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AMERICAN LIFE. 
 
 A NARRATIVE 
 
 OF 
 
 TWO YEARS' CITY AND COUNTRY RESIDENCE 
 
 UNITED STATES. 
 
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 &f)tr& Zl)ouz&\\t}. 
 
 BOLTON PERCY: 
 
 PRINTED FOR THE AUTHORESS. 
 
 1843. 
 

 
 LEEDS: 
 FEINTED BY E\ I. BOEBUCK, GBACE STEEET. 
 
 //&•£$ 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 In submitting these few sheets to the public, 
 the authoress wishes to be considered as presenting 
 a faithful record of her observations, and of events 
 as they occurred within the limits of her experience, 
 during her continuance in the United States. 
 
 Whenever she has felt herself called upon to 
 give an opinion, she has endeavoured impartially 
 to comply; and when, in delineating characters, 
 she has been compelled to draw upon fiction for 
 names, in order to avoid inflicting an injury by an 
 unnecessary exposure; it may be concluded with 
 certainty that the names alone are fictitious, and 
 that the individuals represented are correctly de- 
 picted in their proper colours. 
 
 While employed in preparing this small volume 
 for the press, that opinion, so frequently expressed 
 by the Americans, has often occurred to her : viz. 
 " That should a book be written on their country, 
 
 a2 
 
IV. 
 
 containing truth in its unalloyed simplicity, it 
 would for ever lie on the shelves of the bookseller, 
 as no encouragement would be given in England 
 to any publication on such a subject, unless it were 
 rendered palatable by libels and falsehoods." Al- 
 though sufficiently convinced herself, of the fallacy 
 of this notion, still it has had some influence in 
 inducing as much caution, as if these pages were 
 about to be submitted as a test to decide the fate 
 of some such experiment. 
 
 In the present edition the reader is presented 
 with an additional chapter, devoted, almost exclu- 
 sively, to the subject of Emigration. Indeed the 
 authoress has endeavoured throughout, so to unite 
 amusement with useful information, as to make 
 her work desirable both as a book of utility to the 
 emigrant, and as a volume of entertainment, to 
 those who prefer viewing the other side the Atlantic 
 through the safer medium of the press. How far 
 she has succeeded, must be left to the judgement 
 of a discerning public to determine. 
 
 Raihcay Cottage, Bolton Percy. 
 
AMERICAN LIFE. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 THE VOYAGE. 
 
 The day on which we sailed was clear and 
 serene, and we gently drifted with the tide down 
 Belfast Lough into the Channel. Assured that I 
 should not be able to see land on the following 
 morning, I kept my eyes fixed upon the hills in the 
 distance till darkness rendered them no longer visi- 
 ble. I never undertake a voyage or a journey with- 
 out experiencing a vague feeling of melancholy — 
 there is something so strangely depressing in the 
 preliminaries of departure ; the packing of boxes — 
 the arrangement of books, clothes, and papers. 
 Indeed the whole valedictory ceremony is throughout 
 a series of preparations, every way calculated to 
 excite sensations of sadness. I seldom visit a place, 
 
 a3 
 
even for a few weeks, without meeting with some 
 agreeable associates, whose company I feel loath to 
 relinquish. But these ephemeral disquietudes form 
 but a shadowy representation of the emotions that 
 agitated my frame, when I was leaving the shores 
 of Europe, with the prospect of a long, and per- 
 haps, a final separation. These unpleasant sensa- 
 tions, however, were greatly alleviated, by consider- 
 ing that the presence of those whom I hold dearer 
 than all other earthly treasures, was with me in the 
 vessel ; I mean my husband and my children. 
 
 The next morning, we found ourselves going at 
 a rapid rate under the influence of a gale, far too 
 brisk for personal comfort. Our vessel was rather 
 small, but she was, what is termed by sailors " a 
 good sea-boat;" and for that reason alone, on 
 account of her pitching and rolling, was very un- 
 pleasant for passengers. The whole of the company 
 in the cabin were distressingly affected with nausea, 
 and so long as the gale lasted, we were quite in a 
 passive and suffering condition. ■ 
 
 This distressing concomitant of a long voyage 
 affects individuals variously, according to their ages, 
 constitutions, and previous habits of life. My 
 
personal sufferings which were very severe, were 
 augmented by the care of an infant of six months. 
 I had a servant on board, but she required as much 
 attention from the steward as myself: and I now 
 discovered to my great inconvenience, what I had 
 frequently heard others affirm, — that very few fe- 
 male servants, whatever be their representations, 
 are capable of performing their duties during the 
 first week of a voyage. 
 
 The next day the gale increased to something 
 like a storm, and for safety, I was recommended to 
 retire to my birth. While lying there, helpless and 
 almost in an inanimate state, a box which had 
 escaped my notice containing a compass, fell from a 
 small shelf just above my head, and struck me a 
 violent blow with its sharp corner, upon my temples. 
 From the weight of the box, it was supposed 
 that, had my head reclined only one-fourth of an 
 inch in another direction, the consequences must 
 have been fatal : my infant also had a narrow 
 escape, having been removed from my side only 
 a few minutes before. I suffered much however, 
 as it w r as; but I ought eternally to acknowledge, 
 with lively feelings of gratitude, this merciful 
 
8 
 
 interposition of an over-ruling Providence in my 
 favour. 
 
 During the continuance of this storm or gale, 
 all the passengers on board without a single excep- 
 tion were laid aside — the assistance of a female 
 could not be obtained either for love or for money. 
 There we lay, helpless in our berths, and I think, 
 I never partook of food for upwards of two days ; 
 nor was my case in this respect, by any means sin- 
 gular. I have performed long voyages both before 
 and since, and have always been similarly affected. 
 
 I would earnestly recommend families going 
 abroad, who are anxious to secure the advantage 
 of a surgeon, to require a personal interview with 
 the individual wht to act in that capacity ; par- 
 ticularly if they sail mi a foreign port. Such a 
 precaution would often prevent much disappoint- 
 ment, as the person who is introduced as " the 
 doctor," not unfrequently turns out to be some vul- 
 gar fellow, redolent of rum, and dressed in shabby 
 black ; who enjoys the privilege of a free passage, 
 and commonly earns the hearty contempt of all who 
 are doomed to endure his society. 
 
 The cabin of a packet ship bound to a distant 
 
port, is a bazaar of character. Here are assembled 
 individuals, the very antipodes of each other in 
 religion, politics, employment, country, and lan- 
 guage. Here, the gay and the grave, the religious 
 and the profane, with their peculiar prejudices and 
 partialities, meet upon one common plane of 
 equality. Under no other circumstances can this 
 take place. Boarding houses indeed, on the Con- 
 tinent and in America, have some resemblance; 
 but there, an opportunity is afforded for selection ; 
 here, choice is impossible. The company, be its 
 composition ever so heterogeneous, is confined 
 within a circumscribed space from which there is 
 no retreat ; and all are obliged to spend the whole 
 of their time together in that part of the vessel 
 which they have selected. 
 
 Our cabin company however, was by no means 
 numerous. Besides myself and my family, it con- 
 sisted of the captain and his wife, both originally 
 from Connecticut; a Mrs. Johnson, an English 
 lady ; an Irish lady from Antrim ; an English man- 
 ufacturer ; a young American merchant ; a young 
 Irishman; and a youth of dubious origin, called 
 James. 
 
10 
 
 The captain and his lady were, in point of dis- 
 position, the most unlovely specimen of Americans 
 I ever met with, either before or since ; and were 
 every way calculated to give us a most unfavourable 
 opinion of the state of society in their own country. 
 Ever since his first voyage to Europe, the captain 
 had entertained a disrelish for the company of Eng- 
 lishmen. This arose from two circumstances, that 
 none but a person of his cast of mind would adduce 
 as distinguishing marks of the English character. 
 I remember, one of these grievances was, that some 
 person on the quay at Liverpool had applied to him 
 the unpalatable term of " transported Yankee," 
 garnished with some accompaniments by no means 
 complimentary. For this, and something else 
 equally important, he seemed to consider himself 
 justifiable in insulting every Englishman with whom 
 he came in contact, and lost no opportunity of 
 indulging himself in every unamiable species of 
 retaliation that he found conveniently practicable. 
 Morose, and remarkably ignorant, he was eternally 
 smoking cigars ,• but fortunately for our comfort, 
 possessed the negative virtue of sobriety. Out of 
 his profession, he was nobody, but we had just 
 
11 
 
 reason to believe that his nautical talents were of 
 the highest order ; and to us, this was certainly a 
 matter of the first importance. 
 
 Our private cabins, in which were our berths, 
 were so constructed, that every word might be dis- 
 tinctly heard in the public cabin. I remember that, 
 on the first day of our embarkation, while I was 
 alone in mine, changing my dress, the cabin was 
 at that time occupied by the captain and a few of 
 his personal friends, who had accompanied him on 
 the voyage, with a view of returning in the Pilot 
 boat. Their conversation was about the passengers 
 on board, all of whom, excepting myself, were on 
 deck at that time : I then heard the captain affirm, 
 after alluding to his English passengers, " that if an 
 Englishman were to fall over board he would not 
 throw out a rope to save him" I distinctly heard 
 him make this assertion, and shall never forget the 
 sensations it produced — I heard also his wife's 
 amiable applaudissement of this fiend-like expres- 
 sion ! This last did not surprise me, as it was in 
 exact accordance with the judgement I had formed 
 of her character, from the first glance of her physiog- 
 nomy. By cautioning them for the future, to bf 
 
12 
 
 more guarded in their private communications, I 
 let them know I was in possession of their senti- 
 ments ; and I thought proper to point out the 
 way in which I obtained my information, in order 
 to convince them that I was above the meanness of 
 
 listening. 
 
 The captain used to commence the day with 
 
 doing the formidable among the sailors. Having 
 
 discharged npon these poor fellows, all the steam 
 
 of ill humour that had accumulated during the 
 
 previous night, he would descend into the cabin 
 
 and take breakfast. We had frequently remarked, 
 
 that during this repast he invariably attempted to 
 
 make some one of us miserable, by indulging in 
 
 some insulting remarks, artfully delivered in the 
 
 form of opinions ; so, in order to defeat his amiable 
 
 intentions, we agreed to preserve a dead silence, or 
 
 only to speak in the most laconic manner possible ; 
 
 concluding that he could not long amuse himself 
 
 with a monologue. His advent was agreed upon to 
 
 be the signal for us to prepare to carry our designs 
 
 into execution. There we sat — with nun like 
 
 gravity, quaffing our coffee in silence, as toasts are 
 
 drank to the memory of the departed ! 
 
13 
 
 This negative species of defence had its desired 
 effect. Annoyed by our taciturnity, which necessa- 
 rily imposed a similar penance on himself, he would 
 turn in despair to his wife. Here he was either 
 entirely unsuccessful, or otherwise amused with an 
 inceptive taste of matrimonial infelicity. 
 
 This was the second month of their marriage. 
 His wife was the daughter of a Connecticut farmer, 
 she was about twenty-five years of age, and some- 
 what diminutive in person. Her countenance on 
 all occasions, preserved the rigidity of a statue, 
 except when excited to dart a look of malevolence ; 
 or when she endeavoured to assume an air of 
 authority : on this latter occasion it presented the 
 funniest appearance imaginable. Transplanted from 
 the domestic employment of a small farm, to do the 
 honours of the cabin table, she evidently felt her- 
 self greatly exalted, and bore her elevation with 
 the worst possible grace. Of a mean and suspicious 
 cast of mind, and conscious of being alike destitute 
 of outward attractions and internal excellencies, 
 she was in consequence, jealous in the extreme, 
 and always interpreted any little attention paid to 
 another, in her presence, as a direct insult offered 
 
 B 
 
14 
 
 to herself. Her conduct to the poor black steward 
 was marked with haughtiness and cruelty ; and 
 if it be true what I have often heard affirmed — 
 that vulgar pride is found united with meanness 
 and tyranny; certainly in this instance, the unity 
 of this triune cluster of graces is strictly pre- 
 served. 
 
 The English lady, Mr. Johnson, was an amia- 
 ble personage. She was, in my judgement, as 
 correct a personification of virtue as any with whom 
 I have ever met. Devout without superstition — 
 cheerful without levity — refined without affectation 
 — and well informed, without literary pretension, 
 she might pass for a model. 
 
 The Antrim lady was a very good natured 
 creature. She stood on equal ground with the 
 captain's wife in point of educational advantages, 
 or rather disadvantages; but was her opposite in 
 every thing else. She was remarkably agreeable, 
 and possessed that truly Christian qualification I so 
 much admire — an earnest desire to make every 
 one happy. Her foibles were the result of her 
 unfortunately limited education. But I found in 
 her case, as in some others, that a redundant flow 
 
15 
 
 of animal spirits is no certain evidence of weak 
 intellects or shallow feelings. 
 
 The young Irishman was a warm hearted being. 
 His constant amusement was humming tunes and 
 writing poetry. For the latter he had an uncon- 
 querable passion. He expressed himself as being 
 confidently assured, that he possessed the true 
 spirit of poetry ; and that, at some time not far 
 distant, he should distinguish himself above the 
 herd of mankind. He was greatly encouraged to 
 devote his time to the muses, by having heard it 
 repeatedly said in his family, that his great grand- 
 father was a poet — that is, that he had written 
 something that had pleased somebody. From this, 
 it appears, that the poor young man, supposing 
 poetry to be like the gout, hereditary, and like that 
 distemper, would sleep in the blood for generations, 
 and descending from father to son, would break out 
 after the lapse of a century — concluded hypotheti- 
 cally, that the fire of poetry would some day blaze 
 out from him, and astonish the world. 
 
 Poets, like other authors, and some say author- 
 esses, are reported as never being satisfied without 
 
 large draughts of unqualified praise. From his 
 
 b2 
 
1G 
 
 teasing the gentlemen with his verses, it seems he 
 possessed this unfortunate propension ; and I must 
 admit, that if his poetry deserved as much praise as 
 it produced merriment, it was excellent ! 
 
 The American merchant was a gentleman of a 
 quiet disposition, and rather reserved. Although 
 both countrymen, the captain and he appeared most 
 cordially to detest each other. 
 
 There was a youth on board, about twenty years 
 of age, whom the captain called " James," and 
 who described himself as an Englishman. He was 
 ostensibly under the protection of the captain, who 
 appeared to be somewhat ashamed of his charge. 
 He surpassed all, of whom I have ever heard or 
 read, in the vicious practice of telling falsehoods. 
 For the first few days he led us all into a labyrinth 
 of misunderstandings. His tales were so perplex- 
 ingly mischievous, and their fallacy at the same time 
 so easy of detection, that it was truly astonishing for 
 what purpose he gave them utterance. The gentle- 
 men appeared determined to convince him by forci- 
 ble arguments, that such conduct would not be tol- 
 erated with impunity. On a particular occasion, his 
 presence of mind happily suggested absence of body, 
 
17 
 
 as the best means to avoid the result of a discovery 
 likely to prove unpleasant to his feelings : and, as 
 fear drove him to the forward part of the vessel, 
 shame kept him there — a place, no doubt far better 
 suited to his taste than the one he had evacuated. 
 How the captain would account for this to his 
 friends, I cannot imagine ; but they must know the 
 propensity of this James too well to believe his 
 assertions, even if called forth by a dispute respect- 
 ing the certainty of his own existence ! He said he 
 was an Englishman, and that we considered con- 
 clusive evidence that he was not. 
 
 After we had been a few hours under weigh, 
 one of the crew jumped over board, under the 
 influence of intoxication; a boat was immediately 
 lowered, and the poor foolish fellow was rescued 
 from a watery grave. The passengers, from a 
 mistaken notion of good nature, had furnished this 
 man with what might have proved his destruction. 
 On this occasion, the captain exerted his preroga- 
 tive in a judicious manner, by compelling all on 
 board to surrender their stores of spirits, &c. and 
 not a single glass was allowed to either officers 
 or men during the whole of the voyage. This 
 
 b3 
 
18 
 
 caused some murmuring, particularly among the 
 passengers, but they soon became reconciled to 
 what was unavoidable; and although several de- 
 clared they should perish if deprived of their daily 
 drops, yet incredible as it may appear, there was 
 not a single death registered on the ship's books 
 from such a cause ! 
 
 The steerage of the vessel was occupied by up- 
 wards of a hundred passengers, almost the whole 
 of whom were Irish : they behaved exceedingly 
 well. Perhaps the absence of the circulating me- 
 dium of friendship (whiskey) was the principal 
 cause of their good conduct. The following cir- 
 cumstance, which fell under my immediate notice, I 
 confess, inclines me to adopt this opinion. Shortly 
 after we arrived at New York, a vessel, freighted 
 in a similar manner to this in which we were, 
 discharged its living cargo on the north side of 
 the city. The passengers leaped joyfully on shore, 
 vociferating cheers for the Land of Liberty, and 
 rushed into the neighbouring spirit stores to regale 
 themselves. The liquor they imbibed so effectually 
 blinded their minds to all distinction of meum and 
 tuinn, that they proceeded to select shillaleighs 
 
19 
 
 from a cargo of hickory wood just landed, that 
 was sawn into lengths of four feet, and of various 
 degrees of thickness. With these they furiously 
 assailed each other — the police were ordered out — 
 and nearly all of them were allowed, for the space 
 of a month (I think,) to sing praises to the " land 
 of liberty" within the walls of a prison. Disorderly 
 characters are much more severely punished in the 
 United States than here. With us, misconduct, 
 proceeding from intoxication, is too frequently 
 treated as a joke — there, it is no joke. 
 
 After the distressing nausea had ceased to tor- 
 ment us, we found some few enjoyments of which 
 we had entertained no previous expectation. Those 
 who have not passed a moon-light evening at sea, 
 are unacquainted with one of the principal pleasures 
 of life. The solemn, yet placid moaning of the 
 ocean — the rich variety of light and shade, pro- 
 duced by the falling of the moon-beams on the 
 waves — the boundless expanse that lies open to the 
 view — the peaceful grandeur that reigns, broken 
 only by sounds that harmonize with the majesty of 
 the scene — all unite to present an association of the 
 peaceful, the splendid, and the sublime, of which 
 the pencil can convey no adequate idea. 
 
20 
 
 With the converse of a friend, on these delight- 
 ful evenings, when the vessel was darting over the 
 mighty waters with the celerity of a swallow, I 
 seemed to enjoy more than fabled Elysian pleasures. 
 Or when all was still, and the ship calmly reposing 
 on the bosom of the ocean, I could send my 
 thoughts eastward, over the surrounding world of 
 waters, and indulge in a rapturous retrospect. At 
 these seasons, the home of my youthful days appear- 
 ed invested with its most captivating attractions. 
 The village green — the grove, with the distant 
 mill — the surrounding landscape — 
 
 And every stump, — familiar to my sight 
 Recalled some fond idea of delight. 
 
 These scenes of my childhood, as if abounding 
 with the delights of Paradise, would excite emotions 
 exquisitely sublime, yet slightly tinctured with a 
 pleasing sadness. Wherever, through this wide 
 world, my wandering feet may turn; my country, 
 and particularly the place of my nativity, will never 
 cease to attract my affections with a cord — fine, 
 indeed, and tensile as the slightest gossamer, yet 
 strong as the stoutest cable. 
 
21 
 
 This may be called an ebullition of enthusiasm, 
 the sole effect of feminine weakness — but the great- 
 est characters on earth have confessed the power of 
 early associations. Seneca, banished to Corsica, 
 found his philosophy fail in a vain attempt to recon- 
 cile him to the island ; and pathetically entreats 
 the soil of the land of his banishment, to lie lightly 
 on the ashes of the living. To Seneca, Corsica 
 was a grave. But on the other hand, Napoleon, to 
 whom the same island was a cradle, declared when 
 in exile, that if once more permitted to see the 
 place of his nativity, he should embrace the ground 
 with rapture ; and even if led blindfold, he could 
 discover it by the very smell. 
 
 Our time hung heavily on our hands, during 
 the day. The continual motion of the vessel pro- 
 hibited us from doing exactly what we desired ; but 
 I fear, want of inclination prevented some of us 
 from employing ourselves, where useful employ- 
 ment was really practicable. During these hours 
 of idleness, the gentlemen amused themselves with 
 shooting at stormy petrels ; birds in some degree 
 resembling the martins, and whose residence is 
 confined to the main ocean : it is said they are 
 
22 
 
 never to be seen within two hundred miles of land. 
 Shoot at them, they did indeed, about twenty times 
 a day ; but although the birds were seen in a state 
 of quiescence, riding upon the summit of the huge 
 waves, frequently within a few yards of the gun's 
 muzzle — not one was ever shot. From observation, 
 I became so confident that they would hit some- 
 thing, that I removed my children from the deck 
 for safety. 
 
 Some say that these birds, like the enemies of 
 the Puritans, possess a charm against cold lead. 
 This attribute is perhaps, as true as that of their 
 eternal residence on the waves of the ocean ; and is 
 not entirely destitute of utility, if it serve to excuse 
 the inexpertness of nautical sportsmen. 
 
 We had been perplexed for many days with 
 light winds, and were driven far northward. After 
 we had been about twenty days under sail, and had 
 reached a very high latitude, the air, influenced 
 by the neighbouring ice-bergs, became very cold. 
 While in this position, one star-light night, about 
 seven o'clock," we were surprised by the appearance 
 of a phenomenon in the heavens, which we, at 
 first conceived to be an aurora borealis ; but it 
 
23 
 
 did not correspond, in every particular, with the 
 descriptions we have read and heard of the aurora. 
 I shall here attempt to describe it. 
 
 Let the reader imagine the arc of a circle, about 
 90° in length, with its concave side turned due 
 north. From its convex side, divergent streams of 
 light were seen about 30° in length, equal in all 
 points, and distinctly shewing in brilliant display, 
 all the colours of the rainbow. Without shooting 
 or darting, they remained in all their splendour for 
 a full hour. After that period, they gradually began 
 to grow dim, but preserved their position till they 
 became no longer visible : this was about two hours 
 from their first appearance. 
 
 The number of porpoises that played around 
 the ship, seemed to enjoy as much amusement as 
 they imparted. The rapidity with which these 
 un wieldly creatures move, is very surprising. From 
 a rough calculation, made by a gentleman on board, 
 taking the rate of the vessel for his datum, their 
 speed was about thirty miles per hour. We saw 
 some flying fish ; they are elegant little things, and 
 when seen in a certain position, resemble the pic- 
 torial representation of miniature angels. 
 
24 
 
 A few sharks were seen darting through the 
 water. They abound on the American coast, and 
 render sea bathing very dangerous. Their usual 
 practice is, to scour the shore with the incoming 
 tide, in search of food ; and for that reason, it is 
 safe to bathe only when the tide is receding. From 
 ignorance of this circumstance, accidents have 
 occurred to Europeans, which in some instances, 
 have been attended with fatal consequences. 
 
 Naturalists have remarked that the shark turns 
 on its side when in the act of seizing its prey ; and 
 that while he is changing his position, the object of 
 his attack has time to escape. This cannot have 
 been recorded from actual observation. The celer- 
 ity with which the voracious creature cuts through 
 the water, surpasses comprehension — the human 
 eye can scarcely follow him. I have had frequent 
 opportunities of observing him when seizing his 
 prey or a bait, and witnessed experiments made in 
 clear water for the purpose of attesting the truth 
 of the above assertion ; and all that 1 could dis- 
 cover, amounts to a possibility that he may perhaps, 
 slightly swerve his body ; — but, even if so, there is 
 scarcely time given for an intent observer to notice 
 
25 
 
 the motion ; and to escape when once within his 
 reach, is absolutely impracticable. 
 
 In descending from the north we crossed the 
 banks of Newfoundland. These banks are covered 
 with water, varying in depth from twenty to sixty 
 fathoms. Here, innumerable quantities of fish are 
 nourished, by vegetable substances washed down 
 in the Gulf Stream ; and fishing smacks, from all 
 parts of Europe and America, assemble here at 
 certain seasons, to take in their cargoes. Were the 
 whole world supplied with fish from this quarter, it 
 is supposed no perceptible diminution would occur. 
 The eagerness of the fish in taking a bait in salt 
 water is really astonishing ; and forms a striking 
 contrast to the caution evinced, under similar cir- 
 cumstances, by the fresh water species. 
 
 A fog prevailed during our passage across the 
 banks. This, I understood, is by no means an 
 unusual occurrence. We found the water here to 
 preserve a uniformity of appearance with that on 
 soundings: in the main ocean it is many shades 
 darker in colour. 
 
 Considering the immense traffic between Europe 
 and the New World, I was surprised at the paucity 
 
 c 
 
26 
 
 of vessels that crossed the field of our view ; during 
 the whole passage, we only saw three ! We spoke 
 with two of these ; one was a whaler, in search of 
 those monsters of the deep, of which we had seen 
 no less than nine. 
 
 After we had cleared the banks, we were 
 favoured with an auspicious gale that carried us 
 along at a rapid rate, till we were very near land ; 
 but, before we had the happiness to enjoy the sight 
 of that desired object, we were surrounded by 
 another dense fog. We continued, however, to 
 scud along for several hours, till the captain judged 
 it prudent to take in sail; observing, that according 
 to his reckoning, we must be close upon land ; and, 
 that if the fog would permit him to discover a 
 particular floating light, he would take in the vessel 
 the same night without the assistance of a pilot. 
 This, however, was not the case. 
 
 This evening, we of the cabin missed several 
 things, on arranging our luggage for landing. To 
 those whom such advice will benefit, I would say 
 " Take from your main store, as few valuables as 
 possible, that are conveniently portable ; and fur- 
 nish yourselves with common articles, if you wish 
 
27 
 
 to keep your superior ones." The chief loss of my 
 party was in books, spoons, and children's forks. 
 I had provided the two latter articles expressly for 
 the occasion, in anticipation of what might occur ; 
 and those who "borrowed" them, no doubt have 
 discovered ere this, that "it is not all gold that 
 glitters" — nor yet silver. 
 
 The next morning's sun shone bright to every 
 eye on board. — The cry of " Land off the larboard 
 bow" was hailed with rapturous cheers — there 
 indeed it was, plain enough, and only about half 
 a league from the vessel — and there was the floating 
 light, dimly flickering from the head of an old hulk, 
 moored at a similar distance on the starboard. 
 When we considered the thousands of miles we had 
 sailed — the extremes of latitude to which we were 
 driven (from 40° to 65°) — the impracticability of 
 taking an observation for the two preceding days 
 on account of the weather — we were surprised at 
 the judgement of the captain, who could, under such 
 disadvantages, bring a vessel through a fog within a 
 few cables' length of land, and declare her position ! 
 
 We sailed past Sandy Hook to the usual ren- 
 dezvous of all vessels bound to the city of New 
 
 c2 
 
28 
 
 York — the quarantine ground. This place is situa- 
 ted about seven miles from the city ; it is a narrow 
 channel, formed by the near approximation of 
 Staten Island and Long Island. 
 
 Close by the water's edge on Staten Island, 
 stands an hospital, for the reception of invalids from 
 all quarters of the world. It is chiefly supported 
 by a capitation tax of two dollars, which is de- 
 manded from every foreigner before he lands ; and 
 in case of default, he is taken to prison ! But more 
 of this hereafter. We were boarded and examined 
 by a surgeon, who found all to be in health, except 
 one old woman, who, to our consternation, was 
 discovered in the steerage dangerously ill. She 
 was placed in a boat, and rowed to the shore with 
 all expedition, and died just as she entered the 
 hospital. Had the poor old creature departed ten 
 minutes sooner, we should have been quarantined, I 
 understand for twenty days. After remaining here 
 for nearly twelve hours, we weighed anchor and 
 floated with the tide to the city. 
 
29 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 DESCRIPTION OF NEW YORK.— CHURCHES.— 
 THEATRES. — AUCTIONS.— UNCLE SAM. 
 
 The bay of New York is a fine piece of water, 
 studded with islands, and is usually first viewed 
 with sensations of agreeable surprise. From its 
 designation, I expected to find it presenting a semi- 
 circular form, like most other bays ; but to the eye 
 of an individual entering from the Atlantic, it 
 assumes the appearance of a fine circular lake, 
 about eight miles in diameter ; and, I think, that 
 term would describe it more correctly than the 
 one adopted. In strict propriety, either is a mis- 
 nomer — it is an estuary. This magnificent sheet 
 of water, by whatever name it may be known, is 
 bounded on the north by Manhatten Island, on 
 the southern extremity of which stands the city 
 of New York. 
 
 It was just before sun set, on a delightful 
 evening in the month of October, allowed to be, 
 by far the pleasantest period of a transatlantic year, 
 
 c3 
 
30 
 
 when we approached this commercial metropolis of 
 the New World. Here the atmosphere like that 
 of Italy, is extremely clear ; it imparts a charming 
 lustre to the surrounding landscape, and clothes 
 the scenery with an appearance of inconceivable 
 brilliancy. Under these advantages the prospect 
 was most delightful. We seemed as if gently 
 gliding over a sea of fluid gold. In the distance, 
 guarded by unnumbered vessels stood the city, oc- 
 cupying a dignified station on the banks, and just 
 at the point of confluence of two of the finest rivers 
 in the world. These, the magnificent Hudson and 
 the Eastern River, were seen pouring their tributary 
 floods of liquid light, into the bosom of this splen- 
 did estuary. On the right, were the heights of 
 Long Island — far off, on the left, was Jersey City, 
 stationed on the coast to which it gives its name. 
 The whole prospect, enriched by a pleasing variety 
 of wood and water, and viewed through the bright 
 medium of this clear atmosphere, rendered still 
 more brilliant bv the setting sun, combined to form 
 a scene most enchantingly beautiful — too grand, 
 indeed, for the most sanguine imagination to 
 conceive. 
 
31 
 
 My husband, with three of the other gentlemen, 
 impatient at being detained at the quarantine 
 ground, had embraced the opportunity offered by 
 a passing steamer, of proceeding to the city before 
 us ; and, having made arrangements for our accom- 
 modation, was waiting to receive us. Those will 
 sympathize with my feelings, on first setting foot 
 on dry land, who, like myself, have endured five 
 weeks' confinement in a ship ; which is indeed, 
 nothing more than a floating prison, differing only 
 from a stationary one, in the probable event of a 
 general jail delivery by drowning. 
 
 Arrived at length and safely debarked, we soon 
 found ourselves installed as inmates of a genteel 
 boarding-house, at the upper end of Beekman- 
 street, near the City Hall. On entering, I was a 
 little surprised at the appearance of the rooms — 
 being much better furnished, and presenting alto- 
 gether a nobler air than I expected to find assumed 
 by a mere boarding-house, in this far-away country. 
 After we had forwarded our letters and refreshed 
 ourselves, we retired to a comfortable bed room on 
 dry land ; rendered doubly grateful, after the tem- 
 pestuous tossings of the ocean, and the fatigue pro- 
 duced by this day of excitement. 
 
32 
 
 The next morning we all arose early, and with 
 glowing expectations, set forward] to perambulate 
 the city. What strange sensations affect the mind 
 of a stranger, on first entering a foreign city — what 
 an air of novelty every thing appears to wear that 
 the eye can rest upon ! Every trifle attracts atten- 
 tion, and our desires for information appear as if 
 they could never be satisfied. 
 
 This city of New York certainly is a noble 
 place ; it is divided into fourteen wards, and con- 
 tains about three hundred thousand inhabitants. 
 The houses are chiefly of red brick, and altogether 
 its internal appearance fully justified the impres- 
 sions produced by the outline of the previous night. 
 
 Broadway, as the principal street is called, is 
 the leading feature, in point of position and fashion- 
 able attraction ; it runs in a direct line, from south 
 to north, through the heart of the city ; and is, I 
 believe, about five miles and a half in length : its 
 southern extremity communicates with a fine pro- 
 menade, leading to the south battery. This fort 
 is situated at the southern extremity of the city, 
 just at the termination of Manhatten Island, and 
 at the point of confluence of the East and Hudson 
 
33 
 
 Rivers. Its position, as a place of pleasurable re- 
 sort, is delightful ; and from its commanding situa- 
 tion, it must, when required, form an excellent post 
 of defence. Long may it continue to be the resort 
 of the votaries of pleasure, rather than the theatre 
 of military glory. 
 
 Broadway is the fashionable lounge for all the 
 black and white belles and beaux of the city ; its 
 commodious and extensive pave, completely covered 
 with neat awnings, forms as agreeable a promenade, 
 as is to be found, perhaps, in any city in the 
 world. Many a transatlantic poet has endeavoured 
 to immortalize this noble walk, and its glittering 
 pedestrians ; but no one has succeeded in pre- 
 vailing upon Pegassus to use the trottoir of 
 Broadway. 
 
 Nearly parallel with Broadway, are several 
 other streets, and these again are connected with 
 others, which intersect them at right angles. 
 The relative position of the streets in the old, 
 or southern part of the city, is somewhat con- 
 fused ; but nothing can exceed the regularity with 
 which the upper past is disposed, as a reference 
 to the plan will sufficiently testify. Straightness 
 
34 
 
 is here the prevailing feature, which, although it 
 preserves the uniformity entire, yet never displays 
 street architecture so advantageously as the fine 
 sweeping curve. 
 
 About a mile up Broadway, is the Park. This 
 is a small enclosure of a few acres, encircled with 
 an iron railing, divided into walks, planted with 
 trees, furnished with seats, and made, every way 
 as agreeable as it is possible to make a small oasis 
 of verdure, situated in the centre of a populous 
 city. At the upper end of the Park, stands the 
 pride of New York — the City Hall. It is a fine 
 marble structure certainly, but it did not strike me 
 as possessing that magnificent appearance that I 
 expected, from a building composed entirely of 
 marble. But tastes differ. One of our company 
 on this occasion, related an anecdote of an Irish 
 gentleman, whom he had conducted round the city. 
 After surveying several of the public buildings and 
 many streets presenting architectural attractions, 
 all of which the Irishman had dismissed in succes- 
 sion with this remark, " Very good indeed, but not 
 like Dublin," — he was suddenly brought within full 
 view of the City Hall. The Hibernian appeared 
 
35 
 
 struck with astonishment, and unguardedly ex- 
 claimed, " But was this built here ?" 
 
 There are several buildings of white marble in 
 various parts of the city ; some also of brick, hand- 
 somely faced with Jersey free-stone, which present 
 a very genteel and substantial appearance. The air 
 of newness pervading the whole city, never fails 
 to arrest the attention of the stranger and excite 
 admiration. Indeed, the whole of the buildings 
 present so clean an exterior, that they seem as if 
 just finished. This is accounted for by the absence 
 of coal smoke, that impartial enemy to architectural 
 beauty, in the " old country," as they here term 
 England. 
 
 Coal is here only burned by the opulent, and 
 although fashion has declared in favour of its use, 
 yet wood is the chief, and indeed, almost the 
 only fuel consumed here; it is certainly much 
 healthier and cleaner, than its sable substitute, but 
 the matter of dollars and cents has its share of 
 influence. 
 
 The number of superb houses is very great : 
 though it must be confessed that, like the streets, 
 their uniformity greatly detracts from the effect they 
 
36 
 
 would produce under other circumstances. They 
 appear all to be built upon one plan ; the chief 
 feature of which is, that the dining and drawing 
 rooms are situated on the lower floor, and so 
 arranged, as by throwing open a large pair of fold- 
 ing doors, to form one splendid apartment. Their 
 furniture is magnificent in the extreme. In this, 
 as well as all other household embellishments, the 
 natives pride themselves ; and certainly they suc- 
 ceed to admiration in their attempts to produce a 
 brilliant effect with slender materials. 
 
 The buildings for the celebration of public 
 worship, are generally denominated " churches ;" 
 I conceive this uniformity of designation is caused 
 by the absence of an established religion. St. Paul's, 
 in Broadway, a Protestant episcopal church, is the 
 principal ecclesiastical edifice in the city. It is a 
 plain modern structure composed of free-stone, with 
 a steeple of the same material ; the east end is 
 ornamented by a colonnade, supporting a pediment 
 enriched with a statue of St. Paul. The whole 
 is well disposed, and produces an agreeable effect ; 
 but the interior is merely plain and neat, without 
 any pretension whatever to splendour. This church 
 
37 
 
 has the advantage of a burial ground, a convenience 
 somewhat questionable, and by no means general 
 throughout the city. 
 
 All the other churches are composed of either 
 brick or red granite, and appear to be erected with- 
 out any design whatever to add to the beauty of 
 the city. There are neither domes nor towers; 
 the steeples are by no means lofty, and from the 
 elevation of the surrounding dwellings, they seem 
 lower than they are in reality. Each of these 
 erections shelters one bell, or at most two; and 
 when all these are in united operation on a Sunday 
 morning, the universal clanking may be conceived 
 to be any thing but harmonious. 
 
 Almost every sect and denomination of religion 
 has its temple and its supporters; but it must be 
 conceded, that the most respectable part of the 
 citizens attend the Protestant episcopal churches; 
 and the proportion in this city, is acknowledged 
 to correspond with that of the larger towns in 
 England. 
 
 There are two principal theatres, the Park and 
 the Bowery ; besides a number of minor ones, con- 
 tinually springing up and declining. The blacks, 
 
 D 
 
38 
 
 who are never behind in rivalling their superiors, 
 contrive to keep open one, and sometimes two 
 theatres; where the popular characters of Lady 
 Macbeth, Juliet, the fair Desdemona, and others, 
 are all some way sustained by the sable sisterhood. 
 A lively inmate of our boarding-house, amused us 
 one morning at breakfast, with an account of his 
 last night's entertainment at the black theatre, 
 where a sable "Richard" was the point of attrac- 
 tion. In order to please his audience, the crooked- 
 backed monarch politely accommodated his language 
 to the meridian of the place : whenever the word 
 "York" occurred, he invariably altered the text, 
 and called ft "New York!" — the "house of New 
 York," &c. In this instance, the ladies were per- 
 sonated by negresses ! 
 
 Rents are here much higher than in London. 
 On investigation, I suppose it would be found that 
 the value of building ground in the lower part of 
 this city, is exceeded by no area of equal dimensions 
 in England — perhaps not in the world. The whole 
 of the mercantile business is transacted in that part 
 of the city, which lies below the Park. On in- 
 specting the plan, the reader will perceive that the 
 
39 
 
 only direction in which land can be obtained, is 
 upwards, that is to the north; and, as this is allowed 
 by men of business, to be out of the market, the 
 merchant must either have his offices below the City 
 Hall, or be altogether excluded. The value of 
 land in this section being exorbitantly increased by 
 competition, and the desire of all who have business 
 to transact to be as near the market as possible, 
 joined to the scarcity of room, combine to raise the 
 price of land to an extravagant height in every part 
 of the city. 
 
 It is considered probable, that New York will at 
 some future period, cover the whole of Manhatten 
 Island. The village of Brooklyn, on the opposite 
 coast of Long Island, and Jersey City, on the 
 western bank of the Hudson, are also becoming 
 very populous from their proximity to this grand 
 market of the Union. A well regulated communica- 
 tion by steam is kept up with these two outports of 
 commerce; a boat starts for the former every three 
 minutes, and for the latter, every ten minutes during 
 the day. 
 
 New York, is, beyond dispute, the first commer- 
 cial city in the New World, and receives into its 
 
 d2' 
 
40 
 
 ports, vessels laden with the produce and manufac- 
 tures of every quarter of the globe. But the retail 
 department of trade is here conducted in a slovenly 
 and most irregular manner; so much so that it is 
 advisable for the buyer to be acquainted with the 
 value of the article he intends to purchase, before 
 he closes his bargain ; or he will run the risk of 
 paying a penalty proportionable to his ignorance. 
 
 Auction sales are here numerous beyond con- 
 ception. Hence that part of the inhabitants having 
 family establishments, and other extensive consumers, 
 supply themselves from these, as frequently as pos- 
 sible. These sales are effected in the lower part of 
 the city; and a red banner displayed, serves as an 
 insigne of an auction sale in this city, as a spear 
 answered the same purpose in ancient Rome. 
 
 It is true, that goods sold in this manner, are 
 disposed of in very large quantities, as sales on this 
 principle are expected to be frequented only by 
 shop-keepers; but this difficulty is frequently obvia- 
 ted, by a few families uniting and entering into a 
 reciprocal engagement, to make purchases as oppor- 
 tunities occur, of certain articles agreed upon by the 
 compact. The high prices demanded in the shops, 
 
41 
 
 almost compel the public to resort to this expedient 
 in self defence. 
 
 Some few however, make very odd kind of 
 bargains at these sales. I remember one of our 
 friends, a young gentleman, purchasing at an auction 
 three hundred fans! This reminded me of Moses, 
 in the "Vicar of Wakefield," and the gross of green 
 spectacles : but simplicity is far from being fashion- 
 able in this part of the world, and poor Moses would 
 have stood no better chance here, than in the hands 
 of Ephraim Jenkinson. 
 
 There are, nevertheless, a vast number of good 
 shops, and without doubt many are substantial and 
 highly respectable ; but still, I never could heartily 
 admire their system of transacting business; it 
 required an Englishwoman to be so provokingly 
 cautious and suspicious, if she wished to prevent the 
 Yankees from being "too smart" for her. A term 
 they use triumphantly on every fresh display of low 
 trickery. 
 
 Perhaps there are not, proportionably, a greater 
 number of sharpers here than in London ; but there 
 is certainly a marked difference in the treatment they 
 receive. The smile of approbation bestowed upon a 
 
 d3 
 
42 
 
 clever villain, while relating his witty rogueries is 
 shockingly misplaced ; and in my opinion, evinces a 
 species of moral cowardice. A severe castigation 
 would serve the interests of society much more effec- 
 tually. Indeed, it were better to lead the life of an 
 anchoret at once, than to associate with such charac- 
 ters as I have seen admitted into the company of 
 merchants, judges, and professional men. But, alas! 
 the convenient excuse of " business purposes," too 
 often serves as a mantle to cover, if it cannot justify, 
 a multitude of sins. 
 
 To my great surprise, on the other hand, I 
 found the crime of smuggling held in utter abhor- 
 rence. I rejoice at this, and from all I observed, 
 I think it would be exceedingly difficult to find an 
 American that could be prevailed upon to engage 
 in a smuggling transaction of ever so trivial a 
 nature. To cheat " Uncle Sam," as they term their 
 government, is with them, a crime paramount! 
 And they never fail to treat those foreigners with 
 ineffable contempt, who are so perfidious as to 
 defraud their own governments. I have heard in- 
 stances of some of our British sharp fellows being 
 sadly taken by surprise, through ignorance of this 
 peculiarity of the national character. 
 
43 
 
 Without hesitation, I allow that every species 
 of villany ought to meet with the unmitigated 
 condemnation of all just men. The question then 
 naturally arises: How is it that those who regard 
 roguery with such indifference, when practised on 
 private individuals — nay, smile with approbation, 
 if the transaction be associated with any thing witty 
 — should single out the vice of smuggling, as the 
 only one that deserves exclusive reprobation? I 
 leave the question open ; but the general opinion is, 
 that as this crime is regarded by far too many on 
 this side the Atlantic, as a venial offence, it is 
 placed on the criminal code of " Uncle Sam," 
 through a pure love of opposition. 
 
 This appellation, " Uncle Sam," is willingly 
 acknowledged as the national soubriquet of the 
 u free-born citizens of the United States," while 
 on the other hand, the terms, " Brother Jonathan" 
 and " Yankee," are considered highly offensive. 
 As the origin of this favoured term is not generally 
 known in England, I beg leave to insert a verbatim 
 copy from an American newspaper, of the baptism 
 of this independent personage, together with a 
 description of his sponsors. 
 
44 
 
 " Immediately after the declaration of the last war 
 with England, Elbert Anderson, Esq. of this city, then 
 a contractor, visited Troy, on the Hudson, where was 
 concentrated, and where he purchased a large quantity 
 of provisions — beef, pork, &c. The inspectors of these 
 articles at that place were Messrs. Ebenezer and Samuel 
 Wilson. The latter gentleman (invariably known as 
 " Uncle Sam') generally superintended in person a large 
 number of workmen, who, on this occasion, were em- 
 ployed in overhauling the provisions purchased by the 
 contractor for the army. The casks were marked E. A. 
 — U. S. This work fell to the lot of a facetious fellow 
 in the employ of the Messrs. Wilsons, who, on being 
 asked by some of his fellow workmen the meaning of 
 the mark (for the letters U. S. for United States were 
 almost then entirely new to them,) said, "he did not 
 know, unless it meant Elbert Anderson, and Uncle Sam" 
 — alluding exclusively, then, to the said " Uncle Sam" 
 Wilson. The joke took among the workmen, and pas- 
 sed currently; and " Uncle Sam" himself being present, 
 was occasionally rallied by them on the increasing extent 
 of his possessions. Many of these workmen being of 
 a character denominated " food for powder," were found 
 shortly after following the recruiting drum, and pushing 
 toward the frontier lines, for the double purpose of 
 meeting the enemy, and of eating the provisions they 
 had lately laboured to put in good order. Their old 
 jokes of course accompanied them, and before the first 
 campaign ended, this identical one first appeared in 
 print — it gained favour rapidly, till it, penetrated and 
 
45 
 
 was recognised in every part of our country, and will, 
 no doubt continue so long as U. S. remains a nation. 
 It originated precisely as above stated ; and the writer 
 of this article distinctly recollects remarking, at the 
 time when it first appeared in print, to a person who 
 was equally aware of its origin, how odd it would be, 
 should this silly joke, originating in the midst of beef, 
 pork, pickle, mud, salt, and hoop-poles, eventually be- 
 come a national cognomen." 
 
 Besides the little information this long noisy 
 paragraph conveys, it will serve as a fair specimen 
 of the loose and rambling style of their literature, 
 which their oratory somewhat resembles. 
 
 When a foreigner decides upon remaining in 
 the United States, and wishes to be naturalized, he 
 first "declares his intentions;" that is, he has his 
 name enrolled in the national records, and receives 
 documents, which will, at the expiration of five 
 years, if he reside in the States during that period, 
 entitle him to the full privileges of a native. The 
 expences of this affair amounts to no more than five 
 dollars. 
 
 The immense number of emigrants invests the 
 city with the appearance of a miscellaneous specimen 
 of human beings, from all quarters of the world ; 
 
46 
 
 yet there is a sufficient majority of native inhabitants 
 fully to establish a nationality of character. By the 
 best information I could obtain, one-fourth of the 
 city are natives of Ireland; and, I think, that all 
 other foreigners may be comprised in one-sixth of 
 the remainder: these, with 50,000 negroes, taken 
 from the gross population returns, will leave about 
 225,000 native citizens. This may be about a cor- 
 rect estimate; but it is really a very difficult ques- 
 tion to answer correctly, the statistical accounts are 
 so much at variance. 
 
 Generally speaking, the Irish meet with a much 
 better reception than the English. So indeed, do 
 all other foreigners; for the natives bear a kind of 
 family grudge against John Bull, and it has long 
 been fashionable, for many to evince their patriotism, 
 by discharging their resentment on the English, 
 whom they consider as being more especially his 
 legitimate offspring. 
 
47 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 i 
 RESIDENCE IN NEW YORK.— FIRES. — NEGROES.— 
 
 BOARDING HOUSES.— DRESS. 
 
 Fires are here alarmingly numerous, and fre- 
 quently of unprecedented magnitude. The firemen 
 are a body of volunteers amounting to between 
 three and four hundred. They are viewed by their 
 fellow citizens, as a class of respectable men ; and 
 as occupying a station somewhat similar to our 
 local cavalry. They spend their time in the execu- 
 tion of their arduous duties, and supply their own 
 clothes, without receiving any remuneration, except 
 the municipal privileges with which they are reward- 
 ed at the completion of their septennial term of 
 servitude. I endeavoured to discover, if possible, 
 what was the chief cause of these fires ; but could 
 arrive at no positive conclusion on the subject. I 
 conceive the half smoked cigars, so plentifully 
 disseminated in every direction, by men and boys 
 of all ages, conditions, and colours, may be one 
 
48 
 
 reason ; and I know of no other, unless it be the 
 carelessness naturally produced by the eternal use 
 of the spirit decanter. 
 
 The rates and premiums of Insurance companies 
 are perhaps higher here than in any other part of 
 the world; yet, in consequence of the numerous 
 demands made upon them, these public bodies are 
 continually failing. Custom reconciles us to all 
 things; and fires are here so common, that these 
 good citizens have no idea of the sensations such 
 calamities produce with us. I remember an English 
 gentleman venturing to state in public company, 
 that in a large market town near the place of his 
 birth, he only recollected one fire occurring in the 
 space of above twenty years. I myself have no doubt 
 of the truth of this assertion; yet it was received by 
 those present, with marks of suspicion so glaringly 
 evident, that I felt sorry that the narrator had 
 hazarded his credit for veracity, without calculating 
 upon the chances against producing proof. 
 
 Strange as it may appear, during our residence 
 in New York and in the country, I never heard 
 any well authenticated case of death occasioned 
 by any of these fires: although first from motives 
 
49 
 
 of humanity, and afterwards, from curiosity, we 
 constantly subjected this matter to a very close 
 investigation. This appeared to me the more aston- 
 ishing, because it is well known that in Europe, 
 loss of life is too frequently the melancholy concom- 
 itant of these awful visitations. 
 
 I noticed some of their many fire engines ; they 
 are very handsome, and very, very small. They 
 are universally acknowledged to be more powerful 
 than ours. Indeed, the good citizens are very loud 
 in their praises, and claim the honour of some 
 inventions or improvements connected with them ; 
 and I will not pluck a single leaf or acorn from 
 their civic crown, for which they pay so dearly, but 
 will cheerfully acknowledge that their engines are 
 of superior construction, and are kept in better 
 condition than any other in the world. 
 
 They have hit upon a very ingenious device to 
 direct the firemen to that part of the city where 
 their assistance is required. Those who first give 
 the alarm hasten to the City Hall, whose site occu- 
 pies the highest ground in the city. The heavy 
 alarm bell is instantly rung, and its sound is re- 
 echoed by most of the ting-tangs in the steeples, 
 
 E 
 
50 
 
 A ball of crimson glass, containing a light, is then 
 immediately exposed at the very apex of the obser- 
 vatory on the hall ; and its relative position to the 
 cupola serves as an index to point out the direction 
 of the fire. 
 
 It is impossible to convey an exact idea of the 
 frequency and magnitude of these awful incidents. 
 From the flat roof of our residence, one evening, I 
 saw three fires at the same time ; two of them 
 appeared to be of considerable magnitude ; the 
 other was only an oil and turpentine store. This 
 united demand upon the exertions of the firemen 
 was very perplexing to all parties. The people at 
 the City Hall were undecided in what direction 
 to place their crimson index ; and so, with a view 
 of directing to all the three points, they kept per- 
 petually shifting it. The firemen, consequently, 
 kept altering their course, in a corresponding 
 direction to that pointed out by the ball ; till 
 the confusion became general, and the fires raged 
 so alarmingly, that fears were entertained for the 
 safety of the city. At length, the municipal 
 authorities sent messengers, who sought out the 
 firemen and dispersed them in proper directions; 
 
51 
 
 and thus happily averted the dreadful conse- 
 quences. 
 
 The removing of wooden houses with brick 
 chimney-stacks, en masse, is so commonly effected 
 here, that to question its practicability would be 
 the height of absurdity : yet I understand, that 
 even this is treated by us with ridicule, as being 
 a matter beyond the range of human possibility. 
 How then can I hope for belief, in asserting that 
 there are substantial brick houses in the city of 
 New York, that have been removed from one 
 side of the street to the other, without in the 
 least degree, impeding the diurnal arrangements 
 of their respective occupants ? I will make no 
 such assertion — I will only state, that such houses 
 have been pointed out to me, and described as 
 having been removed from a station on the op- 
 posite side of the street ; and I freely confess I 
 am sufficiently weak to believe it. I shall there- 
 fore content myself with inserting one of the 
 many advertisements I have seen, which I copy 
 from the Neio York Gazette, now before me ; 
 and leave my readers to conclude as they think 
 proper. 
 
52 
 
 " The Subscriber respectfully informs the public, 
 tbat he carries on, extensively, the business of 
 
 MOVING HOUSES 
 of any description ; and with the utmost expedition and 
 safety; having every necessary apparatus for the purpose. 
 
 J. ACKERMAN. 
 220, Division-St., Sept. 22." 
 
 This removal of houses reminds me of the re- 
 moval of household furniture, which annually takes 
 place on the first of May. By an established custom, 
 houses are let from this day for the term of one 
 year certain ; and, as the inhabitants in general love 
 variety, and seldom reside in the same house for two 
 consecutive years, those who have to change, which 
 appears to be nearly the whole city, must be all 
 removing together. Hence, from the peep of day 
 till twilight, may be seen carts which go at a rate 
 of speed astonishingly rapid, laden with furniture of 
 every kind, racing up and down the city, as if its 
 inhabitants were flying from a pestilence, pursued by 
 death with his broad scythe just ready to mow them 
 into eternity. 
 
 I found the negroes much more numerous, and 
 presenting a much better appearance than I ever 
 expected ; and I am happy to say, that although still 
 
DO 
 
 retained in bondage in the Southern States, they are 
 all now free in this and the five New England States, 
 and have been so for upwards of fifteen years. They 
 invariably excite a feeling of deep interest in the 
 minds of all Europeans. But I beheld, with acute 
 sensations of sorrow, their late task-masters regard- 
 ing them with feelings of hatred mingled with con- 
 tempt, and as a class far below the rest of the human 
 species in point of moral rectitude and intellectual 
 power. I was not prepared to find this in a nation 
 who are taught to lisp, with their infantile breath, 
 that monstrous falsehood — " All men are born free 
 and equal." 
 
 This maxim, the pole star of the republic, was 
 first promulgated by Thomas Jefferson, whose wri- 
 tings are acknowledged by all Democrats as the 
 standard of political authority. About the com- 
 mencement of the present century this same Thomas 
 Jefferson filled the office of President of the United 
 States for the period of eight years ; and his memory 
 is still held in profound veneration by a large section 
 of the Americans. Yet it is well known here, that 
 this sublime character had, by his Quadroon slaves 
 a vast number of children of both sexes ; whom he 
 
 e3 
 
54 
 
 retained on his plantation in a state of vassalage, 
 and dying left them so ! ! 
 
 It is with no feelings of pleasure that I drag the 
 crimes of this atrocious wretch before the public ; 
 but, I believe this fact is not known in England, and 
 it may serve to give some idea of the charming 
 things that are transacted in those regions of slaverv, 
 where both the framer and the violator of the law 
 are found united in the person of the planter. 
 Surely it may here be said, that licentiousness and 
 tyranny have met together; democracy and slavery 
 have kissed each other. 
 
 The existing slavery of these " free and in- 
 dependent" States, combined with the atrocious 
 conduct of Jefferson, the progenitor of whole gangs 
 of slaves, forms a beautiful comment on his favourite 
 apopthegm — 
 
 " All men are born free and equal." 
 
 An expression which declares precisely the same 
 doctrine, occupies a prominent position in their 
 national manifesto — the famous Declaration of In- 
 dependence. 
 
 The projectors of this, their magna charta, must 
 have known that this motto is founded on a fallacious 
 
55 
 
 basis, and will not endure the touchstone of common 
 sense, particularly when applied to natal circum- 
 stances. Were the base-born progeny of that 
 " illustrious champion of liberty", Jefferson, born 
 free, and endowed with privileges and advantages 
 equal to the children of his amiable contemporary, 
 Hamilton ?* Or are the sons of those slaves who now 
 groan in fetters in the southern States of this " land 
 of liberty", born free and invested with equal rights 
 to the children of those Molochs, their masters ? A 
 common understanding revolts at the comparison. 
 Away with such sophistry to the dark dominions of 
 that being whence it emanated ! 
 
 I regard this, not in a political point of view, 
 but purely as a case of Liberty and Equality, versus 
 Negro Slavery and Oppression. And were it not 
 for the sake of humanity, I should have viewed the 
 whole affair with indifference, and left the Americans 
 to shout praises to the Goddess of Liberty, with as 
 much clamour as did the Ephesians of old, to their 
 good customer the Goddess Diana. 
 
 This despised class, the Negroes, seems to be 
 regarded as being destitute, not only of mental 
 
 * General Hamilton, a man much esteemed for his virtues. 
 
56 
 
 endowments, but also of the sensibilities of our 
 common nature. They are considered as fair 
 subjects for the bitterest sarcasm and contempt. 
 Children, catching the contagion by example and 
 sympathy, regard them as beings that may be 
 annoyed and insulted with impunity; dogs are 
 encouraged to bark at them ; and, as a crowning 
 point, parrots are taught to curse them. I could 
 scarcely have believed this, but I know one 
 elegant house, where a bird of this kind was much 
 admired for the charming accomplishment of thun- 
 dering a degrading curse at the head of every pas- 
 sing negro. 
 
 Besides their intellectual deficiencies, they are 
 charged with a long catalogue of moral misdoings, 
 which more properly spring from a neglected 
 education than a depraved disposition. I have 
 frequently conversed with the females, and have 
 always found them remarkably civil, and grateful 
 for any trivial act of kindness. They generally 
 express themselves in good language, and with an 
 enunciation, as bold and as clear as any Englishman. 
 This struck me with surprise, as I had formed my 
 judgement of their conversational capabilities, from 
 
57 
 
 the dialogues given in broken English, that I had 
 met with in the course of my reading. Their voices 
 are rich and melodious, and their singing is much 
 admired at church, but all those that I ever saw 
 there, sat by themselves ; and I never heard of a 
 white man, however low in station he might be, 
 that would condescend to sit at the same table with 
 a black. 
 
 There is something peculiarly interesting in the 
 appearance of their children, when between the ages 
 of three and eight. I know not by what laws black- 
 ness of skin and sinuosity of hair should, when 
 associated, produce an effect at once droll and 
 agreeable. But such is the case in an uncommon 
 degree. All European ladies, with whom I con- 
 versed, acknowledged this; and even the Americans 
 were compelled to allow, that these sable Psyches 
 and Cupids of the kitchen are very entertaining. 
 
 But I soon found, that to converse in accents of 
 kindness with negroes, was not the way to secure 
 the estimation of American society ; it is considered 
 shockingly coarse and vulgar. On some occasions, 
 the negro children themselves have stood in mute 
 astonishment, while I have patted the head of one of 
 
58 
 
 their companions; and such an action has sometimes 
 produced a remark, on the strange taste that could 
 induce a lady to take notice of such creatures. 
 
 A fracas took place one clay, at our boarding- 
 house, arising out of a dispute between two gentle- 
 men ; the one a German, and the other an American. 
 In the heat of argument, the German expressed 
 himself thus: "I will wager a hundred dollars, that 
 I produce a negro that is a better calculator than 
 you." — The American rose in high anger, and im- 
 mediately left the room; declaring that he would 
 not sit at the same table with any one, who esteemed 
 him no better than a negro. Indeed he carried his 
 threat further, for he removed to another house with 
 all possible precipitation. The general opinion 
 was, that the proposal of the German was a most 
 degrading one; and I doubt not, a more fashionable 
 method of resentment would have met with un- 
 equivocal approbation. 
 
 Until the Americans consent entirely to loose 
 the yoke and let the oppressed go free, they 
 should cashier the stars and stripes, and adopt the 
 following device and motto, which would more 
 effectually represent the piebald character of their 
 Republic. 
 
59 
 
 Let this device be, the representation of a man 
 wearing the cap of liberty, and brandishing a slave 
 whip in his right hand, while his left displays the 
 Declaration of Independence; his right foot, at 
 the same time resting on the naked back of a 
 prostrate negro. — With this motto : 
 
 " All men are born free and equal." 
 
 Negro slavery is the foulest blot on the charac- 
 ter of the American government, and their spiteful 
 treatment of those who have obtained their freedom, 
 represents the " free-borns" in a most ungracious 
 point of view. It justifies a stranger in concluding 
 that the strong arm of compulsion has wrested these 
 oppressed creatures from their iron grasp ; and that, 
 like the Egyptians of old, their bond slaves have 
 departed much against their will. What ! are these 
 blacks indebted to their neighbours, and is it for 
 the purpose of obtaining satisfaction, that all classes 
 unite in heaping reproaches on their heads ? Truth 
 compels me to declare, that the christian whites owe 
 to their sable brethren a debt that they can never, 
 never liquidate ; and those who have laboured to 
 rivet their galling fetters, will answer for it in that 
 day, when some from among the most abject negroes 
 
60 
 
 in the States, shall shine in the splendour of corona- 
 tion garments. 
 
 But a haughty spirit of contemptuousness seems 
 to prevail among those, in whose composition dul- 
 ness and ill nature predominate. Thus the Ameri- 
 cans of this order, despise the English ; the resident 
 English despise the Irish ; the Irish unite with all 
 the rest in despising the Negroes : whom these 
 despise I cannot tell, but probably all the rest 
 together. 
 
 A magnanimous mind will seek no excuse for 
 treating the defenceless with cruel contempt ; and, 
 while I freely admit the vanity of these negroes 
 is boundless, I contend that it is not to be cured by 
 an indiscriminate administration of ill treatment. 
 Their advance in civilization will be marked by a 
 corresponding contempt for those frivolities, which 
 they now so much admire, and no doubt, they will 
 ultimately lay them aside. 
 
 A peep into a negro ball room, as at present 
 conducted, would certainly provoke the risibility of 
 a philosopher. I myself, was never so highly 
 favoured, but shall present my readers with a de- 
 scription, as nearly as I can recollect it, given by a 
 
61 
 
 gentleman; just observing from what I have seen of 
 their mode of dressing on occasions of festivity, that 
 I believe the representation to be correct. — " Dark 
 dandies, so starched and stayed as to appear per- 
 fectly inflexible, dressed in the very tip of fashion, 
 with their poor heads beaming with all the lustre 
 that Rowland's Macassar can dispense, may here be 
 seen paying their devoirs to their sable belles. 
 These last, arrayed in fashionables fresh from 
 France; the articles of dress themselves prepos- 
 terous, and ill adapted to display the attractions of 
 the wearers, by their tasteless combination, magnify 
 the absurdity ten-fold. Here, some nymph, assum- 
 ing the name of Thalia or Aurora, may be observed, 
 with fingers, ears, and wrists, ringed and jewelled 
 with a sample of all the tinsel trumpery of Bir- 
 mingham ; on her head waves a huge plume of 
 white ostrich feathers ; while her dark ancles are 
 dimly visible through a pair of British flesh-coloured 
 silk stockings ; and her waist so tightly compressed, 
 as to give her figure the contour of an hour-glass." 
 Poor creatures ! they will some day know better — 
 till then, these things may be regarded with the 
 passing tribute of a smile. 
 
 F 
 
62 
 
 Respecting this treatment of negroes, by their 
 former owners, the whites of America, I desire to be 
 understood as speaking in general terms. Some, I 
 know, have kind masters, but all general rules admit 
 of individual exceptions. That negro enjoys a great 
 advantage who lives under kind superiors ; but, if 
 his race be held in contempt by the whole neigh- 
 bourhood, he has still the mortifying consciousness 
 of knowing that he will be obnoxious to indignity 
 and insult, so long as he retains his colour. 
 
 The greater part of the negroes are servants still. 
 Those of them that are steady receive excellent 
 wages — from eight to twelve dollars per month, 
 with board, for a man ; and from six to ten for a 
 woman. Those who are not in service, chiefly 
 wander about the city carrying their convenient 
 apparatus for sawing wood for fuel, and, as they 
 are seldom employed for a longer period than two 
 hours together, this is a lazy life. I am sure 
 the very bones of some must ache with idleness. 
 Thus it will appear that although they are the hew- 
 ers of wood and drawers of water to the whole 
 community, they are not generally overworked. 
 Under existing circumstances, they are not likely 
 
63 
 
 to rise in the scale of society : I did not notice a 
 negro among the hundreds of carmen employed in 
 this city. 
 
 This numerous class, the carmen, keep each a 
 horse and cart, which they own and drive ; and, as 
 the merchants keep neither horses nor vehicles, 
 they do all the commercial conveyance work in 
 the city. They are not hired by any particular 
 employer for any specified time, but like hackney 
 coachmen with us, are called when required. Their 
 carts are much lighter than ours; and with the 
 assistance of four moveable posts and a chain, they 
 contrive to dispense with both sides and ends. 
 Their horses are generally very good ; they appear 
 light, and when occasion requires, move as swiftly 
 as our coach horses. 
 
 The heavier kind of goods are usually disposed 
 in smaller packages, and the whole of the business 
 equipage seems, to my judgement, much lighter 
 and more convenient than with us. Their porters, 
 carmen, and helpers of all kinds move with greater 
 alacrity ; and, although I admit I am not a com- 
 petent judge in such matters, I consider the Amer- 
 icans surpass us in these affairs. 
 
 f2 
 
64 
 
 Their vessels of all descriptions appear much 
 cleaner and handsomer than ours; and this su- 
 periority is maintained throughout all classes, from a 
 Liverpool Packet to a Long Island market boat. 
 A Yankee vessel, see her where you may, can be 
 told among a thousand others ; she lies upon the 
 water like a swan, and in the midst of shipping 
 from all nations, she appears like a swallow among 
 other birds. 
 
 Their steam ships are also very large, and most 
 beautifully fitted up and furnished. But now a 
 passage across the Atlantic may be effected by 
 steam, the naval affairs of the whole world will, 
 perhaps, undergo a complete revolution : yet this 
 would be more speedily effected, were the steam 
 apparatus perfectly free from danger. 
 
 The city is well supplied with provisions of 
 every kind. On a fair average, they are about 
 half the price that they are with us ; though the 
 markets are subject to considerable fluctuations. 
 They are procured every morning from the city 
 markets ; the two principal of which are the 
 Washington and the Fulton ; and these are again 
 supplied most plentifully from the country, with 
 
65 
 
 every thing the land produces in all parts of the 
 Union : together with abundance of fish, in the 
 greatest perfection. 
 
 During the winter, the inhabitants providen- 
 tially secure a good supply of ice for summer use. 
 Insignificant as this article may appear to us who 
 seldom use it, even as a luxury, it is an object of 
 paramount importance in a city, where the thermo- 
 meter ranges for four months in the year, between 
 eighty and a hundred degrees. During this broiling 
 season, neither meat, fish, poultry, milk, nor butter, 
 could be preserved without its cooling influence; 
 and as a luxury at such a season, it is grateful be- 
 yond conception. 
 
 One of the principal causes of domestic dis- 
 quietude in this part of the world, arises from 
 servants. Whether this be the result of the peculiar 
 form of the American government or not, I pretend 
 not to determine ; but most certainly, the saying of 
 Jefferson is as well known by this class as their own 
 proper names, by some of them it is as frequently 
 repeated, and is taken advantage of by all. If a 
 lady requires a servant, she usually makes her wants 
 known at one of the many register offices that 
 
 f3 
 
06 
 
 abound in the city ; or she sends an advertisement 
 to the newspaper office, which will be inserted for 
 an English shilling. In either case, she is sure of 
 having a numerous assemblage, from which she can 
 make a selection. The applicants will seem in- 
 numerable, comprising individuals of almost every 
 nation under heaven, but chiefly from Ireland: and 
 it will be a wonder, if any one among them have 
 lived in her last place more than a month. As to 
 character, the whole affair generally proves a farce : 
 I myself, could never obtain any thing more than 
 a mere outline. 
 
 I cannot well conceive how servants can be more 
 fickle than they are here. Their love of liberty 
 prompts them to change their places, almost as 
 frequently as they change their dresses ; and as to 
 equality, they always demand a seat at the same 
 table with the heads of the family, in the country ; 
 and in many instances, in the city. Seldom indeed, 
 can a girl be prevailed upon to remain on the 
 premises after tea time; for, as her mistress spends 
 the evening out whenever she pleases, the girl thinks 
 she cannot do better than imitate her example. 
 But the latter frequently forgets to return at the 
 
67 
 
 time appointed, and the worst of it is, want of 
 punctuality arising from this cause is not always 
 the greatest annoyance. But, I forget myself — 
 servants they will not submit to be called; this 
 term is especially resisted by the free-born sister- 
 hood; they are therefore, denominated helps, hel- 
 pers, or hands. 
 
 So much for a single servant; and a plurality is 
 sure to increase the perplexity. I was frequently 
 reminded of that saying of old Elwes, "If you keep 
 one servant, your work is done; if you keep two, it 
 is half done; if three are kept you may do it your- 
 self." Yet, the first section of this aphorism does 
 not correctly apply ; for the work of a mistress is 
 never completely done here, by either one servant or 
 more, and must in many parts for ever go undone, 
 unless she do it herself. 
 
 The perplexity arising from servants, has influ- 
 enced many small families to prefer residing from 
 year to year, in a boarding-house. Although this 
 custom appears very singular at first, as do all 
 domestic arrangements with which we are unac- 
 quainted; yet I must confess, it has its recommenda- 
 tions, and upon the whole, I liked it as well as 
 
68 
 
 occupying a house of my own. As our apartments 
 in Beekman-street were not, in all respects, suited to 
 our convenience, we removed to a boarding-house 
 situated in the immediate vicinity of the City Hall, 
 where we were provided with permanent accommo- 
 dation; and remained here during our continuance 
 in the city. The inmates of the house have, of course, 
 their own sleeping rooms; and these, according to 
 the number of the party, or the kind of accommoda- 
 tion desired. The whole company, with the excep- 
 tion of the children, assemble in the public room at 
 meal times; besides which, there is a public sitting 
 room ; and, should a private apartment be required 
 for any temporary purpose, it can always be obtained 
 in an establishment of any pretensions. 
 
 The order of the house is (for in describing one 
 I describe all,) to breakfast in summer at eight, dine 
 at two, and take tea at six. The breakfast table 
 is furnished with tea, coffee, and chocolate, be- 
 sides viands of various kinds, both hot and cold, 
 and also with fish and fruit when in season. Dinner 
 presents nothing remarkable; the table is supplied 
 with much about the same fare as with us, only with 
 a little more attention to variety. Tea is the last 
 
69 
 
 repast, and a massive one it is. Besides tea and 
 coffee, and a second edition of the substantial cold 
 fare that figured at the breakfast table, there are 
 sweetmeats and preserves in every variety, with a 
 countless display of cakes, the very naming of which 
 would appear upon paper like a confectioner's 
 catalogue ; while melons, or pine apples, when in 
 season, bring up the rear. After this, what more is 
 required ? Being accustomed to take supper in 
 Europe we fancied we required it here, and were 
 accommodated, but as we found we were the only 
 party who partook of that meal, we felt somewhat 
 uncomfortable, and learned in course of time to 
 adopt the custom of our neighbours, which we found 
 by experience, in this respect to be preferable to 
 our own. 
 
 The quality of the fare provided is usually of 
 the very best. I have often thought that the 
 Americans, as a nation, sacrifice the pleasures of 
 intellectual taste to mere animal gratification ; and 
 notwithstanding the variety displayed at their re- 
 pasts, I found it difficult to make a selection of food 
 saflficiently plain for myself and my children. They 
 rally us on our partiality for the pleasures of the 
 
70 
 
 table, and we receive it with hearty good nature ; 
 but really the national joke of the roast beef of old 
 England comes with a very bad grace from trans- 
 atlantic epicures. Like all other establishments, 
 boarding houses are various in character. They 
 differ very little from each other in the fare they 
 provide, but the description of the house, and the 
 terms, are considered a just criterion of the circum- 
 stances and quality of the company they entertain. 
 The terms are of every variety, from three dollars 
 per week, to — I know not what sum. My husband 
 and myself paid a hundred dollars per month ; in 
 this sum I have not included any thing connected 
 with the children. Perhaps, some may think the 
 mention of this an unnecessary display of personal 
 parade. My reason for it is this. I have so often 
 heard individuals who have written on America, 
 charged with associating with the canaile of the 
 nation, and their testimony, on this assumption, has 
 been rejected by numbers, that in order to rebut 
 this anticipated charge I have furnished the reader 
 with an acknowledged standard in order to assist 
 him in the formation of his judgement. 
 
 Besides ourselves, the inmates of this establish- 
 
71 
 
 ment consisted of two married pairs, a brother and 
 sister, and two single gentlemen: the gentlemen 
 were all either professional men or merchants. Fre- 
 quently the company was diversified, by the intro- 
 duction of a lady or gentleman from Virginia, or 
 from some other of the southern states, who had 
 taken a trip hither, for the purpose of avoiding the 
 excessive heat at home ; and sometimes two ladies 
 would drop down the Hudson from the north for a 
 few week's pleasure. Some one of the gentlemen 
 also, would occasionally introduce a friend fresh 
 from the other side of the Atlantic; so that, it was 
 no uncommon occurrence for us to converse, on the 
 same day, with individuals from many different parts 
 of the globe. 
 
 After breakfast, we used to withdraw to the 
 sitting-room, and either read or work with the 
 needle; or, if more agreeable, we could retire to 
 our private apartments. We could spend our time 
 either privately or in public according to our incli- 
 nations: and with agreeable society, for ours was 
 remarkably so, what could be more desirable? 
 But what became of the children ? will be a natural 
 question. These were no source of annoyance — - 
 
72 
 
 they were sent to school, or attended in the nursery, 
 or, if of sufficient age, were admitted into the sitting- 
 room. That woman is not worthy of the name of 
 either wife or mother, in whose vocabulary the word 
 ' trouble' has a place, when the comfort of her hus- 
 band or her children is the object. 
 
 So small a portion of time being occupied in 
 affairs of a domestic nature, leaves the ladies leisure 
 for reading, and for the construction of elaborate 
 articles of fancy dress. Their fashions are imported 
 from Paris, which however, do not at all times appear 
 to become them ; but here as in England, any ab- 
 surdity has its charms, that is countenanced by the 
 recommendation of a French milliner. The gentle- 
 men dress after the English style, and plates of the 
 newest London fashions, are displayed in the shop 
 windows of every tailor in New York. 
 
 The Americans are commonly charged with 
 eating with voracious avidity, I know this to be 
 strictly true with some; but the charge does not apply 
 in all its disgusting details, against the members of, 
 what is considered, good society. The first exhibi- 
 tion I witnessed of this national peculiarity was on a 
 steam-ship tour; until then I do not recollect that I 
 
73 
 
 had even heard of it. It is most true, they do not 
 indulge in conversation while dining; and this, not 
 only detracts from that sociability which at all times 
 graces an English repast; but it also throws a sombre 
 shade over the whole affair. 
 
 Nothing can exceed the abhorrence with which 
 European ladies view the disgusting practices I 
 now feel myself called upon to mention. The dis- 
 agreeable creatures, almost to a man, chew tobacco 
 and spit most incessantly. These odious practices 
 are too universal to admit of any palliation from 
 individual exceptions. What pleasure can the 
 things — wretches I was going to write, find in this 
 loathsome practice ? It unfits them for the society 
 even of those females, who have the lowest claims to 
 respectability — it injures their health — it makes them 
 hateful and hated go where they may ; — and I could 
 almost wish for the supremacy of the Pope, to pre. 
 dominate in America for the single purpose of 
 carrying into effect the edict of Urban VII. against 
 the use of tobacco. 
 
 It is painful to dwell on these things, but having 
 coupled the above foul practices and dismissed them 
 with the thunders of the Vatican, it would be unfair 
 
74 
 
 to let the master vice of the nation escape, without 
 a sentence of disapprobation ; I mean the drinking 
 of ardent spirits. I will not call it the vice of drunk- 
 enness, for, all I could learn inclines me to question 
 the capability of the gentlemen of the Union to 
 commit this sin. As a nation, they are brought up 
 from their very infancy to drink ardent spirits, and 
 by the time they arrive at years of maturity they 
 become so habituated to the practice, that spirits 
 cease to affect them in a manner similar to others. 
 Who can sufficiently estimate the blessings that flow 
 from cheap rum ? I have witnessed infants washed 
 in it — being attainable by all, boys have been known 
 to enter school under its influence — and it has slain 
 its thousands in the prime of manhood. 
 
 That temperance societies have improved these 
 things, I cheerfully admit ; for the practice had pro- 
 duced effects so appaling, that even the depraved 
 shuddered to contemplate them. But still the use 
 of the solitary dram is not banished, even from 
 among the higher orders of the community. 
 
 These evil spirits are here made to assume all 
 the attractions that a depraved ingenuity, guided 
 by avarice, can possibly invent. The taste is con- 
 
15 
 
 suited either by bitter, sweet, or acid, or by a plea- 
 sing combination of all. If the weather be cold, 
 spices are in request ; if hot, ice is introduced to 
 impart a grateful coolness. 
 
 I would by no means advise any young man 
 whether ignorant or educated, who has the least 
 relish for these things, to cross the Atlantic; for, 
 I consider if he have only the slightest inclination 
 for them here, his life is not worth four years pur- 
 chase, from the day he sets foot on the coast of 
 America. In the short space of two years, how 
 many have I known and heard of, who, by this 
 destructive vice, have been cut off in the flower of 
 their days! The absent friends of such seldom 
 know the real cause of their death ; and consump- 
 tion, or some other disorder, frequently serves as 
 the mantle to cover the horrid aspect of the familiar 
 spirit they have consulted, as a similar vesture veiled 
 the shade of the reputed prophet. * 
 
 * 1 Sam., xxviii., 14. 
 
 G2 
 
76 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 VOYAGE UP THE HUDSON— NEW ENGLAND 
 SABBATH DAY RACE. 
 
 Throughout the preceding chapters, I have con- 
 sidered our voyage across the Atlantic, only in the 
 light of a successful speculation ; and so indeed it 
 was in all points but one ; but that one was unfor- 
 tunately of the utmost importance — I mean health. 
 My family had enjoyed this blessing almost without 
 alloy, in all our previous travels, and this circum- 
 stance, perhaps, rendered us a little impatient under 
 the infliction of the first reverse. 
 
 After we had remained in the city a few months, 
 my husband was attacked with a disorder that fre- 
 quently rages here, called the chills and fever; one 
 distressing peculiarity of which is, that it leaves 
 the patient for a long time in a weak and languid 
 condition. This was to us a circumstance of a 
 serious nature, for as all our earthly dependence 
 
77 
 
 was founded upon his exertions, as a private teacher ; 
 if he were incapacitated by sickness from pursuing 
 the duties of his profession, it required no augur 
 to foretel the consequences. But as in other affairs, 
 America had not only answered, but had greatly 
 exceeded our expectations, we felt every disposition 
 to give the climate a fair trial before we totally 
 abandoned it. 
 
 As soon as my husband was sufficiently convales- 
 cent, we amused ourselves with visiting Staten 
 Island, Long Island, the coast of New Jersey, and 
 other places within a convenient distance of the city, 
 for the advantage of change of scene and air ; and 
 also to select a country residence, with the view of 
 ascertaining the effect of the climate, under what 
 we conceived to be, the most advantageous circum- 
 stances. The chief of these excursions of pleasure 
 was our trip to Albany, the State Capital of New 
 York, situated about a hundred and fifty miles up 
 the Hudson, or the North River, as it is here 
 generally denominated. 
 
 Since I had been in America, I had heard, 
 with perfect indifference, the scenery of the Hudson 
 whispered in accents of faint praise ; and as I expec- 
 
 g3 
 
78 
 
 ted to see nothing more than a fine river winding 
 its course through a forest, I was totally unprepared 
 tor the pleasure that awaited me. It is not without 
 some faint misgivings, arising from a latent sense of 
 insufficiency for such a task, that I hazard an attempt 
 to describe this charming scenery. 
 
 Embarked on board a superb steam ship, we 
 went at a rapid rate, and quickly left the city in the 
 distance. A long series of perpendicular rocks, of 
 various altitudes, crowned with trees and bushes, 
 and fluted as if by art, forms the western barrier of 
 this noble river; on the other side, the mansions of 
 the opulent, with their pleasure grounds, reflect a 
 beauteous contrast. We now leave the dwellings of 
 man, and the wildness of nature seems to maintain 
 uninterrupted sway; when suddenly the river widens 
 into what appears to be an expansive lake, whose 
 glassy bosom reflects the surrounding woods and 
 rocks, and the tree-bearing islets which it encircles. 
 Again the stream is contracted by two gigantic 
 rocks, which lift their l awful form 5 from each side 
 of its margin. We dart through this channel, and 
 another expansive prospect opens to our view enrich- 
 ed with all the charms of the former, in addition 
 
79 
 
 to the blue mountains of Catskill in perspective. 
 Here, it seems as if nature had studied to dispose 
 woods, rocks, mountains, and lakes, in positions 
 the most graceful and majestic; so sublime and 
 lovely are the objects that meet the eye in every 
 direction. 
 
 Besides nature's attractions, other interesting 
 circumstances are associated with the surrounding 
 scenery. About forty miles above the city, is 
 the memorable district called the neutral ground, 
 on the borders of which the struggle was the fiercest 
 during the revolutionary war. This is the province 
 that Cooper has chosen for the scenes of his 'Spy.' 
 Here also is the melancholy spot where the 
 unfortunate Major Andre was captured, and the 
 place of his execution may be seen from the river. 
 'Sleepy Hollow' was also pointed out to us, and 
 farther on is the village of Rip Van Winkle of 
 somniferous notoriety. Among these the rock of 
 Sing Sing, crowned with the dismal ornament of 
 the largest prison in world, forces itself upon 
 our notice, and induces a feeling dashed with 
 rather too much sadness, to be strictly pleas- 
 ing. 
 
80 
 
 Before this sail up the Hudson, I conceived 
 nothing could exceed the beauties of the Isle of 
 Wight, and some choice scenes on the lakes of 
 Scotland; but all these must certainly yield the 
 palm to the scenery of the Hudson. To be fully 
 appreciated it must be seen. The surrounding 
 objects, indeed, may be named upon paper, but who 
 can faithfully describe the atmosphere ! 
 
 The established regulations on board the steam 
 ships, oblige the gentlemen to occupy the fore cabin, 
 and leave the ladies in uninterrupted possession of 
 the after one. We had therefore, no gentlemen in 
 our company, except when on deck. Although this 
 division of the sexes may be viewed with reluctance 
 at first, by those who have husbands and brothers 
 on board; yet ladies are generally reconciled to the 
 arrangement, because they are secure from the mul- 
 titudinous annoyances, produced by the free con- 
 sumption of spirits and tobacco. However, the 
 ladies and gentlemen dine together, and on the pre- 
 sent occasion, the company amounted to above two 
 hundred. The same scenes variously affect different 
 persons, and this was the first time in my life that I 
 had dined with so large and so heterogeneous an 
 
81 
 
 assemblage. I felt much annoyed by hearing the 
 rough phrases bandied about among the gentlemen, 
 while taking possession of their places. Soon, how- 
 ever, the dinner appeared, and the company com- 
 menced operation in earnest. Although but few 
 words were spoken, it was by no means a silent 
 repast ; dispatch was the order of the day — I had 
 never before seen any thing like it — and from the 
 effect of the queer objects that presented themselves 
 to my notice, I confess I felt a much stronger incli- 
 nation for laughing than feasting. But violent 
 exertions are usually of short duration ; and in pure 
 astonishment, I stared when the first signs pro- 
 claimed the battle to be over. The gentlemen 
 withdrew to their part of the vessel, and the ladies 
 to the deck, and to the best of my judgement, the 
 whole affair was concluded in less than ten minutes ! 
 My husband and myself embraced the first op- 
 portunity of comparing notes. The scenery and the 
 dinner was all during the voyage, that we witnessed 
 in common ; the former we enjoyed, the latter we 
 did not. As all the females were consigned to one 
 particular quarter of the vessel, I had an opportu- 
 nity of spending about twelve hours in company 
 
82 
 
 with a fair sample of the American ladies. The 
 chilling impression left on my mind by the image of 
 the captain's wife, mentioned in the first chapter, 
 had long since passed away ; and although a full 
 acquaintance with the character of that worthy lady 
 had been of singular service to me, I was alike 
 averse by nature and judgement, to condemn a 
 whole nation for the reprobated failings of a single 
 individual. The city lady might here be distin- 
 guished from the rest, as she paced the deck, by 
 her close adherence to the latest Parisian fashions ; 
 and the plain Dutch dame by her plain Dutch dress. 
 Otherwise, there is a greater uniformity of external 
 appearance, than would be seen with us, under simi- 
 lar circumstances. One thing in particular, I must 
 not omit, though I never heard it before observed by 
 any individual — I mean the striking uniformity of 
 look — the statue-like appearance of the countenance, 
 that prevails so universally among the women. 
 They seem to be totally incapable of expressing 
 mental emotions by any visible change of counte- 
 nance, even when conversing upon excitable sub- 
 jects. The cause of this I must leave to others to 
 determine. 
 
83 
 
 My husband thus describes the proceedings in 
 his part of the vessel : 
 
 " The fore cabin was furnished with a bar, 
 where ardent spirits and tobacco were supplied to 
 those of the passengers that were destitute of such 
 blessings ; and the regularity with which the glass 
 circulated, might very well illustrate perpetual 
 motion. The gentlemen were associated together 
 in small groups, and were conversing on various 
 subjects, but chiefly on that theme of which the 
 Americans never seem to tire — the revolutionary 
 war; the presence of an Englishman is almost 
 certain to produce a note from this string. A num- 
 ber were amusing themselves by rallying a squire, 
 as a justice of the twenty-five dollar court is here 
 termed, and a little dark man, who figured as the 
 deacon of a church. It appeared that the deacon 
 was a farmer, and his neighbour the squire, kept a 
 store for the sale of almost every thing, and for the 
 convenience of barter, or i trading,' as they call it. 
 One cold morning during the last winter, the 
 deacon took six bushels of wheat to the store of the 
 squire, to be exchanged for as much salt as could 
 be mutually agreed upon. After some time and 
 
84 
 
 many words were spent in maneuvering, they con- 
 sented to barter measure for measure. The deacon 
 proceeded to mete out his grain, while the squire 
 complaining of the coldness of the morning amused 
 himself by stamping upon his elastic floor. The 
 deacon, of course, could not object to his neighbour 
 warming his toes in what manner he pleased, in his 
 own store, he therefore said nothing, although he 
 discovered that this stamping had consolidated his 
 six bushels of wheat into the compass of five and a 
 half. The squire then commenced his part of the 
 contract — to measure out the salt; and a chillness 
 conveniently seized the toes of the deacon, which 
 he endeavoured to counteract by stamping, after the 
 example of the squire. i Stop, stop,' said the squire, 
 ' what are you stamping for V ' To warm my toes,' 
 was the answer. 'But do you not see how you 
 shake down the salt ?' ' Not more than you shook 
 down the wheat,' was the reply. And so, as they 
 acknowledged, 'they got a fair trade between 
 them.' 
 
 There was a youth on board whom I regarded 
 with curiosity ; he bore so striking a resemblance to 
 Brom Bones, the hero of Sleepy Hollow, that 
 
85 
 
 nothing was wanting but the fox's tail in his hat to 
 complete the similitude. I felt an unconquerable 
 inclination to learn something of this 'roystering 
 blade,' and for this purpose, I stepped up to a young 
 man, with whom he had just been conversing, and 
 was very soon fully gratified. From this informant 
 I learned a few circumstances concerning the hero 
 in question; — that, like his model, he was fond 
 of a spirited horse ; and that he had lately 
 figured conspicuously in a race — not with a gob- 
 lin for a gallon of cider, but with a more sub- 
 stantial personage in the form of a deacon. I 
 quite forget his name, for the image of Brom 
 Bones was so correctly delineated in my mind, 
 that it entirely obliterated his proper name from 
 my memory. 
 
 It is necessary here to explain that in some 
 townships in New England, a law is very 
 properly enacted, against all Sunday travel- 
 ling, except for the purpose^of going to, and 
 returning from a place of worship; any vio- 
 lation of which is visited with a fine of ten 
 dollars. 
 
 A few Sundays ago, this Brom Bones accompa- 
 
 H 
 
86 
 
 nied with his negro in a very light wagon* drawn 
 by an excellent horse, was out on a spree; and his 
 road lying close by a church, he determined to push 
 forwards in defiance of the law r , and hazard the con- f 
 sequences; concluding that as the service had com- 
 menced, he should meet with no interruption. As 
 he dashed past the church, he saw the horses belong- 
 ing to the members of the congregation, tied up 
 under a row of high trees, as is usual on such occa- 
 sions in the summer; but to his dismay, he also saw 
 the deacon, bustling through the church-yard to 
 mount his poney, as he guessed, to give him chase. 
 
 Now, as one half of the fine goes to the informer, 
 and as it is represented with too much truth, alas, 
 that these same deacons are ' given to filthy lucre, 
 look to thyself Brom Bones. Away went Bones, 
 and away went the deacon; the one impelled by the 
 fear of losing ten dollars, and the other stimulated 
 with the hope of gaining five. Nor was the chase 
 without spectators; for a portion of the juveniles 
 guessing at what was up, from the sound of the 
 
 * This vehicle is universally used by the country people ; it bears no 
 resemblance to an English wagon, but is in fact, the lightest four-wheeled 
 vehicle that can be conceived. 
 
 1 
 
87 
 
 wheels, and the sudden absence of the deacon, 
 slipped out to view the sport, from the hill on which 
 the church stood. 
 
 Bones's confidence in his horse began to fail, as 
 he perceived the deacon gaining ground, and, like 
 the beaver in the fable, he judged it the best policy 
 to relinquish a part, in order to save the whole. 
 He hastily gave a silver dollar to his negro, directing 
 him to display it fully in the eyes of the deacon, and 
 then deliberately to let it fall on the road. The 
 negro obeyed ; and the stratagem for that time had 
 the desired effect. The deacon dismounted — for 
 what deacon that keeps a store, w r ould be so improvi- 
 dent as to ride over a dollar? While his pursuer was 
 securing the coin, Bones exerted all his energies to 
 escape from his clutches. But the deacon was 
 quickly mounted, and again in the field. 
 
 The negro hinted to his master that the deacon's 
 poney was ' bio wed,' and that another dollar would 
 save the ten. Bones thought the experiment worth 
 trying, and furnished the black with the cash. 
 Carefully did blackey turn it in the sun, to ensure its 
 being seen distinctly ; for he knew the race depended 
 upon this point, as the deacon was just upon his 
 
 h2 
 
88 
 
 haunches. He dropped it, and the deacon alighted, 
 gathered it up, and speedily re-mounted. Five 
 miles had now been ridden over with the utmost 
 speed, and both horses showed symptoms of dis- 
 tress — now hope prevailed, and now fear, in the 
 breasts of the contending parties. At length a 
 ( pretty considerable' slough at a turn in the road 
 suddenly appeared to the horror of poor Bones, and 
 closed the chase in favour of the deacon. Bones's 
 horse and wagon were seized as security for the fine ; 
 and his spiritual pursuer kept the two dollars as a 
 remuneration for his exertions." . 
 
 I cannot say I admire these incidents; I must 
 therefore plead their decided marks of national 
 character as an apology for their insertion. The 
 latter in particular, will illustrate the indecorous 
 manner in which sacred and pecuniary matters are 
 here associated, more effectually than if volumes of 
 sentiment were written on the subject. 
 
 Albany is the second city in the state of New 
 York, it contains, I suppose, about 2500 inhabitants, 
 a very large portion of which are Dutch; here are 
 to be seen the oldest buildings in the United 
 States. 
 
89 
 
 In order to see as much of the country as possi- 
 ble, we landed on our return from Albany, at a 
 small town a little below west point, and about fifty 
 miles above New York ; having decided upon pro- 
 ceeding through the country towns by whatever 
 conveyance we could obtain. This may appear a 
 wild-goose scheme, but I think of it with much 
 pleasure, as, in addition to the beauties of the 
 scenery, which were passing lovely, we had an 
 opportunity of seeing the villages and their inhabi- 
 tants in their unadorned simplicity. We were fully 
 gratified, for the enjoyment more than compensated 
 for the inconvenience. 
 
 The place and neighbourhood where we landed, 
 on the west bank of the Hudson, consists of several 
 thousand acres almost exclusively occupied by 
 families of Dutch extraction. They speak both 
 Dutch and English fluently, are a simple hearted 
 class of beings, read their bibles, and most cordially 
 hate the Yankees. 
 
 I ought to have before explained this term, 
 " Yankee". It is applied by all the Americans to 
 the inhabitants of the five New England States, viz. 
 Vermont, Massachusets, New Hampshire, Rhode 
 
 h3 
 
90 
 
 Island, and Connecticut. These same Yankees are 
 reported by their southern neighbours as being 
 remarkable for inquisitiveness and roguishness ; and 
 many of them acknowledge this equivocal species 
 of compliment, and admit its justice with com- 
 placency. — While here, we were told a farm had 
 recently been purchased in the neighbourhood by 
 a Yankee, and that the Dutchmen had submitted 
 to some pecuniary sacrifice, in order to re-purchase 
 it. I asked the reason, and received this answer, 
 " We were frightened at him." 
 
 Families descended from the earliest settlers 
 inhabit the banks of the Hudson. Their furniture, 
 manners, and affairs, conduct the mind back to the 
 days of the pilgrim fathers. But nothing is declining 
 here ; new houses are building, the forest is daily 
 yielding to the axe, and all things are in a state 
 of active improvement. It is not in America, that 
 Sultan Mahmoud's owls can endow their sons and 
 daughters with ruined villages. 
 
 The farmer here spins his own wool and flax, 
 and generally weaves his own cloth ; he mends his 
 own farming implements, consumes the produce of 
 his own land, and barters the remainder for other 
 
91 
 
 necessaries. As he has neither rent, tithes, nor 
 taxes to pay, it is no wonder that his industry enables 
 him to live in a state of absolute profusion. 
 
 Avowedly, I have never read any work com- 
 pletely through that has appeared on the United 
 States of America, but have formed my judgement 
 of the character of some from common report, and 
 the few extracts that have fortuitously fallen in my 
 way. It appears to me, that the observations of 
 the Americans, respecting many of these publica- 
 tions are nearly correct, viz. That they are penned 
 to please some particular party, and not to promul- 
 gate a true representation of facts. 
 
 I will just state one instance, which I copy from 
 a work that I never saw, till my attention was called 
 to it this very hour. The authoress is giving an 
 account of the American farmers, whom she honours 
 with the designation of " Small landed proprietors, 
 who farm their own freehold estates." 
 
 "When in Maryland, I went into the houses of 
 several of these small proprietors, and remained long 
 enough, and looked and listened sufficiently, to obtain 
 a tolerably correct idea of their manner of living. One 
 of these families consisted of a young man, his wife, two 
 
92 
 
 children, a female slave, and two young lads, slaves also. 
 The farm belonged to the wife, and I was told, consisted 
 of about three hundred acres of indifferent land, but all 
 cleared. The house was built of wood, and looked as if 
 the three slaves might have overturned it, had they pushed 
 hard against the gable end. It contained one room of 
 about twelve feet square; and another, adjoining it, 
 hardly larger than a closet : this second chamber was the 
 lodging-room of the white part of the family. Above 
 these rooms was a loft without windows, where, I was 
 told, the " staying company" who visited them, were 
 lodged. Near this mansion was a " shanty," a black 
 hole, without any window, which served as a kitchen 
 and all other offices, and also as the lodging of the 
 blacks!!! 
 
 We were invited to take tea with this family, and 
 readily consented to do so. (!) Her female slave set out 
 the great table, and placed upon it cups of the very 
 coarsest blue ware, a little brown sugar in one, and a tiny 
 drop of milk in another; no butter, though the lady 
 assured us she had a " deary" and two cows. Instead of 
 butter, she " hoped we would fix a little relish with our 
 crackers," in ancient English, eat salt meat and dry 
 biscuits. Such was the fare !" 
 
 This lady must have been dreaming of a witches 
 den. Only think of two black boys and one man, 
 and he the owner, to do the work on a farm com- 
 
93 
 
 prising three hundred acres of cleared land ! And 
 what premises ! Where could the men live, while 
 engaged in the long and arduous employment of 
 clearing the land? There are no workhouses here, 
 whence gangs of paupers may be hired at pleasure. 
 Reflecting on what I have seen, I much question 
 whether such a place as this could be found, as an 
 abode for human beings, in any part of the Union. 
 Consider the fare — salt fish and biscuits — and for 
 English visiters too! Why, the very mice would 
 desert such a dwelling ! The whole affair assumes 
 such an air of improbability, that if it contain even 
 one single atom of truth, that atom is buried in 
 falsehood. 
 
 But the worst feature is, that this is advanced 
 as a sample of farm-house fare and farm-house 
 hospitality in the United States. Verily, I have 
 lived in an American farm-house, I have dined and 
 taken tea in several, perhaps scores, in various 
 directions from, and within a hundred miles of 
 New York; yet, I never saw any thing like this ! 
 The farmers are much more censurable for their 
 extravagant profusion than for their meanness. 
 And when they entertain European visiters, they 
 
94 
 
 are so fond of displaying their abundance, that it 
 is a very rare thing for them to allow such guests to 
 depart destitute of substantial tokens of their liber- 
 ality. In fact, many among them take care that 
 their male guests shall not leave their dwellings 
 either sorrowful or sober. 
 
 Most freely do I admit, that persons of pure 
 intentions may be mistaken in trivial matters, and 
 thus innocently mislead others; but truth is quite 
 as easily written as spoken, and should be particu- 
 larly regarded in a narrative on the domestic 
 manners of a foreign nation. Here, all fictitious 
 descriptions, isolated cases, and every thing calcu- 
 lated to mislead, should be entirely discarded. 
 
95 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 COUNTRY RESIDENCE.— THUNDER AND LIGHTNING-— 
 CLIMATE— CHEAP LAW- 
 
 After various excursions and much deliberation, 
 we fixed upon a small estate, comprising an excel- 
 lent dwelling-house, with out-offices, and above fifty 
 acres of land, delightfully situated on Long Island, 
 and within about twenty-five miles from New York. 
 This was the most delightful residence, both for 
 beauty of situation and internal convenience that I 
 ever inhabited, but with all its attractions, it was 
 the scene of my severest afflictions. 
 
 The agreeable change from city to country at 
 the delightful season of spring, made the first few 
 weeks pass away most pleasantly. In this quarter 
 of the globe, winter reigns with undisputed sway, 
 from the first day of November to the last of April. 
 At the close of this period, nature, refreshed by so 
 long a repose and enlivened by the genial warmth of 
 the sun, throws off the sombre robe of winter, and 
 suddenly appears clad in her most lovely attire. 
 
96 
 
 Birds of gay plumage resembling those of the 
 tropics, with woodland flowers of all hues, and the 
 bright foliage of the forest trees, simultaneously 
 spring into existence with a rapidity that with us, 
 would be considered miraculous. As an instance, 
 I distinctly remember the buds of the trees being 
 firmly closed on the 28th of April, and on the 12th 
 of the following May, the foliage of the whole of 
 them was as fully developed as in the midst of 
 summer. 
 
 Strictly speaking, the American spring is con- 
 fined to the first fortnight in May. It is a most 
 delightful season, but sadly too short. Birds, such 
 as for beauty, I never before saw at large, enliven 
 the scenery with their bright plumage. Choice 
 flowers, thick and numberless " as autumnal leaves 
 that strew the brooks in Vallombrosa" are here 
 seen, with their rich colours enhancing each others 
 charms by a beauteous contrast. While myriads of 
 butterflies, not the small pale coloured things of 
 northern Europe, but creatures with wings of un- 
 common size and beauty, contribute their share to 
 increase this fund of pleasure. Neither pen nor 
 pencil can do justice to the landscape scenery at 
 
97 
 
 this period, viewed as it is, through the medium of 
 a clear atmosphere, that imparts a glowing warmth 
 and renders the whole truly enchanting. 
 
 Every rose has its thorn, and the same bright 
 sun that calls into existence these beauties, awakens 
 also swarms of serpents and venomous reptiles of 
 every kind. The bite of some of these is attended 
 with distressing circumstances, and others among 
 them, such as the black serpent and the copper- 
 headed viper, have been known to inflict mortal 
 wounds. I believe I am not whimsically affected, 
 yet I could never look upon these dreadful creatures 
 without shuddering, as they wriggled their way in 
 odious contortions just from before my feet. The 
 caution required to avoid stepping upon them, and 
 the fear of some that are known to pursue the human 
 species, greatly detracted from the pleasure of my 
 woodland rambles ; and, like the sword impending 
 over the head of Damocles, dashed all my rural 
 pleasure with fearful apprehension. 
 
 One day while walking in the garden, I narrowly 
 escaped a bite from a black serpent, which our 
 man-servant afterwards succeeding in killing; its 
 skin was variegated with all the darker shades of 
 
 i 
 
98 
 
 different colours beautifully arranged : it measured 
 five feet two inches in length. After this, I was 
 determined to walk in no other than a clear path. 
 
 About the latter part of May the heat of the sun 
 becomes oppressive. Then, farewell to pleasure. 
 Clouds of musquitoes are ushered into existence, 
 and myriads of flies fill every room. Now our 
 dress, and almost our lives, become burthensome, 
 we fan ourselves from morning to night and feel for 
 those who are not blessed with an ice-house, 
 Although the common flies are extremely numerous* 
 they bear no proportion to the musquitoes in point 
 of annoyance. These are considered as minor evils 
 by some persons, but as respects myself, the sharp 
 stinging wounds inflicted by the latter, will not be 
 very soon forgotten. I was confined to the house 
 under medical treatment for a fortnight, in conse- 
 quence of a bite I received from a musquito. Cer- 
 tainly this is a singular case; but still it furnishes a 
 proof of their noxious powers. I have often been 
 told, that in their visitations, they respect the per- 
 sons of those who are accustomed to drink largely 
 of rum ; but to the truth of this assertion my eyes 
 and understanding refused their assent. iVblution 
 
99 
 
 in this liquor, it is true, is very grateful after 
 enduring a day's campaign with them; and as a 
 lotion for allaying the pain produced by these 
 insects, it is certainly useful. 
 
 With the hot weather comes thunder and light- 
 ning, and rain. The latter invariably falls in torrents, 
 and if the wheat grew as high and as heavy in the 
 ear as with us, it certainly could never arrive at 
 maturity. A transatlantic thunder storm is truly 
 sublime and terrible. The sky first becomes covered 
 with black clouds, the wind blows violently, the 
 clouds suddenly expand, and emit what appears to 
 be a broad stream of liquid fire ; the thunder instan- 
 taneously bursts forth with a crash, that I suppose, 
 all the artillery in the world could not equal. This 
 is usually repeated twice or thrice, and the storm 
 exhausted by its own violence, is suddenly succeeded 
 by a delightful calm. iEolus rends the vail of black 
 clouds from the face of the sun, which now seems 
 to shine with increasing heat and splendour ; while 
 the earth, being previously parched with exces- 
 sive heat, and now suddenly deluged with torrents 
 of rain, emits clouds of vapour, that for a short time 
 envelope the landscape in a dense fog. This is 
 
100 
 
 quickly dispersed by the excessive heat of the sun ; 
 the arid earth again thirsts for moisture, and we 
 soon forget the storm. The opinion prevailing in 
 Europe respecting the salubrity of the United 
 States, is more favourable than an examination will 
 warrant. My remarks on this subject are the result 
 of a patient and most painful investigation, aided by 
 experience, alas, too dearly purchased. I shall 
 confine my observations on the climate to the first 
 summer we passed in America, and the succeeding 
 winter ; which, from being more uniform than the 
 last year, are less liable to objection. The state of 
 the thermometer and the variations of the winds, I 
 select from a dairy kept by my husband during our 
 residence in the United States. The greatest heat 
 this summer was a hundred and five degrees. From 
 mid-day to five in the afternoon, during the months 
 of July, August, and September, the thermometer 
 ranged between ninety and a hundred degrees — 
 seldom above the latter, and in very few instances 
 below the former; while the universal stillness of 
 the air, rendered the heat quite as overpowering, 
 and even more so, than the state of the index 
 warrants us to suppose. 
 
101 
 
 The climate, and its effects upon the constitution, 
 are always distasteful subjects to the Americans. 
 They cannot subscribe to any other doctrine, than 
 that which recommends theirs as the most salubrious 
 climate in the world. This is asserted by them with 
 as much confidence as if it were a self-evident truth ; 
 and all who dispute it, are in danger of being over- 
 whelmed by a torrent of displeasure. A physician 
 paid us a visit one broiling day in July, and certainly 
 did acknowledge that it was then hot — but, checking 
 himself, he observed, "that the heat was nothing to 
 speak of — just fair summer weather — hotter, no 
 doubt than in England — but the perfection of sum- 
 mer." We observed that the heat had, for some 
 days past, been above ninety-six degrees in the 
 shade. As we expected, he manifested symptoms of 
 incredulity, which however, we soon dispelled by 
 referring him to the thermometer, then standing at 
 ninety-eight degrees. In the absence of positive 
 proof like this, they will endeavour to evade the 
 question in any way, rather than submit to acknow- 
 ledge any fact that would jeopardize the character of 
 their climate. And truly it is admirable, if a 
 Jamaica summer succeeded by a Moscow winter, 
 
 i 3 
 
102 
 
 under one parallel, be acknowledged the standard 
 of perfection. 
 
 I discovered to my sorrow, that the morning air 
 here is not so wholesome as in England; on the 
 contrary, it is considered most pernicious. This 
 greatly perplexed me in selecting the best time for a 
 walk. The physician had interdicted the matutinal 
 breezes — the mid-day was not to be thought of — 
 and the evening gales were very unwholesome, and 
 frequently as deadly and chill as the breath of the 
 death angel. There are no cool evenings here in 
 the summer as with us, so refreshing and so pleasant, 
 in which we may luxuriate in all the delights of an 
 evening's ramble. While the sun is above the hori- 
 zon, he blazes away with insufferable heat, and his 
 descent is mostly succeeded by a chillness that re- 
 sembles the icy hand of death to the feelings, and 
 frequently is such in reality to those who are often 
 exposed to its influence. The sudden vicissitudes of 
 the atmosphere, I consider the most dangerous fea- 
 ture of the whole affair ; for, incredible as it may 
 appear, the mercury has fallen from ninety-five to 
 fifty-six degrees in the short space of three hours. 
 A variation of twenty or twenty-five degrees, in the 
 
103 
 
 same period, is by no means an uncommon occur- 
 rence. 
 
 The houses in the country are almost universally 
 formed of wood, the best of them are faced with 
 shingles (thin plates of cedar,) neatly painted : 
 these are by no means deficient in comfort. For 
 the sake of coolness in summer, they are so con- 
 structed as to furnish a shaded walk on both sides : 
 and when flowers are trained to climb up the pillars, 
 the whole has a very pleasing appearance. 
 
 During the hours of mid-day, no work can be 
 done in the fields by the white men ; the " hands" 
 therefore, return home and doze away the time in 
 the out offices, and work early and late in order to 
 atone for their meridian slumber. 
 
 The city is preferable as a place of residence 
 during the heat of summer. The neat awnings 
 that shelter the whole of the side walks prove an 
 agreeable protection from the powerful influence 
 of the sun's rays, when it is necessary to go from 
 the doors. During the hottest part of the day 
 little is done by the gentlemen, besides loitering 
 about, reading the newspapers, and drinking iced 
 punch, and other mysterious compounds ; while the 
 
104 
 
 ladies, reclining on the sofas fan themselves, drink 
 lemonade, and doze. Business transactions of all 
 kinds occupy the early hours of the morning ; then 
 the ice carts perambulate the city, and provisions 
 for the day are procured. After mid-day the streets 
 are deserted ; those who have leisure, retire to doze 
 away the hours ; the shopkeeper closes his doors 
 and slumbers behind the counter; a solemn stillness 
 reigns, and the city seem forsaken and desolate. 
 
 The twilight is of very short duration, and the 
 setting sun is succeeded by a greater state of dark- 
 ness than with us; but, as a compensation, the 
 moonlight appears clearer and much brighter, and 
 in winter, it is truly delightful. 
 
 The scorching summer usually terminates with 
 September; and is succeeded by a month of the 
 most charming weather I ever experienced. This 
 is October — the American autumn. Now the 
 sun's dreaded rays lay aside a portion of their 
 fiery force, the forest trees begin to change the 
 hue of their leaves, and, instead of green, nature's 
 universal livery, colours of all shades gradually 
 appear, from the dark purple to the lightest yellow. 
 The immense variety of trees accounts for the 
 
105 
 
 many coloured foliage, and if variety be charm- 
 ing, it is here beheld in perfection — not merely 
 the sombre tints seen at the same season in an 
 English coppice — but purple, red, brown, and 
 every colour that can be produced on the palette 
 of the artist. 
 
 This is likewise the season for abundance. 
 Apples, the finest in the world, peaches, melons, 
 and fruit of every kind that grace the orchard, are 
 produced in such profusion, that even in the city 
 they are sold for very little more than the expense 
 of their carriage. Maze, which is here cultivated 
 with singular care and judgement, is now seen in 
 every direction, waving its purple tassels in the 
 breeze ; and imparting a peculiar character to the 
 landscape scenery. 
 
 The iron reign of winter usually commences 
 about the middle of November. From that time 
 till the last days of April the weather is excessively 
 cold, but the atmosphere it must be allowed, is 
 delightfully clear and pleasant to the eye. Were it 
 a matter of choice, and were I doomed to live in 
 America, I should certainly prefer a perpetual 
 winter, cold as it is, to the broiling summer and 
 
106 
 
 it extreme variations, with their dreaded conse- 
 quences. 
 
 The lowest point of the thermometer this winter 
 was three degrees below zero. This was in January, 
 but for several days it was below ten degrees, and 
 for weeks, it seldom rose higher than eighteen. 
 Although the cold in winter is very severe, still 
 very little rain falls ; or I should rather say, rain 
 seldom falls ; but hail, sleet, and snow comes 
 plentifully in storms of considerable duration. In 
 the absence of these the air is cold indeed, but 
 delightfully pure and translucent. 
 
 The changes of the thermometer in winter are 
 neither so sudden nor so rapid as in summer, but 
 the winds are as fickle then, as during any period 
 of the year. Those from the north and the west are 
 equally cold, and the north-west wind is dreaded in 
 winter more than any other. Frequently the wind 
 will suddenly veer from a particular point of the 
 compass to the one diametrically opposite. I never 
 knew this to take place in England. 
 
 According to what I have advanced, the greatest 
 heat during this year was 105°, and the greatest 
 cold 3° below zero; the extreme variation therefore, 
 
107 
 
 will be 108°. Hence it appears, that during the 
 summer, New York, which is situated about 40° of 
 latitude, endures the heat of Egypt or Arabia, and, 
 in winter, the cold of Stockholm or Petersburg, 
 Nor is this all, for in no part of the old world, are 
 the diurnal vicissitudes of the atmosphere either so 
 sudden or in such extremes. Petersburg is cold in 
 winter and cool in summer : Egypt is never abso- 
 lutely cold — but the climate of the eastern shores of 
 North America is ever variable, and alone uniform 
 in unwholesomeness. 
 
 The miasma produced by the heat of the sun, 
 from the vegetable matter deposited in the number- 
 less marshes, that every where abound in an unclear- 
 ed country, is another fruitful source of disease. 
 Then there are sicknesses arising from local causes. 
 With a climate marked by such extremes of tempe- 
 rature, and vicissitudes so sudden, combined with 
 the pestilential effluvia arising from vegetable 
 decomposition, there can be no wonder if America is 
 one of the most unhealthy places in the world. 
 
 Had I been in possession of these facts before I 
 crossed the Atlantic, I should no doubt have con- 
 cluded as I am now compelled to do, by dear- 
 
108 
 
 bought experience ; but no work that I could meet 
 with was sufficiently explicit on this point ; all the 
 information I could collect was delivered in terms 
 too vague and indefinite to arrest the attention. 
 
 Many persons from Europe have visited the 
 United States, for the prudential purpose of making 
 an experiment, prior to their removal thither to 
 spend the remainder of their days. They have, 
 perhaps, landed just in the most healthy season of 
 the year, and their attention being wholly engrossed 
 by pecuniary matters, they entirely overlooked 
 the subject of health. Attracted by novelty and 
 charmed with the prospect, they have sent for their 
 families and enrolled themselves as citizens ; but a 
 year's experience, attended with a few fits of sick- 
 ness, dispels the delusion, and convinces them, that 
 the same country that appears so pleasant to the eye 
 of a visiter, may present a different aspect when 
 adopted for a permanent residence. 
 
 It is not my intention to dwell long in detailing 
 the afflictions of my own family from ill health, but 
 I cannot, with justice to my readers, omit all notice 
 of this circumstance. We suffered the most in the 
 country with the bilious fever, and the distressing 
 
109 
 
 attacks of the chills ; but I am thankful to say, none 
 of us sunk under these visitations. With the excep- 
 tion of one little girl, myself and my family consist- 
 ing of five individuals, besides three servants, were 
 all at the same time confined to our beds. Many 
 of our neighbours were in the same condition as 
 ourselves, and I fear some were far worse. No relief 
 could, therefore, be expected from that quarter. 
 Our medical attendant was himself at the point of 
 death, and the attention of others was wholly 
 engrossed by their own connections. 
 
 So general was the epidemic, that no doubt, 
 numbers were lost for want of proper attention, and 
 those few who were well, and from motives of com- 
 misseration or curiosity, were induced to pay us a 
 short visit, entertained us with the peculiar distresses 
 of a long list of the dying and the dead. I hourly 
 expected some of us would bid adieu to this world, 
 and then the most I could hope for, was a silent 
 interment in unconsecrated ground, with no other 
 requiem than the ocean's deep moan as it laved the 
 neighbouring shore, or the sighing of the breezes on 
 the trees of the forest. 
 
 Providence, however, did not forsake us. One 
 
110 
 
 evening, a person chanced to call who knew my 
 husband, and at his own suggestion, took our horse 
 and wagon and went in quest of assistance. Con- 
 trary to our expectations, his exertions were crowned 
 with success. He returned with a clever active 
 American woman, to whom we were under great 
 obligations, for she acted both as physician and 
 nurse, and soon made us all as comfortable as 
 circumstances would permit. From that day we 
 began to recover, though it was months before the 
 dreaded disorder entirely forsook us. 
 
 In contemplating the manners, customs, and 
 affairs of this singular people, I am constrained to 
 admit that there is much to admire, and many things 
 worthy of commendation. Among these, the general 
 character and circumstances of the great mass of 
 the people stand prominently forth. In consequence 
 of the high price of labour of every kind, and the 
 comparative ease with which the essentials of life 
 may be obtained, the very lowest of the people are 
 well clad, and take a laudable pride in appearing 
 clean and smart after the toil of the day is over. 
 The theatre is the grand point of attraction for num- 
 bers; others assemble in reading rooms, or attend 
 
Ill 
 
 lectures, or religious meetings; taverns and spirit 
 stores have their share of frequenters ; while some 
 few congregate to read and hear read the wisdom 
 of Thomas Paine, and his coadjutors in the cause of 
 infidelity. But, in justice it must be admitted, that 
 very few prostrate their time to this latter purpose. 
 
 None of those ostensible instances of deep moral 
 degradation, the wretched offspring of infamy and 
 want, that force themselves, as it were, upon our 
 notice in our densely populated cities, are to be met 
 with here. Nor did I ever notice any of those 
 extreme cases of abject destitution — so painful to 
 contemplate, but still so numerous with us. In fact, 
 during the whole period of my residence in the 
 United States, I never saw the face of a single 
 beggar. 
 
 There are no poor's rates, and the few whom 
 misfortune has rendered proper objects for elee- 
 mosynary aid, find refuge in alms-houses supported 
 by voluntary contributions. 
 
 The universal diffusion of knowledge is another 
 pleasing object of contemplation. Public schools 
 are numerous and well supported ; and as almost 
 the whole population to a man, are ardently engaged 
 
 k2 
 
112 
 
 in the promotion or pursuit of political schemes, of 
 one kind or another, it would be a remarkable 
 circumstance were their children incapable of read- 
 ing the newspapers. 
 
 Another grand stimulant to exertion in educa- 
 tional matters, is to be found in the acquisitive dis- 
 position of the people, and their love of commercial 
 enterprise. Stripling tradesmen are here to be met 
 with in numbers, pushing their various undertakings 
 with all the ardour and recklessness of youth, 
 seconded by an hereditary thirst for gain. Hence, 
 from one cause or another, I conceive it would be 
 a very difficult matter to find in any part of the 
 Union, a native-born x\merican arrived at years of 
 maturity, incapable of writing and keeping his 
 accounts. 
 
 It were much to be wished that the planters in 
 the south, and other slave-owners, would bestow 
 some little care upon the instruction of those unfor- 
 tunate beings, that the chances of power have con- 
 signed to their charge. Yet so far are they from 
 encouraging even the commonest kind of instruction, 
 that were the "schoolmaster abroad" here, he would 
 be saluted with one clamourous war-whoop, through- 
 
113 
 
 out the whole of the slave states of this land of 
 liberty. The legislators of Virginia in particular, 
 have immortalized their humanity, by making it 
 penal for any one to teach a negro to read, or to be 
 found aiding, encouraging, or abetting in such an 
 intellectual abomination ! 
 
 Yet let me not be understood as speaking of the 
 literature of the United States, in terms of unquali- 
 fied praise. All their literary characters, who are 
 considered clever by us, have reaped their laurels 
 on British ground. As for the rest I can say very 
 little. A few novels, written in the angels and 
 despair style of Charlotte Smith, and two or three 
 volumes of poetry were all that I ever saw. They 
 are good things in their way — that is, good as 
 opiates. I remember once to have been so scolded 
 for speaking disrespectfully of one of their poets, 
 that if I may be forgiven for the past I will do so no 
 more. 
 
 But to resume the subject seriously, I think I 
 am safe in asserting that there is no literature in the 
 United States — or at least very little of sterling 
 merit; whatever may be the pretensions of some. 
 For surely the " things of a day" poured from the 
 
 k3 
 
114 
 
 periodical press, in the form of newspapers and 
 magazines cannot with propriety be called a nation's 
 literature. 
 
 And here let me observe, that the newspaper 
 press of England is as far superior to that of the 
 United States, as Scott's historical novels are to the 
 romances of the last century. It is also worthy of 
 remark, that the American press is as far below the 
 intellectual standard of their people, as the London 
 press is above that of ours. Intelligence like money, 
 with them is more equally distributed. The mer- 
 chant and his clerk are generally on a par with 
 respect to mental culture, while the porter in the 
 warehouse is very few removes below either. On 
 the other hand, profound scholars and men of great 
 opulence are equally rare ; and the nation may be 
 said to be alike free from the influence of great 
 capitalists and extreme destitution. 
 
 There is something pleasingly simple and patri- 
 archal in the management of their rural affairs. 
 The ploughing with oxen, and the use of these 
 animals in treading out corn, forcibly reminds us 
 of the scenes and usages in scripture history. The 
 alacrity with which the natives combine to assist a 
 
115 
 
 widow, a poor neighbour, or a stranger, deserves 
 to be recorded in terms of the highest commen- 
 dation. 
 
 As an illustration of the above remark, — suppose 
 a farmer, from some one of the many causes of 
 affliction to which all are liable, becomes incapable 
 of cultivating his land. His neighbours repair to 
 his house by appointment, with their oxen and im- 
 plements; turn into his fields, and plough, sow, 
 and harrow every acre on his farm that requires 
 these operations. At the conclusion of their labours, 
 they refresh themselves, if their friend be able to 
 make suitable provision for such a number; if not, 
 they return contentedly home, satisfied with the 
 consciousness of having performed a meritorious 
 action. 
 
 If their united assistance be required in harvest- 
 ing the crop, it is cheerfully given; and he who 
 ill-naturedly withholds his aid, subjects himself to 
 the eternal ban of the whole community. On one 
 occasion of this nature, I saw nineteen ploughs at 
 work in one field. Nothing displays the American 
 character in so benevolent a point of view, as this 
 unity of co-operation in cheerfully assisting those, 
 
116 
 
 whom misfortune has deprived of the power of 
 assisting themselves. 
 
 That equivocal species of blessing, cheap law, 
 is another of those peculiarities that forcibly arrests 
 the attention of strangers. The lawyers are here a 
 host, surpassing in number the military, naval, and 
 police forces united. They comprise men of all 
 shades of talent and character, from the very 
 highest to, alas, the very, very lowest. Doubtless, 
 as with us, they look upon their clients as tradesmen 
 do upon their customers, as a source of profit and 
 honourable competition. But in a nation of obsti- 
 nate sticklers for trifles, where almost every tenth 
 man is a lawyer, and where a cause may be tried 
 for ten dollars, there is reason to fear that sharpness 
 is sometimes thrust a little beyond the verge of 
 honesty by some, despite the profession being gilded 
 with the flattering distinction of honourable. 
 
 But the practitioners are not entirely to be 
 blamed — the principle is objectionable. Should 
 any desire to witness the developement of the cheap 
 law system, in all the glories of its confusion, 
 he may behold it here. Suits at law are perpe- 
 tually throwing the peace of even rural society 
 
117 
 
 into convulsions. Causes are tried and re-tried, 
 till the expences stop the current of litigation, 
 which a wholesome view, at the onset, of heavy 
 costs in perspective, would have prevented from 
 flowing. 
 
 Many of the small country justices or "squires" 
 as they are here called, are elected to the office, 
 without any regard to their legal knowledge or in- 
 tellectual capabilities. The voice of party frequently 
 raises these Daniels to the judgement seat; and as 
 they obtain a criminal bonus upon every cause, 
 their desire to promote litigation has never been 
 called into question. The consequence of all this 
 is, that the law, from being placed within the reach 
 of every one, is become a powerful promoter of 
 discord, and actions are commenced to gratify the 
 malevolence of some, or the oppression of others, 
 while hatred, malice, and uncharitableness are the 
 certain result. 
 
118 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 EMIGRATION.— CONCLUSION- 
 
 [Several individuals having expressed their regret 
 that the subject of Emigration had not received 
 greater attention in the former editions of this little 
 work, the writer yields to the general wish, and 
 designs this chapter to supply the deficiency. At 
 the same time, she feels bound to acknowledge her 
 obligations to her husband, for suggestions on those 
 subjects that lie beyond the legitimate province of 
 her sex.] 
 
 Emigration considered as a measure of state 
 policy, has recently employed the thoughts of some 
 of the most eminent characters of the age; but I 
 design to pass by their speculations, and confine 
 myself entirely to the domestic phasis of the ques- 
 tion. It is doubtless an important subject, and one 
 well calculated to prove a powerful expedient, either 
 for good or for evil, as it ever has proved to the 
 majority of those who have ventured their temporal 
 welfare upon the result. 
 
119 
 
 Persons frequently take extreme views of emigra- 
 tion. Some to whom novelty and adventure has 
 charms, have invested this subject with all the 
 attractions a sanguine immagination could portray. 
 These are dangerous characters as writers, and 
 certainly incur a responsibility in exact proportion 
 to the circulation of their remarks. Their florid 
 views of a sublunary paradise shine only in fancy. 
 On the other hand, some who are cased in adaman- 
 tine ignorance, or home-cured in paternal smoke, 
 receive every remark on this subject with a sneer. 
 These regard the whole affair as a malter of trans- 
 portation, and would starve on patriotic principles 
 rather than forsake the land in which they were 
 cradled, either for their own benefit, or for that of 
 any one else. With both these classes I am at 
 issue; and leaving those to enjoy their prosperity to 
 whom this speculation has proved successful, I 
 proceed to notice some of the more prominent causes 
 of the failure of those who have been disappointed. 
 
 The first unpropitious speculation of this char- 
 acter, that I can recollect, occurred several years 
 since, before I knew America, to a host of misguided 
 individuals who emigrated purely from political 
 
120 
 
 motives. They were opposed to a monarchy ; and as 
 they had been in perils oft and in prisons oft, for the 
 sake of their beloved republican principles, or 
 something worse, they flattered themselves that the 
 free-born citizens of the new world would receive 
 them with fraternal affection, and celebrate their 
 landing with songs and rejoicing. In this land of 
 promise they expected to luxuriate in undisturbed 
 enjoyment, each under his own vine and his own 
 fig-tree ; where, safe from the troublesome trammels 
 of the law, they might sing "Down with all kings 
 and let millions be free." 
 
 Poor creatures ! How great was their disap- 
 pointment. Where they hoped for affection they 
 were met with aversion, and contempt instead of 
 admiration. 
 
 A total indifference to the domestic policy, of 
 other countries is one of the characteristics of the 
 Americans. They are always too much engaged in 
 their own election schemes to notice the opinions of 
 foreigners, especially such as profess intemperate 
 principles in politics and religion. Such they regard 
 not only with caution but even with undisguised 
 suspicion, as an indefineable species between the 
 infidel and traitor. 
 
121 
 
 Is it then any wonder that these men were disap- 
 pointed ? Those among them who were blessed with 
 the means of escaping, made their exit as speedily as 
 practicable, while some that remained abused the 
 government, committed acts of violence, and closed 
 their career in a prison . 
 
 One cause of the failure of these enterprises, 
 may be ascribed to the tenacity with which so many 
 cling to the business to which they have been 
 brought up, and to all the peculiar modes of opera- 
 tion to which they have been accustomed. It is 
 much to be regretted that too many import so 
 large a share of self-confidence, and are so blindly 
 prejudiced in favour of whatever is considered the 
 standard of perfection in their own country, that 
 they cannot allow themselves to reflect, that what 
 may be admired in one kingdom, may be viewed 
 with indifference by another people. Hence they 
 become impatient, when from their pardonable 
 ignorance of local peculiarities with regard to their 
 respective occupations, they find themselves com- 
 pelled to learn where they expected to teach ; and 
 many sacrifice their future prospects to the present 
 gratification of their splenetic humour. 
 
 L 
 
122 
 
 Now, in this case, instead of leaving the country 
 and abusing the Yankees to the end of their days, 
 it would be the wiser plan for all emigrants to 
 conciliate the good will of their new neighbours, and 
 yield to circumstances which they cannot control, 
 rather than create enemies by a fruitless course of 
 opposition. 
 
 The Americans, generally speaking, pride them- 
 selves upon the versatility of their skill. One plain 
 countryman can perform almost every operation in 
 the arts of common life, that a pair of hands are 
 required to perform : I do not mean that he can 
 execute all he attempts in a finished style of excel- 
 lence. No; but he can transact in a respectable 
 manner, as many different orders of work as we 
 should consign to twenty different artificers. This 
 arises from the peculiarity of their position. In a 
 thinly inhabited country, no one knows what he may 
 be compelled to do in passing through life, and 
 therefore, every parent wisely prepares his offspring 
 for the vicissitudes of fortune by a judicious course 
 of manual instruction. Hence the use of the hands 
 in the performance of any office not exactly menial, 
 is here considered no more derogatory to the dignity 
 
123 
 
 of the highest character in the Union, than the 
 exercise of the intellectual faculties. It is on this 
 account, that they are apt to regard a stranger with 
 some degree of contempt, who either from pride or 
 ignorance, refuses to put his hand to any thing be- 
 yond the identical branch of business in which he 
 has been regularly instructed. I could adduce some 
 striking instances in illustration of this point; but I 
 shall content myself by relating two that occurred 
 within the sphere of my own knowledge. 
 
 My husband met with one of our countrymen at 
 Tappan, in the state of New York, about ten days 
 after Christmas. He was a wheelwright, had landed 
 eight days since, and could obtain no employment. 
 He seemed greatly disappointed and dejected and 
 was just upon the eve of returning home. The absur- 
 dity of this step was pointed out to him. He was 
 informed that he had landed upon a most inauspi- 
 cious day — that the Americans make a general 
 practice of doing no manner of work, for the three 
 weeks following Christmas ; and that, in order to 
 give the country a fair trial, he should remain at 
 least till the complete expiration of that period. To 
 deal fairly with him, it was hinted, that even then, 
 
124 
 
 possibly, he might not find immediate employment 
 in his own peculiar craft, and if so, he was advised 
 to apply at the shops of carpenters and builders, 
 where abundance of employment might be obtained 
 by all who are acquainted with wood work. This 
 friendly hint settled the matter at once. Evidently 
 he thought it degrading to work as a rough carpen- 
 ter, even for a few weeks, and although he was 
 offered employment in wood work on the spot, he 
 excused himself, observing, that he had seen quite 
 enough of the country, and that he would e'en return 
 home. 
 
 " Your countrymen are a lazy saucy crew," was 
 the evening's salutation of our nearest neighbour, 
 an opulent farmer of very industrious habits.— There 
 is something so venerable in the appearance of three- 
 score and ten, that it was not in our natures to ruffle 
 the temper of the patriarch by an acrimonious 
 rejoinder. We knew he would recover his proper 
 feelings when he had delivered his sentiments, and 
 till then it would cost us nothing to wait. He 
 took the offered chair and explained himself in 
 the following terms, as nearly as I can possibly 
 recollect, . y 
 
125 
 
 "My son and I were carting sand from the beach 
 this morning, when up comes two strangers — a true 
 born Englishman and a true born Irishman — they 
 asked for work. The Englishman said he could do 
 any thing, and the Irishman swore he could do every 
 thing. We soon agreed ; and I left these men with 
 my son to cart sand, while I went up the fields 
 to look after the blacks. At dinner time the stran- 
 gers came and asked me to set them to better work. 
 I said that must be finished first. In short, they 
 abused the country, and said they did not come to 
 America to cart sand. So I paid them their half 
 day's wages, and they are gone. Pray what kind 
 of work do farming men do in your country ? Does 
 one man hold up the train of his mistress, and 
 another water the roses f° 
 
 "Now," continued the narrator, "here are a 
 couple of men, one indeed has grown too big for 
 his coat, and the coat of the other is too short, but 
 they have a pair of hands each like ourselves, and 
 yet they are too proud to use them !" 
 
 We assured our ire-fraught friend, that idleness 
 is as commonly clothed with rags in Europe as in 
 America ; and we consoled his troubled spirit by 
 
 l3 
 
12G 
 
 predicting, that our countryman with a short coat, 
 would find it long enough before he got a new 
 one. 
 
 I believe it is generally conceded, that emigrants 
 who bring over with them a considerable sum of 
 money — say from two to ten thousand pounds, miss 
 the road to prosperity much more frequently than 
 those that land with comparatively nothing. This 
 problem admits of an easy solution. The mode of 
 doing business in the United States, partakes so 
 strongly of the spirit of adventure, that commerce 
 is fairly reduced to a species of gambling specula- 
 tion. On landing, the aspiring stranger finds that 
 money goes farther here than at home ; hence he 
 conceives himself to be a person of greater conse- 
 quence. If he have fair letters of introduction, his 
 society is courted by men of all shades and grades 
 of property and reputation; some of these may 
 be men of substance — others so only in appearance. 
 Among these last, will be found a plentiful assort- 
 ment of adventurers, all ready to conduct him, 
 through the medium of some speculation or other, 
 to the temple of Plutus. It generally follows, that 
 he embarks his property in a variety of adventures, 
 
 
127 
 
 some of which may succeed. In this case, he ex- 
 tends his sphere of commercial enterprise, and 
 thinks it incumbent upon him to enlarge his estab- 
 lishment also, and to support his pretensions to 
 unbounded wealth by a display of fashionable osten- 
 tation. Sooner or later, he perceives that, through 
 his ignorance of the thousand things that no foreigner 
 is expected to know, he has been floated beyond 
 his depth — no opportunity is afforded of retracing 
 his steps, and he is at last engulphed in the quick- 
 sand of irremediable ruin. 
 
 Even in my limited sphere of observation, I 
 met with several individuals who had landed, each 
 with thousands at command ; and it is a melancholy 
 truth, that not one of these is now above the second 
 order of commercial clerks. Truly they enjoyed 
 one of the advantages of a republican government, 
 for however they might differ with respect to their 
 notions of political liberty, their circumstances pre- 
 sented a tolerable specimen of equality ; and to 
 the honour of the new world's hospitality they freely 
 acknowledged, that they had all been strangers and 
 were all taken in ! 
 
 I have elsewhere observed, that the inebriate 
 
128 
 
 must be so thoroughly weaued from his bad prac- 
 tices, as to be beyond the reach of temptation, 
 before he can reasonably hope to derive any solid 
 advantages from residing in a country, where fire- 
 waters are cheaper than milk. 
 
 The indolent form another class whom no change 
 of country can benefit. The smart quick step, and 
 the general alacrity of movement practised by 
 operatives of all orders, would grieve the spirit of 
 a lazy fellow who is compelled to earn his living by 
 manual exertion. He would discover that the high 
 price paid for labour, impelled the employer to 
 look sharp after his men — then there is the contempt 
 of his fellows, and a thousand other things that 
 would combine to harrass the quiet mind of this 
 poor persecuted man, while against this Pandora's 
 box full of evils, he has but one solitary comfort 
 as a set-off — the distressing fever and ague which 
 carries off its thousands, would find him too lazy 
 to shake ! 
 
 Those who possess a moderate share of the com- 
 forts of life at home, with a fair prospect of retain- 
 ing them, should never think of emigration. They 
 have not been sufficiently disciplined in the school 
 
129 
 
 of adversity, to estimate properly the common com- 
 forts of life, and I sincerely advise no one to expect 
 any thing beyond this standard. 
 
 Having described the order of persons who ought 
 not to emigrate, together with the causes that have 
 conspired to blight the prospects of the unfortunate, 
 I proceed to notice those to whom emigration may 
 be beneficial, and to point out the qualities required 
 to ensure succes. 
 
 The thousands and tens of thousands in various 
 parts of our own country, who find the greatest diffi- 
 culty in obtaining a sufficiency of employment, and 
 are reduced to the necessity of disposing of their 
 time and labour for a mere shadow of remuneration, 
 though they are the very persons that would reap the 
 greatest advantage from emigration, yet the want of 
 the means, sorrowful thought ! is with them an insur- 
 mountable obstacle. There is however hope for the 
 class immediately above them. The small but in- 
 dustrious tradesman, the artificer, and a numerous 
 order of persons, who are not exactly so poor as to 
 be absolutely incapable of raising the means for 
 removing, and yet from competition, and various 
 other causes, are kept in a perpetual state of 
 
130 
 
 thraldom through fear of poverty. These and all 
 others who are extremely anxious to bring up their 
 families in credit and respect, and yet in spite of 
 the most strenuous exertions, united to privations 
 the most humiliating, find themselves incapable of 
 accomplishing their wishes. Such may peruse 
 this chapter with interest — let them do so with 
 circumspection. 
 
 From all I can learn, there is no country under 
 heaven where manual labour, attention, and personal 
 exertion of every kind, meet with a richer and 
 more certain reward than in the United States. 
 
 I have had the advantage of becoming acquain- 
 ted with the experience of great numbers : some 
 who have won their way to affluence, and others to 
 the enjoyment of comparative independence, and, 
 however they may differ in particulars, one general 
 line of conduct seems to have been pursued by them 
 all. They were steady, frugal, and industrious ; and 
 when subordinates, they never relinquished one post 
 till they had secured a better. 
 
 It is a debated point, whether married pairs with 
 families, or young people are most eligible for emi- 
 gration. Doubtless the experiment may be made 
 
131 
 
 by the latter with far less risk of personal comfort or 
 pecuniary sacrifice, in the event of disappointment. 
 But still the numerous facilities that a new country 
 affords, for the bringing up of children, for their useful 
 employment as they grow up, and the unbounded 
 field for exertion, and easy means of support that 
 lies open for all when arrived at mature years, inclines 
 me to pronounce the chance of success in favour of the 
 former — provided the parents be not too far advanced 
 in life; for elderly people do not transplant well. 
 
 The amount of property necessary to start with, 
 depends greatly upon the line of life the party is 
 desirous of following. It is of little consequence 
 what a young man takes over for he is almost sure to 
 lose it; and it were better to leave him to become 
 the architect of his own fortunes; but a few scores 
 or hundreds might probably be well disposed of in 
 securing many advantages for a married man. To 
 these and all others who bring over property, I 
 would repeat the advice which I heard the British 
 consul once deliver on a similar occasion. Pass one 
 
 ENTIRE YEAR IN THE COUNTRY BEFORE YOU PART 
 WITH A SINGLE DOLLAR IN ANY IMPORTANT INVEST- 
 MENT. This sentence deserves to be written in 
 
132 
 
 letters of gold, as those can tell who have pursued 
 an opposite course. 
 
 But it may be asked, What would you have a 
 man do who has only a few scores or hundreds — it 
 may perhaps be spent before he has attained the 
 knowledge required to dispose of it profitably ? 
 To such a one I would say — take good care of your 
 money. For the sake of your own peace and the 
 preservation of your property, give no one reason 
 to suppose you possess any thing worth having. 
 Seek employment as soon as you land, and if you 
 cannot obtain exactly what you wish, take for the 
 present, what you can get. While you remain in 
 your first place, which it is presumed, will be in 
 the city, you will have an opportunity of gaining 
 for nothing, information, the value of which you 
 can form no adequate idea. It is possible that 
 at first you may obtain a place that you consider 
 degrading ; but be assured nothing is thought dis- 
 honourable in America but what is immoral or 
 useless ; and an undesirable post is easily relin- 
 quished when you have secured a better. 
 
 If you are desirous of locating yourself on a 
 farm, it will be best first to hire yourself to a farmer. 
 
133 
 
 Here you will acquire information respecting the 
 value of land, which is more fluctuating than any 
 other description of property. 
 
 It is generally admitted that the intelligence 
 which is procured on the spot is the most accurate ; 
 for the value of every species of property is 
 subject to variations so sudden, and in such ex- 
 tremes, that a list of particulars deserves no 
 dependence. 
 
 Still, amid all these changes, the prices paid for 
 labour and provisions remain pretty steady. Of 
 these, the following list expressed in English money, 
 will give a correct idea. It is drawn up with due 
 consideration, and the prices quoted, may be safely 
 relied upon as being fair averages. 
 
 Common Labourers 4s. ^ day. 
 
 Mechanics, Shoemakers, and Tailors 5s. to 6s. „ 
 
 * Farming Men Servants £1 15s. to £2. $• month. 
 
 * „ Boys £1 4s. to £1 8s. „ 
 
 * Waiters in Shops and Clerks ... £40 to £70 $• year. 
 
 * These last board and lodge in the house. 
 
 PROVISIONS. 
 
 Beef, Mutton, Veal, and Pork 2^d. to 3d. $- lb. 
 
 Fine Wheat Flour Is. 4d. to Is. 6d. for 14 lbs. 
 
 Tea ... 3s. to 5s. $• lb.— Sugar ... 3|d. to 5d. $• lb. 
 
 M 
 
134 
 
 The price of clothing, hardware, and a variety 
 of other matters, depends greatly upon the judge- 
 ment of the purchaser, and his acquaintance with the 
 random mode of doing business practised throughout 
 the country. Sometimes these may be obtained 
 very cheap — sometimes they are very dear. English 
 gold and silver coin bear a premium of about 
 twenty per cent. — but let the stranger be careful 
 ivhat description of paper he receives in ex- 
 change. 
 
 Steam and sailing vessels, fitted up for passen- 
 gers, admit of two, and sometimes of three orders 
 of accommodation. The cabin is fitted up in a 
 splendid style for gentlemen and ladies ; provisions 
 of all kinds are supplied at about thirty guineas 
 each. A very comfortable berth may be obtained 
 in the midships of some vessels, for five or six pounds. 
 The steerage is the lowest ; here a passage may be 
 obtained for from four pounds, to — I know not what 
 sum downwards — perhaps thirty shillings. In these 
 two last departments, passengers are required to 
 furnish themselves with provisions for six weeks. 
 Persons of circumscribed means are advised to 
 make enquiries of disinterested individuals on the 
 
135 
 
 spot, and not pay for their passage till the vessel 
 is just on the eve of sailing. 
 
 Caution — caution — caution is required by the 
 emigrant at every step : from the contsact for his 
 passage to his final settlement in his adopted 
 country, this quality cannot be dispensed with. 
 
 Unfortunately the climate of the United States, 
 was found to be so very prejudicial to the health of 
 my husband and family, that we were compelled to 
 relinquish all thoughts of remaining ; and as we 
 had given the land of liberty two year's trial, and 
 had suffered nearly two year's affliction, we decided 
 upon leaving those to share its blessings, whose con- 
 stitutions were better adapted to enjoy them. But 
 it would be unjust to conclude, that because we 
 were unsuccessful, others will be so also. Want of 
 health was our calamity. In this case, I can give 
 no opinion with respect to others; — here individual 
 experience can alone decide. 
 
 Let those who contemplate crossing the Atlantic 
 carefully weigh the contents of these pages ; they 
 were penned for the purpose of imparting useful 
 information, whose foundation is truth. The writer 
 has no party spirit to gratify ; no interest to serve ; 
 
136 
 
 ,**»*>. 
 
 
 and she will be as happy to find that she has 
 been the means of obstructing an unfortunate spec- 
 ulation, as that she has promoted a happy one. 
 
 * •* * 
 
 I cannot conclude without paying a tribute of 
 respect to the exalted character of the American 
 ladies. They certainly take precedence of the 
 other sex, both in moral excellence and intellectual 
 refinement ; and in a religious point of view, they 
 furnish a noble instance of consistency, in preserving 
 themselves uncontaminated amid the acquisitive 
 propensities, and unamiable manners of their 
 sovereign lords. 
 
 Were it not for the climate, I could have spent 
 my days there with a fair proportion of comfort, for 
 I met with much kindness. I cherish no feelings 
 of animosity against the Americans, though I have 
 given my opinion freely on their affairs : to this they 
 can have no reasonable objection ; for as they allow 
 freedom of speech amongst themselves, they cannot 
 consistently deny the same to a foreigner. 
 
 D. I. ROEBUCK, PRINTER, GRACE STREET, LEEDS. 
 
 K 1M v 
 
 

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