsylvania, to have asked a German at Easton (a town situated about sixty miles from Philadelphia), whether he would not be glad to see a college established in his place*, which would afford his children an opportunity of superior instruction ? He merely shrugged his shoulders, and observed, that his sons should not go to it, as he intended them for active farmers, and not for lazy thieves, to live on other people’s industry. Not even the prospect of realizing a larger income from his estate by the influx of students from Philadelphia and New York could quiet his apprehensions of the abuse of learning ; and the idea that any of his children should quit the paternal estate in order to study a profession which would change their simple manners into the more fashionable carriage of gentlemen, proved a perfect torture to his mind. There is so much philosophy and good sense in this species of ignorance that one might
* Lafayette College has since been established in Easton even by the co-operations of some well-informed Germans of that place.m
PREJUDICES OF
almost call it ingenious, though it contrasts sadly with the habits of the more aspiring population of the eastern states, who are never satisfied unless their sons are called doctors or lawyers.
The profession of the law is rarely embraced by Germans; and, accordingly, most of the gentlemen of the bar in the German settlements of the United States are either from New England or Ireland. The idea of going to law strikes a German as something wrong and debasing, and in case he is obliged to have recourse to it, he prefers to hire some one to do it for him. This is a sentiment which pervades, not only the German population of America, but also a considerable portion of the people of Germany itself. The profession of the law, to which that of politics is so closely allied, is, by German writers of eminence, in the most uncharitable manner, called a prostitute amongst the sciences; because it is the only one which, instead of proposing the investigation of absolute truth, renders the noblest powers of the mind subservient to mere pecuniary benefits, which are often incompatible with honour or justice. The theologian, the mathematician, the physician, &c., are all paid for the investigation and assertion of positiveGERMAN PREJUDICES.
33
truth, or, at least, of what they consider as such. The lawyer alone is knowingly feed for its perversion. So privileged is he in his calling, that we can hear him plead the cause of a notorious culprit, or see him employ the best faculties of his understanding to prove the correctness of that which he hardly credits himself, without being prejudiced against his character. But the prostitution of the mind is more abject than that of the body, and just in that ratio more humiliating and degrading as mind is superior to matter.
“ Vernunft wird Unsinn, Wohlthat, Plage ;
Weh dir, dass du ein Enkel bist!
Vom Rechte, dass mit dir geboren ist,
Von dem ist leider, me die Frage.” *
Nothing can be further from me than the belief that the practice of the law must necessarily be attended by such moral disadvantages; but it is certainly liable to very great abuses. How often is not lawful right opposed to moral justice, and the advocate, through whose instru-
* “ Reason becomes madness ; benefit a curse ; Alas ! that thou should’st be an heir !
That right which has been born with thee,
That right alone they know not.”—Goethes Faust.
YOL. II.
O34
GERMAN PREJUDICES
mentality the former is asserted, compelled to oifend against the latter ? In how many cases does not the issue of a litigation depend on mere forms ?—on the omission of a word, or the want of precision of language, in a legal instrument ? And is not the advocate obliged to take advantage of all such circumstances ? It is true he does not appear in his own cause; but merely represents his client. He only says that for his client which the latter himself would say if he were endowed with legal knowledge. But this does not rid the profession of the reproach to which it is unfortunately exposed ; because, when the client is a knave, the superior skill of the advocate is employed in perfecting his craft, and in injuring his honest adversary.
Neither can the advocate previously examine the cause of his client, to satisfy himself of the truth or justice of the cause; he has not even a right to do so, for this would be constituting himself judge of the case, and give rise to the still greater abuse of turning away clients which are poor, or whose adversaries are rich and powerful. He is, in fact, obliged to take up the case as it is stated to him, or as it appears on trial; and it is but the verdict of the jury whichAGAINST LAWYERS.
35
informs him of its legal justice. He is compelled to start from premises, the correctness of which it is neither in his power or his duty to ascertain or examine, and is, therefore, in the exercise of his profession, less concerned in the investigation of absolute truth than men of science in every other department.
The imperfection, however, does not properly exist in the advocates, hut in the law itself. The laws of nature and of God are immutable, and in perfect harmony with each other in their most remote consequences. Those of men are the product of a finite intelligence, and are therefore subject to frequent changes, and liable to disagree with each other. They are enacted for specific purposes, not always corresponding with the universal laws of the world ; but protecting the peculiar interests of human institutions : they are adapted to circumstances, and to the state of society in each country ; not to the abstract properties of humanity ; and are, therefore, often favouring peculiar trades and professions, at the expense of philosophical justice. Thus the laws against forgeries, and other crimes against property, are established for the protection of credit ; d 236
IRISH SETTLERS.
military and naval laws for the maintenance of discipline, &c. In all these cases the legislators consider principally the immediate advantages, and not the moral consequences of the law ; their object is to secure a direct, positive, and general benefit, though in so doing they may infringe on the natural rights of individuals. One principle is often sacrificed to another ; as the minor interests must yield to the community at large, and the prosperity and happiness of individuals to the national progress of the commonwealth.
It is this peculiar property of jurisprudence which distinguishes it from every other science, and tinges, in the opinion of many, even the moral and intellectual character of advocates. Besides, the profession of the law is more frequently than any othér embraced for its worldly advantages ; and Archimedes’ reply to the scholar who wished to study mathematics because their application hadrendered the country some service, applies à fortiori to the lawyer : “ He who worships the goddess must not woo the woman ”
The Irish are almost diametrically opposite toIRISH SETTLERS.	37
the Germans, in disposition and enterprise. The industry of the lower classes consists more in bodily exertion than in its direction to any definite purpose. Possessing naturally great generosity of character, they are satisfied with acquiring what is necessary for the present, which they are always ready to share with each other, without prudently heeding the future. While they are thus content to be hired in large bodies to dig canals or construct railroads, they neglect the more useful cultivation of the soil, which would, at once, make them independent and respectable. The second generation, however, fare much better. Being for the most part brought up in the large cities, they have an opportunity of benefiting by the superior means of instruction held out so liberally in all parts of the United States, and to raise themselves, by their talents and acquirements, to an equality with the most informed and wealthy. Some of the most eminent lawyers and statesmen of America are of Irish extraction, and General Jackson himself is descended from an Irish family. They are a warm-hearted patriotic race, who require nothing but the cooling influence of a certain number of years’ residence in the
d 338
IRISH SETTLERS.
United States in order to become most useful and peaceable citizens.*
Individually an Irish gentleman is more esteemed than a German, and perhaps, on account of the greater congeniality of thought and learning, a more useful member of the American community. . But as a mass the Germans are greatly preferred. They have done more, or at least as much, as any class of Americans for the improvement of the country, and contributed largely, and in the most systematic manner, to the development of its internal resources. The first American manufactures which excited the jealousy of Great Britain were the German paper, woollen and linen cloth manufactures of Pennsylvania; and to this moment Pennsylvania and Massachusetts are rivalling each other in this species of industry.! The mechanic arts are allowed to have made greater progress in Philadelphia than in any other city of the United States; but the principal workmen are
* Compare the Irish character described in the chapter on American prejudices, vol. i.
t Proud's “ History of Pennsylvania;” and Graham's “ History of the United States»"IRISH SETTLERS.
39
Germans*, and many of the first merchants of that city are also descended from Germany. Such occupations are not apt to shed a particular lustre on the names of individuals ; but they characterise the whole body as a highly industrious and useful class of society, which, by its smaller excitability and great steadiness of mind, may at some future time prove a salutary obstacle to the inordinate ambition of a faction.
The political influence of the Irish, which is the subject of so much discussion in the United States as well as in England, and to which one of the political parties has ascribed all its recent defeats, is, in itself, exceedingly small, and only felt in some of the large towns on the sea-coast. It is a well-ascertained fact that a large majority of the country, and not of the cities, has voted in favour of the present administration and the measures of General Jackson ; and that almost all cities, with the exception of New York, have declared themselves against them. Even the majority in the city of New York did not ma-
# Of late a number of English mechanics have emigrated to the United States, and depressed the labour of the Germans,
jy 440
IRISH VOTERS.
terially influence that of the state, which was sufficiently great to compensate for a failure in any of the large towns. The Irish are not nearly as unanimous in their votes as the Germans, and do not hold sufficient property in any one state to have an immediate influence on the elections. The Germans, on the contrary, constitute, by themselves, a majority in Pennsylvania, and a very respectable and wealthy party in many other states. Being for the most part proprietors of the soil, their vote is independent, which can hardly be said of the lower classes of the Irish, who are mostly employed by the rich capitalists. If the Irish, then, have voted for the administration, I take it for granted that they have done it from principle ; because a view to their immediate interest might, perhaps, have dictated an opposite course. Commerce and manufacture, from which the greater number of Irish, at least indirectly, draw their subsistence, might have invited them to vote differently; whilst the farmer in the interior is, by his very position, more independent of the monied institution of the large cities. The Irish, were they united to a man, could not have the influence and power of theI KISH VOTERS.
41
Germans, with whom disposition, habit, occupation, and property unite to make them what they are, the stoutest democrats of the country. I am far from being instigated by any partisan spirit either in favour of or against the Irish or Germans ; neither do I speak of the correctness or injustice of their vote; but merely of the credit which is to be attached to it as a moral and independent action.
In the settlements of new districts it is seldom that Europeans are found to be actively engaged. This honour belongs almost exclusively to emigrants from New England, who may most emphatically be called the pioneers of the United States, and to whose enterprising spirit and recklessness of danger may be ascribed most of the valuable improvements of the country. They are, however, satisfied with tracing the road which the others are to follow, and occupying the most important stations: the intervals are afterwards filled up with settlers from other states and from Europe. The character of the New England emigrants has been too well described by Washington Irving for me to attempt to add to it more than is necessary to understand a certain political type, which may42	NEW ENGLAND SETTLERS.
be observed in all states to which they have emigrated in large numbers. The talent of a New Englander is universal. He is a good farmer, an excellent schoolmaster, a very respectable preacher, a capital lawyer, a sagacious physician, an able editor, a thriving merchant, a shrewd pedlar, and a most industrious tradesman. Being thus able to fill all the important posts of society, only a few emigrants from New England are required to imprint a lasting character on a new state, even if their number should be much inferior to that of the other settlers. The states of Ohio and Michigan, and even a large part of the state of New York, offer striking instances of this moral superiority acquired by the people of New England 5 but it would be wrong thence to conclude that their own habits do not undergo an important metamorphosis, or that, in their new relations in the western states, they merely act as reformers, without being, in turn, influenced by the character of their fellow settlers. The change, however, is altogether for the better. Their patriotism, instead of being confined to the narrow limits of New England,—a fault with which they have been reproached as early as the commencementNEW ENGLAND SETTLERS.	43
of the revolutionary war#,—partakes there more of a national character. The continued intercourse with strangers from all parts of the world, but more particularly from the different states of the union, serve in no small degree to eradicate from their minds certain prejudices and illiberalities with which they have but too commonly been reproached by their brethren of the south. Tolerance, the last and most humane offspring of civilization, is, perhaps, the only virtue of which the New Englander is usually parsimonious ; but even this seems to improve and to thrive in the western states; and I have no hesitation to say, that, in this respect, the inhabitants of those districts are by far more emancipated than those of the Atlantic states, whatever advantages the latter may possess with regard to refinement of manners. I know of no better specimen of human character than a New Englander transferred to the western states.
To form a correct idea of the rapid increase of cultivated territory in the western states it is only necessary to cast a glance at the
* Botta, “ Storia della guerra dell independenza degli Stati Uniti”44
INCREASE OF POPULATION.
unparalleled increase of population. The state of Pennsylvania, which in 1810 contained but 810,091* inhabitants, had in 1830, 1,34*7,672 ; increase, 537,581 : the population of the state of New York, which in 1810 was but 413,763, had in 1830 already increased to 1,913,508 ; increase, 1,499,745: the population of Alabama was less than 10,000, but in 1830 already 308,997 j increase 298,997, or nearly 2,990 per cent, in twenty years: that of Mississippi, which in 1810 amounted to 40,352, was in 1830, 136,800; increase in twenty years 96,448, equivalent to 239 per cent.: Tenessee contained in 1810 but 261,727 inhabitants, but in 1830, 684,822 ; increase 162 per cent, nearly: in Kentucky the population increased, in the same time, from 406,511 to 688,844, or by about 76 per cent.: that of Ohio advanced, in the same space of time, from 230,760 to 937,637 ; increase more than 300 per cent.: the population of the same state was in 1790 but 3,000; increase in 40 years, 31,154<1«7o Per cent.: Indiana contained in 1810 but 24,520 inhabitants; but in 1830 already 341,582; increase more than 1,293 per cent.:
* These numbers are taken from the census of 1810, 1820, and 1830.INCREASE OF POPUEATION.
4 5
but the population of Indiana consisted in 1800 only of 5,641 ; consequently the total increase in 30 years, or less than a whole generation, is more than 5,955 per cent. Illinois contained in 1810 only 12,282 inhabitants, which number was in 1830 increased to 157,575 ; equal to about 1,183 per cent.: Missouri had in the same space increased to seven times her original population ; that of 1810 being 19,833, and that of 1830, 140,074. The population of the eastern and southern states I have here omitted, because, though on the increase, they present nothing so striking as the rapid growth of the west. The states of Pennsylvania and New York, however, extend far to the westward, and thence arises their incredible augmentation of population.
More than nine tenths of all the people who emigrate to the west are farmers or planters; and it is consequently chiefly the agricultural interest which causes the settling of the immense territory of the United States yet open to the spirit of enterprise. Commerce and manufacture, it is true, follow the path of the new settlers; but they never lead the way to those regions, and are rather accessaries than originators of civilization. The continent of America46
AMERICAN INDIANS,
might have been visited, like the islands of the South Sea, by a thousand enterprising merchants and navigators, without being for one moment redeemed from its savage state. It is but the actual cultivation of the soil, and the indisputable right to property arising from actual labour, which lays the foundation of states and empires, as it furnishes, perhaps, the only legitimate title to the possession of a country. Let no sensitive European, therefore, complain of the barbarous cruelty of the Americans in chasing the Indians from the soil of their fathers, or in forcing them to flee from the approach of civilization to the unhospitable woods of the western territory. The American aborigines, with but very few exceptions, never possessed the soil on which they trod any more than the air which they breathed. They never cultivated it to any extent, nor had they, individually, any distinct title to it arising from actual labour. They held it in common with the beasts of the forest, and it was useful to them only as it aiforded them the means of prey. The English had as good a right to call the ocean their own because they moved on it, as the American Indians to claim possession of their continent because theyAMERICAN INDIANS.
47
roamed in its woods. There was barbarity in the conquest of Lima and Mexico, the inhabitants of which were already in possession of many of the arts of peace; but there can be none in the quiet progress of civilization in the United States, except what is provoked by the Indians themselves, and for which they alone must remain accountable. The American settler takes possession of a soil which has never been cultivated, and which, therefore, has had no owner. He builds his log-house in a country in which there is room enough for the support of millions, and in which there are hardly a few hundred stragglers to follow the track of the deer. Is this robbery ? Is it cruel to civilize and improve a country, and to open a new road to wealth and comfort to thousands of intelligent beings from all parts of the world, who would otherwise starve or be reduced to poverty, because in so doing they cannot avoid intruding on the favourite hunting grounds of some wandering tribes, and disturb their game ? This, however, they do; and with the deer the American aborigines disappear from the soil.
It is in vain to talk of civilizing them. If it could be done, which is more than doubtful,48
AMERICAN INDIANS.
(considering the many unsuccessful attempts which have already been made,) they would hardly be able to compete with their teachers in any one human occupation calculated to secure a livelihood in a civilized country, and would, therefore, from necessity, become outlaws to society, and incur the punishment of the law.* We cannot but regret the fate of that doomed people; but we can hardly think of rescuing them from it, without being guilty of the most flagrant injustice to the rest of mankind. The power arising from the actual cultivation of the soil and the establishment of fixed habitations in a country is so irresistible and unsparing, that it must eventually triumph over all obstacles, and resist even the destructive consequences of wars. This is the reason why the British colonies in America prospered so rapidly, and
* The state of the Creek and Cherokee Indians furnishes a new proof of this assertion. Red Jacket, an Indian chief of great eloquence, in his answer to the missionaries, observed that it was very probable God had intended the white and the red races for different purposes. “ To you,” he said, “ He has given the arts ; to these He has for ever closed our eyes. Why should He not have given you another religion also ?”—-Red-Jacket's reply to the mission-ariesj by Thomas Jefferson.AMERICAN INDIANS.
49
finally finished by swallowing up Canada. The military force of the French settlements was vastly superior to that of the English ; their lines of fortification extended from the mouth of the Mississippi to the river St. Lawrence; but they had no possession of the intervening territory by virtue of actual settlements, and 'the result soon convinced them that where the most property is accumulated, there also will be the strongest means of defence; on that side consequently must eventually incline the victory. But if the policy of the Anglo-Americans was sufficient to destroy so powerful a rival as the French, what can be expected from the unconcerted ill-advised resistance or attack of the aborigines, unskilled in military tactics, and not sufficiently strong, on any one point, to offer a serious impediment to the grasping power of the settlers ?
Neither is it reasonable to suppose that the quitting of their favourite hunting grounds can give the American Indians the same pangs which an everlasting farewell to the paternal soil, the scene of all early attachments, and the habitation of all that we love, fraught with the fnemory and tradition of centuries, can cause to
VOL. II.	E50
AMERICAN INDIANS.
a civilized nation. The Indians quit what never was precisely their own ; they leave no object of memory or tradition behind; and although the loss may be felt by the tribe, no individual is actually despoiled of his own. But it is the feelings of individuals which we must here consider ; not that of the tribe or nation. A people cannot be said to feel the wrongs and pains inflicted upon it by another, except in proportion as the sufferings of the whole are felt and responded to by individuals. This, however, presupposes a degree of moral development, and a pitch of national enthusiasm, of which even history is sparing in furnishing us with examples, and of which certainly but few traces are to be found in the Indian character. Let no one mistake the hatred which the coloured races bear to the whites, and to each other, for a strong love of country and an attachment to their native woods. Hatred of others is but a negative and barbarous qualification of nationality, and is by no means a necessary concomitant of its positive virtues. The hatred between the different races is something animal and instinctive, and is far removed from the noble disinterestedness of genuine patriotism. What-AMERICAN INDIANS.
51
ever colour poetry may lend to the removal of the Indians, it is, nevertheless, but the removal of a sick bed from a place where death is certain, to one from which it is more remote. Neither is it the death of youth or of manhood, but that of old age and decrepitude, which the Indian is doomed to die; and in his mouldering ashes germinates the seed of empires, destined to change the face of the world. This is but applying the universal law of nature to man : there is no life without death to precede it; no seed without destroying the blossom ; no offspring without destruction to its genitors. One nation must perish to make room for another ; and it is the peculiar good fortune of America that she can suffer these revolutions to go on without a feverish excitement of her vitals, or hurrying the succession of events by the horror and bloodshed of war.*
But the west would not be so rapidly settled if the cultivation of the soil did not promise a
* What is termed “ the Indian war,” is nothing but a succession of skirmishes with a few of the neighbouring tribes; and is only protracted because it is deemed too insignificant to warrant a general armament on the part of the United States. The case is very different with the French colony of Algiers.
E 252 FERTILITY OF THE AMERICAN SOIL.
task rewarded with comfort and independence. There can hardly be a doubt of the fact, that the soil of the valley of the Mississippi is the richest and most fertile on earth ; and that, producing every thing which is necessary to the existence and comfort of man, it is intended to become the habitation of hundreds of millions.* Alexander von Humbold gave it as his opinion, that America is the most fertile quarter of the world ; and it has since been computed that the whole population of Europe could find ample room and subsistence on the boarders of the Mississippi alone. The whole population of the five great continents has been estimated at about one thousand millions ; but what important change may we not expect in the condition of the human race, when we know that there exists a confederacy of republics capable of sustaining, with a greater degree of ease than was ever before shared by any portion of the human family, a population surpassing that of the entire globe ? There is no country or tract of land on earth whose physical and geogra-
* Compare De Tocqueville “ De la Démocratie en Amérique.”ADVANTAGES OF POSITION.
53
phical position are so well adapted to agriculture and commerce as that part of the American continent which composes the territory of the United States. Like China, America may be said to be independent of the rest of the world; inasmuch as she is capable of producing, not only what is essential to human existence, but also the luxuries inseparable from a certain degree of refinement. Her territory embraces every climate, from the extreme north to the furthermost south, and every species of vegetation intended for manufacture and commerce. But the facility of river communication, and the internal navigation of the United States, have no equal on earth, and may be considered the most durable cement by which the various states are united. There is hardly a settlement in the union which has not more or less the means of communicating with some market town or city, and, therefore, not only the elements of prosperity in its domestic arrangements, but also the hope of obtaining the value of its produce, and thereby to become rich and independent. What is even the situation of China with regard to the commerce of the world, compared to that of theUnited States, when they will once be settled and extend
e 354,
ADVANTAGES OF POSITION.
from one ocean to the other ? The largest empire, Russia, would require the Swedish peninsula in order to hold a position at all to be compared to it; and even then the extent of intervening country, the difficulty of communication, and the extreme northern latitude of her possessions, would deprive her of its principal advantages. A single glance at the map of the United States, and a slight acquaintance with the people who inhabit them, are sufficient to convince even the stoutest unbeliever that America is destined to become the first in agriculture, the first in commerce, and the first in manufacture of all countries in the world. It will touch the extreme east and west of the remaining continents, and possess equal facilities of trade with the East and West Indies. It must become the centre of civilization ; and, from its equal proximity to both Asia and Europe, exercise a most powerful political influence on all nations of the globe. Europeans learn with astonishment the rapid progress of civilization and power in America ; but all she has done to this moment is but a feeble prelude to the gigantic part which she is destined to perform in the universal drama of the world.EMIGRATION TO AMERICA.
55
Already a most uncommon spectacle presents itself. Emigration to America is no longer confined to those parts of Europe which are overpeopled (Wurtemberg and Ireland) 5 but communicates itself also to the less populated parts of Germany and France. Large numbers of the inhabitants of Old Bavaria and of the French province of Alsace are annually wandering to the United States ; and so inviting are the letters of those who are already settled, to their friends and relations in Europe, that some of the German governments have already been obliged to make provisions to arrest the depopulation of their country by law, and to enjoin the civil and military authorities to use their utmost influence to prevent emigration in the future. Neither is it only the lower and destitute classes who are daily embarking for the United States. On the contrary, the obstacles thrown in their way are such that only those who have property are able to receive their passports. There is now a law in Wurtemberg which obliges every subject, desirous of emigrating to America, to deposite the sum of 300 florins (640 francs) with the civil authorities of Stutgard, which sum is only remitted to him at the sea-port of his embarkation.
E 456	ADVISE TO EMIGRANTS.
Thus every German emigrant, from that part of the country, must not only be able to provide for his journey to the sea-port, but must also have a sum of 640 francs to spare, which is sufficient to pay his passage, and leaves him on his arrival in America with sufficient funds to be able to proceed to the west. Much, indeed, has been said in America on the subject of foreign paupers; though it would be easy to prove, by the registers of emigration in Germany, that the emigrants from that country pay annually more than two hundred thousand dollars for their passage, independent of the money aiid goods which they carry to the United States.
And now, be the merits of this work what they may, I still flatter myself with the hope of seeing it translated into German; and as it will probably be read by many who will feel disposed to change the old for the new world, I will say a few words to the emigrants, equally applicable to those from other countries.
Let no one go to America merely on speculation ; but at once with the resolute determination of making it his home. Let him not expect to lead a life of comparative idleness; but, on the contrary, one of hard work and persevering indus-ADVISE TO EMIGRANTS.
57
try, if he wishes to realise the fruits of his labour, and to become independent of the assistance of others. Let him remember that he is going to settle amongst the most industrious people on earth, whose constitution and government protect him, it is true, in the unmolested possession of property; but that he himself must be the principal artificer of his fortune; and that nothing but personal exertion will ensure his ultimate success. Let him come unencumbered with farming utensils, machines, &c., which will only increase the expenses of his journey, without being of any real use in practice. Most of them he will be able to buy, in the United States, not only cheaper and of better quality; but better adapted to the general use in the country. Many emigrants are in a habit of bringing ploughs, waggons, &c. to America, without reflecting, for one moment, that the expenses of transportation amount to more than their actual value ; and that it is more than probable that these implements may prove entirely useless or unmanageable in a different soil or on a different road. * Again, let them abstain from all
* This is, to my knowledge, the case with several European farming utensils.58	ADVISE TO EMIGRANTS.
mercantile speculations, of which they often know little or nothing, and which can never succeed unless they are thoroughly acquainted with the state of the market. Let them remember, that once out of money they must sell their merchandize for what they will bring, not for what they are worth ; that commerce requires capital and credit, and that without them they must necessarily become the tool of every trader and pedlar whom they meet on their way.
On their arrival in the United States let them hot remain too long in the Atlantic cities. Every day they stay there without occupation is lost to their enterprise, and diminishes their funds. Let them rather begin humbly in the country, by working on farms, than become servants in the towns, or commence business immediately on their own account. If there are several members of a family, let only those remain in the cities who have learned a particular trade, or who may expect immediate employment; but it is far better for a whole family to move at once to the west, where they may find occupation much more suitable to their habits than they can hope to find on the sea-coast, where a too sudden transition from rural life to the refinement of theADVISE TO EMIGRANTS.
59
towns may prove destructive to their morals. Let them bear in mind, that in the cities, though individuals may prosper, they will hardly be able to raise themselves to an equality with the native inhabitants ; whereas in the country, and especially on new land, they must, by persevering industry, become as respectable and powerful as the rest of their fellow-citizens. In the country they will enjoy an hundred indulgences of which they must necessarily be deprived in the cities. They will there be allowed to follow their own inclinations and habits, which theymust never expect in a large city, in which they must necessarily conform to the manners and customs of the majority.
Let them, above all things, abstain from politics, before they have had time to study the institutions of the country, and to know the government under which they are going to live. A too hasty adoption of principles, before they have thoroughly weighed them, may be fatal to their own influence, and interfere with their prospects in life. It is the duty of every European settler to make himself acquainted with American laws and manners, in order to judge for himself to what party he is to lend his support. The Germans especially ought to show more zeal in60
ADVISE TO EMIGRANTS.
acquiring the English language, without which it is impossible to understand the true meaning of a thousand things with which it is important they should be rendered familiar. The American papers contain infinitely more information than any of the German ones I have seen; which, with but few exceptions, contain nothing but mutilated extracts from the daily American press, in a language of which it is difficult to say whether it is less German or English.
I have said before, that in order to succeed in any one undertaking, but especially in farming, it is necessary that the proprietor should work himself, and not merely be an idle spectator or employer of the labour of others. I will now add, that without personal exertion on his part he will not only be unable to advance, but absolutely fail and be ruined. America, thanks to her institutions and the infinite resources of the soil, is not yet a country for a gentleman farmer; a circumstance which has been much regretted by Mr. Hamilton, but which is the cause of much rejoicing to every unbiassed and intelligent inhabitant of the United States. An American prefers cultivating the smallest patch of his own to working on the largest farm of his neighbours,AMERICAN SYSTEM OF FARMING.	61
and rather emigrates further to the west than consent to become, in any manner or degree, dependent on his fellow-beings. The Germans who are found willing to hire themselves out on an estate are seldom content to serve for wages, but wish to be paid in land or produce, and become thus partners instead of servants to their employers.
“ But America,” says Mr. Hamilton, “ is not the place for a gentleman farmer. The price of labour is high, and, besides, it cannot always be commanded at any price. The condition of society is not yet ripe for farming on a great scale. (!) There will probably be no American Mr. Coke for some centuries to come. The Transatlantic Sir John Sinclairs are yet in mo, and a long period of incubation must intervene before we can expect them to crack the shell.” What beautiful metaphor! It is to be hoped they will never be hatched, “ As things at present stand,” continues he, “ small farmers could beat the great ones out of the field. What a man produces by his own labour and that of his family he produces cheaply; what he is compelled to hire others to perform is done expensively. It is always the interest of the latter to get as much6$2	AMERICAN SYSTEM OF FARMING!.
as he can, and give as little labour in exchange for it.” Why does he not say in few words, a man works harder for himself than for others ? “ Then arises the necessity of bailiffs and overseers ; fresh months to feed and pockets to be filled; and the owner may consider himself fortunate if these are content with devouring the profits, without swallowing the estate into the bargain.”
When the condition of society in America will “ be ripe ” for the English system of farming, then the progress and prosperity of the United States will be on the decline. What is the farming system in England but a sort of tail to the feudal system, which, though it may have its advantages to the proprietors where it is once established, cannot benefit a country where it is to be newly introduced. And what is the Irish system of “ tenants at will ” but one of the many melancholy forms under which the misery of her people is entailed from one generation on another ? It is not the unfortunate state of society which, in America, diminishes the number of gentlemen farmers j it is the unexampled prosperity of the country, and the distribution of wealth throughout the whole population, whichAMERICAN SYSTEM OF FARMING. 63
raises them at once above the condition of servitude. Whoever emigrates westward goes thither on his own account; for if he be an honest man he can buy land on credit, or for a trifling amount of cash ; and under such circumstances it is not to be supposed he will hire himself out to others. The present condition of the United States is such that but few are exempted from labour, and even these are not proud of their distinction. No disgrace attaches to industry, nor does the term “ gentleman ” necessarily imply a man who has nothing to do. Large real estates neither contribute to the general prosperity of a country, nor are they very congenial with liberal institutions. The present prosperity of France and of some of the minor states of Germany is universally allowed to be produced by the division of property ; and where such a division can be effected in the outset, without injustice to any one class of society, it would be absurd and criminal not to promote it. No hired labourer can be expected to do as well as he who works for himself; and it is therefore the interest of the country at large to have as many proprietors as possible. The greatest quantity of labour will be produced by the64)
AMERICAN SYSTEM OF FARMING.
greatest number of persons interested in it j and the greatest profits realized where they are obtained with little assistance from others. These truths are so generally understood that even at the late diets of Hungary and Transylvania the lower nobility# wished to change the law of expropriation of the peasantry, by allowing them to possess freehold estates by the same tenure as themselves ; “ because,” they observed, “ our property when divided will be worth more than it is entire, and we shall sell the fragments for more than the whole.” Now, while the policy of such an arrangement is acknowledged in all civilized parts of the world, while even the nobility of Hungary and Transylvania are willing to try so wise and salutary a measure, is it not strange that so enlightened an author as Mr. Hamilton, in so enlightened an age as ours, should publish, in “ the most enlightened country of the world,” a work in which he derides the American system of independent farming ? Of
* The Hungarian diet is composed of two chambers, the magnates and the nobles, or the lower and higher no^* bility. Each free town counts as one nobleman in the lower chamber. No person can possess real estate except a nobleman or a citizen of a free town.AMERICAN SYSTEM OF FARMING.
65
what immense advantage is not the division of property in a country like the United States ? Is it not, in a degree, necessary to the continuance of its republican institutions ? Does the greater number of proprietors not increase the number of those who have a direct stake in the government ? Is not independence of suffrage best secured by independence of property ? There are, assuredly, proprietors of large tracts of uncuU tivated land ; but no sooner are settlements made upon them, than they are portioned out in little lots, and cultivated by men of small fortunes. This is, indeed, one of the means of realising fortunes out of real estates. Land, in America, is treated like any other kind of merchandise ; it is bought in large quantities, and retailed in small lots. Without this policy the population would not have increased so rapidly during the last twenty or thirty years, and many of the western farms, which are now in a thriving condition, would yet be as uncultivated as the borders of the Pacific. Nothing but the love of independence could induce those sturdy settlers to make the wilderness their home. If they wished to consult their ease, they might become servants in the cities or cultivated districts ; for they have no
VOL. II.	F66
AMERICAN SERVANTS.
chance of finding it in the western woods. The willingness of the rich to work, and the disposition of the poor to prefer hard independent labour to easy well-paid servitude, are the principal causes of the increasing prosperity of the United States.
The unwillingness of the poorer classes of Americans to hire themselves out as servants, and the little satisfaction with their lot when circumstances compel them to do it, furnish a subject of incessant complaint with the wealthier and more aristocratic families. The theme is too fertile for European tourists not to profit by it, and, accordingly, their works are adorned with copious descriptions of the ludicrous pretensions of American servants. I admit at once that there are but few native Americans who would submit to the degradation of wearing a livery or any other badge of servitude. This they would call becoming a man’s man. But, on the other hand, there are also but few American gentlemen who would feel any happier for their servants wearing coats of more than one colour. The inhabitants of New England are quite as willing to call their servants “ helps ” or “ domestics,” as the latter repudiate the title of “ master ” in their em-AMERICAN SERVANTS
67
ployers; and as it is a matter of agreement between them, I do not see that either party is actually injured.
It is true, an American servant will not suffer the treatment of a liveried vagabond; but then it is the meanest gratification to be permitted to treat a fellow-being with contempt. Neither is an American servant that same indolent, careless, besotted being as an European. He knows how to read and write, and is sure to understand arithmetic ; he takes an interest in politics, reads the papers, and attends public meetings and lectures. He is a member of the militia, pays poll-tax, and is entitled to vote.* His mind is constantly engaged in making plans for the future; and, far from being content to remain all his life a servant, he is earnestly contemplating his chance of success in some trade, No sooner has he earned a few dollars than he sets up a shop; and there are many of them who finish by becoming respectable merchants. With these hopes before him, it could not be expected that he would always be a ready, cringing
* I heard, myself, an American servant tell of the gentleman if he lived with 99 that he liked him very well; but always crossed him in politics, His master knew this; but kept him in his employ; because he was, in every other respect, a trustworthy servant.
F 268
AMERICAN SERVANTS.
sycophant; but it does not follow, that he must necessarily be unwilling to do his duty, or to accomplish that which he has agreed to do with promptitude and cheerfulness. I am quite convinced that American servants work harder, and quicker than even the English; and that from their greater intelligence they are, on the whole, the most useful.
An American gentleman has seldom more than one man-servant, who is at once porter, footman, bottler, and, if necessary, coachman to the family. He cleans the boots, brushes the clothes, washes the windows, cleans the house, waits at table, goes to market, keeps the reckoning, and is, in one word, the factotum of the household. He does that which it would at least take six others to accomplish, and, notwithstanding his high wages, proves a cheaper servant than could be obtained in Europe. He is always at home, always busy, and hardly ever spending his leisure hours at a public-house. So far from being unable to procure good servants in America, the only difficulty consists in keeping them ; there being but few amongst them whose capacity for trade will suffer them to remain satisfied, with what they think an inferior condition.AMERICAN SERVANTS.
69
As to female servants, few complaints, I believe, are made of their want of fidelity or submission, though they require a treatment very different from that to which the same class are accustomed in Europe- Despite of Mrs. Trollope’s masterly sketches of American domestics, she could find nothing to impeach either their honesty or morality (which, no doubt, the fair author would have been glad to do if it had been in her power) ; and one instance, in particular, which she gives of the pride of a young girl, in her own service, who would rather starve than eat in the kitchen, and whom she always found obedient yet bathed in tears, exhibits a nobility of sentiment, of which certainly not a trace is to be found in her lady’s writings.
The waiting women at the inns and taverns are possessed of a peculiar dignity of demeanour, which effectually prevents every thing improper on the part of the visitors, and being generally tolerably well educated, it is easy to perceive at once, that they are in many respects vastly superior to some of the sots whom they are obliged “ to help.” The superiority of the women over the men, which is everywhere perceptible in the United States, extends equally to the servants 5
F 370 RELATION OP THE RICH TO THE POOR.
and it is, consequently, a rare case for one of these fair helps ” to marry a fellow-domestic. They are generally joined in wedlock to some respectable mechanic ; and acquiring property by frugality and industry, finish by taking the stations of their former employers. •
Much has been said on the relative position of the rich and poor, by men who enjoy great reputation as scholars and statesmen. Yet I believe their arguments are more founded on theories and analogies, than on actual observation of the different classes of society in the United States. There is no distinct line of demarcation between the rich and the poor as in Europe 5 the deserters from both ranks, but especially from the latter, being more numerous than those who remain ; and the number of new comers putting computation altogether out of the question. Neither is there that envy amongst the labouring classes which characterises the “ canaille ” of Europe, and manifests itself by an indiscriminate hatred of all whose fortunes are superior to their own. Exemption from labour, the beau ideal of the French and Italians, is not even desired by the industrious population of America; and the poor are willing to protect the possessions of theRELATION OF THE RICH TO THE POOR. 71
rich, because they expect themselves to need that protection at some future period. In all the hues and cries against the bank there was not the least manifestation of a desire to despoil the rich of their property: all that the people contended for was, in their opinion, an equal chance for acquiring it. They wished to put down that which they deemed a monopoly and an impediment to the progress of the small merchant; but never dreamt of plunder. This question has been sadly misrepresented in Europe, and accompanied by pictures of the cupidity of the lower classes, to which it would be difficult to find the originals in the United States of America.72
AMERICAN MERCHANTS.
CHAPTER II.
COMMERCE OF THE UNITED STATES.-SYSTEM OF CREDIT.
— AMERICAN CAPITALISTS. —BANKS. — MANUFACTURES.
--MECHANIC ARTS.-WAGES AND HOURS OF LABOUR.-
INGENUITY OF AMERICANS.-NAVIGATION.-SAILORS.—
THE FISHERIES.— SHIP-BUILDING.
Descended from the first maritime nation, and invited by a sea-coast of more than sixteen hundred miles, possessed of the most excellent harbours, the Americans need but follow their natural impulse, and improve the advantages of their geographical position, in order to become the most powerful commercial nation on the globe. The water is the native element of the Transatlantic republican •, and it is upon the ocean he appears truly great and heroic. Even the navigation of the American lakes and the great western rivers presents a spectacle unequalled in any other part of the world. In no other country is so large a portion of the whole population engaged in navigation ; in none other is the water treated with the same familiarity as the land. TheMERCANTILE NAVY.
73
Americans are the most amphibious bipeds oil the face of the earth; and such is the abundance of water communication in the interior, that a man will hardly call on his next neighbour without embarking on board of some steam-boat.
With the unparalleled spirit of enterprise, and the mercantile genius of her inhabitants, it is impossible that America should not develop all the mighty resources which a country whose shores are bathed by two oceans, and whose interior is intersected by a thousand mighty streams, must naturally oifer to her merchants and seamen. At the present time, at which probably not more than the one hundredth part of the facilities of navigation are improved, the mercantile navy of America is but second to that of England ; but in skill, energy, and boldness inferior to none in the world. Compared to the entire population, the number of her ships and mariners is greater than that of any existing nation, and forms a broad and noble basis for her future maritime power. It is the merchant’s service from which the navy is recruited, and without which it is impossible to educate sailors for the use of men-of war. The naval power of every people has increased with its commerce,74
MERCANTILE NAVY.
and in the event of a war the question is not so much how many ships she could muster in her docks, but rather how many she could man and navigate. The American navy is perhaps the smallest which ever protected so extensive a commerce; hut in case of need the United States could, in one year, build as many vessels, and man them, as any other nation, .save England, could get ready for sea. The materials for ship-building are cheap, the skilful workmen numerous, and experienced sailors to be found in every harbour. The history of the American flotillas on the lakes, and the achievements of their frigates on the ocean, prove sufficiently the celerity and energy which they are capable of developing on important occasions, and that notwithstanding the small number of government ships, America must be ranked amongst the first maritime powers.
It is the commerce of the United States which not only furnishes a market for the increasing manufactures and the immense natural productions of the soil, but constitutes also the right arm and strength of the national defence of the country. It is not merely an accessory to the arts of civilization; it is not resorted to merely as a meansRNTERPRIZE OP THE MERCHANTS. 7<5
of obtaining riches; it is a national occupation, imbued with all the spirit and energy of character which distinguish the American community.
An American merchant is an enthusiast who seems to delight in enterprise in proportion as it is connected with danger. He ventures his fortune with the same heroism with which the sailor risks his life; and is as ready to embark on a new speculation after the failure of a favourite project, as the mariner is to navigate a new ship, after his own has become a wreck. An American carries the spirit of invention even to the counting-room. He is constantly discovering some new sources of trade, and is always willing to risk his capital and credit on some terra incognita, rather than follow the beaten track of others, and content himself with such profits as are realised by his competitors. This is undoubtedly the cause of a great number of unfortunate speculations and subsequent failures ; but it constitutes also the technical superiority of the American merchant over the European. He is an inventor, not an imitator; he creates new sources of wealth instead of merely exhausting the old ones. Hence his vigilance and application. The ordinary routine76 ENTERPRIZE OF THE MERCHANTS.
of business is not sufficient to ensure his success ; he must think, invent, speculate; for it is more by ingenuity and foresight than by the regular pursuit of trade, that he can hope to realise a fortune. None of the present French or Dutch fashions of trade, would now prosper in the United States. Fortunes there are not made by small savings; but by large and successful operations. It is not by hoarding money; but by employing and investing it, that property accumulates in America ; and the inexhaustible riches of the country open daily a thousand new roads to industry and commerce.
The majority of Americans are, perhaps, not as good financiers as the Dutch; but they are more enterprising and successful merchants; they are willing to run greater risks, in order to. secure larger profits j and it may be said of them that their minds expand in proportion to their stakes in trade.
What after all can be more despicable than the character of a miser such as Holland teemed with since the decline of her active commerce, when, with the largest capital in the world, her merchants became money-lenders, and the creditors of all Europe ? What difference is there not between some of those haggard-looking,IkfERCltANTS OF NEW YORK.	77
dirty, usurious financiers, and an active, liberal-minded, enterprising merchant, the support of an hundred small traders and mechanics, whom he trusts or employs in the various ramifications of business. Let any one compare the present population of Amsterdam to that of New York. The aspect of the one is gloomy, contracted, sordid ; that of the other all gaiety, frankness, and liberality. Except to a man of business, a residence at Amsterdam is wholly devoid of interest. Everywhere he meets the same greedy pursuit of money; the same avaricious abstinence from all which contributes to pleasure. Even the ordinary conveniences and comforts of life are enjoyed only by a few of the oldest and richest families ; the rest lead a life of privation. How very unlike this is the picture of New York! Every thing there bears the aspect of ease and cheerfulness. The streets are wide and airy, the houses of the wealthier classes are decorated with taste, and the whole population bears the impress of opulence and prosperity. In spite of the hurry and bustle of business during the day, the evenings of many of the wealthy families are devoted to social intercourse, and their doors are open to the reception of78	CHARACTER OF
friends. No one can accuse the American merchant with want of hospitality or a sordid confinement to the counting-room and exchange. He is liberal and generous in his dealings, affable and obliging in his intercourse with strangers, a sincere friend, and a calm reflecting politician. The extent of his speculations prepares his mind for sudden success or ill-fortune, and he is able to sustain losses with a degree of fortitude and equanimity which is utterly beyond the comprehension of ordinary men of business in other countries. His mind becomes enlarged by the extent of his enterprise, and becomes naturally superior to the niggard calculator of groats.
There seems to be something ungenerous in the mere business of a money-broker, charging his one quarter or one half per cent, commission, and hoarding a fortune by the small droppings from the estates of those who are actively engaged in commerce- One of the meanest occupations of men is the mere computation of numbers j but it may become destructive to the noblest faculties of the mind when these numbers represent nothing but money. The first of all the sciences, mathematics, when unconnected with philosophy, may serve to enslave the mindAMERICAN MERCHANTS.
79
and deprive it of imagination and fancy. Even the astronomer who is solely confined to his ciphers, without seeing in them the laws and type of his God, degenerates into a mechanical book-keeper of the universe, without having an interest in its noblest transactions. The business of trading and jobbing in stocks is not only mean in itself, but may in many instances prove a serious injury to commerce. It may absorb a large portion of the capital which would otherwise be invested in merchandise, and give a wrong direction to the national industry of a country. The merchant must needs be influenced by the fluctuations of exchange, and must provide against them; but it is the gambler alone makes a living by them.
It has been observed, in all countries, that in proportion as active commerce declines, in that same proportion opens the game for the agioteurs on ’change; and there is no more certain mark of spreading demoralization than to see the people at large take an active part in it. It is then sure to dry up the fountains of wealth and virtue, and to convert thousands of industrious men into so many vagabonds and beggars.
Very remarkable, and not devoid of historical interest, is the comparison between the rise andSO	HISTORY OF THE
progress of commerce in Holland, and the equally rapid success of trade in the United States of America. There are so many points of resemblance in the histories of both countries, so many similar causes which stimulated their inhabitants to exertion and prompted their ingenuity, that I cannot refrain from directing the attention of my readers to some of the principal facts which became the elements of their respective greatness. In speaking of the commerce of the United States, it must be remembered however, that during the war of independence, and immediately after it, trade and traffic were principally confined to the New England states ; neither the south, nor Pennsylvania, nor even New York, being, at that time, possessed of a considerable mercantile navy, or participating largely in commercial enterprise. What, therefore, I have to say of the origin of American commerce, will apply, principally, to the New England states, though its progress, of course, refers equally, and even more, to New York than to any other state in the union.
Three principal causes there were to rouse the activity of the Dutch, and to develop those mighty energies for which they have long beenAMERICAN COMMERCE.	81
distinguished; the utter insufficiency of the soil to minister to their physical wants, the necessity of protecting themselves against the fury of the element which continually threatened to ingulf them, and their long protracted struggle for political and religious freedom against the then greatest power of Europe. The physical obstacles which they had to overcome whetted their ingenuity and directed their enterprise to commerce and the fisheries ; while the war with Spain, and their being excluded from the Portuguese ports, obliged them to seek the trade in Indian commodities at its source in the East and West Indies. The New England states were similarly circumstanced. Their soil, especially that of the province of Massachusetts Bay, was generally barren and rocky, and obliged the settlers, at an early period of their history, to resort to other means of subsistence than mere agriculture. The sea they had less to dread; but the severity of the climate, the merciless hatchet of the Indian, and their remoteness from the centre of civilization and from succour, taught them to rely principally on their own strength and industry. The continued wars with the aborigines, their defence
VOL. II.	G82
HISTORY OP
against the incessant encroachments of the French, and finally their struggle for independence with England, were well calculated to develop all the energies of which they were possessed, and to direct their early attention to the establishment of a powerful navy.
The fisheries had become not only a means of supplying their wants, but a source of national wealth ; as the herring-fisheries had at one time been the source of prosperity to Holland. During the war with Spain, the Dutch made immense prizes by the capture of Spanish vessels on the coast of America and in the West Indies, which enabled them in part to defray the expenses of the war. The Americans had to proceed to the coast of Africa for the vei*y powder which they required to carry on the revolutionary war, while their privateers were scouring even the coasts of Europe to annoy British trade at its strong hold, at home.
All nations seem to grow powerful in proportion as their early existence is threatened by some mighty foe. Rome grew strong in its wars with Carthage; Holland became the first maritime republic by its struggle against the greatest monarchy : America accomplished her in depen-AMERICAN COMMERCE.
83
dence by challenging into the field the most enterprising nation on the globe. The first war with England laid the foundation to the American navy ; and as it was the most powerful nation they had to contend with, they had no other alternative than either to become great themselves, by surpassing every moral and physical obstacle to their progress, or be conquered and swallowed up by their superior antagonist. A series of circumstances combined to make them accomplish the former ; and they have since kept possession of the ground they have assumed, and even succeeded in enlarging it.
The Americans must either have become equal to the English in navigation, or for ever resign the thought of becoming a commercial nation ; and confine themselves chiefly to agriculture. England possessed immense advantages over America by her possessions in the East and West Indies, and the geographical position of her North American colonies, from which she might have checked the growing trade of the United States. The Dutch conquered a portion of the Spanish colonies, and established themselves in the East Indies on the ruin of the Spanish influence.84«	HISTORY OF
The Americans could not hope to reap any such signal advantages over any European colony established in the east; and had, therefore, no other means of competing with their European rivals than those which were furnished by the skill of their navigators, and the enterprise and ingenuity of their merchants. The Americans had to purchase commodities from the European settlements in the East and West Indies in order to sell them again to European nations at a less price than they were sold by the merchants of those countries. They had, therefore, to employ all their sagacity in trade to compete with them. They had to make shorter passages, navigate their ships at a less rate, and content themselves with smaller profits. But it was even the disadvantages under which they laboured which developed their commercial energies; and without a single possession in the East and West Indies, they have now more private ships engaged in the India trade than any European nation save. England. The number of American ships trading to the Dutch settlements in the East Indies was, more than ten years ago, already superior to that of all the ships employed by theAMERICAN COMMERCE.
85
Dutch East India Company, and they have since wrested from Holland a large portion of her trade to Russia and all the ports of the Baltic.
But if the commercial importance of the United States was, in the out-set, favoured by circumstances similar to those which promoted the trade and navigation of the Dutch ; if, in the course of their progress, the Americans were powerfully assisted by the long wars between France and England, acting on their commerce, as the civil wars of France and Germany acted on the prosperity of Holland $ they were equally fortunate in avoiding most of the evils with which the commerce of Holland was incumbered even during its most flourishing period, and which, ultimately, brought on its rapid decline. Some of these were inseparable from the political and geographical position of Holland ; the rest were owing to misgovernment. To the former we must reckon the oppressive taxation, which was rendered unavoidable by the long war with Spain, and subsequently with France, and the struggle of the republic for supremacy with the growing power of England ; to the latter belong the introduction of monopolies, the excessive accumulation of capital and
g 386
HISTORY OF
the consequently redueed profits in trade, and the introduction of the financiering system by which the Dutch became the money-lenders of Europe.
But to understand this subject properly, and at the same time, to be enabled to draw a correct inference from it with regard to the future prospects of America, I must be pardoned for alluding to a work with which the English are already familiar through the pages of the Edinburgh Review* ; but which sheds too great a light on the history of commerce of all nations, and especially on that of the United States, not to be once more introduced to the attention of British readers. I would refer to the “ Recherches sur le Commerce de la Hollande,” published at Amsterdam in 1828. From an attentive perusal of the work, and a proper comparison of the history of Dutch commerce with that of the United States, the conviction will be irresistible that political and religious freedom were the too most prominent moral causes which promoted the trade of both nations, and that every attempt to circumscribe that freedom
* July 1830.AMERICAN COMMERCE.
87
either by the establishment of monopolies or any other prohibitive system, must arrest the progress of commerce, and become an impediment to industry. There can be no stronger argument in favour of this proposition than the answer of the Dutch merchants themselves, to the queries addressed to them by the Stadtholder William IV., Why the trade of Holland had been rapidly de* clining, and by what means it was to be re-established and placed on its ancient footing ? In replying to these questions the merchants were obliged to enter fully on the moral and physical causes which co operated to raise Holland to her former proud eminence, as also on the reasons which led to her gradual decline. Their arguments were all based upon facts, and are the more entitled to credit as they proceeded from practical men, who had themselves experienced either the benefits or the disadvantages of the various systems of Dutch policy. They may therefore be supposed to contain a valuable lesson for all trading communities, and, particularly, for the prosperous Americans. I shall here repeat their statements, in order to apply them to the history of commerce in the United States.
The causes which favoured the trade of Holland§8
HISTORY OF
are divided into three classes ; viz. the natural and physical, the moral and political, and the adventitious and external.
“ I. The natural and physical causes are the advantages of the situation of the country, on the sea and at the mouth of considerable rivers ; its situation between the northern and southern parts, which by being in a manner the centre of all Europe made the republic become the general market, where the merchants on both sides used to bring their superfluous commodities, in order to barter and exchange the same for other goods they wanted.
“ Nor have the barrenness of the country, and the necessities of the natives arising from that cause, less contributed to set them upon exerting all their application, industry, and utmost stretch of genius, to fetch from foreign countries what they stand in need of in their own, and support themselves by trade.
“ The abundance of fish in the neighbouring seas put them in a condition not only to supply their own occasions; but with the overplus to carry on a trade with foreigners, and out of the produce of the fishery to find an equivalent for tvhat they wanted, through the sterility andAMERICAN, COMMERCE.	89
narrow boundaries and extent of their own country.
“ II. Among the moral and political causes are to be placed the unalterable maxim and fundamental law relating to the free exercise of different religions ; and always to consider this toleration and connivance as the most effectual means to draw foreigners from adjacent countries to settle and reside here, and so become instrumental to the peopling of these provinces.
- “ The constant policy of the republic to make this country a perpetual, safe and secure asylum for all persecuted and oppressed strangers ; no alliance, no treaty, no regard for, or solicitation of any potentate whatever, has, at any time, been able to weaken or destroy this law, or make thè state recede from protecting those who fled to it for their own security and self-preservation.
“ Throughout the whole course of all the persecutions and oppressions that have occurred in other countries, the steady adherence of the republic to this fundamental law, has been the cause that many people have not only fled hither for refuge with their whole stock in ready cash, and their most valuable effects ; but have also90
HISTORY OF
settled and established many trades, fabrics, manufactories, arts, and sciences, in this country, notwithstanding the first materials for the said fabrics and manufactories were almost wholly wanting in it, and not to be procured but at a great expense from foreign parts.
“ The constitution of our form of government, and the liberty thus accruing to the citizen, are further reasons to which the growth of trade, and its establishment in the republic may fairly be ascribed; and all her policy and laws are put upon such an equitable footing, that neither life, estates or dignities depend upon the caprice or arbitrary power of any single individual; nor is there any room for any person, who, by Care, frugality, and diligence, has once acquired an affluent fortune or estate, to fear a deprivation of them by any act of violence, oppression or injustice.
“ The administration of justice in the country has, in like manner, always been clear and impartial, and without distinction of superior and inferior rank—whether the parties have been rich or poor, or were this a foreigner and that a native; and it were greatly to be wished we could at this day boast of such impartial quickness and de-AMERICAN COMMERCE.	91
spatch in all our legal processes, considering how great an influence it has on trade.
“ To sum up all, amongst the moral and political causes of the former flourishing state of trade, may be likewise placed the wisdom and prudence of the administration ; the intrepid firmness of the councils; the faithfulness with which treaties and engagements were wont to be fulfilled and ratified; and particularly the care and caution practised to preserve tranquillity and peace, and to decline, instead of entering on a scene of war, merely to gratify the ambitious views of gaining fruitless or imaginary conquests.
“ By these moral and political maxims were the glory and reputation of the republic so far spread, and foreigners animated to place so great a confidence in the steady determination of a state so wisely and prudently conducted, that a concourse of them stocked this country with an augmentation of inhabitants and useful hands, whereby its trade and opulence were from time to time increased.
“ III. Amongst the adventitious and external causes of the rise and flourishing state of our trade may be reckoned,-—Q2
HISTORY op
“ That at the time when the best and wisest maxims were adopted in the republic as the means of making trade flourish, they were neglected in almost all other countries: and any one xeading the history of those times, may easily discover that the persecution on account of religion throughout Spain, Brabant, Flanders, and many other states and kingdoms, have powerfully promoted the establishment of commerce in the republic.
o To this happy result, and the settling of manufacturers in our country, the long continuance of the civil wars in France, which were afterwards carried on in Germany, England, and divers other parts, have also very much contributed.
“ It must be added, in the last place, that during our most burdensome and heavy wars With Spain and Portugal, (however ruinous that period was for commerce otherwise,) these powers had both neglected their navy; whilst the navy of the republic, by a conduct directly the reverse, was at the same time formidable, and in a capacity not only to protect the trade of its own subjects, but to annoy and crush that of their enemies in all quarters.”AMERICAN COMMERCE.
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Every word of section 1st and 2d is directly applicable to the history of the United States ; and a large portion of the adventitious causes which protected and favoured the commerce of Holland have equally found a parallel in the progress of trade in America. The central-position of Holland with regard to Europe, is but the counterpart to the superior situation of the United States with regard to the rest of the American continent and the West Indies. The United States have become the mart of the whole South American and Mexican produce, while the city of New York has become the centre of the bullion trade in the world. They are, besides, the principal market for European manufactures, and export them again, or their own, to all other parts of the globe.
The barrenness of the soil which is stated as one of the causes which prompted the Dutch to industry and application applies, it is true, but to a small portion of the United States, comprising a part of New England; but then the New Englanders, as I have, said before, were the first merchants of America, and the rest of the inhabitants were from the newness of their settlements incapable of availing themselves of the advantages94
HISTORY OF
of the soil, and, with regard to manufactures, entirely dependent on Europe. The fisheries, therefore, were early resorted to as a means of support, and are yet a rich source of national wealth to the Americans. They have carried this branch of industry further than any other nation, and there are whole towns and districts in the United States employed by the whale fisheries alone.
The moral and political causes which favoured the growth of Dutch commerce are still more coinciding with those which operated in favour of the United States. The religious freedom and tolerance of America have been the cause of the settlements of whole states, as was for instance the case with the quakers in Pennsylvania and the establishments of the puritans in New England. They were the immediate motive of emigration to America of thousands of Europeans from England as well as the continent, and, more than any other, instrumental in peopling the country. In like manner have the United States offered “ a safe, secure, and perpetual asylum ” for all persecuted and oppressed strangers, and have, in this manner, added to their population, capital, manufactures, com-AMERICAN COMMERCE.
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merce, and arts and sciences. Nor has the constitution of the United States been surpassed by any political instrument, in the degree of liberty and protection which it affords to the lives and properties of citizens. It gives equal rights to the rich and the poor, and administers justice independent of rank, titles or hereditary distinctions. The good faith which the Americans have kept with all nations, their keeping aloof from European politics, and the care and caution with which they have always endeavoured to preserve peace whenever it could be done without injury to their national honour, have made European capitalists willing to entrust money and property to the rectitude and enterprise of Americans ; and at this moment an investment of capital in the United States is considered as safe, or safer, than any European investment which can be made.
With regard to the adventitious causes which have increased the commercial prosperity of the United States, it may equally be asserted that the erroneous course of legislation in other countries, has acted as a premium on the ingenuity of the American merchants. The monopolies of the English and Dutch East India96
HISTORY OF
companies created the India and China trade of the United States ; and though the late system of free bottomry must necessarily interfere with its further progress ; it is no longer able to crush it. The Americans have become experienced and skilful in the trade; they have enriched themselves by its profits, and have created the capital by which to carry it on. They have procured themselves customers in every part of the world; and it will require a long and tedious opposition to drive them from the vantage-ground they have assumed.
If the civil wars in France, Germany and England contributed largely to the mercantile greatness of Holland, those of the French revolution gave the Americans almost a monopoly, and made them the carriers of all Europe. But if this was a fortunate circumstance, which gave them an opportunity of becoming skilled in navigation and commerce, they have improved it to the utmost extent of their power ; and by a system of unremitting industry and perseverance have, since the establishment of peace, retained most of the advantages for which they are indebted to the war. This is the point of culmination of the whole history of American com-AMERICAN COMMERCE.	97
merce; and here the history of Holland and the United States are at issue.
After the universal peace of 1815 all nations were at liberty to pursue trade, and increase their mercantile navies as it suited their genius and circumstances. The competition of England and France, which proved so injurious to Dutch commerce after the peace of Aix la Chapelle, now threatened to annihilate the American. The United States possessed no colonies either in the East or West Indies, they had less capital than any of the principal mercantile nations, they were at a greater distance from the principal European marts, and they had to pay higher wages to their seamen. But notwithstanding all these difficulties, the American shipping has since that period increased even more rapidly than before; and their ships are now generally preferred to those of all other nations.
Two principal causes were assigned by the Dutch merchants for the serious decline of their trade : enormous taxation and the competition of France and England. The former induced the merchants of other countries to export their superfluities in their own ships, to the countries where they were needed, and to barter them for
VOL. II.	H98
HISTORY OF
other commodities, which they equally brought home in their own bottoms. By this means they avoided being taxed by the republic; and the latter lost its carrying trade and ceased to be the mart of Europe.
The immense internal resources of the United States, and the principle of rigid economy introduced into every branch of their government enable them to avoid a similar calamity. The American commerce is as free from direct taxation as it is from monopolies; and these are, probably, the principal reasons of its uninterrupted progress, notwithstanding the increased competition of all Europe. The extortions and barbarities of the Dutch East India Company, its small capital which did not exceed 6,500,000 florins or about 541,700/. sterling, and with which they monopolized a trade which might have employed millions of the sums the Dutch were then obliged to lend to other countries for want of some better investment, and the infamous means by which they absorbed and diminished the spice-trade in the East Indies, were all instrumental in checking the progress of their trade, and were, in effect, a premium on the industry of other nations.AMERICAN COMMERCE.
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The United States, on the contrary, laid it down as a maxim that trade, in order to prospex-, must be free, and, therefore, gi'anted the same privileges not only to all native citizens without distinction, but also to all foreigners who chose to settle, reside or trade, in any American city. By this means no particular kind of trade is made to absorb an undue portion of the capital of the nation, or is embraced and cultivated to the detriment and neglect of other branches; and foreigners, from all parts of the world, establishing themselves permanently in the United States, make them, in a measure, the central station of their commerce.
But the progress of commerce in the United States gives rise to yet another consideration, which, at this moment, is of universal interest. The question may arise whether the trade of America is increased or diminished by the want of colonies in the East and West Indies; and whether such colonies, independent of the political advantages which they afford to the different nations of Europe, actually increase the profits of their merchants. Under the former system of trade colonies unquestionably augmented the commercial prosperity of a nation.
h °Z100
PROGRESS OF
They were, in fact, considered as an investment of property in order to realize a greater per-cent-age on capital. Each nation guarding jealously the produce of its own colonies, with a view to establish a monopoly, success in trade, was, of course, in a great measure dependent on the possession of the most important maritime and commercial stations; and, accordingly, we have seen the nations of Europe at war with each other for the possession of colonies in the East and West Indies.
But the commerce of the world has since undergone an important change. The principle of free trade succeeds rapidly to that of monor poly. The colonies themselves have risen into importance; and their trade, instead of being confined to the mother country, is open to the competition of foreigners. They have attained a political consequence; and their interests and commerce require a different policy from that which led to their establishment. Europe is no longer the only consumer of Indian commodities ; a large portion of them being used in the United States and other parts of America, and much also being bartered for the produce of other colonies or consumed at home. InAMERICAN COMMERCE.
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proportion as the colonies become settled, a portion of the national wealth becomes permanently transferred to them, and is employed, in enriching them instead of the mother country. The money invested in plantations proves a drain on the capital of Europe ; and the interest of that money is again chiefly invested in the colonies*. Neither does the traffic in their produce benefit exclusively, the merchants of the mother country ; because other nations being at liberty to trade with the colonies on nearly the same terms, the planters naturally give the preference to those customers from whom they may, in return, receive those commodities at the cheapest rate, which they themselves stand most in need of. By this means they have, to a certain extent, become commercially independent ; and pursue now themselves the trade, and realize the profits on it, for the exclusive advantage of which the nations of Europe were induced to establish them. Their interests are
* It must be observed, that these remarks apply principally to those colonies where the English have formed permanent settlements, and which have attained a powerful political consequence by the establishment of provincial assemblies.
H 3102
PROGRESS OF
no longer identified with those of the mother country, and their riches are no longer a part of the national wealth. Meanwhile the expenses of their governments increase with the extent of cultivated territory and the political consideration to which they become entitled by the number and possessions of their inhabitants. The mother country, which bears a great part of these expenses, is obliged to concede to them every year new rights and privileges which render them still more independent, and give greater liberty to their commerce. Thus it may be said that in proportion as the colonies increase, the profits of the mother country diminish ; they become every year more expensive to the government, and a direct tax on the country which gave them birth ; making but inadequate and indirect returns by the facilities which they afford to its commerce; and imposing a heavy duty on many articles of European commerce, which must act as a premium on the trade of America.
The Americans have no drawbacks, whether originating in colonies or otherwise, on their commerce. They have not to expend large sums to favour a particular branch of tradeAMERICAN COMMERCE.	103
and thereby tax all the rest; they have not to create artificial interests which force a portion of the national wealth into an unnatural channel, or alienate it from home; and they never have any considerable portion of their capital invested without bearing them interest. The profits realized in trade return directly home to their country, and there beget new wealth. America has no fixed possessions out of the United States, and has no other interests to protect than her own. Her merchants need not pursue any particular branch of trade longer than it is profitable or yields greater returns than they can hope to realize from any other kind of industry. The American trade, therefore, is more free than that of any other nation; for it leaves the articles of commerce, the place of purchase, and the best mart of their sale entirely at the option of the dealers. It gives them the greatest latitude of speculation, and the largest field for enterprise. It is connected with the smallest taxation to the merchants and the community at large; and enables them to become general dealers, without being obliged to become store-keepers, in any particular part of the world. The expenses of trade are thus reduced, and H 4104
AMERICAN SHOPKEEPERS.
American merchants successfully compete with those of Europe, notwithstanding their apparently small profits and the seeming disadvantage of their position.
That the internal resources of America have most powerfully contributed to extend the commerce of the United States, no one can reasonably deny ; but the policy of the country, its laws and political institutions, and the peculiar mercantile genius of the inhabitants have done the rest. I do not believe that any other nation, placed under similar circumstances, would have developed the same commercial talent, and none could have succeeded without the political freedom of America.
For shopkeeping the Americans seem to have less talent than any people in Europe. They lack the patience which is necessary for retail trade; and exhibit evidently less taste in the display of their goods than either the French or the English. The shops in New York and other large cities are well stored with every description of merchandise from India and Europe; but the economical habits of the people do not allow them to expend any considerable sums in decorating their premises. In this theyAMERICAN SHOPKEEPERS.
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follow the inclination of their customers who do not like to pay for the outfit ; but value merchandise only according to its intrinsic worth and usefulness.
Good articles, at a cheap rate, command the greatest patronage ; and no fashionable preference being generally established in favour of one or the other shop or its locality, the retailers follow the example of the merchants, and avoid every unnecessary expense which would tax their trade and reduce their profits. Neither do they seem to have any particular regard for the quality of their customers ; but endeavour to increase their number, which can only be done by reasonable prices adapted to the means of the multitude.
The American shopkeeper depends on the public at large ; and has, therefore, no inducement to gratify the fancy of particular classes by an attempt at expensive refinements. He prefers a trade in the commonest articles, to the dealing in costly fashions ; and, by a peculiar mercantile instinct, is better satisfied with small profits on large salés, than with large profits on small ones. The Americans of all nations in the106	AMERICAN SHOPKEEPERS.
world understand least how to buy and sell things on a small scale, and are least in the habit of increasing their estates by the proportional smallness of their expenditure. I do not mean to say that they are an extravagant people, or fond of the higher elegancies and luxuries of life ; but a certain degree of comfort, and even affluence, is shared by all classes of society, and is alike indispensable to all.
Of all nations in Europe, the French seem to be best adapted to the business of retail trade. They understand the whole art of buying things at five sous, and selling them again at six, without growing weary and impatient. They are a people who can enjoy life in every form and variety; and are generally more remarkable for excelling in the minutiae of a particular department, than for the readiness with which they endeavour to enlarge it. They are frugal and industrious by nature, and, perhaps, as happy in their limited sphere as the most enterprising nation in the world; and more certain of moderate success. They know best how to proportion their expenses to their income. They always manage toAMERICAN SHOPKEEPERS.
107
save something, be it ever so little; but they are less active and enterprising than either the English or Americans. Most of the small shopkeepers in Paris have their principal stock in trade at the window; but then there is taste in its arrangement, and ingenuity in its display. If they are asked for an article they will enter upon an exposition of its qualities with a minuteness of detail, and a prodigality of reasoning, which will satisfy the enquirer at once that they are at home in their department, and not anxious to quit the premises.
To a French shopkeeper his boutique is the universe- He there commences and finishes his observations ; and, though sometimes subject to political aberrations, returns to it willingly as the principal scene of his usefulness. An American, and especially a New Englander, has in his very constitution more or less of the spirit of a merchant. He cannot with good grace stoop to the retailing of ribbons and pins ; and if from want of funds or credit he is obliged to resort to so humble a beginning, he is eagerly, panting for an extension of business, and will108
AMERICAN SHOPKEEPERS.
seize upon the first opportunity to disengage himself from so disagreeable a task.
In the large Atlantic cities of the United States the retailers of goods follow the same routine as the merchants. They receive and give extensive credit, employ a book-keeper and a number of clerks; and, though there are generally more than one partner in a firm, manage to live and maintain their families in a style to which the same classes in Europe are almost entire strangers. Many of them are themselves importers, or supply the retailers in the country ; and there is, perhaps, not one who would not willingly risk half his fortune to increase his facilities of trade. They are seldom content with their present situation, which they are always ready to improve by circumstances ; and are only by great misfortunes and losses debarred from becoming respectable merchants.
Rousseau, with more irony than flattery to either sex, commended the business of shopkeeping to women ; and it must be allowed that the women of France, at least, are most remarkably fit for that purpose. Whether he intended to increase the profits in trade by the pettyAMERICAN SHOPKEEPERS.
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manœuvres of which he judged females alone capable, or whether he wished to preserve the minds of men from a task which he thought humiliating and destructive to the higher powers, I know not ; but certainly his advice has been followed in France, and the general morality of the people is far from being improved by it. The American shopkeeper’s wife and daughters are never seen at the scene of business, for which they are neither intended nor qualified ; and, being unable to assist him in trade, are more happily employed in preserving the purity and sanctity of his fire-side. They give him that which he would otherwise be obliged to resign —a home in the bosom of his family.
Trade, in America, does not consist in the mechanical purchase and sale of goods. The prices of articles are not so stable as in Europe, and depend in a far higher degree on the state of the money-market at home and abroad, and on the political prospects of the country. These it is not in the power of ordinary minds at all times justly to estimate ; and it is therefore only the well-informed and the shrewd, who can-reasonably hope to succeed. Fortunes are some-110
GENERAL REFLECTIONS ON
times made by unexpected turns of good luck; but in the far greater number of instances, they are the result of well-planned and executed speculations •, and none of them are preserved without prudence and good sense. In every other country the number of inherited fortunes is greater than that of the acquired ones; in America the case is entirely the reverse ; most of them being the result of severe application to business, accompanied by sobriety and frugality of habits.
It is a circumstance worthy of observation that almost all the enterprising merchants of New York, Boston, and the other sea-ports sprung from nothing, and that in nearly all instances good sense and industry have gone further than mere capital with inferior qualifications for business. It would be difficult to explain so general a phenomenon merely by the general prosperity of the country, the fertility of its soil, and the millions of acres of land yet left to be explored by the people. The fortunes of farmers and mechanics might be accounted for in this manner ; because in these occupations it is personal labour chiefly which insures ultimate sue-AMERICAN TRADE.
Ill
cess. But in the case of the merchants I would more willingly ascribe the source of prosperity, first, to the increased facilities of credit, and secondly to the willingness of the rich capitalists to invest their money in trade. A young beginner with talents finds always a partner with money, — in many instances a silent one, —while the son of a rich man either studies a profession or receives less of that practical education which alone can fit him for business. Being born with a fortune, he is, perhaps, less eager in its pursuit than one who commences poor; and is, on that account, less trusted than an enterprising merchant with a small capital.
There is probably no other country in which credit is so purely personal as in the United States. In England it is already more so than in France ; but in the rest of Eui’ope it is chiefly based on property, and consequently with few individual exceptions, beyond the grasp of mere intelligence, honesty, and industry. In this manner, the investments of money are, assuredly, more secure ; but the floating capital always less than the real amount of property; and active112
SYSTEM OF CREDIT.
commerce, whose soul is credit, almost entirely out of the question. The money lent on real estate or any other security is no bonus paid to the personal qualifications and probity of the borrower ; and cannot, properly, be said to constitute a trust. It does not actually increase his means ; for he obtains it only as an advance on something of still greater value. It may be of great advantage to him at the moment; because it enables him to dispose of, and employ, a certain part of the value of his estate without being compelled to renounce its possession ; but the transaction is as far removed from the operation of credit, as the accommodation of a pawnbroker who lends on pledges.
It is with the utmost difficulty that a poor German or a Frenchman succeeds in the acquisition of property; his progress is slow and tedious, and his facilities of credit never much in advance of his actual stock in trade. In America the case is different. Men there are trusted in proportion to their reputation for honesty and adaptation to business. Industry, perseverance, acquaintance with the market, enterprise, in short, every moral qua-SYSTEM OF CREDIT.	[113
lification of a merchant increases his credit as much as the actual amount of his property. The facilities of a beginner are even greater than those of a person established for some time, unless the latter have given evidence of his superior fitness for business. An American is more willing to trust a young man who has to establish a reputation by faithfully discharging his engagements, than one whose fortune is made, and who, on that account, is less dependent on the opinion of others. “ A young man,” he says, “ is naturally more enterprising ; he has a much longer career to run, and will, therefore, do more to win golden opinions from his friends, than one who has advanced to old age, and can neither atone for or correct, the follies of his youth.”
Neither are American capitalists, as I have said before, contented with so small a per-centage on thejr money as Europeans; but rather venture a certain portion of their fortunes, in order to realize a greater income ; and are, consequently, always ready to trust and employ those who possess more mind than capital, or to go into partnership with them. Thus the amount of floating capital in the United States is not merely VOL. ii.	[h 9]114]
SYSTEM OF CREDIT.
based on the gross value of real and personal estate; but also on the moral qualifications of the merchants, and the resources of the country which it is the genius of the people to develop. The figures on ’change denote not merely money and merchandise; but represent also the intelligence, enterprise, economy and probity of the people : they are the index to the mind as well as to the property of the merchants.
The influence which this method of transacting business must exercise on the extension of commerce cannot, for one moment, be doubtful. The advantages arising from it, to the country at large, are incalculable. It enables merchants to extend their transactions to sums vastly superior to their positive means; holds out facilities of trade to persons who would otherwise be entirely dispossessed of them, and has a decided tendency to bring foreign capital into the market. Where the greatest profits are realized, and the greatest amount of business transacted, to that place will capital emigrate; be it India or China, England or the United States. Millions are thus circulating in many an American town, which would otherwise be confined to a small and limited trade, and thou-SYSTEM OF CREDIT.
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sands of people who are now engaged in commerce, and employed in enriching themselves and the country, would be obliged to resort to manual labour, to obtain for themselves a bare subsistence. But it is not the country where the greatest capital is owned, but, on the contrary, that in which the greatest amount of it circulates, which must eventually become rich and powerful; and, with the present prospects of America, no limit can be assigned to her future prosperity.
The advantages of the American system of credit are not only felt in the operation of commerce ; they have also a strong moral influence on the people, and it is principally this which commands our serious attention.
Where credit is solely based on property, there it must naturally stifle the spirit of enterprise, or confine it to a small class. A large number of those who possess fortunes will only be intent on the most sordid means of increasing it, and every additional pound which they amass is a fresh obstacle to the progress of a poor beginner. Meanness and avarice must take the place of a well-directed extensive commerce, and petty savings and usury be substituted for activity
VOL. II,114
SYSTEM OF CREDIT.
and liberal industry. That such a process is humiliating to the mind, and entirely incompatible with that generosity of feeling which'we associate with the character of a gentleman will hardly be disputed; and it is therefore not surprising that in those countries the position and employment of a merchant should be looked upon as debasing the nobler faculties.
In Germany, with the exception of three or four commercial cities which by the Confederation are allowed to have their own government, the merchants hold a very inferior rank in society; and there is no officer, civil or military, or no man of liberal education, in general, who would not be considered to confer a favour by his intercourse with any one connected with trade. Not so in America. The business of a merchant, in the United States, is rather calculated to expand and liberalize his mind than to contract and destroy it. His firm represents not only his property, hut also the intelligence, industry, and enterprise of which he is possessed. His credit increases not only with his capital; but is founded also on his personal qualifications, and the innate or acquired superiority of his intellect. He can supply the deficiency of capital by a more enlarged sphereSYSTEM OF CREDIT.
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of knowlege and experience, and is thus, by his moral advantages, raised to an equality with the more wealthy and prosperous. The rich are obliged to employ the talents of the poor in order to increase their wealth, and the latter may, in turn, hope to become opulent and independent. Commerce, in this manner, is not monopolized by a few wealthy families, but becomes the national occupation of the whole people, in which all who have talent and industry have an equal chance of success.
An American merchant obtains and gives more credit than an European, and has, therefore, a wider range of speculation and action before him, than one possessed of the same capital in any other country. His mind becomes enlarged with the developement of the immense national resources which form the basis and element of his enterprise. One half of the internal improvements of the country would yet be in embryo, or not even thought of, were it not for the liberality of the merchants and capitalists who have furnished the money; or the, talents and industry of beginners who were willing to take charge of the enterprise. Without the system of personal credit neither com-
i 2116
OPERATIONS OE
merce, nor manufactures, nor even agriculture would have advanced with the same rapidity of progress ; and fertile districts animated by the arts of civilization, and provided with schools and seminaries of learning, would yet be the abode of the deer, and the haunt of the American Indian.
The extensive and diversified commerce of the United States, the peculiar manner of transacting business, and the great number of persons who participate in it, cause an incessant contact of all classes of society, which cannot but be beneficial to all, but particularly advantageous to the merchant. He is made more intimately acquainted with the wants, means, and feelings of the mechanic, the manufacturer, the agriculturist, the politician and the professional man, all of whom have a more direct influence on his prosperity, and are directly or indirectly interested in his success. His information extends with his business, and he becomes, from necessity, a shrewd observer and judge of human actions and motives. He is continually watching the current of events, the changes of public opinion, and the different directions of industry; for if he fail to profit by them before they are gener-THE SYSTEM OF CREDIT.	117
ally known, he is sure to be distanced by his numerous and more vigilant competitors.
Again, credit being personal, and business done to a much larger amount than is covered by property, it is not sufficient for him to know the fortunes and present means of those whom in the course of his ordinary transactions he is obliged to trust: he must be able to judge of their honesty, their talent for business, and the motives which they may have for fulfilling their engagements. He is thus compelled to study characters, while his own is made the subject of the severest scrutiny ; and becomes as skilful in discovering the personal qualifications of others, as he is solicitous to banish from his own conduct all that can give rise to premature judgments or suspicions. This is the reason why the American merchants enjoy such a high reputation for shrewdness and sagacity; and why they are universally allowed to be excellent judges of men and their actions. Mr. Hamilton observed a similar feature; but did not trace it to its right source.*
# “ Of whatever solecism of deportment they are themselves guilty,” says Mr. Hamilton, “ the Americans are admirable
I 3118
OPERATIONS OF
To the advantages of their position in society, the American merchants join for the most part those of a superior education, and there are many of them, especially in the city of Boston, who have completed a college-course. To this we must add the information acquired by travelling at home and abroad, and their consequent freedom from a variety of prejudices inseparable from men who have not had an opportunity of observing and judging for themselves. Many of them have taken an active part in politics; and although they were not always so successful as in trade, have at least exhibited a penetration and comprehensiveness of mind which are seldom surpassed by professional legislators. There are
and perhaps not very lenient judges of manners in others. #	* With them vulgar audacity will not pass for polished
ease, nor will fashionable exterior be received for more than it is worth. I know of no country where an impostor would have a more difficult game to play in the prosecution pf his craft, and should consider him an accomplished deceiver were he able to escape detection amid observation so vigilant and acute/’
This panegyric of American sagacity the learned author intended only for their judgment of manners; but a little further investigation would have convinced him that it has a more solid foundation, and applies equally to the moral and intellectual qualifications of men.THE SYSTEM OF CREDIT.
119
merchants in the Senate and in the House of Representatives of the United States, and the same may be observed in the Senate and House of Representatives in each individual state. To sum up the whole, the American merchants, as a body, are a well-bred, intelligent and liberal-minded set of men, and in point of sagacity, judgment, and general information, inferior to no class of society either in America or Europe.
One serious objection which lias been made against the American system of credit, is the great number of failures which are its necessary consequence. Now, granted that there occur more failures in the United States than in any country of the same population in Europe, it does not follow, that considering the amount of business, and the number of those who engage in it, there is more injury sustained from bankruptcies than either in France or England ; on the contrary, it is more than probable that the profits, realised in any kind of trade, bear a better proportion to the losses sustained by insolvent debtors than in any other country in the world.
To judge correctly of the frequency of failures in America, we must not only consider
i 4120
FREQUENCY OF FAILURES.
the vastness of speculation based on a comparatively small capital; but also the fact that in the United States there exists as yet no bankrupt law to exclude persons of whatever employment or trade of the advantages enjoyed by merchants. 'Mercantile speculations are not confined to any one class ; the tradesman, the mechanic, the agriculturist, the lawyer, the physician, and even the schoolmaster have their share in them ; and considering the liabilities of all these persons we shall find the number of those who actually avail themselves of the benefit of the “ act for insolvent debtors,” not only small, but incapable of affecting the community. If the facilities of credit were less, the number of failures would, undoubtedly, be less also; but in the same ratio would also diminish the facilities of trade, and the profits arising from an active and liberal commerce. The nation would be deprived of one of its principal sources of prosperity, and thousands of enterprising individuals prevented from participating in an extensive business. Those who are against the credit system of the United States, ought, for the same reason, to oppose navigation, on account of the frequency of shipwrecks.AMERICAN BANKS.
121
The American banks are all banks of issue, discount and deposite, and, in the large Atlantic cities, extremely well managed. I believe there are but very few instances known in which any of them has failed in Boston, and those of New York and Philadelphia enjoy equally the highest credit. Their number however is prodigious, which is, perhaps, one of the principal reasons why they are less secure than those of Europe. The system of credit in the United States renders them, of course, liable to frequent losses; but they are nevertheless one of the principal engines in the rapid improvements of the country, and increase the facilities of intercourse and business.
All that can be said in their favour or against them, refers to the American credit system, of which the banks are but the auxiliaries* and is, consequently, already implied in what I have said on that subject. To avoid repetition, therefore, I shall content myself with stating, in the following table, the amount of banking capital and bills in circulation, in each state ; from which the reader may form an estimate as to the extent to which this principle is applied in practice. The table refers to the commencement of the year 1834, and does not include the United States Bank with a capital of 35,000,000 of dollars,122
AMERICAN BANKS,
and its numerous branches. Nor, is it necessary to add that since that period numerous other banking institutions have sprung up, and are daily rising into existence ; which, of course, must render all such statements incomplete. A table of this kind can only serve to exhibit the ratio which exists between capital and credit, and perhaps not even that with mathematical precision.
State.	No. of Banks,	Capital.	Bills in cii culation.
Maine	14	Dollars, 2,727,000	Dollars. 1,303,671
New Hampshire	24	2,454,308	1,063,145
Vermont	17	911,980	1,234,178
Massachusetts -	102	28,236,250	7,889,110
Rhode Island -	51	7,438,848	1,264,394
Connecticut	21	5,708,015	2,557,227
New York	79	27,846,460	15,471,328*
New Jersey	22	6,375,000	5,840,000
Pennsylvania -	41	17,084,444	10,366,232
Delaware	4	2,000,000	504,000
Maryland	22	9,270,091	2,441,698
Virginia	4	5,694,500	5,598,392
North Carolina	3	1,824,725	981,114
South Carolina	7	3,156,318	3,724,442
Georgia	13	6,534,691	3,055,003
Alabama	5	4,308,207	2,054,471
* At the session of the Legislature of that state in 1834, nine new banks were incorporated, with a capital of 3,800,000 dollars, and the six savings banks of that state contained also 3,692,400 dollars. Since that period a num ber of new banks with a capital of upwards of 6,000,000 dollars have been chartered by the legislature of that state.AMERICAN BANKS.
123
State.	No. of Banks.	Capital.	Bills in circulation,
Mississippi Louisiana Tennessee Kentucky Ohio Indiana Illinois -Missouri * District of I Columbia - J Florida Michigan Arkansas f	2 12 2 3 20 I 1 8 6 3	Dollars. 3,666,805 23,664,755 2,242,827 1,875,418 5,986,625 150.000 200.000 3,355,305 1,000,000 2,250,000	Dollars. 2,100,426 4,793,730 2,110,880 838,091 1,945,917 75,000 100,000 1,109,389 600,000 428,000
Sum total -	487	175,962,572	79,449,838
Most of the southern banks have a number
of branches which are included in the amount of capital given above. The bills of the United States Bank circulating in 1835 amounted to twenty-two millions of dollars, and the specie in its vaults to 13,912,577 dollars 47 cents. There were twenty-nine hanks selected for the deposites of the government with a capital of 34,847,203 dollars, which issued bills to the amount of 15,521,997 dollars.
The bank capitals in the different states for the year 1834-5 compiled from official returns as
* There was no bank in that state except a branch of the United States bank.
f There was no bank in that territory, except a branch of the bank of Maryland which failed in March 1834%124
AMERICAN RANKS.
stated in Bickneirs “ Philadelphia Counterfeit Detector were as follows.
Maine
New Hampshire
Vermont
Massachusetts
Rhode Island
Connecticut
New York
New Jersey -
Pennsylvania
Delaware
Maryland
Virginia
North Carolina
South Carolina
Georgia
Alabama
Mississippi
Louisiana
Tennessee -
Kentucky
Ohio
Indiana
Illinois
District of Columbia Florida Territory -Michigan Territory
- Dols. 2,724,000
-	2,454,808
911,900
-	29,409,450
-	7,488,848
-	5,708,015
-	81,781,460
-	6,375,500
-	17,084,444
-	2,000,000
-	9,270,091
-	5,694,500
-	8,824,725
-	7,881,818
-	8,084,691
-	4,808,207
-	11,000,000
-	88,664,755
-	5,242,827
-	10,000,000
-	5,086,125
1.500.000
1.700.000
-	8,355,805
1,000,000
-	2,250,000
Total - 219,250,549 dols.
From 1811 till 1830, 165 banks are known to have failed, with an aggregate capital of 24,212,339 dollars. The number of failures, therefore, averaged between eight and nine per annum, which is not yet one for ev>erry two states of the union $ and consequently but a small drawback on the extensive benefits of the system.EXPORTS AND IMPORTS.
125
After what I have said of American commerce and merchants, it will perhaps be not unwelcome to some of my readers, to have some numerical details about the imports and exports of the United States. The following are taken from official reports ; and it will be perceived from them that the exports in 1834 surpassed those of 1830 by 7,174,654 dollars ; and that in the year following (1835) they increased by further 23,312,811 dollars, making in all a total augmentation of 30,487,465 dollars in five years.
The exports of 1830 (the year ending Dollars. September 30th) amounted to 73,849,508
Of which there were —	Dollars.
Domestic produce -	59,462,029
Foreign ditto -	14,387,479
Total	-	73,849,508
Those of 1834 were Of which —
The sea yielded -The forest,
Vegetable food,
Tobacco,
Cotton,
Other agricultural products, Manufactures,
And other articles not 1 enumerated, -	- /.
Total
-	81,024,162
2,071,493
4,457,997
10,884,052
6,595,305
49,448,402
453,028
5,998,012
1,115,873
81,024,162126
EXPORTS AND IMPORTS,
Dollars.
Finally the exports of 1835 to -	104,336,973
Of which there were —	Dollars.
Domestic produce -	81,024,162
Foreign ditto -	23,312,811
Total - 104,336,973
The imports in 1835 were -	126,521,332
Those of 1830	-	70>876>920
Increase in five years -	55,644,412
The following Table exhibits the Value of Imports from and Exports to each Foreign Country during the Year ending September 1835.
		VALUE	VALUE OF EXPORTS.		
Country.		OF IMPORTS.	Domestic produce.	Foreign produce.	Total.
1 Russia		Dollars. 2,595,840	Dollars. 168,627	Dollars. 162,627	Dollars. 330,694
2 Prussia	-	14,045	15,300	3,510	18,810
3 Sweden and Norway	-	1,079,327	277,237	128,562	405,799
4 Swedish West Indies	-	47,214	81,040	7,902	88,942
5 Denmark	-	62,542	99,643	318,461	418,104
6 Danish West Indies	-	1.621.826	1,084,202	354,808	1,439,010
7 Belgium	-	185,679	585,342	873,300	1,458,642
8 Netherlands -	-	1,123,956	2,365,536	1,258,138	3,623,674
9 Dutch East Indies	-	582,159	115,011	466,138	581,149
10 Dutch West Indies	-	354,192	284,552	62,136	346,688
11 Dutch Guiana -	-	67,579	27,228		27,228
12 England	-	45,566,065	38,673,694	2,974,726	41,648,420
13 Scotland	-	1,402,030	2,344,785	28,789	2,373,574
14 Ireland	-	274,712	189,914	189	190,103
15 Gibraltar	-	200,691	506,703	283,785	790,488
16 Malta	-	49,523	37,426	_	37,426
17 British East indies	-	2,293,012	199,602	206,941	406,543
18 St. Helena	-	-	16,098	- -	16,098
19 British Guiana	_	31,424	105,214		105,214
20 British West Indies	-	1,163,509	1,532,100	64,439	1,596,539
21 British American Colonies		1,548,733	3,477,709	57,567	3,535,276
22 Newfoundland	.					__
23 Honduras	-	1 149,509	56,072	39,376	95,448EXPOETS AND IMPORTS'
127
	VALUE	VALUE	' OF EXPOETS.	
Country.	OF IMPORTS.	Domestic Produce.	Foreign Produce.	Total.
	Dollars.	Dollars.	Dollars.	Dollars.
24 Cape of Good Hope -	-	- _	2,521	2,521
25 Hanse Towns	3,355,856	2,603,571	2,056,103	4,659,674
26	France on the Atlantic 27	France on the Medi-	15,813,773	11,683,356	1,440,331	13,123,687
terranean -	1,327,400	1,032,398	1,352,889	2,385,287
28 Bourbon, &c.	-	19,717	-	19,717
29 French West Indies -	416,072	561,179	19,084	580,263
30 French Guiana	-	2,488	-	2,488
31 Hayti - -	2,113,717	1,244,424	192,528	1,436,952
32	Spain on the Atlantic 33	Spain on the Mediter-	640,869	202,744	25,033	227,777
ranean 34 Teneriffe and other Ca-	1,112,3 65	187,473	-	187,473
naries 35 Manilla and Phillipine	148,130	20,638	787	21,425
Islands	283,685	3,662	12,257	15,919
36 r Cuba 3 7 " Other Spanish W est	9,096,002	3,692,980	1,659,455	5,352,435
Indies	2,246,413	431,805	59,722	491,527
38 Portugal	215,309	42,542	16,583	59,125
39 Madeira	424,699	100,910	43,595	144,505
40 Fayal and other Azores	18,481	9,558	3,911	13,469
41 Cape de Verd Islands	40,633	79,511	25,886	105,397
42 Italy	1,422,063	105,786	387,771	493,557
43 Sicily	254,966	4,060	-	4,060
44 Trieste	580,614	518,609	954,728	1,473,337
45 Turkey, Levant, &c. -	569,511	62,458	321,221	383,679
46 China	7,892,327	255,756	754,727	1,010,483
47	Mexico 48	Central Republic of	8,066,068	1,192,646	4,072,407	5,265,053
America	170,968	111,616	72,533	184,149
49 Columbia	1,727,188	420,458	374,809	795,567
50 Brazil	4,729,969	1,586,097	473,254	2,059,351
51 Argentine Republic -	1,430,118	67L166	300,671	971,837
52 Cisplatine Republic -	—	—	—			
53 Chili	787,409	714,407	761,948	1,476,355
54 Peru -	618,412	42,767	16,096	58,863
55 South America generally	20,214	323,580	• 6,314	329,894
56 Europe generally	-	76,938	8,476	: 85,414
57 Asia generally	77,842	49,122	! 384,925	: 434,047
58 Africa generally	465,361	201,908	i 121,284	323,192
59 West Indies generally	-	391,565	i 17.078	! 408.643
60	South Seas 61	North-west Coast of	27,348	81,588	! 15,586	> 97,169
America	-	51,34i	) 67,464	t 118,813
62 Uncertain Ports	13,893	13,898	1 —	—
Total	126,521,332	81,024,162	! 23,312,811	104,336,973128
AMOUNT OF TONNAGE.
The amount of imports and exports in American vessels is to that in foreign vessels as six to one nearly. (In the year 1830 it was 51 : 8, or : 1.; and in 1834 as 175 : 32, or 5 if : 1.)
It will also be perceived from those statements that while in 1830 the exports surpassed the imports by 2,97^,588 dollars, the balance of trade has in 1835 been turned against America. This however was owing to particular circumstances connected with the history of the United States Bank, and the great depression of foreign exchange, which must always act as a premium on the importation of foreign goods.
To form an idea of the increasing navigation of the United States, we need only reflect on the amount of tonnage which at the beginning of the year 1833 was registered in the principal sea-ports and districts as follows :
New York, (State of New York)	- 298,832
Boston, (Massachusetts)	- 171,045
Philadelphia, (Pennsylvania)	- 77,103
New Bedford, (Massachusetts)	- 70,550
New Orleans, (Lousiana)	- 61,171
Portland, (Maine)	- 47,942
Baltimore, (Maryland)	- 47,129
Bath, (Maine) -	- 33,480
Salem, (Massachusetts)	- 30,293AMOUNT OF TONNAGE.
i m
Nantucket, {Massachusetts)	Dollars. - 28,580
Barnstable, (Massachusetts) «	- 28,153
Waldoborough, (Maine)	- 24,948
New London, (Connecticut)	- 24,225
Penobscot, (Maine)	- 22,115
Newbury Port, (Massachusetts)	- 20,131
Pro video, (Rhode Island)	- 19,136
Belfast, (Maine)	- 18,576
Plymouth, (Massachusetts)	- 17,669
Portsmouth, (New Hampshire)	- 17,126
Norfolk, (Virginia)	- 15,790
Passa Maquoddy, (Maine)	- 13,370
Gloucester, (Massachusetts)	- 13,266
Wilmington, (North Carolina)	- 13,265
Charlestown, (South Carolina)	- 13,244
Vienna, (Maryland)	- 13,129
Bristol, (Rhode Island)	- 12,879
Bridgetown, (New Jersey)	- 12,690
Fairfield, (Connecticut)	- 10,892
Alexandria, (District of Columbia)	- 10,599
Pittsburgh, (Pennsylvania)	- 10,091
Total - -	1,197,419
exclusive of steam-boats. If we allow since 1833 but an increase of ten per cent, (which I think is small considering the rapid progress of commerce and manufactures), we shall have the actual amount of tonnage in the thirty principal districts 1,317,160 tons ; and considering the low rate at which ships are generally registered
VOL. II.	K130
AMOUNT OF TONNAGE.
in the United States, and the districts not enumerated in the above statements, I do not think that three millions of tons would exceed the actual amount of American tonnage. This, for a country whose independence has been acknowledged little more than half a century, is certainly enormous, and a gigantic index to her future mercantile importance.
The following Table will exhibit the Number of American and Foreign Vessels, with their Tonnage, which entered into each of the Districts of the United States during the Year ending on the 30th of September 1835; also the Tonnage of each District on 31st December 1834.*
Into				American.		Foreign.		Total.	
				No. of vessels.	No. of tons.	No. of vessels.	No. of tons.	No. of vessels.	No. of tons.
1.	Passamaquoddy (Maine)			41	4,086	913	61,885	954	65,971
2.	Machias	do.	-	1	98	.	-	1	98
3.	Frenchman’s Bay do.			-	-	5	461	5	461
4.	Penobscot	do.		17	2,985	1	48	18	3,033
5.	Waldoborough -	do.	-	3	1,072	- .	-	3	1,072
6.	Wiscasset	do.	-	4	1,512	-	-	4	1,512
7.	Bath	do.	-	31	7,843	_	-	31	7,843
8.	Portland	do.	_	139	28,878	23	2,095	162	30,973
9.	Belfast	do.	-	12	1,770	2	163	14	1,933
10.	Kennebunk	do.	-	4	739	-		4	739
11.	Saco	do.	_	2	272	_	-	2	272
12.	Portsmouth (New	Hampshire)		25	6,445	2	119'	27	6,564
* It must not be forgotten, however, that the mercantile transactions of that year offer no fair average of the active commerce of the United States ; and that the extraordinary importation and consequent employment of foreign vessels in that year was intimately connected with the depression of foreign exchange. (Compare the remarks, page 128, on the Imports of 1835.)AMOUNT. OP TONNAGE
151
		American,		| Foreign.		Total.	
Into		No. of	No. of I	! No. of	No. of	No. of	No- of
		vessels.	tons.	vessels.	tons.	vessels.	tons.
13. Vermont (Vermont)		206	36,595			206	36,595
14. Newburyport (Massachusetts)		26	5,087	1	136	27	5,223
15. Gloucester - do.	-	10	2,048	-	-	10	2,048
16. Salem - do.	_	72	10,877	-	_	72	10,877
17. Marblehead - do.	-	8	1,198	2	140	10	1,338
18. Boston - do.	-	754	158,712	404	35,708	1,158	194,420
19. Plymouth - do.	..	10	2,143	1	72	11	2,215
20. Dighton - do.	-	34	6,891	8	1,235	42	8,126
21. New Bedford - do.	-	99	26,573	2	165	101	26,738
22. Edgartown - do.	-	86	17,958	5	554	91	18,512
23. Providence (Rhode Island)	-	52	10,296	10	1,022	62	11,318
24. Bristol do.	-	24	4,782	-	-	24	4,782
25. Newport - do.	-	21	3,813	5	958	26	4,771
26. New London (Connecticut)	-	30	6,735	2	258	32	6,993
27. New Haven do.	-	59	9,796	-	-	59	6,796
28. Middletown - do.	_	5	692	4	310	9	1,002
29. Fairfield - do.	-	5	766	-	_	5	766
30. New York (New York)	-	1528	374,602	480	91,063	2,008	465,665
31. Sag Harbour do.	-	18	5,317	-	-	18	5,317
32. Cape Vincent do. «		588	111,295	467	86,929	1,055	198,224
33. Champlain - do.	-	201	31,203	-	-	201	31,203
34. Oswegatchie do.	-	282	49,570	349	44,195	631	93,765
35. Sackets Harbour do.	-	167	33,575	.	-	167	33,575
36. Oswego - do.	-	248	27,364	293	61,873	541	89,237
37. Genessee - do.	-	46	9,724	141	19,721	187	29,445
33. Niagara - do.	-	69	17,850	157	49,526	226	67,376
39. Buffalo - do.		214	15,673	66	4,268	280	19,941
40. Newark (New Jersey)	-	3	621	1	127	4	748
41. Perth Amboy do.	-	1	118	-	-	1	118
42. Philadelphia (Pennsylvania)	-	348	68,177	68	10,816	416	78,993
43. Baltimore (Maryland)	-	265	47,901	61	15,522	326	63,423
44. Snow Hill do.	_	1	53	_	.	1	53
45. Georgetown		2	269	3	314	5	583
46. Alexandria - do.	-	27	5,314	6	799	33	6,113
47. Norfolk (Virginia) -	-	55	7,369	77	11,839	132	19,208
48. Richmond do.	-	12	2,888	l	329	13	3,217
49. Petersburgh do.	-	12	4,617	- -	-	12	4,617
50. Tappahannock do.	-	3	322	-	-	3	322
51. East River do.	-	1	81	.	_	1	81
52. Cherrystone do. -	-	6	459	- -	-	6	459
53. Wilmington (North Carolina)		84	11,796	24	2,733	108	14,529
54. Newbern ~ do.	-	20	2,011	1	97	21	2,108
55. Camden - do.	_	30	2,608	_	_	30	2,608
56. Edentown - do.	_	2	187	_	_	2	187
57. Plymouth - do.	-	2	139	-	-	2	139
58. Washington - do.	.	23	2,277	5	266	28	2,543
59. Beaufort - do.	.	2	229	.	_	2	229
60. Ocracoke - do.	-	2	262	1	137	3	399
K 2132
AMOUNT OF TONNAGE,
Into	American.		Foreign.		Total.	
	No. of vessels.	No. of tons.	No. of vessels.	No. of tons.	No. of vessels.	No. of tons.
61. Charleston (South Carolina) -	115	22,466	127	30,938	242	53,404
62. Savannah (Georgia)	48	10,448	85	25,429	133	35,877
63. Brunswick do.	6	1,019	3	372	9	1,391
64. Key West (Florida)	159	6,000	4	830	163	6,830
65. Pensacola do.	10	1,428	»	-	10	1,428
66. Mobile (Alabama)	75	16,834	42	14,050	117	30,884
67. Mississippi (Louisiana)	518	97,680	316	58,690	834	156,370
68. Cuyahoga (Ohio)	19	1,061	75	3,757	94	4,818
69. Sandusky do.	2	70	9	744	11	814
70. Detroit (Michigan)	29	1,114	17	617	46	1,731
Total	7,023	1,352,653	4,269	641,310	11,292	1,993,963
The Foreign Tonnage, Vessels and Crews were distributed as
follows:
Flag		No. of vessels entered ^	No. of tons.	Crews.		No. of vessels cleared.	No. of tons.
				Men.	Boys.		
British		3,682	529,922	32,575	1,101	3,650	523,417
French	-	65	14,457	775	13	57	14,354
Spanish - -	-	162	24,497	1,761	25	177	26,245
Hanseatic	-	95	28,218	1,304	12	98	28,421
Swedish - -	-	64	15,661	780	7	56	13,479
Danish	-	18	3,570	175	6	17	3,186
Dutch - -	-	17	3,112	162	2	12	2,148
Russian	-	1	250	12	_	1	330
Prussian - -	-	5	1,272	59	-	4	942
Austrian	-	9	3,125	154	-	7	2,509
Portuguese	-	5	511	43	- -	7	917
Belgic - -	-	3	980	42	-	3	979
Grecian - - -	-	1	321	16	2	1	321
Tuscan - -	-	1	205	10	—	—	*—
Sardinian	-	3	689	45	-	2	414
Sicilian - -	-	5	1,078	65	2	7	1,228
Haytien - -	-	l	139	6	—	—	—
Mexican	-	123	11,057	1,177	-	122	10,531
Central American	-	1	80	5			___	
Brazilian -	-	4	663	38	-	5	845
Columbian	-	4	503	31	-,	3	402
Buenos Ayrian	-	-	-	- -	- -	1	156
Total -	-	4,269	641,310	39,235	1,170	4,230	630,824AMERICAN MANUFACTURES.
133
The manufactures of the United States have kept equal pace with the extension of commerce. The states of Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, New York, and New Jersey have taken the lead; hut the same spirit of enterprise is manifesting itself in every quarter of the union. America possesses all the requisites of a manufacturing country, water, coal, and a highly ingenious, inventive population. Wages are higher, and coal and iron dearer than in England ; but the taxes are lower, living cheaper, and raw material, especially cotton, hemp, flax, alkalies for glass, hides and tanning matter, obtained at a less rate in the country. The water-power of the United States, moreover, exceeds that of all other countries in the world, and is a cheap substitute for steam ; and the increasing coal-pits in Pennsylvania and Virginia will soon yield fuel for warming buildings at nearly as cheap a rate as in England. Besides, the mineral resources of the country are scarcely known; and from the number of iron mines and coal-pits, which are already in successful operation, the conclusion is but natural that many more will be discovered as the increasing scarcity of wood will direct the attention of the people to this source of national
k 3134
AMERICAN MANUFACTURES.
prosperity.* Large coal mines have recently been discovered in Ohio and Kentucky; and the attempt to use anthracite coal on board of steamboats has already been made, and succeeded: but in proportion as American coal is capable of taking the place of the English, the Americans will. become independent also in this respect of the mother country.
* “ Copper is found from Ouisconsin to the falls of St. Anthony’s, on the shores of Lake Superior, in such abundance and purity, that the Indians make hatchets and ornaments from it. The whole region of the Upper Mississippi is mineral, abounding in lead and copper ore.”—Missouri Advocate.
The American gold region was not known till 1824 ; but the subjoined table from the “American Almanac and Repository of useful Knowledge,” which was compiled from official documents, will show the amount of gold obtained from it, from 1824 to 1834 inclusive.
Year.	Virginia.	North Carolina.	South Carolina.	Georgia.	Ten- nessee.	Ala- bama.	Total.
	Dois.	Dois.	Dois,	Dois.	Dois.	Dois.	Dois.
1824	-	5,000					5,000
1825	-	17,000		-	-	-	17,000
1826	-	20,000					20,000
1827	-	21,000		-	-	-	21,000
1828	-	46,000	-	_ -	-	-	46,000
1829	2,500	134,000	2,500	-	-	-	139,000
1830	24,000	204,000	26,000	212,000	-	-	466,000
1831	26,000	294,000	22,000	176,000	1,000	1,000	520,000
1832	34,000	458,000	45,000	140,000	1,000	-	678,000
1833	104,000	475,000	66,000	216,000	7,000	-	868,000
1834	62,000	380,000	38,000	415,000	3,000	- -	898,000
Total	252,500	2,054,000	199,500	1,159,000	12,000	1,000	3,679,000'AMERICAN MANUFACTURES.
135
But the progress of manufactures is most powerfully seconded by the inventive genius of the people. The daily improvements in machinery and the mechanic arts are equalled in no other country, and show the natural adaptation of the Americans to every thing based on the computation of numbers. In this consists the practical mathematical talent which every American possesses “ by intuition,” and which renders him, instinctively, a calculating merchant, an ingenious mechanic, an able navigator, and an inventive manufacturer. His mind is constantly occupied with some plan or enterprise ; and being naturally inclined to mathematical investigation, he discovers daily new means of creating and increasing his capital, improving his trade, and constructing machines to diminish the amount of manual labour. The high price of labour is an additional premium on successful inventions, and the facilities of navigation and water-power indicate to him sufficiently the proper direction of his efforts.
The opinion of those who maintain that the high wages in the United States must, for a long time yet, retard the progress of manufactures, is practically refuted by the number of flourishing
k 4136
PROGRESS OF MANUFACTURES
establishments, which are constantly springing up in every part of the country; and, more especially, by the profits realised by their projectors, the number of hands which they furnish with employment, and the general prosperity of all who are directly or indirectly interested in their success.
That there was a time when the manufactures of America were in a critical state, is as well known in England as in America ; but then they were in their infancy, without experience or knowledge of the business in which they had engaged, and from the large profits realized at the commencement of their operations, tempted to increase their activity to a degree which was disproportionate with the consumption. They consequently glutted the market, and having, at the same time, to compete with large importations from Europe, saw their profits at once diminished beyond the possibility of continuing the business. Many of them failed, and others were nearly reduced to the same situation. But there were, nevertheless, a considerable number of those who possessed sufficient capital to escape from the period of trial; and there are few who have not profited by the experience of formerIN THE UNITED STATES.	137
years, and become more prudent and cautious in their operations.
Another objection made to the progress of American manufactures, was the necessity of their being protected by a high and oppressive tariff, which was thought to operate so unequally and unjustly in the different states that, at one time, it threatened to sever the union. This tariff has since been modified ; the protection offered by it to many articles of manufacture, has been diminished by more than one half and what is the consequence ?—an increase of production, and a general prosperity amongst manufacturers, at a period which proved the severest trial to every species of trade and com« merce. American manufactures are no longer confined to the domestic market; they have found the way to South America, the East and West Indies, and even to China. Their progress is assisted by the increasing navigation of the United States, and by the liberal and enterprising spirit of the merchants. But there is a set of sceptics who will listen to nothing that is not proved mathematically ; and to those no appeal can avail unless it be made in numbers. Numbers are universally allowed to contain the138
PROGRESS OF MANUFACTURES
most positive argument; and I cannot hesitate, therefore, to submit to the unbelievers of whatever country, the subjoined statements taken from official documents placed before the Congress of the United States at the first session of the twenty-fourth Congress, March 4 th, 1836, by Levi Woodbury, Esq., Secretary of the Treasury.
Table, showing the Exports of Cotton Manufactures of the United States to different Parts of the World.
Years.	To South America and Mexico.	To India and Africa.	To China.	To the West Indies.
1826 1827 1828 1829 , 1830 1831 1832 1833 1834	Value in Dois. 900.000 900.000 800.000 1,800,000 1,000,000 900.000 900.000 1.900.000 1.500.000	Value in Dois. 10,000 13.000 22.000 37.000 75.000 66.000 83,000 120,000 186,000	Value in Dois. ] 4,000 9,000 14,900 26,000 56,000 49.000 88.000 215.000 152.000	Value in Dols. 99.000 66.000 46.000 49.000 47.000 41.000 53.000 86.000 127,000
The yearly value of cotton manufactures in the United States was, in 1815, twenty-four millions of dollars, but in 1832, it had increased to thirty millions, and during the following five years it has further increased by 17,500,000, the aggregate amount being 47,500,000 dollars, or 9,500,000 pounds sterling.139
IN THE UNITED STATES.
The capital employed in manufactures in 1815, was forty millions ; but in 1835, eighty millions of dollars; increase in twenty years 100 per cent.* The augmentation in the growth of cotton and its exportation to Europe and other parts of the world is still more remarkable, as will be seen from the following table, also taken from the official documents of the Secretary of the Treasury.
* It must not be forgotten that the most unfortunate period of American manufactures followed immediately the conclusion of the late war with England; and that in the years 181 *7,1818, and 1819 fewer hands were employed in manufactures than during the previous years.Number of Pounds of Cotton exported from the United States.
Years.	England.	France.	Russia.	Holland and Belgium.	Spain.	Spanish West Indies.	Trieste.	Hanse Towns.	Italy and Malta.	All other Places.
1821	93,500,000	27,333,333	304,680	4,186,096	284,832	772,296	34,976	748,110	897,804	2,506,777
1822	101,000,000	21,500,000	713,789	1,970,258	-	445,964	210,138	2,955,581	1,956,253	450,762
1823	142,500,000	25,000,000	309,678	4,650,548	-	-	177,789	2,356,594	217,663	833,332
1824	92,000,000	40,500,000	501,645	432,976	-	3,853	-	292,852	-	227,529
1825	140,000,000	30,000,000	133,934	1,420,225	-	-	-	577,109	980	509,031
1826	131,000,000	62,333,333	15,262	4,592,439	-	-	33,311	2,012,679	.	1,820,116
1827	217,000,000	70,500,000	147,101	5,861,400	7,990	-	183,204	3,389,514	148,170	1,440,547
1828	151,750,000	53,500,000	649,791	3,780,988	-	-	980,354	3,386,108	407,068	1,072,448
1829	157,000,000	67,500,000	227,883	9,595,337	-	-	4,071,247	6,857,796	1,056,387	1,261,925
1830	211,000,000	75,000,000	111,376	8,561,193	32,210	-	2,814,477	4,123,047	235,265	638,877
1831	205,500,000	48,000,000	761,735	972,659	555,098	-	2,778,858	2,416,765	305,695	2,243,741
1832	217,250,000	75,000,000	838,951	3,920,016	2,283,875	-	1,654,775	4,075,122	530,274	2,250,190
1833	227,750,000	76,750,000	1,447,405	2,673,253	758,216	-	1,107,600	1,870,620	-	1,759,615
1834	266,750,000	79,900,000	1,260,494	6,096,462	892,967	-	3,805,312	6,612,89 5	190,842	1,153,382
1835	252,000,000	100,333,333	974,801	5,694,358	878,219		4,943,061	2,788,147	12,952	1,493,760
140	EXPORTATION OF COTTON,CAPITAL INVESTED IN COTTON.
141
The whole cotton crop of 1835 was estimated at four hundred and eighty millions of pounds, growing on upwards of two millions of acres. The capital invested in the growing of cotton was estimated at eight hundred millions of dollars, or one hundred and sixty millions pounds sterling. The whole amount of capital, therefore, invested in the growth and manufacture of cotton amounted in that year to eight hundred and eighty millions of dollars.*
* To this the official document remarks One of the beneficial effects of our present active cultivation of cotton is, that while it yields the greatest agricultural profits in proportion to the capital in land and stock, it has a sure tendency to diminish the quantities of rice, tobacco, indigo grain, and cattle raised in the cotton districts in America, and keeps up the price of those articles in a manner highly favourable to those who raise them. The moderate quantity of rice produced in 1801 and 1802 is a positive evidence of this profitable truth. The North American rice is of the best class. The body of our rice planters raise but three quarter crops from their attention to cotton. Having so much less to sell, the market is not glutted. The price is consequently not low. It is favourable. The raisers of Indian corn in the southern states have also turned to cotton. Hence Indian corn and pork are every where better supported in price to the general benefit of our farmers.	Much corn will go from counties out of the
cotton district, to counties in the cotton district for sale and consumption. So will fish and all eatables and drinkables.”142
CONSUMPTION OF COTTON.
In 1816 an official report made to Congress showed that forty millions of dollars capital were invested in cotton manufactures, and twelve millions in woollen. It was stated also that the whole amount of cotton consumed in the United States did not exceed 90,000 bales, and the value of the goods manufactured did not amount to more than sixty millions of dollars. At present the manufactures of all kind amount annually to two hundred and fifty millions of dollars of which more than twenty-five millions are exported, and the rest consumed in the country.*
I will now subjoin some tables from “ Pitkins’s Statistics ” showing the progress of cotton manufactures in twelve states ; but especially in that of New York, and the town of Lowell in the state of Massachusetts. This town, it must be remembered, has only become the seat of manufacturing establishments within the last fourteen years ; hut is now connected by a railroad with the city of Boston, and employs a capital of live millions four hundred and fifty thousand dollars in the manufacture of cotton goods.
* History of the Rise and Progress of Manufactures, by George S. White.STATISTICS OF MANUFACTURES
143
Tabular View of the Cotton Manufactures in Twelve of the American States in 1831.
States.	Capital.	Number of Spindles.	Yards of Cloth.	Pounds of Cloth.	Pounds of Cotton used.
	Dolls.				
Maine	765,000	6,500	1,750,000	525,000	588,500
NewHampshire	5,300,000	113,776	29,060,500	7,255,060	7,845,000
Vermont - -	295,500	12,392	2,238,400	574,500	760,000
Massachusetts	12,891,000	339,777	79,231,000	21,301,062	24,871,981
Rhode Island	6,262,340	235,753	37,121,681	9,271,481	10,414,578
Connecticut -	2,825,000	115,528	20,055,500	5,612,000	6,777,209
New York	3,671,500	157,316	21,010,920	5,297,713	7,661,670
New Jersey	2,027,644	62,979	5,133,776	1,877,418	5,832,204
Pennsylvania -	3,758,500	120,810	21,332,467	4,207,192	7,111,174
Delaware - -	384,500	24,806	5,203,746	1,201,500	1,435,000
Maryland -	2,144,000	47,222	7,649,000	2,224,000	3,008,000
Virginia -	290,000	9,844	675,000	168,000	1,152,000
Total	40,614,984	1,246,703	230,461,990	59,514,926	77,457,316
N.B. The state of Pennsylvania includes five hundred thousand dollars, and Delaware one hundred and sixty-two thousand dollars for the capital employed in hand-looms. The cotton consumed amounted to 77,757,316 lbs., 214,822 bales of the average 361AV
The following Table contains the Price and Distribution of Labour.
States.	Number of Mills.	Number of Looms.	Males employed.	Wages of Males per Week.		Females employed.	Wages of Females per Week.		Children under 12 Years.	Wages of Children.
				dls.	cts.		dls	. cts.		dls. cts.
Maine	8	91	84	5	50	205	2	33			—
NewHampshire	40	3,530	875	6	25	4,090	2	60	60	2 0
Vermont	17	352	102	5	0	363	1	84	19	1 40
Massachusetts	256	8,981	2,665	7	0	10,678	2	25			MM
Rhode Island	116	5,773	1,731	4	25	3,297	2	20	3,472	1 50
Connecticut -	94	2,609	1,399	4	50	2,477	2	20	439	1 50
New York	112	3,653	1,374	6	0	3,652	1	90	484	1 40
New Jersey -	51	815	2,151	6	0	3,070	1	90	217	1 40
Pennsylvania	67	6,301	6,545	6	0	8,351	2	0	—	—
Delaware	10	235	697	5	0	676	2	0				
Maryland	23	1,002	824	3	87	1,793	1	91	—	_
Virginia	7	91	143	2	73	275	1	58	—	— ,
Total -	801	33,433	18,560			38,927			4,69 i	STATISTICS OF MANUFACTURES
144t
The Cotton Manufactures in the State of New York, as stated in Williams’s New York Annual Register for 1835, were as follows:-—
Counties.	Number of Mills.	Amount of Capital.	[ Number of Spindles [ in use.	Pounds of Cotton manufactured | annually.	Pounds j of Yarn sold annually.	Yards of Cloth produced annually.	Number of Persons employed by the Establishment.
Oneida	20	Dois. 735,500	31,596	1,705,290	175,080	5,273,200	2,354
Renselaer -	15	525,000	16,606	854,300	147,110	2,790,315	1,621
Dutchess -	12	445,000	17,690	833,000	185,500	1,952,000	1,974
Otsego	11	304,000	15,344	618,543	56,000	2,322,000	1,077
Columbia -	7	218,000	13,266	559,000	199,000	1,150,400	1,265
West Chester	5	115,000	9,400	486,000	438,000	-	280
Washington	5	100,000	3,606	168,800	33,500	717,650	275
Herkimer -	5	35,000	2,296	106,237	33,500	269,912	128
Saratoga	4	144,000	5,752	270,000	-	1,210,660	460
Jefferson	3	170,000	6,020	327,000	22,600	1,004,720	595
Ulster	3	140,000	5,796	410,000	330,000	115,000	475
Orange	3	135,000	4,200	251,000	4,000	740,000	460
Madison	3	30,000	1,998	35,000	31,500	_	35
Tompkins -	3	28,000	812	55,500	1,000	199,063	97
Onondaga -	2	62,000	2,160	125,000	5,000	460,000	225
Monroe	2	55,000	2,648	208,000	105,000	300,000	320
Clinton	2	16,000	884	25,000	-	100,000	70
Rockland -	1	100,000	3,500	200,000	40,000	460,000	500
Schenectady	1	77,000	2,000	118,000	20,000	416,000	200
Chenango -	1	75,000	4,474	200,000	-	800,000	225
Seneca	1	70,000	4,000	190,000	-	550,000	150
Cayuga	1	70,000	2,692	180,000	8,000	180,000	138
Franklin	1	10,000	—	—	—	—	—
Suffolk	1	10,000	576	36,000	33,000		30
Total -	112	3,669,500	157,316	; 7,961,67ojl,867,79C		21,010,920	» 12,954
It will be perceived from this table that the number of persons supported by manufactures in the state of New York, the most commercial state in the union, and comprising immense agricultural districts, amounted nevertheless inIN THE UNITED STATES.
145
1832 to more than three fifths per cent, of the whole population, which at that period was estimated at two millions nearly.
The valuation of property in that state, from the comptroller’s report of January 1835, was as follows:
Real estate -	-	350,346,043 dollars.
Personal estate	-	108,331,941	—
Total	-	458,677,984	—
The capital invested in manufactures amounted therefore to or nearly one per cent., and with the increase since 1831, amounts now probably to more than two per cent., of the whole assessed property of the state.
The whole bank stock of that state was as follows:
State banks -	- 31,481,460 dollars.
Savings’ bank	-	3,855,517	—
Total 35,336,977	—
But the amount of capital invested in manufactures, allowing but ten per cent, increase since 1831 (which I think rather small, considering the vastness of manufacturing enterprise through-
VOL. II.
L146
STATISTICS OF MANUFACTURES
out the union), was probably more than 4,000,000 of dollars, and consequently nearly one eighth of all the capital invested in banking.
But what is the estimate of the state of New York compared to that of Massachusetts! The whole population of this state is not much more than 600,000, and the number of males and females employed in manufactures may now be estimated at 15,000; making 2| per cent, of the whole population, or one person out of forty engaged in manufactures. The valuation of property in that state was in 1831, 208,236,250 dollars (of which the city of Boston furnished more than 80,000,000) ; but the capital invested, at that time, in manufactures, was 12,891,000 or 13,000,000 dollars nearly. The ratio therefore was more than six per cent, of the whole assessed property of the state ; and it has increased since that period. The bank capital of the state was reported (in 1834) to be 29,409,450 dollars. Allowing the capital invested in manufactures to have increased since 1831 only by ten per cent., we may estimate it as something more than 14,000,000 of dollars ; which would make the property invested in manufactures equal to nearlyIN THE UNITED STATES.
147
one half of the banking capital in the state. The statistics of a single town,—that of Lowell, —will show the unprecedented increase of manufactures in that state.
Lowell Cotton Manufactories.
(From Pilkins’s Statistics 1831.)
Companies.	Capital.	Mills.	Spindles.	Looms.	Females em- ployed.	Males em- ployed.	Yards per week.	Bales per week.
Merrimack -	Dollars. 1,500,000	5	26,000	1,000	1,200	500	125,000	86
Hamilton	800,000	3	15,000	500	700	200	70,000	65
Appleton	500,000	2	9,500	350	475	60	80,000	86
Lowell	500,000	1	4,000	132	200	175	42,000	58
Suffolk	450,000	2	10,000	352	475	60	90,000	86
Tremont	500,000	2	10,000	410	475	. 60	120,000	86
Lawrence	1,200,000	4	23,000	750	1,050	100	170,000	160
Total -	5,450,000	19	97,500	3,494	4,575	1,155	697,000	627
Thus one small town, employed in 1881 nearly 6000 persons in cotton manufactures alone, and produced more than two thirds of a million of yards per week, or about thirty-six millions of yards per annum. Of these eight millions were printed; and including these (which sold at from 10 to 28 cents — 5\cl. to 15d.—per yard), the whole may be estimated at 10 cents per yard j making 3,600,000 dollars or £720,000 sterling per annum.
l 2148
STATISTICS OF MANUFACTURES
The different periods at which these companies were incorporated, show sufficiently the rapid increase of manufacture in that town.
The Merrimack Company -was incorporated in ^		1» 1822, commenced	1823.
55	Hamilton	1825 —	1825.
55	Appleton	1828 —	1828.
55	Lowell	1828 —	1828.
55	Suffolk	1830 —	1832.
55	Tremont	1830 —	1832.
55	Lawrence	1830 —	1833.
But in 1835 (as appears from a letter dated Lowell, April 20th, 1835, inserted in White’s “ History of Manufactures”) the Merrimack company had increased the number of its spindles to 34,432 and that of its looms to 1253 ; they employed 1321 females, 437 males, and manufactured 172,000 yards per week. The Hamilton company had increased their spindles to 19,000, and the number of looms to 600 ; they employed 800 females and 200 males, and manufactured 78,000 yards of prints and drillings per week. The Appleton company had increased the number of spindles by 1500; the Lowell company by more than 500; and the Suffolk company by 250 in the space of three years.IN THE UNITED STATES.
149
There were, besides, incorporated a “ Locks and Canals company,” with a capital of 600,000 dollars, for supplying water-power to the various manufacturing establishments ; (this company had an extensive machine shop, for the manufactory of cotton and woollen machinery, railroad cars, engines, &c. and employed 200 men,) and the Middlesex company with 500,000 dollars for the manufacture of broad-cloths and cassimeres. The latter consumed annually 470,000 lbs. of wool and 1,500,000 teasels. They ran two mills, 3120 spindles, 98 looms, and gave employment to 240 females and 145 males ; making 6000 yards of cloth per week.* The same company have since enlarged their business so as to manufacture, additionally, 500 yards of satinet per day ; using upwards of 2000 lbs. of wool per day.
The above establishments consumed annually 11,239 tons of anthracite coal,4750 cords of wood, and 50,549 gallons of oil. The total amount of cloth made was between thirty-nine and forty
* In 1805 all the woollen manufactures in the United States could not furnish 6,000 blankets for the use of the army !— White's History of Manufactures.
L 3150
STATISTICS OF MANUFACTURES
millions of yards, and the amount of cotton used, between twelve and thirteen millions of pounds. The bleacheries used 310,000 lbs. of starch, 380 barrels of flour, and 500,000 bushels of coal per annum. The wages amounted to 22,500 dollars or £4,500 sterling per week.
This is the progress of manufactures in a single town of 15,000 inhabitants ; and similar improvements have taken place in the establishments at Smithfield, Pawtucket, Fall River, Slaterville, Greenville, Cabotsville, Paterson*, Newwark, Cincinati, Pittsburg, Lancaster, Philadelphia, &c.
The water-power of these places is, as yet, far from being employed to one half, or even one
* 66 This town contained (1827) already fifteen cotton manufactories with 24,000 spindles; two factories of canvass with 1,644 spindles, employing 1450 persons, whose annual wages amounted to 224,123 dollars. The town contained also extensive machine-shops and iron-works. It consumed annually 620,000lbs. of flax, and 6000 bales of cotton ; spun l,630,000lbs. of cotton yarn, 430,000lbs. of linen yarn, produced 630,000 yards of cotton and linen duck, 3,354,000 yards of cotton cloth, and exported 796,000 yards of yarn; and new manufactories were then building.”—Report of the Society for establishing useful Manufactories in New Jersey.IN THE UNITED STATES.
151
fourth of the extent, to which it is capable of being used in manufactures; and there is besides a vast amount of power in other places which is entirely disused. The water-power of the town of Lowell (the manufacturing establishments of which, I have just described) is capable of propelling more than one hundred times the present machinery; that of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, is almost inexhaustible (the town being built on the river Susquehanna); and the same may be said of the water-power of all the manufacturing establishments in the neighbourhood of the large rivers. Whatever advantages Great Britain may, at this moment, enjoy over the United States with regard to the cheapness of coal, America possesses in the multitude of her streams, rivulets, and waterfalls, the most efficient means of propelling machinery at a cheaper rate than can be procured in any other country.
As an appendix to the foregoing, I shall here subjoin a table which was attached to a report made bv Mr. Parker, to the senate of the state of Pennsylvania on the 4th of March 1835, showing the amount of anthracite coal, mined
l 4152
AMERICAN COAE-PITS.
and brought to market, in each year from the year 1820 to the year 1834 inclusive.
Year.	Lehigh.	Schuylkill.	Lackawana.	Total No. of Tons.
1820	365	. . .	— mm	365
1821	1,073	- - -	~	1,073
1822	2,240	-	-	2,240
1823	5,823	-	-	5,823
1824	9,541	-	-	9,541
1825	28,393	5,306	-	33,699
1826	31,280	16,835	- :	48,115
1827	32,074	29,492	-	61,567
1828	30,232	47,181	-	77,413
1829	25,110	78,293	70,000	173,403
1830	41,750	89,984	42,000	173,734
1831	40,965	81,854	54,000	176,819
1832	75,000	209,271	84,500	368,771
1833	124,000	250,588	111,777	486,365
1834	106,244	226,692	43,700	376,636
This table evidently exhibits the increasing facilities even as regards coal, and these added to the water-power must render America one of the first manufacturing nations of the world. The only difficulty to be overcome, consists in the comparatively high wages now given in the United States; but this is an objection which the increased competition of every succeeding year has a natural tendency to remove, and is therefore, of itself, incapable of preventingAMERICAN TRADES.
153
America from becoming, in this respect also, the successful rival of Europe.
But it is not only the large manufacturing establishment; but also the grand manufacturing scale on which most of the mechanic arts are exercised in the United States which merits particular attention. It is the peculiar genius of the American people to excel in all kinds of trade; and there is scarcely an article which does not furnish them with new means of exercising their ingenuity. Thus a large trade is canied on, by the people of New England, in painted chairs, which are sent by thousands all over the United States, and exported also to South America, and the West Indies. The shoe trade of some of the towns in the neighbourhood of Boston is hardly less remarkable, the value of nearly two millions of dollars having been manufactured last year, and sent to the west alone. The state of Connecticut possesses the most extensive wooden clock manufactories in the world; affording them at about half the price of those made in the Black Forest. The glass manufactories of New England, Pennsylvania and Maryland produce not only some of the finest specimens of pressed and cut glass, but carry on an extensive trade154
AMERICAN TRADES,
with South America and the West India islands. The gun manufactories of Lancaster, and the steel manufactures of Paterson, are established on a large scale; the manufactures of paper and iron ware have long since competed with the importations from England; and the bronze manufactures of Philadelphia and Boston bid fair to rival those of Birmingham.
The following Table, taken from Williams’s “ New York State Register,” will exhibit a Summary of Manufactures in that State, according to the Census of 1835 :
		Value of raw	V alue
	Number,	. materials used	of
		and	manufactured
		manufactured.	Articles.
		Dollars.	Dollars.
Grist mills	2,051	17,687,009	20,140,435
Saw mills	6,948	3,651,153	6,881,055
Oil mills	71	214,813	275,574
Fulling mills	965	1,994,491	2,894,096
Carding machines	1,061	2,179,414	2,651,638
Cotton manufactories -	111	1,630,352	3,030,709
Woollen manufactories	234	1,450,825	2,433,192
Iron works	293	2,366,065	4,349,949
Trip hammers	141	168,896	363,581
Distilleries	337	2,278,420	3,098,042
Asheries	693	434,394	726,418
Glass manufactories -	13	163,312	448,559
Rope do.-	63	664,394	980,083
Chain cable do.	2	20,871	28,625
Oil cloth do.	24	63,119	95,646
Dying and printing do.	15	1,999,000	2,465,600
Clover mills	69	95,693	110,025
Paper mills	70	358,857	685,784
Tanneries	412	3,563,592	5,598,626
Breweries	94	916,252	1,381,446SCHOOL-BOOK TRADE.
155
This is but the statistics of manufactures in one state ; but New England and Pennsylvania are in this respect powerful rivals of New York, and of late large manufactories have also been established in the western states, and in the northern districts of Virginia.
The book trade, and especially that of school-books, is almostwholly monopolized by the eastern states; the hundreds of thousands of “ arithmetics,” “ geographies,” “ grammars,” and “ spelling-books ” which are annually printed and consumed surpassing by far the number of similar publications in Europe.* Large fortunes have been realised by the authors and publishers of these books, and their success has invited others to follow their example.
I believe I am correct in introducing this subject under the head “ manufactures and commerce ;” because the making of school-books in the United States partakes more of the enterprising spirit of trade, than of the timid scrupulousness of literature; and the sale of them is
* These books being generally printed on bad cotton paper wear out so rapidly, that it is by no means unfrequent for children to change them several times in the course of a year.156
SCHOOL-BOOK TRADE.
only inferior to that of “ bread-stuffs, and beef.” Nothing is left undone, by the authors and venders of these books, to procure an extensive sale of a commodity so useful to the minds of the young; teachers and school committees are furnished gratis with every new work which issues from the press; and whole editions are given away to schools, to procure the introduction of a book. In order that both author and vender may be as much as possible interested in the sale, the copyright, instead of being bought by the bookseller (as is done in most parts of Europe), is disposed of for a per-centage on the profits, which on school-books averages from five to ten per cent, on the nominal retail price of the work. The author or compiler is thus paid according to the success of his book, and the publisher risks only the expenses of printing and publishing the first edition. Hence an American author, the moment he has written a schoolbook which promises to be largely introduced, commences his peregrinations to the western and southern states, in order by his personal influence and reputation, to support the merits of his work ; and perhaps, also, to earn a commis-SCHOOL-BOOK TRADE.	157
sion on the sale of it. The whole is considered as a commercial transaction ; and the immense competition of authors and publishers has had a decidedly happy influence on the merits and low prices of American school-books. There are several book-selling establishments in Boston and Philadelphia, trading altogether in school-books; and I am quite certain, that their joint sales of elementary works alone, amount to more than a million of dollars per annum. I have seen the sixtieth edition of an arithmetic ; the fiftieth of a geography, the seventieth or eightieth of a spelling-book, and Heaven knows how many editions of “ Peter Parley.”*
In most of the mechanic arts the Americans are the successful imitators of the English; which accounts for their being already superior, in most of them, to the French and Germans.
* This is a work, consisting of about one hundred volumes, containing a LiJiputian encyclopedia of all sciences, trades, and professions for children. Most of them are written in the form of dialogues or narratives, and contain nothing less than the stories of Rome, Greece, and America, together with essays on mythology, natural philosophy, geography, mathematics, ethics, and moral philosophy, and copious extracts from Cuvier s “ Règne animal” They were published in the form of pocket editions, the best adapted to their species.158
MECHANIC ARTS.
Furniture is made in Philadelphia, Boston, and New York much better than in any part of the continent of Europe, Paris itself not excepted j and the New England “ rocking-chairs,” the ne plus ultra of all comforts in the shape of furniture, have acquired an European reputation. It is not so much the elegance as the excellent adaptation to the purpose for which they are intended, which distinguishes every article manufactured in the United States. One sees at once that the maker must have been a thinking creature, who understood all the time what he was about, and left nothing undone which could materially improve the usefulness of his handicraft. An American mechanic does not exercise his trade as he has learned it : he is constantly making improvements, studying out new and ingenious processes either to perfect his work or to reduce its price, and is, in most cases, able to account for the various processes of his art in a manner which would do credit to a philosopher.
A certain mechanical perfection, arising from a greater division of labour and long-followed practice in a narrow circumscribed trade, is, assuredly, less to be found in America than inAMERICAN WORKMEN.
159
England, and has frequently given rise to the unjust complaint, that American mechanics can make nothing equal to the English. This, however, is an idle assertion, contradicted by reason and experience. A number of articles are made as well in the United States, and cheaper than in England, and if, in other instances, their productions are not so good, their reduced prices are more than in proportion to their inferiority ; and rather show the unwillingness of the consumers to pay a proper price for them, than the incapacity of the workmen to produce a superior quality. Besides, there is nothing which could prevent experienced English workmen from settling in the United States, if they were sure of earning there more than at home. In several cases they have already done so, and experienced the quickness with which Jonathan learns and improves.
There is no branch of industry, in which the Americans do not participate the moment that any profits are to be realised from it; and it is, in nearly all cases, the state of the market, or some more lucrative and attractive employment, which prevents them from manufacturing articles in the same style as in other countries. If they160
ADVANTAGES OF
are not in a habit of subdividing labour as in England, in order to reduce handiwork as much as possible to an equality with machinery, they may perhaps, in a few cases, be unable to work so cheap and with so little loss of time; but individually they must become superior to mere mechanical workmen. The man who knows the different parts of a watch, and their mutual adaptation to the mechanism of its regular movement, is evidently superior to him who all his life manufactures only the wheels, without troubling himself about the machine in which they are to operate ; as a man who understands a principle is superior to the empiric who is only acquainted with the routine of particular cases. In China, where the division of labour is carried to its greatest extent, the labouring classes are reduced to mere machines. Their skill, is, assuredly, astonishing ; but they acquire it with the extinction of every mental faculty: the whole nation partakes more or less of this mechanical stupefaction, and is “ great in every thing that is small, and small in every thing that is great.”
In the United States it is of the greatest importance that no part of the whole popu-AMERICAN WORKMEN.
161
îation should remain entirely ignorant ; but that, on the contrary, all should become accustomed to thought and reflection. The various processes of the mechanic arts offer a thousand opportunities for the exercise of the reasoning faculties ; and I deem it a particular advantage of the American operatives, that they are placed in a situation to improve them. The high price of labour, and the peculiar habits of the people, contribute much to facilitate the means of instruction ; and the natural disposition of Americans prompts them to avail themselves of the advantages of their position.
Where a man has to labour all day in order to obtain for himself and family a bare subsistence, there it is impossible for his mind to act with a proper degree of freedom. The physical wants are too urgent to allow him sufficient respite for thought and reflection, and the only thing coveted after the cravings of his stomach are
appeased, is the sical abilities, mechanicr'but!
necessary rest to restore hisphy-In America not only the master also his journeymen have the means of earning more than is required for a mere living ; they are able to procure for themselves comforts which would hardly enter the
VOL. II.
M162
SUPERIOR CONDITION
imagination of similar orders in Europe. They are enabled to command a portion of their time ; and their minds being free from the anxieties of a precarious life, and less vitiated by a desire of frivolous pleasures, are better qualified for study or improvement, the only sure means by which they can hope to better their conditions. Their domestic habits, and the custom of spending the Sabbath at home, are highly favourable to the development of their mental faculties, and in this respect, of immense advantage to the general morals of the people. The majority of the lower order of European workmen hardly think of becoming independent or doing business on their own account; and being less sustained by hope in the exercise of their physical powers, need more relaxation and amusement than the Americans, who consider the hardest of labour but an introduction to something better which is to follow. The American operatives are sustained by the very efforts they make, and need not have recourse to the sordid pleasures of debauchery, or the bottle, in order to plunge themselves into a momentary and brutal oblivion of their present necessities.OF AMERICAN WORKMEN.
163
I wonder the superior condition of the labouring classes in America has not been taken notice of by any English tourist (if we except Mr. Hamilton’s philosophical dialogue with the Scotch baker) ; while they were so tediously minute in describing the fashionable coteries! No drawing-room, in any part of the world, is without its second and third-rate performers, and their number in America may even be greater than in Europe. Nor will I deny that an American exquisite is, per se, an inferior being. A man, in Europe, may be a coxcomb, or a buffoon, in a manner peculiar to his own country, in which case he is still a national character ; but to be a slavish imitator of the follies of others, in a country where they are only known to be despised, presupposes a degree of presumptuous imbecility, for which no excuse can be found in the customs and manners of the people. If Englishmen censure Americans for imitating the fashions of Europe, they ridicule them justly for not being wiser than themselves, or for succeeding less in an unprofitable enterprise. But let them turn their attention to the thousands with whom they hardly come in contact on their tours; let them observe and watch the elevated character of the
M 2164
AMERICAN WORKMEN.
merchants, the skilful industry of the mechanic, the sober regularity of the workmen, and they will find ample room for a more charitable exercise of their judgment: they will then find the true strength and superiority of the American people over all other nations on the globe. They will find no humiliating imitation in the trade and commerce of the United States. They will see the arts exercised on a most liberal and extensive scale; the character of workmen raised by emulation to that of respectable citizens ; and instead of machines or mechanical operatives, they will discover everywhere intelligent beings, capable of accounting for every process, and improving it constantly by their own ingenuity. In no other country could they behold a similar spectacle; in none other witness the same emancipation of the mind. In England and Scotland a most generous beginning has been made to arrive at similar results ; but the improvements have not yet penetrated to all classes, and for many a generation America yet will be unrivalled in the moral elevation of her citizens.
A great deal has been said, by American and foreign writers, on the subject of trades’ unionsAMERICAN “ WORRIES.”
165
and other societies of operatives known under the name of “workies,” and especially about their cries for “ equal and universal education.” I confess I never knew that the workmen wished to arrest the progress of education in order to reduce the moral superiority of the higher classes to a sordid level with themselves; but, on the contrary, understood them to covet the same opportunities of mental improvement, which are enjoyed by the wealthier portion of the community. I am quite certain there is no class of Americans so utterly degraded in their moral sentiments, as to wish for universal ignorance, or a comparative mediocrity of talents, in order to protect and excuse their own imbecility. The workmen of New York, Boston and Philadelphia have struck for the “ ten-hour system,” on the ground that if a man work more than ten hours a day, “ he is unjit to read and improve his mind in the evening, or to superintend the education of his children,” a plea which expresses certainly a very different desire from that of destroying the opportunities of acquiring superior knowledge. The wages of American workmen are high; but then it is seldom known that they make an improper use of their money ;
M 3166
AMERICAN “ WORRIES.”
and they abstain entirely from the European custom of spending in one or two days the whole earnings of the week. They understand not only how to make money, but also the art of saving it; and the amount of capital deposited in the various savings banks of the country, furnishes the strongest evidence of the prudence and frugality of their habits. As long as these last, I cannot possibly persuade myself that the institutions of the country are in danger; whatever be the aberrations of individuals, or whole classes, in their respective political orbits.
The system of credit, established in manufactures and commerce, extends also to the business of the mechanic, and in some instances even to the workmen. An American shoemaker will give his note of six or eight months for leather ; a tailor his, in exchange for cloth; a carpenter will buy timber, a printer his type, a blacksmith his iron, on nine or twelve months’ credit, and will in turn take the notes of his customers. Tradespeople are in this manner as much subjected to sudden changes of fortune by fluctuations of exchange, and venture as much in the investment of their capital, as the active merchant; and nothing, therefore, is more common than aAMERICAN SEAMEN.	167
combination of the two characters in one and the same person. The mercantile genius of the country pervades all classes of society, and by its universal influence unites them effectually to a large homogeneous whole, in which the most diversified qualities of individuals bear yet the mark of the general character.
I have, in the beginning of this chapter, briefly touched on the subject of navigation as connected with commerce ; it remains for me yet to enlarge upon the character of seamen. The United States, and especially the northern and eastern states, furnish, in proportion to their population, a greater number of sailors than can be mustered in any other country save, perhaps, England, andpossess, besides, the advantage of employing those of all other nations in the regular service of their merchants. The high wages, and the protection offered them by the government, are sufficient inducements for thousands of foreignei’s to enlist annually on board of American vessels ; and there are comparatively few amongst them, who, once accustomed to the service, are again willing to quit it. Their task, it is true, is more severe, than on board the ships of any other nation; but then
m 4168
AMERICAN SEAMEN.
they are paid in proportion, and their provisions are better than those of the common sailors of other countries.*
With these additional expenses, the question may be asked, how it is possible for American to realise any profits on the navigation of their
* De Tocqueville, in his work “ De la Démocratie en Amérique ” traces the progress of navigation in the United States to the same source. He compares the American method of navigating ships to the new military tactics invented by the generals of the French republic ; which were victorious until imitated by their enemies. “ Les Américains” says the French jurist, “ ont introduit quelque chose d'analogue dans le commerce.	Ce que les Français
faisaient pour la victoire, ils le font pour le bon marché."
6 ‘ Le navigateur européen ne s'aventure quavec prudence sur les mers ; il ne part que quand le temps l'y convie ; s'il lui survient un accident imprévu, il rentre au port ; la nuit il serre une partie de ses voiles, et, lorsqu'il voit l'océan blanchir à l'approche des terres, il ralentit sa course et interoge le soleil.''
“ L'Américain néglige ces précautions et brave ces dangers. Il part tandis que la tempête gronde encore ; la nuit comme le jour il abandonne au vent toutes ses voiles ; il répare en marchant son navire fatigué par l'orage, et lorsqu il approche enfin du terme de sa course, il continue à voler vers le rivage, comme si déjà il appercevait le port”
“ L'Américain fait souvent naufrage ; mais il n'y a pas de navigateur qui traverse les mers aussi rapidement que lui. Faisant les mêmes choses qu'un autre en moins de temps il peut les faire à moins de fraisé'AMERICAN SEAMEN.
169
ships ? This query is answered, by the much smaller number of sailors, and the greater rapidity of passages. They make four passages where other ships make two or three, and save in time, what others save in wages. Again, making their sailors work harder, and keeping them constantly employed, they manage their ships with less hands, and are better able to maintain discipline. The intrepidity of American seamen is proverbial, and is sometimes bordering on recklessness. They are known to carry sail until rent by the blast, and to pursue their course amidst the howling and raging of the storm. It does not follow however (as De Tocqueville believes), that, on that account, they are less safe than the ships of other nations. Being continually exposed to dangers, they are better prepared to meet them ; and carrying sails to the last moment they will hold, they are accustomed, when urged, to execute the necessary changes and manœuvres with greater promptness and precision. There never is the least confusion on board of American ships, and I am not quite certain whether fewer hands equally and steadily employed, are not more conducive to order and good management, than a large number of sailors170
AMERICAN SEAMEN.
accustomed to less work, and in a habit of relying on one another. To this we must add that a person who is six weeks at sea is naturally exposed to more accidents, than one whose ship performs the passage in four or five; and that every day saved in this manner from the tediousness and peril of a long voyage, increases the comfort and safety of the passengers and crew. The preference given to American ships by the merchants of most European ports, argues strongly in favour of the skill of their commanders ; and the great patronage bestowed on the New York packets, is the surest indication of the willingness of the people of all countries to trust their lives and their property to the experience and science of American navigators.
I have remarked before that a large number of sailors employed in the American merchants’ service, are foreigners ; but I do not remember having known many of them advance to mates and masters of vessels. The officers of American ships are generally natives of the United States, and without any national prejudice, it is easy to assign the reason. A sailor is a jolly, jovial, careless being all the world over. He thinks less of the future than men of any otherAMERICAN SEAMEN.
171
occupation in life, and being provided against physical wants gives himself up to merriment. “ Perils,” says Bacon, “ love to be rewarded with pleasure ; ” but the American sailor’s reward is promotion. Being generally better educated than the seamen of other nations, and prudent and economical by instinct, a Yankee tar will not only think of advancement on board of his ship, but speculate also on the probability of his becoming a merchant. Encouraged by the success of so many others before him, and, as is often the case, by that of his own commander, he employs his leisure hours rather in the study of navigation, than in frivolous recreations, which would only retard his progress in life. He is, perhaps, as gay as any other sailor; but above all things he is a Yankee, and as such intent upon bettering his condition, and, in this laudable undertaking, seconded by his employers. If he does not succeed, it is in most cases his own fault; for it would be difficult to conceal either talent or inferiority from such watchful eyes as those of his officers, who, with very few exceptions, have gone through the same career themselves, and are consequently the best judges of his ability and character.17 °2
AMERICAN SEAMEN.
There exists, if I mistake not, a strong aversion amongst American merchants to trust themselves or their property to the care of captains, who, in the language of sailors, “ have crept through the cabin window while, on the other hand, they are most liberal patrons of those who by courage and dexterity have acquired a just title to their favour. Hence merit is sure of its reward ; and there is no stronger inducement to exertion.
Neither have the Americans, judging correctly of the importance of their maritime power, left any thing undone which could serve to promote the education and industry of sailors. The merchants of the large Atlantic cities have liberally contributed towards the establishment of churches exclusively for the religious instruction and impi’ovement of mariners ; savings banks for sailors have been formed under the auspices of the most enlightened citizens who have volunteered their services as presidents and directors, and a project for the establishment of naval schools, to educate seamen for the merchants’ service, is now before the Congress of the United States, and will probably pass at the next session. Religion and voluntary absti-AMERICAN SEAMEN.
178
nence from the use of ardent spirits, have had a prodigious influence on the moral habits of the sailors, and have saved thousands of them from that mental degradation to which they are continually exposed by their occupation and habits of life; and into which they are often misled even by the best features of their character.
I have been so fortunate as to hear several sermons preached by the Rev. Mr. Taylor at the seamen’s church in Boston, and have listened with intense pleasure to his pathetic exhortations to industry and sobriety. lie had himself been a sailor on board of an American man-of war, and understood admirably how to touch the feelings of his audience. His expressions were occasionally intermixed with seamen’s phrases, which, it was easy to perceive, produced the desired effect. He would sometimes, in the midst of a sermon, call upon individuals, and especially on captains of vessels, to use their personal influence in suppressing the vice of intemperance, and to exhort the men under their command to a proper worship of God, and the obedience of His laws. It was a moving scene to hear those sturdy navigators reply in the affirmative, and pledge their honour and their faith to fulfil the injunc-174
NAVAL ADVANTAGES
tions of their preacher. Mr. Taylor possesses evidently great powers of oratory, which he employs in the most humane and charitable manner for the benefit of his fellow-creatures. His church is always crowded, and in the countenances of his hearers may be read the effects of his eloquence. I have never listened to sermons more deeply imbued with the spirit and sanctity of religion than those of “ the sailors’ minister and I can only wish, for the sake of his noble and disinterested undertaking, that he may preserve his original simplicity and vigour of style, and not be misled into an unprofitable imitation of the flights and tropes of his colleagues.
The American sailors, though they may be inferior in numbers, are morally superior to those of most nations ; and it is for this reason they are generally promoted to mates and captains of vessels; while the others, more easily satisfied, are content to remain seamen all their lives. Whatever be the extent to which the navy of the United States may, at any time, be increased, there will always be a sufficient number of native officers to command their ships ; and as long as this is the case, the American navy will be; as national an institution, as that of any otherOF AMERICA.
175
country. Suppose the Americans at war with any nation save the English, and Congress obliged to increase the naval power of the country : then, whatever be the number of ships which may be added to the navy (and the facilities of ship-building are great), there will always be found a sufficient number of British seamen, ready to enlist in the service, from no other reason than because the same language is spoken and higher wages paid, on board of American vessels, than they can obtain by serving on board of the ships of their own country. But the number of such British seamen joined to that which the American merchants’ service would furnish, would by far surpass the force which could be mustered by their enemies. Whatever inferiority the navy of the United States may present in point of number, the facility of increasing the establishment when required, is greater than in any other country ; and in this consists the strength of a maritime nation. Every new merchant-man which is launched from the stocks is an addition to the naval force of the country, and increases the means of national defence; with this difference only, that instead of increasing the national ex-176
AMERICAN FISHERIES.
penditure, it increases the national wealth, and directs the industry of the people to new sources of general prosperity. At the beginning of a maritime war, the Americans would have to act on the defensive ; but it would depend on their own will, and on the unanimity of their sentiments, whether they are to continue in that state or assume an attitude, which would at once command the respect and attention of any power in Europe.
Another means of increasing the naval power of the United States is furnished by their fisheries. The navy of every country requires for its existence and maintenance a certain constant trade and employment, which shall act as a school for apprenticing young mariners. Such is the coal-trade of England, and the fisheries of the eastern states of America. The whale, mackerel, and cod fisheries of the United States occupy and enrich a large portion of the population of New England, and produce the hardiest and most enterprising sailors for the service of the merchants’ navy : by their means large fortunes are amassed in the midst of towns and villages which are built on barren rocks, and which but for the bold spirit of their inhabitantsWHALE FISHERIES.	177
would be left without the natural means of subsistence.
The fisheries in the year 1834 yielded 2,071,493 dollars, nearly equivalent to £420,000 sterling.
These were distributed as follows :—
Dried fish or cod fisheries 630,384 dollars. River fisheries	-	. - 223,290	—
Whale and other fish oil 740,619	—
Spermaceti oil	-	-	50,048	—
Whalebone -	-	169,434	—
Spermaceti candles	-	257,718	—
Total -	- 2,071,493 dollars.
But it is not so much the pecuniary benefit, as the incalculable advantage arising from it to the education of seamen, which gives to this branch of industry a national importance. The hardiest seamen of the United States are from that part of the country; and more than one half of all the officers employed in the navigation of American ships are natives from New England.
Most remarkable for the manner in which they are carried on, are the whale fisheries of the United States. The equipment of the ships and crews employed in that trade re-
.N
VOL. II.178	AMERICAN SHIP-BUILDING.
semble a privateering expedition; officers and sailors receiving in a measure, prize-money instead of regular wages. Every man on board has a share in the profits, which is according to his rank and employment. Being thus paid according to what they earn the crews are willing to hear greater hardships, and are indefatigable in the chase. Every moment they remain on shore they consider as lost ; and it is not unfrequent to see an American whaleman return from the Pacific Ocean with a full cargo of oil, without having once touched the land since he left home. The American sailors become thus inured to the worst dangers and hardships of the sea, and accustomed to the severest toils which fall to the lot of seamen. They become habituated to every species of privation, and find the merchants’ service in which they may subsequently engage comparatively easy and cheerful.
Ship-building is another branch of industry in which the Americans excel. They are universally allowed to build the fastest vessels 5 but considerable doubts were entertained as to the expediency of building them principally for making short passages. Experience has since shown these apprehensions to have been ill-founded 5 for it isAMERICAN PACKETS,	1^9
now an uncontested fact that the American ships are, in all quarters of the world, the successful competitors of those of every other nation. The packets especially, are renowned for their speed and the elegance of their construction; and they have had the preference, thus far, over all other ships sailing for American ports. The postage on letters conveyed by them from Great Britain and Ireland alone, amounts annually to more than ¿€120,000 sterling, and the number of passengers to and fro, to from twenty to thirty thousand. This is certainly a strong argument in favour of expedition ; and is more than sufficient to prove that the Americans have found the proper way of building and navigating ships ; and that they understand admirably to supply their inferior tonnage by a greater number of fastsailing vessels.
The successes of the Americans during the last war with England, were by English officers themselves attributed to the skilful manner in which they navigated their ships, and especially to the superior construction of thenlarge frigates. These were built in such a manner as to unite all the advantages of small, fast-sailing vessels, with the heavy calibre of
N 2180
AMERICAN FRIGATES.
seventy-fours, and were consequently capable of attacking and defending themselves against heavy ships of the line, while they were more than a match for ordinary frigates. The first idea of these vessels was conceived by the Americans, and has since been imitated by all other maritime powers. But the same spirit of invention, which has already been triumphant, may, in time of danger, contrive fresh expedients to ensure once more the success which is inseparable from genius.INTERNAL NAVIGATION.
181
CHAPTER III.
INTERNAL NAVIGATION OE THE UNITED STATES.- RAILROADS.-----------------------------------CANALS.-FACILITIES OF TRAVELLING.-THEIR
INFLUENCE ON THE POLITICAL CONDITION OF THE PEOPLE. STEAM-BOATS. PUBLIC AND BOARDING HOUSES.
--HOSPITALITY OF AMERICANS.
No country is, by nature, favoured with such large navigable streams as America ; but it may also be added that none has done so much to improve its internal navigation. From the mighty Mississippi and its noble tributaries the Ohio and the Missouri, down to the smallest and most insignificant creek or inlet, the American waters are covered with steamers, boats, and rafts of all descriptions ; and where the natural communication was not sufficient, the want has been supplied by canals. In the year 1831, there were on the western waters alone one hundred and ninety-eight steam-boats running, and one hundred and fifty had been worn out or lost by accidents. The whole number of boats, therefore, built on
n 3182
NUMBER OP STEAM-BOATS
those waters since 1811 was 348, of which one hundred and eleven were built in the city of Cincinnati alone. The table below will exhibit the spirit of enterprise and activity, which did not suffer a single year to pass by without adding a fresh number to those already existing, and the proportional increase of trade and commerce which must have been its necessary consequence.
Table showing the Number of Steam-boats built on the Western Rivers from 1811 to 1831 inclusive.
In 1811
1814
1815
1816 1817 1818
1819
1820 1821 1822
1823
1824
there were built
1
4
3
2
9
23
27
7
6
7
13
13ON THE WESTERN RIVERS.
183
In 1825	- there were built -	31
1826	-	....	52
1827	-----	25
1828	......... 31
1829	-----	53
1830	---	30
1831	-	....	9
Total -	- 346
There were worn out in 1832	-	63
Lost by snags -	-	-	-	36
Burnt -	-	-	-	-	14
Lost by collision	-	-	-	3
By other accidents	-	-	-	34
Total number of lost and worn out 150
Of the Boats now running,
68
68
2
12
7
were built at - Cincinnati.
-	Pittsburgh.
-	-	- Louisville.
-	New Albany.
-	Marietta.
N 4184 STEAM-BOATS ON THE WESTERN RIVERS.
2	-	were	built at - Zanesville.
1	-	-	- Fredericksburgh.
1	-	--	- West Port.
1	»	M	- Silver Creek.
1	-	*	- Brush Creek.
2	-	»	- Wheeling.
1	-	-	» - Nashville.
2	-	-	- Frankfort.
I	-	-	- Smithland.
1	-	»	- Economy.
6	-	-	- Brownsville.
3	-	-	- Portsmouth.
2'	-	-	- Steubenville.
2	-	»	- Beaver.
1	-	-	- St. Louis.
3	-	-	- New York.
1	-	*	- Philadelphia.
10	-		- Place unknown.
Total 198			
But the Americans were not satisfied with improving merely what nature had done for them ; they went further. They connected the western waters with those of the Atlantic, andCANALS AND RAILROADS.
185
the lakes with the Gulf of Mexico; and established an artificial water communication by means of canals, which in extent is nearly half the length of the Mississippi, the largest river in the world. Mr. Pitkins, in his “ Statistical View of the Commerce of the United States,” estimates the number of miles of canals in the United States completed on the 1st of January 1835, and which would not long after be completed at two thousand eight hundred and sixty-four, and their cost 64,573,099 dollars, or £12,914,620 sterling. “ When the cost of the railroads in the United States,” continues he, “ is added to that of the canals, it will be found that there has been, or will soon be expended in this country, on these two kinds of internal improvements alone, a sum not less than ninety-four millions of dollars,” — about nineteen millions pounds sterling ;—“ and this has been done principally since 1817-” According to this statement, which I think rather falls short of the truth than exceeds it, the Americans have expended, in that branch of improvement alone, the sum of one million pounds sterling annually, which is more than twenty per cent, of the186
CANALS AND 11AILI10ADS.
whole expenditures of the national government.*
The extent of railroads was nearly seven hundred miles without including any of the large projected schemes for extending them to the west, and connecting the southern states with those of the east and north. These, however, have already been partially carried into execution; and it is to be expected that in less than twenty years a traveller in the United States will be able
* The Expenditures in 1833 were as follows: —
Civil list, foreign intercourse, and miscel- Dois, Cts.
laneous -	5,*716,245	93
Military service, including fortifications, ordnance, Indian affairs, pensions, arming the militia, and internal improve-
ments -	- 13,096,152	43
Naval service (including improvements)	- 3,091,356	75
Public debt (paid)	- 1,543,543	38
	23,447,298	49
The Receipts were —		
Customs ....	- 29,032,508	91
Sales of public lands	- 3,967,682	55
Dividend of United States Bank	474,985	0
Sales of United States bank-stock -	133,300	0
Incidental receipts	337,449	79
Total	- 33,945,926	25
JReport of the Secretary of the Treasury, Dec, 2 J, 1834.RAILROADS.
187
to traverse the country from the western extremity to the shores of the Atlantic, and from the borders of Canada to the Gulf of Mexico, without being once obliged to slacken his speed, or to exchange a locomotive car or a steam-boat for the less expeditious method of a carriage drawn by horses.
The principal Railroads, completed in 1835, were: —
The Alleghany Portage	36|	miles,
Baltimore and Ohio*	81	—.
Baltimore and Washington	33	—
Boston and Lowell -	25|	—.
Boston and Providence	41	—*
Boston and Worcester	43	
Cambden and Amboy	61	—
Columbia	83	—
Charleston and Hamburg	132	•—
Danville and Pottsville	54	—
Hudson and Mohawk	15	—,
Ithaca and Oswega -	29	—
Newcastle and Frenchtown	161	—»
Saratoga and Schenectady	22	—
Total -	- 672-g	—
* Of this railroad only eighty-one miles were completed in 1835.188
RAILROADS.
The railroads, in progress, or completed, in the month of January 1835 exceeded sixteen hundred miles in length, and their cost was in “ Pit-kins’s Statistics ” estimated at thirty millions of dollars or six millions pounds sterling nearly. This statement however must, I think, fall short of the truth ; as there were, in the state of New York alone fifty incorporated railroad companies, with a capital of upwards of thirty-four millions of dollars, or six millions eight hundred thousand pounds sterling ; and similar companies were chartered in all other states.
The following Table of the Incorporated Railroad Companies in the State of New York, is from Williams’s “New York Annual Register.”
Name.		Amount of Capital.
Albion and Tonawonda		Dollars. 250,000
Auburn and Canal	-	150,000
Auburn and Syracuse	-	400,000
Aurora and Buffalo -	-	300,000
Bath and Crooked Lake	-	40,000
Brooklyn and Jamaica	-	300,000
Buffalo and Erie	-	650,000
Black River Company	-	900,000
Buffalo and Black Rock	-	100,000
Buffalo and Niagara Falls	-	110,000
Binghamton and Susquehanna	-	150,000
Castleton and West Stockbridge		300,000
Catskill and Canajoharie	-	600,000
Dansville and Rochester	-	300,000
Dutchess -	-	600,000RAILROADS.
189
Name.		Amount of Capital.
Elmira and Williamsport		Dollars. 75,000
Fish House and Amsterdam	-	250,000
Geneva and Canandaigua	-	140,000
Great An Sable	-	60,000
Hudson and Berkshire		350,000
Hudson and Delaware		500,000
Ithaca and Geneva	-	800,000
Ithaca and Owego	-	300,000
Ithaca and Port Renwick	-	15,000
Lake Champlain and Ogdensburgh	-	3,000,000
Long Island - -	-	1,500,000
Lockport and Niagara Falls	- !	110,000
Manheim and Salisbury	-	75,000
Mayville and Portland	-	150,000
Medina and Darien	-	100,000
Mohawk and Hudson	-	600,000
New York and Albany	-	3,000,000
New York and Erie	-	10,000,000
New York and Haerlam	-	600,000
Otsego - - -	-	200,000
Rensselaer and Saratoga	-	300,000
Rochester Canal and Railroad	-	30,000
Saratoga and Fort Edward	-	200,000
Saratoga and Schenectady	-	150,000
Saratoga Springs and Schuylerville	-	100,000
Saratoga and Washington	-	600,000
Schoharie and Otsego	-	300,000
Tonawanda	-	500,000
Troy Turnpike and Railroad	-	1,000,000
Utica and Susquehanna	-	1,000,000
Utica and Schenectady	-	2,000,000
Warren County	-	250,000
Warsaw and Le Roy	-	100,000
Watertown and Rome		1,000,000
Whitehall and Rutland	-	150,000
Total	-	34,655,000190
RAILROADS,
All these companies, with one single exception*, were incorporated in four years, from 1830 till 1834 inclusive ; averaging twelve new railroads per annum, with a capital of 8,000,000 dollars, or	1,600,000 sterling, in a single state.
The following of these Railroads were completed at the close of the year 1836 :
Length.
3 miles. 29	—
16 — 24| —
3	—
22 —
77	—
Total -	- 174§ miles.
1. The Railroad from Buffalo to Black Rock
2.	—	Ithaca to Oswego
3.	—	Albany to Schenectady
4.	—	Troy to Ballston
5.	—	Rochester to Carthage
6.	—	Saratoga to Schenectady
7.	—	Utica to Schenectady
The following Railroads were commenced :
The Railroad from Auburn to Syracuse		Length. - 26 miles,
—	Buffalo to Niagara Falls	- 21 —
—	Catskill to Canajoharie	- 68 —
—	Prince St. to Haerlam	» 7 —
—	Hudson to Massachusetts line	- 30 —
—	Lockport to Niagara Falls	- 24 —
—	Brooklyn to Greenport	- 98 —
—	New York City to Lake Erie	- - 505 —
—	Saratoga Springs to Whitehall	- 41 —
—	Rochester to Utica	- 45 —
	Total	- 865 miles.
* The Ithaca and Oswego Railroad		Company were
incorporated in	1828.	RAILROADS.
191
At the last session of the legislature of New York in 1836, no less than forty-two new railroad companies were incorporated, of which the most important ones were the Attica and Buffalo, Auburn and Ithaca, Batavia and Lockport, Brooklyn Bath and Coney Island, Courtlandtville and Oswego, Herkimer and Trenton Falls, Lansingburgh and Troy, Chittenango and Cazenovia, Oswego and Utica, Rochester and Genessee Port, Schenectady and Troy, Staten Island, Syracuse and Binghampton, Syracuse and Brewertown, and Utica and Syracuse Railroads.—The state of New York alone, therefore, will in a few years have ninety-two railroads, facilitating the intercourse of its principal towns and villages, or connecting them with the railroads of other states in order to establish lines of communication with the southern western and eastern parts of the country.
The same spirit of improvement is stirring in the other states. In the state of Maine there has been completed (in 1836) a railroad from Bangor to Orono \ a company for another to extend from Portland to Dover, New Hampshire, has been incorporated at the last session of the legislature, and three new ones have been projected, one of which is to extend from thei m
RAILROADS.
coast of Maine to Quebec. In the state of New Hampshire, two railroad companies have been incorporated, both of which have already commenced operations ; and in the state of Vermont four others, with an aggregate capital of 4,000,000 of dollars. In the state of Mussachusetts there are already completed three principal railroads, viz., from Boston to Providence, from Boston to Worcester, and from Boston to Lowell. Each of these has again its branches extending to other towns in the state, or connecting them with the railroads of the state of New York. The “ Western Railroad,” which was incorporated by the legislature of Massachusetts in 1833 was commenced in 1836, the state having subscribed to it the sum of 1,000,000 dollars. This railroad will extend from Worcester to the Connecticut river at Springfield •, thence to the boundary line of the state of New York ; where it will be connected with three different railroads, one leading to Albany, another to Hudson, and a third to Troy. From Albany a railroad to the westward is already completed as far as Utica; from Utica to Buffalo a new railroad has recently been incorporated ; and from Buffalo it is to be continued through the statesRAILROADS»..
193
of Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois to the borders of the Mississippi; which will establish a direct line of communication between Portsmouth in the state of Maine, and New Orleans in the Gulf of Mexico. In addition to these, three new railroads were incorporated by the legislature of Massachusetts at its last session in 1836 ; one of which, which is to extend from Boston to Salem Newburyport and Portsmouth, New Hampshire, is already in progress. In the state of Connecticut, three railroads are now in progress, and five new ones have been incorporated; in New Jersey, three railroads are completed, and three new ones in progress ; in Pennsylvania thirteen are completed, and eight or ten in progress ; and in the small state of Delaware one is completed, and another in progress.
The Baltimore and Ohio railroad was incorporated by the legislature of Maryland in 1827, and is to extend from the city of Baltimore to the banks of the river Ohio, distance 360 miles. In 1835, eighty-six miles of this road were completed at an expense of 3,106,507 dollars. The company had in operation ten engines, fifty passengers’ cars and 1,200 waggons for transporting merchandise. It is to be observed, moreover, that the company did not
VOL. II.
oRAILROADS.
194
import their machinery from England, but relied entirely on the ingenuity of American workmen ; and they are now believed to possess locomotives of the best kind, and with the most powerful engines. For the prosecution of this railroad the legislature of the state has recently subscribed 3,000,000 dollars, and the city of Baltimore other 3,000,000 dollars. Two other railroads have been completed in that state, and three new ones incorporated. In the state of Virginia three railroads of thirteen, fifty-nine, and thirty miles in length respectively, were completed in 1830; three new ones were commenced, and eighteen others incorporated since 1835, with a joint capital of 12,595,000 dollars, or 9^2,519,000 sterling. In the state of North Carolina six" new railroads are projected, and some of them commenced. In South Carolina there exists already a railroad from Charleston to Hamburg, distance 136 miles ; and another is projected on a huge plan. It is to extend from Charleston to Cincinnati (Ohio), distance 607 miles, connecting the valleys of the Ohio and the Mississippi with the Atlantic ocean. The expences of this road are estimated at 15,000,000 of dollars or £3,000,000 sterling. In the state of Georgia there are completed two railroads, and threeRAILROADS.
195
others are in progress, extending 90, 200, and 210 miles in length respectively. In the state of Alabama nine railroads are commenced ; in the state of Mississippi three, and in the state of Louisiana one railroad is completed, and five or six others in progress. In Kentucky two railroads are completed, and three or four in progress. In the state of Ohio twelve railroads were incorporated in 1832, *>f which the “ Mad river and Lake Erie railroad,” which is to extend 153 miles was commenced in 1835, and thirty miles of it completed in 1836. In 1835, twenty-eight new railroad companies were incorporated in that state with a capital of more than 20,000,000 dollars or £4,000,000 sterling. "’In the state of Indiana four railroads are projected. In the state of Illinois there were chartered in 1835 nine railroads of which the “ Alton and Galena railroad ” alone was to be 350 miles long ; and at the last session of the legislature (in 1836), fourteen new ones were incorporated. In the state of Missouri two railroads are projected; and the legislature of the state of Michigan, a state which has only been recently admitted into the union, has already chartered four railroad companies, and a large number of others are pro-
o 2196
CANALS.
jected. The whole population of that state is averaged onlyatl20,000, and consisted, according to the census of 1834, only of 85,856 inhabitants. Several railroads have been projected also in the; Florida territory, and one or two of these are now in progress.
The canals of the United States are not of so late a date; but are nevertheless constructed chiefly since 1820. Ten years’ improvements however, with so new and enterprising a people as the Americans, are suificient to change the aspect of things, and to give the whole country a new character. The attention of the Americans has within the last five or six years chiefly been turned to the construction of railroads; but I must be greatly mistaken if canals would not, in many instances, answer the same purpose; and they would under particular circumstances be far less expensive. The natural facilities of water communication seem to invite the Americans not to neglect this branch of internal improvement; and the profits realised on the principal canals now in operation, ought to be a sufficient inducement for speculators to invest their capital in so useful and national a branch of industry.CANALS.
197
The principal Canals in the United States, completed in January 1835, were the following :
Blackstone canal	-	-	45	miles.
Black river -	-	-76	—
Cayuga -	-	-	-	20	—
Champlain	-	-	-	63	—
Chemung	-	-	-	23	—
Chenango	-	-	-	96	—
Chesapeake and Ohio (not yet completed)	-	- 340	—
Chesapeake and Delaware 14	—
Delaware
Delaware and Hudson Delaware and Rariton Dismal Swamp
60
108
Erie
Farmington Lehigh -Middlesex Miami Morris -Ohio
Oswego -
Pennsylvania
Santee
363
78
46^
27
66
97
334
38
277
22
o 3198
CANALS OF NEW YORK.
Schuylkill	- 110
Union	- 80
Wabash and Erie	- 200
Total	2,759
miles.
That the construction of canals in the United States has in most cases been a profitable undertaking, yielding on an average from ten to twelve per cent, interest per annum on the capital invested*, will appear from the subjoined report of the canal commissioners of the state of New York, which may be relied on as official, as these canals are owned by the state itself.
Name,	Length in Miles.	No. of Locks.	Cost.
Erie - - -Champlain - -1 Glen’s Fall’s Feeder J Oswego Cayuga Chemung - - \ Navigable Feeder - J Crooked Lake Chenango Feeders	863 76 38 21 39 8 113	84 34 14 11 53 27 109	Dollars. Cts. 7,143,789 86 1,257,604 26 565,437 35 236,804 74 331,693 57 156,776 57 1,960,456 28
	658		11,652,562 96
* In one or two instances some private canal companies have declared a dividend of 102 per cent, per annum !CANALS OF NEW YORK.	199
The average cost, per mile, therefore, was 18,000 dollars or £3,600 sterling.
The Tolls received in the Year 1835 were as follows:
Erie and Champlain canals Oswego
Cayuga and Seneca Chemung Crooked Lake
Dollars, Cts.
1,492,811	59
29,180 62 20,430	11
4,720	44
1,829 63
Total - - 1,548,972 39*
which is 13y per cent, nearly of their cost. The tolls on these canals have been annually increasing ever since the completion of the enterprise. In 1831 they amounted to 10^ per cent., in 1832 to lOf per cent., in 1833 to 12f per cent., in 1834 to Hi per cent., and in 1835, as I have just stated, to 13i nearly, of the whole cost of the canals.
* Chenango canal is not yet in operation ; but was to b,e completed in November 1836,
o 4The following Table will show the Increase of Tolls during the last five years:
Comparative View of Tolls for Five Years.
Canals.	1831.	1832.	1833.	1834.	1835.
Erie -Champlain	Dolls. Cts. 1,091,711 20 102,896 23	Dolls. Cts. 1,085,612 28 110,191 95	Dolls• Cts, 1,290,136 201 132,559 02 J	Dolls. Cts. 1,294,649 66	Dolls. Cts. 1,492,811 59
Oswego	16,271 10	19,786 20	22,950 47	22,168 02	29,180 62
Cayuga	12,920 39	13,893 04	17,174 69	18,130 43	20,430 11
Chemung	-	-	694 00	3,378 05	4,720 44
Crooked Lake	-	..	200 84	1,473 40	1,829 63
Total	1,223,801 98	1,229,483 47	1,463,715 22	1,339,799 56	1,548,972 39
200	CANALS OF NEW YORK.CANALS OF PENNSYLVANIA.
201
Pennsylvania has always been the rival of New York with regard to internal improvements ; and it will therefore be not improper to give a short statement of the canals of that state.
Pennsylvania possesses twelve state canals, extending 601^ miles in length, and two state railroads of 81 and 87 miles respectively, making jointly a distance of 7^0 miles, exclusive of the improvements carried on by private companies.
The following Tables will exhibit the Length and Cost of each Canal, together with the Amount of Tolls received during the last Five Years:
Name.		Length in Miles.	Cost.	
			Dolls.	Cts.
Delaware Division	-	59*	1,238,027	69
Eastern Do.	-	43	1,283*733	46
Juniata Do. -Feeders		132*	2,490,290	13
Western Do.		106*	2,758,937	71
Feeders	-	-	64,255	00
Susquehanna Do. -	-	39	1,039,256	77
West Branch Do. -	-	25*	421,771	00
North Branch Do.	-	55k	1,096,178	34
Wyoming Do.	-	17	342,796	55
Lycoming Do. Feeders Do.		41* 4*	J 1,205,573	77
Beaver Do.	-	80*.	476,401	48
Franklin Line Do.	-	22*	442,558	34
French Creek Do. -	-	23*	441,455	45
Total	-	601*	13,301,235	69202
CANALS OF PENNSYLVANIA.
Amount of Tolls received since 1830.
	Dolls.	Cts.
In 1830	- 27,012	90
1831	- 38,241	20
si 832	- 50,909	57
1833	- 151,419	69
1834	- 309,789	15
1835	- 684,357	77
Total	- 1,261,730	28
Nor have the other states been behindhand with regard to internal improvements of this sort. There was one canal constructed in the state of Maine ; four others in New Hampshire ; four in Massachusetts; two in Connecticut; three in New Jersey ; one in the state of Delaware ; three in Maryland; six in Virginia; three in North Carolina ; six in South Carolina; one in Georgia; two in Alabama; four in Louisiana; and two in the state of Ohio, viz., the “ Ohio Canal,” from Portsmouth on the Ohio to Cleveland on Lake Erie, 307 miles in length with 152 locks, and the “ Miami Canal,” sixty-five miles in length with thirty-two locks ; and there were, besides, eight new canal com-CANALS OF DIFFERENT STATES.
203
panies incorporated by the legislature of that state.
The legislature of the state of Indiana passed a bill in January 1836 providing for a loan of 10,000,000 dollars to be expended in “ improving river navigation and constructing canals, railroads, and turnpike roads.” In consequence of this bill three canals, two railroads, and two macadamised turnpike roads have been commenced in that state and are now in active progress. In the state of Illinois two canal companies were recently incorporated, one of which, with a capital of 7,000,000 dollars, is to construct a canal from Chicago on Lake Michigan, to Ottawa on the Illinois river, distance ninety-five miles. The breadth of this canal is to be thirty-six feet at the bottom, sixty at the surface, and its depth six feet. Thirty-six miles from Chicago the canal must be cut twenty-four miles through solid rock from seven to twenty-eight feet in depth, making this part alone cost 4,000,000 of dollars. The commissioners advertised in July 1836 for 10,000 workmen offering them from twenty-five to thirty dollars (five to six pounds sterling) a month.204 POST OFFICES AND POST ROADS.
The post offices and post roads have increased in the same proportion as the canals and railroads.
f the number of Post )
In the year 1790<	f 75
J	f Offices was )
1800 it was already -	-	903
—-	1810	....	2,300
—	1820	....	4,500
—	1830	....	8,400
The gradual extension of post roads will be best perceived from the following official account, showing the increase of miles in every ten years, from 1790 till 1830 inclusive.
In the year 1790 —	1800
—	1810
—	1820
—	1830
1,875 miles.
- 20,817 —
-	36,406	—
-	7^,492 —
-	115,176	—
The mails are now carried on these routes
(daily or otherwise) 25,869,480 miles per annum ; viz. 16,874,050 in four-horse post-coaches, and two-horse stages ; 7,817,973 miles on horseback, and in sulkies* ; 909,959 miles in steam-boats; and 270,504 in railroad cars.
When we reflect on the multitude and extent
of these improvements, the incredibly short
* A species of light uncovered gig.POST OFFICES AND POST ROADS. 205
time in which they were executed, the high price of labour, and the comparatively small and thinly scattered population of the United States, we shall irresistibly arrive at the conclusion, that in this particular branch of national industry, the Americans have done more than all other nations taken together. Even the rapid improvements in England appear diminutive, when compared to the vastness of American enterprise; and the continent of Europe cannot even furnish a term of comparison.
If the whole population of the United States were engaged in constructing railroads and canals, they would find ample employment in completing those which are now projected or commenced, and might for years be employed in that branch of industry alone. What is truly surprising is that a people, in number scarcely surpassing one third of the population of France, and spread over so large a surface, should in addition to these works find the necessary time for the cultivation and extension of commerce, manufactures, and the mechanic arts! No other nation did at any time engage in such a variety of industrious pursuits, and none can boast in any one of them of a greater rapidity of progress.206
AMOUNT OF POSTAGES,
The Amount of Postages received in the several States during the year 1834, and the Number of Post Offices in that year, were as follows.
States.			Dollars.	Number of Post Offices.
Maine			48,717	446
New Hampshire -	-		23,429	289
Vermont	-	-	26,043	287
Massachusetts -	_	-	172,567	469
Connecticut	-	-	51,604	252
Rhode Island -	-	-	19,002	46
New York		-	430,426	1,687
New Jersey	-	-	29,817	269
Pennsylvania	-	-	343,406	1,148
Delaware -	-	-	6,465	39
Maryland		-	89,235	233
Virginia	-	-	114,554	891
North Carolina		-	38,746	557
South Carolina		-	60,755	300
Georgia	-	-	79,925	360
Alabama -	-	-	50,514	231
Mississippi	-	-	26,450	126
Louisiana	-	-	61,905	72
Tennessee	-	-	43,858	470
Kentucky	-	-	53,987	399
Ohio	-	-	100,652	883
Indiana	-	-	20,835	313
Illinois	-	-	14,789	204
Missouri	-	-	19,518	145
District of Columbia	-	-	17,724	3
Michigan Territory	-	-	12,537	139
Florida	-	-	8,292	51
Arkansas -	-	-	4,100	78
Total	-	-	1,969,852	10,387TRAVELLING ON THE WESTERN RIVERS. 207
The Postages of the principal Cities were as follows:
New York	-	- 192,493 dollars.
Philadelphia -	-	- 118,354 —
Boston	-	- 77,925 —
Baltimore	-	- 62,505 —
New Orleans	-	- 48,840 —
Charleston -	-	- 30,562 —
Cincinnati -	-	- 20,991 —
Richmond -	-	- 20,336 —
Albany	“	- 16,601 —
Total in nine cities		- 588,607 —
(The income from the Post Office is principally spent in establishing new roads and lines of communication, and extending the usefulness of the department.)
The following Table will show the Rate of Travelling on the Mississippi and the Ohio (taken from the Wheeling-Virginia-Gazette).
	Distance	Total	
Up the River.	in Miles.	Distance.	
From Wheeling			Dolls. Cts.
to Wellsburg, Ohio	16	16	0 75
to Steubenville, Ohio	7	23	1 0208 TRAVELLING ON THE WESTERN RIVERS.
Up the River.
to Wellsville, Ohio to Beaver, Pennsylvania -to Pittsburg, Pennsylvania
JDoivn the River,
to Marietta, Ohio to Parkersburgh, Virginia to Point Pleasant to Gallipolis, Ohio to Guyandotte, Virginia -to Portsmouth, Ohio to Maysville, Kentucky -to Ripley, Ohio to Cincinnati, Ohio -to Port William, mouth of
Kentucky
to Madison, Indiana to West Port, Kentucky -to Louisville, Kentucky -to Rome, Indiana to Troy, Indiana to Yellow Banks, Kentucky to Evansville, Indiana to Henderson, Kentucky to Shawneetown, Illinois to Southland, mouth of
Cumberland -to Mouth, Ohio to New Madrid, Missouri to Memphis, Tennessee -to Helena, Arkansas to Vicksburg, Mississippi to Natchez, Mississippi -to New Orleans, Louisiana
Distance in Miles	; Total . Distance	■ Dolls,	Cts.
			
20	43	1	50
26	69	2	50
27	96	3	0
82	82	2	50
10	92	2	50
78	170	5	0
3	173	5	0
37	210	6	0
50	260	7	0
47	307	8	0
13	319	9	0
46	355	10	0
79	434	11	0
13	447	11	0
20	467	12	0
20	487	12	0
100	587	15	0
35	622	15	0
25	647	15	0
40	687	18	0
12	699	18	0
53	752	18	0
63	815	18	0
66	881	20	0
75	956	22	0
150	1,106	25	0
85	1,191	26	0
307	1,498	30	0
110	1,608	30	0
300	1,908	35	0WESTERN RIVERS.	209
These prices of passage include boarding. The fares of deck-passengers are about one fourth of these, the passengers finding themselves. To New Orleans it is still less, being only 8 dollars or about 30s. for a distance of nearly 2,000 miles. The deck is covered and contains berths. The passage to Louisville is performed in two days and a half, and to New Orleans in from eight to ten ; returning about double that time. The ordinary speed is twelve miles an hour down, and six up the river. It must be observed moreover, that there are boats which charge less than the above rates, the price depending upon the number of boats in port, and the abundance or scarcity of passengers.
The liberality with which the prices of passage are fixed ought not to escape the attention of the peruser of the above table. No additional charge is made for carrying a person fifty or sixty miles further, although it may happen, that by so doing he may have “ the benefit of another meal.” Thus the fare from Wheeling to Rome, Indiana (587 miles), is 15 dollars; and from Wheeling to Yellow Banks, Kentucky (sixty miles further), the same. From Wheeling to Evansville, Kentucky (distance 687 miles),
VOL. II.	p210	POLITICAL INFLUENCES
the fare is 18 dollars ; and to Smithland, mouth of the Cumberland (128 miles further), no additional charge is made. The same holds of the distances to Vicksburg and Natchez, in the state of Mississippi.
The increased facilities of intercourse which are thus created between the different states cannot but produce the happiest results. They lessen the expenses of travelling, and enable emigrants from Europe and the eastern states, to proceed south or west at a trifling expenditure of time and money; they enhance the value of real estates throughout the union, by shortening the distances which exist between the towns and country ; they increase commerce and open a market for the produce of the western lands, which would otherwise be beyond the line of natural communication ; they are the means of spreading civilization and learning throughout the country, by bringing the wilderness of the west in contact with the arts and sciences of the borders of the Atlantic; and lastly, the most important of all, they amalgamate the different elements of which the population of the United States is composed to a large homogeneous whole,OF THE FACILITIES OF INTERCOURSE. 211
and strengthen the bond of union between the different states by so interweaving their individual interests, that a separation could not be effected without a severe diminution of prosperity to all. The last two consequences are from their moral and political importance the most desirable of all, and are, of themselves, sufficient to create a permanent interest.
Those who are continually dreading or prophesying the dissolution of the union, and whose fertile imagination is already employed in portioning out the territories of the west, south, east, and north, consider merely the physical inequalities of those states, without reflecting, for one moment, on the moral causes which have a tendency directly the reverse of what they anticipate. One of the reasons which they allege for the impending dissolution, is the vast extent-of territory of the United States, and the consequent diversity of feeling and sentiment created by the difference in the soil and climate, They pretend that the south, the west, and the north have each their peculiar interests, incompatible with the general prosperity of the whole; and that so far from considering themselves as children of one and the same family,
p 2212
POLITICAL INFLUENCES
the inhabitants of the different states cherish a kind of sectional feeling, which is diametrically opposite to the lofty inspirations of national character. I confess myself no partisan to such an opinion, and shall take another opportunity (in the last chapter) of explaining my sentiments on that subject. I shall be satisfied, for the present, to consider the question only as far as it relates to distances.
Distance is a relative idea, and is not properly measured by the number of miles, at which one place is situated from another; but rather by the time which is required to move from one to another. This is so far true, and so popular a view of the subject, that the notion of expressing distance by time has become familiar to all people; the unit of comparison being generally the distance walked in an hour. Thus, in Germany, a traveller will learn that a certain place is situated three hours from another, and in Westphalia two or three pipes, indicating the number of pipes which may be smoked on the way to it.* These numbers are evidently relative ; for a man may increase or slacken his pace, and thereby diminish the time required for
* Kaestners Aufangsgriinde der Mathematick.”OF THE FACILITIES OF INTERCOURSE. 213
accomplishing the distance. If instead of walking he mounts on horseback, the distance will become still less; and so on, in proportion to the velocity with which he proceeds on his way. An object removed half a mile from a lame person is, to him, almost at an infinite distance ; but it would be dreadfully near to the mouth of a cannon. Numbers, in general, convey no positive idea ; because the largest of them may become infinitely small, and the smallest of them infinitely large, in proportion to the units of which they represent the respective aggregates. We judge of the whole physical world not as it is ; but as it appears to our senses, and is capable of affecting our happiness. Thus the universe appears infinite to our finite senses ; because we lack the term of comparison (the common measure) ; but it does not follow from it that to an understanding less limited and finite than our own, it may not bear an approximate ratio, and it is philosophically and mathematically certain that, to the infinite Being, its relation is fixed and invariable.* Thus whatever is calculated to change our relation to the physical
* “ A finite quantity is infinitely large when compared to an infinitely small one; a finite one, infinitely small with
p 3«14
POLITICAL INFLUENCES
world, may actually be said to change the physical world itself, and vice versa. Now I maintain that such a change has taken place in the physical position of the United States; and that, therefore, the people themselves must have changed their relation to the objects around them, and to each other.
To an American the United States can hardly be as large as France appears to a Frenchman ; . the different states being actually less separate and distant from one another than the different departments of that kingdom. An inhabitant of Cincinnati, or of Charleston, is a nearer neighbour to a gentleman residing in New York, than an Alsacian is to a Parisian ; because he is actually less removed from, and comes oftener in contact with him, than is the case between the two inhabitants of France. Whatever difference in manners, customs, and opinions there may exist between them, will have a tendency to be smoothed down by habitual intercourse and exchange of thought; and pre-
regard to one which is infinitely large ; but the ratio between two infinite quantities may be expressed by numbers, and is constant.”*— Tobias Mayer, “ Hohere Analysis—Carnot, u Metaphysique du Calcul infinitesimal*'OF THE FACILITIES OF INTERCOURSE. 215
judices, which are principally founded on ignorance , or an imperfect acquaintance with the motives of others, must at last yield to individual conviction, and the knowledge acquired from observation. How many prejudices which existed between the French and the English have been explained away since the unrestrained intercourse between the two nations! How many Englishmen since the year 18.15 have passed over to France with the expectation of finding a race of dancing monkeys, or ferocious tigers, and have in their stead discovered a polite, chivalrous and highly civilized nation! And how many Frenchmen, on the other hand, have come over to England to behold a people scarcely emerged from barbarism, whose principal amusement consisted in hunting, horse-racing, and cock-fighting, in order to become satisfied of what they have yet to learn in order to equal that people in depth of thought, energy of action, and the wisdom of its legislation. The mutual intercourse between the two nations has acted beneficially on both. Instead of hating one another, with that hatred which characterised the barbarism of their former wars, the people of the two countries have become friends,
p 4216
POLITICAL INFLUENCES
and are now united by the strongest ties which ever connected two nations not speaking the same language. They have learned to respect each other, and to imitate each other’s virtues. The treasures of intellect of the one have become the commonwealth of the other; and their former misguided passions and mutual rancour (which it was the interest of certain politicians to kindle and nourish), have since died away from want of aliment.
But if such were the effects of the increased intercourse of two nations naturally strangers to each other, what may we not hope for with regard to the people of the different states of America, where the same cause operates in a multiplied ratio, joined to an extensive internal commerce which affects all interests, and strongly assisted by the ties of consanguinity, and the charm of one and the same language ? So far from discovering in the progress of America any symptoms of the future dissolution of the union, I can see in it only new pledges of its stability and duration. It grows stronger every year by the increased community of interests; and what the Americans did not wish for when their stakes in the government were divided, theyOF THE FACILITIES OF INTERCOURSE. 217
cannot reasonably desire or promote, when their cause becomes one and the same.
Neither is there any remarkable division of sentiment perceptible in their actions. On the contrary, it is unanimity which characterises all their proceedings. The Americans have nothing to gain, but a great deal to lose, from a separation of the union; and the regulations of their internal commerce are such, that a chaos of confusion, and a total suspension of business, would follow the slightest attempt at so preposterous a measure.
The climate is another cause supposed to act strongly on the minds of men, and to produce lasting national differences.* This undoubtedly does not change with the facilities of intercourse ; but the men who live in it may be able to effect an alteration, and thereby render themselves less subject to its influence. A person who lives six months of the year in one climate, and the remaining six months in another, cannot be said to be subject to the vicissitudes of either; and the same will hold of him who is so little confined to any one place, that it is difficult to
* Montesquieu in his “ Esprit des Lois ” certainly ascribes to it more than its due influence,,218
POLITICAL INFLUENCES
ascertain which is his habitual residence. This is the case with the Americans. Nearly one half of the whole trading population (and this is no inconsiderable portion of the whole,) is constantly engaged in travelling ; and in the summer season, when on account of the water communication travelling becomes cheaper than it is in the winter, or early in the spring, every class of society, men and women, the aged and the young, join in it as a favourite amusement. The Americans seem to know no greater pleasure than that of going on fast, and accomplishing large distances in comparatively short times. Towards autumn, and at the beginning of winter the wealthier population of the north repairs to the south to escape the inclemency of an eastern winter or spring*, and during the hot months of summer the rich planters of the south retaliate upon their brethren to the north, by enjoying the cooling breezes of New England.
This continued motion of the Americans which resembles, on a huge scale, the vibrations of a
* The months of March, April, and even part of May in New- England, are the most trjdng to the constitution, but the fall is beautiful and superior to the same season in Europe.OF THE FACILITIES OF INTERCOURSE. 219
pendulum, is productive of very important results. It saves the southerners from the enervating influence of the excessive heat of their latitudes, and enables the northerners to familiarise themselves with the south. It acts as a constant moderator between them, and this the more so as the facilities of travelling increase, and the expenses incidental to them diminish. The constant intercourse of the southerners with the inhabitants of the north, and of the latter with the former, and the consequent necessity of conforming to the peculiarities of both climes, prevents the formation of those habits which belong exclusively to either, and is eminently calculated to diminish those moral and physical differences, which the remoteness or the vicinity of the equator seems to have permanently established among men.
Thus, in whatever light we may view them, whether we consider their physical or moral influence, their effects on civilization, or their promotion and encouragement of commerce and every branch of industry, we shall see in the internal improvements of the United States one of the most powerful means of producing harmony and good fellowship ampngst the different states,NULLIFICATION
S20
and must therefore hail them as the harbingers of peace, and that friendship, which I am confident, will last, as long as liberty shall find an asylum in the legislative halls of America. If freedom should once be lost, if the United States should fall a prey to some victorious enemy, if an ambitious faction should succeed in enslaving the people and directing the national efforts and energies to their own sordid ends, then it matters not what relative position the different states may assume : of a parcel of slaves it is immaterial which is foremost or hindmost in the ranks, or whether they are all chained alike to the yoke. But as long as the people are sovereign, the prospects of the country will remain unclouded ; and the union will be preserved notwithstanding the puerile declamations of those who would be the most inactive in time of danger, as they are now the most apprehensive in time of peace.
But has not, it will be asked, the union been already in danger, at the late question of the tariff? To this question I would resolutely reply in the negative; the union was not in danger. The nullification doctrine of South Carolina was the result of a fever produced byOF SOUTH CAROLINA.	221
imprudent exposures, which has since yielded to the proper remedies ; hut which did not threaten the continuance of the union any more than a transient head-ache the life of a robust young man. It merely shows that prudence is necessary, even to the strongest constitution; and that in the terms of an old English adage “ an ounce of preventive is worth a pound of cure.” Now that the sickness is passed, the Americans have time to reflect on its origin, and the best means of preventing its occurrence in the future. If it should come again ; it will not find them unprepared ; but they are too wise a people to fall twice into the same error. I consider the late proceedings in South Carolina, and the subsequent measures adopted by Congress, as a timely warning, which has brought the different states to a consciousness of their true position, and the dangers which await them if they swerve for one moment from the true intent of their compact. The American union has now nothing to fear from a similar attack; and is just as much more secured against all such evils than before the tariff question was started, as the mariner who is prepared for a storm, isTHE SYSTEM OP
safer than he who is only accustomed to sail with light breezes.
The internal improvements of the United States have for a time been the rallying cry of a certain party, and they have also had their champion in the person of Mr. Henry Clay, senator from the state of Kentucky. To understand this matter properly, it must be remembered, that there does not, nor ever did, exist a party in the United States, averse to internal improvements generally ; and the line of demarcation, therefore, consisted solely in the means by which the different parties intended to carry their plans into effect. Mr. Clay’s friends held that the surplus revenue of the United States had best be spent in internal improvements (which more or less had to benefit individual states), while the present administration saw in it a means of corrupting the elections, by bribing the people with the people’s money. Both parties were heartily in favour of improvements j but the one wished to employ for that purpose the money of the government, while the other were willing to leave them to the enterprise of individual states, and to tax only those with the expense of them, who, fromINTERNAL IMPROVEMENT.	223
their proximity, were most benefited by the measure. Whatever glory may be attached to the doctrine of national improvements of Mr, Clay, that of the administration is equally strongly recommended by good sense and national justice.
Mr. Clay’s principles would have enabled the government to act powerfully on the political sentiments of individual states, and was too nearly allied with the system of centralization not to excite the apprehensions of the people. Spending the surplus revenue in the construction of national roads, might have amounted to an indirect taxation of the people, and would have delegated to Congress a power, which, by the constitution, it was not intended to possess. The least preference shown to any individual state (and it would have been impossible to benefit them all in the same ratio) would have roused the jealousy of the others; and as the number of those whom it would have been in the power of government to benefit must needs have been smaller than that whom it must necessarily have disobliged, Congress itself would eventually have lost a portion of its popularity.
It would have been exceedingly imprudent, in the president or the senate of the United States,£24	THE NATIONAL road.
to take a particular state into favour, or to extend their protection even to the weakest and most needy of them. Any such guardianship would have affected the independence of the individual states, and could hardly have failed to bring them into collision with the general government. Besides, it is very doubtful whether the great end for which these sacrifices were to be made, would have been actually realized. It remains to be proved that the paternal care of the general government would accomplish more, than the pride and emulation of individual states; and that people, in general, are more willing to preserve and improve what is given them, than what they acquire by their own individual exertion.
It is a principal of the New Englanders to tax the community with the support of common schools; because “ people are more willing to send their children to school when they pay for it, than if education were to be had at no expenseand I am strongly inclined to extend the same process of reasoning to the grand idea of national improvements. But be this as it may, experience has shown that, in America, national undertakings of this kindTHE NATIONAL ROAD.
225
are less apt to succeed, and less gratefully received by the states whom they are intended to benefit, than individual enterprise, in which they are obliged to invest their own money. The great western road has been an immense expense to the government, but met with so little favour and co-operation on the part of the states through which it runs, that the latter could hardly be prevailed upon to charge themselves with the repairs of the part which was finished, much less to do any thing in aid of its construction or continuation. When Congress proposed to gather a toll for the purpose of defraying the expenses of the necessary repairs, Pennsylvania and some of the other states violently opposed the measure, on the ground that it would compromise their sovereignty. It was therefore abandoned, and in its stead an additional 300,000 dollars (¿#’60,000 sterling) voted out of the treasury of the United States to finish the road, and surrender it to the individual states, to keep and use it as they may. This apparent laxity of the Americans to seize upon advantages offered them by others, evinces a disposition diametrically opposite to Malvolio’s,
“ Some are born to greatness; some acquire
VOL. II.
Q226
LOW RATES OF PASSAGE.
greatness ; and some have greatness thrust upon them.” The Americans are altogether for acquiring greatness, and are therefore least apt to run mad, and expiate their follies in chains.
The increased facilities of intercourse, and especially the use of steam, are yet productive of another happy result, scarcely less deserving attention. The reduced expenses of travelling enable thousands of persons, who would otherwise be obliged to remain stationary, to try their fortunes abroad, or to journey for information. Life consists in motion ; and, as far as that goes, the United States present certainly the most animated picture of universal bustle and activity of any country in the world. Such a thing as rest or quiescence does not even enter the mind of an American, and its presence would to him be actually insupportable. The rates of fares and passages are so low, and so well adapted to the means of the great bulk of the population, that there is scarcely au individual so reduced in circumstances, as to be unable to afford his “ dollar or so,” to travel a couple of hundred miles from home, “ in order to see the country and the improvements which are going on.” On board the steam-boats, meals are generally included inADVANTAGES OF TRAVELLING.
227
the price of passage, which daring a certain part of the season is so reduced by opposition, as hardly to pay for the board alone ; in which case it is almost as cheap, or cheaper, to travel than to stay at home.
The influence of these proceedings on the minds of the labouring classes is incredible. Instead of being confined to the narrow circle of their own acquaintances, and occupied chiefly with the contemplation of the steeple of their own native village, they have the same opportunity of widening the sphere of their knowledge by travelling and personal observation of the manners of different people, which in other countries is enjoyed by gentlemen of moderate fortune, and from which the same order in Europe is almost entirely excluded. The absence of post-chaises or any other vehicles exclusively for the conveyance of wealthy travellers, compels the latter to accomplish their journeys in company with such men as they may chance to meet on the road; and if these happen to be mechanics or traders, an exchange of thought and sentiment takes place, which is often profitable to both parties. The labouring classes, which, in this manner, are brought in contact with the more polite
q 2228	AMERICAN TRAVELLERS.
orders of society, can hardly fail to improve in manners ; and the higher and wealthier classes, who in most countries are totally ignorant of the sentiments and wants of the lower orders, receive, in turn, much valuable instruction which, as it passes from one individual to another, is sure of finally reaching the halls of Congress. A mutual loss and compensation takes place, and the facilities of travelling are again employed in equalising conditions.
Much has been said on the anomalies of conduct of American travellers, especially on board of steam-boats ; and unjust comparisons have been drawn between them and the passengers in European boats, sufficiently prejudicial to the former. No allowance, however, seems to have been made for the different materials composing these companies, and the peculiar usages established on board of American boats. Were the passengers in European steamers composed chiefly of small traders, hawkers, journeymen mechanics and operatives of all descriptions, and permitted to sit down at the same table with the polite and wealthier classes, to partake of dainties which they only know from hearsay, without any additional charge, I, for my part, would not wish to wit-AMERICAN STEAM-BOATS.
229
ness “the solecisms of deportment” of which they might be guilty. Add to this a liberal quotum of brandy, which on board of some of the steamboats is still handed round*, to be used at discretion, and it will be easy to fancy a picture which would more than shock the tender sensitiveness of an English tourist. When these circumstances are taken into consideration, it will appear that what English writers have not said about American travellers, is the highest encomium they can possibly bestow on their conduct; and that notwithstanding the severity of their criticism on “ American manners,” they were not aware of the class of society with whom they journeyed. Their negative reasoning goes further than their positive assertion, and furnishes the best proof that dress, language and manners of the inferior orders of Americans, partake so much of the characteristic of education, that Europeans mistake them for those of gentlemen.
The American steam-boats on the western rivers, and along the coast of the Atlantic,
* The temperance societies have abolished this custom on board of most of the steam-boats.
Q, 3230
AMERICAN STEAM-BOATS.
are of a very superior construction, both as regards speed and elegance of accommodation for passengers. They are now principally built on the low-pressure principle; but have generally engines of very great power. The ladies’ cabin, which is usually on deck is separated from that of the gentlemen, and the latter have no admission to it except by the consent of all the occupants. At breakfast, dinner and tea, the ladies are invited down to take their seats at the head of the table (meals being generally served in the gentlemen’s cabin), after which the gentlemen are permitted to take theirs ; and the usual ceremonies being passed, active operations are commenced on all sides with an activity of spirit, which allows no one to remain for a long time an indifferent spectator of the scene.
After dinner the ladies accompanied by their respective gentlemen are seen walking off to their apartment, while those of the latter, who have no such sweet incumbrance, indulge in the luxury of a cigar, or take a solitary stroll on deck. Few are waiting for the pastry or the desert, though both are generally of the best kind *, because it would oblige them to remain too long in a state of quiescence which is con-AMERICAN STEAM-BOATS.	Q31
trary to their nature, and incompatible with their notions of comfort.
The great advantages of American boats over those of Europe consist chiefly in their much greater proportions and consequently larger accommodations ; in the elegance of their furniture, the cheapness of the fares, and the great rapidity with which they accomplish their passages. Many of them contain state and drawing rooms, and all the conveniences to be found in the best hotels. One or two waiting women are always in attendance on the ladies, while the gentlemen are blessed with the indispensable attendance of a barber. Some of the larger boats are ornamented with a piano and other musical instruments ; and in order that a “ feast of reason ” may not be wanting, a circulating library awaits the pleasure, principally of the ladies ; the gentlemen being on such occasions either satisfied with the “ news of the day ” or deriving more substantial comfort from a well-furnished bar, containing the juice of the grapes of all climes, together with a little of the less flavoured brandy and whiskey. On the western waters there are temperance boats, which furnish no such articles j and it is more than probable
q 4232
FUBLICrHOUSES. ,
that the progress of temperance will banish them also from on board the steamers of the Atlantic states.
The public-houses, with the exception of those in the large cities, are frequently owned by the proprietors of the road, or kept by persons interested in the steam-boat or railroad companies who contract for the conveyance of passengers. This adds much to the comfort and expedition of travelling. Instead of being tormented by the officious offerings of an hundred cards, as is the case in Europe, an American traveller, on his arrival at a stopping-place, is spared the trouble, of inquiring for the best inn or hotel, by being at once carried to that which is prepared for his reception. Every thing there has its regular price; so much for dinner, so much for supper, so much for the use of a room, &c., so that it is easy to calculate to the uttermost penny the expenses of a journey of many hundred miles. No head waiter, waiter, chambermaid, porter, &c. are impeding his progress on the ensuing morning, by throwing themselves between his pocket and the boat or coach; but, on the contrary, he finds, on rising, his luggage already conveyed to the starting-place, and the strictest injunctionsPUBEIC-HOUSES,
233
given to the servants, not to make any demands on the passengers. The only money given to servants on such occasions, is about 4d. for cleaning boots and brushing clothes, and even this is left at the discretion of the traveller. A very different custom however, prevails in the hotels of the large cities. Many of the servants there, being bred in Europe, expect at least, if they do not actually demand, certain remunerations for their services, besides the wages which they receive from their employers ; and in the city of New York, one is hardly welcome without them. But then they are not nearly as exorbitant as either in England or France, and depend still, principally on the good-will of the donor.
The charges made in the hotels comprise generally board and lodging, and average from one dollar (4s. 6d.) to two dollars and fifty cents (11$. 3d.') per day. In the country they are much lower ; good boarding and lodging being obtained for three or four dollars (from 13s. 6d. to 18s.) per week. In the interior and the western states the price of board and lodging is still less; averaging from one dollar fifty cents to two dollars per week, or about Is. 3d. per day. No wine, of course, is included in these234	PUBLIC-HOUSES.
prices; but there are four good meals served every day, viz. breakfast, dinner, tea and supper, at each of which a profusion of meat is brought on the table, and in many instances cider, beer, and even brandy are handed round without any additional charge.
The hotels in the large cities contain besides the bar a ladies’ and a gentlemen’s drawingroom, a number of sitting and smoking rooms for the gratuitous use of the boarders, a newsroom, and one or two large dining-rooms. These are all elegantly fitted up and supply, in a measure, the want of private parlours, which áre not easily obtained at an American hotel, and for which the charges are about as high, or higher in proportion, than in England. The table d’hote contains all the luxuries of the season, in the shape of viands, condiments and pastries which are to be found in the market, dressed partly in the French and partly in the English fashion, together with the fruits of the country, and such supplements as are imported from Europe and India. In the summer a profusion of ice keeps water, hock and champaign in a state of delightful coolness, and becomes as indispensable an article of consumption as fuelBOARDING-HOUSES.
235
is in the winter, or beef and bread at every season of the year. Dinners served at private rooms, or served at particular hours, are nearly as expensive as in London; but are seldom called for by native Americans. Wines in general, and of all kinds, are good, but dear: the best Madeira from three to ten and twelve dollars (13s. 6d. to 45s. and 54s.) a bottle; hock from two to three dollars (10s. to 13s. 6d.); claret the same as hock, sherry from one dollar to two dollars and a half (4s. 6d. to 9s.), and champaign from two to three dollars (4s. 6d. to 9s.). Port is little drank in the United States. English porter or ale is generally 50 cents or 2s. 6d. per bottle.—The high price of wines in the American hotels is the more surprising as claret and hock pay but a small duty, and may be procured at a wine-merchant’s at about one half or one fourth the prices I have named. But then every charge being low, the only chance of profit of an inn-keeper in the United States is on the wines, of which the Americans profess to be the best judges, and for which therefore they are required to pay in proportion to their knowledge.
One of the peculiarities in the lives of Americans consists in the practice of boarding. Single236
BOARDING-HOUSES.
and married men, and »whole families prefer this mode of life to taking lodgings by themselves, or going to the expense of housekeeping. Whatever inconvenience may be attached to this habit, it is nevertheless commendable on the score of economy, and to a newly married couple is the means of saving a number of servants. Many young men who cannot afford renting a house (which in America is very expensive), are in this manner enabled to marry a little sooner than their means would otherwise allow them, and find in their new state an additional stimulus to industry. Some of the boardinghouses are fashionable, and are kept by ladies of very good families, whose reduced circumstances have compelled them to resort to this means of procuring an honest subsistence. An American lady whose husband dies without making a provision for her, or who is suddenly reduced to poverty by reverses of fortune, finds a ready expedient in keeping a school or a boardinghouse, to extricate herself from the most urgent embarrassment. Moral and physical aliment is sometimes extended by the same hands, in which case the establishment is termed a boarding school.BOARDING-HOUSES.
$>37
The accommodations in most boarding-houses are good, and there are some of them established on the plan of regular hotels. The price of board averages from one half to two thirds of that of the regular inns, besides saving the enormous expense of wine, which either need not be called for, or is furnished at a much lower rate than at taverns. Gentlemen may also drink their own wine, in which case little or no charge is made for corkage.
Good board for mechanics may be procured, in New York, or any other city on the Atlantic, at from two to three dollars per week (9s. to 13s. 6d.) ; and, in the interior it may be obtained still cheaper. The wages of a journeyman mechanic in those cities average from one dollar to two and even three dollars a day (4s. 6d. to 9s. and 13s. 6d.), and are therefore often five or six times as high as their living. A single day’s labour is often sufficient to support them a whole week; enabling them to save the earnings of the remaining days, or to employ them for other purposes. This I believe cannot be said of the same class of men in any other country} there being none in which the operatives are possessed of estates238	AMERICAN HOSPITALITY.
of three, four, and five hundred pounds, as in the United States. It explains also why the American operatives, with very few exceptions, have carried their points when they struck for higher wages. They could hold out longer without work than their employers could well spare them. They possess property and with it the advantages of credit.
Having thus enlarged on boarding-houses and taverns, I would willingly to say a few words on those excellent accommodations which the Americans, and especially the inhabitants of the southern states, offer so liberally to all strangers who feel disposed to accept them. I mean the good offices tendered by their hospitality. The houses of the people in the northern and eastern states are not generally constructed for the reception of strangers (although this is by no means a characteristic of their dwellings), and their kind feelings, therefore, confine themselves usually to invitations to dinners and parties ; but the house of every southerner contains a number of apartments, solely fitted up for the reception of guests : and so rigid are they in performing the duties of hospitality, that even on leaving their estates for the east or the north, they pro-AMERICAN HOSPITALITY.	239
vide for the strangers, whom chance may happen to bring under their roofs whilst they are absent.
A traveller will always be offered the use of a good room, an excellent larder, and a well-stocked cellar on the estate of a planter, whether the owner he at home or abroad. No letter of introduction is required for that purpose ; it is sufficient that the stranger should have the exterior and manners of a well-bred man : it matters not from what country he comes, or what place he calls his home. A person may travel with his whole family and a numerous retinue, and will still be welcomed by his hospitable entertainers. This custom has made inns and taverns in the southern states almost useless ; and their accommodations, therefore, are much inferior to similar establishments of the north. But a southern planter will be sorry if a traveller take lodgings at an inn, while his own plantation is near ; and will often wait on him in person, to invite him to the cheer of his house.
Nor is it merely in the extension of hospitality, and, in general, in the friendly reception of strangers, that Americans evince the kindness of their dispositions. They are ready to240	AMERICAN HOSPITALITY.
assist foreigners with their counsel, with their influence, and in many' instances, with their fortunes. They are patient in their explanations, indefatigable in their services, and, of all people in the world, the most ready to make allowances for national and individual peculiarities. I know no country where a well-educated foreigner could be so certain of an honourable reception as in the United States of America, or where he would so soon be apt to make acquaintances and friends. He will not remain there long without forming some tie or attachment; and must be unfortunate indeed, if he cannot make it his home. Whatever be the motives of persons in visiting the United States, few will quit them without cherishing a grateful remembrance of their hospitable inhabitants.SLAVERY.
241
CHAPTER IV.
THE SOUTHERN PLANTERS.---THEIR RELATION TO THE
INHABITANTS OF THE NORTH.-SLAVERY.
The southern states of America have so many distinct features, and their interests are, by Europeans, supposed to be so much opposed to those of the north, that an inquiry into their peculiar situation, and the feelings and sentiments of their inhabitants, cannot but be interesting even to an English reader. The south and the north have, in all countries, been considered as natural enemies to each other, and an apparent reconciliation between them as resting on no permanent basis. With regard to the southern and northern states of America this natural enmity seems to be fostered and increased by the introduction of negro slavery, the life and existence of one, and the dread and horror of the other party.
Slavery in the northern states has been attacked with every weapon which morality,
R
VOL. II.242
SLAVERY.
religion, politics, superstition and revenge could forge; whilst the inhabitants of the south have been defending themselves with the anguish of despair, and that unanimity of sentiment, which a sense of their common danger inspires. The contest is still going on and, in its ultimate consequences, is supposed to threaten the union. There are those who prophecy an unavoidable dissolution of it in less than twenty years ; while others, in their zeal to anticipate events, will not suffer a delay of ten •, and there is a class of religious fanatics who would wish the crisis still nearer at hand. They seem to have a peculiar predilection in favour of three grand divisions of the United States j viz., the north, the west, and the south, which, it seems, would best suit their conception of national grandeur.
I do not confess myself converted by either of these doctrines ; but, on the contrary, maintain that the union of the United States will last as long as their individual prosperity, the period of the decline of which, I trust, is at this moment, beyond the power of human calculation. I believe it as, remote as the downfall of Great Britain, an event on which the continental politicians have speculated for more than twoSLAVERY.
-243
centuries, without extricating themselves from the puzzle j and which they supposed to be prepared by the national debt of England in the same manner as the American catastrophe by the fatal influence of the negroes. Contrary to their expectations, however, they have seen England’s power increase, and every new page of her history proclaim her national renown ; while the military chieftain who threatened her peace, was hurled from his proud elevation, with the same overwhelming fatality, which had favoured his ill-boding progress. The destinies of England seemed to be under the protection of a special providence, which strengthened her leaders in the battle and the cabinet, as if the cause or humanity had been identified with that of her freedom. Nor was it otherwise. England was the avenger of Europe, as she is now the only protector of liberty in whose honour the nations may trust possessing the will and the power to oppose the incursions of barbarism.
America is labouring in the same cause. She too is wedded to freedom, notwithstanding the introduction of slavery and the denunciations ox bigoted partisans. But her freedom, her honour, her power, and her existence are explicitly
R 2M4
INFLUENCE OF SLAVERY
pledged in the union. If this palladium of her liberty should once be lost or destroyed, peace would no longer dwell with her; the different states would become mutual oppressors of each other, and revive the history of Italy in the middle ages with its horrors and bloodshed. Internal commerce would be burthened with onorous duties; the mouths of rivers would be shut to the enterprise of merchants, and industry in all its branches groan under exorbitant taxes. The expenses of government would be multiplied in an hundred-fold ratio, while the national credit would die with- the national pledge. Each state would have to maintain its standing army ; for the first division being made, the subdivisions would follow, and create the instruments of tyranny. The lofty patriotism of Americans, which now embraces a world extending from one ocean to the other, would shrink into a local attachment; and their minds, now expanded with ideas of national progress, would contract into the sordid compass of unworthy prejudices.
These awful consequences of a separation of the union are known to every American, and there is no offset to them in any most distant advantage, which one or more individual statesON THE UNION.
245
might hope to derive from it. I cannot be persuaded, therefore, that it will ever be in the power of any one man, or set of men, to induce the inhabitants of a particular district to secede from (revolt against) the union, unless a case should occur, in which it were physically impossible for that district to comply with the rigour of the laws. In this case the oppressed party would be reduced to the mournful alternative of choosing between immediate destruction, or a more remote but not less certain death and ruin. But then it would not be the rebellious district, but the majority of Congress which would have passed such unnatural laws, which would have infringed upon the social compact, and dissolved the union theoretically, by whatever physical or moral force they might succeed in maintaining it.
But even in this case we might suppose the majority, which is capable of enacting these laws sufficiently strong to enforce them, even to the total ruin of the injured party. For unless that majority were overwhelming, redress might be hoped for from a change of opinion, and the injury borne with patience; or the law itself would have too little moral force to be executed
r 3M6	INFLUENCE OF SLAVERY
with that rigour, which nothing but the consent of all parties could justify in a democratic republic.
I know of no national question, capable of producing this eifect, unless it be a controversy on the abolition of slavery, on which subject Congress has no more power to legislate than on any other belonging to the internal government of the states; and from which, therefore, it must ever refrain, if the dissolution of the union is not to begin at the capitol.
The question of the tariff does not bear the smallest resemblance to it; for it was at least one in which all the states were interested; though, perhaps, not in the same equal proportion which a strict adherence to justice might have rendered desirable. Few financial measures can operate alike on all states ; but the sympathy for the suffering party can, on that occasion, never amount to a direct opposition to the law: unless it were established that the power of repealing this law has been taken away from the people, and the hope thereby lost of obtaining legitimate redress.
No such apprehensions were entertained with regard to the tariff of the United States; and,ON THE UNION.	247
on this account the conduct of South Carolina was generally condemned, though her grievances were readily redressed by the justice and good sense of the nation. Neither would the doctrine of nullification have spread in South Carolina itself, if the people in that state had not unfortunately believed that the law of the tariff was but the precursor of others still more oppressive, and intended to interfere with their slaves. The inhabitants of that state had, in this respect, previously suffered from the undue interference of northerners*, and their feelings, therefore, were in a morbid state of excitement, which required but little additional injury to burst into open indignation,
If the south could be assured that the north would never interfere with their slaves, all fears of dissension would vanish; for there is not one single subject capable of being brought before Congress which could operate so unequally on the different states, or injure a portion of them beyond the possibility of redress. I do not believe the south will ever secede from the
* By itinerant preachers and publishers of incendiary -pamphlets.
R 4MS
SITUATION OF
union unless the north drive them away from it, which can hardly be their intention or policy. Such a campaign on the south can never become generally popular ; because it is as unprovoked as unjust, and could at best but distress the victors. It would be a war on the rights and privileges of others, without adding to the number of their own.
But I have anticipated the subject, and will no doubt, be considered as an advocate of the principle of slavery. Nothing, however, can be further from my thoughts. Slavery cannot be defended on philosophical or religious grounds; but where it once exists, it is but reasonable to look to the proper means by which it is to be abolished; and not to choose those which, without advancing the moral condition of slaves, ruin and destroy their proprietors. The question admits of three distinct considerations ; viz. the legal, the political, and the moral. Let us begin with the legal one.
The slaves in the southern states are the property of the planters; a kind of property which is not transferrable, except amongst themselves ; and which would be of no value to the inhabitants of the northern states. When theTHE SOUTHER# PLANTERS.	249
northern states emancipated their slaves, it was really because the expense of maintaining them was greater than the profits obtained from their labour; and because the same kind of work could be obtained as cheap, or cheaper, by hiring the services of the whites. The negroes, moreover, are the foundation of every other species of property in the southern states: for without them real estate would be of no value ; as it is physically proved that neither the climate nor the soil will ever admit of the independent labour of the whites. It is evident then, that if the negroes be emancipated, they must be retained to cultivate the plantations, and the proprietors obliged to hire them; which amounts to paying interest on their own capital. This single point presents at once three formidable obstacles to the abolition of slavery.
1. They constitute a species of property which the planters cannot dispose of for any valuable consideration, and which, therefore, must be paid for, by the liberators, by means of voluntary contributions or taxations.* The amount of this
* I have not yet heard of the amount which the abolitionists of the northern states have subscribed for this£50
SITUATION OF
property is immense; as it may be computed at more than half the value of all real estate in the United States •, the southern land being on account of its productions, and especially those of cotton and rice, more valuable than any other in the country. The capital invested in the growth of cotton alone, was estimated at eight hundred millions of dollars, or one hundred and sixty millions pounds sterling.* *
£dly. If the southern planters were deprived of their negroes, they would be entirely left without support. They cannot themselves cultivate the soil on account of the climate; neither could they in that case hire labour, unless the means of doing so were furnished them ; because by taking away their negroes, their property and their credit would at once be destroyed; and they are neither by education nor habit prepared for any other occupation in life.
3dly. It would be impossible for them to retain the free negroes on their estates unless an exorbitant price be paid for their labour; for they
purpose; but feel quite certain it falls yet short of ¿£20,000,000 sterling.
* Compare pages 140 and 141, Chap. III.THE SOUTHERN PLANTERS.
251
naturally prefer any other employment, especially that of house servants, to field-labour in any of the states. The cultivation of the soil they deem more irksome and tedious than almost any other human occupation; and they would have the means of emigrating to the north. The planters, therefore, would be involved in additional loss 5 because it would be impossible for them to produce cotton, rice, sugar, &c. as cheap as these articles are obtained in other parts of the world ; and they would not even be certain of producing them at all. It would consequently be necessary to compel the negroes to remain, which is equally impossible in an open country, and in states where the negroes are more numerous than the whites.
Here we see at once the immense advantage of position which the British possessions in the West Indies enjoy over the southern states of America. The negroes cannot emigrate thence to other fertile countries and obtain a higher price for their labour ; and in case they should threaten to leave the plantations in a body, a military and naval force could more easily frustrate their designs on an island, than on theORIGIN OF SLAVERY
252
continent, where the states are only separated from one another by imaginary boundary lines. Thus, from the simple consideration of property, it appears that the abolition of slavery in the southern states of America would amount to a spoliation of the property of the planters, together with the exclusion of the means by which property may be acquired.
But this is not all. To understand the whole force of this argument we must inquire in what manner the southern planters became possessed of that property ; in what manner they have retained it, and what right the inhabitants of other states have, to make that property the subject of legislation.
Slavery, we shall find, was almost forced upon the southern planters. Its introduction in Virginia served to increase the commerce of the mother country by augmenting the produce of the colonies. A premium, therefore, was held out to slave ships; and the negroes being once introduced in one state, the inhabitants of the others were obliged to imitate the example, if they wished to make their plantations as productive as those of their, neigh-IN THE UNITED STATES.
253
bours.# The settlers who came after them and chose the southern states for their residence, proceeded thither in consideration of the prospects held out to them by the introduction of slaves. For unless they had been promised the undisturbed possession of negroes, they might have invested their capital more profitably in the northern and western states, where they would have been able to increase it by their own labour.t
Many settlements in the southern states were effected under the promise of slavery : it was a conditio sine qua non in the outset; and now
* Previous to the revolutionary war, the assembly of South Carolina passed a law prohibiting the further importation of slaves; but it was disallowed by England.
f The climate of South Carolina is such, that during the hot months of summer the planters are obliged to retreat to the cities, though these be infected with the yellow fever; because the fever which rages in the country (on the plantations) is still more dreaded and fatal. At the commencement of the warm season, therefore, the wealthier planters travel to the north, while men of moderate fortunes retreat to the cities or pine-barrens, which remain exempt from the epidemic. I have known wealthy planters who had made thirty or forty trips to the north (of 600 miles each) without feeling the inconvenience of their annual passage.%54i	ORIGIN OF SLAVERY
that their property is invested and bears interest, they are called upon to surrender it without being compensated for the loss!
The attempt to cultivate the southern soil without the assistance of negro slaves was made in the settlement of Georgia ; but did not succeed, and the British government therefore was obliged to concede to that state also the right of introducing slaves.
But what position did the southern states assume with regard to those of the north during the revolutionary war ? Did they not join the northern states on this condition, that the north should not interfere with their internal regulations of government ? Was the slave-question not implicitly implied in this clause ? Did the north not solemnly agree to this stipulation ?— The southern states would never have joined the bold measures of Massachusetts, if they had not been promised the undisturbed possession of their rights and privileges, which had been granted to them in their charter by the Kings of Great Britain. They could not have been supposed to join the other states in an attempt to resist arbitrary taxation, and suffer themselves to beIN THE UNITED STATES.
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despoiled of their property by their own brethren ! Without the co-operation of the south, and especially that of Virginia, which at that time was, with Massachusetts, the most powerful province of America and subsequently produced the ablest statesmen to preside over the councils of the republic, it is more than doubtful whether the northern states would have been able to withstand the power of England, and establish an independent government. But it is highly probable that if the south had remained faithful to the cause of the king, their rights and privileges would not soon have been taken away from them ; and if Parliament had agreed not to interfere with their internal regulations of government, it is not to be supposed that they would have been molested in the quiet possession of their property.
The British provinces on the continent of America were always more independent of the mother country than the islands of the West Indies. Some states enjoyed almost sovereign power and, with the exception of the Navigation Act, which prevented them from trading directly with any other country but England, enjoyed all the privileges of indepen-256	INCAPACITY OP CONGRESS
dent states. The southern states were, at first, exempted from the heavy denunciations which the British Parliament hurled against the rebellious province of Massachusetts, with a special view to separate the south from the north; even some of the obnoxious taxes were repealed: and yet the south clung to the north with all the attachment of a sister, freely sacrificing her wealth and her children for the protection of the liberties of the union. This was done at the commencement of the struggle, and subsequently to the declaration of independence.
The inhabitants of the south had greater sacrifices to make during the revolutionary war than those of the north or east, and their position was far more precarious. The king’s party in the southern states was powerful, and the horror of a civil war added to their resistance against Britain. Their coast, too, was more exposed and undefended, and their situation rendered doubly perilous by the proximity of the Indians, and their own slaves. If, at that time, the inhabitants of the south could have dreamt of an interference with their domestic institutions, they would surely have preferred remaining under the protection of England, to joining such dan-TO LEGISLATE ON SLAVERY.	25?
gerous friends in America. But not the least symptom of such an intention was manifested by the north. Congress was only to have the right of regulating commerce, declaring war or concluding peace, raising troops for the national defence of the country, and establishing a navy for the same purpose. The right of interfering with the internal regulations of the states was expressly denied to it, and consequently also the right of interfering with the slaves. This incapacity on the part of the general government to legislate on the subject of slavery has lately been corroborated by a large majority of Congress, which, I trust, will postpone the question of arbitrary interference indefinitely, and destroy the hopes of the abolitionists.
But I think the northern states have yet another duty to perform. They ought to imitate Congress in pronouncing their individual incapacity to interfere with the regulations of the south, and add to it an expression of public opinion on the unlawful interference of the abolitionists with the fundamental laws of the union. Any attempt to compel the south to renounce the systenj of slavery, either by encouraging the slaves to oppose the wijl ,pf yon. n.	s258
INCAPACITY OF CONGRESS
their masters, or obliging the latter to surrender their rights to the will and pleasure of the majority of the north, would be tantamount to an assumption of sovereignty over the southern states, contrary to the original compact by which they are admitted as equal and independent. It would be a most violent usurpation of power and jurisdiction incompatible with the federal constitution. It would be giving liberty to the negroes by trampling on the rights of the whites ; or, which is the same, reducing the inhabitants of the south to subjects by elevating their slaves to a sordid equality with the black servants of the north. The north would in this case be the aggressor ; not the south, who would but defend their own rights, and the principles of their original compact.
The different states of the United States are as independent of one another, as any two sovereign powers in Europe; and the north, therefore, has no more right to interfere with the laws of the south, than England has to demand of France the emancipation of her colonial slaves, because the government of Britain has emancipated the negroes in the West Indies,TO LEGISLATE ON SLAVERY.
259
On the question of abstract right therefore, the pretensions of the abolitionists are ill-founded. Historical origin, acquired and paid for privileges, and the most solemn obligations of contract are on the side of the planters, while nothing but ideal justice, without the least regard to the means by which that justice is to be obtained, seems to second the views of the former. An extension of franchise to the negroes effected by such means as the abolitionists propose, would be slavery to the white inhabitants of the south, and only serve to redress a theoretical wrong, which is scarcely felt by the injured party, by the most flagrant injustice to those, who know and are jealous of their rights.
I am fully aware there are those whose motto is “ reason is older than law,” and who maintain that no right can be acquired, unless it be founded on justice, even if an hundred generations should have had possession of it, and abused it to the prejudice of others. To this objection, which is purely philosophical and not legal, I would only remark that abstract reason never founded or preserved a state, and that according to this motto the very institution of government is an act of philosophical injustice. Do not the
s 2260	LEGAL CONSIDERATIONS
individuals who unite to form a state make a contract in which they bind their posterity? Have they a philosophical right to do so ? Do they not relinquish certain rights which belong to them as men, in order to give power to the abstract person which they call the state or the government ? — Do they not often sacrifice their own individual prosperity to that abstract person ? — And are not these sacrifices unequal when compared to the benefits which accrue from them to the different members of society ? Is not a state itself a surrogate for reason, established to act as a mediator between absolute, philosophical right, and the means by which that right is to be secured ?
Whenever a question of abstract justice arises, the sequel, by what means can it be obtained ? must follow ; though I am willing to admit, that the best state or government is that, which possesses the best means of obtaining philosophical justice. In the variation and adaptation of these means consist the different changes of government: the philosophical rights are always the same and invariable, and must remain so to the end of time.ON SLAVERY.
261
From the very definition of a state then, it follows that mere philosophical justice must be sacrificed, when the government lacks the means of administering it; or when the means devised for that purpose are in direct opposition to other rights still more precious and clearly established. No right can grow from an absolute wrong; and the act which claims to be just must not be accomplished by injustice.
Neither is the question of slavery, as it now stands in the United States, one of philosophical justice between the north and the south; but simply one of contract. I do not pretend that the southern states have not themselves the right of abolishing slavery, whenever they shall have found the means of performing this act of humanity ; it will even be their duty to do so as soon as it can be accomplished without destroying the government itself; — for it would be absurd to sacrifice the government to one of the purposes of government —: but with regard to the north it is a morbid sensation of wrong, which they themselves do not suffer, and from which they have no right to seek relief; because they have solemnly agreed not to interfere with it. They have received a valuable consideration for that
s 3262
LEGAL CONSIDERATIONS
agreement, in all the sacrifices which the south has made to the north ; and after having accepted these, it would be a breach of trust, honesty, and good faith, to infringe on the conditions of the compact.
The government of the United States was not instituted to redress individual wrongs ; but for the purpose of procuring justice for the nation, and defending her against a common antagonist. The different states which were parties to that compact did not consider it necessary, for the safety of the community, to surrender their sovereignty, and have, therefore, only made such concessions to the government of the confederacy, as they deemed necessary to effect a strong and permanent union. The administration of justice was expressly reserved to the states, except with regard to offences committed against the laws of Congress ; and they were treated as independent by the head of the general government. Every new state which has since been admitted into the union, was admitted as an independent state, with the same indisputable title to their own domestic government,— the privilege of enacting laws for the regulation of property, and the administration of justice. NowON SLAVERY.
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if the United States do not possess, and never did possess, the right of interfering with the internal policy of the south, what right has any one state of that union to infringe upon the strictest neutrality ? In case of interference the northern states would not claim justice ; but assume the judge’s seat, and deal it out at their pleasure. And in what cause ? In one in which they have not been appealed to ; in which no complaint is made to them, and in which they themselves are the offenders, and hasten the commission of the crime.
The case does not hear the slightest resemblance to the peculiar circumstances of any European nation. It is indeed one without a parallel in history, and to which it would be absurd to apply any modem or ancient precedents. There never existed a government similar to that of the United States; nor was slavery, on the principle of the southern states, ever introduced in any country. The American slaves belong to a different race, a different continent, and a different clime. They have no community of sentiment, attachment or habit with the other inhabitants of the country. Their physical and moral conformation are different from that of the
s 4§Gi<	POLITICAL CONSIDERATIONS
Whites, and there exists a natural (instinctive) dislike between the two races, which will for ever prevent their uniting into one and the same family. In short, there is not a principle of liberty in any part of the world, which, in its application to negro slaves, would not have to be considerably modified in order to produce results, in the least degree similar to those, which are anticipated from its application to the condition of other men.
So far I have spoken only of the legal considerations which forbid the interference of the north with the system of slavery to the south 5 let us now consider the matter in its political bearings. Let us inquire what influence the emancipation of the slaves would have on the tranquillity, prosperity and final progress of the whites ? -— and what results it would produce with regard to the condition of the negroes ?
It has often been remarked that America is the only country which is yet tainted with slavery, while even the most absolute powers of Europe condemn it as contrary to the laws of God and humanity. There are republicans, they add, more unjust to their fellow-beings thanON SLAVERY.
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any monarch ever was to his subjects, or any aristocracy to the common people.
However plausible this argument may at first appear, there is not a shadow of truth or substance in it. For the northern powers of Europe, who would give liberty to the negroes, would only elevate them to an equality with their subjects, who are themselves slaves ; and the aristocracy of Europe never dreamt of feeding and clothing the people, in order to lay claims to their labour. The lower classes of many countries in Europe are so overburthened with taxes, that they are compelled to commit their bodies to the most painful hardships in order to procure a subsistence ; and ai’e not less labouring for the comfort and convenience of the higher classes, than the slaves for their masters in America; with this exception perhaps, that when they grow old and decrepit, they are not provided for by their rich employers, as the negroes by the American planters ; and their children are equally exposed to famine. As regards the freemen to the north of Europe, they belong, body and property, to their respective sovereigns, who may tax them or command their lives as they think fit, and compel them to serve as soldiers, while their266
POLITICAL CONSIDERATIONS
wives and children may beg their bread on the high roads. * Is there no cruelty in separating a poor husbandman from his house and home and letting his family starve, in order to lead him to the slaughter ? The affecting scenes of such departures, for the martial glories of the camp, are nevertheless well worth being compared to similar barbarities in the southern states of America : only that the Americans fight their own battles, and employ their negroes exclusively for domestic and peaceable purposes.
There is no moral freedom in a country in which the people are only the tool of the higher classes, or so taxed as to be scarcely able to procure what is necessary for their physical support. The man who has been labouring all day and, after his scanty repast, turns wearied to his wretched bed, is not apt to dream of liberty. Let his political condition be what it may, he remains the slave of his body, the cravings of
* I have known Prussian and Austrian invalids, who were permitted to beg, in consideration of the services they had rendered to their respective countries ; and in order the better to succeed in their new vocation, the Austrians were presented with hand-organs.ON SLAVERY.
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which will ever overpower his reason. Liberty, in order to be prized, must be joined to the possession of property or, at least, a reasonable chance of its acquisition ; and unless this hope can be held out to the negroes, it is more than doubtful whether emancipation would improve their condition.
In none of the states, where the negroes have been emancipated, have they been able to rise above the condition of inferior servants ; in none have they thus far acquired respectability or property.* I will not, now, enter upon the causes of this result ; but merely state it as a fact which, whatever may be the reason, is nevertheless general throughout, and therefore deserving of the most serious consideration. The physical condition of the liberated negroes of the northern states is by far worse than that of the southern slaves ; and they are consequently much more exposed to the commission of crimes and the punishment of the law, than any other class of human beings in America. Whether under
* If, in a very few instances, negroes have acquired moderate property, their case is rather an exception to the rule; hundreds of them being hardly able to procure situations as under-servants.S68	POLITICAL CONSIDERATIONS
these circumstances their moral advantages are increased is still more doubtful j for without the means of making themselves respected or respecting themselves, they cannot value either morality or virtue, and are, in most cases, at a loss how to define either one or the other.
Let us now consider the circumstances under which the negroes were emancipated in the northern states of America, and lately, in the British West Indies, and compare them to those in which the southern * planters are placed ; in order to see what analogies there exist between them.	•
The northern states, as I have said before, perceived that the evils of slavery overbalanced, by far, the advantages which they derived from it; and became greater in proportion as the latter were on* the decline. In every state where slavery is introduced, the increase of the white population is proportionably less, but that of the blacks, greater than in a free state. The slaves are better fed, better clothed, and have fewer cares than the free negroes, who, in the northern, states, are daily diminishing, and must, in course of time, become entirely extinct. In a colony itON SLAVERY.
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matters little whether the white population increases or not. As long as it is small, property will not suffer subdivision; and the planters, on acquiring a fortune, may return to their own country to enjoy it. But the case is altered when that colony becomes an independent state, in which every citizen has a permanent residence and a home. It then becomes necessary to consider the lasting advantages of the country, and among these will be found but few accruing from slavery.
In the first place, slavery is a severe tax on the planters, which none but the richest can pay, and for which no other produce save that of the southern climes will make an adequate return. The owner of slaves has to support them before they are able to work; he has to comfort them in sickness, and has to provide for them in old age. He is subject to great losses by deaths and diseases, and by his own interests invited to spare their health and abilities. A farmer in a free state only pays for the labour he receives, and what is still better, can make his own labour available. He neither supports children or old men ; and in case of illness, provides himself with other servants.£70	POLITICAL CONSIDERATIONS
Again, slavery introduces a strong physical force into the state, which requires supervision, and cannot be entrusted to any but the masters themselves. But this is not all. Slavery either enhances the price of white labour, or excludes it entirely from the soil. It therefore checks all manner of trade, and confines even commerce to the exportation of produce, and the importation of such articles as are actually required for consumption. For the same reason it checks the progress of manufactures and every other species of industry, which advances the prosperity of a state. Slavery therefore was an impediment to the progress of the northern states, and they felt it as such, especially the labouring classes. What therefore could have been more natural, than for them to devise a means, to remove so great an obstacle to their individual and national advancement. Not only was slavery a burthen to them; but they could abandon it without any of those difficulties which would accompany emancipation in the southern states. The work which was done by their slaves, they knew would be readily performed by poor emigrants from Germany and Ireland, at a less cost than theON SLAVERY.
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negroes, and the climate admitted of their personal exertion in trade and commerce. Property, instead of being principally confined to real estate, must take a thousand different channels, and enrich every class of society. They could hope to subdivide estates without diminishing their relative value. This cannot be done in the south. An estate with ten negroes is not worth one tenth of one with an hundred slaves; and a further division would entirely destroy its value. The expenses of a large southern estate are nearly the same as those of a small one; hut the profits on the latter are hardly sufficient to cover them. In the northern states, on the contrary, large estates are seldom as productive as small ones, which the proprietor can oversee and cultivate with little assistance.
All these circumstances were in favour of independent labour : the north had every reason to hope that labour would be hired cheaper than they were able to purchase it; and the climate itself was unfavourable to the constitution of the negroes. The negroes were too precarious a property and required too constant an attention to be kept with profit or safety. IPOLITICAL CONSIDERATIONS
do not mean to say that morality and religion had not their due influence in persuading the minds of the people ; but it is but reasonable to suppose, that even the sacred commandments of God are less apt to be resisted when they agree with the interests of men.
The southern states are very differently circumstanced. The produce of their soil enables them to pay for their slaves, and more than compensates for the losses by mortality and disease. If they surrender their slaves, no European emigrants will fill their places ; because the climate of the south is fatal to the constitutions of the whites, especially as regards field-labour; but agrees with the conformation of the negroes. The south therefore can never compete with the north in any species of free labour, and is, consequently, obliged to derive its wealth from the soil. If the negroes were free, they would be a set of privileged workmen; because they alone would be capable of cultivating the soil. The southern planters would be obliged to pay a higher price for their labour ; they would no longer be able to extend or diminish their operations at pleasure, and, at the same time, would be prevented at home, from
,8ON SLAVERY.
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investing their money in some other business. The negroes would become powerful, while their masters would become poor ; and were they as economical, enterprising, and sagacious as the whites, could not fail finally to possess themselves of the estates, and drive the whites from the country.
The situation of the planters in the West India islands is much more analogous to that of the inhabitants of the southern states of America. Soil and climate are alike favouring the natives of Africa, while they breed death and diseases amongst the whites. It is, I believe, generally admitted that without the assistance of negroes, it would be impossible for the proprietors to live there ; nor could they personally cultivate their estates. They are dependent for manufactures on other countries; and their active commerce is confined to the exportation of their produce. But the West India islands do not form so many independent states entrusted with their own governments. They possess no elective franchise on the principle of that introduced in the United States, which gives the whole power to the people; and are therefore not injured in their political rights by
VOL. II.	T274	POLITICAL CONSIDERATIONS
the emancipation of their slaves. They do not entirely depend for safety on their own resources ; but are protected by a powerful army and navy, the expenses of which are defrayed by the government of another country; and being islands are more easily protected than the scattered inhabitants of a vast continent. They have not the same attachment to the soil, and consider it not as their home. They are the subjects of Great Britain, and look on their estates as a merchant on his stock in trade. They possess no sovereignty which is compromised by the manumission of their slaves ; but are provinces of a mighty empire, which stands pledged to protect their lives and properties.
Neither had they any direct influence on the government of that empire, as the southern states of America have upon the deliberations of Congress ; and were, therefore, neither answer-able for the errors of that government, nor apprehensive of giving to the negroes the power of making laws for the benefit or ruin of the country. They had less to lose, less to fear, and less to answer for. They were obliged to accept a measure which they themselves neverON SLAVERY.	273
proposed ; and may, in consequence, lose their property, but not their country.
Neither is it at all probable that the West India proprietors would have accepted the measure, if it had not been forced upon them by the Parliament of England. Those who are obliged to live with the negroes, have, naturally, greater prejudices against them, than the philanthropist who respects in them the abstract dignity of man. The dangers of life and property, to which a proprietor is exposed, are not apt to influence a legislator at a distance of three or four thousand miles from the scene ; but they have a most powerful effect on those who are immediately exposed to them. The experiment is but just being tried; and the result thus far is not so inviting to the southern planters of America, as is represented generally to the British public.
But there is yet another question which I would propose to English philanthropists. Would they have been as ready to exert themselves for the emancipation of the negroes, if the latter had been mixed with the population of England, or if their number had surpassed that of the native subj ects of Britain ? The population of England is now above fourteen millions. Suppose eight or
t 2276	POLITICAL CONSIDERATIONS
nine millions of these were negroes, or a race of beings whose whole civilization is thus far propt on that of other countries, and whose independent advancement in the arts and sciences is wholly problematic ;—suppose, I say, it were known that they are possessed of strong animal passions and propensities, naturally repugnant to the English; would they have been willing to arm these eight or nine millions, and give them the same rights and privileges which they themselves possess, or the same share in the government of their country, even after a certain lapse of years, when the least misuse of that power would lead them to inevitable destruction ? Why are there those who would not grant these rights to the Irish ? a people belonging to the same human family; capable of the same feelings* and possessed of those admirable qualities of mind which produced a Wellington, a Burke, a Sheridan, or an O’Connell!
The negro population of the United States may now amount to about two millions five hundred thousand, and it is in many of the slave-holding states more numerous than that of the whites. These states do not contain a single fortified place, capable of withstanding aON SLAVERY.
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siege ; they do not even contain a town surrounded by a moat or a wall, and no garrison or detachment of a standing army, to protect t|iem in case of a revolt. They could not even avail themselves of the strength arising from congregation. Their habitations are scattered over a wide surface of land, and their families are surrounded by negroes. A man’s wife and children might be murdered and his home be a prey to the flames, before tidings could reach his next neighbour, or before measures could be concerted for the preservation of the lives of the whites.
The army of the United States consists scarcely of seven thousand men, including officers and privates, scattered over the forts and sea-ports of the country. Their whole number therefore would not be sufficient to quell a negro insurrection in any of the southern states ; and until the militia could assemble, one half of them might be put to the sword.
Such is the position of the southern planter in the United States. He has not the means of defending himself against a possible attack of the negroes, yet he is desired to make them
t 3278	POLITICAL CONSIDERATIONS
free and arm them ; he has no property except that which is invested in negroes, yet he is desired to surrender it, and then to protect his country; he is incapacitated for every other human employment, and yet he is to be molested in the possession of his estate and taxed for the support of the government. No compensation is offered for his losses; no additional means provided for his personal safety; no citadels built for the protection of his wife and children.
But he is supposed to do more. He is to grant to the negroes the right of suffrage ; for unless he did so, his negroes would still be slaves ; though of course less obedient and manageable slaves. He is then to surrender to them the power of legislation ; for they compose in many states a majority and would, therefore, be able to carry whatever measure they might choose to propose. Thus all that man holds most sacred, life, property, justice, and the law itself, would be placed at the mercy of the negroes, in order to favour an experiment, which in case of a fatal issue, would engulph the happiness of millions!ON SLAVERY.
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A law for the emancipation of the negroes in the United States is not like any other law, which may be repealed, whenever it is found to produce mischief. It is a die which is cast for ever; for the power once departed from the whites, could not be made to return thither, without the horrors of a war, and the total extinction of the black race in the southern states of America.
And what influence would the liberation of the slaves have upon the councils of the nation ? At the present moment the southern states are strongly connected and allied to one another by their common interest in slavery, and by the necessity of a common defence against a possible interference with their domestic arrangements on the part of the northern states.* If their negroes were emancipated, this common interest would, in a great measure, he destroyed. The southern states could not assist each other in
* There is now less fear of such an interference on the part of those states, than there was some time ago, when the ill-guided zeal of some fanatics was exciting the public mind in that quarter. Public opinion has since entirely sided with the south, and the zealots are gradually disappearing.
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case of a rebellion ; because each of them would in this case be too much occupied at home : they would have to make their peace with the inhabitants of the north; and implore or purchase their protection.
The southern states would become rivals of each other; because labour being free, and the negroes the only persons to perform it, the latter would be apt to give the preference to some particular states, and bent upon deserting the others. The southern influence in Congress would be wholly destroyed. For not only would the states be divided amongst themselves ; but each state again between the whites and the negroes. There would be no power to check or direct the passions of their emancipated slaves ; as their superior numbers would make them the legislators of the country. Thus the physical, moral, and political existence is threatened by the abolition of slavery; and it is therefore but prudence and duty to pause and reflect, before hazarding so great an experiment.
I do not pretend to describe the situation of the West India planters ; but it can scarcely be doubted that their prosperity is on the decline. The emancipation of negroes may precipitateON SLAVERY.
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events, and must at least, for a time, render the position of the proprietors precarious. The white and black races can never be made to amalgamate, and where they exist mutually independent on one another, must always assume an attitude more or less hostile to each other’s interests. The physical power is on the side of the Africans; the moral strength will always rest with the whites. The climate of the West Indies does not favour the increase of the latter, and destroys even their moral energies. There is a point beyond which intellect cannot triumph over physical obstacles, and there may be a time in the future history of the British West Indies, when the small number of whites, supported even by the presence of a powerful navy, will not be able to overcome the onslaught of the multiplied negroes, who, for aught I know, may be destined to become masters of the country. Let the feud be once began, and the proprietors must quit their plantations ; for it is only in the garrisoned towns, where they may hope for protection and safety.
The power of intellect in repelling barbarous masses consists in the discipline of numbers, and in that peculiar moral elevation, to which men282
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are raised by their mutual influence on one another. This superiority, which the white race has always enjoyed over all others, cannot avail them individually, and especially not on their plantations, where physical force must decide. Once driven thence, their combats in the field would not profit them. They cannot have a force in every direction, and it would be the negroes who would fight for their homes; while the planters would, in a measure, become the invaders. They might visit the transgressions of the negroes on their heads; but they could never return to their plantations, and trust in the good faith of the conquered. Whatever might be the issue of such a war, its ultimate consequences must be the desertion of the colony by all who hold real estates. Without negroes they could not be cultivated; and their presence would be dangerous to the planters. A wise government may delay the commencement of hostilities ; but it is difficult to foresee by what means their occurrence is to be rendered impossible ; and until that security is obtained, the West India planters must sleep, with the sword of Damocles over their heads.ON SLAVERY.
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But in case of a war between the blacks and the whites the southern planters of America would be in a still more deplorable condition. They could not even escape from their negroes, and seek the protection of the sea-ports. Whither could the inhabitants of Tennessee, Alabama, and Missouri flee for assistance ? Whichever way they would turn, they would again meet their enemies. Their only salvation would be to stand and fight the unequal battle; let the consequences be what they may. Suppose they should conquer; would their foes not again increase, and threaten them with a similar war ? Can there be any hope of permanent peace between two so unequal parties ? The negroes in the southern states increase faster than the whites. To whatever number therefore they might be reduced by a war ; they would again become more numerous than the whites; and then the battle would renew. It is only by an immense moral superiority of the whites, that the blacks are kept in subjection, or suffered to increase without disturbing the peace of the country. Any material change in their present position would make them assume an attitude hostile to the whites, and sow the seeds of discord.284
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The negroes would have all to win, the planters all to lose, while the battle-field would be nearly one half of the United States. It would be a war, in fury unequalled in history: for the hatred of the two races would sanction every species of cruelty, and drown the voice of humanity in a desperate struggle for existence. No quarter would, none could be given consistent with the principle of safety; neither could peace be established except by the total extermination of one of the belligerent parties.
Let us now consider the moral and philosophical merits of the question. There is something so revolting to the mind, in the very idea of slavery, that I can easily conceive why Europeans generally should be so averse to the doctrine. No man has a right to consider his fellow-being as his property, and to dispose of him according to his pleasure. The perpetration of such a crime degrades both the slave and the master, and is equally injurious to both. The master becomes dependent on the slave, as much as the slave on his master, whatever be the power which the latter may exercise over the former. It is apt to lessen the feelings of humanity in the oppressors, and to fill the slavesON SLAVERY.
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with the most fiendly passions of revenge against their unnatural extortioners. The slave must either rise in resistance, or become so abjectly destitute of feeling, as to be unworthy of protection or pity.
These are truths admitted as axioms by all men. It remains for us only, to give the definition of slavery. If we define it as an abuse of power, in one man, and a forced submission to that power in the other, we shall find that it exists in almost every part of the world; though it is disguised in a variety of shapes, and often in the form of justice. We must therefore seek for a more narrow definition, perhaps in these terms, “ Slavery consists in reducing or retaining those, who would otherwise be our equals, in a state of servitude, by means of absolute force.” I have added “ absolute ” force; because the idea of violence is most revolting to our feelings. We would hardly commiserate a slave, who should have voluntarily submitted his person to the will and pleasure of another, in order to obtain a subsistence. But even this definition does not apply to the negroes. It remains to be proved that the African negroes are equal to the whites; and that in forming part of the same28 6
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state, in any other condition, they would not be subjected to the will and pleasure of the latter. If it could be made out that the negroes are naturally inferior to the whites, or incapable of enjoying the same rights and privileges without endangering the safety of moral and political institutions ; if it could be established that their physical passions are greater, and their judgment and understanding more limited than those of the white race, then these facts would, at least, contain an apology for retaining the negroes in bondage; though it would not establish a right to abuse their inferior capacities.
When I speak of slavery, I speak of what exists, and not of the principle which established it. The first introduction of slavery, I consider as an act of abomination, which in its fatal retribution, has retarded the progress of the white race wherever it was admitted. But the states which are now burthened with it, must naturally adopt a different method of reasoning. They must start from, given premises, and not from general principles. They must apply their philosophy to a particular case j not to humanity in general.ON SLAVERY.
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It is very certain that the negroes would not have left Africa, if they had not been carried away in European vessels; and it is equally Certain, that they would not have been introduced into America, if they had not been brought thither to be sold. They have since increased in numbers, and become naturalized on the American soil. They have had the means of acquiring a certain degree of civilization; and have, in their intercourse with the whites, assumed a particular character. This character in its relation to the original African, and to that of the American people, we must now consider in order to pronounce on the claims of the blacks to a philosophical equality with the whites. But before I proceed further, I must state that I write this as a German, and not as an American partisan; as a person whose education made him detest slavery in all its various ramifications, whether the slaves were black or white; and as one who has no further interest at stake than that which is identified with truth. I have lived in several slave-holding states in North and South America; and have had an opportunity of impartial observation. I never held any property in the least288 PHILOSOPHICAL CONSIDERATIONS
connected with slavery, and was a stranger to the inhabitants of those countries.
I must then give it as my honest conviction that the negroes are an inferior human race, and not capable of enjoying, without excess, the same degree of freedom as Americans. In order not to be misunderstood,—as the latter clause will hold of the people of many other countries,—I will add that I think the negroes wholly uninclined to, and entirely incapacitated for, living in a state of society similar to that of the whites ; and that if they were capable of forming such a state of society, they would not form it while surrounded BY THE WHITES.
With regard to the mental inferiority of the negroes, the argument may be divided into an examination of the reasoning of those who pretend that they are equal to the whites, but only backward in education ; and a proper illustration of facts, calculated to establish the proposition.
Those who take it for granted that the negroes have the same capacity as the whites, belong generally to a set of philosophers accustomed to reason àpriori; in whose minds the idea of humanity isON SLAVERY.
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so abstract and exalted, that they cannot apply it to any particular race, without bestowing on it its inestimable attributes. “ They are men,” they say, “ why should they not be possessed of the same qualities as men ?” In vain will any one plead the difference in colour, conformation of limbs, and especially the different formation of the skull. “ They possess the main physical characteristics,” they will reply, “ and therefore the principal qualities of the mind.” But the argument is exactly the reverse. They have very marked distinctions from any other race of men; and where nature points out a physical disproportion, we may in all cases safely conclude that a moral one corresponds to it.
And how does history support their arguments ? All other people have either themselves laid the foundation of their civilization, or of their own free will, imitated the refinements of others. The negroes have been known to the remotest people of antiquity ; but always in the same state in which we know them now ; though they have had commercial intercourse with foreign nations and visited, in part, other countries. What are their manners and customs now ?—The same as two thousand years ago. It
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is usual for a people to express their natural inclinations in their favourite amusements, among which the national dance occupies the foremost rank. The Scotch dance is expressive of strong martial inclinations ; the German waltz bears the strongest characteristic of the peculiar frankness and gaiety of the Germans; the French quadrille expresses the desire of pleasing by graceful attitudes ; the fandango is indicative of unrefrained passion: but the original negro-dance, is stamped with the marks of brutal sensuality. So are their ornaments. Those of their bodies consist chiefly of the entrails of animals ; those of the interior of their houses, of ordure.
The same brutality they evince in their worship. Their idols are the most hideous, and their adoration the most ferocious of any people with which we are acquainted; and they are almost entirely destitute of that noble virtue of barbarous nations, for the sake of which we willingly pardon a number of other faults—bravery. Compare the negroes to the American Indians. The former with his frightful gods and base cowardice—the latter with his sublime belief in the “ Great Spirit,” and his utter contempt for human sufferings and death. The eloquenceON SLAVERY.
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and poetry of the Indians, and the dulness and want of imagination of the negroes. And yet there are few persons, who have had an opportunity of observing the Indian character, would believe the “ red men” capable of the same degree of civilization as the whites j and the experience of two centuries seems to warrant this ungenerous belief. What then are we to think of the moral perfectibility of the negroes, who are avowedly inferior to the Indians ? The civilization of which the negroes are reputed to be possessed, they have not acquired of their own accord ; it has been forced upon them, and is, thus far, only upheld and nourished by the whites.
Herein consists another distinction between them and the Indians. It is from their feebleness, and because they have no character of their own, that they are willing to ape the arts of civilization. The Indian is too proud to imitate the white man ; he is too ardent a lover of liberty—the child of the American forests— to submit to American legislation.
Hamilton observes in his work that he witnessed an exhibition of negro boys at a school for black children in New York. In his opinion they answered questions in geography “which
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would have puzzled himself.” This, I doubt not, was as the learned author says. But then geography is a mere matter of memory, which is no distinct faculty of the mind, and of which inferior intellects are sometimes possessed in a very superior degree. Mr. Hamilton further states, that the teacher informed him of the pre-cosity of his pupils, in acquiring most elementary branches of a common-school education at an earlier period than white children. This was the assurance of a black teacher, referring probably to spelling or reading. But when did we hear of negroes cultivating the arts and sciences ; though there are persons of colour in the United States, possessed of considerable property ? What is the system of schools introduced by the free, independent negroes in St. Domingo ? What progress have they made in any of the arts ? The Indians of America had their own languages, some of which are highly flexible and sonorous * : negro civilization has not even a tongue for its basis, as a rallying point for the arts. A French
* See Zeisberger’s Grammar of the Delaware Indian Language, translated into English by Mr. Duponceau of the Academy of Sciences in Philadelphia.ON SLAVERY.
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negro is a mutilated Frenchman; an English, a caricature of an Englishman ; the Spanish, a bad copy of his indifferent original: wherever the negroes went they have only been copyists of the other races ; but the American negro has certainly been any thing but a successful imitator of his shrewd, sagacious master.
And now I would ask, whether the civilized free negroes of the United States, possessed of the same colour, the same bones, and the same hair as their African brethren who sold their ancestors, could, by emigrating to Africa, and preaching their science and religion, advance the cause of humanity very materially in that unfortunate country ? I believe that the question must be negatived; and this is the true light in which we must consider the natural abilities of the negroes.
The colony of Liberia has been settled by the Americans with free negroes. The establishment is now many years old, is doing tolerably well, though it derives its chief support from America: but have the superior arts of the colonists made the least impression on the surrounding tribes ? Have they won over a single disciple to their doctrines ? or excited even a
u 3294) PHILOSOPHICAL CONSIDERATIONS
moderate share of curiosity among their brethren of the desert ? No; the colonists themselves require constant admonition and instruction, and the strong force of example to retain the civilization they have acquired. It hangs loosely on them like a borrowed garment, made for the use of another man.
European civilization, though abstractedly considered as a unit, is strongly impregnated with the peculiar spirit of each nation; and has borne different fruits in different countries. The arts of England, France, Germany, and Italy, are marked by a peculiar character, and embody the genius of these respective nations. The civilization of America, though but the production of two centuries, bears already the strongest national features, distinct from that of Europe in general.
The Indians, when converted to Christianity, are yet a distinct and noble race, commanding even the respect of their enemies. But wherein consist the peculiarities of the civilized negroes, in which may be recognised some latent genius of their own ? I must confess I remember none, save the almost total absence of independent
enenrv of character. I have conversed with
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hundreds of negroes; but I could not elicit from them a single original idea, capable of savouring their recitation of American phrases; or serving as an index to a mind capable of reflecting on itself. If any thing marked them as civilized beings, it was the luckless attempt to imitate the outward American ; and a singular attention to fashionable manners and the toilet. It is a severe task to be employed in lowering any portion of the human family in the estimation of their fellow creatures ; but a strict adherence to truth, and impartial justice to the Americans, do not permit me to temporise, whatever offence my statement may give to individuals.
There is one fact strongly corroborative of my assertions. Most persons who have advocated the equality of the races, were theorists, drawing their inferences from general axioms ; while neatly all who have had an opportunity of observing the negroes themselves, have arrived at a different conclusion. Why was there never a similar prejudice with regard to the American Indians ? Some of the first families in Virginia, noted for their eminent talents as statesmen and legislators, are descended, in part from the Indians. But instead
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of considering this a disgrace, they are proud of their origin; and a peculiar loftiness of mind seems to be hereditary in their families, and expressed in their manly countenances. The mulatto, on the contrary, though a shade superior to the negro, is a grovelling being, still thoroughly marked with his subjection to physical nature, the strongest characteristic of the black race.
No other human being is by nature so entirely adapted to his climate ; as if to prevent him from spreading over other parts of the world. The skin of the negroes, their colour, hair, and feet, are made for the African sun ; and being naturally heedless of the future, they are surrounded by trees and plants which blossom and bear fruit at the same time. The negro is the slave of nature 5 the white man is her companion. Born in a more northern latitude, and consequently less exposed to the most powerful physical agent, the sun, his mind waxes superior to the scenes which surround him. His physical wants rouse his energy and quicken his ingenuity, and the approaching winter commands his cares of the future. He is born to subdue and improve nature and not to be dependent on herON SLAVERY.
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generosity. All that has ever improved the condition of man, every valuable principle of philosophy and religion, poetry, painting, and music, are the offsprings of the temperate zones. The universal history of all ages is but the history of that clime; the moral lever of the world was ever moved by its children.
The progress of the white race is the soul of universal history •, for it is the white race which produced all the changes, and acted as the animating principle on the rest of mankind. The other nations remained stationary, bound by the limits which nature had set to their progress ; the white race alone was possessed of the courage to overleap them and to traverse the ocean in quest of new land. Wherever that race has since placed its foot, there it has subdued all others, notwithstanding the inferiority of its numbers ; and its march of conquest is onward, and must finish with grasping the world.
With these facts before us, is it not natural to suppose that the white race is intrinsically superior to every other; and, consequently d fortiori to the negroes? Would we not naturally come to this conclusion, even if there were no exterior distinction between them ? The298
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objection that the white race conquered by its superior arts, at a time when the others had not yet attained the same degree of civilization, avails little or nothing to the argument. Why did the other races not possess a similar degree of civilization, since it is proved that their origin is at least as remote, if not more so, than that of the white race ? Are the nations of the east and their learning not older than those of Europe ? Why did they not improve it as the people of Europe? What made the Europeans labour for centuries to decipher the writings of the ancients ? What spirit is it, which makes them yet take an interest in the history of other nations, and descend to their remotest antiquity; when those nations evince not the least disposition to learn the history of Europe ? Why is the commerce of the world yet confined to European and American vessels ? Why has the principle of liberty not been bom, or taken root in any other country but Europe and America ? Why is Christianity yet chiefly confined to those continents, when it was Asia which begot it ? Why is the white race not, like the Chinese, satisfied with its acquired superiority, but continually improving in every department of know-ON SLAVERY.
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ledge ? Why is the white race the only one bent on engrafting its principles and its customs on all others? Why does it succeed in this enterprise, and swallow up all other tribes ? Why is there no reaction on the part of the other races on the whites; but, on the contrary, a gradual yielding to its influence ? Why are the whites not changed in contact with other races ?
But there is yet one more circumstance deserving the attention of philosophers. In no instance have the different races shown a general disposition to amalgamate; but rather evinced a natural dislike to one another. When such a disposition existed, it was always on the part of the inferior with regard to the superior race, and never the reverse. The few individual exceptions to this rule must rather be considered as instances of moral depravity, than a prevalent taste of the race ; or as occasioned by peculiar circumstances, which prevented a free choice. This natural dislike was always greatest between the white and the black race, just in proportion, it may be said, to the diversity of their colour, and the great difference in their inclinations and habits. But it existed equally among other300 PHILOSOPHICAL CONSIDERATIONS
races, and may, therefore, be considered as something instinctive, and not produced by a process of reasoning.
Immediately after the introduction of negro slavery into the American colonies, the provincial assemblies prohibited all intercourse with the negroes under the severest penalties. The laws of Maryland of 1715, provided that any white woman, whether a servant or free, becoming pregnant from the embrace of a negro, whether a slave or free, should be punished with a servitude of seven years, and the children of such “ unnatural and inordinate connexions ” were doomed to servitude till they should attain the age of thirty-one. A white man begetting a child by a negress, was subjected to the same penalty as a white woman committing an offence with a negro ; and similar laws were enacted by the legislative assembly of Virginia. Even when baptized negroes were not comprehended in the denomination of Christians.* No such laws were enacted against the American aborigines; but though the example had been set in the marriage of Captain Smith with the Princess Pokahontas,
* Graham’s History of the United States.ON SLAVERY.
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it was rarely imitated by European settlers ; notwithstanding the political advantages which, at that time, might have resulted from such unions.
The gypsies afford another striking instance of this natural aversion between the different varieties of the human family. They have remained a distinct race in Scotland, France, Spain, Germany, and Hungary ; and were they to emigrate to America, would still remain the same. They have still their peculiar customs and manners, opposed to the laws of civilized nations. Arid yet how much more similar to the whites are they than the negroes ! Without this mutual dislike of one another, it is highly probable the distinctions between the races Would have become obliterated, and even the different tribes been united into one. That the climate alone does not change the colour, is evident from the fact that the offsprings of negroes remain black, and those of the whites white, whether they inhabit the polar region, or the vicinity of the equator.
Every race has feared the contact of the whites, in the same manner as a weaker animal dreads to meet one which is more powerful; while the white race has always sought it with802 PHILOSOPHICAL CONSIDERATIONS
the fullest conviction of its superiority. What makes China and Japan shut their cities to Europeans ; but the dread that the latter might conquer them. They may affect to despise these “ barbariansbut they have seen them establish the most powerful empires in the east, and, wherever they went, take the reins of government into their own hands. The population of China is estimated at about three hundred millions, and that of all Europe at scarcely two hundred. China is in possession of all the mechanic arts of Europe, and excels the latter in the manufacture of many valuable articles. The use of gunpowder is known to them; and yet they entertain doubts and suspicions as to the intentions of Europeans! They feel that whatever be their mechanical perfections, they are inferior to the white race in all the nobler qualities of the mind—in enterprise and courage. No apprehensions are entertained by Europeans as to those nations ever conquering part of their country, or the doctrines and practices of the East undermining the Christian religion, and the principles of philosophy of Locke and Newton. China and Japan have not grown powerful by their own strength, but by the weakness of theON SLAVERY.
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nations which surround them. In contact with the whites they are aware their position would be untenable; and it is to the race, and not to the arts of Europe, we must ascribe their puerile laws with regard to foreigners.
But to return to the negroes; who to this moment are ignorant of the mechanic arts, and are even slow in acquiring dexterity when instructed and guided by the whites; who have never prospered or improved in their own country; on whom the lights of science or religion never dawned except through the intercession of other nations; to whom the refinements of poetry and the arts are entirely unknown ; whose worship is the most hideous and barbarous on earth ; who war upon one another for the sole purpose of reducing each other to slaves ; who first sold one another and enriched themselves with the blood of their brethren ; who during more than three thousand years of their known existence have not even made the first step towards civilization, by improving their soil with agriculture, and are equally unskilful in the chase, and destitute of courage or ambition ; who possess nothing of the natural skill and agility of other races; who never dreamt304 PHILOSOPHICAL CONSIDERATIONS
of an equality with the whites, before it was discovered by European philosophers ; who never knew the definition of liberty, but are slaves in their own country; to that race, finally, who, in whatever relation we have known them, have always shown themselves inferior beings, and declare them equal to the whites and inferior only in point of education!! There is not one point in which the equality has been established ; and should we be entitled to a general conclusion ? This is not elevating the negroes ; but degrading the whites, by ascribing to accident the development of those eminent qualities, which have rendered them masters of the world. Is the supposition of such an accident, which insured the permanent success of one race over all others, compatible with a belief in Divine Providence ; and the moral contained in universal history ?
I do not deny that the negroes are capable of improvement; that they may acquire the elements of many useful arts and sciences : but I do not believe that they are capable of working out their own salvation, or rival the whites in any one branch of human knowledge or industry.ON SLAVERY.
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I have never heard it argued or asserted that the Malay race were naturally equal to the whites 5 though I certainly hold them superior to the negroes. Neither has it ever been maintained that all races have the same inclinations and capacities; and yet we should at once select the most inferior species of humanity, and declare them fit to live under the same laws, be governed by the same motives, elevated by the same hopes, and restrained by the same fears as the whites? Who would assert that the people of the East are fit to live under a republican government, similar to that of the United States ? Who could doubt but that if a majority of them were now possessed of the same liberties, their natural disposition would again lead them to monarchy ? Who knows that freedom would to them be a valuable acquisition ? And yet, suppose these nations or any portion of them, placed in a republic like America ; there might remain some hope of amalgamating the races ; the only means by which the inferior one can be improved, though this improvement is equivalent to a gradual extinction of the race, by a continued succession of the whites. With regard to the negroes this is
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entirely out of the question. There is something naturally repulsive in the physical conformation of the blacks, there are certain peculiarities of the race, which must ever prove revolting to the whites. The disparity of intellect and habit is too great to leave the least ray of hope that such an amalgamation can be effected by marriage.
The white man does not live, like the negro, for the present moment. His thoughts are fixed on the future ; and among his fondest hopes is that of elevating his children to a prouder eminence than himself: of correcting the errors and imperfections of his own education, in the more perfect one of his children. The Americans cherish this hope in a most eminent degree. Three fourths of all the acts of legislation are intended for the benefit of the rising generation; and it is one of their chief characteristics, as I have had occasion to remark before, that their whole present lives are devoted to the welfare of their children. Neither does this feature exclusively belong to the Americans. It is a quality belonging to the race: an aspiring to immortality in this world, by perpetuating their virtues in their offsprings j andON SLAVERY.
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the origin of the noblest deeds recorded in the history of man. But of all nations in the world the Americans live most in the future; and should they be capable of forming marriages with the blacks, knowing full well, that, according to the laws of nature, their offsprings must be inferior to themselves, and bear the marks of that inferiority in their countenances ? Could we suppose such a marriage based on that mutual respect and affection, which are necessary to make the union sacred and eternal ? The idea is preposterous, and incompatible with that mutual disinclination-—not to use a stronger term — which exists between the races. This natural dislike is so great, that a man would hardly love his offspring, if it were different from, and inferior to, himself; and the child itself would not cherish the same affection for his father.*
In making a choice for life, do we not consult disposition, intellect and age in order to secure our happiness ? And why ? In order that the
* I advance this as my conviction from what I have myself observed. I have seen mulatto children provided for by their fathers, from a sense of moral duty ; but there was no filial or parental affection visible between father and child.308 PHILOSOPHICAL CONSIDERATIONS
union may be perpetual by mutual inclination ; and this is considered necessary for the preservation of morality and virtue. No such happy adaptation of temper, disposition, and habit could be thought of in a marriage with another race j no hopes therefore could be entertained of promoting by it the cause of humanity. Any attempt to raise the condition of the negroes in this manner, would not only not benefit the individuals who might be selected for the experiment, but be the absolute signal for the perpetration of the most atrocious crimes against society. It would undermine every principal of morality, and destroy the very foundation of society, without advancing the cause of the negroes. I consider the doctrine of amalgamation as abominable, and brutal, as the first introduction of slavery ; and the injury which would be sustained from it, by the white race, infinitely greater than that which was inflicted upon the Africans by exporting them from their country as slaves.
The Americans are indeed in a very singular predicament. Their position, opposed to the rest of the civilized world, is most perplexing and unjust. No nation proposes to take charge ofON SLAVERY.
309
the civilization of the Africans; but the Americans are called upon to emancipate and educate their slaves, and to raise them to an equality with themselves. Their institutions are purely democratic, and the execution of the laws entrusted to the voluntary submission of the people who enacted them; yet several millions of another race are to be let loose amongst them, and entrusted with that voluntary submission. Their institutions, it is believed, would not be adapted to any other state of society, yet they are to invite two and a half millions of negroes to participate in its advantages. And all this they are charged to do for the sake of humanity, without enquiring whether that race is capable of enjoying those privileges, or even made happier by their acquisition. And what have the Americans done that justifies such a demand ? They have continued the institution of slavery, introduced by another government, of which their forefathers availed themselves before its moral injustice was established ; and which their sons have since been labouring to shake off, without finding the adequate means. In the northern states, where it could be abandoned, it was done ; but the south is obliged to pause, lest by an awful retribution of x S310
COLONY OF LIBERIA.
justice they should themselves become the victims of their slaves.
This even is the curse of evil deeds,
That, ever propagating, they engender evih*
The only safe means which has been proposed for the emancipation of the negro slaves, was their transportation from America to Africa. Yet even there they require the affectionate protection of the whites, to defend themselves against the barbarous attacks of their brethren. But suppose the Americans willing, as they are, to support and protect such a colony, what number of negroes could be transported thither to affect at all the coloured population of the United States ? During twelve years the number of negroes transported to Liberia was two thousand five hundred; while those who were born in that time amounted to seven hundred thousand! The whole treasury of the United States would not suffice to purchase and convey to Africa, a sufficient number of negroes to prevent the increase of the blacks in America. Neither are the negroes themselves willing to leave their masters —
* “ Das eben ist der Fluch der bösen That
Dass sie fortzeugend immer Böses muss gebären.” Schiller's Bride of Messina.CONSEQUENCES OF EMANCIPATION. SU
whom they consider as their natural protectors—■ and emigrate to a distant shore. They go thither as strangers, and with no other civilization than that which they have acquired in bondage. They have not the inventive genius of the whites to conquer unforeseen obstacles ; and would in all probability perish there, but for the assistance of their former masters.
Thus, in whatever light we may consider slavery in America, we must see in it an evil which cannot be remedied without endangering the moral, political, and social relations of the United States. At the present moment the southern slaves are provided for ; their sphere of action is circumscribed, and they are satisfied with their situation. To make them free is to throw them on their own resources, and force them to become competitors with their masters. All the prejudices between the two races, which are now asleep, in their state of mutual dependency, would awake at the thought that they are rivals, and commence their work of destruction. The negroes, as I have said before, are more numerous, and increase much faster in some of the southern states, than the whites. Could we then, for one moment, believe that they would x 4s312
FREE NEGROES OF THE NORTH.
abide the issue of a moral competition with their former lords, whom they know to be superior to themselves ? We might as well suppose they would be content to perish, while holding the means of preservation. What hope of success could they have, except that which is based on their numbers ? The moment the contest begins, their physical force must aid them; for it is their only weapon, and the contest must become one between brutality and intelligence.
The northern states, in emancipating their negroes, shut but the doors on unprofitable servants, without fearing their entering by force. They were too strong within, and their enemies too feeble without, to give the negroes a chance of success. Their former masters may now see them die in the streets, and behold them writhing with despair; and yet not fear their revenge. It is not so with the southern planter: he cannot abandon his negroes and expose them to want, without dreading the awful consequences. He cannot with impunity make a friendly race his enemies, and mock them with the title of freemen. His negroes are protected by him ; they participate to a certain extent in his prosperity, and share even his aristocraticCONDITION OF NEGRO SLAVES.
318
pretensions.* They consider themselves members of his family; and cherish a filial affection for him, which is responded to by feelings of kindness in their master. A southern gentleman, after an absence from home, will, on his return to his plantation, be received with joyful acclamations by his negroes; who will crowd round him and shake him cordially by the hand. What negro in the northern states would dare take “ such liberties with a white man ?” The prejudices against the negroes are stronger in the free states than to the south, and have reached their climax in the states which never held slaves. These may give vent to their contempt for a race, with whose fate they never have meddled: they have a clear conscience ; but the upright magistrate is not always the most lenient judge.
In the southern states the negro is compara-
* Nothing is more frequent than to see negroes, belonging to different masters, abstain from all intercourse with each other, in consequence of the different ranks of the families of which they consider themselves a part. The slave of a senator will be proud of the distinction of his master; but bow to that of the president, who considers himself above all.314
CONDITION OF THE NEGROES
tively happy ; for his master sympathizes with him, and administers to his physical wants. The southern planter does not despise the negro, who is part of his own household ; but comforts him in sickness and old age. To the north the negro is an object of scorn, and considered a natural enemy to the labouring classes ; because he reduces the price of their labour. In the western states, which were entirely settled by the whites, he is not even allowed to hold property ; and his presence is considered a nuisance. As long as the negro is protected by his master, he receives, as it were, an equivalent for his degraded condition ; when he is made free, his degradation becomes more poignant and glaring, and he is left without the means of support. He becomes more dependent on the white race than he ever was as a slave ; for he becomes dependent on their good will, when, as a slave, he had a right to their protection.	*
With such prospects before them, is it charity to emancipate the negroes? Is it not forcing them to take up arms and destroy their unkind benefactors ? The negroes cannot love America, in which they call nothing their own •, but they may be attached to their masters, who enableIN THE UNITED STATES.	Sid
them to live without property. They will never be able to compete successfully with the white race ; because their judges despise them, and judge in their own cause; but they may hold an inferior rank of society, in which their interests are identified with those of the whites, and consequently sure of being protected. They cannot hope to change the course of legislation, as long as there is an American capable of wielding a weapon; but they may make their masters relent by a quiet submission to their will; they cannot hope to rise to honour and distinction; but they may be happier in an humbler situation of life, and leave ambition to the whites. In one word, they must prepare to be slaves of kind masters, or face these masters as enemies, and expire in the unequal contest.
One more objection I must answer, before I dismiss this subject. The question has often been proposed, whether the progress of civilization will not eventually overcome those unfortunate prejudices, which exist with regard to the negroes, and thus open the way to a reconciliation between the two races. The answer to ' this question, I am sorry to say, will not cheer316
CONDITION OF THE NEGROES
the heart of the philanthropist. For, according to all indications, they will increase in proportion as the negroes are made free, and terminate in feelings so perfectly hostile to one another, as to be totally opposed to the spirit of peace and forbearance. The blacks return hatred for contempt ; which, while impotent, excites still greater contempt in the whites. The Americans look upon the freedom of the negroes as a garment not fit for their use; but which has been thrown over them for want of another, to cover their disgusting nudity. Whenever they are seen dressed in this new attire, their former nakedness is remembered, and the irony excites ridicule and scorn. The contrast would have ceased to be ludicrous, had they passed through different stages of freedom. But the ascent from a negro slave, to an independent American republican, was too rapid and dangerous to make his position secure. America is the worst place where emancipation could have been tried; and it must fail in every other democratic republic.
Had the negroes ever evinced a love of freedom, further than is connected with physical comfort; had they ever made an effort to be-IN THE UNITED STATES.
317
come free for the love of liberty, and not for personal advantages or revenge; had they, in their struggle for liberty, ever waged war against superior numbers ; had they ever been known as a nation whose rise and fall might have excited our sympathies #, a different sentiment would pervade the Americans, with regard to the unhappy negroes. But whatever the negroes are, they are by the charity of the Americans; whatever they possess, they hold by that tenure ; whatever right they enjoy, is by the benevolence of their masters. But the requisitions of charity give no permanent title to respect.
The Americans have fought for, and acquired their liberty : they have given it gratis to their negroes. Neither has this gift been improved by those who received it. The law has de-
* The negroes, and their kindred in Austral Asia, do not seem to have had a national fate or existence. Not the least trace of political life can he discovered even from traditions. All other people have been united by a community of feeling and sentiment, which gave them a distinct character ; but the negroes seem to have vegetated : they have neither prospered nor declined; and possess no other characteristics, except those which belong to the variety.818
CONDITION OF THE NEGROES
dared them free; but their sentiments are still those of slaves. Their pretensions to equality with the whites would be esteemed as ingratitude ; for where one party is the sole benefactor, and the other that which is benefited, no moral equality can exist, though it should be entered on the statutes.
Neither do the negroes take the least interest in the fate of their brethren; but rather envy the slaves of the south. For more than two generations the negroes in the northern states are free ; they have schools and churches ; but no appeal has ever been made by them in favour of liberty. Some of the negroes and mulattos of St. Domingo have been educated in France; but few lines have as yet been published by them, in favour of liberal institutions. The combat for and against slavery is entirely fought by the whites; while the negroes can hardly comprehend that their condition should depend upon a principle. It is this inertness, this absence of moral courage, which the Americans despise. With great truth does De Tocquevitte remark, that no other account has ever been opened between the white and the black races, except that where the white raceIN THE UNITED STATES.
319
was superior, they kept the black in subjection ; but where the blacks prevailed, they rose and murdered the whites. The negroes have never endeavoured to rival their former masters in any moral qualification ; but whenever they felt themselves sufficiently strong, attempted to rid themselves of their formidable superiors.
But the contempt of the Americans for the Africans is yet increased by other causes. If the civilization of America were stationary, or progressing slowly, the free negroes might either keep their places, or, perhaps, gradually approximate nearer to the standard of the whites. But this is not the case. The Americans are progressing more rapidly than any other nation in the world; and the free negroes, though they may be absolutely advancing, remain still, every year, further behind. Competing with the whites only in the most menial labour, they are reducing the price of that labour below the customary wages of native Americans ; and thereby force the latter either to emigrate to the west, or to seek some other employment. By this means they succeed in monopolizing, in a measure, the situation of servants; but, at the same time, render it more degraded in the320
NEGRO SERVANTS.
eyes of Americans. They continue in a state of servitude which, as it is voluntary, excites additional contempt. The Americans are sometimes compelled, from necessity, to hire themselves out as “ helps but they neither suffer the same treatment, nor are they willing to serve at so low a rate of compensation.
Yet the greatest difference between an American and a negro servant is this. The American looks upon service as a means of introducing himself to something better ; and remains a servant only till he has acquired the means of emigrating to the west, or commencing a small trade. He prefers any other situation in life, with the severest labour, to waiting on another man. The negro, on the contrary, aspires to nothing higher. He prefers domestic work to any other, and, in the northern states, his physical organization disables him from labouring in the field. He is therefore a stationary servant, one who, in the opinions of Americans, was born to be a servant, lives as a servant, and dies in servitude. In proportion as negro servants become general, in that same proportion increases the contempt in which the situation is held. The negroes work for less, or rather are paid at a less rate, than the whites,NEGRO EMPLOYMENTS.
321
and will therefore always remain poor, in a country where every one prospers. They are, by poverty, deprived of the means of instruction *, remain houseless strangers in the land which gave them birth, and by an unavoidable succession of events, sink every year lower in the estimation of their fellow creatures and their own. At last they must resign the thought of competition in every other department of industry, and become once more what they were — hereditary servants.
At present a number of petty offices and small traffics are resigned to the industry of the negroes; because the general prosperity is such, that the Americans find sufficient room for enterprise in other departments. But in proportion as the country becomes more and more settled, and as competition among the whites increases, these petty channels of industry will be resorted to by the whites themselves, and the negroes driven to a still lower employment.!
* There are free negro-schools in some of the cities; but there is a degree of poverty, which obliges the parents to avail themselves of the work of their children, instead of sending them to school.
f This gradual diminution of their means of support, together with the exposure to a more severe climate, is un-VOL, II.
Y322
MANNERS OF THE PLANTERS.
At present they may be barbers and hairdressers, clean boots, and sell old clothes; but the time may come when they will not be able to make a living by such means ; and then they will be obliged to resort to something still more humble. In this manner the whites will chase and harass them from post to post, until misery will complete their destruction. Their fate has no parallel in history. Slavery has introduced them to life, liberty must accomplish their ruin.
I turn with pleasure from so barren a soil, incapable of maturing the seeds of philanthropy, to prospects more brightening and cheerful. I turn to the lives of the planters. They are surrounded, it is true, by slaves, and their position becomes daily more precarious. But I am willing to trust them to their genius, and to the sympathy of their northern brethren. My object here is to speak of their manners, their habits, and the large proportion of intellect and genius which is found in the southern states.
doubtedly the reason why the free negro population decreases so rapidly in the northern states; while the slaves to the south are increasing faster than the whites.MANNERS OF THE PLANTERS.
323
The manners of the southerners in general, but especially those of the Virginians and South Carolinians, are more highly polished than those of the industrious population of the north, and they cultivate society as indispensable to civilized life. They know and appreciate refinement and elegance ; but they possess less of the enterprising spirit of the New Englanders. Having more leisure, they devote more time to study and polite reading, which render their intercourse more agreeable and attractive ; and being freed from pecuniary cares and the influence of trade and traffic, acquire that independence of mind which is necessary for science and literature. Their provisions for the education of youth are not so numerous, but they are on the most liberal scale ; education and learning are not so general as in the northern states, but where they exist they are carried to a higher degree. Business talents are comparatively rare; but there is no deficiency of genius.
The north act by their masses, the south by the brilliant talents of individuals. Intelligence to the north is as much divided as property. There are no overgrown fortunes, neither is there poverty or want. In the southern states
y 2324
OPERATIONS OF SLAVERY
the division is more unequal. There are those who are “ poor and lean,” but the wealth of the rich is capable of concealing their poverty. The progress of intellect in the southern states resembles more that of Europe. The masses are yet in darkness, though there are beacon flames on each coast. In the northern states of America obscurity has been entirely banished. Their lights are perhaps less bright, but so contiguous as to unite in a conflagration.
But with all the advantages of the north, the south will always command a most important influence on the deliberations of Congress. The eminent talents of her statesmen and legislators are yet unequalled in America; though there are individuals to the north who may lay just claims to a share of their fame. All the presidents of the United States but two have been born and bred in the south, and, although they held slaves, have advanced the cause of freedom. The inhabitants of the south form an aristocracy with regard to the negroes ; but the principal distinction being that of colour, they are on an equality with each other, and are amongst the stoutest defenders of republicanism. Democracy is a child of theON THE SOUTHERN PLANTERS.
325
south; and its early defenders were southerners. The principle of slavery operates upon them yet as it did during the revolutionary war. It instils into them even an additional love of liberty; and makes them cherish doubly those rights and privileges, without which they would sink to a level with their slaves.*
* Botta, in his first book of “ The Revolutionary War of America,” describes thè character of thè slave-owners in thè most glowing colours. “ In queste ancora” sayshe “la schiavitù dei Neri, la quale vi era in uso quantunque sembri, a prima vista strana cosa a dirsi alletava gli uomini bianchi all' amore della libertà. Avendo questi continuamente sotto gli occhi l’esempio vivo della miserabile condizione dell’ uomo ridotto in ischiavitù, dovevano sapere meglio, e più apprezzare la libertà la quale e’ giovano ; questa libertà riputavano non che un diritto, essere una franchigia ed un privilegio ; e siccome quando si tratta dell’ interesse proprio e delle passioni loro, gli uomini giudicano alla grossa e cogli occhi della mente abbacinati impazientemente sopportavano i coloni la superiorità del governo inglese, e le pretensione sue, siccome quelle che tendessero a condurgli in uno stato prossimo, o simile a quello, al quale gli schiavi loro erano ridotti, detestando eglino in se stessi ciò che escercitavano sugli altri.”326
NATIONAL DEFENCE.
CHAPTER V.
NATIONAL DEFENCE OF THE UNITED STATES. --- THE
ARMY.--THE NAVY.--THE MILITIA.
It is an established maxim of the American government, merely to possess the elements of national defence, in order to be saved the expense of maintaining a large standing army ; and to keep from the military a power, which it is known they have at all times abused. The navy of the United States is established nearly on the same plan ; and contains but the nucleus of that maritime power, which, when called for, the Americans could direct against an enemy.
In a country like America, which commands all the materials for ship-building, and, at any time, a sufficient number of sailors, furnished by the merchants’ service, the maintaining of a greater number of ships of war than is absolutely necessary to protect navigation and commerce, would prove a severe tax on the people. In proportion as the commerce of the United States increases, the means of naval attack and defence, increase implicitly with it;MEANS OF NATIONAL DEFENCE. .327
though the navy may not exhibit this augmentation of force in the number of its ships.
The bulwark of national defence, however, is the militia; though their discipline and their manoeuvres have been the subject of much sarcasm, both in England and America. No one can expect from free citizens the same machinelike subordination, which may be exacted from hired soldiers whose trade is “ to kill and to be killed to make a living* but the citizen soldier has an hundred moral advantages over the martial automaton, of which the latter is never possessed.
The militia may improve in discipline, and join military skill to superior intelligence; but the highest mark of perfection in a mercenary is a blind obedience to his superiors, without a vestige of thought or reflection. It is this mechanical excellence of soldiers, which renders their presence dangerous in a republic; and against the evil influence of which a powerful militia is the best and only safe-guard. The ¿sprit du corps is always a dangerous enemy to the ¿sprit du peuple, unless the latter be embodied in some
* u Mon métier est tuer et être tué pour gagner ma vie ”
Voltaire,
Y 4328
THE MILITIA.
armed force. The militia, therefore, are not only a means of defence against an external enemy but also a preserver of peace within. They save the country the expense of a large standing army, by performing, themselves, a portion of those duties which would otherwise devolve on the soldiery. Regular standing armies were introduced by the systematic despotism of Lewis XIV.; the militia system is the daughter of liberty. The army and militia are bane and antidote of the freedom of a people. Military skill and discipline avail against one another, as a superior chess-player will beat an inferior antagonist by a better disposition of his men; but the militia system of the present day has changed the board; for instead of empty squares, the players find nothing but occupied territory.
In speaking of the American militia, as a means of national defence, I am aware I ought to confine myself, chiefly, to their capacity of resisting an armed, external force. But in order to judge of this capacity, it is necessary not only to consider the materials of which they are composed, and their numbers ; but also the circumstances which have brought them into existence, and the spirit which animates them at the presentTHE ARMY.
329
moment. The organization of society, and the terrain on which they are to give proof of their prowess, are important items in a computation of this kind ; without which it is impossible to obtain a result in the least approximating to truth. But before entering on this subject I will give a brief statement of the military and naval force of the United States, from the “ Army ” and “ Navy Lists ” of March 1835. These I am certain have not been materially altered since ; especially that of the navy.# If there be any thing remarkable in them, it is their exceeding shortness, and the consequently diminutive expences of these establishments in a country comprising so large a territory, and enjoying so extensive a commerce.
Army List, March 1835.
The head quarters of the general-in-chief are in the district of Columbia. The head quarters of the Western Department are at Memphis, Tennessee. The head quarters of the Eastern Department are in the city of New York.
* The Indian war compelled the President to accept the services of volunteers ; and to increase the cavalry of the United States®330
AMERICAN ARMY.
The Western Department comprises all west of a line drawn from the southernmost point of East Florida, to the north-west extremity of Lake Superior, taking in the whole of Tennessee and Kentucky; the Eastern Department all east of that line including Fort Winnebago.
The officers of the army consist of 1 major-general, commanding the army (at present Mr. Alex. Macomb).
1 brigadier-general, major-general by brevet, commanding the Western Department.
1 brigadier-general, major-general by brevet commanding the Eastern Department.
1 brigadier-general, major-general by brevet, commanding the Eastern Department.
1	adjutant-general.
2	inspectors-general.
1 quartermaster-general.
4 quartermasters.
1	commissary-general of subsistence.
2	commissaries.
1 surgeon-general.
12 surgeons.
55 assistant-surgeons.
1 paymaster-general.
14 paymasters.
1 commissary-general of purchase.AMERICAN ARMY.
331
2 military store-keepers.
18 colonels.
13	lieutenant-colonels.
27 majors.
13-1 captains.
159 first-lieutenants.
218 second-lieutenants.
5 third lieutenants.
11 sergeant-majors.
11 quartermaster-sergeants.
428 sergeants.
454 corporals.
14	principal musicians.
212 musicians.
108 artificers.
250 enlisted for ordnance.
6059 privates.
Total. Commissioned officers, 674. Non-commissioned officers and privates, 7547- Grand Total, 8221.
It will be observed that the number of officers is unusually large in proportion to the small number of privates. But the latter can always be obtained when wanted, whereas the officers require superior knowledge and experience. Hence it is the policy of the government of the332	MILITARY ACADEMY
United States merely to preserve the cadres of the different regiments, which may be filled up and engrossed at any time in case of a war.
For the education of officers a national military academy was established, at West Point, in the state of New York, on the plan of similar institutions in France. The same branches are taught, and the same system of discipline is introduced ; but particular attention is paid to mathematics and the modern languages. Mr. Hamilton has been very severe in his criticism on the attitude of the young men, styled “ cadets,” who are there educated at the expense of the nation; but I believe he has not examined any of the classes in order to judge of their scientific acquirements. To supply this apparent deficiency I would state that, independent of military tactics, the pupils of that academy acquire a very comprehensive knowledge of the mathematical and physical sciences *, which enables them to serve their country in peace as well as in war. The pupils
* La Croix’s Algebra and Legendre’s Geometry and Trigonometry are the text books used in the elementary branches of mathematics; La Croix’s Treatise on the differential and integral Calculus is studied in French; and in descriptive geometry Professor Davis’s treatise has lately been substituted for that of Monge, formerly used by the cadets.OF WEST POINT.
333
have to pass a rigorous examination on entering the academy ; and are annually examined while there, by a committee appointed by the president and senate of the United States. The cadets are considered as enlisted in the United States service, and receive about 45 dollars or ¿£9 sterling a month. They are moreover, subject to all the rules and regulations of regular soldiers.
The distinction between officers and citizens being less rigourously drawn in America than in Europe, the officers of the United States engineer corps are amongst the most active in promoting the internal improvements of the country. They are planning and constructing the principal railroads; and are every where employed where mathematical talents are required in the execution of public works. They are thus rendering themselves useful to the people who have paid for their education ; and become not a distinct branch of public functionaries, but, in the true sense of the word, the servants of the people.*
* Major M‘Neill, of the United States engineers, constructed the Boston and Lowell, Boston and Providence, Boston and Worcest er, and is now constructing the Sto-334
WAR DEPARTMENT.
The war department is divided into twelve branches ; viz., the secretary’s office ; the offices of bounty-lands and of Indian affairs ; the pension office, the adjutant-general’s office, the paymaster-general’s office, the ordnance department, the topographical bureau, the subsistence department, the surgeon-general’s office, the quartermaster-general’s office, and the engineer department.
The secretary’s office consists of the secretary himself, an acting chief clerk, five clerks, one messenger, and one assistant messenger. The bounty-lands office, of a principal and clerk; the office of Indian affairs, of a commissioner, a chief clerk and nineteen other clerks; the adjutant’s office, of the adjutant-general, two officers and three clerks ; the paymaster-general’s office, of the paymaster-general, one paymaster, one chief
nington and a number of other railroads. That between Boston and Lowell is considered the best and most substantial in the United States, and, perhaps, in the world. It is built of the iron-edge rail, supported by cast-iron chains, on stone blocks, and iron sleepers, which rest again on stone foundations. The cost of this railroad is estimated at one million two hundred thousand dollars, or two hundred and forty thousand pounds sterling, distance only twenty-five and a half miles. (Compare Chapter III. on internal improvement.)WAR DEPARTMENT.
335
clerk, two clerks, and one messenger ; the ordnance department, of one colonel, one captain and three clerks ; the topographical bureau, of a lieutenant-colonel (topographical engineer), one first lieutenant (assistant engineer), and one clerk; the subsistence department, of a brigadier-general, one major (commissary of subsistence), and three clerks; the surgeon-general’s office, of the surgeon-general, one surgeon and one clerk ; the quartermaster-general’s office, of the quarter-master-general, one major (the quartermaster), one captain, two clerks and an assistant clerk ; finally the engineer department, of the chief engineer, an assistant engineer and three clerks. The whole expenses of the military service, including fortifications, ordnance, Indian affairs, pensions and arming the militia may be computed at thirteen millions of dollars or two millions six hundred thousand pounds sterling (compare note to page 186, Chapter III.), which is little more than half of the whole expenditure of the general government. If this sum be compared to the expenditures of European states, and if, moreover, the vastness of territory and frontier to be protected, be taken into consideration, it will appear that the expenses of336
MILITARY SERVICE.
the American army are, in proportion, not even the one hundredth part of those of the smaller states of Germany; without considering the enormous indirect taxation introduced by the system of conscription.
The military service of the United States is very arduous, though the troops are better paid and provisioned than any other soldiers in the world. But then they are marched off to the forts of the western and southern states, and, during the whole period of service, not once quartered upon a town or village. This circumstance, together with the nature of the frontier posts, gives, in time of peace, rise to frequent desertions ; but on active duty I should judge the troops of the United States equal to the best soldiers in Europe, and their officers and commanders well capable of sustaining the high reputation which the arms of the young republic have already acquired. Their bravery is like the English. It is best tested in an obstinate action ; and by the facility with which they recover their ranks, when by any chance they are broken. Their outward appearance is perhaps not quite so neat as that of European troops, as in fact, they are never used for parade ; butNAVY LIST.
337
this does not prevent their usefulness in the field, and is certainly no impediment to their courage. The United States maintain no more troops than are required to garrison the forts, and to protect the frontier against the ravages of the Indians. Their soldiers, therefore, are con stantly employed, and have neither the time noi the inclination to set off their personal attractions.
The Navy List of February 1835, contained thirty-seven captains, forty masters commandant, 357 lieutenants, forty-four surgeons, fifteen passed assistant surgeons, forty-one assistant surgeons, forty-three pursers, nine chaplains, 178 passed midshipmen, 274 midshipmen, twenty-seven sailing masters, four teachers of naval sciences, twenty boatswains, twenty-two gunners, twenty-one carpenters, and nineteen sail-makers. The expenses of the navy may be computed at three millions of dollars, or six hundred thousand pounds sterling, including improvements.
The navy-department consists of the secretary, one chief clerk, seven clerks, a clerk of the navy-pension and hospital fund, and one messenger. Navy-commissioners are three, with a secretary, a chief clerk, five clerks,
VOL. 11.
z338
SHIPS OF WAR,
one draftsman and a messenger. There is one chief naval constructor, and one naval storekeeper.
The following is a List of the Vessels of War (February 1835), with the Names and Rates of the Ships, and their Stations.
Name of the Vessel.	Rate in Guns.	Where built.	When.	Where employed.
Independence -	74	11 SHIPS OP THE LI* Boston -	1 i IE. 1814	i In ordinary at Boston.
Franklin	74	Philadelphia -	1815	Ditto NewYork.
Washington -	74	Portsmouth (New	1816	Ditto NewYork.
Columbus	74	Hampshiie.) Washington -	1819	Ditto Boston.
Ohio	74	New York	1820	Ditto NewYork.
North Carolina	74	Philadelphia -	1820	Ditto Gosport.
Delaware	74	Gosport, Vir-	1820	In commission in the
Alabama	74	ginia.	_	Mediterranean. On the stocks at
Vermont	74	- - »		Portsmouth. Ditto Boston.
Virginia -	74	-	- -	Ditto Boston.
Pennsylvania -	74	- !	-	Ditto Philadelphia.
New York	74	“	- -	Ditto Norfolk.
	FRIGATES OF THE FIRST CLASS.			
United States -	44 ,	Philadelphia -	1797	In commission, re-
Constitution -	44	Boston -	1797	fitting. In ordinary atBoston.
Guerriere	44	Philadelphia -	1814	Ditto NewYork.
Java	44	Baltimore	1814	Ditto Norfolk.
Potomac	44	Washington	1821	In commission,Medi-
Brandywine -	44	Washington	1825	terranean. Ditto PacificOcean.
Hudson	44	Purchased	1826	In ordinary at New
Santee -	44	« - .		York. On the stocks at
Cumberland -	44	.		Portsmouth (N.H.) Djtto Boston.
Sabine -	44	-	-	Ditto NewYork.
Savannah	44	-	-	Ditto NewYork.
Rariton	44	-	-	DittoPhiladelphia.
Columbia	44	-	-	Ditto Washington.
St. Lawrence -	44	-	-	Ditto Norfolk.SHIPS OF WAR«
SS9
Name of the Vessel.	Rate in Guns.	Where built.		When.	Where employed.
	FRIG	ATES OF THE SECO:		ND CLASi	3.
Constellation -	36	Baltimore		1797	In ordinaryatNorfolk.
Congress	36	Portsmouth	-	1799	Ditto Norfolk.
Macedonian -	36	Captured - SLOOPS OF WAI		1812 t.	On the stocks rebuilding.
John Adams -	24	Charleston(S. C.)		1799	In commission,Medi 4 terranean. j
Cyanne	24	Captured	-	1815	In ordinary at Phil- ’ adelphia. i
Erie	18	Baltimore	.	1813	On the coast of Brazil.
Ontario	18	Baltimore	_	1813	Ditto ditto.
Peacock	18	New- York	-	1813	In ordinary at New York.
Boston -	18	Boston	-	1825	Ditto Boston.
Lexington	18	New York	-	1825	Ditto Portsmouth (N. H.)
Vincennes	IS	New York	-	1826	In the Pacific.
Warren	18	Boston	-	1826	In ordinary at Philadelphia.
Natchez	18	Norfolk	-	1827	In commission, coast of Brazil.
Falmouth	18	Boston -	-	1827	Ditto Westlndies.
Fairfield	18	New York	-	1828	Ditto Pacific.
Vandalia	18	Philadelphia	-	1828	In the West Indies.
St. Louis	18	Washington	-	1828	Ditto ditto.
Concord	18	Portsmouth SCHOONERS, é		1828 fee.	In ordinary at Portsmouth (N. H.)
Dolphin	12	Philadelphia	-	1821	In the Pacific.
Grampus	12	Washington	-	1821	In the West Indies.
Shark	12	Washington	-	1821	In theMedi terranean.
Enterprize	12	New York	-	1831	On the coast of Brazil.
Boxer -	12	Boston	-	1831	In the Pacific Ocean.
Experiment -	12	Washington	-	1831	In commission,West Indies.
Fox	3	Purchased	-	1823	Receiving ship at Baltimore.
Sea-Gull (Galliot.)		Purchased		1823	Ditto at Philadelphia.
Total12 ships of the line; 14? large frigates of the first class; 3 frigates of the second class; 15 sloops of war; 8 schooners and smaller vessels; of which number there were 5 ships of the line and 7 large frigates on the stocks.
z 2340
AMERICAN NAVY.
Of all the institutions of the United States the navy is the most national and popular. It cannot, from its nature, interfere with, but only protect, the political progress of the country ; and it has more than any other raised the standard of national honour. With judicious modesty have its officers abstained from all political contest, to prevent party spirit from entering their ranks. They have only known their duty towards the nation ; and have fulfilled it in a manner which has reflected glory on themselves and their country. From the earliest period of the revolutionary war, to the present moment, the American navy has sustained its reputation with equal success ; though surrounded by difficulties and perils, which hardly ever threatened a similar infant institution. It embodied in its ranks the enter-prize and chivalry of a new-born people, and with the vigour of youth fought the unequal battle with the giant. Whatever opinions the English may entertain with regard to the naval successes obtained by the Americans in the late war, one truth must irresistibly force itself on their minds,—that the Americans have shown no inferiority of seamanship ; but evinced a familiarity with the ocean, and an habitual defiance of itsPOPULARITY OF THE NAVY.
341
dangers well worthy the offspring of the greatest maritime nation.* The navy of the United States is yet young, and comparatively small; but it possesses that which must eventually make it great and rival the English itself — unlimited commerce, great naval genius, and the first maritime position on the globe. But in the worst case the fame of the mother will but descend on her daughter •, and the tempest be addressed in English, as in the days of Blake and Nelson.
The Americans are sensible of the debt they owe to their navy, and of the influence of its spirit on the officers and crews of the merchants service. Though excessively j ealous of in creasing the national expenditure, they have raised the pay of the naval officers, and testified their gratitude by the unanimity with which the Senate and the House of Representatives supported and
* It was asserted that during the late war with England, the American frigates were of a larger size, and their guns of a heavier caliber. This I believe was true in some instances, but on the lakes the advantage was on the side of the English ; and it was joined to a superior position. The manner too, in which some American ships made their escape from whole British fleets, proved the superiority of their construction, and the seamanship of their commanders.
z 3342
MILITIA SYSTEM.
agreed to the measure. At the great number of public dinners, which are annually given in America, I have noticed but two toasts universally drank by all parties 5 one in dignified silence, the other with thundering applause :—“the memory of Washington ” and “ the American navy” The militia system of the United States was introduced into the colonies simultaneously with their settlements, and was rendered necessary to protect the infant states against the ferocious incursions of the Indians. It was happily adapted to the feelings and sentiments of the Americans, who, at an early period of their history, were jealous of the presence of British troops in their provinces; and therefore more willing to tax themselves with the performance of a certain portion of military duties, than suffer regular soldiers to be quartered in their towns and villages. They dreaded the possibility of becoming subservient to the will and pleasure of the royal governors, and employed in subverting the liberties of the colonies. The Americans were always desirous of governing themselves; and for that purpose required not only moral, but also physical (material) strength, which they happily discovered, was secured by arming the citizens.MILITIA SYSTEM.	343
At the commencement of the revolutionary war, it was but the militia, and especially the New-England militia (that of Massachusetts and Connecticut), who were opposed to the British troops. Without their presence, and the sacrifices which they were willing to make to the cause of their country, resistance against armed force could not have been seriously contemplated ; and its consequences must, unavoidably, have been ignominious or tragical. Since the conclusion of peace, the militia establishment has been improved in all the states ; and a uniform system of tactics has been introduced during the administration of General Jackson.
The militia of each state assemble on particular days of the year for inspection ; when fines are inflicted on the absentees and those whose accoutrements and arms are not in the condition prescribed by the law. This practice, it seems, is not calculated to increase the popularity of the system among the wealthier classes who, on such occasions, are generally the sufferers ; while the poorer orders, and particularly the mechanics, being always ready to shoulder their muskets and go through the usual manœuvres. The officers, too, being generally elected by the pri-. z 4344	INDEPENDENT COMPANIES.
vates (the people), the choice is apt to fall on those who are in a habit of associating with them; and thus it often happens that the wealthiest merchants and professional men are enlisted as privates, while the poor mechanic, in his place as officer, will summon them to appear on such a day “ armed and equipped as the law directs,” at such a place, “ there to await further orders.”
The militia system, in most states, is a tax and an annoyance to the rich ; while to the people at large it is far from proving a burthen, but on the contrary an additional means of asserting their sovereignty. In time of peace when the benefits of a war establishment are never sufficiently appreciated, the annoyance occasioned by the annual exercises and manoeuvres is considered as a most uncalled for disturbance of the peace of the wealthy citizens; but the measure being a popular one, they submit to it quietly; and by paying their annual fines, increase the good cheer of those who are ready for duty.
The young men, however, being always more or less moved by a martial spirit, escape the ignominy of obeying their tradesmen, by forming themselves into “regular uniformedINDEPENDENT COMPANIES.
345
companies,” styled independent ; and then elect their own officers with reference to gentility and fortune. It is to these companies English travellers frequently allude, when speaking of the American militia. They are, for the most part, equipped in an attractive style, calculated to exhibit their taste, and to set off their persons to advantage. Being generally wealthy, they give the preference to the rich uniforms of the Hungarian huzzars, or the Polish krakuzow; so that an European, on seeing them march, would be apt to mistake them for a dismounted squadron of horse. But there are also independent companies of mechanics and other orders of society, who, being less rich, are obliged to conform a little more to the unostentatious dress and habits of soldiers; and have therefore a more martial appearance.
But although the American militia have not the discipline of regular troops, but, on the contrary, evince a spirit of independence which singularly contrasts with the uniforms of soldiers, they possess, nevertheless, three great advantages over the largest standing armies which could be embarked for the shores of America. The first of these consists unquestionably in the supe-846	ADVANTAGES OF THE
riority of their number, which includes the whole male population capable of bearing arms ; the second in the readiness with which they are able to supply their wants, and the last in the universality of their genius.
It has often been remarked that the Americans never confine themselves to one trade, and on this account, become rarely as good workmen as Europeans. This objection I have already answered in the second chapter, when speaking of American mechanics. I will here dwell on the advantages of the system. It compels them to think more, and to supply the want of mechanical skill by a decided superiority of judgment. They are compelled to make themselves familiar with a variety of operations, and the principles on which they are founded; and become thus able to make themselves useful in almost every capacity. This universality of adaptation is particularly advantageous to their system of national defence. An American militia company will hardly possess the precision and military bearing of European soldiers ; but, in case of necessity, they will be able to provide their own uniforms, make and mend their own shoes, and manufacture their guns, bayonets, and swords.AMERICAN MILITIA SYSTEM.	347
They will understand how to construct bridges and boats, and be capable of managing a vessel. They will be used to the felling trees, and understand how to fortify and barricade the high roads ; and above all, they will not easily become fatigued ; because they are all active men and used to the hardest of labour. Their officers will require no attendance or servants ; for they will, if necessary, clean and shoe their own horses, pitch their own tents, and share personally the labour of their fellow soldiers in the construction of fortifications and new roads. It was by the indefatigable exertions of the militia that, in the war of independence, the British troops were harassed in every direction ; and often surprised by the rapidity of the American marches, in the worst of seasons, and on roads of their own construction. The fortifications of Bunker’s Hill (Breedshill) were constructed in one night ; those of Dorchester heights which commanded the city of Boston, and caused its evacuation by the British troops, from nightfall till ten o’clock in the morning*, and with the same rapidity was the city of New Orleans
* Botta. u Storia della Guerra delV lndependenza degli Stati Uniti d*America” Libro sesto.348
ADVANTAGES OF THE
fortified. Behind entrenchments, or in a terrain coupé, the American militia are truly formidable ; for they are excellent marksmen, and possess the agility of hunters. They compose a body which may be an hundred times defeated, and will be an hundred times re-organized ; for they are animated by the same spirit which gave life and power to their country, and are themselves the citizens of that country. They are, from the geographical position of the United States, only required to act on the defensive ; while their enemies would have to march through a territory in which discipline would not avail, and in which they would be exposed to the merciless aim of the western rifle.
On the whole, the Americans are remarkably fond of military parade and honours. The titles of captain, major, and colonel are flung in every direction ; but being applied indiscriminately to all, no superiority is implied in the distinction. The militia system indulges their martial spirit, without the expense and danger attending a standing army; and affords sufficient scope for the reasonable ambition of individuals. As to the peculiar adaptation of Americans to the performance of military duties, my impression isAMERICAN MILITIA SYSTEM.	349
that the northern and eastern states would furnish very useful troops, the southern states the most chivalrous, and the west a peculiar, valourous species, partaking of the courage and pertinacity of the Indians.350
POLITICAL ORIGIN
CHAPTER VI.
POLITICAL PROSPECTS OP AMERICA.-UNIVERSAL SUFFRAGE.--------------------------STATE OF PARTIES.-RELATIVE POSITION OF
NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA.---OF NORTH AMERICA,
WITH REGARD TO ENGLAND AND THE REST OF THE WORLD.—CONCLUSION.
As the origin and progress of the United States are without a parallel in history, so do her political career and prospects not admit of a comparison with the rise and fall of the ancient republics; which were neither in form nor substance similar to those of America. Since those times the condition of the civilized world has undergone a serious change, not only as regards the relation of the governed to their rulers *, hut also in the position which the different states themselves have assumed with regard to each other. The spirit of Christianity, which it seems is after a lapse of eighteen hundred years but now beginning to unfold its true genius, the art of printing, and the establishment of posts have revolutionized the world,OF AMERICA.
351
and are continuing to act as reformers on every member of the human family. The invention of gunpowder has physically equalised the condition ; while the periodical press is labouring to assert the power of numbers, in opposition to the privileges of the favoured few.
The history of former ages is fraught principally with the systematic accounts of the robberies and depredations, committed by one people upon another; in which the masses appear and disappear, but as passive instruments in the hands of their rulers. The history of the world was the history of a few individuals, who elevated whole nations by their prosperity, or involved them in general ruin. In this sense, the kings of the earth were truly the representatives of eternal justice; and it was but natural for the people to look upon them as immediate emanations from the Godhead.
Even the histories of Greece and Rome make no exception to this rule. For although animated by an expansive spirit which was capable of grasping the world, the masses, which represent the natural interests of man, were still in a state of childhood — the lifeless satellites of a few radiant stars. The fate of352	POLITICAL ORIGIN
the heroes of the ancient world excites even now greater sympathies than that of our contemporaries ; because they felt and acted as the moral agents of their respective nations, and their rise or fall was the birth or funeral of a whole people. The Roman republic died with Brutus ; but the martial genius of France was not crushed by the fall of Napoleon.
With the discovery of America commences a new historical era. Already had ideas been multiplied; the invention of printing had furnished a means of perpetuating them with the masses, and the latter were gradually arriving at a state of pupillarity. The mind had begun to assert its empire, and to level the conditions of men. Opposed to inert material force was the moving power of intelligence; and the people themselves had begun to assume a part in the historical drama.
In vain were weapons forged to combat liberty of conscience ; in vain did ecclesiastical and political powers unite to oppose the progress of philosophy.—The march of intellect cannot be impeded by physical obstacles : ideas are eternal and imperishable ; and the light once dawning on the world could not againOF AMERICA.
35S
be changed into darkness. The sun once risen has to complete his bright career, before it can again sink below the horizon, and suffer night to reassume its empire.—The interests of truth and humanity had been proclaimed paramount even to national distinctions ; and instead of fighting the wars of their princes, the people had begun to reflect on their own position and safety.
Arts and sciences had become the commonwealth of nations, and civilization had made them unite as members of one and the same family.
But the new empire of the mind existed only in men’s ideas ; it was destitute of physical power ; it had no existence in time and space. The inalienable rights of men were clashing with the privileges of the favoured; and the growing spirit of liberty opposed to the birthright of kings. In vain had the people struggled to obtain for it a limited territory; when a peaceful mediation presented itself— the settlement of a new continent. In this project both parties joined, one from a hope of realizing the practical application of its principles ; the other to rid itself of a dangerous
VOL. II.	A A354
POLITICAL ORIGIN
enemy whose existence at home filled their minds with apprehensions of dangers. That the discovery and settlement of America did not take place sooner, that the most fertile part of the American continent was settled by the English, — the nation which was furthest advanced in political philosophy —- we must ascribe to that power which presides equally over the destinies of nations and individuals. Had the new continent been settled one century sooner, the whole feudal system and its miseries would have been entailed upon it, and instead of the intelligence of Europe, America would now reflect the melancholy picture of its suffering millions.
The settlement of the United States took place under more favourable circumstances than ever attended the birth of a nation. It was effected, in the outset, on principles the most pure and philosophical, and encountered no serious moral obstacle in its progress. The government of America was not a problem ; but a proposition which had been demonstrated; and to which the declaration of independence was but a corollary.
The seed of liberty found in Europe no soilOF AMERICA.
355
favourable to its germination; but it flourished luxuriantly in America; and has since so multiplied that there is no fear of its ever becoming extinct. The United States have assumed a rank amongst the most powerful nations on the globe; but their strength lies in the moral justice of their government. America possesses not only the elements of power ; but her onward march is hailed by the sympathies of increasing civilization. Her cause is adopted by the people of all countries; and instead of exciting jealousies, her progress is identified with the success of liberal principles throughout the world. America has become the representative of freedom, and as such is destined to act as the animating principle on the rest of mankind.
If Russia had ten times the physical power of the United States, her progress would still be uncertain ; for she has not the means of adapting her government to the spirit of the age. Her way is through darkness and oppression ; while every new idea which quickens into life and becomes the property of thousands, is enlarging the power of America. Both countries are developing immense natural resources, and
A A 2356
AMERICA COMPARED
progress with a rapidity which threatens the independence of other nations ; hut Russia is the evil genius of history; while America is its guardian angel. The power of Russia is opposed to the interests of humanity ; that of the United States is based upon wisdom and justice.
Russia, in order to preserve her power, is obliged to retain the masses in ignorance, and thereby to make her people inferior to all others. Reform, which gives new power and increases the political life of other nations, she must dread as the harbinger of death; for it would divide her ranks, and dismember her empire. She possesses a territory occupied not by one homogeneous mass of intelligence ; but by some five or six dozen savage hordes, subjected to her government by a military despotism.
The power of Russia rests on her bayonets ; that of America on the superiority of mind over brute force. They are to each other as darkness to light. If the power of Russia has been rapidly extending itself over a large portion of Asia and Europe, it has created no new life in either continent; and her aggrandisementTO RUSSIA.
857
is rather the subject of statistics and political geography, than matter of universal history. The Americans have increased their territory by intelligence. Wherever they have gone they have created new life; and their country is yet in travail to give birth to powerful states.
Nor is this the only manner in which the power of America increases. The principles of liberty have been espoused by other nations, who have become her natural allies. Despotism may still claim the territory of the latter; but liberty rules in the minds of the people. In this sense the influence of America extends to the very frontiers of Russia, and penetrates even into her empire. The day of battle must come; the war of principles must ensue; but it will not be the peaceable abodes of the Americans which will be made the scenes of horror and bloodshed.
The position of America with regard to her defence against an external foe, is similar to that of China'; but she possesses infinitely greater power of attack. To her means of national defence, she joins courage and enterprise ; and instead of the brutalizing despotism of the
A A 3MUTUAL RELATION OF
858
Orientals: she is animated by the spirit of liberty. From foreign enemies, therefore, America has nothing to dread ; let us examine her prospects within.
Three great enemies are supposed to exist against the union of the American States:— slavery, the geographical distinctions of the north, south, and west, and last though not least in the accounts of politicians, the licentiousness of the lower classes, which, it is feared, will be the ultimate consequence of universal suffrage.
With regard to slavery I have already expressed my opinion in Chapter IV.; I am therefore only to explain the manner in which its existence acts as a means of disseminating discord, or a cement, which, by rendering the two sections of the country dependent on one another, is an additional guarantee of the union. I am inclined to believe the latter ; though I am ready to admit that the north is more independent of the south, than the south is of the north, and that, on this account, the slave-holding states will always be jealous of the power acquired by the north. It is true, the continuation of slavery in the southern states is connectedTHE SOOTH AND NORTH.	350
with many dangers, some of which are almost as much to he dreaded as those which are inseparable from its abolition. Yet as long as the union remains, the negroes need not excite fear; for any resistance on their part would instantly be checked by the north. The south therefore is bound to conciliate the friendship of the northern and western states; but, in return, exchanges with them its riches. The southern states are the best customers of the northern manufacturers and merchants ; and by confining themselves principally to the growing of cotton and rice, keep up the price of the western produce, which consists principally of wheat and Indian corn,
The exports of America consist chiefly of southern produce; that of cotton alone surpassing the sum total of all the rest. During the operation of the late tariff, the south contributed, in proportion, the by far greatest part to the national revenue, and the measure itself was proposed by southern statesmen. The returns for the southern produce being principally brought to the northern ports, it is, in fact, the north which reaps all the advantages of the southern states ; while the inhabitants of the latter A A 4360
MUTUAL RELATION OF
are merely the storekeepers of its wealth. The negro slaves of America work as much for the prosperity of the northern states as for their own masters : they create the capital with which the genius of the north creates its manufactures and commerce.
In case of a separation of the states, this source of wealth would inevitably be lost to the north; for the south itself would be compelled to establish manufactures, and to seek another channel for its exports. The north would at best be but a competitor for the southern trade; while at present it monopolizes it without a rival.
But the south is connected with the north yet by other ties. Nearly all the merchants and traders in the southern states are emigrants from the north. Through their hands, and those of their correspondents, passes nearly all the property of which the planters are possessed. Now it is evident that, in case of a separation, this portion of the southern population would either be ejected, or obliged to take sides with their employers. In the first case they would be ruined ; in the last compelled to face their own brethren.THE SOUTH AND NORTH.
361
Finally we might suppose the north capable of subduing the south, if the climate of those states were adapted to the constitution of the whites ; but even this would not increase the wealth of the north. The inhabitants of the northern states derive at present greater advantages from the south, than they could hope for from an actual possession of its soil. At present, the south is furnishing them with the materials of industry; as planters they would have to furnish them themselves, and bear the tax of their production. Instead of advancing they would have to recede one step, and surround themselves once more with those evils, from which they have so happily escaped. But the south and north are too well balanced to render such a conquest probable ; and there is, besides, a western power, whose interests are identified with the progress of both, which would never permit such a war.
I consider the progress of the west, as I have once already observed, as the greatest safeguard of the union and liberties of America. It contains the most enterprising population of the United States; and is noted for its republican spirit. In case of a quarrel between the north and the south, the western interest would be appealed362 INFLUENCE OF NEW ENGLAND.
to; and in whose favour it would declare, on that side would be the victory. But even in this case the union of the west with either party, would oblige the other to yield, or expose its own independence. Neither is the west more independent of the north and south, than those states of each other. One portion of its produce is exported to, and consumed in, the north ; the other follows the course of the Mississippi, and passes into the southern territory. Shut the mouth of the Mississippi, and the canals and railroads of the states of New York and Pennsylvania, and the west will be blockaded as effectually as if a cordon had been established on its borders.
But there is yet a fourth party in the United States, composed of elements which, though less distinguished from the rest by physical and geographical differences, are nevertheless strongly united by a common origin and certain moral characteristics, which mark them as a distinct people. I refer to the inhabitants of New England. The eastern states, as they are commonly termed, must become the manufacturing district of America, and will, as such, be equally interested in maintaining a good understanding with the south, which can never becomeINFLUENCE OF PARTIES.
363
their successful rival •, but will furnish them the best market for their manufactures.
The presence of so many parties must evidently serve to neutralize their mutual effect on one another, and prevent any one of them from domineering over the rest. Every attempt of this kind would be deprecated by public opinion, —the only real power which exists in the United States. But the prosperity of all parties is pledged in the continuance of peace. The money of the northern capitalists is now freely circulating throughout the union, and is equally benefiting the west and south. The industry and success of individuals are not supported by a particular section of the country; but depend on the good will and co-operation of all. The enterprising spirit of New England would be stifled, or at least checked, if the west and south did not furnish it aliment. On the other hand the west could not realize the value of its produce, if the north and south were unwilling to become its purchasers; and the south could not be secured the quiet possession of its slaves, if the planters could not rely on the active assistance of the north.
From the beginning of their existence, to the364,
UNANIMITY OF SENTIMENTS
present hour the fate of the American Colonies was identified with their mutual friendship and good understanding. From the first moment of their existence, their interests were so intimately connected with each other, that they voluntarily established that union which has since become the means of their greatness. The same causes are still operating, with a tenfold greater force, than at the time of the revolution. Their mutual interests in the union have increased and continue to augment every year. The mere pecuniary losses which would result from a separation are incalculable. Industry, commerce, and agriculture would be checked in every part of the country •, and the enterprise of individuals confined to the narrow limits of single states and territories. There is no real advantage to be gained by any of the parties, at all equal to the loss it would inevitably have to sustain ; and it is therefore not to be supposed that the United States, even with the most sordid view to their separate interests, will ever seriously entertain a thought of separation. But as long as the nation at large is not infected with this pest, the ambition of individuals must wreck against the firmness and good sense ofIN THE UNITED STATES.
365
the people. War and strife have ever been promoted by only a few; the masses have had nothing to gain by them. In proportion, therefore, as the latter become capable of understanding their own interests, armed opposition must cease, not only in America, but in every part of the world. The unhappy doctrine that the ruin of one country establishes the greatness of another, does not even hold of two neighbouring kingdoms; much less of two sister states, united under one and the same general government.
Neither does the progress of American legislation exhibit the least symptoms of inimical feelings between the different parties. South Carolina, it is true, resisted the tariff; but the rest of the United States were willing to repeal the obnoxious law, and at the same time determined to enforce it, till it should be repealed. The southern states complained at the undue interference with their slaves ; and immediately the different states of the north pass the strongest resolutions, censuring the proceedings of the abolitionists, and prohibiting their interference in the future. The same sentiments have since been espoused even by the lowest classes,366
UNANIMITY OF SENTIMENTS
while the preachers of abolition have been driven from their homes and the pulpit. The south claimed the exclusive right of legislating on the subject of slavery, a right which belongs to them by the very letter of the constitution, but which, of late, had been made the subject of serious discussion ; and immediately Congress passes a vote that the government of the United States has no right to interfere with it. Incendiary pamphlets are sent into the southern states; but the government of the union orders the postmasters not to deliver them. Does this look like oppression on the part of the majority which now uphold the government.* Can the south, under these circumstances, complain of the undue interference of the north ? And is it not evident that, even in the case of interference, the union has the power to protect them ?
Edmund Burke, in his address to the Americans, in behalf of the minority of the House
* It is but justice to say that the respectable part of the opposition are as much opposed to the doctrines and practices of the abolitionists, as the supporters of the present administration; and that, in general, there is no political party in the United States, opposed to the interests of the planters.IN THE UNITED STATES.
367
of Commons, foresaw the power which some of the American states would acquire over the others; and with sagacious forecast counselled them to adhere to a government, which should have the power of protecting them against each other’s aggressions. This power, though Burke applied it only to the British king and parliament, is evidently vested in the Congress. As long as the union lasts, the small states will be protected ; but severed from the bulk of the republic, they must be swallowed up by their more powerful neighbours.
The small states of the German Confederation were much more independent during the Empire, than they are now, governed by sovereign princes. Prussia and Austria have each but four votes at the Diet; but these votes are backed by five hundred thousand bayonets; and their propositions, therefore, meet with no opposition. Austria, in the shape of advice, interferes more with the minor states than she ever did, or could do, while her emperors were emperors of Germany, and required the support of those states.
I do not believe, that, at present, there can be found one candidate for office in the northern368
UNANIMITY OF SENTIMENTS
states, professing to be an abolitionist; and if he were such, the state of public opinion is so changed within the last year, that he would not have the least chance of being elected. The fanaticism of a few publishers and printers of newspapers is all that remains of the whole abolition plot; and these cannot find an office in New York willing to insure their property. The abolitionists were never regularly organized, and would have scarcely been able to injure the feelings of the planters if, in the outset, they had not been too insignificant to attract public attention. This evidently shows the disposition of all parties to reconcile each other’s good will, by making the utmost concessions which are compatible with their mutual independence.
That the moral arguments in favour of the union, to which I have already alluded in the fourth chapter, and the dread of the calamities which would result from its dissolution, are daily more engrossing the public mind, is a fact beyond the possibility of doubt or controversy. The Americans speak of the probability of such an event; but still use every means to prevent its occurrence: they are aware of the danger, and provide for an early remedy. TheIN THE UNITED STATES.	369
conversation of southerners turns seldom on the subject; but to the north it is a common topic but too often discussed before strangers. There are men who are so palsied by the approach of dangers, that their very fears accelerate the unfortunate events which they dread: but the union of America rests on a broader basis than mere individual speculation : it is founded on the material, moral, and political interests of the people; the people understand these interests, and are at liberty to follow their own judgment.
There is yet another peculiar feature of the American character which must have a strong influence on the stability of the union. No people in the world is more fond of magnitude and extension. An American would in his own phraseology think himself “ belittled ” if he were to be called a “ citizen of New York” or “ Pennsylvania.” He must have room for expansion ; for in his mind he has already anticipated the possession of the whole continent.
The greatest pleasure of an inhabitant of the United States consists in sailing up and down the Mississippi, several thousand miles, without meeting an impediment to his progress. How
VOL. II.	B B3?0
CIRCUMSTANCES ACTING
completely destructive to his dreams of greatness would be the thought of being arrested, half a dozen times, on his way to New Orleans, as he would pass from one state or territory into another; or received as a stranger in a land which he now calls his own. The notherner would have to stop his locomotive, in the same manner, on his way to business and amusement. He would scarcely be able to accept an invitation to dine with a friend, without having a passport or a permit from the governors of the different states through which he would have to pass, on his proceeding to the place of rendezvous.
The idea of separation strikes most Americans not only as a political calamity ; but also — as it ought to do — as an absolute and permanent degradation. They know that they would forfeit the respect of the world; and that a New Yorker or New Englander would not command the same attention in Europe, which is now so liberally extended to an American. They feel obliged to defend the union, as they would their individual honours; and behold in its continuance the surety of their happiness and power.IN FAVOUR OF THE UNION.	371
But in addition to all the moral and physical causes which act in favour of the union, there exists amongst the Americans, notwithstanding the frequent appearances to the contrary, a strong mutual attachment, and a love of country, which is always translated into a love of the United States. This feeling is the stronger between the different states, as it extends, in a measure even to England. The Americans still love the country which gave them birth, and protected their early infancy, and of whose constitution and laws they have preserved so valuable a part. Whatever may have been their feelings at the time of resisting the British Government, they must still consider themselves as one and the same people with the British ; and as such cherish a sincere affection for their brethren across the Atlantic. There may have existed a sectional feeling in New England, since her inhabitants have been repeatedly reproached with it; but it is now fast yielding to more enlarged and national views; and it was always connected with the strongest sympathies for their brethren of the south and west.
At the commencement of the revolutionary b b 237°2	STATE-ARISTOCRACY
war, the state of Massachusetts was, with Virginia, the most enlightened and powerful province of all the British possessions of America. Her councils and her example animated the other states in the struggle for liberty, and she had for a long time the greatest influence on the deliberations of Congress. In proportion as the south, and especially the west, increased in population, the power and influence of New England diminished; but her intelligence remained, and created a sad disproportion between her moral and physical resources. The New England states, therefore, have until lately, enjoyed the reputation of being the most aristocratic in the union; because it was their interest to increase the power of the Senate, in which their moral superiority could avail; and to check, if possible the rapid progress of universal suffrage, and the power vested in the House of Representatives ; because their numerical force must diminish every year in proportion as the west becomes settled.
Each state, namely, sends two senators to Congress ; but the number of representatives is in proportion to the population. The six New England states, Maine, New Hampshire, Ver-OF THE SENATE.	SJS
mont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island, send together thirty-eight representatives 5 of which Maine furnishes eight, New Hampshire five, Massachusetts twelve, Rhode Island two, and Connecticut six. The number of representatives from New York is thirty, that of Pennsylvania twenty-eight, and of Ohio nineteen. Ohio did not even exist in 1800 ; but has now more than fifty per cent, more influence in the Congress, than the old colony of Massachusetts. The state of New York, which during the revolutionary war and immediately after, was much inferior to Massachusetts*, has now alone as much influence as five of the New England states together; and Pennsylvania has nearly as much. But in the Senate the case is reversed. New England alone has twelve senator^ while the large state of New York has but two. The New England states therefore, when united, command six times the influence of the state of New York. This is sufficient to produce a sort of “state-aristocracy” which, indeed, has
* The population of Massachusetts in 1770 was 340,000, and that of the state of New York 163,000; but in 1830, the population of Massachusetts was only 610,000, while that of New York had increased to 1,913,508,
BBS374	NEW ENGLAND ARISTOCRACY.
for a long time existed in the Senate. A small number of the whole population of the United States, or at least a minority, might, in the Senate, oppose the wishes of by far the majority of the people ; while in the House of Representatives the masses decide in a national manner independent of states and local interests. In the House of Representatives the New England states must daily lose more and more of their influence, which must eventually be almost entirely absorbed by the growing west; but in the Senate her interests will yet, for a long time to come, be fully and ably represented. A number of English writers have accounted for this species of state-aristocracy, by asserting that the superior education of the people of New EnglaifU must naturally make them Tories; but I have never seen in the toryism of New England any thing but a very clear perception of their own political, commercial and manufacturing interests.
But these feelings of the inhabitants of the eastern states, which may sometimes influence their political proceedings, are far from destroying their amicable relations with the south and west. The western states moreover have beenPREJUDICES OF THE SOUTH AND NORTH. &J5
explored and settled, principally, by emigrants from New England, who will always cherish a warm affection for “ the land of the pilgrims though their political feelings may become changed with the circumstances of their position.
Nothing, indeed, is more common in the United States, than to hear the people of the north entertain their guests with the severest criticism on the manners and habits of the south. But if a foreigner join in the controversy, he will soon be avoided, and the offence be considered as national. In the same manner, one may hear the southerners indulge themselves in sarcasms at the north; but it would be exceedingly unguarded in a stranger to imitate so dangerous an example; as the interference would always be followed by a total exclusion from society. The Americans often quarrel with each other; but no sooner is any portion of them attacked by a stranger, than they are all united, and ready to oppose him as citizens of one and the same country.
The same is the case with the different political parties. An Englishman will often be astonished with the ultra-tory speeches of American politicians, and at their great veneration b b 4>376	CONTEMPT FOR DEMOCRACY.
for kings and princes, expressed, sometimes, in terms of more slavish obedience than he would be able to hear in any part of Europe; but he is mistaken if he believes one half of them to express their real sentiments. The Americans frequently manifest their utter contempt for democracy, mob-government, &c.; but no sooner will any one attack the constitution of the United States, the wisdom of their statesmen and legislators, the happy influence of republican institutions on the general information and prosperity of the people, than they will oppose him with all the vehemence and enthusiasm of which they are capable; and develop, in the course of their arguments, those essential principles of radicalism, which they pretend to despise in others.
Their contempt for democracy it will be perceived, is purely personal; they do not like the men; but they are sincerely attached to the principles of a democratic government; and their spurious respect for personal distinctions is always based on a proper regard for the superiority of their own qualifications. They may bow to kings and nobles, and even express a wish of conjuring them up in their ownPARTY FEELINGS.
877
country; but it is the moral and physical impossibility of realizing such an event, which causes such heedless expressions. Nothing could be more mal d propos, than a sudden gratification of their desire ; which would place them precisely in the same predicament, as the unfortunate man with the three wishes in the fairy tale.
The same I have noticed with the democrats. They will do all in their power to deprive their antagonists of political influence, and, like their opponents, will not always be particularly nice in the choice of their weapons; but if any stranger presume to join them, they are always ready to defend the character, intelligence and even patriotism of their political foes. I remember, particularly on one occasion, to have expressed an opinion with regard to the qualifications of a certain statesman, precisely the same which the gentleman whom I addressed had been in a habit of publishing for many years. I did this merely to learn his sentiments on the subject, and was therefore not a little astonished, to hear him qualify and explain them entirely to the advantage of his antagonist; whose talents, ingenuity and honour he eulogized in a manner which378	CAUTION TO STRANGERS.
prevented me effectually from making any further remarks. “You are right in principle,” added he, “ but you do not understand the working of it. You are yet a stranger to the feelings of the community. You are a foreigner”
It is, in fact, very dangerous, for persons who intend residing in the United States, to attack any one of their institutions or public men, even in presence of those who oppose them. The Americans are very sensitive with regard to every thing belonging to them as a nation ; and a person excluded from society in one part of the country, will not easily obtain admission to it in another. If there be any thing really striking in the national feelings of Americans, it is their remarkable unanimity on all important questions of state, and a community of sentiments and feelings, in a country so diversified in soil and climate.
As one of the causes which must eventually destroy the government, and the union of the states, many political writers assign the growing spirit of democracy, and the principle of universal suffrage, introduced in most of the states. I must confess I look upon democracy,DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA.	379
as it exists in the United States, as a means of preserving peace and the union ; and would sooner trust the safety of the state to the large majority of the American people, than to any faction ever so much enlightened and skilled in the art of government. The origin, manners, and habits of Americans are democratic, and nothing short of a pure democracy could have ever contented them. Under any other form of government they would necessarily approach a revolution ; but settled into a democracy, the power is placed at its fountain, and there can be no misconstruction as to its origin or application. As long as the people, for whom government is instituted, continue to rule, no faction will dare show its head: when the people cease to rule, then will commence the intrigues of parties ; not before.
At the present moment, the majority govern with a supremacy, and a submission on the part of the minority, which inspires universal faith in the government; by making it strong without and capable of upholding the law within. Anarchy is the bugbear with which the enlightened opposition endeavour to frighten the supporters of democracy; but the increased380
DEMOCRACY
facilities of credit, and the amount of banking operations and speculations in western lands, afford the clearest proof of their implicit confidence in the strength and efficiency of the government, to protect liberty, life and property. The tories in Europe too, are willing to invest their money in American stocks, notwithstanding their execration of the democratic doctrines of President Jackson and his party. Merchants take the exchange for the barometer of the faith reposed in a nation’s government. If this doctrine be applied to America, we shall perceive no indication of a portending storm; but the fairest prospects of a serene, unclouded sky. The government of the United States was, in the first instance, established on the broadest and most liberal basis. Democracy, in its widest sense, was concained in the very letter of the constitution, and in the declaration of independence. But it was not a mob which was introduced into power,—for that never existed in America; it was the people at large, who had achieved their liberation. As the resources of the United States became more and more developed, a class of wealthy citizens sprung up, who, dreading the consequences ofIN AMERICA.
S8X
a democracy, or rather anarchy, as it then existed in France, intended to seize upon the government as it then was, and prevent the masses from participating in it, as an uncon-trouled sovereign power. I do not mean to say that their motives were necessarily bad: they may have been actuated by patriotism, and a sincere desire of promoting the public good; yet it is but natural to suppose that the usual share of vanity, which falls to every man’s lot, may have induced them to consider themselves as the best persons in whom to repose public trust, without that scrupulous regard for the qualifications of others, which a love of justice, and a disinterested attachment to their country might have required.
They commenced, in the first place, with the Senate, which represents the states, and not directly the people. They constantly endeavoured to increase its power, and to diminish that of the representatives. T have before remarked that New England, in particular, was so situated as to have most to gain from such a measure; while, on the other hand, she had most to dread from an increase of popular power. But the democratic spirit of the peopleDEMOCRACY
382
soon overthrew all the sagacious doctrines of a “strong,” “concentrated,” “enlightened” government, which “ should have the power of acting on the people,” and, in case of resistance, bring them to a proper understanding of their own interests, “of which the people themselves are never competent judges.”
The unfortunate events of the French revolution seemed to offer a sufficient apology for the political zeal with which, at an early period of the history of the American republic, democratic opinions and doctrines were combated. But the circumstances of the two countries had nothing in common with each other. The Americans, in establishing a democracy, avoided a revolution ; the French had to create one; at least a moral one ; for the minds of the people were not prepared for it. The Americans had accomplished their object, and were only insuring to themselves the permanent and quiet possession of their acquired rights; the French were fighting for them with foreign and internal foes. The Americans had always been freemen, from the earliest establishment of their colonies; the French had been slaves previous to the revolution of 1789. In Ame-IN AMERICA.
383
rica, equality was to be preserved, by preventing one class from arrogating to themselves certain exclusive privileges, which might have enabled them to domineer over the others ; in France men who possessed power were to be divested of it, and reduced to an equality with the rest.
Democracy, in America, has always had justice in its favour. It was the democratic spirit of America which prevented the introduction of titled distinctions into the colonies * ; it was the democratic spirit of the country which at an early period resisted the unjust pretensions of the British government; and it was the spirit of democracy which finally achieved the independence. The democrats, since the revolution, never deprived any party of their lawful power or property; they did not even wish to effect a change; but they desired to retain their public servants no longer than they chose or thought consistent with their own safety; and appointed others in their stead who were
* In none of the states, except South Carolina, did nobility ever gain ground with the people. Those who were of noble extraction willingly avoided the distinction ; labour being necessary to all, and its reward equally distributed.384
DEMOCRACY
equally men of their own choice, and the representatives of public opinion. They knew admirably well that a long exercise of power, must finally identify the power with the incumbent, and were, therefore, exceedingly anxious to remind their rulers, as often as possible, of the fact that the fee-simple is in them, and that no other party in the state possesses sovereign power. They were instinctively impressed with the truth of Livy “ Libertatis magna custodia est, si magna imperia esse non sines, et tem-poris modus imponatur ” ; and laid it down as a maxim, that rotation in office is the only safeguard of republican institutions.
All this was contained in the very charter of the country; and the opposers of democracy in America, if they wish to remain consequent in their arguments, must retrace their steps, and censure the first acts of the colonial assemblies, which clashed with the decrees of the royal governors. Nor would this suffice. They would have to go back to the history of Britain; and condemn the fathers of their country, for emigrating to the shores of New England.
The present administration, has more than any previous one, carried out the principles ofIN AMERICA.
385
pure democracy. The federal (state) party was gradually dying away, when at once an opportunity presented itself, of reviving its ancient doctrines, by the forming of a new party which called itself “ national republican-” But this being in turn defeated by the uncompromising spirit of democracy, a new name was invented to rally its scattered fragments, and, accordingly, they assumed the ingenuous name of “ whigs,” while they stigmatised the democrats as “ tories,” an appellation which never sounded very grateful to American ears.
To describe the various principles embraced or professed by these parties, would be to repeat a twice-told tale. Those of the democratic party have never seriously altered, from the commencement of the revolution to the present day ; and consisted in making every power of the state immediately dependent on the people. Those of the federalists, national republicans, and modern whigs have occasionally undergone an apparent change. The party were careful to avoid general opposition, abandoned, occasionally, some of their most obnoxious doctrines—at least for a time, until they should have an opportunity of rising once more
VOL. II.
c c386
STATE OE PARTIES
into power—and sailed, when prudence required it, under false colours. But with all the inclinations and variations of their political compass, the point they were always endeavouring to make, was to confide power to comparatively few, and to deprive the masses of the privilege of voting. They take it as a political axiom that the people can never govern themselves; because the people are never sufficiently enlightened for that purpose ; and yet they expect that the people, who now possess the power, will have sufficient good sense voluntarily to surrender it to them; and to appoint them trustees of the wealth, wisdom, and progress of the nation.
The federal party deny that all men are born “ free and equal,”— the very words used in the American declaration of independence, — and yet, in their argument, will adduce the example of Greece, Borne, England and France ; and maintain that one nation is exactly like another ; because human nature is everywhere the same. They thus admit that their own does not differ from that of the rest of mankind ; but that circumstances have elevated them to a proud eminence over their fellow creatures. TheyIN AMEEICA.
387
are in fact admirably Jit to govern, and this is a sufficient reason for them to claim the government; and to deride those, who from sheer ignorance, are continuing to rule themselves and their antagonists, when they might resign the irksome task to the more intelligent and learned. The federal party have studied the art of government, and reduced it to a science. They can prove “ by a plus b, divided by z ; that the sheep must be red and die with the smallpox,* ” when their ignorant opponents would never know more than that it was a sheep. The sum and substance of their argument is this. The people must be led in order to prevent them from taking a wrong direction, or from remaining too far behind. In order to lead them, it is, of course, necessary, that some citizens (always the enlightened and scientific*) should be placed at the head, with sufficient power to compel the rest to follow. All this is evidently for the good of the people, which the people themselves do not know. But the people unfortunately wish to remain judges of their own good, and never like to have the
' Voltaire’s Candide. c c 2388
STATE OF PARTIES
head too Jar removed from the body. This is in truth all the difference of opinion which exists between the present parties in the United States, though a great deal of learning has been exhausted by Mr. Hamilton and others, to account scientifically for the political schism.
Whoever has been an impartial observer of the Americans, will have come to the conclusion that no other form of government, save a pure democracy, could have ever insured their freedom, or satisfied their love of liberty j and that every attempt to introduce aristocratic institutions into their country, must necessarily rouse the opposition and indignation of the people. De Tocqueville observes that at the present period, the nations of Europe have no other alternative than to choose between a democracy and an absolute despotism; but he might d fortiori apply the same doctrine to the Americans. Without believing with De Tocqueville that the laws of a democracy must necessarily be imperfect; but, on the contrary, convinced that they must always benefit the majority or be soon abrogated, I am fully persuaded of the correctness of the remainder of his argument, and especially of the truth of his remarks onIN AMERICA.
389
the spirit of family.* He applies this part of his argument chiefly to the condition of France j
* “ Mais de nos jours où toutes les classes achèvent de se confondre, où Vindividu disparaît de plus en plus dans la foule, et se perd aisément au milieu de l'obscurité commune, aujourd'hui que ïhonneur monarchique ayant presque perdu son empire sans être remplacé par la vertu, rien ne soutient plus l'homme au dessus de lui-même, qui peut dire où s'arrêteraient les exigences du pouvoir et les complaisances de la faiblesse ?
“ Tant qu'a duré l'esprit de famille, Vhomme qui luttait contre la tyrannie ri était jamais seul ; il trouvait autour de lui des cliens, des amis héréditaires. des proches. Et cet appui lui eût-il manqué U se sentait encore soutenu par ses aieux et animé par ses descendans. Mais quand le patrimoine se divise, et quand en peu d'années les races se confondent, où placer Vesprit de famille ?"
%	%	m	*
CÉ Ceci ne mérite t-il pas quon y songe ? Si les hommes devaient arriver, en effet à ce point qu'il fallût les rendre tous libres ou tous esclaves, tous égaux en droits ou tous privés de droits ? Si ceux qui gouvernent les sociétés en étaient réduits à cette alternative d'élever graduellement la foule jusqu à eux, ou de laisser tomber tous les citoyens au dessous du niveau de Vhumanité, rien serait-ce pas assez pour vaincre bien des doutes, rassurer bien des consciences, et préparer chacun à faire aisément de grands sacrifices ?”
*	#	*	*
“ Les volontés de la démocratie sont changeantes, ses agens grossiers ; ses lois imparfaites. Je Vaccorde. Mais sil était vrais que bientôt il ne dût exister aucun intermédiaire entre l'empire de la démocratie et le joug d'un seul, ne devrions nous pas plutôt tendre vers l'un que nous soumettre volontaire-ment à l autre ? Et s'il fallait enfin en arriver à une corn-
c c 3390
ARISTOCRACY
but how much more must it hold with regard to the United States ? If hereditary distinctions have, in a manner, been abolished in France, where still all their trappings and titles are left, they have never existed in America; and the law of primogeniture was always opposed to the manners and customs of the people. It hardly ever takes more than two or three generations to reduce the wealthiest iamilies in the United States, in point of fortune, to an equality with the industrious classes ; and in the ordinary course of nature genius is not hereditary. The Americans, therefore, are not apt to form attachments to certain families, who have no power of rewarding their fidelity ; and the road to honour and distinction being open to all, view with peculiar jealousy any attempt at elevation resting on ancestral pretensions. Aristocracy, in America, must first be created, before it can exercise its influence; but all the institutions of the country are totally opposed to its birth.
plète égalité ne voudrait-il pas mieux se laisser niveller par la liberté que par un despote ?”—Tocqueville de la Démocratie en Amérique.IN AMERICA.
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Nothing indeed is more common, than to hear Americans themselves aver that “ there is a great deal of aristocracy in their country, of which Europeans, generally, are entirely unaware.” Now I have remained nearly fifteen years in the United States; but I have never been able to discover this aristocracy; nor its trappings, power, influence, or worshippers. I have, assuredly, known a variety of fashionable coteries, —at least what in America would be called fashionable ;—composed of highly respectable merchants, literary and professional men, politicians and others, who, it was evident, considered themselves the nobility and gentry of the land ; but they never had the courage of avowing their sentiments and pretensions in public; and have, of late, been as much excluded from the government of the country, as they avoided being confounded with the rest of their fellow citizens. On the other hand, I have had an opportunity of observing a class of society, again composed of highly respectable merchants, literary and professional men, politicians and others, who never exhibited the least symptons of imaginary superiority over their countrymen ; but always acknowledged them-c c 4392
UNIVERSAL SUFFRAGE.
selves to be public servants, paid and provided for by the people ; and who, in fact, possessed considerable more power and influence than their aristocratic neighbours with the exclusive sentiments. One party was always dreaming of influence and distinction ; the other actually possessed them. This is all the difference I have ever known between the aristocracy and democracy of America.
Universal suffrage has been decried as leading to anarchy, and thence to despotism. General Jackson had already been represented as the future dictator of the republic. How have these predictions been verified ? The democratic party have developed more union and strength than any previous one in power. They have reconciled the south with the north, and preserved the integrity of the union. They have in every instance upheld the law and subjected states and individuals to the proper authority of Congress. They have, at the same time, abstained from any undue and unconstitutional interference with the internal regulations of the states, and procured justice for all that were injured. They have made the government respected abroad, and obliged even theUNIVERSAL SUFFRAGE.
393
most powerful nations to preserve peace and good faith with the United States. In short, they defeated their antagonists at home and abroad, and inspired universal confidence in the safety and stability of American institutions.
And what has become of the dictator ? He is indeed yet the idol of the people whose interests he endeavoured to protect by every act of his military and political life ; but he is retiring from office, as all his predecessors, with no other personal gratification than the affections of America, and the admiration of Europe. He will leave to his successor the example of his virtue and a government established on liberty and justice.
Democratic institutions, as they exist in America, are without a precedent in history. The ancients never dreamt of a government similar to that of the United States ; and its very existence was precluded by the ignorance of the masses, and the absence of a periodical press. Never, before, have the people at large participated in, or assumed, the government of a state. All the arguments in the world in favour or against democracy must, therefore, remain conjectures till time shall have solved the problem.394
UNIVERSAL SUFFRAGE.
The question, in America, is no longer whether democracy is to be established; but whether it is to be changed. It exists there already, and cannot be abolished without a most dangerous and violent revolution. The tories are the revolutionists in America: the democrats are the conservatives and adhere to the government. The point at issue is whether the latter are to give up a form of government under which they have prospered, and made such immense improvements, merely because doubts are entertained as to the possibility of retaining it for ever ?—whether they shall surrender a power which once departed from them will neyer return to its source, and to obtain which they would have to make new and additional sacrifices ?
The face of the world is changed; why should the old forms of government be the only ones adapted to its new character ? The people have acquired information and power; why should they not use them in the establishment of governments, when they can do so without committing an act of injustice to others ? Democracy in America, is a legitimate and historical form of government, and does not clashUNIVERSAL SUFFRAGE.	395
with the established manners and customs of the country. The most perfect despotism— that of China—has lasted for thousands of years; why should liberty alone be for ever banished from the earth ? If tyranny could find such a basis, should justice be built in the air ? I much rather believe that the liberty of the ancients was not established on a basis sufficiently large to withstand the attacks of factions, and that the overthrow of their republics was chiefly owing to the little power which was vested in the majority of the people. A whole nation is seldom deceived about her true interests, and cannot be bribed by a party. The people may make faults; but they have always the power of repairing them, and where they have a share in the government, are identified with its continuance and progress. If it be true that “ universal history contains the judgment of the world,* ” we must consider the downfall of Rome as the punishment of its political crimes, and may hope for the freedom of America, as long as her people shall be worthy of it.
* “ Die Weltgeschichte ist das Weltgericht.”-*-/SfcÄi7/en396
THE WAR IN TEXAS.
Of the greatest importance to the progress of the United States is the present contest of the Texians with the republic of Mexico. The Americans were not bound to assist their brethren, who had quitted their country ; yet the enormous sums, and the number of volunteers which, since the commencement of the war have been sent from the United States to assist those bold adventurers are totally incommensurate with the American interests in that province. It was the sympathy of countrymen, and of political friends, which procured money and troops for the Texians, and enabled them to repel the attacks of their enemies.
I never, from the commencement of hostilities, believed that the Mexicans would be able to reconquer their territory ; and I certainly do not think so now; but I am far from considering the annexation of Texas to the United States in the light of many politicians, who view in it only the subject of future quarrels. I think it rather favourable to the continuance of the union, than threatening to change its principles. The New England and northern states generally, will at first lose a portion of theirTHE WAR IN TEXAS.
89 7
political influence; but they will recover it again in the future, enabling the south in the meantime to reassume its wonted influence in Congress. The territory of Texas may easily be divided into three or four independent states, which for a period would insure a majority of southern members in the Senate and House of Representatives. But I do not apprehend that the power of the south can ever be so far increased, as to endanger the safety of the north. At present the southern states are jealous of a possible interference of the north with the institution of slavery. They are morbidly sensitive on this subject, because they feel that they are, in a measure, at the mercy of the north, who might offend them without dreading their revenge. By the accession of Texas, they will be able to defend themselves, and establish a system of equality, which cannot but be productive of greater harmony and friendship.
No passion is so destructive to a sincere attachment as fear; nothing so opposed to a mutual good understanding, as a mind filled with suspicion. These obstacles to friendship can only be avoided by a greater equality of position, which398
INFLUENCE OF TEXAS
shall render it impossible for one party to injure and oppress the other. Under such circumstances an hundred concessions will be made, which the weaker would have refused from jealousy, and which on the part of the stronger, would have had the appearance of condescension. Thus, the southern states of America may hereafter abolish slavery ; but they will not do so as long as the measure appears to be forced upon them; and until they have the means of protecting themselves against the possible encroachments of the blacks. The more powerful the district is which becomes thus united by the same interests, the less will they apprehend from their slaves and the northern agitators ; the more charitable therefore will they be in the treatment of their negroes, and the more ready to listen to the voice of humanity.
There is no reason to believe that the admission of Texas into the union will create a distinct interest, opposed to that of the northern and western states. The north and a portion of the west (those states which increase more rapidly than all the rest) have no material interest which could be endangered by the continuance of slavery 5 and the question there-ON THE UNION.
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fore can only be one of political eminence. But whatever additional power the south may, in this manner, acquire, must finally be overbalanced by the much more rapid increase of the white population in the western states, and can therefore only serve to re-establish, for a limited period, the position which the south held immediately after the establishment of peace. Instead of stirring up the question of slavery, with a view to excite prejudices which, in course of time, may endanger the union, I am inclined to believe, it will cause the subject to sleeps —each party reposing on its own strength, until, in the natural course of events, the power of the north will have again surpassed that of the south, rendering its intentions and motives a fresh matter of suspicion. So far then from causing a separation, the annexation of Texas will be a promoter of harmony and friendship ; and allay those prejudices which the ill-guided zeal of a few individuals, has excited in the minds of the southerners.
Neither will the financial condition of the southern and northern states be altered by the new accumulation of territory. The soil of400
INFLUENCE OF TEXAS
Texas is favourable to the cultivation of cotton ; and its climate and position, in other respects, similar to those of the southern states. Texas, therefore, can only be a competitor of the south, and perhaps depress the price of cotton ; but to the north it will open an additional market for manufactures, and a new means of promoting navigation and commerce. Neither will the condition of the west undergo a material change, except for the better. The inhabitants of Texas will become consumers of the western produce, without the least probability of competing with it in other markets ; and the west, enriched by its new customers, will furnish additional employment to the industry and enterprise of the north. In every direction it must increase the prosperity of the country, and enlarge the stake which the Americans have in the union. The southern states will not be individually benefited, but their rights and privileges, as a whole will receive an additional support. The northern states, on the contrary, will receive no such addition ; but they are far from standing in heed of it, and will be satisfied with theON THE UNION.
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pecuniary advantages, which they must assuredly derive from so large an accession to their markets.
Nor will Texas be exclusively peopled by southerners. No sooner will the independence of Texas be acknowledged, and the state itself be admitted into the union, than thousands of the most active and enterprising population of the north, and especially New Englanders, will proceed thither in quest of happiness and fortune. Texas will not represent the prejudices of a particular section ; but the intelligence and industry of every part of the United States. It will derive its capital from the north j but it must, in time, benefit every section of the country ; though its geographical position must render it an appendage to the southern and western states. In less than ten years lines of communication will be established, from the centre of the province to all the large commercial emporiums of the United States; and a journey from New York to Texas will be accomplished with more ease, than twenty years ago, a trip from Washington to Boston. Every state will have a portion of its capital invested in Texas, and be united to it by ties of con-
VOL. II.	D D4 02
MEXICO AND
sanguinity and friendship. The Texians will> in every respect, be situated like the inhabitants of any other state in the union; but their position to Mexico will in all probability remain hostile. It is difficult to foretell to what extent the contempt for the Spanish race, and the rapid augmentation of their own strength, will finally lead the Americans; but in a further contest with Mexico the victory cannot be doubtful. The Mexicans bear to the United States very nearly the same relation as the American Indians : there is scarcely more union and discipline amongst them, though considerably less energy and bravery.
The Mexicans, it is highly probable, will have to pay the penalty of their inertness, and in course of time become subject to their more industrious and enterprising neighbours. The whole number of pure Spaniards in Mexico does not amount to two millions j which, in less than ten years, will scarcely be a power sufficient to withstand the encroaches of the western settlers alone. Opposed to the United States, Mexico is but a power of the second or third rank, incapable of improving the advantages of its position, and too much divided in itself, everTHE UNITED STATES.
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to oppose an energetic force to a continental enemy. The incalculable resources of the Mexican soil, its fine climate, its inexhaustible mines, and the superiority of its geographical position, with excellent ports on the Pacific, will hold out sufficient temptations to the Americans, to venture fresh settlements on its territory, or to embroil the two nations in war; until, finally, the United States will extend from the river St. Lawrence to the isthmus of Panamas ; and from the Atlantic to the Pacific ocean.
Neither will the progress of the Americans be arrested there. If they remain united, and the South American states do not increase in power, but, on the contrary, become more and more enfeebled by internal divisions and the growing opposition of the Indians, the latter must all, directly or indirectly, be brought to acknowledge the superiority of the United States. Already is the American influence on those countries an object of jealousy with its impotent patriots •, but the commencement being once made with Mexico, the conquest of all the remaining American states, and the final occupation of the whole continent by the Anglo-d d 2404
SOUTH AMERICA
Saxon race, would be comparatively easy. Mexico is the only one of those states which has a sufficient land force to resist an enemy.
The settlements of the Portuguese in Brazil, and those of the Spaniards in Buenos Ayres, never extended into the interior of the country ; with whose wealth, resources, and facilities of navigation they are far less acquainted than the people of the United States. Their whole power is confined to the sea-coast, defended by a few frigates and minor ships of war, which, in the English or American navy, would scarcely be pronounced seaworthy, and commanded, for the most part, in a manner equal to the fitting-out of the vessels. The whole white population of Brazil does not, probably, surpass five or six hundred thousand; the rest are persons of colour and Europeans. These, even at the present moment, could not oppose the execution of any ambitious design on the part of the United States, which could only be checked by an active interference of the European powers. The fate of these states depends chiefly on the assistance of England; without which they may, at any time, become annexed to the United States, or reduced toAND THE UNITED STATES.
405
American colonies. Neither does there appear to be any other prospect for the tranquillity and welfare of those countries, than their being annexed to the United States. Florida and Louisiana have in this manner become wealthy ; Texas will soon follow their example Mexico itself will not be able to avoid its fate ; and should we hope for the independence of the minor states ?
One step towards the final subjection of the whole American continent, was made by the people of the Spanish provinces themselves, in adopting the constitution of the United States, or some similar fundamental law, which they will never be able fully to carry into execution, until they shall have mixed with the American race, and acquired its customs and manners. By this means Louisiana has become reformed, and is now essentially an American state. We may even without great stretch of imagination suppose the case in which the South American republics themselves may seek the protection of the United States, and prefer being annexed to a powerful and free nation, to being exposed to the attacks of the Indians, and the cruelty and rapacity of their own military chieftains. The d d 3406
ADVANTAGE OF POSITION
different powers of Europe always quarreled for the possession of the South American continent. Brazil, especially, with its diamond mines, excited their cupidity and jealousy; why should not the descendants of those powers conclude the strife by uniting under one and the same government ? When the United States shall have risen to that political eminence, which will enable them to make war and dictate peace, the powers of Europe may themselves be at war with each other, and be obliged to submit to such an unexpected aggrandisement.
The United States hold a position, with regard to America, somewhat similar to that which England occupies in reference to Europe. They are the first and only maritime nation of the new world; but, at the same time, join to it, the advantages of a huge continental power, occupying nearly one third of the whole continent. They are, therefore, with regard to America, what France and England joined, would be in opposition to the rest of Europe; only that their antagonists are less intelligent, less numerous, and by far less martially inclined than the northern powers of Europe. The only line of communication between the large settle-OF THE UNITED STATES.
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ments on the coast of Brazil is by sea ; without which the whole country would not have a single point d’appui. But the navy of the United States is alone more numerous than the whole naval force of all the South American and Mexican states ; and the private citizens— especially the western hunters — are better soldiers than the most experienced Brazilian troops of the line. The whole remainder of the American continent does not possess such naval advantages as the United States. Three fourths of all the navigation of South America are already absorbed by United States’ vessels ; and, under these circumstances, it is not probable that any of these provinces will ever become a strong maritime power. The fate of the South American republics depends on the mercy of the United States; and unless they succeed in establishing regular governments, they may have to implore the assistance of America to be saved from inevitable destruction.
And is it not for the interest of the human race, that those beautiful countries should be settled and governed by a different people from those who are now vegetating in them, without advancing one step in any of the useful arts d d 4408
GOVERNMENTS OE
and sciences ? Is it not desirable that the interior of the South American continent should be explored, and its treasures employed in ameliorating the condition of the human family ? Are the luxuriant and healthy provinces of Brazil, and the valley of the La Plata never to yield their produce to civilized nations ; and are industry and commerce to be for ever banished from one half of the American continent ? The nations who are now inhabiting those climes are scarcely capable of keeping possession of the little territory their European ancestors have conquered, and are daily degenerating in habits and principles. Their governments are insufficient to protect either life or property; and they are equally destitute of the means of improving them. Their finances are in the most miserable condition, and their credit entirely annihilated. The number of inhabitants, too, is far from increasing in a ratio similar to that of the United States ; and their most active citizens are Indians and Mulattos. I do not wish to overcharge this picture, those who are acquainted with the situation and government of South America will readily admit the truth of my statement, to which I would only add that the. SOUTH AMÉRICA.
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condition of the Spanish and Portugese settlements are best described, by calling them exactly the reverse of the peace and prosperity of the United States. Mexico was the only power which could have opposed the progress of America. After her humiliation and dismemberment, the United States will be left without a rival. They may now blockade the whole American continent, as England did Europe in the war against Napoleon ; and the settlements being confined to the coast, reduce them with little opposition.
If Europe should ever become jealous of America, it would not be of her physical force ; but of the moral energy which her citizens are wont to develop, wherever they form settlements. It is not so much the possession of Mexico, but what the Americans would make of it, in the course of fifty years, which would cause fear and apprehensions in Europe. When America shall once be firmly established between two oceans, commanding the Gulf of Mexico and the Pacific ocean, she will occupy the centre of the world ; while Europe will act as from a corner. The historical theatre will be changed, and410
WARLIKE CHARACTER
the centre of civilization removed to the valley of the Mississippi.
The centre of America is giving birth to a new race of beings, more powerful and athletic than the inhabitants of the eastern coast, and more reckless of dangers than any which the world has seen. Love of liberty and adventure are their, strongest passions, and they combine the intelligence of Europeans, with the physical advantages of savages. They must eventually penetrate to the borders of the Pacific; where a new life must spring up, different from that which the reflection of European civilization has created on the shores of the Atlantic, and still more congenial with the most enlarged principle of freedom. The coast of the Pacific ocean enjoys a better and healthier climate than that of the eastern states, and is, perhaps, equally fertile. A thousand new sources of wealth will at once be opened to those settlers; and their adventurous spirit will soon make the ocean its scene of action.
From the western coast of America incursions may be made on the whole Indian archipelago, and on the coast of Asia itself. If Ame-OF THE WESTERN SETTLERS.
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rica should ever become a conquering nation, the wealth of India would be more tempting than that of Europe, and equally near at hand. Who knows but what this hardy race of “ half horse and half alligator” may renew the adventures of the Argonauts; but change the scene from Colchis to Japan and China ? We have known a handful of Normans conquer all Italy 'and the most valuable part of France ; why should not a nation like the Americans, eminently skilful and daring at sea, and possessed of the courage and energy of those western settlers, be able to make an impression on the civilized barbarians who inhabit the eastern extremities of Asia? At present the idea is too distant to excite the least apprehensions, and it may perhaps be considered preposterous; but then no people ever had such a passion for emigration and expansion ; and it is therefore not to be supposed that the sea will arrest their progress. Like every other commercial nation, the Americans will have their colonies, and revive the history of England in the new world. When the continent shall be settled, they will conquer and subdue the nearest islands, to which their naval genius will invite them ; and having412	WARLIKE- CHARACTER
succeeded in that, they may venture themselves on the neighbouring continent.
As far as our knowledge of history extends, the inhabitants of our globe have, with but very few exceptions, travelled westward. It is even probable, and has lately been maintained by a number of writers, that Asia received its first population from the western shores of America. Now why should the most enterprising nation on earth—the Anglo-Americans—arrest this general motion of the human race, and confine themselves to their own borders ? And this at an age where distances are annihilated by steam, and the terrors of the ocean disarmed by the skill of the mariner ? The modern essence of European and American civilization is motion, communicated by inspiring life into the masses. That of the Asiatics consists in a quiet contemplation of the past, and a calm resignation to the future. The civilization and power of the Americans, when they shall have arrived on the shores of the Pacific, will have acquired a fearful momentum, to which the nations of the east will have nothing to oppose but inert masses,
Europe has nothing to apprehend from theOF THE WESTERN SETTLERS.
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Americans. Their march is westward ; and they will in their coarse sooner reach China, than, by a retrograde motion, the land of their own sires. With regard to the powers of Europe, the United States will for a long time yet act on the defensive ; but westward they will expand, and assume the air of dictators. Besides, Europe will have little to tempt the Americans; their own country being richer and more fertile, and their commercial interests opposed to a maritime war. But the east will hold out different allurements, and greater probabilities of conquest. The Americans may proceed to the very coast of China, and prevail by superior intelligence. A small naval force would be sufficient to reduce the islands ; and the population of these might furnish the warriors for the continent.
As long as the Americans shall follow their favourite inclination of proceeding westward, as long as their country shall afford scope for industry and enterprise, as long as they shall be able to discover new sources of wealth and employment, either within or without their country, they will preserve the union, which protects most effectually their own interests,414
ENGLAND AND AMERICA.
and is the only means of their arriving at greatness and power. The United States are yet in their infancy; and it would be an anomaly in history to see a young and healthful nation perish, before it has reached the climax of its power.
England must always be a natural ally of America; both nations being of the same origin, and the institutions and genius of the one, being the elements of greatness in the other. Whatever prejudices there may yet exist between them, must yield to the soothing influence of time: the injuries will be forgotten ; the lasting benefits remembered; and the people of both countries — who never were opposed to each other—will look upon each other as children of one and the same family. Why should it be otherwise ? Why should political and geographical limits separate two nations so intimately linked to each other by consanguinity, language, customs, manners, and laws ? Is not every new settlement in America an offspring of British genius ? And are the British not invited to enjoy and partake of its benefits ? Are the British excluded from America? Does British capital not find its way toENGLAND AND AMERICA.
415
the far west?	And are the inhabitants of
the American wilderness not consumers of British manufactures ? Does the expanding greatness of America not re-act favourably on England ? Is not every new village in America a new market for British productions ?
An Englishman may travel all over Europe and Asia, and be a stranger in every country ; but if he proceed to the west, he will recognize a whole world as his home. If he enter a private dwelling he will behold the same domestic fireside; in the streets the hum of business will be English ; at the halls of justice, he will hear the judges expound the laws of his country; at the theatres, English actors will perform English plays; and on the Sabbath, the sanctified stillness of the day will again be a picture of England. What, then, is America* but England, reflected in huge proportions, from a spherical mirror ? What is England, but the vastness of American genius, concentrated and condensed to a focus ?
The English must see themselves perpetuated in America; while America possesses in the mother country a sage mentor, whose political and legislative experience is still416
ENGLAND AND AMERICA.
directing her progress. The only natural feeling between England and America is friendship; every other is barbarous, mean, unworthy of either nation, and destructive to the interests of both. Enmity between England and America cannot advantage either country. America, though separated from England, still lends to English influence throughout the world ; England, though no longer ruling over America, is still her guide and instructor ; and the historian, who shall write the future history of America, will find his data in England.
The progress of America reflects but the glory of England; all the power she acquires, extends the moral empire of England; every page of American history is a valuable supplement to that of England. It is the duty of the patriots of both countries, to support and uphold each other, to the utmost extent compatible with national justice; and it is a humiliating task, either for private individuals or public men, to make the foibles of the one the subject of ridicule in the other.
The English and Americans are the only two nations, which are really free j and their liberties are based on the same law. United they areENGLAND AND AMERICA.	417
sufficient to withstand the world; why should they be envious of each other’s greatness ?
There can be no more war between England and America; for it would be detrimental to the liberties of both, and interfere with their national advancement. The most formidable power of America need not excite apprehensions in England ; for it is travelling westward — receding from Europe — and may progress for centuries, before it can come in contact with the most remote part of the British empire. In the same manner may the power of England increase without exciting suspicions in America. England can never endanger the safety of the United States; but her political and moral influence may serve as a bulwark to American institutions.
It is a fortunate circumstance that the British sovereign should lately have been the mediator between France and America. It is the first act of royal favour extended to the Americans for many years ; and will afford a proof of the disinterested attachment of England, to the future welfare and prosperity of her daughter. It will serve to soothe the angry feelings, which British statesmen and British writers have often wan-
VOL. II.
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CONCLUSION.
tonly roused in their brethren beyond the Atlantic, and be hailed as the harbinger of peace and amity between the two greatest nations in the world.
May that friendship never be interrupted; and may the Americans and the English, instead of entertaining unworthy prejudices, cherish that mutual affection for one another, to which they are invited by the ties of consanguinity, and the regard due to their mutual perfections.
THE END.
London :
Printed by A. Spottiswoode, New- Street-Square.